Former Lucky Cheng's honky tonked; let's graze the menu!

Workers continue to transform the former Lucky Cheng's on First Avenue into Pride and Joy BBQ...



Meanwhile, MenuPages posted their menu, which includes "snacks & big bites" and "Grazin'" sections...


[Click image to enlarge]

There is a Guy Fieri vibe here with items like Myron's "Cupcake" chicken ... Bowl 'O Burnt Ends ... Pulled Pork Egg Rolls...deep fried 'smores brownie... you can wash it all down with a Big Texan or Mountain Cooler. Welcome to East Flavor Town!

Remembering Bobby 'Books' Brooks

EVG Facebook friend Roy Lee shared this photo from the mid-1990s of Bobby 'Books' Brooks, proprietor of Reborn 14, the ramshackle used bookstore that once lived at 238 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

"His store was a mess. I offered more than once to come in and help him straighten it up but he said he knew where everything was," said Roy, who recalled Bobby as part of a late-night group of old-timers who drank at O'Hanlon's.

The store was open from roughly 1987 to the late 1990s. Here's a review of it via The ARChive of Contemporary Music:

Reborn 14
Now this is a real junk shop. Books and vinyl smelling of fresh cat pee. Albums as marked inside the covers and singles at $2 reflect pricing while intoxicated. They actually have a toilet in the back which is available to all who can find it. Unique. Recover at the Beauty Bar across the street.

Unique indeed, the kind of store that really can't exist here anymore for several obvious reasons.

"I found a death record that almost has to be him," said Roy. "Still, it would be fun to see who remembers him or his weird little store."

Anyone?

Pre Citi-Bike launch, DOT introduces 'Street Safety Managers' to the streets

Early yesterday morning, we noticed a group of DOT employees congregating outside the Bean on First Avenue and East Ninth Street...

A DOT news release offers up an explanation:

Managers complement commercial cycling education and enforcement efforts, come in advance of May Citi Bike launch
New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced that DOT Street Safety Managers (SSM) are assigned to key bike and pedestrian corridors and bridge paths in Manhattan to help enhance safety among pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, further enhancing street safety as bike ridership grows, as DOT starts enforcement of commercial cycling laws and in advance of the 6,000-bike launch of the Citi Bike system. The SSMs will monitor locations with dense pedestrian and cyclist activity to reinforce existing traffic rules, advising bike riders to ride in the direction of traffic, yield to pedestrians and stop at traffic signals; instructing pedestrians to await traffic signals on the curb and not stand in bike paths; and discouraging cars from parking illegally in bike lanes. Shifts of four SSMs will be assigned to different locations in Manhattan weekdays during the morning and afternoon rush hours from April through October.

“Our streets have never been safer and we’re educating everyone on how to use them safely, and enforcing against those who don’t,” said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “With more people out in the warm weather we’re committed to doing even more to get out the message that safety is the rule of the road.”

EVG reader @malusbrutus passed along this photo from yesterday at Second Avenue and East Ninth Street ...



He notes that the DOT personnel are not issuing citations, rather just offering warnings.

Also!

"In related news, police officers regularly stand on the north side of 14th street and 1st avenue to ticket cyclists who break traffic laws on their morning commute."

Updated:

The bike haters at the Post has a piece on this today.

Taxpayers are forking over cash so a small army of city DOT employees can baby-sit rogue cyclists, reminding them of the basic rules of the road so they don’t pedal into pedestrians.

Read more, including some local reaction, here.

In the midnight hour: Citi Bikes docking stations arrive near Union Square

At the strike of midnight (or close enough) @sandwichboarder noted the arrival of another Citi Bike docking station ... this time on Broadway near East 14th Street...



Didn't know about the late-night docking action. So be warned. You may wake up with one on your sidewalk. At least if you live around here.

More about Max Fish maybe moving to Brooklyn

At The New York Times today, Cara Buckley has more on the probable move of Max Fish to Brooklyn.

Owner Ulli Rimkus gave her this via text message: "We are trying to move to Williamsburg. Nothing certain, except that we have to move." She declined to answer more questions. And this: She "later shooed a reporter out of her bar."

And what do longtime neighbors at Katz's and Russ & Daughters think?

They "met the news with resignation bordering on nonchalance. The rapid gentrification of the neighborhood made the bar's departure feel inevitable, they said.

"Everything else is gone," said David Manheim, 38, a waiter at Katz's. "Why shouldn’t Max Fish be gone too?"

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

From froyo to eyebrow threading on First Avenue

For a few months last year, 159 First Ave. served as home to NLYU Yogurt ... before hosting a 2-for-1 boxes of Fruity Pebbles closing sale in October... the place had been for rent... one day we noticed the for rent sign was down, the next day, an eyebrows threading salon opened...



Your move, 7-Eleven...

Getting a Handle on a FroYo empire

[May 2012]

Speaking of FroYo... TheStreet.com has an article on 16 Handles' expansion plans. The self-serve froyogurters opened their very first store right here on Second Avenue back in the innocent days of 2008...

And today! Per the article:

It now has 37 locations across six states through franchising. It plans to more than double that amount by the end of 2014.

16 Handles has some big shoes to fill though. Frozen yogurt sales topped $760 million in 2012 with TCBY, Red Mango and Pinkberry controlling half of the industry, according to IBISWorld.

In the Q-and-A, founder and CEO Solomon Choi says that he plans "to be at a 100 stores by end of next year and at 150 stores [by 2015] and also in a couple different countries at that point.

$760 million? Maybe we should open a FroYo place too...

3:35 a.m.

By Bobby Williams.

And if you look closely, you can see an outline of a penis... Oh, wait — that was Mars! Never mind!

This about sums it up

Avenue A and East Third Street today... via Bobby Williams...

Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

[August 2012]



Reps for developer Douglas Steiner filed permits today to demolish the now-vacant parcel of Mary Help of Christians that includes the church, school and rectory, according to DOB records.

Steiner, owner of the Brooklyn Navy Yard's Steiner Studios, bought the property last year for $41 million, as the Local reported in November. Aside from the three properties mentioned above, the deal included the former flea market lot.

[August 2012 by Bobby Williams]

Rumors of development here have been swirling since 2008, when The Real Deal reported that the Archdiocese of New York had sold two-thirds of the playground space along Avenue A had been in an all-cash deal for $10.4 million. That deal never materialized.

This is roughly the area of development that we're talking about... the church, adjacent school and rectory, and playground where vendors used to set up for the weekend flea markets... (the three buildings on the southwest corner of 12th Street and Avenue A aren't owned by the Archdiocese...)

[Via Off the Grid]

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and other community groups submitted a request to the Landmarks Preservation Commission asking them to landmark the church. The LPC denied the request. (Read about that here.)

No official word just yet on what new residential-retail development will rise here. There was some talk of an 80-20 split to include affordable housing.

Given the demolition permit, it doesn't appear that part of the church will be incorporated into the design of the new building, much like NYU did by sort of including the façade of St. Ann's into the entrance of the 12th Street dorm.

The church opened in 1917.

The church in 1920 via the NYPL Digital Gallery ...

BMW drives into the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams showroom on Lafayette

EVG reader Joe Burrascano just sent us these photos... around 2 p.m. on Kenmare and Lafayette...





... the BMW ended up inside the showroom of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, the home furnishings company. No word on injuries.

And this can be a tricky intersection... More info when it's available...

Stupid infidelity survey shows that cheaters prosper at Momofuku

A website called Ashley Madison — "the most famous name in infidelity and married dating" — asked its users to name the city's most popular "cheaters restaurants" ... and tallied up the 10 most popular affair restaurants, as published by the Post today...



As you can see, Momofuku on First Avenue ended up at No. 6 on the list. Why? Who knows! Of course, Momofuku does mean "lucky peach," as their website shows.

The last interesting empty lot in the East Village

Now that The Mystery Lot on East 13th Street is officially A Luxury Lot... we're nearly out of abandoned lots that are rather mysterious around here... save for this lot... the one off Houston/East Second Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...







This lot still holds some surprises, such as hosting the occasional crucified bear ... We don't know much about the lot (making it all the more mysterious!) ... just that the owner isn't interested in selling off the parcel... Still, enjoy it while you can.

Photos by Bobby Williams

Previously on EV Grieve:
A look at the dwindling number of East Village lots

The May CB3-SLA docket: The Living Room back on for E. 2nd St.; more pizza for 1st Avenue

It's another action-packed CB3-SLA committee docket for May... CB3 released it early yesterday evening...

First! The time and place:

SLA & DCA Licensing Committee
Monday, May 20 at 6:30pm — University Settlement Neighborhood Center
189 Allen Street (btwn Houston & Stanton Sts) (north of main entrance)

And now, a few of the highlights...

Sidewalk Cafe Application
• Heart N' Soul Restaurant (Mama's Bar LLC), 200 E 3rd St (unenclosed)

What replaced Mama's here back in March at Avenue B...

Applications within Saturated Areas

• Donostia (EV Cafe LLC), 155 Ave B (wb)

Interesting. This is the former Zee's Pet Shop next to Sheen Brother's ... asking rent had been $2,500.

• East Village Social (TDDG Inc), 122-126 St Marks Pl (op)

• Ludlow House (Soho-Ludlow Inc), 139 Ludlow St (op)

Previously.

• Papaya King (PKNY2 LLC), 3 St Marks Pl (wb)

Beer for the King?

• Zen 6 Ramen New York LLC, 186 Ave A (wb)

Looks like some ramen at the former Kamui Den ... they closed back in February.

Alterations

[Photo by esquared™]

• Affaire (Chow Main Corp), 50 Ave B (alt/op/additional stand-up bar)

Asking for an upgrade to full liquor.

New Liquor License Applications
• The Living Room (ACP Project), 173 E 2nd St (op)

Back on the agenda. Read the background here.

• Han Dynasty (Han Dynasty NYU Corp), 90 3rd Ave (wb)

• Goats (Goat Brothers Inc), 213 2nd Ave (op)

Currently Nightengale Lounge.

• Risotteria Melotti (Melotti USA LLC), 309 E 5th St (wb)

This is what is taking over the short-lived Ballaro Bakery near the 9th Precinct...

• Masombrado LLC, 432 E 13th St (op)

Someone is quickly moving into the former Masak space...

• Bruno Pizza LLC, 223 1st Ave (op)

WOW. Someone is quickly moving into the former Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery space... and this will make THREE pizza places almost right in a row here... (And maybe this is a pizzeria from Bruno di Fabio? Just throwing it out there...)

• Everyman Espresso (Everyman Espresso LLC), 136 E 13th St (wb)

Beer and wine to woo back Katie Holmes? Or at least have to serve before and after plays at the Classic Stage Company...

Corporate Change (not heard at committee)
• Fat Buddha (Lo Eng Inc), 212 Ave A (op)

• Mama's Food Shop (Mama Bar LLC), 34 Ave B (op)

b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations