Feeling blue about the Cherry Tavern

[EVG photo from 2010]

The always (mostly!) reliable spot on Sixth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue is now...



Blue — very blue!

Thanks to Goggla for the new paint-job pic!

That sinkhole feeling

Back on Wednesday, workers started making repairs on the sinkhole at the Eighth Street/Avenue B entrance to Tompkins Square Park... there hasn't been any work on the hole since then.

It appears there is still a broken section of pipe, per these photos from today ...



No one is around to ask... so no word on what the delay might be. Waiting for a part?

Also, as you can see in the top photo, there were a lot of pigeons to the left of the hole... it appears that someone fed them...

Open Day tomorrow (Sunday!) at the local Marble Cemeteries

[Photo of the New York City Marble Cemetery on 2nd Street]

From Noon until 6 p.m. tomorrow at the New York City Marble Cemetery (above) on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue ...



Meanwhile, The New York Marble Cemetery at 41 1/2 Second Ave. between Second Street and Third Street is also open tomorrow from noon to 4 p.m.

H/T EVG reader Spike!

Noted

Possible bed bugs, tapering off later today. The high is expected to be 86 degrees with a low of 70 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

First Avenue between Second Street and Third Street.

The 'Wonder' boys

Here from the Bronx to sing for you this evening — Dion & The Belmonts with "I Wonder Why" circa 1958.

Tonight's free film in Tompkins Square Park has been postponed until Sunday

The Films on the Green screening tonight of "Port of Shadows (Quai des brumes)" in Tompkins Square Park has been postponed due to the rain. New date: Sunday, July 16, at 8:30 p.m. ...

Tonight screening of PORT OF SHADOWS postponed due to rain: new date Sunday July 16 - 8:30pm in Tompkins Sq. https://t.co/68KAPPqQfy pic.twitter.com/v1KrLNNmjR

— Films on the Green (@FilmsontheGreen) July 14, 2017

EV Grieve Etc.: Concern over L train shutdown; praise for Little Tong Noodle House

[Photo on 4th Street by Derek Berg]

Appeals Court overturns Sheldon Silver’s conviction on corruption charges (The Lo-Down)

Concern over the L train shutdown (amNew York)

Praise for two newish Vietnamese restaurants in the East Village, Hanoi House and Madame Vo (The New York Times)

The Roger Ailes Memorial Show on display in this LES gallery (artNews)

East Village-based Artichoke Basille Pizza opening an outpost in South Beach (Miami New Times)

Pete Wells gives two stars to Little Tong Noodle House on First Avenue at 11th Street (The New York Times)

Where artists live in NYC (Curbed)

There's a new sales team for Ben Shaoul's Orchard Street condoplex (The Real Deal)

Community service for alleged neo-Nazi who assaulted two Columbia University students on the LES (The Post ... previously)

A bartender and her favorite regular went sober, but still hang out at B-side on Avenue B (Vice)

Life after Croman (The Real Deal)

Stuyvesant Square Park fence finally restored (Town & Village)

Interview with Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Spin)

Bad Brains on 11th Street (Flaming Pablum)

Via the EVG inbox: "Please join the Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World for an educational seminar on the Marshall Islands and its ongoing struggle from the radiological contamination due to nuclear weapons testing during the 1940s and 1950s." The seminar will take place at Maryhouse, 55 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue from 2-4:30 p.m. tomorrow (July 15).

At the 'Not Another Starbucks Rally'

Last evening at 5:30, a group of residents, small-business owners and activists gathered on St. Mark's Place and Avenue A to speak out about the incoming Starbucks coming to this corner as well as the proliferation of chain stores in the East Village.

EVG regular Peter Brownscombe shared these photos...



At the rally, participants called for the approval of a Special Retail District that would limit the size and number of chain stores and promote retail diversity that is currently under consideration by Community Board 3 and draw attention to the need for a City Council hearing on the Small Business Jobs Survival Act.







The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, East Village Independent Merchants Association, and the East Village Community Coalition organized the event.

City Council candidate Carlina Rivera attended the rally, and said that she supported a special zoning district for the neighborhood.

As reported by Bedford + Bowery: "It’s an important step for us to show that we are done," Rivera said, adding that local residents "want to keep our neighborhood authentic and we want to make sure that how it remains authentic is having the local mom and pops that you know."

In an article published yesterday morning, DNAinfo's Allegra Hobbs spoke with a few East Village business owners who are concerned about "the impact the chain’s move eastward will have on their operations, the local economy and on the neighborhood’s broader culture."

Photos below via Steven...





There was also free coffee courtesy of Mud over on Ninth Street...



"[T]his is one of the most special, unique neighborhoods around," James Armata, Mud's general manager, told Patch at the rally. "It keeps on getting less and less so with constant chains moving in. It could be Starbucks, it could be anything."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Steve Cuozzo: 'A new Starbucks will make the thriving East Village an even better place to live'

A look the incoming Starbucks on St. Mark's and Avenue A, site of a rally on July 13

Public forum set to discuss special business district in the East Village

City ready to attack rats in Tompkins Square Park (and elsewhere) (again)

Our plan to e-RAT-icate NYC’s vermin problem is underway – Bigbelly garbage cans are being installed in Tompkins Square Park! pic.twitter.com/MmwNOvyWUx

— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) July 13, 2017

The war on rats began (again) yesterday as city workers installed new Big Belly trash cans in Tompkins Square Park...


[Photo by EVG reader Andy on 7th]

These solar-powered, rat-proof trash cans — which cost $7,000 each, per the Daily News — seem to work when they are not full or have trash stacked next to them...


[Photo from June]


[Photo from June]

The high-tech trash cans are just part of Mayor de Blasio's $32 million plan to help reduce the number of rats in several neighborhoods, including the East Village.

The Mayor announced the renewed rat attack on Wednesday. Here's more via the Mayor's Office:

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced a $32 million, multi-agency plan to reduce the city’s rat population that targets the three most infested parts of city: the Grand Concourse area, Chinatown/East Village/Lower East Side and Bushwick/Bedford-Stuyvesant. This interagency initiative aims to reduce rat activity by up to 70 percent in the targeted zones by minimizing food sources and available habitats.

This integrated pest management approach will build on the success of the City’s current rat abatement programs and attack environmental factors conducive to rats, which is more effective than poisoning rats alone. By dramatically reducing the available habitats and food sources in targeted areas, rat reproduction will diminish and rat colonies will decline.

The City will achieve this by cementing dirt basements in NYCHA, purchasing better waste containers, increasing trash pickup and increasing enforcement of rat-related violations in these areas. All aspects of this plan will be launched by the end of 2017.

To reduce the rat population, the de Blasio Administration will implement the following new programs in the three mitigation zones:

• New waste containers: The City will purchase 336 solar compactors that restrict access to trash with a “mail-box” opening and that have resulted in 90% rat reductions when fully deployed in concentrated areas. The City will also replace all the remaining wire waste baskets in the zones with 1,676 steel cans — both in parks and on street corners — which should meaningfully reduce rats’ access to food sources compared to current wire baskets. Installation of solar compactors and steels cans will begin by September.

• Better trash management in DOHMH-designated areas: The plan proposes a local law that requires buildings containing more than 10 units within the Mitigation Zones to curb garbage after 4am the day of trash collection, greatly reducing the availability of rats’ food source.

To further minimize rats’ food source, local laws will be proposed to require enrollment in organics collection by Food Service Establishments and low-performing buildings in the DOHMH-designated areas. A citywide local law will also be proposed to increase fines for illegal dumping by private business from $1,500 to $5,000 for first time offenses, with fines reaching up to $20,000 for additional violations.

• More frequent trash pickup and anti-rat staff: The plan calls for increased DSNY basket and residential service in the most critical areas within the Mitigation Zones. Similarly, NYC Parks basket pickup will become an everyday occurrence in all parks within the Mitigation Zones, accompanied by targeted litter removal from parks.

Increased DSNY and NYC Parks waste basket pick up has already begun, with increased DSNY residential pick up beginning by the end of August. Eight staff will be added to DOHMH’s anti-rat team; seven front-line staff and a sophisticated data scientist to allow DOHMH to conduct data-driven rat mitigation efforts. Finally, NYCHA’s MyNYCHA mobile app will be modified to ensure tenants can effectively create work orders for trash removal and rat mitigation.

• New laws to require better trash management: We will work with City Council to introduce new laws to improve trash management and reduce food for rats in these mitigation zones. These laws will require buildings with 10+ units to put out trash at 4 AM in DOHMH set areas, call for low-performing buildings to enroll in organics collection, instruct Food Service Establishments to enroll in organics in areas set by DOHMH, and increase fines for improper waste disposal and illegal dumping.

The plans did not include deploying more of the most-effective rat catchers in Tompkins Square Park...





Hawk photos by Bobby Williams

Previously on EV Grieve:
This may have a chilling effect on the rat population in Tompkins Square Park

East Village is No. 1 in Lower Manhattan for garbage, noise and rodent complaints, study finds

The East Village will be testing ground for a 'rat reservoir pilot'

Oh rats: CB3 reportedly tops in Manhattan for vermin

217 E. 3rd St. is for sale (plus air rights)

The four-story retail-residential building at 217 E. Third St. between Avenue B and C is now on the market.

Here's the listing via Cushman & Wakefield:

The building has a vacant turnkey bar/restaurant on the ground floor and three free market floor-through apartments above (with month to month tenants). It is believed that two of the apartments were recently renovated. The usable basement is accessible via the common area and houses the mechanicals and storage area. The building is approximately 4,160 SF above grade, and there are approximately 4,700 SF of remaining air rights. All of the utilities are separately metered for gas and electric and each unit has a gas-fired furnace and hot water heater. The square footage does not include a one story structure at the rear of the property which is separated by a small courtyard area. The building is classified as Tax Class 2A and therefore ownership benefits from limits in significant tax increases.

This is a rare opportunity for an investor or owner-user to acquire a low maintenance building in the East Village with little to no capital expenditure. The surrounding area has a wide array of great shopping, dining and nightlife options. The neighborhood has experienced rapid transformation in recent years which has attracted a younger population drawn to the area’s new developments and exciting streetscape.

Asking price: $6 million.

The currently vacant retail space was last put to use by Corlear's NYC, a "Pre-Prohibition style bar executing vintage cocktails." They opened in December 2015 and closed sometime early this year. Three years ago, the cocktail bar Elsa closed in this space. Elsa just reopened in Cobble Hill. Per the Times yesterday: "So many of our new regulars are old regulars who moved out here,” said Natalka Burian, 35, who owns the bar with her husband, Jay Schneider, 37, and her brother-in-law Scott Schneider, 30."

Former Chao Chao space for rent on Avenue A

The for rent sign has arrived at 171 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street.

Chao Chao, the 6-month-old contemporary Vietnamese restaurant, closed without any notice to patrons in late May. Chao Chao evolved from Soothsayer, which opened in January 2016. Soothsayer, from the same operators, also closed without any notice to patrons at the end of September 2016. Brown paper covered the front windows for several months before the space re-emerged as Chao Chao last November.

171 Avenue A was also the onetime home of Rat Cage Records and 171A, the illegal club-turned-rehearsal studio that produced records by Bad Brains and the "Polly Wog Stew" EP by the Beastie Boys.

The listing for the space is not yet online.

Previously

H/T EVG reader dwg!

Noted

Spotted on Second Avenue and Seventh Street today... first two photos by Derek Berg...



... and later, or maybe earlier, in Tompkins Square Park...


[Photo by Bobby Williams]