What's going on at the Middle Collegiate Church building on East Seventh Street?

[Late December]

Late last year (Dec. 19 to be exact!), you may have noticed the plywood arrive outside the Middle Collegiate Church building on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... Since then, workers have been busy gutting the space — a sign that always makes a few people nervous. Like, hey — it's becoming a condo or a hotel or an artisanal condiment shop.

Turns out it's nothing so sinister, in case you haven't heard.

"Our office space is being renovated, so that the building will be fully accessible to the people of the East Village and allowing us to better fulfill our goal of being a place that welcomes everyone," Kate Tull, a technical administrator with Middle Collegiate, told us via email.

The Church website has some construction FAQs here.

The price of a 99-cent pizzeria is now just $100,000

Mamani Pizza on Avenue A near East 10th Street hit the market back in early October ... and the price for the 99-cent pizzeria has been reduced this week, dropping nearly 23 percent to $100,000, according to the listing at Trulia NYC. That's just about 101,000 slices...

A tree grows on Astor Place

EVG contributor James Maher shared this photo with us... a shot of a lonely-looking Chase branch on Astor Place. Upon closer inspection, you can make out a little life...

Per James: "Thought it showed this interesting spark of life and human presence within the soulless empty bank."

Boulton and Watt is open on Avenue A

Boulton & Watt, the new bar-restaurant concept from the people behind Ella and the Blind Barber, officially opened this week at the former Nice Guy Eddie's space.

BlackBook described the space this way:

[T]he prime spot has a steampunk twist with salvaged windows, an antique steam engine used to power the restaurants fan system, and a spattering of repurposed furniture.

[Via Facebook]

And the food? Chef David Rotter said it was "a revised take on rustic American comfort food." Zagat points out that Rotter "pays homage to [the industrial revolution] with twists on throwback dishes such as Scotch egg with béarnaise; and short rib and bone marrow toast in bordelaise. There’s also a 'pickling station' featuring an array of fruits and veggies, including figs, pineapple, radish, Brussels sprouts and beets."

We've heard from people that the food is good, though "pickling station" might make parody fodder for a TV show that has a poster near the restaurant...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors about the new name for the former Nice Guy Eddie's space

Last night at Nice Guy Eddie's

[Updated] Street fight erupts at Raphael Ward's memorial service on Second Avenue this afternoon

There was a memorial service this afternoon for Raphael Ward, the 16-year-old gunned down for his jacket last Friday night on the Lower East Side.

Witnesses described a wild scene after a fight among students apparently broke out outside the Provenzano Lanza Funeral Home on Second Avenue between East Third Street and East Second Street around 3 p.m.

These pictures by Event Photos NYC show panicked students fleeing the scene, heading south toward Houston...

Bobby Williams was also in the vicinity and took these photos...

He reports that a large contingent of NYPD officers quickly arrived and restored order... no word on any arrests...

Police are looking to question four "persons of interest" about the murder. His funeral will take place at Our Lady of Sorrows Church on Pitt Street tomorrow morning, according to the Lo-Down.

More details on today's altercation as they become available...

[Courtesy of Event Photos NYC]

Updated 1-10:

The Lo-Down has more on the incident:

A friend of The Lo-Down witnessed the confrontation, telling us that at one point a teen was being beaten with a large chain and a frying pan. Another source said at least one fight began inside the funeral home. Cops were forced to shut down traffic on 2nd Avenue to deal with the situation.

Updated 1-10:
The Post reports that the NYPD arrested a 16 year old for his alleged role in the shooting last Friday night.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Yesterday in Tompkins Square Park via Bobby Williams]

Get your SPURA RFP! (The Lo-Down)

An illegal backyard dining area at Mission Chinese on Orchard? (BoweryBoogie)

Archival shots of Union Square (Curbed)

Recalling Luc Sante's "My Lost City" (Essay Daily ... h/t Flaming Pablum)

Revisiting a great album, "Mink Deville" (Clash Magazine)

Suzie's Chinese restaurant on Bleecker closes after 39 years (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

... and a photo while crossing First Avenue at St. Mark's this morning...

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Lee Schramm
Occupation: Retired, English as Second Language Teacher
Location: 10th Street and Avenue A
Time: 12:45 on Saturday, Jan. 5

I’ve lived in the neighborhood since 1974. I teach English as a second language. It has been my profession all my life but I’m retired now. I taught at a private language school called Cambridge School. I got into English because I was in the Peace Corps in Turkey and that’s what I did there. I liked it so it became my career.

I met a boy, a man, whatever he is, and we moved in together into the neighborhood in ‘74. He didn’t have a job at the time because he was living in San Francisco and I had my teaching job, which didn’t pay a lot. So we moved here because it was cheap. We lived on Avenue A and, at that time, we would never go left toward Avenue B. There was nothing on Broadway and nothing on Lafayette. You would never believe it by looking at Broadway now, but there was really nothing. It was dead! The only thing you could do was go to the West Village, which was active, but you could only walk down 8th Street because that was the only street that had shops and people.

It wasn’t a very good neighborhood at the time. There were a lot of burnt-out buildings. It looked similar to what you’ve heard about the South Bronx with a lot of drugs and a lot of burnt-out, empty buildings. Because I never was into drugs, I think that I was relatively safe and I never had any problems. But also, I didn’t roam. I walked fast and I went to a certain place and I looked determined and I think that may have had something to do with it.

In those days you would not go into Tompkins Square Park with all the homeless people living there. I wouldn’t even consider going in there. Now I spend a lot of time in the Park. I used to go to Washington Square Park, even though they had a lot of drugs over there at the time. But it was safe.

Only one time did I ever have a problem. It was after a huge snowstorm. We had like two feet of piled-up snow and there was nobody on the streets. I got robbed by a man with a gun. Whether he had a real gun or whether it was loaded or not I didn’t know. I didn’t care. I only had six dollars on me and so I gave him the six dollars! I actually wasn't scared until it was over. I’m lucky for all my times in New York City to only have that one little incident.

When I first came here, really the only things you had were the Odessas and the Polish restaurants. There were not many places to eat. Now, of course, the restaurants are fabulous in the East Village.

I spend all my life here because there’s so much to do. There are galleries coming back and there are fabulous restaurants ... and in close walking distance I have Cinema Village on 12th Street, the Quad on 13th Street, the Angelica, and the Film Forum too. I like the indie movies much more than the blockbusters.

My favorite restaurant in the neighborhood is Prune. A new one that’s very nice and quite good is Toucan & the Lion on East 6th Street near 1st Avenue. And on Avenue C and 5th street is Casa Adela — the best chicken in New York City, I think. You could never go down to C before and now there are so many nice places there.

Just don’t ask me my rent. You wouldn’t like me.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Is something finally happening to the long-vacant, mysterious 6 Avenue B?

An EV Grieve regular noted that, in the past two days, workers have been hauling junk out of the long-vacant building on the northwest corner of Avenue B and East Houston... Bill the libertarian anarchist took this photo of the work yesterday...

The owner of the liquor store on the corner died in the fall of 2009... and the store has been closed since then... Chico created the tribute to the owner in February 2010.

[February 2012]

Back in February 2010, we heard that the owner's nephew was weighing his options about what to do with the store. As for the rest of the building, it has been vacant as long as many people can remember.

Scoopy had this item at the time:

"The nephew is currently trying to locate the paperwork for the old tenement, the upper floors of which have sat empty for some 20 years. 'Maybe there's some money in the building, a secret hideaway — could be, I didn't say there is,' Chico quipped. As for 'Mom,' he said, 'She used to give everybody credit. She was a hard-working woman. She would lock the gates. She was open till midnight.'"

We understand that this is one of the abandoned buildings owned by the mysterious team of Arthur and Abraham Blasof, now both deceased. Among their rundown properties: 85 Attorney Street, which is slated for some type of unspecified renovation, per BoweryBoogie ... and 43 MacDougal St., which the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation is fighting to protect.

There's nothing in the DOB records showing that anything is imminent with 6 Avenue B. Arthur Blasof is still listed as the owner. Can't imagine that this prime real estate will sit empty for much longer. For now, though, the building will keep making money for someone by hosting the cellular antennas on the roof... and we'll probably never know what's up there...

Relief from the BBQ smell on the way for residents who live above Mighty Quinn's?

Shortly after Mighty Quinn's opened last month, we heard from some anonymous upstairs neighbors about the smell coming from the popular BBQ joint on Second Avenue and East Sixth Street.

We live in the building and our apartments & hallways reek of barbecue, all the way to the top floor — it's coming up through the radiators, walls & floors.

Perhaps some relief is on the way. CB3's Landmarks Subcommittee meets tomorrow night, and on the agenda:

Cert of Appropriateness: 103 Second Ave to show the exhaust duct running along the façade of the building

The CB3 website includes a PDF of the engineering plans for this new exhaust system ... from inside the restaurant...

... and on the East Sixth Street side...

The building here is part of the East Village Historic District that came into existence last fall. According to the plans for the new exhaust system, the work "will not affect any significant architectural features or decorative masonry." In addition, plans show that the new ductwork "will bypass the decorative cornice feature at the sub-roof and coping stone at roof and will not alter or compromise it in anyway."

The meeting is tomorrow night at 6:30 at the BRC Senior Services Center, 30 Delancey St. between Chrystie and Forsyth.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Resident claim: Living above Mighty Quinn's can be mighty smelly

Rent this East 11th Street apartment; enjoy the artificial turf out back

Here's an apartment that just hit on the market on East 11th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... Per Streeteasy:

Spacious studio / Junior 1 bdrm with private backyard access! A rare find in NYC!
Separate kitchen that will be totally renovated (will feature new cabinets and appliances)
Brand new bathroom
2 large closets
A/C unit in wall
Entire apartment will be cleaned and painted

The rent is $2,600. (Maybe you could get it for less if they didn't clean or paint it? Ha.) Anyway, perhaps you can offset that cost by opening up a miniature golf course in that private backyard... here's the lone photo that accompanied the listing...

You may want to run it by the World Minigolf Sport Federation first.

Sidewalk stories

Yesterday, a little sidewalk work commenced on St. Mark's Place...

Today, the final product.

Much better!

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Here's your 2013 Frigid New York Festival info

From the EVG inbox today...

Horse Trade Management Group will present the 7th Annual FRIGID New York Festival, an open and uncensored theatre festival that gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in a venue that values freedom of expression and artistic determination.

In true support of theatre on the fringe of the mainstream, 100% of box office proceeds will go directly to the artists. Boasting over 150 performances and 30 shows over 12 days in 3 theaters, FRIGID New York will kick off the annual North American Fringe Circuit with a bang!

Riding the fringe of winter, the hit celebration of independent theater will run February 20-March 3 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1st Ave and Ave A). Tickets ($10-$16) may be purchased online here or by calling 212-868-4444.

You can find the complete 2013 Frigid New York Festival lineup here.

Meanwhile, the Lo-Down has details here about three other local festivals... the Under the Radar Festival at Public Theater, Coil 2013 at Dixon Place and American Realness at the Abrons Arts Center.

Noted

East 12th Street this morning. Waking up on the wrong side of the Honda, via Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.

Avenue A's anti-7-Eleven campaign now includes arsenal of 20,000 stickers

Well, it's becoming clear(er) that some residents aren't interested in having a big 7-Eleven on the corner of Avenue A and East 11th Street.

We received the following missive yesterday:

Attached is an image of stickers (20,000) that just came in and will be distributed throughout the East Village as part of a sticker campaign for when the 7-11 on Avenue A opens up. Basically people will be constantly stickering the door of 7-11 with these ... delicately placed next to the usual MasterCard Accepted stickers by the handle of the door entrance. The idea is to a) constantly remind consumers to turn around and shop elsewhere before going in and also to b) be a nuisance to the 7-11 store itself...

The email was signed,
@PoliticoNympho

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] More from the anti-7-Eleven front on Avenue A and East 11th Street

7-Eleven alert: Are 2 chain stores replacing Bar on A and Angels & Kings?

First sign of the incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A