EV Grieve

Friday, December 9, 2011

Gutting continues at 315 E. 10th St.

This morning, we reported that Ben Shaoul had purchased The Educational Alliance building at 315 E. 10th St. ... big plans in the works here — conversion to residential, and maybe, just maybe — an additional floor ... Meanwhile, as Dave on 7th notes, the gut renovation continues this afternoon...

Why there's a Hank Williams Jr. doll on Avenue C

EV Grieve reader Sam spotted this today outside Bobwhite Lunch and Supper Counter, coming soon to Avenue C near East Sixth Street... the place will serve Southern-style comfort food. Perhaps they need a better spokesdoll than Hank Williams Jr. though...

Breaking: Holiday lights going up now in Tompkins Square Park

Thanks to @harrisonmarkey for sending along this photo... the official tree lighting (the 20th anniversary) is Sunday afternoon at 4.

Breaking: East Village has the most pizza places of any neighborhood in Manhattan

That's the word from the New York City Economic Development Corporation today... Using the latest available data from the Department of Health restaurant inspection results, researchers found that the East Village (zip 10003) has 33 pizza places.

The StatsBee Tumblr has more details on the survey... which you can find here.

[Image: NYCEDC analysis of NYC DOHMH data]

About that really loud noise around 14th Street and Avenue B last night

[Not last night. But it could have been!]

From a reader who lives in Stuy Town near 14th Street and Avenue B:

Just wanted to see if anyone else had heard or contacted you yet about this really loud noise I experienced last night. Around 3:30 am I woke up from a deep sleep to the noise of what sounded like a jet literally hovering over my area. I woke up my boyfriend so that he could hear it too and so that I knew I wasn't dreaming. This noise went on consistently for about a half hour.

They didn't spot anything out the windows... Anyone else experience this? I'm going with UFO. No crackpot conspiracies, please.

Report: Fire at 26 St. Mark's Place

DNAinfo is reporting that a fire broke out this morning at 26 St. Mark's Place. (T-Kettle is the ground-floor tenant.) Per DNA, the fire started on a mattress on the third floor of the six-story building. "Some residents of the building ... had to be evacuated using a ladder as firefighters battled the blaze," Julie Shapiro reported.

Mystery buyer (Ben Shaoul?) picks up 315 E. 10th St. from the Educational Alliance; gut renovation and extra floor on way

The Educational Alliance had been running Counseling Services ("For children, teens, adults & families") at 315 E. 10th St. across from Tompkins Square Park. However, after seeing movers and garbage haulers work in the space last month, a tipster did a little digging.

It turns out that the Educational Alliance sold the building to "315 East 10th Street Owner LLC" for $3.7 million. It is a Delaware LLC and, according to documents, represented by the law firm of Goldberg Weprin Finkel Goldstein. (The sale was finalized on Sept. 15.)

Two observations from our tipster:

• The law firm that represented the people who recently closed on the Cabrini Nursing Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation for $25.5 million are the same that represented the buyer of 315 E 10th.

• Both properties were formerly used for nonprofit-type activities.

Per the tipster: "I assume [315] will be gutted shortly."

Indeed. There is a permit on file with the DOB for interior demolition. There's also a "pending permit" to convert this building into residential and add an extra floor.

Brent M. Porter and Associates is listed as the architect; Keith Holden is listed as the owner. The address given on the DOB application is the same as Magnum Real Estate Group. Ben Shaoul is the president of Magnum Real Estate Group.

So, perhaps, as we reported, it's safe to assume that Ben Shaoul now owns Cabrini Nursing Center too.

Meanwhile, the Educational Alliance recently held a groundbreaking event at its flagship building at 197 East Broadway, which is undergoing a $45 million renovation. (And not everyone is happy with the upcoming changes.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Ben Shaoul is the new owner of Cabrini nursing home, will convert to condos

RIP Charlie

[Photo by Bob Arihood from July 2011]

To be honest, we don't know too much about Charlie... other than that we'd see him around fairly often, such as at Ray's ... He had bypass surgery earlier this year, and had been on the mend. Sad news to report, though: A reader said that his body was discovered last night in his East 10th Street apartment... we don't know any other details at the moment...

Shoolbred's-Ninth Ward owner bringing Caribbean cuisine to former Holy Basil space

An entity titled "Honey Rider LLC" is on Monday night's CB3/SLA docket. Honey Rider (Ursula Andress played Honey Rider in "Dr. No"!) is looking to take over the former home of Holy Basil, the Thai place on Second Avenue that closed in October after "technical difficulties."

According to documents (PDF!) on file at the CB3 website, Robert Morgan, one of the owners of Shoolbred's and the Ninth Ward on Second Avenue, is behind the new venture. He and his partner plan to serve "Caribbean cuisine," with operating hours of 1 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Thursday; 1 p.m.-4 a.m. on Friday; Noon-4 a.m. on Saturday; and noon-1 a.m. on Sunday, according to the documents.

No word yet on any Bond theme.

[Image via]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Holy Basil closed, space for rent

Holy Basil remains closed for 'technical difficulties'

Holiday tree lighting in Tompkins Square Park Sunday at 4 (p.m.)

[Photo by Allen Semanco]

The festivities (the 20th anniversary!) start Sunday at 4 at the usual place. We'll have more details later this weekend.

Meanwhile, as The Villager reported this week, the Tompkins Square Park Neighborhood Coalition will dedicate the event to the memory of Kevin Dowd, a former vice president of the coalition who died March 8 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 57.

Previously on EV Grieve:
On St. Patrick's Day, a Christmas miracle in Tompkins Square Park

DOB puts a full Stop Work Order on 11-17 Second Avenue

As DNAinfo first reported Wednesday afternoon, a worker at the site of the demolition of 9-17 Second Avenue suffered a leg injury after being struck by falling debris. Witnesses had said the injury did not appear to be serious.

City inspectors arrived on the scene Wednesday afternoon...

According to the DOB: "Hazardous conditions observed at site."

As you can see, the DOB says that a 16-by-20-foot piece of debris struck the worker. "STOP ALL WORK."

The buildings — including the Mars Bar space — are being demolished to make way for a 12-story apartment complex.

Previously.

[All photos by Bobby Williams on Wednesday afternoon]