A rendering and vintage erotic playing cards (NSFW) at the under-renovation (and mysterious!) 84 2nd Ave.

There's now a rendering on the plywood offering a look at what the under-renovation 84 Second Ave. will look like when work is complete here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street...



We noted a few weeks ago that work is underway on the five-floor building, including "a horizontal enlargement at the rear." (Read the previous post for all the details on the renovations.)

Also as noted though the years, the building had a dark, mysterious air ... there was the now-removed plastic-covered dinner jacket in the second-story window with the neon sign that read "DRESS SUITS TO HIRE."


[Photo by Jeremiah Moss]

In 1974, Helen Sopolsky, proprietor of the family's tailor shop, was found bludgeoned to death, according to published reports at the time. The case was never solved ... and the storefront remained empty — save for that dinner jacket — in the years following her death.

Her sister, Betty Sopolsky, remained a tenant of the building, which she sold in 2016. It was not known who else may have lived at No. 84.

Another curiosity about the address was discovered last week. (NSFW below!) A worker with the crew renovating the space showed EVG correspondent Derek Berg these vintage erotic playing cards that were found inside a wall in one of the rooms...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Plywood and a petition at 84 2nd Ave.

Workers clearing out the mysterious 84 2nd Ave. storefront

Renovations proposed for mysterious 84 2nd Ave.

Mysterious 84 2nd Ave. sells again, this time for $7.8 million

There are new plans to expand the mysterious 84 2nd Ave.

Neapolitan Express comes to a halt for now on 2nd Avenue

The Neapolitan Express outpost on Second Avenue between First Street and Second Street has not been open in recent weeks during its advertised business hours...



There's nothing about a temporary or permanent closure on the Neapolitan Express website or social media properties. Calls to this restaurant go to a voicemail box that hasn't been set up... no one responded to an email about the pizzeria's status on Second Avenue.

Neapolitan Express opened here in February 2018. The company started its business life as a food truck. Per the Neapolitan website: "Originally launched in 2013 as the world’s first Eco Friendly Food Truck, Neapolitan Express was officially introduced by lead investors, energy innovators and business tycoons T. Boone Pickens of Clean Energy Fuels and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg L.P."

As for those trucks, at least three of them have been spotted outside the Second Avenue outpost during non-food-truck hours...

Black Iron Burger currently closed for renovations on 5th Street

In case a trip to Black Iron Burger at 540 E. Fifth St. near Avenue B was in your very near future... the quick-serve shop is currently closed for renovations...



... and it's an actual renovation and not code for we're closed forever...



The other three Black Iron NYC outposts are open in the meantime. The East Village location was the first, opening in 2008 (with new ownership taking over in 2013).

Last summer, TripAdvisor rated Black Iron as serving the best burger in New York State.

A night like this: See the Cure's 40th anniversary show Thursday at these East Village theaters

The Cure's 40th anniversary show is in theaters for a one-night-only event later this week ...



You can see "The Cure – Anniversary 1978-2018 Live in Hyde Park London" Thursday night at City Cinemas Village East, Second Avenue at 12th Street ... and the Regal Union Square on Broadway and 13th Street. Show time is 7 p.m. at both theaters.

Now enjoy this flashback to July 2, 1981, when the Cure played the Rock Werchter Festival. They were told to stop their set early to make way for Robert Palmer. So they ended with this 9-minute version of "A Forest"...

Petition to 'Save Tompkins Square asphalt!' closing in on 19,000 signatures

The petition opposing the city's plan to cover the concrete courtyard (aka TF) with synthetic turf in Tompkins Square Park has received overwhelming support in just one week.

As of this morning, nearly 19,000 people had signed their name to "Save Tompkins Square asphalt!"

As we reported last Tuesday, the city has plans — apparently only known to residents who may have attended a Community Board committee meeting in May — to cover the multipurpose courts in the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park with synthetic turf, a move that surprised and upset a major user of that space since the 1980s — skateboarders.

"While this might look like some flat concrete to a lot of people, this place holds a really deep and sacred importance to thousands of skaters and young people who come together to use this park on a daily basis," East Village resident Adam Zhu, who started the petition, told NBC New York.

The turf project, happening at several area parks, is a result of the city's flood-protection plan that will close East River Park next March for 3.5-plus years. The city needs to find space for the sports teams and youth leagues who use the fields along East River Park.

Turfing the asphalt will also displace other groups here in the corner at Avenue A and 10th Street, including the 400 members of the BlackTop Street Hockey League who use the space on Sunday afternoons.

There is word of a meeting set for early this week between reps for the skateboarders and the Parks Department.

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The story has also been picked up by Patch ... the Post ... and Fox 5.

You can find the petition here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Skateboarders upset over plan to add synthetic turf to the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park

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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