Open Double Wide and...: Double Wide Bar & Southern Kitchen opening this weekend on East 12th Street

We don't know much about the new bar-restaurant opening at 505 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B (the former homes of Totem and Mundial). (We talked about the space in late August when some neighbors were upset by the late-night renovations here.)

We traded emails with one of the partners of the new venture. He invited us to stop by for a tour. (Never made it by for some reason...) The place is called Double Wide Bar & Southern Kitchen. And according to the Double Wide Facebook page, they're opening this weekend.

One detail: We asked the partner about the rumored "white trash" theme. "'White trash' may have come from descriptions of some of our menu items, like Frito Pie, Sloppy Joe Sliders, Chicken Fried Steak, etc (with four-star quality and ingredients)."

Stay tuned for more details...

[Updated] The Double Wide folks say that they'll be "partially" open this weekend...

Previously.

MTA eliminates that pesky Alphabet City in new subway map

[Via Second Ave. Sagas]

Meant to note this earlier in the week... when the Times ran a piece on the new MTA subway map... In a "decluttering" effort, the MTA streamlined the map to make it easier to read ... in the process, Avenues A, B, C and D (among many others in the city) are no longer represented.

Hmm, I don't know. I like things cluttered. Like stores. And maps. And streets. Why does everything in the city have to be so neat and orderly. Like you have to have a shiny Cemusa coffin instead of a ramshackle newsstand.

Anyway!

2nd Ave. Sagas has a lot more on the changes here.

Oh, and here's a look at the older map...

[via]

h/t Shawn Chittle

Caller No. 12, you're on the blog: More about Chinese takeout/delivery

Several people thanked us (for some reason!) for our Chinese delivery/takeout post from Friday... Well, thank you for everyone who left a comment — 41 in total, including the person who chastised us for ending our headline with a preposition. Woo. (Read the post here.)

EV Grieve reader LesMis asked if we could drill a little deeper... Sure. What the hell. We take requests.

Per LesMis: "I love good old fashioned New York Chinese food, just like I ate as a kid. Sure, I like the fusion, the exotic, the healthy, the Thai-masquerading-as-Chinese and even the Sushi joint-afterthought-for-people-who-don't-eat-sushi-but-got-outvoted-by-the-group varieties. But sometimes, I just get a hankering for the now unfashionable and often ridiculed basic dishes. Chop Suey, Chow Mein and Lo Mein rule."

So basically, he's looking for a low-brow menu with some standards and specifications:

• Folding cardboard containers.

• High standards of hygiene and food protection.

• High quality (fresh oil, vegetables and meat well-prepared classic style)

As a guide, two of his favorite places for this fare are Charlie Mom on Sixth Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street ... and Cottage on Irving Place and 16th Street. But a little closer to our neighborhood.

OK then. Uh, anyone?

Police say this woman is stealing purses from Katz's

The Daily News reports that police are looking for the woman in this video that they say has stolen three purses from Katz's since May. She is "stealing from customers as they're busy eating."



And only three? I could have stolen around 15 purses on my last visit... and maybe a backpack or two. People leaving stuff lying around unattended.

She also allegedly nabbed a purse from the Clinton Street Baking Company in June.

Anyway. You know what to do if you have information: Call 800-577-TIPS.

Did Starbucks borrow East Village juice bar ideas?

According to Page Six today — yes! Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz reportedly hired away the manager of Liquiteria on Second Avenue and 11th Street to train staff in Seattle for the chain's new juice-bar concept. Liquiteria owner Doug Green had this to say about Schultz "He befriended us, asked about our concept, then took her. It is a huge slap in the face."

Schultz had been spotted checking out Juice Press on First Street and Liquiteria back in March.

Why the future of the Holiday Cocktail Lounge may be in doubt

Uh-oh. 75 St. Mark's Place hit the market yesterday. It's initial asking price: $4.6 million. Here's the Corcoran listing, which is full of passages that give us the fear:

This is a rare opportunity to own a premium mixed use building on St. Marks Place. Located between 1st and 2nd Avenues, and home to the famous Holiday Cocktail Lounge, 75 St. Marks Place stands out as an excellent and flexible financial investment. The building has been owned by one family since 1973, meticulously cared for and in excellent condition. It contains the Holiday Cocktail Lounge on the ground floor (scene of innumerable TV and film shoots), 4 free market, 1400 square-foot apartments, one of which was completely renovated this year. The remaining three residential units are 2 bedroom + home office, one bathroom apartments, and are substantially below market rent, offering significant upside potential. All are very attractive, with soaring ceilings, Southern exposure, and large enough to feel like a home to any occupant. Two apartments are month-to-month, with the third lease expiring early 2012 so the rent roll is poised to increase substantially. The commercial lease is controlled by the owner, so it can be delivered vacant or the Holiday Cocktail Lounge continued. It is a long-run financial success made all the more valuable by considerable additional income as a film location. In addition, with a 4.0 FAR, there are ample air rights to expand in the event of a condo conversion, a great alternative given the paucity of condos in the area.

Got all that? One family has owned it since 1973 ... rent increase ... delivered vacant ... condo conversion. Good lord. Might as well set up the dumpster out front tomorrow morning.

OK, OK so no reason to get all doomsdayish... yet. The listing does seem to flatter the Holiday, calling it "famous" and "a long-run financial success." Encouraging? Promising?

The Holiday kept going after Stefan's passing in early 2009. While the Holiday has undergone a few changes (some cheesy promotions, several new full-screen TVs that attract the sportos), it's still a classic bar rich with East Village history.

Stefan opened the Holiday here in 1965. (It had been a bar since 1936.) Read more about the bar at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York here ...

And now, a walk-off passage from an article by former East Village resident Mike Hudson in the Niagra Falls Reporter a few years back:

[L]ike many Manhattan dives the Holiday Lounge had its writers.

For years Allen Ginsberg had a large apartment in a building almost directly across the street, and he and other Beat writers like Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Gregory Corso and Herbert Huncke spent considerable time with the bookies, dope dealers, working girls and alcoholics for whom the Holiday was a second home.

[adm on Flickr via JVNY]

Please don't piss or urinate here

"please do not piss in this property. do not urinate. thank you" ... spotted off Union Square. Photo by Marisa Gertz via La Dee Dah, where she has a fine collection of Urban Etiquette Signs.

Noted

Duane Reade on 14th Street... the one near First Avenue... not the one at Third Avenue ... or at the former Virgin Megastore or... and this costs $19.99?

Steven Tyler checks into the former Morrison Hotel Gallery space

As we first pointed out, the Morrison Hotel Gallery checked out of 313 Bowery at the end of September. In recent days, workers have been converting the space into Riff...

[Bobby Williams]

...which will feature the new clothing line that Steven Tyler worked on with Andy Hilfiger (Tommy's Hilfiger’s brother) for a rock-inspired clothing line called Andrew Charles. Tyler's 22-year-old daughter Chelsea also appears in the ad campaign... and in the window at 313 Bowery.

The clothing line is for Macy's, where Tyler will be tomorrow or something. Anyway, it's our understanding that this is just a temporary shop ... so get your leopards and scarves while you can...

Can the meatballs be far behind?

Here on IHOP Way 14th Street at Second Avenue, the Meatball Factory awning has arrived. Workers will be attaching it to the corner space that once housed the Pizza Hut-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's combo. (Read more about the plans here.)

As you may recall from July ... a Meatball Factory rep told an EV Grieve reader that the meatballs here "will put the Meatball Shop to shame."

Thanks to Jennifer at Xoom for the photo.

Today in Joe Franklin sightings on Second Avenue

[Dave on 7th]

Joe looks to be picking up a copy of the Voice near 14th Street...

[UPDATED] Reader report: DOH temporarily closes Butter Lane Cupcakes

Multiple readers have noted this morning that the DOH has temporarily closed Butter Lane Cupcakes on Seventh Street...

[Dave on 7th]

The new inspection report isn't online yet... there were 5 violation points in May; 25 during a Sept. 14 inspection... Meanwhile, BL fans are sad...

[UPDATED] 4:03 p.m. A reader just walked by and reports that Butter Lane in back open. No mention of the closure on their Twitter feed.

Heathers lives

Last month, the CB3/SLA committee voted not to renew the East 13th Street bar's liquor license. So it was left up to the State Liquor Authority to have the final say. According to the Heathers Facebook page:

HEATHERS LIVES!
License is renewed, and in hand!!!

According to the SLA, the license now expires Oct. 31, 2013.

This is the second time in recents months in which the CB3/SLA committee voted not to renew a bar's license "with complaint history." ... only to have the State Liquor Authority give the OK for the renewal. (See TenEleven)

Behold the new hawk in town

Bobby Williams has been keeping tabs on a juvenile red-tailed hawk who arrived a few days ago in Tompkins Square Park...

You can see that this hawk does not have a red tail yet ... something about molting their feathers after their first year... Actually! Per roger_paw in the comments: "Red-tailed hawks don't develop their signature tail feathers until they've reached a certain age." Check out her hawk photos here.

And yesterday, the new hawk dined on a rat (entrails alert!) ...