The damned: 'Dirty Old Tonight' screens today at BAM

BAM is screening "Dirty Old Town" today at 4:30, 6:50 and 9:30. (Find more details here.) The no-budget fictional film finds Billy Leroy with 72 hours to save Billy's Antiques from becoming a Starbucks.

Today, the Voice called it a "Low-Budget Ode to No-Budget NY." And per W magazine, "the result is a vibrant, visceral portrait of the streets of New York at their most sublime."And from NYPress, "'Dirty Old Town' isn’t really about the fantastic cast of non-actors the producers have unearthed, but the bits of the city being willfully forgotten."

Watch the trailer here.

High-rise for 75 First Avenue back in play

Looks like Revival Week continues. (For example, there's the hotel on the Bowery and Orchard Street back in action on long-dormant sites.)

Meanwhile, there's activity again at the long-dormant site at 75 First Avenue next to the Rite Aid on East Fifth Street. Workers repaired and painted the plywood here...

There's also a new permit on file.

When we last looked in on this development, DOB permits noted that a 14-story, 30-unit condo/apartment building was in the works. Thomas O'Hara was listed as the architect. According to his site:

This cutting edge design with angled balconies and glass facade is designed to attract young cutting edge crowed of the east village.

Here's what it was intended to look like:



HOWEVER, O'Hara is no longer listed as the architect. According to permits, the site is still owned by Ozymandius Realty on West 14th Street. 75 First Avenue is listed under the company's current development projects, though there isn't further information about plans.

So this is one to keep an eye on. There will be a 14-story building of some kind here. And will this revive those Rite-Aid-is-closing rumors?

Here's what left of 186 years of history on Cooper Square

A stairway to a ghost building on the Cooper Square Hotel.

And as a reminder, the 35 Cooper Square funeral/rally is tonight at 6 right here.

Meanwhile, here are a few shots from yesterday via EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams...

Reminders tonight: Supporting the Essex Street Market

From Cynthia Lamb in a post at the Lo-Down:

The future of the Essex Street Market is finally being brought to the table at the upcoming Community Board 3 meeting [tonight at 6:30 pm, 189 Allen Street], in light of the public outcry over its possible demolition. The agenda calls for a discussion, which includes representatives from Project for Public Spaces, an organization that seeks to “transform public spaces into vital places that highlight local assets, spur rejuvenation and serve common needs.” The Essex Street Market already is a vital place and a local asset; it can continue to be rejuvenated, and it does serve common needs. How fortunate we are to have such a lively, diverse, historic market in our neighborhood.

[Photo via The Lo Down]

Here comes summer

[Photo by Melanie Neichin yesterday via East Village Corner]

[Updated] 'Dateline NBC' elicits epic meltdown at Bikes By George

Thanks to a reader for passing along this link to Sunday's "Dateline NBC, in which Chris Hansen blows the lid off the stolen-bicycle industry or something after selling an alleged hot bike for $25 at Bikes By George on East Fourth Street.

Per the "Dateline" promo, "it's the most explosive confrontation of Hansen's career." Ugh. Basically, Hansen confronts Dominic Philbert, George's son, about having bought a stolen bike. And the cameras keep rolling as Dominic becomes increasingly agitated and menacing, uttering the memorable "God does not like ugly, man" several times. It's local gotcha TV news at it's worst. (And this is supposed to be the network's signature broadcast for NBC News?)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Updated: Bob Arihood spoke with Dominic today. Per Neither More Nor Less:

"Dominic , contrary to what he says on the tape , told us that he did give a man , a paid actor, $25 for the the bicycle . He claims accurately that the tape shows nothing of this transaction . Dominic told us that the actor told him that he had lost his job and that he needed money to feed his kids . Dominic claims that he purchased the bicycle to help the guy who seemed to have some serious financial difficulties."

Read the whole post here.

Is Karczma the landlord's backup plan for Pangea on Second Avenue?

While looking at the June CB3/SLA docket, the following item jumped out at me from the New Liquor License Applications section:

• Karczma (Karczma NY Inc), 178 2nd Ave (op)

This is the address of Pangea. As for Karczma, Eater noted that "presumably this is a new location of one of Greenpoint's favorite Polish restaurants."

Earlier this spring, Pangea owner Stephen Shanaghan told me that he was embroiled in "a landlord-tenant dispute," which caused the restaurant to close for several days in early May.

However, after spending all of May 4 in court, "Pangea has come to a new agreement with the landlord."

Upon hearing of the listing for Karczma, Shanaghan told me, "It appears that the landlord had a backup plan in the works. I hope it all turns out in our favor."

Previously.

More on this past weekend's Avenue B party bus

A reader shared information after seeing our post from yesterday titled Buses, Bouncers and a Mysterious Avenue B part spot:

I took [a photo] of the party bus at approximately 3 a.m. on Friday night (early Saturday morning). By that point there was a cop car, an ambulance and a fire truck within the span of 2nd and 4th Streets on Ave B. One kid was unconscious sitting (more like slumped) on a stoop; when the cops asked his friends how old the kid was, they said 17. Saw another kid already in the ambulance.

Disposable Buddha

On Seventh Street, by Dave on 7th.

More about the rally to mourn the loss of 35 Cooper Square and save the Bowery

From the EV Grieve inbox... The funeral and rally is tomorrow night at 6:30 in front of 35 Cooper Square

Rally to Mourn the Loss of 35 Cooper Square and Save the Bowery!

May 25, 2011 – We come together as a community to mourn the loss of 35 Cooper Square and to call upon the City to take specific steps to insure that no more historic buildings are lost on the Bowery. The wanton demolition of this historic 1825 Federal-style house is a blatant reminder of how vulnerable the Bowery is to rampant out-of-scale development. [Last year, the distinctive upper floors of the Germania Bank Building (185 Bowery) were destroyed in order to preempt objections to a 30-story luxury hotel plan.]

The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors has identified and submitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission 21 buildings recognized by historians and community members as top priorities for protection. They are the tangible survivors of three centuries of the Bowery’s rich and colorful history. Losing any of them would greatly diminish the physical evidence of the Bowery’s contributions to the city’s and the nation’s cultural and architectural history. By protecting these buildings, the City will be ensuring the bare minimum needed to keep the Bowery a real place instead of a convenient brand for real estate development. Recognizing the dangers that threaten these buildings, we urge LPC Chair Tierney to schedule his promised meeting with us as soon as possible.

However, landmarking is not enough! The City must act to relieve the intense development pressure the area labors under. The east side of the Bowery is the release valve for all speculative energy focused on the neighborhood. There is a giant “BUILD BIG HERE” sign written in the air above the Bowery that only height limits can erase. Until the City lowers the allowable height to a reasonable level, we are going to see more and more luxury buildings growing higher and higher year by year.

The City cannot continue to ignore the devastating impact overdevelopment is having on long-time residents, small businesses and the artists’ community that still exists on the Bowery. The only way to truly save the Bowery from becoming a non-place is to put fair and equitable heights on the entire east side of the street. The broad support for this has been expressed by some of our most prominent writers, artists, and business leaders, including Luc Sante, Philip Glass, and Keith (Balthazar) McNally, who has written, “Development in any neighborhood may be inevitable, but in as noted and distinctive an area as the Bowery, it is desirable only as long as it preserves the neighborhood’s character while enhancing its value” (letter to City Planning, 6-12-09).

With the Bowery poised to be listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places, the City cannot continue to ignore this street’s architectural, historical and cultural importance. The Bowery has played a seminal role in the emergence of tap dance, vaudeville, minstrel shows, abstract expressionism, Beat literature and punk rock. As the convergence point for multiple historic neighborhoods (Chinatown, Little Italy, NoHo, East Village and Lower East Side), it needs to be preserved and protected in order to maintain the flow and historic sense of place of all these unique areas. As Pete Hamill stated at the candlelight vigil for 35 Cooper Square, “In order to make the present as rich as possible, you have to have a sense of the past….This is our inheritance.”

We, as a united community, call upon the City to:
• protect the Bowery’s remaining historical resources.
• change the sky’s-the-limit zoning on the Bowery’s east side to the more reasonable height caps that exist and help protect its west side.
• schedule a public hearing on the future of the Bowery.
• extend the proposed East Village Historic District study area to include portions of the Bowery.

As Amanda Burden, Chair of the City Planning Commission, has so aptly stated, “Once you lose a building, you lose character and history.” The City must now step up and save the character and history of the Bowery.

David Mulkins, Chair
Bowery Alliance of Neighbors
184 Bowery, #4
New York, NY 10012
(631) 901-5435
mulbd@yahoo.com

Victor Papa, President
Two Bridges Neighborhood Council
275 Cherry Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 566-2729
tbnc275@aol.com

Simeon Bankoff, Exec. Director
Historic Districts Council
232 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 614-9107
sbankoff@hdc.org

On the CB3/SLA June docket: Takers for Barbao, Sin Sin, Kurve — and 34 Avenue A, again

The June CB3/SLA agenda is out... (it should be on the CB3 website shortly) ...

SLA & DCA Licensing Committee
Monday, June 20 at 6:30 pm — JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. 5th St. at Bowery.

Among the items of interest:

Applications within Resolution Areas

• To Be Determined, 14 Ave B (op)

The East Village Brewery & Beer Shop, who borrowed the Prime Meats menu, is back on the docket.

• To Be Determined, 34 Ave A (op)

More activity on the former Mo Pitkin's/Aces & Eight space. And still no idea who is behind the venture... just yet.

• JujoMukti Tea Lounge (JujoMukti Inc), 211 E 4th St (wb)

• The Saint Mark's Red House (TTD& G LLC), 115 St Marks Pl (wb)

This is Barbao, which, as you're painfully aware, has been closed of late. I guess we know why now.

• MAT NA Bar and Grill (6 St Marks Restaurant LLC), 6 St Marks Pl (wb)

Looks like something for the shuttered Cafe Hanover eatery that was once Mondo Kim's.

Sidewalk Café Applications

Bistro Nomad (78 Second Ave Sandwich Shop, Inc), 78 2nd Ave (alt/expansion of sidewalk café to 10 tables and 21 chairs)

New Liquor License Applications

• Company, 242 E 10th St (op)

Hmm...

• Café 81, 81 E 7th St (op)

Hmm...

• Karczma (Karczma NY Inc), 178 2nd Ave (op)

This is Pangea's address... We're find out what this is all about...

• Empellon, 105 1st Ave (op)

This is the address of Counter. wd~50 pastry chef Alex Stupak received the OK from the CB3/SLA last November for a "fine-dining Mexican restaurant."

• Luzzo's (Luzzo's East), 211-213 1st Ave (op)

• Bar Veloce (175 2nd Ave Corp), 175 2nd Ave (op)

• Slices Group, Inc., 248 E 5th St (op)

This was once home to Sin Sin. According to reports, the landlord's son wanted to open a bakery here. Slices Group? This sounds more like pizza. Or bacon!

• Cooper Craft & Kitchen (Trim Castle Corp), 87 2nd Ave (op)

It's the former Kurve/Rhong Tiam space that the Dempsey's owner wants to turn into a craft beer-focused restaurant. The East Fifth Street Block Association had been opposed to this license. Read that here.

Are more people throwing away mattresses these days?

Dave on 7th sent along this photo from this morning on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Which reminds me that I have about 10 photos of discarded mattresses on my camera from the last few days (students moving out?) ... And most of them weren't wrapped in plastic per the City's wishes. In the photo here, it appears that the mattress was wrapped, but the bedbugs simply broke free.

Not likely considered properly wrapped for the trash

[Dave on 7th]

Breaking: Workers enter the Mystery Lot; fate of Monster unknown

@TheDevo alerts us to some people inside the Mystery Lot this morning looking at the fallen monster.

Trouble in paradise?

Likely not! These photos by Adam K suggest that the workers are merely Mowing the Mystery Lot...

We hope that they're only mowing, anyway...