Sun-setting skyline

Around 5:45 p.m. via Bobby Williams…

First sign of the new 7-floor condo rising above the Jehovah's Witnesses on Avenue C

There's now noticeable progress at 67 Avenue C near East Fifth Street… where a 7-story, 7-unit residential building is going up at the former Kingdom Hall that was owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses.



Approved permits with the city show plans for 1,843 square feet of commercial space and 7,451 square feet of residential space. The building will be topped off by a duplex penthouse.

We haven't seen any renderings just yet. We're curious how this luxury housing will look in between the corner laundromat and the Jehovah's Witnesses, who continue to use the adjacent space at 63 and 65 Avenue C.


[EVG file photo]

Previously

Council member Chin's office providing new funding for the Bowery Mission

[The Bowery Mission at 227 Bowery]

Last month, officials at the Bowery Mission reported that their food pantry is in dire need of donations.

According to DNAinfo, the Bowery Mission's food supply has dwindled while demand for meals has increased.

To help provided some relief in the year ahead, Council Member Margaret Chin will be allocating $9,000 in City Council funding to the Bowery Mission tomorrow.

As part of the Food Pantries Initiative included in the City's 2015 fiscal budget, the City Council's Manhattan Delegation is able to allocate $237,600 to food pantries. (There are 10 members of the Manhattan Delegation, which means each Council member has $23,760 to allocate to food pantries within their district.)

Aside from the $9,000 for the Bowery Mission, Chin is allocating $9,000 to the New York City Rescue Mission (90 Lafayette St.) and $5,760 to Cabrini Immigrant Services (139 Henry St.).

Now at Ideal Glass, 'Every Mother's Son'

[Photo by EVG reader Daniel]

Ideal Glass is now now featuring a new mural by Brooklyn-based artist Sophia Dawson titled "Every Mother's Son."

According to the Ideal Glass website, the mural features "portraits of mothers who have lost their children to police brutality."


[Image via]

The mural will be up through November. Ideal Glass is at 22 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and The Bowery.

The former Joselito space for rent on Avenue D

[EVG file photo]

Back in June, Joselito, the inexpensive and delicious Dominican restaurant, moved from 125 Avenue D to a smaller space at 172 Delancey.

Now that space between East Eighth Street and East Ninth Street is on the market.

According to the Miron listing:

This is an affordable rent for a restaurant that had a full liquor and seats approx. 56
Great opportunity for the right operator.
Approx. 1,200 sq ft + basement
10 year term

Note: Additional 1 story building in the rear. Approx. 500 sq ft (included in the package)
Condition: This space need work!!!

The current asking price is $6,000.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Joselito Restaurant has left Avenue D

You'll never drive on this section of Astor Place again

Just noting another phase of the reconstruction of Astor Place — the closure of the street between Lafayette and Cooper Square...


[Michael Paul Photography]

... which is yielding to an expanded Alamo plaza, as the rendering shows...



Last Wednesday, workers boarded up the Alamo to protect it during the construction phase...


[Michael Paul Photography]

Cops nab so-called albino bank robber

Cops have arrested the man wanted for a string of bank robberies in the city, including a holdup at the Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place on Oct. 4.

Let's send it over to Lisha Arino at DNAinfo:

Dennis Nemirovskiy, 27, of Brooklyn, robbed banks in the East Village, Greenwich Village and Midtown by approaching tellers with a note demanding money, police said. In total, he made off with $8,480, police said.

Police finally caught Nemirovskiy after a witness saw him get into a cab after his last heist on Oct. 17, according to the NYPD.

I'm new to bank robberies, though I have seen "Point Break." Is leaving a bank robbery in a cab such a good idea?

Anyway, after the Chase robbery, the NYPD released the following description of the suspect: "white male (possibly albino), 5'10", mid to late 20s..."

Today's hawk

... in Tompkins Square Park... looking focused.

Rejected headlines:
Hawk says leaf me alone

[Updated] Report: Police make an arrest in attempted Stuy Town rape

The NYPD has arrested a suspect wanted for the attempted rape of a 20-year-old woman in an elevator at 600 E. 14th St., the Town & Village Blog reported.

Juan Scott, 26, who lives at 544 E. 13th St., has been charged with attempted rape.

The incident occurred around 4 a.m. this past Friday. The victim reportedly screamed and struggled with her attacker, causing him to flee. Security cameras showed the suspect escaping from the building by climbing down a tree to street level.



The NYPD are investigating the suspect for other crimes as well, according to DNAinfo.

Updated 5:40 p.m.

The Villager reports that Scott is a cousin of Rosario Dawson. Her mother and father and other relatives still live at 544 E. 13th St., The Villager points out.

Rag & Bone casting for an apartment with an 'old-school East Village vibe'

We spotted these flyers on East Seventh Street earlier today ... The upscale clothing boutique is looking for an apartment in these parts for a short film/commercial.

So if you have an unfurnished or lightly furnished railroad flat ... on a lower floor or in an elevator building ... with a non-working fireplace ... and "chipped white paint, weathered, worn east village vibe" ... that can accommodate a 20-25 person crew...

Gem Spa shake up puts Zoltar on the outs

Shocking developments to report outside Gem Spa on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

After two-plus years anchored to the right of Gem Spa's front door ... we arrived early this morning to find that Zoltar had been moved... to the left of the to-go window.

Basically Siberia.



Tucked away behind the postcards and Gem Spa chalkboard sign. Where people will be less likely to have their fortune told.

From a symmetry standpoint it sort of makes sense... balancing out the games of chance on either side of the door...



No word at this hour why Zoltar was moved... and if this is permanent... and what this means for your weekend plans...

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Back in August, news reports confirmed that billionaire art collector Peter Brant bought Walter De Maria’s former home and studio at 421 E. Sixth St. for $27 million.

In May, a tipster told us that The Brant Foundation would use the building between First Avenue and Avenue A as an exhibition space.

While Brant's reps haven't released any further details on what he plans on doing with the address, work is underway on the building. Plans filed with the DOB Friday call for the rather generic "removal of interior non loading bearing partitions and related finishes."

Gluckman Mayner Architects are listed as the architects of record. Among their projects: the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, the renovation and expansion of the Whitney and the conversion of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

De Maria died of a stroke in July 2013 at age 77.

Per artnet: "De Maria is best known for The Lightning Field (1977), 400 stainless steel poles planted in a one-by-one-mile grid in the New Mexican desert. The famously isolated piece can only be visited by six guests per day, each of whom must stay overnight in an isolated cabin."

The property, which includes the empty lot to the west, had been listed for $25 million. It was built in 1920 as a ConEd substation, but had been converted into a photography studio after De Maria bought it in 1980.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

The Thirsty Buddha has closed; Taqueria St. Mark's on deck

Paper is up in the windows now at The Thirsty Buddha, the third bar (Saints Tavern! Kamikaze & Co.!) to give 79 St. Mark's Place a whirl.

Coming next: Taqueria St. Mark's, the former Taqueria Lower East Side, one of the restaurant victims who was looking for new home after Ben Shaoul bought that East Houston and Orchard corner space.

As we've mentioned, there seem to be plenty of places in the neighborhood now for tacos... with one more after Empellón al Pastor (bar meets tortilleria) opened yesterday on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Taqueria Lower East Side relocating to St. Mark's Place

A look inside the incoming Momofuko Ko on Extra Place

We took a walk on a very quiet Extra Place on Friday afternoon, where we spotted a crew working on the new Momofuko Ko space...



As you can see, there looks to be quite a bit of work left on the 25-seat restaurant...





The construction at 4-8 Extra Place hasn't made at least one neighbor too happy...



Meanwhile, across East First Street at the former Veselka Bowery, work continues on the incoming steakhouse-oyster bar Bowery Meat Company ...



... a name that conjures up two nearby former businesses — Bowery Wine Company and Bowery Beef...



Previously on EV Grieve:
With new restaurant opening, will Extra Place finally become a dining destination?

Extra Place now officially a Dead End

Extra Place and Heidi currently 'closed for renovation' in Extra Place

Red Hook Lobster Pound in the works for Extra Place