Flowers for a former Juice Press on 10th Street

This sign with the name Catherine Muller arrived at the empty storefront at 279 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. According to her website, Muller is a floral designer and teacher with outposts in Paris, London, New York and Seoul.

It's not exactly clear at the moment what will be in this storefront — a floral school or a retail shop.

You can find examples of her floral arrangements at her Instagram account.

It will be the first tenant here since Juice Press packed up and left in the spring of 2015. While JP is expanding like crazy, this was the one time they closed a location, due to, we heard, ongoing frustrations with landlord Steve Croman.

Thanks to EVG regular Daniel for the photo!

A new meaning for bank fishing

EVG regular Jose Garcia spotted this on Ninth Street near First Avenue... and part of our ongoing found fish-heads-on-sidewalk series (like here and here).

P.S.
What is bank fishing?

Down at 1st

EVG reader William Klayer shares these photos from this morning at East Houston and the FDR along East River Park ... showing a tree casualty from yesterday's late-afternoon/early-evening storms that passed through the city...



The tree appears to have fallen roughly where first base is on the ballfield... (looks like field 4?)

San Loco is closing its 2nd Avenue location after today

After today, San Loco will no longer have a presence in the East Village.

The quick-serve restaurant took to Instagram yesterday to announce that they are closing on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

We are heartbroken to announce that we are closing our 2nd Ave location due to a rent increase that is unsustainable. Tomorrow, June 20th will be our last day of business. Our other #sanloco locations will remain open so please come visit us. Thank you 2nd avenue for 30+ years, we will surely miss you. 💔#supportsmallbusiness. #theskyiscrying #vivasanloco

A post shared by SAN LOCO (@sanloconyc) on Jun 19, 2017 at 3:52pm PDT

We are heartbroken to announce that we are closing our 2nd Ave location due to a rent increase that is unsustainable. Tomorrow, June 20th will be our last day of business. Our other #sanloco locations will remain open so please come visit us. Thank you 2nd avenue for 30+ years, we will surely miss you.

Owner Jill Hing, whose brothers opened this location in 1986, talked to Jeremiah Moss last November about their struggles to stay in business.

There are many factors that contribute to our struggle to survive — and the noose definitely keeps tightening. Our customer base has been mostly squeezed out of this neighborhood as a consequence of hyper-gentrification. Rent is a constant source of stress. In our case, as with many long-standing businesses, we are at the mercy of the landlord and live in fear of our next rent renewal.

They can raise your rent exponentially to just force you out, or they can charge you above market because they know moving is not a viable option. For example, one of our location's lease is up in the spring, we have been tenants there for 20 years, but still they are asking about 15-20% above the comps around us because they know moving is expensive, disruptive, and can cost us our liquor license (although San Loco obtained the liquor license it stays with the address). And regardless of our good standing with the community board, we could be denied a new license, or most likely, be given one with limitations. There are moratoriums on most blocks now because of the over saturation of restaurants/bars in the neighborhood.

Rent aside, there's also more competition, with Otto's Tacos and Taqueria Diana opening nearby in recent years.

The Avenue A San Loco closed in 2014 after 15 years in business.

More about plans to add 2 levels to this possibly haunted 10th Street beauty

Plans to add a two-level extension to the long-empty townhouse at 104 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Second Avenue are moving forward.

Tonight, CB3's Landmarks Committee is hearing a proposal on the partial rooftop addition, which is "set back 14 feet at the first level and 18 feet at the second level," per the paperwork...



Here's a look at a rendering ...



... and some detailed plans (find more here)...



As previously reported, the townhouse, built in 1879, will be converted into a single-family home. The address, once the property of reclusive real-estate baron William Gottleib, sold in 2013 for $3.5 million to an entity going by North Sydney LLC.

No. 104 is within the St. Mark's Historic District and needs the proper approvals before moving forward with any vertical extensions. (The work permits were last disapproved in November.)

The building has been vacant for years. The last (and lone) tenant was playwright, poet and performance artist Edgar Oliver.

This article from 1998 in The New York Times suggests that the place could possibly be haunted. But as Oliver said at the time, "The house I do believe is haunted. Alas, it is only with memories."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Plans to convert the haunted beauty 104 E. 10th St. into a single-family home with 2 extra floors

The charmingly shabby interiors of 104 E. 10th St

[An interior photo from 2012]

Recognizing 27 Cooper Square's role in local history

When developers of the Cooper Square Hotel (now the Standard East Village) were buying up properties to demolish to make way for their 21-floor building, two residents of 27 Cooper Square declined to leave their longtime home (the two had secured artists' loft status in the 1980s, and weren't legally required to move) ... and so the circa-1845 tenement became fused together with the new structure.

Today, No. 27 houses part of the hotel, including administrative offices and the front desk. (The residences remain upstairs.)

And tonight at 6, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is unveiling a plaque at the building between Fifth Street and Sixth Street to note its importance in neighborhood history.

Via the EVG inbox...

GVSHP and the Two Boots Foundation will commemorate the role of 27 Cooper Square as an important nexus for artistic and cultural movements that continue to reverberate today with the unveiling of a historic plaque.

In the 1960s, this 1845 former rooming house became a laboratory for artistic, literary and political currents. Writers LeRoi and Hettie Jones, their Yugen magazine and Totem Press, musician Archie Shepp and painter Elizabeth Murray all had homes here. The vacant building was transformed into a vital hub of cultural life, attracting leading figures including those from the Beats and the world of jazz. It was also the childhood home of a second generation of East Village artists and thinkers.

GVSHP and Two Boots Foundation will install a plaque on the building at 27 Cooper Square to mark the significance of the site in the artistic legacy of the East Village. Speakers will include, Accra Shepp, photographer and son of world-renowned saxophonist Archie Shepp who lived in the building beginning in the 1960s, and writer and poet Hettie Jones, who still lives at 27 Cooper Square will speak about the importance of this building as a hub of creativity.

Unfortunately, neighboring 35 Cooper Square didn't fare as well in subsequent years.

Updated:

250 E. Houston is officially no longer Red Square

Just noting that the Red Square signage was recently removed from 250 E. Houston St. between Avenue A and Avenue B...



The 13-floor building changed hands for a reported $100 million last fall... The Dermot Company has stated they are "creating a more updated style and fit for the cool East Village neighborhood" with the renovations at the retail-residential complex.

Red Square opened for occupancy in June 1989. Workers removed the building's statue of Lenin from the roof last September. It's now standing on a nearby rooftop on Norfolk Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors: Red Square has been sold

New ownership makes it official at the former Red Square on East Houston

Apartment listings at 250 E. Houston look to offer glimpse of former Red Square's future

Long-vacant retail space hits the rental market at 250 E. Houston St.

Monday's parting shot

[Click to go big]

Thanks to EVG reader R. P. Tanaka for this excellent double rainbow shot from this evening...

Rainy days and Mondays

As previously reported, it is raining. And Bobby Williams was out in the middle out it... and shared this from Tompkins Square Park.

HDFC homeowners to rally at City Hall Wednesday morning

HDFC homeowners are holding a rally on the steps of City Hall this Wednesday morning. The above flyer has all the details.

As previously reported, there are proposed new regulations on nearly 1,200 privately owned co-ops, including a number in the East Village.

Here's a recap from an EVG reader and co-op resident about what's happening from an earlier post:

This new proposed Regulatory Agreement is overreaching and would result in a loss of autonomy and decision-making abilities that benefit HDFC buildings, as well as costing individual shareholders hard-earned equity.

The new rules include a 30 percent flip tax on all units when they sell; the requirement of hiring outside managers and monitors at our expense; a ban on owning other residential property within a 100-mile radius of New York City; and more draconian clauses. Community meetings to discuss the agreement have been contentious and hostile, and so far not one HDFC in the entire city has publicly supported the plan. Very few HDFCs in the city need financial help and we strongly oppose a "one size fits all" regulatory agreement that will cost us money, resources, and most important, value in our home equity.

For more background, you may visit the HDFC Coalition website here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Meeting on Jan. 17 for shareholders living in HDFC buildings

CB3 will hear HPD presentation on HDFC regulatory agreement this Wednesday night

Mancora returning to 1st Avenue in new location

Last week, we reported that Mancora had closed... and workers had gutted the interior of the Peruvian restaurant here on Sixth Street and First Avenue.

However, over the weekend, signs arrived noting that Mancora was going to open across the street (H/T to EVG reader JP on 7th St.) ...





...and there are signs at Spicewala Bar Indian Cuisine with the Mancora message...





Mancora's arrival will likely stop the restaurant carousel that has been going on since Banjara moved to Second Avenue in 2013.

So after Banjara, Figaro Villaggio, an Italian bar-restaurant, opened in January 2014. They later changed the name to Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill and, by November 2014, gave up part of the space to Apna Masala. In March 2015, Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill changed its names/concepts to La Esquina Bar & Grill ... then the name evolved to La Esquina Burritos and Bar ... and eventually East Village Burritos & Bar. Then Spicewala Bar Indian Cuisine. And, soon, Mancora.

Mazmaza is the 4th restaurant to try 320 E. 6th St. since last September

Until earlier this month, 320 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue was Amoun Kitchen and Lounge, a Moroccan restaurant and hookah bar...



Then the gates stayed down and someone painted over the Amoun awning... and now the place is Mazmaza, which also serves Moroccan cuisine...



There has been a lot of changes at No. 320 since last September, when Zerza announced it was closing for renovations. Then came 'Merica, co-founded by Zach Neil, an owner of the Tim Burton-themed Beetle House a few doors away on Sixth Street as well as the now-closed Stay Classy, the bar for Will Ferrell fans on Rivington Street. (An investor who teamed up with the owners of Stay Classy is now reportedly suing them.)

'Merica, an alleged attempt at satirizing the "real America," closed after three weeks in business... with Zerza returning to service for four months. Then Amoun now Mazmaza. Next!