RIP Tony

Several EVG readers have shared the news that Tony (aka Abdul), the longtime owner of the deli at 123 Avenue A, has died.

We don't have any details or background information about Tony at the moment. He was originally from Yemen and ran the shop, which operated under various names, for the past 25 years.

On Sunday, an EV resident left flowers and a note on the closed gate here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place ... "We love you. You will be missed."



Jen Fisher, a sidewalk vendor who sells books nearby, took the two photos here.

"For the last five years he’s looked out for me and was nothing but kind," she said. "It’s so sad to lose him. I'm going to miss him."

Said Marc Kehoe, a longtime neighbor: "Abdul was, I found, gracious, with a sense of humor and always friendly. He always had a kind word, a joke or something nice to say."

Here's a photo from July that Jen took of Tony ...



Will update if we receive more information about Tony's death.

Updated 9 a.m.

This past summer, when there were vigils in Tompkins Square Park to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Tony would bring the group members cold drinks...


[Photo via Felton Davis]

The Vitamin Shoppe on 14th Street and 1st Avenue is closing

The closing signage is up on the southwest corner of 14th Street and First Avenue ... where the Vitamin Shoppe outpost will vacate the space on Nov. 17 ...



The listing for the space doesn't include the asking rent.

Nor sure why this location, which arrived in January 2009, is closing. (Leaving ahead of the L Train Apocalypse?)

This past summer, The Motley Fool listed the Vitamin Shoppe as a brand that may not make it through 2018:

Its sales tumbled for six straight quarters, and analysts expect it to post a 5 percent sales decline and a net loss for the full year. Vitamin Shoppe’s stock tumbled more than 80 percent over the past three years.

Its ongoing store closures might soften the impact on its margins, but it also weakens its brand presence against GNC. There are persistent rumors about GNC merging with Vitamin Shoppe, but combining two losers won’t make a winner ...

The Vitamin Shoppes on Broadway at Astor Place and Union Square East will remain in business.

Report: Arrest made in armed robbery of Mona's on Avenue B

The NYPD arrested a 29-year-old Brooklyn man wanted in connection with four armed robberies in Brooklyn and Manhattan, including Mona's on Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street.

Police took Sanjay McBayne into custody on Saturday following a tip through the Crime Stoppers hotline.

Early last Thursday morning, McBayne allegedly walked into Mona’s "and turned a gun on an employee, demanding cash," as Town & Village reported. He fled the bar with $700.

Lumos Kitchen remains closed

Lumos Kitchen, a high-profile restaurant that opened in the spring at 188 Second Ave. at 12th Street, remains dark.

A sign on the front door, which one neighbor estimates has been here since early August, notes a temporary closure and the words "gas meter."



According to the Department of Buildings, there is a Stop Work Order on the restaurant dated July 25. Per the DOB: "GAS WORK DONE WITHOUT A PERMIT IN KITCHEN OF THE RESTAURANT FOR KITCHEN EQUIPMENT. WORK CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS. NO PERMITS POSTED."

The complaint also notes: "ACCESS TO PREMISES TO INSPECT APPROVED WORK ACTIVE JOB #123258063 HAS BEEN DENIED BY MALE OCCUPANT AT APPROXIMATELY 10:50 AM. STOP ALL UNDER ABOVE CITED APPLICATION... MAKE SITE SAFE ONLY."

There doesn't appear to be much activity inside the dining room...





... and there is mail on the floor....



The phone to the restaurant is not in service. (Ditto for the the Lumos West outpost on Carmine Street.) No one from Lumos responded to an email or Facebook message about the closure. There isn't any mention of any closure on the Lumos website or social media properties. (Their Instagram account has been quiet since July 11.)

As we've seen in the past, these gas-related issues can be a lengthy process with the various parties involved — the DOB, Con Ed and the landlord.

Upon opening in April, The New York Times was generous with its praise in a preview of Lumos Kitchen, noting that the chef "fuses French and Chinese cuisine, in dishes like pan-seared quail with foie gras in a Chinese wine sauce, black bass glazed with baijiu-miso sauce, wok-fried tiger prawns, and foie gras fried rice."

This corner space has been a challenge for restaurants in recent years — Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go — all came and went since March 2015. Before this, Shima had a lengthy stay here until January 2014.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Lumos Kitchen bringing the baijiu to 2nd Avenue

New cafe alert: JQK Floral Tea slated for 11th Street

An EVG reader shares this photo, showing storefront renovations at 330 E. 11th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

A small sign on the front lists the name as JQK Tea. The cafe's placeholder website lists the business name as JQK Floral Tea.

This space was previously home to Fair Folks & a Goat, the coffee shop and boutique, which left in August 2017.

The arrival of a cafe is good news for the block, which has seen mounting losses starting in 2017 with Honeyhaus, Anna, Odin, Pas de Deux and Fair Folks & a Goat. (It's still a good block, though, with Russo's, Veniero's, Tokyo Joe, Buffalo Exchange, Casey Rubber Stamps and Lori McLean Fine Jewelry, among the shops.)

Monday's parting shot

Photo on Second Avenue today via Derek Berg...

StuyFitness debuts on 14th Street

StuyFitness, the new gym on 14th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C for residents of Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village, opened today. (Thanks EVG reader Brian!)

As previously noted, the gym — "7,500 Square Feet of Awesome" — features four Peloton spin bikes and a GYM RAX Storage and Suspension system, among other things.

This site has membership info for residents of Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A gym for Stuy Town on 14th Street — aka '7,500 Square Feet of Awesome'

Tree Bistro's back garden badly damaged in last week's 1st Avenue fire

The low-key Tree Bistro, known for its cozy backyard garden, has not been open since the early-morning fire last Wednesday.

EVG regular Lola Sáenz shared these photos from Saturday...







There is currently a partial vacate order at the address — issued for the rear yard, per the DOB.

To date, there isn't any message to patrons on the Tree Bistro website or Facebook page. Attempts to reach anyone at the restaurant weren't successful.

Report: 188 1st Ave. survives fire; back extension must be demolished

There were concerns about the future of 188 First Ave. after last week's 6-alarm fire. There was speculation that the fire-damaged five-story building might need to be demolished here between 11th Street and 12th Street.

However, city officials said that No. 188 withstood the blaze and won't need to come down.

As Patch reported:

Department of Buildings engineers "have determined that the structural stability of [the building] was unaffected by the fire," according to department spokesman Andrew Rudansky. The structure won't face the wrecking ball.

However, Rudansky said that the extension behind Uogashi will need to be removed...


[Photo on Oct. 3 by Hillary Johnson]

There are eight apartments in the building. Residents have been allowed back in to retrieve personal belongings, but No. 188 is still under a full vacate order, per the DOB.

Officials said they believe the fire, which injured 17 people, including 14 firefighters, began in the restaurant. An exact cause has not been determined.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A look at the fire-damaged Uogashi; plus video of when the fire started at 188 1st Ave.

Post-fire updates on 1st Avenue

Watch this drone footage of the fire at 188 1st Ave.

[Updating] Post fire, 1 lane of northbound traffic returns to 1st Avenue

[Updating] Report of injuries during major fire at 188 1st Ave.

Heavy-duty fencing arrives as playground renovations continue in Tompkins Square Park

Renovation work started last Monday on the Tompkins Square Park Avenue B children’s playgrounds. (This project has been three-plus years in the making.)

Later last week, more sturdy fencing arrived on the southeast portion of the Park...



The entrances on Seventh Street at Avenue B and Eighth Street at Avenue B are closed, and will likely be that way for the duration of the renovations that are estimated to take 12 months.



According to the Parks Department website: "This project will reconstruct two playgrounds with new play equipment, safety surfacing, spray showers, seating and fencing.

And a schematic from the website...



The Parks Department is supplementing the project's funding with its Parks Without Borders initiative that would lower the fences from its present height of 7 feet to 4 feet, a move that stirred plenty of concern in early 2017.

Parks officials believe the shorter fences make the play areas safer — "lowering barriers that block sight lines discourages negative behavior while at the same time making the green space more open and aesthetically pleasing," as DNAinfo reported at the time.

Last we heard, in March 2017, Parks Department Commissioner Mitchell Silver was reportedly going to make the final determination on the fence lowering.

In an email last week, a Parks official confirmed that the new fence height will be 4 feet.



The newly fenced-off area is also where Christo and Amelia's nest is ... limiting access for prime hawk watching.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your chance to brainstorm ideas to renovate the Tompkins Square Park Playground (27 comments)

Reminders: Meeting on possible improvements to the Tompkins Square Park Playground

Join Rosie Mendez to discuss improvements to the Tompkins Square playgrounds tomorrow night

Community meeting set to discuss lowering the playground fences in Tompkins Square Park (28 comments)

Report: There's opposition to lowering the playground fences in Tompkins Square Park

Playground renovations underway in Tompkins Square Park

The Marshal seizes Papa John's on 1st Avenue

The Marshal came calling to the Papa John's outpost on First Avenue last Wednesday...



The storefront between 12th Street and 13th Street is now in legal possession of the landlord.

There have been recent reports that Papa John's could close up to 250 stores if sales do not improve.

Per CNBC:

In July, same-store sales at the beleaguered pizza chain plunged 10.5 percent after it came to light that Papa John's founder had used a racially charged slur on a conference call. That trend continued in August.

This Papa John's opened in November 2010.

Our Papa John's archives can be found here.

Here's your Möge Tee signage on Cooper Square

The Möge Tee signage arrived back on Friday here at 69 Cooper Square between St. Mark's Place and Seventh Street... As first noted on Sept. 4, this will be the third location for the Flushing-based bubble-tea business specializing in cheese teas.

This will be the second bubble/cheese tea purveyor to open in the immediate area. Mi Tea is coming to 19-23 St. Mark's Place as reported on Aug. 14.



This space at 69 Cooper Square was previously Cafe Zaiya, the Japanese bakery-cafe that closed in the spring.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Möge Tee bringing bubble tea and other teas to Cooper Square