EV Grieve

Monday, January 7, 2013

Claim: Second on Second closing this month on Second Avenue

Second on Second, the 10-year-old karaoke bar on Second Avenue, is closing at the end of the month, according to a tipster...

The tipster said that there was a rent hike, but it wasn't all that unreasonable. While business had been lagging a bit ... the tipster believes that there is still a market for karaoke...

No word on what might be next here. It's a cavernous space that will likely be highly desirable for some new venture...

So, after this month, the Cock will be the last bar left on the block here between East Second Street and East First Street. The Urge, the gay bar/club at 31-33 Second Ave., closed after New Year's Eve. They are expected to reopen this year at the long-vacant 14 Avenue B.

And you can expect some big changes soon enough a storefront away from Second on Second at 31-33 Second Ave. ...

As we reported on June 27, Ben Shaoul is planning on adding three floors to the existing building.

Lastly, Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken will eventually be taking over the corner space at East First Street. Oh, and there's always Mars Bar 2.0.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ben Shaoul planning a 3-story addition at 31-33 Second Ave.

The former Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen is now for rent on St. Mark's Place

The "for rent" sign went up here at 130 St. Mark's Place on Saturday. A full dumpster sits out front. The vegan bakery, which had been at this location since 1991 (34 years in business total), closed for good on Dec. 29.

Aside from rising rents, business had been down... and, of course, Sandy didn't help matters.

Owner Peter Silvestri held an auction at the store on Dec. 30...

[Courtesy of Bill the libertarian anarchist]

Meanwhile, The Villager reports this week that seven activists, organized by Fran Luck, traveled to Westchester County on Dec. 28 to hold a protest in front of Whole Earth landlord Ronald Friedman's office.

Per the article:

“We went up to Tarrytown because landlords who pull the strings on our community from afar, and without any consequence, should know that we will come to their communities to respond,” Luck said.

Whole Earth Bakery’s rent rose from $1,100 a month in 1991 to $5,300, an increase about three times faster than the rate of inflation.

205 Avenue A primed for 2 new floors

Back in August, we reported that a resident-free 205 Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street was getting a two-floor extension courtesy of developer Terrence Lowenberg and architect Ramy Issac.

Workers have been gut-renovating away these last few months... and now on the roof, the first sign of the new floors to come...

Meanwhile, here's an angle from the rear ... where it appears that workers gave been extending the back of the building as well...

[via EVG regular Greg Masters]

Max has apparently closed on Avenue B

As Eater first reported last Jan. 31, Max, the Avenue B stalwart, was expanding to Williamsburg some time in the near future... a few days later The Wall Street Journal reported that they would actually be closing the Avenue B location when the Brooklyn space was ready ... not sure what the status is with the expansion.

A reader noted the following yesterday...

@evgrieve Saw furniture being loaded into a truck this morning from Max on Ave B... any clue what's going on?
— James Feldman (@james_feldman) January 6, 2013

Another tipster reported that Max has, indeed, served its last meal here, as of New Year's Eve ... the place was closed last night...

Per the Journal last Feb. 3:

Luigi Iasilli, an owner, wrote in an email that he plans to close the East Village location as the neighborhood is getting "slow."

"I finally found what I believe I was looking for," he said of his Williamsburg site. "For me, [it is] going back to the roots, small space, $3,000 rent, a small yard, a mixed ethnic neighborhood with only a bodega across the street."

There are rumors that the east side of the Avenue here between Third Street and Fourth Street, the stretch of storefronts that included the LeSouk empire and Max, will receive a few extra floors during an upcoming renovation ...

[EVG file photo]

EV Grieve Eatery Etc.: Little Italy Pizza space for rent; Gruppo signs up on Avenue B

On Christmas Eve day, EVG regular Stephen Popkin spotted workers quickly cleaning out the short-lived Little Italy Pizza joint at 23 Third Ave. at St. Mark's Place. How quick was it? Noted one commenter:

I passed by just as the workers were hilariously loading trays of fresh pizza dough along with half used cans of tomato sauce and olives in the back of a white van while trying not to spill them all over the place. A guy carrying out a deli cheese slicer said they needed to leave in a hurry.

The space is now for rent... the listing isn't online just yet...

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Signage update on Gruppo, which is relocating to a new home down Avenue B... to 98 Avenue B between East Seventh Street and East Sixth Street ...

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And there's this...

@evgrieve@eastvillageny One of our regulars found our sidewalk sign, that was stolen during #SantaCon! Thanks. twitter.com/pangeanyc/stat…
— pangea (@pangeanyc) January 6, 2013

Drunken Santas apparently stole it that one awful day ... it randomly appeared Saturday night on East 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Here's your new Duane Reade signage on First Avenue; plus — will they keep the clock?

Oh! Back in May, a tipster told us that the Duane Reade on East 14th Street was moving into the former HSBC branch (the one that some residents tried to save) on First Avenue just north of 14th Street. Signage is now up. Think that clock that never has the right time will stay?

Anyway, a drug store is sorely needed here... as neighbors would have to walk directly next door to the CVS otherwise.

And the Duane Reade around the corner will eventually close ...

We Grievestrated the move on Oct. 2 ...

The soon-to-be-former Duane Reade space remains on the market (PDF) ... Seems like a perfect spot for a Walgreens!

EV Grieve Eatery Etc.: Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's closes for renovations; new 4th Avenue bar opens

The Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's action-packed combo opened on First Avenue in June... by the fall, the joint was for sale. At last look, the asking price was $189,000.

Meanwhile, several readers have noted that the space has been closed of late...

...and a sign on the door points to a "renovation."

Will the former former King Gyro continue to be a Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's? Or will it become a new combo of fastish food?

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Back in October, that gigantic Fourth Avenue bar the Forum "closed for renovations." And now, the space is back open as The Royal...

...we don't know a thing about the new venture... kind of looks the same as Forum, at least from the outside. We were never inside.

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...And on Second Avenue, don't be alarmed if you see the gate down at the Stage...

... the EVG favorite is closed today for Ukrainian Christmas ...

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Open hydrants on East 10th Street

The FDNY responded to a call a few minutes ago on East 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... everything seems to be OK... firefighters came and went fairly quickly, per witnesses ... here's a photo from the scene via @af ...

Noted

Man in Tompkins Square Park yelling'kill me. Put me out of my misery.'
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) January 6, 2013

Week in Grieview

[Salon 13 on East 13th Street via Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C]

Remembering some friends and neighbors who died in 2012 (Monday)

4 East Fourth Street buildings hit the market for $32 million (Thursday)

East Side students returning soon to East 12th Street (Friday)

The year in East Village photos — 2012 (Tuesday)

The year in East Village photos — Bobby Williams edition (Tuesday)

Anti-7-Eleven street art on Avenue A (Monday)

Remembering Sunando Sen (Wednesday)

Former Mars Bar space becoming a fucking bank branch (Wednesday)

But will there be a Mars Bar 2.0? (Thursday)

East Village stories to watch in 2013 (Wednesday and Thursday)

Cracked buildings help shut down Avenue B construction site (Friday)

The top-5 viewed EV Grieve posts from 2012 (Monday)

So long to Bargain Express (Friday)

First sign of the Penistrator this winter (Sunday)

UPS Store replacing Atlas Barber School on Third Avenue

Jeremiah Moss first reported that the Atlas Barber School closed on Third Avenue at the end of May... As he noted, the landlord jacked up the rent to $11,000 a month — a little much for a barber shop charging $5 a haircut. (Read his post on the place and its history here.)

And there's now a new tenant for the space... a UPS Store...

Seems like the kind of business that will succeed with a brand-new office building going up a few hundred feet away... Also, a UPS Store closed on Second Avenue in April 2011 for financial reasons, per the sign on the door at the time.

Previously.