Updated: Zerza closes then reopens on 6th Street

Zerza has closed at 320 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. The signage has been removed from the space. Updated: Zerza is back open as of early November

Here's what ownership had to say via Facebook:



The Zerza website mentions that they are closed for renovations through the month of September.

Either way, Zerza is closed for now.

Meanwhile, a tipster claims that this space is being converted into a new restaurant called Merica NYC. There's a Facebook page for the restaurant that doesn't have too many particulars, such as a specific address (other than Sixth Street).

Via their Facebook page:

Our food is intended to free your spirit. It's not intended to be in anyway healthy. "We ain't gunna listen to those smart brained medical morons who think butter and bacon are bad!" We say, bring on the bacon! In the true rebellious spirit of America, our food laughs in the face of caution and holds two middle fingers way up high, cause guess what? This is America and we eat what we want!

All food names are intended as jokes and in no way affiliate us with any person or persona. This shit is fattening as all hell, eat at your own risk.

Items include:

THE C -CHRISTIE.
Get that New Jersey governors look with this sloppy mess of greasy fatty deliciousness. Mac and cheese, topped with a chopped up cheeseburger patty, topped with mash potatoes and gravy, topped with bacon, then broiled with melted cheddar cheese. $20

THE KANYE.
Fried breast of chicken tossed in a creamy rich Alfredo sause served over mashed potatoes, then drizzled with a balsamic glaze. This meal will make you into a famous rapper and a narcissistic asshole. Ask the public to loan you the money for it. $18

OSAMA BEEN EAT'N
Deep fried brownie bites drizzled with chocolate or strawberry sauce. $10

We have no idea of any of this is for real... Via Facebook, the folks behind Merica NYC say they are opening the first week of October.

Our tipster looked inside Zerza's open door from the sidewalk yesterday ... revealing some chairs adorned with the American flag...



Seems fitting with the Merica NYC motif...

Report: 123 2nd Ave. sells for $6 million

["Building sketch for illustration purposes only," via Compass]

Back in March, George Pasternak, the landlord of 123 Second Ave., put the vacant plot of land up for sale, asking $9.7 million.

Now, The Real Deal reports the lot has sold for $6 million. According to records filed with the city today, the new owner is traced to Ezra Wibowo under the LLC 123 Second Ave. Corp. (TRD was unable to track him down to ask about his possible plans for the site.)

123 Second Ave., which housed Pommes Frites and Sam's Deli, was destroyed along with two others on March 26, 2015, after a fatal gas explosion next door.

According to the marketing materials from the Compass brokerage firm that a tipster shared with us in March:

Vacant lot (25’ x 100’) for rental or condo development with commercial overlay offered for sale. 1031 exchange opportunity, in prime East Village location (2nd Ave and 7th Street), and currently zoned C1-5/R7A. FAR ranges from 3.45-4.6 subject to the DOB approval of proposed/planned build out, to be filed by potential purchaser post closing. Building sketch for illustration purposes only.

As Lois Weiss at the Post reported at the time:

[A]ll three properties were reclassified from apartments in Tax Class 2 to vacant land in Tax Class 4, which will bump their expected rates starting July 1.

While only Pasternak’s lot is for sale, each of the three lots, including the corner at 119 Second Ave., can host 10,000 buildable square feet for apartments, residential condominiums plus stores.

Only No. 123 had been on the sales market. (According to reports, the city charged Pasternak $350,000 to demolish his building.)

Maria Hrynenko, the owner of 119 and 121 Second Ave. faces various charges (along with four others), including involuntary manslaughter. There have not been any updates on when this case might go to trial.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated: 2nd Ave. explosion — landlord, 3 others charged with 2nd degree manslaughter; showed 'a blatant and callous disregard for human life'

Former residents talk about landlord Maria Hrynenko: 'it was clear she wanted to get rid of anyone with a rent-regulated apartment'

Report: 123 2nd Ave. is for sale

Selling 123 Second Ave.

Reader report: Cafe Silan space will become a French bakery

An EVG reader passes along some encouraging news: The former Cafe Silan space on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue will become a French bakery... and it will be run by the same owners. There's no other info right at the moment.

Cafe Silan, which served a variety of coffee and house-made pastries with natural sweeteners (like silan, a Middle-Eastern date paste), quiety closed back in July after nearly 18 months in business.

We'll update as soon as we learn more about the new venture.

September opening for the 2nd Avenue Tompkins Square Bagels zapped by an electrical issue

Christopher Pugliese hoped to have the Second Avenue location of Tompkins Square Bagels open by the end of this month.

Unfortunately, the building's main power line had other ideas.

Yesterday, Con Ed arrived to dig up the street and sidewalk in front of the storefront at 184 Second Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street...





"There's an electrical problem with the main line to the building. Nothing to do with my work," Pugliese said last evening. "However, they will need to dig up my space to replace it. Hopefully it's quick."

He's now shooting for an Oct. 15 opening.

Previously on EV Grieve:
After 40-plus years, Open Pantry looks to be closing on 2nd Avenue

Rumor: Tompkins Square Bagels possibly opening a 2nd East Village location on 2nd Avenue

A 2nd Tompkins Square Bagels confirmed for former Open Pantry space on 2nd Avenue

Tompkins Square Bagels makes it official on 2nd Avenue

The new Tompkins Square Bagels will arrive before the 2nd Avenue subway

September opening expected for the 2nd Avenue location of Tompkins Square Bagels

The Lenin statue, safe for now on a Norfolk Street rooftop

[Lenin's descent last week. Photo by Peter Marciano via]

It has been a week now since workers removed the 18-foot statue of Lenin from atop Red Square on East Houston.

The New York Times yesterday reported that the statue would be on display again within about a month on a Norfolk Street building a 1/2 block from Red Square.

Per the Times:

A construction manager who supervised the removal of the statue from Red Square on Sept. 19 said it had spent that night in a crane yard in Jamaica, Queens. The manager, Peter Marciano, arranged for it to be brought the next day to its new location atop a walk-up on Norfolk Street because he thought it would be safer there.

“I didn’t want him to be held hostage or kidnapped,” Mr. Marciano said. “Those stairs will deter all but the most severe fans of communism.”

The article is accompanied by two cool photos of the statue lying on the roof with Red Square in the background.

Updated 6/9

Lenin has returned. Photos here.

Previously.

1st meeting for the 11th Street Block Association is tomorrow (Wednesday!) night

There's a new block association in town... the 11th Street Block Association launches tomorrow evening at 7 with a kick-off meeting at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery.

As the sign shows, this is for residents who live on the street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. Perhaps the group will be discussing what's transpiring a block away with the incoming Moxy hotel.

Community Board 3 has a listing of other block associations/community groups in the area right here.

Sales launch for Ben Shaoul's Katz's-dwarfing new condos

At the moment, the incoming 11-story condoplex on East Houston at Orchard is a foundation pit in progress...



In any event, sales got underway last week, as Curbed first noted.

Available condos, browsable on 196 Orchard’s website, range from a 551-square-foot studio asking $1.075 million to a 2,069-square-foot three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom apartment seeking $5.995 million. Prices were initially poised to start off at just shy of $1 million, but it appears that the base price has been upped. With that, the average price per square foot in the building becomes a robust $2,325.

The building’s distinct setback design, a creation of project architect Ismael Leyva, will allow for some apartments to have private terraces. New renderings for the development that came along with the listings show off expansive outdoor spaces that give way to well-appointed interiors designed by Incorporated and decked out in finishes like Nero Marquina marble for the backsplashes, concrete on the nine- to twelve-foot ceilings, and blackened nickel on the kitchen sink faucets and hoses. Heck, the kitchens even have Franke in-sink garbage disposals — the real dream.

And here are two renderings via Curbed...





The condoplex features 94 units... as well as a three-level Equinox (gym) in the retail space.



On Friday, The Real Deal reported that Ben Shaoul’s Magnum Real Estate Group secured a $195 million senior construction loan from SL Green Realty for this development.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Making way for Ben Shaoul's new retail-residential complex on East Houston

Katz's is now the last business on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard

Send a salami to your boy next door in the condo

Side streets, milled and paved

Been meaning to note this. On Friday night, workers paved parts of Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue B, as the above photo by Dave on 7th shows.

With this, I believe, all the freshly milled side street have their new asphalt...

Except for Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C, where Con Ed has been replacing gas mains...



...and an aerial view showing the work, which is expected to be completed some time this week, per a worker...


[Photo by John Iz]

And from earlier this month... a photo showing the eerily beautiful sight of a freshly milled East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square....


[Photo by Louise on Fifth Street]

Watch the presidential debate tonight in the great outdoors at La Plaza Cultural

La Plaza Cultural will be showing the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump tonight at 9 on a big screen.

The community garden is on the southwest corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street.

No charge. And the entertainment will be provided.

Part of a community garden reappears 16 years after it was bulldozed

Landscaping aside, work appears to be complete in the long-empty lot between Eastville Gardens and 115 Avenue C (between Eighth Street and Seventh Street)...





Eastville Gardens, the apartment complex whose official address is 342 E. Eighth St., is on the site once occupied by El Jardin de la Esperanza. The 22-year-old garden was bulldozed in February 2000 to make way for the new development, which includes 20 percent affordable housing. (The New York Times weighed in with an editorial on this here.)

The site was the scene of several protests in early 2000. Dozens of people were arrested, as the Times reported.

Some people have said that there was an agreement between the developer, Donald Capoccia of BFC Partners, and local residents that this plot of land would be returned for use as a community garden.

L+M Development Partners bought the 7-story building that includes the Associated for $44 million back in the spring.

In any event, this Sunrise Garden is named for Carmen Pabon... (You can watch a video biography of Pabon here.)



No word at the moment when (or if) this will actually be open to the public (or maybe just Eastville residents?) ... and who was ultimately responsible for making this happen. Capoccia? L+M Development Partners? Local elected officials?

Thanks to Dave on 7th for the photos!

3 years later, school emerging from behind scaffolding and construction netting

Just noting the recent reveal of part of The Neighborhood School and PS 63 on Third Street between Avenue A and First Avenue ...



Back in June, everyone finally had enough of the three-year renovation via the aptly named Kafka Construction company ... Per The Neighborhood School’s Health and Safety Committee:

The co-located elementary schools ... have been covered in scaffolding for three years, blocking all sunlight into classrooms and creating a neighborhood eyesore. Local politicians and DOE officials who toured the schools in early June were shocked by what they found. It was enough to compel the SCA to take “drastic actions,” firing Kafka and bringing in an emergency contractor to complete the work, ostensibly by the beginning of next school year.

While there's still work to do, parents have said they are pleased by some progress...



The Department of Education are reportedly banning the Queens-based Kafka from taking new jobs with the city School Construction Authority for at least two years.

Kin Asian Bistro is now Carma East on 6th Street

The signage for Carma East went up on Friday here at 507 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... A neighbor says that this will be an EV outpost of Carma Asian Tapas on Carmine Street in the West Village.

Per the Carma website:

Two Chinese friends, one with a degree in Modern Philosophy and one in Medicine, now longtime New Yorkers, had a dream of two cultures merged into one. The result is CARMA: Eastern cuisine with Western flare. CARMA is a Modern Asian Tapas Wine Bar in the West Village, celebrating a contemporary approach to traditional Asian recipes. With a signature menu created by the Executive Chef of Taiwan’s renowned DinTai Fung, we feature healthy, balanced, and locally sourced ingredients.

CARMA provides a destination dining experience that not only stimulates your palate but visually engages you in an exhibition of works from a diverse group of artists, from the Hudson revivalists to Beijing’s 798.

The previous establishment here, Kin Asian Bistro, which took over from Purple Ginger, had been open for less than a year.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Purple Ginger out, Kin Asian Bistro is in on East 6th Street