Another lost Elm tree in Tompkins Square Park

Earlier this week, I noted one of the trees that had to be cut down in Tompkins Square Park because of Dutch Elm Disease...

In addition this past week, workers had to remove the one in the photo below at the Park entrance on Eighth Street and Avenue B...



It's gone.





...even the roots had to be removed to help prevent the spread of the Dutch Elm...



And now...

Stalled-project lot on East 13th Street gets partial makeover

Hey, that stalled-project lot at 536 E. 13th Street near Avenue B is for sale...



...and now there's a new fence here...



...and the lot has also been groomed....(a little)

Before!



Now!


So either:

A) The owner is making the lot look more pretty for a potential buyer or...
B) The lot was sold and the new owner is now sprucing it up...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your chance to own a stalled project lot on East 13th Street

A dormant construction site on East 13th Street

Reminders tonight: Sweet CB3/SLA action!

Sadly, I won't be able to attend tonight's CB3/SLA meeting... and many things to monitor on the docket...

Such as a liquor license transfer for Sin Sin/Leopard Lounge...

And... A few more highlights....

Sidewalk Cafe Applications
-- The Penny Farthing, 103 3rd Ave
-- The 13th Step, 149 2nd Ave

Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades
-- Mama Bar LLC, 34 Ave B (alt/op/expand to basement space)

New Liquor License Applications
-- Justified LLC, 102 1st Ave (op) (Lilly Coogan's) — from the good people behind the International
-- Tin Lizard LLC, 511 E 5th St (rw) (Butcher Bay)
-- Vbar Amato (Vbar2 LLC), 319 Bowery (op) — The old Amato Opera



The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at the JASA/Green Residence - 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery. Bring a six-pack!

Please let me know if you happen to attend and want to share a few highlights...

Today's sign of the apocalypse

The above photo is from Eater, who noted that today marked the grand opening of the TGI Friday's on Union Square.

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

A serving of fauxstalgia (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Setting boundaries for the LES/Chinatown (The Lo-Down)

NYC is due for a hurricane (Runnin' Scared)

A ghost memorial for Harry Wieder (GammaBlog)

206 Bowery out of danger yet? (BoweryBoogie)

Flaming Pablum turns 5! (Flaming Pablum)

Cheetah and Syl hit the road (Punk Turns 30)

Street art vendors take it to court (The Villager)

Plan ahead for the Collect LES Art Crawl on July 22 (ArtLog)

From the NYPD Daily Blotter in the Post today:

An FDNY paramedic helped cops nab a group of thugs who robbed and roughed up a cabby in the East Village yesterday, authorities said. Lt. Jim Scordus was one of several on-duty EMTs near the corner of Second Avenue and East Seventh Street just before 3:30 a.m. when they saw the four goons get in a scuffle with the 50-year-old driver.
All four fled, and Scordus took off after them in his truck. He radioed to police and kept an eye on the suspects until cops arrived. David Forest, 23, Carl Muraco, 22, Chad LaForest, 21 and Nicholas Menardy, 22, were nabbed and charged with robbery.

And a belated thanks to New York magazine for mentioning the German pride parade in the Neighborhood News section...



And, one more time...

Ray's now has a three-year lease

A friendly neighborhood tipster passed along some good news from Ray's Candy Store: Ray has signed a new three-year-lease. (Previously, he had been on a month-to-month arrangement.) According to the tipster, the rent will go up each year ... "and of course a deed in hand does not a monthly payment make, but it ought to give the 'hood some hope... right?"

Yes!

[Photo of Ray via Slum Goddess]

We'll always have Le Souk

The last time I looked inside former Avenue B menace Le Souk, the place looked as if it had become a supply closet...



Meanwhile, a tipster notes that work appears to be happening inside and outside the space... though there are no permits on file with the DOB



And! The tipster asks, Why are people always coming out of Le Souk at 4, 5, 6 a.m.?

Just the like good ol' days...

Superdive not going 5 for 5 this CB3/SLA meeting

So, you know tonight is the July meeting for the CB3/SLA folks.

Meanwhile, for the first time in four months, Superdive is not on the CB3/SLA agenda for a transfer, alteration, etc. They were on the docket then scratched each time.

However! A trusted source says Superdive will be on the August CB3/SLA docket for an alteration. Unless they bow out. Again.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another month, another Superdive scratch; Plus, Avenue A bars give it another go tonight

2 Cooper Square is growing up right before our eyes!

Oh, it just seems like yesterday over on Fourth Street and the Bowery...



But construction has been going on, for what, 14 months now?

Anyway! Another day, another milestone! We have more 2 Cooper branding and what may be the main doors!



...and the claw thingee that will one day provide shelter to those hitting their 20K apartments...



...though it's not an entrance for construction workers...



...oh, and temporary sidewalks!



Race you to the pool!

Own a Sixth Street apartment building; be a mean landlord

Oh, it has been some time since we looked into any real estate around here... This listing for a building on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C hit the market last market...



(Check out the Puma painting on the wall!)



Per the listing:

Investment opportunity! Raise below market rents to fair market value. A 20' wide x 50' long 4 story, 4,000sqft (approximately) 4 unit walk-up apartment building. The ground floor unit is live/work/store with a store front entrance and an entrance from the building. This unit has a beautiful 750 sqft south facing garden. The 2nd floor unit is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath with a 250 sqft south facing terrace. It has Southern, western and northern exposures. The 3rd floor unit is a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath home with southern, western, and northern exposures. The 4th floor unit is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath home with skylights, 3 exposures and a beautiful stair case. The building is fully renovated with new kitchens, baths, windows, floors, washer/dryers, etc. The gross yearly rent is approximately $164,000 a year. Tenants leases can be terminated with three months notice.

Price: $3.3 million

Craft beer shop coming to East Ninth Street

There's a CB3/SLA meeting tonight and I still haven't written about all the approvals from last month... During last month's get-together, the committee OK'd a beer license for Good Beer to operate at 422 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue...



Good Beer received a blessing from the 9th Street Block Association... and there are some stipulations: GB will operate as a retail beer store, serving food during all hours of operation; the hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturdays, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays. And there won't be any standing bar or stools or DJs or club crap.

But there will be some tables inside for a few beers and food.

Chris O'Leary at Brew York, New York has some details:

"Food will be comprised of local, organic and heritage products that pair well with beer so cheese, cured meats, pretzels, hot dogs, nuts and some chocolates," says David Cichowicz, the brain behind the operation. Patrons will have the chance to grab a seat at one of the tables in the store and pair the food with some of the 12 beers they’ll have on tap. The beer selection will be mainly local, sustainable products, but David says they'll occasionally throw in some West Coast, Belgian, English, and German beers as well."

The store is expecting to open in late August/early September.

[Thanks to Neighborhoodr for the link]

FDNY IDs cause of 240 E. Houston blaze

According to multiple published reports (the Times, DNAinfo, NY1) Thursday's fire was caused by the "unapproved use of electrical wiring," according to a fire official, who explained that residents had extended various cords to the roof, and stretched wires beneath roofing materials.

And this is the shot the FDNY released:



Twenty-eight firefighters and civilians were injured in the fire, the Times reported.

Previously.

[Bottom photo via the FDNY]

An East Second Street now and then

Earlier today, I posted several photos from Brian Rose's new book on the Lower East Side from 1980 and today...

Thanks to EV Grieve reader AdamA for pointing out a pretty good Google Street View approximation of one of the photos...


East Second Street where it merges with Houston between Avenue C and Avenue D

And via Google... a Street View that is at least two years old... the corner of Houston and Avenue D has been razed. Still.



Previously on EV Grieve:
"A continuum of decay and rebirth" on the Lower East Side

"A continuum of decay and rebirth" on the Lower East Side

In 1980, Brian Rose, in collaboration with fellow Cooper Union graduate Ed Fausty, photographed the Lower East Side during what he called "its darkest, but most creative moment. While buildings crumbled and burned, artists and musicians came to explore and express the edgy quality of the place."

After the project was completed and exhibited in 1981, it remained unseen in Rose's archive. And Rose moved on, working on various projects while living in Amsterdam for 15 years.

Rose revisited the streets of the Lower East Side with his camera some three decades later. Rose has put together "Time and Space on the Lower East Side," a self-published book contrasting the LES in 1980 with today. However, as he notes in the book's description:

"From the outset it was clear that this would not be a simple before/after take on the neighborhood. While keeping an eye on the earlier photographs done in 1980, I wanted to rediscover the place with fresh eyes, with the perspective of time, change, and history. The result, still being added to, is a set of photographs that looks backward and forward, that posits the idea that places are not simply “then and now,” but exist in a continuum of decay and rebirth."

He told me that the project is still looking for a publisher and exhibition venue. In the meantime, the book is available for purchase on Blurb.

Rose shared a few of the 1980 images with me....



East Second Street where it merges with Houston between Avenue C and Avenue D



On East Fifth Street between C and D. Rose was standing near Fourth Street



On the Bowery looking north toward East Fifth Street — now JASA/Cooper Square Senior Housing and the Cooper Square Hotel



The Jefferson Theatre on 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue (now the Mystery Lot)


Details:

Brian Rose Photography

Preview and buy the book via Blurb.