[Updated] Maharlika is closed for now

Several readers have pointed out that Maharlika, the well-regarded Filipino restaurant on First Avenue at East Seventh Street, has been closed the past few days.

A sign on the door states: "Due to building complications, the Maharlika kitchen is not able to operate."



Would-be diners are directed to Jeepney, Maharlika's other restaurant a few blocks up First Avenue.

The sign coincides with a DOH closure dated Thursday…



According to the DOH, there were 41 violation points, including for evidence of various critters.

Updated: Maharlika reopened on Dec. 11.

E-xciting news from Gem Spa

[Photo by Derek Berg]

Yesterday morning, a worker arrived at Gem Spa, one of our favorite places… to finally fix the E in the Gem here on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place…

And now!

And then there was 1 floor

The Salvation Army's former East Village Residence on the Bowery at East Third Street is nearly gone… Goggla's photo from Friday shows the remains of the ground floor.

Workers are demolishing the building to make way for a 13-floor, 30,000 square-foot mixed-use residential development.

Two Boots is getting out of the video rental business on Avenue A

The pizzeria has been selling off its DVD collection from the Two Boots Video Nook the past few days.

Probably not a shocker. Does anyone rent movies anymore?



Anywhere, we hear that the DVDs are going for $1, Blu-Ray and new releases $5, and Criterion Collection films $10.

But! The sign outside the pizzeria on Avenue A and East Third Street promises something new...



The Pioneer Jr. "The world's smallest screening room." OK!

Two Boots Video closed in the fall of 2008, with a much smaller rental collection merging next door in the pizzeria. (The video space and Pioneer Theater are now part of the Upright Citizens Brigade.)

Thank you to @geofffree for the tip!

Clinton Street Baking Company expansion underway

EVG reader Magic Brian passed along these photos yesterday… showing workers plywooding up the southeast corner of East Houston and Clinton Street.



As BoweryBoogie first reported back in June, pancake-line-waiting hotspot Clinton Street Baking Company will expand into the space last held by Min's Market.

Co-owner DeDe Lahman shared this with Gothamist Thursday:

The new space will boast 55 seats — up from 32 in the old space — which should help ease some of the brunch time congestion. Lahman says the old space will also stay open, eventually transitioning into more of a take out spot for coffee, baked goods and pickup orders. "The rest of the plans for that spot will take shape as we open the new space and suss out what will work for us and our guests," she explains.

And the space today…

If you like songs, caroling and storytelling

Several East Village residents are among the talented collection of singers who are taking part in this tonight…

An evening of song, caroling and storytelling
7:30 pm
Gustavus Adolphus Church
155 E. 22nd St.
FREE

The church is between Third Avenue and Lexington…

Thank you and good night

EVG reader William Klayer was outside De Robertis around 8 p.m. when the family closed the gate for business for the last time at 176 First Ave. The last words were a simple, "That's all she wrote."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ugh: The 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe closes after Dec. 5 (43 comments)

Search continues for missing Stuy Town resident

We were asked to repost this information from the Town & Village Blog:

Police are looking for Andreas Robbins, a 25-year-old resident of Stuyvesant Town who was last seen on Monday leaving his apartment at 521 East 14th Street.

He is described as being 6’1” tall and thin, weighing 200 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair. He also has a prominent birthmark on the right side of his nose and tattoos on both shoulders and his right wrist. Robbins’ family said he may be wearing a grey herringbone dresscoat and a scarf.

Robbins’s parents Elsa Stamatopoulou and Bruce Robbins have also requested that anyone with information contact them at (212) 431-5872 or (917) 318-9707. Fliers have been posted at places Robbins frequents.

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

Over the 'Rainbow'

Helmet led by former EV resident Page Hamilton is performing its 1994 release "Betty" in its entirety on Feb. 21 at the Bowery Ballroom. The show is already sold out... but maybe there'll be another one...

Here's a track from that record — "Wilma's Rainbow."

4:24 p.m., 176 First Ave., Dec. 5

So much for De Robertis closing at 3 today… the crowds keep coming in… not much product left, though.

A Fox 5 crew left just before 4.

Photo via EVG reader Robert F.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ugh: The 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe closes after Dec. 5 (43 comments)

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Photo along the East River Monday by EVG reader Barret Swatek]

Photos from last night's Eric Garner protests (Gothamist)

Here's the rendering for 190 Bowery, now on the market (BoweryBoogie)

Lypsinka back in the East Village (New York Post, ticket info. here)

Owners of Terroir and Hearth are parting ways after 11 years (Eater)

Inside one of the luxury residences at the former Hungarian synagogue on East Seventh Street (New York Post)

Q-and-A with Julie Cohen, director of "The Sturgeon Queens," a documentary about Russ & Daughters (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Marky Ramone on life in the East Village (Bedford + Bowery)

Ho-ho-ho: Sen. Hoylman pushes booze-free SantaCon (The Villager)

New exhibit provides a portal between the Lower East Side and Tehran, Iran (DNAinfo)

LGBTQ history on Cooper Square and the Bowery (Off the Grid)

Demolition prep work for Essex Crossing (The Lo-Down)

Holiday shopping in the city 100 years ago (Ephemeral New York)

Vincent D’Onofrio's has a spoken word punk project (The AV Club)

Watch some rare Raymond Pettibon home movies (Dangerous Minds)

Goodbye De Robertis

[Photo from June 2012 by Gudrun Georges]

After 110 years at 176 First Ave., DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe will close its doors for good this afternoon at 3.

The economy, age and health concerns reportedly weighed on their De Robertis family's decision to sell the building.

Meanwhile, leading up to today, there have been a number of tributes to the bakery.

It Was Her New York has a 2-part series ... here and here.

The Daily Beast stops by too.

It is one of those city relics New Yorkers gush about without ever darkening its door — or only go when they learn it’s shutting down. “I’ve passed this place a thousand times but never came in,” says Ranesh, who grew up in Staten Island and has lived in Park Slope for 20 years. “You take it for granted and think it will always be here.”

[Photo from June 2012 by Gudrun Georges]

Previously on EV Grieve:
174-176 First Ave. is in contract

[Updated] 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe looks to be closing once the building is sold

174-176 First Ave., home of DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe, is for sale

Let's take a look at the DeRobertis in-house bakery

Ugh: The 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe closes after Dec. 5 (43 comments)

What was that?

We went to bed early… and woke up to a whole lot of emails/tweets about an explosion/boom last night after 11 that most everyone from Avenue D to Third Avenue seemed to hear… at this point, we haven't heard any plausible explanations.

And we have power. And not the first time there have been unexplained booms/explosions/jet landings.

Updated 10:04 a.m.

An EVG Facebook friend points us to this Newsweek article ... which notes: "Protesters on Twitter claimed police deployed LRAD 'sound cannons' to control crowds" during last night's Eric Garner rallies.

176 E. 3rd St. changes hands for the 3rd time in 7 years

[Via Stone Street Properties]

Catching up to some news from last week. A package of buildings dubbed "The East Side Elevator Portfolio" has sold for a reported $126.3 million.

The portfolio features four Upper East Side properties as well as 176 E. Third St., a 48-unit building between Avenue A and Avenue B. According to the Commercial Observer, investors Nader and Lisa Shalom bought the East Third Street building. The asking price had been $38.5 million.

The Shaloms become the third landlord in seven years here. Icon Realty paid $14 million for No. 176 in August 2007, according to public records. Accusations of harassment and buyout offers followed in the year ahead. Here's a passage on the situation from an article in the Post from September 2008:

“They want to buy people out and renovate the apartment, and then they want to flip the building,” said Heather Gradowski, who pays less than $700 a month for her one-bedroom apartment.

Icon flipped the building a few years later. You can read a little more about the building's recent history in the link below.

There's no word on what No. 176 fetched this time around.

Previously on EV Grieve:
176 E. Third St. hits the market for $38.5 million