Photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg...
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Impromptu
Today was Day 1 for the piano in use in Tompkins Square Park as part of the annual Sing For Hope campaign. Steven shared this photo of Helen the Accordion Lady making music on a different instrument.
Lady JDay designed this piano. Read more about it on this previous post.
The piano will be here through June 24.
9th Precinct beat: dining with a stolen credit card at Veselka; stealing then sprinting with a cane
The NYPD is asking for assistance in tracking down suspects in two recent thefts on Second Avenue...
And!
Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.
The man pictured here was captured on 🎥 helping himself to a nice dinner Friday May 25 around 7PM at Veselka Restaurant in the #EastVillage. Only problem is he was using a stolen credit card. If you have any info on him we ask you to call #800577TIPS pic.twitter.com/v8aKcjKqog
— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 6, 2018
And!
On Thursday May 31 at 2:30PM the man pictured here entered a coffee shop on 2 Ave in the #EastVillage and took a customer's wallet. He uses a cane to help him steal property but sprints away after exiting store. If you have any info on him call #800577TIPS #NYC pic.twitter.com/y8ZfaTbAdp
— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 5, 2018
Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.
Noted
[EVG file photo]
Major changes appear in store for IHOP Way, aka 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.
Per the Post today:
IHOP says it’s changing its name to IHOb, and it will explain why on Monday.
The 60-year-old franchise’s coy announcement was made on Twitter on Tuesday.
“For 60 pancakin’ years, we’ve been IHOP. Now, we’re flippin’ our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb”
Grub Street weighs in on the marketing gimmick here.
This IHOP location opened in September 2011.
Tokuyama Salon Cafe now serving coffee and croissants on 6th Street
The owner of Tokuyama Salon at 627 E. Sixth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C recently took over ownership of the cafe next door ... the Tokuyama Salon Cafe sells a variety of coffee drinks (they serve Counter Coulter Coffee) and croissants, muffins, scones etc. ...
The cafe is open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The space was previously Bakeri NYC, which decided to move on at the end of April.
Bottom two images via Facebook
New retail space hits the market at 116 St. Mark's Place
The ground-floor space at No. 116 between Avenue A and First Avenue Avenue recently arrived on the market.
The listing notes that the 900-square-feet of space (plus 500 square feet out back) is "Perfect for Cafe, Wine Bar, etc. All uses considered. Landlord will vent."
The retail listing coincides with the sale of the building, which was recorded on May 25. Public records show that the seller, 116 Saint Marks Place LLC, sold the five-story building to 116 St. Marks LLC for $5 million. (The buyer shares the address with Cecora Investment Advisers, a diversified commercial real estate investment brokerage and consulting company.)
The potential retail was (or is) home to a Ukrainian religious organization, which you can read about here (keep scrolling).
Third Street Music School's free noontime summer music series starts tomorrow
[Click on image for more details]
Third Street Music School's free, outdoor summer concert series starts tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in front of St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery on 10th Street and Second Avenue.
Via the EVG inbox...
These lunchtime concerts present professional bands representing musical traditions from around the world, including Klezmer, Flamenco, Jazz, Eastern European and Asian, and features Third Street students participating in the school's summer chamber music workshop.
June 7 – Art Baron & Friends
June 14 – David Moreno
June 21 – Arturo O'Farrill Sextet
June 28 – Eve Sicular and Isle of Klezbos
July 5 – Arthur Lipner and Brazilian Vibes
July 12 – Third Street Chamber Music Players
July 19 – Gypsy Jazz Caravan
Find more info on the musicians here.
1st glass: 80 E. 10th St. shows off its floor-to-ceiling windows
Here's a look at the 10-floor condoplex shaping up over on 10th Street and Fourth Avenue... as previously noted, there will be 12 units here in the development called Eighty East Tenth, ranging from one to five bedrooms...
Prices range from $1.95 million to "wow, seriously?" (Of the 10 units listed at the Eighty East Tenth website, eight are in contract, with a fall move-in date.)
Here's a look at the final product, via designer NAVA... the rendering is not too accurate, given that there isn't a line outside Tim Ho Wan across the street...
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Not half bad
Thanks to @mightymelissaleon for sharing this photo from 11th Street near Avenue B ... (yes, it moved — a little).
Here's Lady Jday's Sing For Hope piano that will be in Tompkins Square Park the next few weeks
[Image via Sing For Hope]
Starting today, the NYC-based nonprofit Sing For Hope will once again place 50 colorfully decorated pianos in parks and other locations around the five boroughs through June 24. The program is now in its seventh year.
Lady JDay, who was born in Paris, created the piano (pictured above) that will be in Tompkins Square Park for the next few weeks.
Here's more about her work via the Sing For Hope website:
For Lady JDay, commitment is both a necessity and a way of working. This can be seen in her paintings where women's rights are advocated. Whether these women are strong or the victims of violence and oppression, Lady JDay stands up for them. Portraying women is for her an approach and a governing principle.
Lady Jday is a committed artist who contributes through her painting and performances in Street Art to the recognition of women and their multiple talents. Her colorful and lively work, with expressive features, testifies to her ability to feel and relay their emotions. Lady Jday is in line with the Guerilla Girls, which promotes the place of women and people of color in the arts, and she's inspired by artists of Street Art and its encounters and travels.
This piano is a tribute to Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie.
After June 25, Sing for Hope will donate the pianos to NYC public schools.
For more information, visit the Sing For Hope website here.
Updated 5 p.m.
The piano has arrived in the Park... though it remains under wraps...
Thanks to Steven for the photos...
New state legislation aims to combat predatory equity
Local elected officials introduced joint legislation on Sunday targeting the practice of predatory equity.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein and various tenants and advocates were present at a press conference outside the office of Westminster Management, a Kushner Companies subsidiary, on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. There, they discussed the legislation, which directs the New York State Department of Finanical Services (DFS) to collect data on financial institutions that lend to property owners with the intent to displace current tenants.
Per the announcement:
Specifically, the bill requires DFS to investigate the role financial institutions play in encouraging anti-tenant practices by notorious landlords like Jared Kushner, Steve Croman and Raphael Toledano.
Similar to the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, lax underwriting standards and a general lack of transparency have allowed speculators and real estate agents to secure outsized mortgages with very little discretion and oversight. Owners use these loans to make purchases based on unrealistic projections of rising rents, and in turn have difficulty paying the mortgages.
Building owners — anxious to recoup on their hefty investments — often resort to abusive and exploitative tactics to drive rent-regulated tenants out. These abusive practices, known as predatory equity, are best-exemplified by figures like Steve Croman and Jared Kushner.
In the fall of 2015, after the Daily News reported that the state was investigating Toledano for tenant harassment at 444 E. 13th St., he received two loans totaling $124 million from private equity firm Madison Realty Capital to buy and renovate a 16-building East Village portfolio.
Per The Real Deal in an article last July:
The leverage on the deal — which clocked in at 128 percent compared to the typical 50 to 65 percent on a New York City multifamily deal — raises questions about how culpable lenders are in perpetuating harassment. In short, are they turning a blind eye when their borrowers too-aggressively push to turn rent-stabilized apartments into luxury units?
Pressured to generate income from the buildings to pay off his loans, Toledano reportedly attempted widespread buyouts. And many of the tenants at the buildings accused him of harassment.
"No longer can we allow landlords like Kushner, Croman and Toledano to force our neighbors out of their homes in order to make a quick buck," Hoylman said in a statement. "We demand that New York State investigate the practice of predatory equity so we can take the necessary steps to protect rent regulated tenants from harassment and eviction."
Said the recently elected Epstein: "This legislation will bring us closer to stopping the practice of predatory equity before it starts the cycle of tenant harassment and displacement that has become all too familiar in our city. Bad actor landlords and scheming financiers should take note: your days of destabilizing our neighborhoods with your shady business practices are numbered."
Croman was released from jail on Friday after serving eight months of a year-long sentence for fraud.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Raphael Toledano files for Chapter 11; $145 million deal for EV portfolio is off the table
Raphael Toledano tenants take to Midtown streets to speak out against their landlord and his lenders
A record payday for an East Village walk-up co-op
[Image via Streeteasy]
A co-op on the fifth floor of 541 E. 12th St. went into contract for more than $1.9 million last month after a bidding war with seven offers topping the asking price less than three weeks after it was listed, The Wall Street Journal reported. (The article is behind the paper's paywall.)
According to data from Corcoran, this penthouse apartment at No. 541 between Avenue A and Avenue B is the third-highest priced sale for a walk-up on the fifth floor or above in the East Village. In addition, it is also the most expensive sale of a co-op unit, the Journal reported.
No. 541 was boarded up and abandoned in 1986 when the seller of the penthouse and a group of friends who lived in the neighborhood bought it from the city and turned it into a co-op. They paid $380,000 for the five-story building and spent about $600,000 renovating it and moved in.
The sellers will be moving to a second home they own on Long Island while the buyers already lived in the East Village, per the Journal. (Another co-op in the building is on the market for $1.15 million.)
Meanwhile, a duplex penthouse on the sixth floor of a walk-up at 211 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C "will test the limits of high-floor walk-ups" when the four-bedroom, four-bath residence hits the market for about $5.5 million.
The article notes that walk-ups are becoming more desirable:
Despite the stairs, higher floors often mean more light, less street noise, better views, a chance to keep fit, and a lower price per square foot, brokers say. And those apartments have become more palatable in the age of grocery delivery and e-commerce, as consumers shop more online and don’t have to lug items up the stairs.
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