A few details on the 23-floor building replacing the soon-to-be demolished Bowlmor Lanes

[EVG photo from July]

News broke back in September that a 23-floor residential building will replace the former Bowlmor Lanes and other assorted business at 110 University Place between East 12th Street and East 13th Street.

According to DOB records, developer Billy Macklowe's new building will feature 107,965 square feet of residential space split between 52 apartments.

And now there's a few more details via the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), who provided an update in its newsletter yesterday.

GVSHP had repeatedly reached out to Macklowe to urge him to build a contextual development at this site. Several local elected officials also recently met with Macklowe, including City Councilmember Rosie Mendez and Assemblymember Deborah Glick.

And the result?

[U]nfortunately the news is not good. Mr. Macklowe intends to move ahead with his planned 300+ ft. tall development at this site, which will take the form of a short base with retail uses coming out to the streetwall, and a very tall, narrow, residential tower rising above it. At approximately 308 feet in height, this will be one of the tallest, if not the tallest, buildings in the Village. Apparently Mr. Macklowe has told elected officials that the building will be limestone rather than glass or steel.

Per GVSHP:

This is extremely disappointing news, and sadly reflects the lack of landmark protections for much of the University Place corridor, and the current zoning, which allows towers of this size if a developer assembles a large enough site, as has been done in this case.

After 76 years in business at 110 University Place, Bowlmor Lanes closed for good this past July 7. The demolition permits were filed last Friday.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Building that houses Bowlmor Lanes will convert to condos, like everywhere else around here

76-year-old Bowlmor Lanes closes for good today

Bowlmor says goodbye

Bowlmor Lanes replacement: 23-floor residential building

118 E. 1st. St. will yield to a new 9-floor residential building

[Photo via Streeteasy]

Back in May, we pointed out that the 3-floor building at 118 E. First St. just off of Avenue A and East Houston was on the market for $5.15 million.

Among other things, the brokers were selling the space as either a development site with an additional 9,000 square feet of air-rights … or a "cash flow opportunity" with three apartments and a retail space.

Not surprisingly, the building's new owner has opted for the development site in the form of a 9-floor residential building.

Per New York Yimby, who first reported the news:

[A] developer operating under the name of Acacia 118, LLC – based in Nolita, and fronted by Cynthia Wu and Robert Marty – is planning to erect a new nine-story building, with seven much larger apartments.

As with many new projects in neighborhoods that once only supported rentals, 118 East 1st will likely be condos, with its seven units divided over 12,500 square feet of residential space. The average size is a quite hefty 1,800 square feet, with duplexes on the top and bottom and full-floor units in between, according to the building’s Schedule A filing.

As we've pointed out, 118 E. First St. was home some years ago to Darinka, the performance space that Gary Ray opened in 1983 (RIP — 1987). Darinka's many performers through the years included house band They Might Be Giants and cabaret nights hosted by Steve Buscemi and Mark Boone Junior.

Previously on EV Grieve:
118 E. 1st St. arrives on the market with so many possibilities, and air rights

A call to action from Miss Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street

From the EVG inbox...

As is her way, Miss Kita the Wonder Dog of East 10th Street was recently browsing the headlines when she came across the following — "Dogs Now Banned From The Gate In Park Slope."

Because of the somewhat alarmist headline and the urgent nature of the subject matter, she pawed through to discover what is going down in Park Slope:

The Gate, on Fifth Avenue and Third Street, has welcomed dogs since it opened in 1997, but owner Bobby Gagnon says he's never run into trouble with the city over his pro-pups policy.

That changed last Tuesday night when a city inspector visited the bar to investigate a 311 complaint about dogs in the facility, Gagnon said. The inspector issued a fine for allowing animals into the bar for an unspecified dollar amount — Gagnon will find out how much at a Nov. 18 hearing.

The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

City law prohibits pet dogs in "food service establishments," but Gagnon argues that The Gate shouldn't be lumped into the same category as restaurants because it doesn't have a kitchen and doesn't serve food.

Miss Kita learned that supporters have created an online petition asking the city to revise the health code to reclassify bars that do not serve food ... making this more than just an issue in a Brooklyn neighborhood. (After all, several East Village bars have been welcoming to Miss Kita and her friends through the years.)

Miss Kita encourages her East Village neighbors to sign the petition on the Park Slope for Pets site here.

Meanwhile, Miss Kita has reached out to some Park Slope pooches directly to coalition build, consciousness raise, etc.

EVG note: Park Slope Stoop first reported on this ban.

Watch David Johansen interview Johnny Thunders outside CBGB circa 1976

Courtesy of a post at Dangerous Minds today, we have this impromptu video interview between now-former New York Dolls bandmates David Johansen and Johnny Thunders.

You can head over to Dangerous Minds for all the background… One thing: The interview was shot with photographer Bob Gruen's video camera and included on the New York Dolls DVD of Gruen footage, "Lookin’ Fine On Television."

I'm just waiting on the paint to dry

Workers are painting the landing at 96 St. Mick's Mark's Place ... a stoop made famous, in part (as well as this), by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in the 1981 video by the Rolling Stones for "Waiting on a Friend."

EVG regular Bill the Libertarian Anarchist mentioned this ... and one of the workers said that the Stones would have to come back to do an updated version...



And might as well...



Previously on EV Grieve:
I'm not waiting on a lady...say, what the hell is Mick wearing anyway?

Team behind The Wayland eyeing Simone Martini Bar space

[Image via Google]

It looks as if a change of ownership is coming to the northeast corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place — current home of Simone Martini Bar.

According to paperwork (PDF) on file at the CB3 website ahead of this month's SLA licensing meeting, Jason Mendenhall and Robert Ceraso, the proprietors of the Wayland, are the applicants for the space.

The application shows that the pair are planning for a "tavern/seafood-style menu" available during all open hours, which are listed as 2 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. They also plan on a sidewalk cafe, which Simone had.

The Wayland, which specializes in cocktails and craft beers, opened on East Ninth Street and Avenue C in January 2012. (They expanded the space with new food options early last year.)

The change here will also officially bring an end to Yaffa Cafe, Simone's sister restaurant that closed nearby at 97 St. Mark's Place earlier in the fall. After the closure, some items from Yaffa were added to Simone's menu.

The Marshal seizes Lumé, another restaurant that couldn't make East 8th Street and Avenue C work

The Marshal paid a visit yesterday to Lumé, the "Epicurean drinkery" on Avenue C at East Eighth Street. EVG regular Dave on 7th happened by when workers were changing the locks on the doors.



The restaurant had just been advertising for bartenders and waitstaff.

Lumé seemingly came out of nowhere this past spring, taking over for the short-lived Life - Kitchen and Bar, which had taken over Verso, perhaps best known for a topless diner encounter.

Anyway, it has been tough going on this corner when you factor in the previous restaurants — Caffe Pepe Rosso and later Caffe Cotto — in the past five or so years.

And once upon a time it was a bakery … which apparently Iggy Pop frequented for cake and strong coffee…



Another bakery would be nice.

Broken steam pipe wipes out East 12th Street toy shop

CUBO New York, the cool, 1-year-old toy shop with 3D printing capabilities, had to close last month at 521 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Proprietors Victor De Los Angeles and Julie Kim explain in a Facebook page:

This is the photo of our temporary demise.



We want to take a moment to thank everyone that has supported our endeavor here at 12th Street. The people in this neighborhood have been so great and our neighbors the best. The artists in our industry have been so supportive and we are grateful for that and of course we want to thank our friends at 3DS.

The photo above is of a steam pipe that burst overnight and flooded our space with steam drenching all of our products and equipment in water rendering our entire operation useless. With that said, we have poured our hearts into CUBO and now we must close because of a single pipe. We're down but we're not out. We will update everyone on the revival of CUBO. Thank you all again for being amazing.

'To whoever reported my bike and had it towed costing me $500'

Spotted on East First Street. Someone wrote in a highlighter below the note,"to whoever you are I love you."

Police say this guy has burglarized 10 East Village apartments

The NYPD is looking for this man they say has broken into 10 apartments around here since July.

According to DNAinfo, the suspect has been stealing high-end electronics. A surveillance video picked up the suspect's image last month as he climbed a fire escape on East Seventh Street.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

This mural in Barney Rosset's East Village loft is free to a good (and large) home

Catching up to this piece in The Wall Street Journal yesterday.

A mural — 12 feet high and 22 feet long — is free to whoever can extract it from the Forth Avenue loft where the late Barney Rosset created it.

Rosset, owner of the publishing house Grove Press, died in February 2012 at age 89. His widow, Astrid Myers Rosset, 83, is moving to her East Hampton home, and there isn't room for the mural out east.

Some excerpts from the article:

A few years before his death, Mr. Rosset took a paintbrush to their living-room wall and, with characteristic zeal, poured himself into chronicling his picaresque life in a swath of primary colors dotted with dioramas the size of jewel boxes.

Mr. Rosset worked feverishly on the mural, using a stepladder to paint sections near the ceiling. When he no longer felt safe climbing the ladder, he reached high-up spots by wielding a paintbrush taped to a pool cue or cane.

“He would stand in front of that wall for hours,” Ms. Rosset said. “And it was always changing.”

As we first noted back in March, the building where Ms. Rosset lives with the mural at 61 Fourth Ave. is for sale. The asking price for the 6-floor building between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street is $15.5 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Condo conversion one possibility for 61 4th Avenue, now on the market for $15.5 million

Noted

Greg Matherly at Reciprocal Skateboards passes along these photos of a new mural that has arrived on East 11th Street (alongside Eleven Consignment Boutique) at First Avenue ...

Not quite sure what it is from the photos... but apparently the guys in the Halal truck on the corner like it...

The 14th Street Pizza Bagel Cafe abruptly closed today

Sometime during the day, the Pizza Bagel Cafe on the southeast corner of First Avenue and 14th Street closed down (they were open this morning, several readers told us) ... and there are signs saying they are closed until further notice...



The space hit the market back in February. At the time, a tipster told us that the Cafe was downsizing... with a new tenant taking the space facing First Avenue...

Studebaker of the day

EVG correspondent Derek Berg spotted this 1950 Studebaker Champion on St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue today...