Learning to fly: Baby hawk fledges, ends up in airshaft, then Tompkins Square Park

The largest of the three baby hawks finally left the nest up on the Christodora House today ... and made it all the way across East Ninth Street ... where it ended up in an airshaft.

We'll post much more on all this tomorrow... as will Goggla, who witnessed much of the baby hawk rescue.

Thanks to a lot of people, especially Rob Mastrianni, an urban park ranger and East Village resident, the baby hawk ...


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

...was safely transported to Tompkins Square Park early this evening ... where a crowd gathered to watch...


[Photo by EVG reader Andrew]

More photos and the rest of the story later tomorrow...

The East Fifth St. Tree Committee is certainly not pleased about this

There was some drama today on East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

The story goes something like this.

This morning, workers arrived to remove a dumpster that had been on the block for months. We're a little sketchy on details, but apparently a resident yelled at the driver to sweep up the remnants from where the dumpster lived. So the truck with the dumpster now on board double-parked to do the sweeping. The driver then had to back up the truck, accidentally taking down the branches in the process.

Meanwhile, at this time we can't independently verify if this sign is via the East Fifth St. Tree Committee.



Thank you to PandaCat for the photos.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The East Fifth St. Tree Committee back in action

The East Fifth St. Tree Committee is alive and well, and they do not mess around

And now, a word from the East Fifth St. Tree Committee

The East Fifth St. Tree Committee reveals its policy about carts

Summer begins with random bags of soil and a note from the East Fifth St. Tree Committee

[Updated] Goat Town is closing to make way for a pizzeria

[Image via nycgo.com]

According to a tipster, Goat Town, the nearly 4-year-old bistro at 511 E. Fifth St., will close by July 4.

The new concept: "some kind of pizza place," per the tipster, who notes that the staff was given less than two weeks notice of the impending closure. (We understand that ownership will remain the same, with a shift in management.)

The restaurant between Avenue A and Avenue B arrived in the farm-to-table heyday, with Goat Town staffers setting out to grow herbs and vegetables in the backyard garden ... and as Eater noted in December 2010, "all pickling, preserving, and jarring" was to be done in house.

The address has been home to several restaurants since Le Tableau closed in December 2007. Before Goat Town, the space was home to Seymour Burton and Butcher Bay.

Updated 3:04 p.m.

Per Eater:

The new restaurant, called GG's, will serve pizza and other dishes that, just like the current New American menu, include ingredients sourced from the restaurant's back garden. A representative tells Eater that Morgenstern hopes the new place will "serve the East Village community in a broader way." GG's is slated to open in September.

Updated: Rent freeze rally tonight

[Photo via our friends at MoRUS]

Tenants once again plead with the Rent Guidelines Board to approve a first-ever rent freeze (Daily News)

Can a rent freeze beat back New York's predatory Wall Street landlords? (Moyers & Company)

Updated
"In a surprising act of independence, the board voted 5-4 to raise rents on nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments by 1 percent for new one-year leases and 2.75 percent for two-year leases." (New York Post)

Final curtain coming for the Incubator Arts Project

The nearly 50-year-run of theater is winding down at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery. As you may have heard, the Incubator Arts Project is ending its run here.

Here's part of the official explanation from Incubator's organizers:

As of July 1 2014, the Incubator Arts Project will close its doors at St Mark's Church. It has been a long and wonderful ride in support of emerging work, dating back in some form or another to 1992. This room has had a long history of art warriors before then; we were not the first and we dearly hope we won't be the last. We made the decision to end our lease and cease further productions, thereby releasing the future of the room. We wish nothing but wild success for our dear friends at St Mark's, the Poetry Project & Danspace.

According to the Times, the closure is due to "a casualty of static funding and a declining ability to support artists."

In a piece in yesterday's print edition, the Times talked with some of the theater artists whose work had debuted in the church space.

SAM SHEPARD, playwright and actor I was working as a busboy at the Village Gate. Ralph Cook of Theater Genesis heard I was writing stuff similar to plays and wanted to know if I wanted to do something there. It was shocking to be produced; I was writing more or less as a private experience. I don’t know if you want to call it a meditation. Probably not. It was just amazing suddenly to have actors, an audience. And kind of embarrassing, like listening to your own voice on a tape.

The Incubator's final offering, "Katorga," ends Sunday. (There are five performances left starting tomorrow night.)

The Church has leased the second-floor space to the New York Theater Ballet and its ballet school, the Times reported.

[Updated] The Villager calls for change atop Community Board 3

In an unprecedented move, The Villager has published an endorsement for the chair of Community Board 3 (CB3).

This is unusual given that CB3 members vote for the chair — it's not any kind of general election for residents. (By the way, the vote is tomorrow night.)

However, The Villager feels strongly that change is needed at the top. Gigi Li, who has served two one-year terms as chairperson, is running for re-election to a third term. Chad Marlow, a CB3 board member for two years, is opposing her.

There is a lot at stake, namely, the future direction of the board and, thus, of the neighborhood.

The newspaper lays out recent incidents, such as Li's decision to suspend the LES Dwellers from meetings, that have marred CB3's reputation. In addition, another board member said that Li failed to appoint any Black or Latino members as the chair of a committee, subcommittee or task force.

CB3 is clearly in disarray, and there is a growing sense of disconnect with the community that it is supposed to serve.

There is a strong sentiment for change, both within the community and on CB3.

And!

CB3 has fallen into a rut, and the community has lost trust that their voices are being heard. And, in the case of the LES Dwellers, their voice was actually silenced by the board for a period of time. This is not community democracy the way it’s supposed to work.

And so The Villager is strongly supporting Marlow as the new CB3 chair — "For the good of the community board and of the neighborhood."

While we have never personally met Marlow, he has been a frequent and credible source of information to us through the years. (He is one of the few CB3 members who doesn't seem to adopt a bunker mentality with the press, as The Villager noted.)

Among Marlow's accomplishments: Successfully spearheading the Alphabet City-Tompkins Square Slow Zone ... and forming the Tompkins Square Park & Playgrounds Parents’ Association to help curb the rat population in the Park.

And last year, Marlow launched the crowdfunding campaign that raised nearly $19,000 for the family of gravely injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker Akkas Ali.

Back to The Villager:

[W]e’re impressed by his record of accomplishment, and we feel, were he elected, he simply would — get things done, and that he would get the right things, positive things done. In short, he is more activist and energetic than Li, and that’s what we need.

Updated 6-24
Li won the election. Read more about it here.

Joselito Restaurant has left Avenue D

Joselito, the inexpensive and delicious Dominican restaurant, closed earlier this month at 125 Avenue D near East Ninth Street.

There's some consolation. The proprietors have moved down to 172 Delancey between Clinton and Attorney. It's a much smaller space, without a bar and just a few tables ...



Joselito's used to be at 94 Avenue C, but they lost their lease in 2008 when a new landlord bought the building ...


[EVG file photo]

For a similar vibe, El Rinconcito remains open nearby at 408 E. 10th St. between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Sidewalk bridge arrives outside the Tifereth Israel Town and Village Synagogue on East 14th Street

[Photo by James and Karla Murray]

Workers arrived Friday to erect a sidewalk bridge outside the Tifereth Israel Town and Village Synagogue at 334 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

That's usually not a noteworthy event. However, as you may recall, the synagogue hit the market last fall for possible development.

This prompted all sorts of speculation, such as the space would be developed into condos. (Preservationists have also pushed to have the city landmark the structure.)

So back to the sidewalk bridge. Is this is sign of condo things to come?


[Photo by EVG reader Pinch]

According to permits on file with the city (in the DOB's ALL-CAP style):

STRUCTURAL REPAIRS IN THE (CELLAR) BASEMENT AND ATTIC TO INCLUDE JOIST SURING, ROOF JOIST AND THE CONCRETE RAT SLAB, ECT, AS SHOWN ON PLANS FILED HEREWITH. NO CHANGE IN USE, EGRESS, OR OCCUPANCY.

Estimated costs of the renovations: $$282,000.



Meanwhile, the listing for the synagogue is no longer on the Massey Knakal site. The asking price had been $13,950,000.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] East 14th St. synagogue on the market for conversion to residential, commercial use

48 years later, East 14th Street synagogue to be considered for landmark designation

Basics Plus confirmed for former Surprise! Surprise! space on 3rd Avenue

Last month we heard that a Basics Plus was going to take over the former Surprise! Surprise! storefront on Third Avenue and East 12th Street.

The coming soon sign has arrived …



No word on an opening date for the housewares store. There looks to be a lot of renovation work left on the interior.

Surprise! Surprise! closed after 25 years in business on April 27.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Surprise! Surprise! will close at the end of April (42 comments)

Reader report: Basics Plus moving into the former Surprise! Surprise! space

Headless Duane Reade shopper giving East 2nd Street the creeps

[EVG file photo]

You've seen the ubiquitous Duane Reade store signage of the smiling woman walking into traffic while proudly carrying her Duane Reade bag.

Yes. Anyway, the recently expanded Duane Reade on Avenue B is getting a new mural along the East Second Street side.

For the time being, the smiling woman with the bag does not have a head.

It is unsettling to look at, mostly.

Looking at The Fourth's sidewalk cafe

As you may recall back in April, several residents had concerns about the proposed sidewalk cafe at The Fourth, the ground-floor restaurant located in the Hyatt Union Square on Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street.

The matter eventually went to City Council, who OK'd a smaller, 12-seat cafe.

Anyway, the cafe made its debut the previous weekend… not really much to look at. From either vantage point.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern over a proposed sidewalk cafe for The Fourth on 4th Avenue (20 comments)

The 1st weekend of the summer

[East 7th Street]


[East Houston and the Bowery]


[Double duty on East 14th Street]


[Tompkins Square Park]


[East 5th Street and Cooper Square]


[East 2nd Street and Avenue C]


[Avenue B]


[Tompkins Square Park via Bobby Williams]


[St. Mark's Place via Derek Berg]


[Free conversation in Astor Place via John Penley]


[Dylan the bike dog on 2nd Avenue via Derek Berg]


[East 5th Street]


[Zum Schneider on Avenue C for Ghana vs. Germany]


[1st Avenue and East 4th Street via Matt Rosen]


[Tompkins Square Park via Slum Goddess]

Hawks on the horizon

EVG readers Rob & Mike noticed something atop the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer on East Third Street...



Turns out that it was Dora, proud mother of the baby hawks ...



... and later, Christo joined Dora... perhaps for a quick parental meeting...

Week in Grieview

[Avenue B last evening by Fallopia Tuba]

First Avenue Pierogi and Deli is closing (Monday)

The Alphabet City-Tompkins Square Slow Zone arrives in August (Tuesday)

1st look at the Women of the Lower East Side Film Fest from MoRUS this summer (Friday)

Thoughts on the East Village today from a former resident (Tuesday, 50 comments)

City of Saints Coffee Roasters is now open on East 10th Street (Saturday)

Icon Realty's "frat house" is attracting attention (Tuesday)

Adinah's Farm is closing on Avenue C (Wednesday)

Out and About with Tim Floyd Young (Wednesday)

A visit to the Olympic Restaurant, closing soon (Thursday)

Duane Reade coming to Avenue D (Monday)

An actual barber shop opens on East Sixth Street (Monday)

Abraço Espresso opens Abraçolina on East Seventh Street (Tuesday)

Demo permits filed for former R&S Strauss store on East 14th Street (Friday)

State seizes Mobil station on Avenue C and Houston (Friday)

Royal Tailor Shop ready for action on East 11th Street (Wednesday)

St. John’s School of Risk Management arrives at the Death Star (Friday)

Eleventh and Third brands itself (Wednesday)

It is now the summer (Saturday)

Xi’an Famous Foods reopens today (Friday)

Not much left of the Sunburnt Cow (Thursday)

Retail space housing the Smith and M2M is for sale (Thursday)

Happy Father's Day Joe Strummer (Sunday)

The Copper Still takes over for Ryan's on Second Avenue (Thursday)