Beaming up at the new Lower Eastside Girls Club home

We've noted the progress on the new Lower Eastside Girls Club home going up on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street... You can see a lot of the progress on the Seventh and Eighth Street sides... However, a walk by this past weekend revealed the first beams going up on the Avenue D side ...

Previously.

Where will 'modern Australian' call home on Second Avenue?

Yesterday, Grub Street reported that Morgan McGlone, once a private chef and caterer on the Upper East Side who has been working in Australia, is opening a “45-seat restaurant that’ll serve modern Australian food” in September ... And, per the article, this restaurant will be at (or around!) Second Avenue and East Fifth Street.

So where could this "modern Australian" call home?

There are several empty restaurants right along this stretch of Second Avenue, including:

The old Sin Sin space!



The former Mission Cafe!

Kurve/Rhong Tiam!



The former Sea Salt! (Closer to Sixth Street, but...)



Or, if someone has their streets wrong, how about the Matsukado space just north of Sixth Street?



And what, exactly, is modern Australian? I'm sure it's good. But I can't help but think of the drink-and-drown crowds hitting the Sunburnt Cow weekends ... which leaves me with a different perception of Australian cuisine.

New documentary series wants your unwanted pests

A legit e-mail from the EV Grieve inbox...

PEST PROBLEM? — OUR TV SERIES WANTS TO FIX IT FOR FREE

A new documentary science series on a prominent non-fiction TV Network is looking to solve pest problems and infestations in all five boroughs. We'll set you up with an accredited local pest control company that will tackle your pest problem FOR FREE, and follow the process of making your home or business pest-free. We're looking for severe pest infestations of any kind, from cockroaches and bedbugs to rats and raccoons. No infestation is too severe for our team. All correspondence will be kept strictly confidential AND we won't even need to mention or show the name or location of your business or home/apt. This is a great opportunity to have some of the best experts in the business put an end to your infestation.

If Interested, please send an e-mail to PestExterminatorCasting@gmail.com with a brief description of your infestation along with any photos/documentation of the problem (if possible). In the subject line of the e-mail, please indicate what kind of pest you-re having a problem with.

[Image via]

Welcome to the jungle: Looking at 7A's new signage, awning

Workers at 7A were making final preparations to reopen yesterday after some renovations have kept the 24/7 eatery at Seventh Street and Avenue A closed since Jan. 6 ... EV Grieve contributor Bobby Williams happened by when the crew was putting in the new awning yesterday afternoon ....

Guess they're going for a jungle motif...

Makes sense seeing how Avenue A can be a bit of a jungle weekend nights...

Hookups

Awww...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: Q-and-A with the bike that became an iconic symbol of the 2010 Holiday Blizzard

7A looks real close to reopening

7A was originally going to reopen this past Friday after renovations... 7A moved the date to today... still not quite open yet... but it looks real close to being ready...

Designs for new Bowery hotel unleashed; local blogger mutters something about cotton balls

Just last week reports surfaced that France’s Louzon Group has acquired the former Salvation Army building on the Bowery for $7.6 million and plans to turn it into a 65-room boutique hotel with one of their restaurants on the ground floor.



And now, Curbed has the design. Please be seated.

EV Eatery Etc.: Rhong Tiam scrubs its old exterior; Peels tosses some planters?

King Gyro on First Avenue recently opened... quite a lot on the menu...




...and awfully green inside ...



The old Rhong Tiam exterior on Second Avenue and Fifth Street got a scrubbing...

Jan. 10!



Now!



The DOH shutters Montein Thai Cuisine on Third Avenue near 12th Street...



A reader noted that these planters were lined up by the curb outside Peels on the Bowery this past weekend... Was Peels tossing them?

And BoweryBoogie noted that GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus is hosting a happy hour tomorrow at Idle Hands on Avenue B.

Possible delay in emergency responses today

We'll periodically have information on local fire companies that service, in part, the East Village ... including when they are closed for periods of time...

The following companies located in the East Village OR that respond to emergencies in the East Village will be on Building Inspection at the following times today (and every Tuesday):

E-5, E-15, E-28 — 10 AM-1 PM.
L-9, E-55, E-9 — 1 PM-4 PM.

Also:

Ladder 20, located in on Lafayette Street, but responds to emergencies in parts of the East Village, will be CLOSED today from 12:30 PM-4:30 PM due to training at the Fire Academy on Randall's Island.

And did you know that two fire companies charged with protecting the East Village were CLOSED for periods of time yesterday?

Engine 9, which is located in Chinatown (Canal Street between Allen Street and Eldridge Street), but responds into the East Village, was CLOSED yesterday from 9 AM until 4 PM for New Apparatus Familiarization Drill at the Fire Academy.

Engine 33, located in the East Village (Great Jones Street), was CLOSED yesterday from 7 PM - 10 PM for Basic Competency Critique at the Fire Academy.

E-28 was CLOSED yesterday as well from 10:45 AM - 3:40PM to pick-up and restock new rig. During this time they were not able to respond to a fire at 535 E. 14th Street, at which they are 2nd Due.

On Second Street, the 'Milky Way Dragon' disappears

I've been trying to figure out what has been happening here at 245 E. Second St. between Avenue B and Avenue C... In recent years, Allied Productions has been overseeing the mural project on the building's exterior ... the facade here has gone through several transformations the last 10 or so years ... most recently, artists Carlo Quispe and Laura Campos painted “Milky Way Dragon” on the wall here next to Le Petit Versailles Garden.




In recent weeks, workers boarded up part of the building... and painted over the mural...

Yesterday, I watched workers remove debris from the exterior of the building. A garbage truck was parked on East Houston.

However, there are no work permits on file for either 243 or 245 E. Second St. I'm waiting for someone affiliated with Allied Productions or Le Petit Versailles Garden to respond to e-mail queries.

More to come on what is happening here, I hope... Meanwhile, here's Grr's mural at 245 E. Second St. from 2002...

A post about bicycles and sidewalks

On Sunday afternoon, a reader sent along the following photos from near Clinton and Stanton...




"Cops riding on to sidewalk for a rogue bicyclist smack down. Really."

And the police issued the cyclist a ticket for riding on the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, I'm reminded of this photo from East 12th Street on Dave Winer's Flickr account after the blizzard of 12-26/27, 2010... The headline is "Bike-rider tailgates pedestrians, on sidewalk"

He writes, in part:

When I see a situation like this, I wish I had a can of bright orange spray paint to mark this guy's bike. Nothing that would hurt him physically. But this is crazy. Old frail people use the sidewalk. They can't compete with young people on bikes, and they should be able to use the city too.

To the people's credit in front of him, they didn't make way for him, despite his pleading, and he had to pedal at a walker's pace to the corner.

When your East Village dinner plans call for a whole baby lamb

Our friend Matt Rosen at Neighborhoodr noted a menu item at the newish Olivia Bistro on East Ninth Street ...

Another dance for the Musical Box space?

The Musical Box, an unpretentious spot on Avenue B near 13th Street, closed last April...

However, several EV Grieve regulars have passed on word that the Musical Box owners will reopen another bar in the space... and a walk by confirms that work is going on inside...

The liquor license here is active through March 2012, according to the State Liquor Authority.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Guest post: The day the music died

326-328 E. Fourth St. quickly gutted

And work continues at 326-328 E. Fourth St. ...



Got a quick look inside yesterday.... the space is already gutted... not much left...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Historic East Fourth Street artists' collective soon to be condos

Two side-by-side townhouses on East Fourth Street await your renovation

City doesn't give a shit about these historic East Village townhouses