Tuesday's parting shot

Amelia (landing) and Christo, the red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, were out enjoying the nice weather today. Steven took this photo of the hawks atop St. Nicholas of Myra Church on 10th Street at Avenue A.

Fake AdAge

Here's another fake ad in the ongoing "A Presidential Parody" series via Maia Lorian and Abe Lincoln Jr.

Spotted on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue by William Klayer. (Same location as the "Ivamka Trump's Sweatshop for Women" ad from November.)

Where on earth? Here are details on the 2019 Ecological City

[Photo by William Bourassa Jr.]

Planning is underway for the 2019 version of Ecological City, described as "a climate action, ecological urban pilgrimage and performance art event."

Here's more on it via the EVG inbox...

ECOLOGICAL CITY: A Cultural & Climate Solutions Action Project engages the Lower East Side community through creative strategies, co-creating a theatrical pageant, to celebrate and bring together climate resiliency and ecological sustainability solutions throughout the gardens, neighborhood and East River Park waterfront, and their contribution to city and global climate challenges.

Ecological Arts Workshops run March 2 – May 8, every Wednesday 6-9 p.m. and Saturday 12-4 p.m., creating spectacular giant puppets, costumes, and performances exploring local sustainability sites and climate solution initiatives. Groups and organizations are invited to develop group arts projects.

Visual arts and performance projects created through the workshops are presented in the culminating Ecological City: Procession for Climate Solutions on Saturday, May 11, with 20 site performances celebrating ecological sustainability initiatives throughout the community gardens, neighborhood, and East River Park waterfront on the Lower East Side.

Help us cultivate an ecologically sustainable future through joyous affirmation and creative collective action!

This year's procession through neighborhood community gardens will include "a creative community response" to the city's recent abrupt changes to storm-proofing East River Park. As previously reported, the city plans to "lift" East River Park by up to 10 feet when work starts in March 2020. However, to do this, the city will need to close East River Park for up to three and a half years, bulldozing all the current amenities.

For interested parties, the first 2019 planning meeting is tomorrow (Feb. 6) at 6:30 p.m. at the Loisaida Inc. Center – 710 E. Ninth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. Find all the details at this link. You can find photos from last year's procession at this EVG post.

The Archdiocese of New York is shutting down the St. Brigid School on Avenue B and 7th Street

St. Brigid School, which was founded in 1856, will close at the end of this school year, stunned students, parents and teachers learned yesterday.

Said one: "Kids sent home crying with a letter to their parent/guardian. School being closed by the Archdiocese without warning." Another parent told me this via Facebook: "The school said they had no idea. Teachers and the administration are distraught and so sad ... such a good and well-kept school. Hard to believe."

Here's the announcement on the school's website:

On Feb. 4, the Archdiocese of New York announced that St. Brigid School in Manhattan will cease operations at the end of the current academic year.

We understand that this is upsetting and concerning news, but rest assured that additional information on this development, as well as the resources to ensure that your child can continue their education at an excellent Catholic School nearby, will be forthcoming this week and posted on a special web page we have created for parents: https://catholicschoolsny.org/st-brigid, where additional information and resources will be available and updated regularly.

Here's what the Archdiocese posted:

On February 4, the Archdiocese of New York announced changes to a number of Catholic schools across the Archdiocese. Regretfully, St. Brigid School will cease operations at the end of the current academic year.

Despite the Archdiocese’s best efforts to maintain the operational and financial viability of the school, continuing to educate students in a building that is underutilized and in need significant improvements has proven unfeasible.

St. Brigid School students will have the opportunity to continue their Catholic education at another nearby Catholic School, some of which are listed below. We encourage you to visit potential schools at your earliest convenience to see how your child can continue receiving an excellent faith-based education.

• Guardian Angel Elementary School
• Immaculate Conception Elementary School
• Our Lady of Pompeii Elementary School
• Transfiguration Elementary School

Only one of those schools, Immaculate Conception, is in the East Village.

St. Brigid, located on Avenue B at Seventh Street (prime spot for condos some day), serves students from nursery school through 8th grade.

St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church on Avenue B at Eighth Street was nearly demolished in 2006, but an unknown donor put up the money ($20 million) to renovate the historic structure. The church reopened in January 2013.

Updated 10 a.m.

School parents are organizing ... and they want to know more about the decision to close St. Brigid.



Said one parent in the comments:

Receiving a letter home in a kid's backpack, like it was a field trip permission slip, is unacceptable. It gave no concrete reasons but claims that they did their best to keep the school open. It is not 'your best' if you did not include the community most affected. The families are not naive, but they are getting organized!

There is a Twitter account now — @BrigidSave ... and a Facebook group.

Updated 5 p.m.

The Post followed up on the story, talking to students and parents...

Heartsick students at a 163-year-old Manhattan Catholic school burst into tears Monday after learning it would shutter permanently at the end of this academic year.

Founded in 1856, the Saint Brigid School in the East Village was one of five city Catholic schools marked for closure by the Archdiocese of New York this week.

“They told us during assembly,” said a downcast Carly Auringer, an 11-year-old sixth-grader. “Everyone was crying.”

Students said they had formed rare bonds with classmates over the years — and struggled to accept being separated from them next year.

Image via Google Street View

A look at the development coming to 14th and C, now the subject of a lawsuit

[Photo from Saturday]

Last week, the Commercial Observer reported that Second Avenue Deli owner Jeremy Lebewohl filed a $10 million lawsuit alleging that his five-story residential building at 642 E. 14th St. sustained damages by the construction of the neighboring development.

Per the Observer:

Lebewohl claims in the Manhattan Supreme Court suit that Opal Holdings’ work on its 15-story mixed-use project still under development at 644 East 14th Street cracked the interior and exterior walls of Lebewohl’s 642 East 14th Street and caused metal doors inside to be inoperable.

The legal issues commenced when Opal began excavating and installing the foundation for its development, according to the suit filed on Jan. 22 [2019]. Opal tried to cut costs by driving the piles for the foundation too close to Lebewohl’s long-held residential building which damaged the wall and ceilings, the suit claims.

[Photo from Saturday]


[Photo from Saturday]

As previously reported (see the links at the bottom of this post), Opal Holdings picked up the parcel from the Rabsky Group in the summer of 2016 for $23 million. There are plans for a residential building with space for a health-care facility.


[The most recent rendering of the development]

There hasn't been much, if any, progress at this southwest corner of 14th Street and Avenue C. (There aren't any active Stop Order Orders on the project, per city records.) My last post on the site came in September 2017. At that time, crews were still working on the foundation. I walk by this corner several times a week, and I haven't seen any activity in more than a year.

Perhaps workers were combatting the elevated groundwater levels here that have impacted the other developments (here and here) along East 14th Street.

As for the new development, here's a rehash of the info I received on the project in September 2016:

Madison Realty Capital (MRC), an institutionally-backed real estate investment firm focused on real estate equity and debt investments in the middle markets, provided a $52.0 million first mortgage loan for the acquisition of a development site in the East Village and construction of an approved 76,259 square foot mixed use development on the site.

The plans for 644 East 14th Street include 50 residential units, 8,064 square feet of retail space with 200 feet of frontage on 14th Street and Avenue C, and 21,575 square feet of community facility space.

The property is located at the corner of 14th Street and Avenue C, along the Northern border of the East Village and directly across the street from Stuyvesant Town. Residential units will offer contemporary finishes and large balconies with East River views. The borrower is currently finalizing a lease with a major New York hospital to occupy the entire community facility portion of the new building.

This corner property next to Campos Plaza and across from the Con Ed plant previously housed the single-level R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.

These two photos are from the fall of 2017...





Previously on EV Grieve:
Development back in play for East 14th Street and Avenue C

More details on the sale of 644 E. 14th St.

Here comes a 15-story retail-residential complex for East 14th Street and Avenue C

Prepping the former R&S Strauss auto parts store for demolition on East 14th Street and Avenue C

City OKs 15-story mixed-use retail-residential building on 14th and C

14th and C now waiting for the Karl Fischer-designed 15-story retail-residential complex

14th and C still waiting for its Karl Fischer-designed retail-residential complex

Report: New owners for the empty lot at 14th Street and Avenue C

[Updated] Super Bowl Sunday chaos at Atomic Wings; 'the new Fyre Festival'

On Sunday evening around 6, EVG reader Laura shared the above photo, showing a backup of Super Bowl deliveries outside Atomic Wings on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street.

According to several angry Yelp reviews, tweets and eyewitness reports, there was some kind of breakdown at this Atomic Wings that several people have since humorously compared to the disastrous Fyre Festival.

An EVG reader shared this Super Bowl experience via Atomic Wings:

Those delivery guys standing outside were still there well into the evening as the store was completely overrun with orders. I had a delivery [set for] 5 p.m. — made the order days ago. I came at 6 p.m. to see absolute chaos. I ended up leaving since the game started, but people were missing their own parties, etc.

They had no directions as to what to do. People were furious, delivery guys were angry, and police were ticketing and towing double-parked cars outside. So you’d hear people scream “who has the gray Nissan?! They’re about to tow it” every 5 minutes.

I ended up never getting my wings — which I preferred over getting them at midnight — and will be calling for a refund ...

The reader shared this photo from inside the shop about 30 minutes before the kickoff between the Patriots and Rams...



People took out some frustrations on Twitter...

@AtomicWings I ordered 100 wings from your East Village location that were supposed to come at 4pm and still have not been delivered. I have called and the line is constantly busy, I’ve emailed and no one responded. Can you help please??

— Alex Cirillo (@MissCirillo) February 3, 2019

@AtomicWings I ordered 100 wings to be delivered at 17:30 est and I haven’t received my order nor been able to get in contact. Can someone who works there please #dm me. I’ was on hold for 20 minutes #CustomerService #USA #SuperBowlLIII

— JSL Jr (@realmynameisjsl) February 4, 2019

@AtomicWings is the new Fyre festival #FyreFestival #bust #FailedtoDeliver

— Danny Brenner (@dbrenner7) February 4, 2019

And then there were the 13 one-star reviews on Yelp that came during and after the Super Bowl Wing Debacle. Most people said that they pre-paid for their wings, which never arrived. One example:

I ordered over 100 wings for my super bowl party a week in advance. I prepaid and even called the restaurant the night before to confirm the order. Not only were the wings not received but they unplugged their phone line so that no one could get in touch with them and have not reconnected it as of 12:30 P.M. the following day.

There were several more comparisons like this: "This is the Fyre Festival of wings...."

Atomic Wings has been around now for 30 years, with multiple NYC locations selling their Buffalo-style wings.

I reached out to the Atomic Wings home office for more information on what happened at the EV outpost during the Super Bowl. Will update if I hear back.

Updated 7:30 p.m.

Here's the word via the Atomic Wings HQ:

The franchisee at the First Avenue location ran into an equipment failure that hampered his ability to get orders out in a timely fashion. He has already reached out to customers to offer them full refunds and store credits.

Report: East Village cyclist killed in early-morning hit-and-run near Times Square

A 72-year-old East Village resident was killed early this morning while he was riding his bike near Times Square.

The Post identified the victim:

Chaim Joseph, 72, of the East Village was hit by a private oil truck shortly before 6 a.m. while he was riding in the bike lane near the intersection of Eighth Avenue and West 45th Street in Midtown.

The motorist then drove off, cops said.

Joseph was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center, but he could not be saved.

Per Streetsblog:

The afternoon, an NYPD spokeswoman said that the “driver and the vehicle have been identified.” She declined to give further details. No one has been arrested as of 3:30 p.m. on Monday.

This is horrific, and this can’t keep happening. We have SO MUCH MORE work to do to protect cyclists and pedestrians in our city. My heart breaks for this man and his loved ones. What a senseless loss. https://t.co/xvwHXiwux2

— NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson (@NYCSpeakerCoJo) February 4, 2019

Developers of 3 St. Mark's Place are looking to increase the size of their proposed office building at 3rd Avenue to 10 floors with air-rights deal

[Photo from Saturday]

Updated 2/14: The CB3 committee reportedly voted down the air-rights transfer.

This past October, Real Estate Equities Corporation (REEC) filed new permits for 3 St. Mark's Place (the address of the former Papaya King) for a 5-story, 29,030-square-foot building with ground-floor retail.

These plans were actually smaller than the original specs reported for this northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place. According to The Real Deal in November 2017, a seven-story office building was slated for this soon-to-be-demolished assemblage of buildings.

In any event, hold everything on those 5-floor plans.

On Feb. 13, reps for the developer will appear before CB3's Landmarks Committee to discuss transferring the air rights from the landmarked — and under-renovation — Hamilton-Holly House across the street at 4 St. Mark's Place.

With these air rights and approved zoning variance, the Morris Adjimi-designed building at 3 St. Mark's Place would rise to 10 stories. Here's a look at the rendering posted to the CB3 site...



This link will take you to the PDF on the CB3 website with details on the proposal.

Here's part of the pitch, per their overview:

The Applicant is requesting the Landmarks Preservation Commission (the "LPC") to issue a report to the City Planning Commission pursuant to Section 74-79 of the New York City Zoning Resolution to facilitate the construction of a ten-story building (the "Proposed Development"! located at 3 St. Mark's Place ...

The special permit would (a) allow a transfer of 8,386 square feet of development rights from the zoning lot located at 4 St. Mark's Place (which is occupied by the Hamilton-Holly House (the "Landmark"), an individual landmark, and (b) modify the provisions of ZR Section 33-432 to allow the Proposed Development to penetrate the maximum front wall height and sky exposure plane within the 20-foot initial setback distance on St. Mark's Place. This waiver allows for a better relationship to the adjacent buildings on St. Marks Place and allows for better office floorplates.

As a condition of the special permit, the owner of the Landmarks Building has agreed to undertake additional work — more expansive in scope than the originally approved work — to restore the Landmark Building to a sound, first-class condition, and to thereafter implement a cyclical maintenance plan for the Building.

These commitments will be set forth in a restrictive declaration, binding upon the owner and its successor and assigns in perpetuity, implementing the approved continuing maintenance program.

[Photo of 4 St. Mark's Place from last month]

The Feb. 13 meeting is the beginning of the review process, which requires an application to the LPC followed by an application to the City Planning Commission for the special permit.

Back to the overview for the plan for more zoning jargon...

In its report, LPC will comment on the restoration work and continuing maintenance plan as well as the manner in which the requested waiver of the otherwise applicable height and setback regulations contributes to a harmonious relationship between the Landmark and the Proposed Development. LPC is not reviewing the actual work on the Landmark because this work has been previously reviewed and approved.

After the special permit application is filed with CPC and certified pursuant to ULURP, the request for 74-79 Special Permit will be referred back to the Community Board for the second step in the review.

So this marks just the beginning of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). Read this primer on an explanation of the process.

The CB3 Landmarks Committee meeting on Feb. 13 is open to the public (and is open to public comment). The meeting is at the JASA Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery. And this certainly isn't the last we'll hear on this variance request.

REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the properties — 1 St. Mark's Place, 3 St. Mark’s Place, 23 and 25-27 Third Ave. — for nearly $150 million, per The Real Deal in November 2017.

The Continental was the last business on the corner, with the last call happening on New Year's Eve.

The corner assemblage is owned by the Gabay family.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: After 40 years, punk rock mainstay Trash and Vaudeville is leaving St. Mark's Place

4 St. Mark's Place is for sale

More residential units and a 5th-floor addition in the works for landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place

You'll be back: Look at the renovated Hamilton-Holly House on St. Mark's Place

The Shake Shack effect? McDonald's on 3rd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has closed after 20 years

Report: NE corner of St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue will yield to a 7-story office building

Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

End is nearing for the businesses on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

The Continental gets a 3-month reprieve

New building plans revealed for 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Brodo debuts on Astor Place this week

The Brodo bone-broth kiosk will have a soft opening today on Astor Place near the uptown 6 stop ... Owner Marco Canora told me they'd be open then "in earnest" tomorrow.

Canora debuted a Brodo to-go window on the First Avenue side of Hearth back in 2014 — the start of what became a nationwide bone-broth trend. The Astor Place kiosk makes the fifth Brodo outpost in the city.

Brodo temporarily takes the place of La Newyorkina for the early part of 2019. La Newyorkina, which sells Mexican palettas and ices, is expected to return this summer.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Brodo opening a bone-broth outpost on Astor Place

16 Handles is back in FroYo action

The 16 Handles outpost on Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street reopened Saturday after a two-month winter hiatus.

EVG 16 Handles Correspondent Steven passed along these photos, one of which shows the shop's new hours...



16 Handles opened on Second Avenue in 2008 (their FroYo empire has grown to include locations in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey), and has outlasted every other FroYo purveyor around. RIP, for instance, Yogurt Station ... Red Mango ... Funkiberry ... Very Berry... PinkBerry ... and any other forgotten Berries.

Bad news at Spinner's?

Spinner's short tenure at 536 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B has apparently come to an end. The quick-serve restaurant has not been open lately, and newspaper now covers the front door and window. Google lists Spinner's as permanently closed.

Spinner's, billed as a chicken boutique, opened this past Aug. 23. Two months in, they closed for a quickie revamp, and added pizza to their arsenal.

EVG commenter MrNiceGuy had this to say on our October post:

I'm rooting for this place, but it seems like they've got an uphill battle — the foot traffic on that part of 14th St isn't great, and L-train construction is non-stop across the street. But I've met the owner, he's a really nice guy and his chicken is great. If you live in the neighborhood, give them a shot! Adding pizza to the menu seems like a last-minute Hail Mary. Good luck Spinner's!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Spinner's bringing chicken and Texas BBQ to 14th Street

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY III

Photo on 10th Street tonight by EVG regular Daniel...