Reverend Jen departs her LES home, and Troll Museum, for now

Longtime downtown performance artist Reverend Jen Miller has been evicted from her apartment, which also doubled as the Troll Museum, after 20 years.

Last Thursday, a Marshal reportedly entered her apartment while she was only wearing a towel after a shower and served the eviction notice via landlord Misrahi Realty. (There is a video of the incident here.)

Miller said that she was given three minutes to leave the sixth-floor, rent-stabilized walkup on Orchard Street where she has lived since 1995.

Miller told Gothamist that a series of illnesses landed her in the hospital several times last year, and that she fell behind on the rent. She wanted to work out a payment plan with the landlord.

[S]he insisted she never received warnings of an impending eviction. "On Thursday, they came to tell me I was post-eviction," she said, and "I was shocked." For now, Miller hopes to get a stay for at least three months, she said, but warned that if she's not granted a stay, she may refuse to leave anyway. "I'm at the end of my rope," she said, shaking her head. "I guess they can arrest me. Let them."

She was able to return to her apartment today to gather her things. She invited friends to help pack up (and take some of) her belongings. EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by...

Slum Goddess has more photos and a video here.

The black crowned night heron continues to come out at... night in Tompkins Square Park

Bobby Williams got a photo of the black crowned night heron that has been spotted here and there around Tompkins Square Park the past few years...

EV Grieve Etc.: Protection for commercial tenants; Renovation estimates for Beth Israel

[Sidewalk sale on 7th Street from Sunday. Photo by Susan Schiffman]

The Mayor expected to sign legislation today establishing safeguards to prevent harassment of commercial tenants (DNAinfo)

Longtime LES resident Rev. Jen has been evicted, and her Troll Museum is being dismantled today (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

A conversation with Jonas Mekas, the 93-year-old artist and filmmaker, and founder of the Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue (ARTnews)

Hospital officials say renovating Beth Israel would have cost $1.3 billion (Town & Village)

CB3 chair vote is tonight (BoweryBoogie)

Hi-Collar on East 10th Street named among the best iced-coffee drinks in NYC (Gothamist)

About Paradise Alley, an artists enclave on Avenue A through the 1960s (Ephemeral New York)


[A red-tailed hawk juvenile in Tompkins Square Park yesterday via Derek Berg]

Carroll Gardens neighborhood favorite Bergen Hill relocates to Cooper Square (Grub Street)

"The Lams of Ludlow Street" (The Lo-Down)

Check out Goggla's photos from the Drag March leaving Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography)

More about “The Holdouts,” a comedy series about New Yorkers who can’t afford to live in the new New York (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Photos of the Ramones by Danny Fields (Slate)

The surprising backstory of White Zombie, "It Came from N.Y.C." (Flaming Pablum)

...and EVG contributor Steven spotted Theatre 80 proprietor Lorcan Otway outside 80 St. Mark's Place... building a model whaling ship....

Report: Another freeze on 1-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments; 2% for 2-year leases

Long lines to enter the Rent Guidelines Board hearings not damping tenants enthusiasm for a #rentrollback pic.twitter.com/W5UTSxAPXt

— MetCouncilonHousing (@Met_Council) June 27, 2016

Here's part of a report from The New York Times from the Great Hall at Cooper Union last evening:

The board that sets rents for more than one million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City voted on Monday to freeze rents for one-year leases for the second year in a row.

By a vote of 7 to 0, with two abstentions, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board also decided to raise rents by 2 percent for two-year leases, a modest rise that mirrors last year’s. The vote, which came during a typically emotional board meeting, was in keeping with the historically low rent increases that the board had previously approved during the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat who appointed the full board.

Head to the Times for full details and the usual drama.

WABC-7 reported that, given the number of people in attendance, it took an hour for tenants to file into Cooper Union.

Per The Wall Street Journal:

Landlord groups criticized the rent freeze, calling it a political move by the mayor and his appointees at a time when local property-tax assessments and other costs have been rising for years. They said owners’ heating costs haven’t fallen as much as the board’s data suggested.

“Another abhorrent illustration of de Blasio’s politics dictating housing policy,” said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, a group representing building owners.

To recap via Curbed: Now, tenants living in rent-stabilized units, whose leases expire between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017 can renew at the same rate for one-year, and tenants with two-year leases will be able to do so with a two percent increase.

Full reveal at Icon Realty's 327 E. 9th St.

Three-plus years in the making, Icon Realty’s six-story, two-unit residential building under construction at 327 E. Ninth St. has finally shown itself.

EVG contributor Steven noted that workers removed the scaffolding and construction netting here yesterday between First Avenue and Second Avenue...



We haven't seen any listings yet for the two units at this site of a former parking lot.

Issac & Stern Architects are the designers of record.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The big dig begins for 6-story, 2-unit condo on East 9th Street

East Ninth Street parking lot will yield to 6-floor residential building

2 more sidewalk cafe choices for 2nd Avenue

Two Second Avenue restaurants added sidewalk cafes last week... starting with Lions Beer Store on Second Avenue and Sixth Street, which features lamps — and lamp shades! ...



... and San Marzano at Seventh Street...



... which includes a few tables positioned on the Seventh Street side...



These two join Brick Lane Curry House, which debuted its sidewalk cafe on Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street on June 15.

Photos by EVG contributor Steven

Thursday Kitchen will serve Korean tapas on East 9th Street

A few more details have emerged about the restaurant taking over the former King Bee space at 424 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue... the space will be called Thursday Kitchen, and serve Korean tapas, according to workers...



Thursday Kitchen is expecting to open in two more weeks.

As previously noted, a variety of concepts have come and gone in the space in recent years... including King Bee (Acadian cuisine), Exchange Alley (New Orleans-inspired fare), Olivia (Mediterranean), Sintir (Moroccan) and Zi' Pep (Italian).

Thanks to William Klayer for the photos and Steven for the initial tip.

Osaka Grub bringing Japanese fast food to the Essex Street Market

The Essex Street Market, 120 Essex St., has a new vendor ... Osaka Grub, which serves Japanese street food, officially opens today after a practice run this past weekend.

Via the EVG inbox...

Osaka Grub’s specialty is okonomiyaki, which is a savory ‘pancake’ originating from Osaka, Japan. They offer three versions; the classic shrimp & pork, a fully vegetarian miso mushroom, and an okonomiyaki slider. The okonomiyaki slider is a Japanese-American mashup which uses two mini pancakes to sandwich a beef patty. Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and hashimaki (okonomiyaki on a stick.

Osaka Grub’s founders are London expat David Senn and native New Yorker Diana Tam. The co-owners met in Tokyo, Japan where they lived and worked for a combined 8 years. A shared love for okonomiyaki spurred the beginning of this fast food startup. They debuted in the LIC Flea & Food in April 2015.

They will be open six days a week from Tuesday – Sunday.

At ABC No Rio's last HardCore/Punk Matinee on Rivington Street (for now)

ABC No Rio is winding down its programming this week as the 36-year-old cultural center on Rivington Street between Suffolk and Clinton will be demolished this fall to make way for a new "environmentally friendly" structure at the site.

On Saturday, ABC No Rio hosted its last HardCore/Punk Matinee in this space. Brooklyn-based photographer Walter Wlodarczyk shared some photos from the show...




[Agitätor]


[As$troland]




[Short Leash Snort Bleach]


[Short Leash Snort Bleach]







There are several "in exile" punk matinees coming up this summer, first at Silent Barn then Aviv, both in Brooklyn. Check the schedule here.

And you can discover more of Walter's photography work here. He has an active Instagram account too.



Click on the images to go big

Final 4Knots Festival lineup unveiled

The Village Voice recently announced the final lineup for the sixth annual 4Knots Festival, happening soonish on July 9 at the South Street Seaport.

Final Lineup:
Guided by Voices (co-headliner)
The Strumbellas (co-headliner)
Protomartyr
Car Seat Headrest
Mothers
Kirk Knight
Girlpool
Bayonne
Diane Coffee
Promised Land Sound
Mild High Club
Boulevards

4Knots will also host a DJ stage with sets in between each band.

You can find more about each band at the 4Knots website. The festival is free, and is rain or shine.

Lunchtime cross break

In the distance... Christo taking in the scene from atop St. Brigid-St. Emeric on Avenue B and Eighth Street... photo by Bobby Williams

Report: Gregg Singer secures $44 million loan to continue plan to convert former PS 64 into a dorm

Last time that we heard anything about the former P.S 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center, the owner, developer Gregg Singer, was being sued by his investors.

The Real Deal in late December reported:

The asset manager said it and the other investors put almost $8 million worth of debt and equity into the project, and after paying off the defaulted mortgage the development partnership took out a $22 million bridge loan at 11 percent interest, guaranteed by Onyx.

Despite earlier reports that Singer had signed the West Village’s Ballet School as a tenant, however, progress at the site struggled, and in July the company defaulted on the loan, kicking the interest rate up to 16 percent.

Singer apparently remains committed to converting the long-empty building that extends from Ninth Street to 10th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C into dorms.

The Commercial Observer reported last week that "Madison Realty Capital has provided a $44 million loan to Gregg Singer’s Singer Financial Corporation to recapitalize a student housing development."

Here's more:

“There is a shortage of quality student housing options in Manhattan,” Joshua Zegen, a managing principal and a co-founder of MRC, said in prepared remarks provided to COF. “Our financing of this project will help the borrower tap into that demand and turn a vacant building into a thriving housing option for students residing in New York City. This new development will provide a brand new student living facility with contemporary amenities, right in the heart of the East Village, one of the most artistic and diverse communities in the city.”

The article notes the new dorm will house 535 students, and include outdoor spaces for them.

It's like 2013 all over again. Or maybe 2009.

More than three years ago there were reports that both Cooper Union and the Joffrey Ballet were leasing space here for students.

It is not known — publicly anyway — if Singer has any signed leases for the space, which still needs approval from the city to renovate. (A Stop Work Order remains on the property, dated from last August.) Singer did not comment in the Observer story.

Singer bought the formerly city-owned building on East 9th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C in 1998 for $3.15 million. There has been a movement to return the building to use as a cultural and community center.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Deed for 'community facility use only' at the former P.S. 64 now on the market

Efforts continue to fight the dorm planned for the former PS 64 on East 9th Street

The Landmarks Preservation Commission approves application for modifications at PS 64

'Misinformation' cited as DOB issues Stop Work Order at the former PS 64; community meeting set for Sunday afternoon

Development drama continues at the former P.S. 64, where the city approved dorm-conversion permits (again)

[Updated] The former P.S. 64 appears to be for sale

The latest PS 64 debacle: Investors sue Gregg Singer