Space that houses 1st Avenue's Polish-American diner Neptune is on the market

The storefronts currently housing the Neptune and Lin's Laundromat at 192-194 First Ave. between East 11th Street and East 12th Street are on the market.

The listings at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank note that the rent for Neptune's 1,660 square feet is available upon request… and the possession of the space that houses the Polish-American diner was December 2014.

The spaces cannot be combined, per the listing.

The laundromat space is apparently "ideal for juice bar or cafe" …



Not sure if there's a need for another juice bar, given that Juice Press has two locations on East 10th Street between Second Avenue and Avenue A … not to mention Liquiteria on Second Avenue and East 11th Street and beQu Juice on East Ninth Street just west of First Avenue…

Will be sorry to see the Neptune eventually go. It has been here since 2001 (taking over the KK's space). It is always a hearty and inexpensive option… and, at least from our recent visits, rarely crowded. (We recall a Saturday night in December when the restaurant sat empty at 7:30.)

Not sure what happened here … a rent hike or just more of the neighborhood's changing culinary habits. (RIP Polonia, Kiev, Christine's, Leshko's, Teresa's…)

Saint's Alp Teahouse closes for a revamp

Saint's Alp Teahouse at 39 Third Ave. near East Ninth Street closed after business on Saturday… it's just for what the detailed sign on the door describes as "a minor renovation" …



That's about as detailed as a closed for renovation sign gets… Meanwhile, follow them on Facebook or Twitter for reopening news.

Saint's Alp last closed for a renovation back in May 2010.

Matty's makes it official on Avenue B

The transformation of Idle Hands to Matty's looks nearly complete at 25 Avenue B… someone painted the Matty's name on the space between East Second Street and East Third Street over the weekend. The bar officially opened on Dec. 12.



The owners ran a gay bar in Wilton Manors, Fla., called Matty's on the Drive that closed in late 2012 following a year-long legal case.

Here's a description of the place via Facebook:

Matty's NYC is the sister bar to the famed Matty's on the Drive in Wilton Manors, FL. Matty's on the Drive opened four years ago and has won awards including Best New Bar, Best Gay Bar, Best Signature Martini, and Best Neighborhood Bar to name a few. Matty's NYC will follow in it's sisters footsteps bringing the hottest music and videos, a friendly staff, and a clean, modern, upscale bar & lounge that everyone can enjoy 7 days a week!

Matty's recently unveiled a college night…



Some neighbors still want to know how this one slipped by CB3. Matty's was on last month's CB3/SLA agenda, though it wasn't heard before the committee. It was billed as a Corporate Change with 100 percent turnover in the corporate partners … and with operators from out of state without any track record of running a bar in NYC.

Thanks to @Salim for the top photos!

Previously on EV Grieve:
A bar called Matty's in the works for Idle Hands on Avenue B

Former Everything Bagels space now for rent on 3rd Avenue and NYU

The for lease signs have arrived at the bagel shop, which closed earlier this year in the storefronts of NYU's Third North dorm … on Third Avenue and East 12th Street.

The listing isn't online just yet.

And as we've pointed out, this is Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's third listing here along Third Avenue … two storefronts remain for rent in the base of NYU's Alumni Hall at East Ninth Street.



Previously on EV Grieve:
NYU neighbors Just Sweet and Everything Bagels have apparently closed on 3rd Avenue

New York Sports Club brands its new Avenue A home

One of the final pieces of the new New York Sports Club is in place at 28 Avenue A — the signage…



Now the gym here between East Second Street and East Third Street just needs some weights and treadmills and what not (or maybe all that has already been moved inside)…

The NYSC website now says this location will open in Winter 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New York Sports Club in the works for Avenue A

Sidewalk bridge and scaffolding arrive ahead of planned New York Sports Club on Avenue A

New York Sports Club says hello on Avenue A

Familiar Burger-Klein sign has disappeared from Avenue A

Here is the New York Sports Club building on Avenue A

Tuscan food specialist opening 1st U.S. outpost on 4th Avenue for some reason

[EVG file photo]

After nearly two and a half years since Dryden Gallery moved out, 129 Fourth Ave. is getting a new full-time tenant.

The Post reports that the first U.S. outpost of Mi Garba ("I like it" in Italian!) is opening here just south of East 13th Street.

And what will they sell?

The flagship 1,000 square-foot space, at 129 Fourth Ave., will include a restaurant with 10 tables. There will also be Tuscan food and wine for sale along with a boutique offering fashion items, including custom-made shirts and jackets.

The space was previously home to a pop-up gallery last May featuring model-photographer Amber Arbucci's breasts.

A Fresh & Co. is opening next door to the incoming Mi Garba on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and 13th Street.

East 5th Street remains blocked off after threat against the 9th Precinct

[Photo by Derek Berg]

Multiple readers have told us that East Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue has been closed since this morning. Only residents are allowed onto the block.

Word on the street is that there was some kind of threat made against the 9th Precinct, which sits mid-block.

That'a all we've heard at the moment.

The NYPD and other police departments in the United States and elsewhere have reportedly been on alert since an ISIS threat from last September recently resurfaced.


[Photo via EVG reader Perri Silver]

Car alarms — still annoying!

Spotted last evening on East Seventh Street and Avenue C…

Photo by Corinna Lindenberg via Facebook...

Ess-a-Bagel is moving down the block

[Image via]

News broke on Friday via the Town & Village Blog that Ess-a-Bagel was being forced out of its longtime home on First Avenue at East 21st Street. The 39-year-old bagel favorite apparently did not get its lease renewed.

However, according to a statement that the landlord's reps sent us: "Ess-A-Bagel’s owners repeatedly refused to meet us between their below-market rent and current market value."

In any event, it appears that Ess-a-Bagel already has a new space lined up ... based on this tweet sent Saturday...

Don't worry fans of Ess-a-Bagel's 1st Ave location, our delicious hand rolled bagels are just moving down the block!! #NYC'sBest=EssaBagel

— Ess-A-Bagel, Inc. (@EssABagel) January 17, 2015

A tipster with knowledge of the situation here also told us about the move.

The landlord, L&M Development Partners, reportedly already has a Bank of America and Tower Bagels fitted for the current Ess-a-Bagel space.

As for Ess-a-Bagel's new space, perhaps it will be the former home of The Frenchmen.

Updated 1:56 p.m.

Gothamist notes that the Ess-A-Bagel owners have yet to sign the lease at the new location.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Report: Landlord forcing Ess-a-Bagel from its longtime home (46 comments)

Sunrise where the Domino Sugar Refinery stood for nearly 135 years

EVG reader Daniel Root was walking in East River Park Saturday morning.

"Afterward I was thinking how I had never seen that sunrise [there] before and it occurred to me that the reason I hadn’t seen it is the now demolished and missed Domino Sugar Refinery was in that gap."

Indeed...


[Photo from 2013 by Bobby Williams]

The demolition of the circa-1880s building with the iconic Domino sign was complete in late December.

Some day the whole mega-project will look like...



Head to Curbed for more details about all this.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Bombing the Domino Sugar Refinery

At the Domino Sugar Refinery

6 minutes of the East Village from a 1986 housing crisis documentary

Here's part of the neighborhood as seen in the 1986 documentary "There's No Place Like Home: Housing Crisis, USA."

In rain, concern grows for famed Avenue A ice sculpture

There was talk of buying bags of ice at Key to stack around the sculpture to preserve it from the rain and above-freezing temps.

But it was just talk, as it sometimes is.

Also, the hydrant is in front of 79 Avenue A at East Fifth Street if the city/FDNY is reading...

Previously

Gas problem temporarily closes Thai Terminal

We heard from a reader the other day that Thai Terminal on East 12th Street was mysteriously closed... don't know if this sign has been up the whole time... anyway, it notes that a gas problem has kept the restaurant between First Avenue and Second Avenue from opening.

Hopefully this problem won't linger as it did for East Village Thai on East Seventh Street.

Thanks to EVG reader Greg Masters for the photo!

Avenue A ice sculpture growing in size, stature

Near East Fifth Street... Photo by Grant Shaffer

Previously