Noted

An EVG reader shared this photo from earlier today on Second Street at Avenue A... the reader wasn't sure how long the sign has been here, but thought it kept in the spirit of recent dog-poop urban etiquette signage (here and here) around the neighborhood...

Updated: Bomb squad out on 3rd Avenue and 13th Street

EVG reader Sheila Meyer shares these photos from Third Avenue and 13th Street ... where the NYPD has blocked off the west intersection of 13th Street... the Bomb Squad is on the scene...



No word just yet what is happening here...

Updated 3:56

From the scene: "It was nothing! An empty suitcase someone put out for garbage."

And thanks to the reader in the comments who left the link to this 9th Precinct tweet...

3RD Ave from East 11th to 14TH Streets were closed briefly while we investigated a suspicious package. Happy to report all is clear and the streets are back open. #IfYouSeeSomethingSaySomething #NYPD pic.twitter.com/K2D68c80ab

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) February 8, 2018

[Updated] Report: Handsome Dick Manitoba arrested for domestic violence

According to the Confidential column at the Daily News, Handsome Dick Manitoba was arrested last week for allegedly assaulting Zoe Hansen, his former domestic partner.

The two are owners of Manitoba's on Avenue B and reportedly still share access to the same East Village apartment.

Per the News:

According to the police report, obtained by the Daily News, Hansen was “crying, with tears streaming down her face and her body shaking,” when officers arrived. She told the cops, “He bit me. He bit my nose. He grabbed my neck and applied pressure.”

An NYPD spokesperson confirmed to Billboard that Manitoba was arrested at 10:15 a.m. last Friday.

An NYPD rep told Variety that he was charged with third-degree assault, criminal mischief and attempted strangulation. Manitoba, who was the lead singer of the Dictators, is due back in Manhattan Criminal Court on March 26.

Updated 2/13

According to Page Six, Hansen allegedly smashed a window at Manitoba's on Sunday night. Manitoba's lawyer Frank Rothman told Richard Johnson at Page Six that Hansen came to the bar for money. When the bartender refused, "she picked up a bottle of wine and smashed the window," Rothman said.

Manitoba, who denies the previous assault claims, filed a police report at the 9th Precinct yesterday, Page Six reported.

The Source Unltd Print and Copy Shop celebrating 36 years on 9th Street

[Manhattan Sideways. Photograph by Peter Nicholson]

The Source Unltd Print and Copy Shop is celebrating its 36th year of business in the same East Village location over at 331 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

"We're planning a series of events to celebrate sticking around for so long," proprietor Santo Mollica told me in an email. (More on those events later.)

Meanwhile, the shop that Mollica runs with his wife Margaret was the subject of a recent feature on Manhattan Sideways:

Though Santo is always adapting his shop and adding new items, he says that “it’s really about the people, not the things.” The East Village veterans mentor retailers who are new on the street, and they have built relationships with customers from all walks of life. They have also been running a food drive in their store for over twenty years. “Sometimes people come in and give, other times they take,” says Santo.

When we asked the couple, in early 2018, if they ever thought about retirement, even their dog Curtis looked amused. “Retirement? I don’t know what that means,” Margaret replied. Smiling, Santo added ... “We work for ourselves. We love it. And we have to keep it up to survive. The neighborhood is always evolving, but we can’t think of a place we’d rather be.”

The Source is also one of the businesses on this block taking part in the "shopping crawl" today from 4-7. (More details about that event here.)


[Manhattan Sideways. Photograph by Peter Nicholson]

Photos reprinted with permission

Previously on EV Grieve:
Honors for one of the most unique shops in the East Village

Another opportunity to talk about the L-train shutdown

[EVG file photo]

Via the EVG inbox...

Please attend the CB3 Feb. 13 Transportation Committee meeting regarding the coming L Train shutdown in April 2019. MTA and DOT representatives will present the latest plans and answer your questions.

The Transportation Committee will vote on a resolution to send your concerns to the MTA and DOT and ask for plans to address these concerns.

We need your help identify possible impacts and problems that need to be addressed.

Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Grace Church School, 46 Cooper Square (at 6th Street/the Bowery)

The shutdown of the L — between Bedford Avenue and Eighth Avenue to repair the Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel — is expected to last 15 months with a start date of April 2019.

Last days for Ricky's on 3rd Avenue

As noted back on Jan. 16, the Ricky's location on Third Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street is closing. In case you missed the signs in the window, Sunday is the last day.

Ricky’s NYC president, Michael Long, told the Commercial Observer last fall that the chain is closing "underperforming stores" and that the company is now profitable. Apparently the East Village isn't so profitable: The Ricky's on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street closed without any notice in March 2016.

Still, there's a Ricky's set to open on Broadway near 12th Street.

The mini chain (there are 18 locations) selling accessories, cosmetics and novelties started as Ricky Love in 1989.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ricky's is closing on 3rd Avenue

The Ricky's on 1st Avenue has apparently closed

Once again, the rent is past due at the long-empty DF Mavens space

[Photos yesterday by Steven]

There's another notice "Demanding Payment of Rent" taped to the front door of the long-empty DF Mavens storefront on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place....



The owners of the vegan ice cream shop owe the January and February rent ($25k plus change) and some taxes for a $54,111.85 total.

DFM closed in January 2016 after two years in business on this northwest corner.

The storefront has sat empty these past two years without even a for rent sign in sight.

The holidays live on at the Astor Place Kmart

Kmart on Astor Place may be in a state of flux, downsizing from three floors to two... but it looks as if they won't be giving up on offering early opportunities to prep for the holidays.

Goggla spotted this St. Patrick's Day (St. Partick's" per the sign) display, complete with red plastic cups, Corona, green bow ties and other things that you'll find lying on the street come March 18.

Midday snow photo break

[Click to go big]

Photo in Tompkins Square Park today by Allen Semanco...

Reminders: CB3 committees to hear more about the Union Square tech hub tonight

[Rendering via RAL Development]

As noted back on Jan. 25, CB3's Joint Economic Development Committee and Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee will hear more about the Mayor's proposed 20-story tech hub on 14th Street during its meeting tonight. (It takes place at 6:30 at the Henry Street Settlement, Youth Services Gymnasium, 301 Henry St.)

Mayor de Blasio is proposing to turning the city-owned P.C. Richard site on 14th Street at Irving Place into a "workforce development and digital skills training center," among other things.

Here's more about the proposed 240,000 square-foot facility via Crain's:

Civic Hall, a nonprofit that promotes collaboration to solve civic problems with technology, would operate six floors of the building. Half the space would be used for co-working and meetings for the city’s philanthropy, business and tech sectors. The other half is slated to be occupied by five organizations offering tech training. General Assembly, for example, hosts intense coding courses. Per Scholas, a national nonprofit, offers its free tech training to underserved populations that, on average, make less than $20,000 per year before enrolling in and roughly double that income after graduating.

To make this happen, the site/area needs to be upzoned. This zoning change is of particular concern to some area residents and preservationists, who have stressed that the fabric of the neighborhood could be lost with a rash of new developments south of Union Square along Broadway, University Place and Fourth Avenue. (The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has been leading the efforts behind a rezoning of the area to enforce some height restrictions and affordable housing requirements. The group makes their case here.)

On Jan. 29, the Economic Development Corporation, the city agency overseeing the hub's development, presented the proposal to the Planning Commission, the first step in the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), as Curbed reported.

The tech-hub project will eventually need Planning Commission and City Council approval. The public-review process is expected to take about around seven months. Crain's lays out here why the hub faces "a thorny approval process."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Behold Civic Hall, the high-tech future of Union Square — and NYC

Speaking out against a 'Silicon Alley' in this neighborhood

P.C. Richard puts up the moving signs on 14th Street; more Tech Hub debate to come

Veselka among the first food vendors to anchor the Market Line at Essex Crossing

[Rendering by SHoP Architects]

The developers of Essex Crossing yesterday announced some of the food vendors that will help anchor the Market Line, a 150,000-square-foot retail destination. Several familiar names will be part of the first phase of the market, including outposts of Ippudo and Veselka.

Here's Eater with more:

Anchored among three buildings underground near Essex and Delancey streets, with window access that looks up to the sidewalk level, the Market Line at development Essex Crossing will unfurl with a three-phase rollout.

By fall, it will house more than 40 food vendors picked to complement the city landmark, the 70-plus year old Essex Street Market — with Shopsins, Saxelby Cheesemongers, and Luis Meat Kitchen among vendors making the trek to the new complex, slated to open in conjunction with the phase-one Market Line purveyors.

And you can head to The Lo-Down for more on the other vendors.

As previously reported, the Market Line will stretch over three city blocks. An estimated two-thirds of the retail spaces will be devoted to food. Per The New York Times: "The market’s developers are already comparing it to world-class establishments like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; Boqueria in Barcelona, Spain; and Borough Market in London."


[Click for the big view]

This will be Veselka's second attempt at opening an outpost away from the mothership on Second Avenue and Ninth Street. Velselka Bowery closed in 2013 after a 17-month at Avalon Bowery Place.

1st sign of activity at the former Cafe Orlin space on St. Mark's Place

People have been asking about the former Cafe Orlin space on St. Mark's Place. There hasn't been much activity — outside the "no trespassing" notices since the Cafe closed last fall.

One item to note: The recent arrival of a work permit (note the helpful arrow above).

Per the ALL-CAP stylings of the DOB: APPLICATION FILED FOR MINOR INTERIOR CONSTRUCTION WORK AND INSTALLATION OF BANQUETTES WITH PLUMBING WORK AS PER PLAN. The estimated work cost is nearly $40,000.

Emporium Design is listed as the applicant of record. Their East Village interior-design résumé includes Boulton & Watt, Drexler's, the Blind Barber and Pourt.

Anyway, no word just yet on what's to come here between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Grub Street reported in September that the Cafe Orlin owner is also the building's landlord, "and a new restaurant will open in its place."

Cafe Orlin closed on Oct. 15 after 36 years at the address.