Sioné is the name of Samy Mahfar's residential building at 255 E. Houston St.

Here's a look at 255 E. Houston St./171 Suffolk St., the L-shaped parcel where work continues at developer Samy Mahfar's 14-floor residential building. (The condoplex on the corner of Houston and Stanton is part of a different project.)


[Entrance at 171 Suffolk St.]

Branding on the sidewalk bridge now reveals that the building is called Sioné ...



There's also a teaser site where prospects may sign up to be on a mailing list. The site describes Sioné this way — "A Limited Collection of Luxury Residences"...



The residences here range from studios to three bedrooms — all with or without terraces ...



There's a lot of backstory with this development. Quickly: In September 2016, Mahfar withdrew his application — after a five-year fight with Community Board 3 and local elected officials — for a commercial zoning change for this property and surrounding parcels. He wanted to put a restaurant or retail business on the ground floor. Under current zoning, only a community facility is allowed. (The new building has 6,258 square feet set aside for that usage.)

Mahfar, who has been accused of harassing rent-regulated tenants, had approval for a 10-floor building, which turned into 14 floors and 88 units.

As the Lo-Down reported in December 2017: "Mahfar had already received 421a tax breaks to build some affordable units, but he was also seeking a floor area bonus through the city’s inclusionary housing program." It's not immediately clear how many affordable units may be available in this complex.

No. 255 previously housed the day-care center Action for Progress, which was forced to evacuate in 2009 after construction on the condoplex next door destabilized the building...


[EVG photo of No. 255 from 2012]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Next for 255 E. Houston St.: Community facility/school/medical building?

10-story building now in the works for 255 E. Houston St.

Debate over commercial overlay for 255 E. Houston St. and surrounding blocks continues

Report: Samy Mahfar drops bid for commercial overlay on East Houston and parts of the LES

Café Social 68 coming to Avenue A

Signage arrived last week for Café Social 68, a new spot at 68 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

This is the former Croissanteria space ... and the new venture is a like-minded concept with coffee, pastries (no croissants though!) and a lunch-dinner menu featuring sandwiches, salads and rice bowls. No word on an opening date, though we're told it should be fairly soon.

Croissanteria closed in the spring after seven years of service.

787 Coffee for 101 2nd Ave.

Looks like an outpost of 787 Coffee is coming to Second Avenue.

Signage is up on the former Block's Vision Care storefront here at Sixth Street (this new location is also confirmed via 787's Instagram account) ...



This will be the second East Village outpost for 787, which grows and roasts their coffee in Puerto Rico. The 787 opened on Seventh Street near Avenue A last October.

This is a coffee-rich zone already with several nearby choices, including the Coffee Project and Southern Cross on Fifth Street just off the Avenue... not to mention Cafe Mocha on Second Avenue and Seventh Street, the Bean on Second Avenue and Third Street, and Kona Coffee and Company on Second Avenue between Third Street and Fourth Street.

As for Block's Vision Care, they merged that business into Block Drugs next door back in the spring.

The Marshal seizes Chouchou on 4th Street

A bad sign at Chouchou, the Mediterranean-Moroccan bistro on Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... there's a posted notice stating that the restaurant is now in the legal possession of the landlord...



There's nothing at the Chouchou website about a closure. We reached out to ownership to learn more about the situation here.

Chouchou, from Mario Carta, who also runs Pardon My French at 103 Avenue B, opened in March 2017. The cuisine here had been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand the past two years. Carta's other venture on this block, Nobody Is Perfect, closed last August.

A food delivery for the former/future Sidewalk Cafe

Work has progressed enough at the former Sidewalk Bar and Restaurant on Avenue A and Sixth Street that the new establishment is ready to accept food deliveries... this was spotted on Friday ...



Still no word what the new owners have in store for the space — other than a bar-restaurant. The new owners previously said that they might keep the Sidewalk name.

The Sidewalk closed in February after 32-plus years in business.

24 1st Ave. has been demolished

Workers have finished bringing down 24 First Ave. ... it now joins its property mate, 99-101 E. Second St., in demolition.

These buildings were leveled to make way for a 7-story, 22-unit residential building called The 101 Condominium.


[Rendering of the 1st Avenue side via Zproekt Architects]

24 First Ave.'s previous occupants included the cabaret Lucky Cheng's (1993-2012) and Club Baths, the first openly gay-owned bathhouse (1971-1983)... and Cave Canem and La Nouvelle Justine in between.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Building that housed Lucky Cheng's on 1st Avenue now on the auction block

Onetime home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property sell for $12 million

7-story residential building pending at the former Lucky Cheng's space

Demolition permits filed to bring down former Lucky Cheng's building on 1st Avenue

The 411 on the 101 Condominium

Week in Grieview

[Photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg]

Posts this past week included...

Skateboarders upset over plan to add synthetic turf to the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park (Tuesday)

At long last a taxi relief stand for East Houston and 1st Street outside Punjabi Grocery & Deli (Monday)

Reader reports: The NYPD forcibly stops a Citi Biker on Avenue A for his own safety (Friday)

St. Mark's Market is back open (Thursday)

Comptroller's office: Park bathrooms in the East Village and LES are the worst in the city (Monday)

M14 SBS routes debut today; 14th Street busway now on hold (Monday) The abandoned bus shelters of Avenue A (Tuesday)

Young artists from Central America are creating this mural outside Key Food (Thursday)

Mikey Likes It remains closed on Avenue A (Wednesday)

These 2 adjacent community gardens have merged on Avenue B (Tuesday)

This weeks NY See panel (Wednesday)

ICP now closed on the Bowery ahead of move to Essex Crossing (Monday)

NYPD looking for suspect in an attempted sexual assault in Stuy Town (Friday)

Report: Double-parked motorist arrested for striking 2 firefighters on 6th Street (Wednesday)

Desperately Seeking Bonnie (Thursday)

The last word, perhaps, about Nobletree Coffee's closure on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Friday)


[His and his seats on 14th Street]

A new home for Three Kings Tattoo (Monday)

6 posts from June (Sunday)

A-Rod owns part of this building on Avenue D (Tuesday)

Avenue C Restaurant coming soon to Avenue C (Monday)

Ichabod's has closed on Irving Place (Wednesday)

Schmackary's debuts today on Cooper Square (Monday)

... and EVG regular Salim shared this photo of the new-look gate — via @ohmy.murals — at the Oda House on Fifth Street and Avenue B...



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Saturday's parting shot

A moment on Second Avenue today via Derek Berg...

Holiday weekend Saturday in Tompkins Square Park

Quiet day in Tompkins Square Park... and the heat index is in the mid-90s, which was also a pretty good movie.

Photo by Lola Saénz

Reader reports: The NYPD forcibly stops a Citi Biker on Avenue A for his own safety

[Photo by Dave from 7th Street]

Multiple reader reports are coming in from earlier this evening about an NYPD Interceptor SUV who cut off a Citi Bike rider on Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Seventh Street.

Several witnesses say that the NYPD pursued the Citi Biker after ran a series of red lights starting on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

The video clip below captures the officer explaining the NYPD's actions.

Per the office: "At this point you are being forcefully stopped because, essentially, you are driving recklessly and refusing to stop after multiple lawful orders that you looked and acknowledged so I am going to use whatever means necessary to stop you. And that’s for your safety."

#NYPD run over #nyc #bicycle to stop them from running a red light ton”prevent reckless driving.” pic.twitter.com/AITjqNwYiZ

— Garvey Rich (@Garvey_Rich) July 5, 2019

The officer saying that they "forcibly stopped" the Citi Bike rider for his safety drew laughter from onlookers.

The cyclist did not appear to suffer any injuries after being forced off the Avenue.

Wow pic.twitter.com/pfKUxbw3qy

— Liam Quigley (@_elkue) July 5, 2019

So far in 2019, 15 cyclists have died on NYC streets — five more than all of 2018. Earlier this week, Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD released details on a three-week initiative "aimed at reducing bike-related injuries and fatalities," per Gothamist.

The mayor had released this statement on Monday evening:

We are seeing a dangerous surge in cyclist deaths on our streets, and we are taking action. I have directed the NYPD to immediately launch a major enforcement action that will encompass every precinct and crack down on dangerous driving behavior like parking in bike lanes.

At the same time, I have charged the Department of Transportation with developing a new cyclist safety plan to make biking in our city safer. No loss of life on our streets is acceptable. Last year was the safest year on record — and we have to keep pushing the envelope and increasing our efforts until we achieve Vision Zero.

As one witness told us about this evening's police action: "The NYPD using their vehicle as a weapon on a bicycle adds another element to the unsafe conditions for cyclists in NYC."

Updated 7/6

The Post has part of a statement from the NYPD on the incident:

“When approached by officers, the individual jumped off his bike and it became wedged in between the police vehicle and a parked vehicle. Precinct leadership is reviewing the matter.”

Here’s what happened - Officers observed cyclist running through 2 red lights, wearing headphones while biking, & failing to comply w/ a lawful order. When approached by cops, cyclist jumped the bike & it became wedged between the police vehicle and a parked vehicle.

— NYPD DCPI (@NYPDDCPI) July 6, 2019

Breaking away

Jay Som — aka Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Melina Duterte — has her second record, Anak Ko, coming out on Aug. 23. The video here is for the recently released single "Superbike."

July 4 flashback

A few photos from last evening showing the 43rd Annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® launch ... pics via the vantage Bobby Williams had last evening near Avenue C...