Crif Dogs will not be selling its wares from the former Billy's Antiques space on East Houston at Elizabeth Street, we learned this morning. Crif Dogs partner Brian Shebairo confirmed that the deal is dead. And he is mighty pissed about it. More on that in a moment.
Shehairo planned to park the Crifmobile at this lot and open a more-permanent space with outdoor tables and chairs, as Grub Street first reported on April 1. The space has sat empty since Billy Leroy put away the giant tent in March 2012. Plans for a new two-story building on the lot have never materialized.
Shebairo, who opened the flagship shop on St. Mark's Place in 2001, was working on a deal with landlord Goldman Properties. However, that deal died yesterday when Goldman reps said that they'd like Shebairo to turn the space back over to them in September and October for a Kenneth Cole-sponsored arts event where the homeless could receive free needles and condoms.
This revelation from Goldman came after Shebairo spent two months working on the proposal, incurring costly lawyer fees in the process.
"I'm so annoyed," Shebairo said on the phone this morning. "I jumped through hoops to make this happen with them leading me along the whole time. I think they wanted me to come in to clean the space for them then give it back in the prime season so they could work with Kenneth Cole."
The proposal inadvertently ended up on this month's Community Board 2 agenda — before Shebairo had time to do any neighborhood outreach. After the item appeared on the docket, he learned that NoHo power-broker Zella Jones was dead against the idea of someone peddling hot dogs with a full-liquor license on that corner.
Shebairo said that he sat down with Jones during a recent four-hour meeting at Saxon + Parole. By the end of the meal, he had agreed to a host of stipulations, including only serving beer and closing by 10 p.m. He said that he had her blessing, which goes a really long way in that neighborhood.
Apparently Shebairo could of had a much smaller presence during the two-month Cole event. As one Goldman rep apparently told him, "Brian, we're going to make you famous."
Said Shebairo: "It was a kick in the fucking face. I don't know how Kenneth Cole is going to make me famous."
He has all the proper permits for the year ready for the Crifmobile, and he could legally just park it by the empty lot if he wanted to.
"I thought it was kind of a cool idea," he said with a sigh, "a creative use of the space."
