St. Mark's Place really has your e-cigarette needs covered

[Photo from Feb. 19]

St. Marks Convenience Inc. closed back in February … and workers stripped the little storefront on St. Mark's Place between Third Avenue and Second Avenue to the walls.

Yesterday, the sign went up for the new business … seemingly now the 345th place on the block selling e-cigarettes…



The place is selling other convenient store staples too. Like Cheetohs. We definitely saw some Cheetohs.

Ethos Meze East Village has been closed for renovations on Avenue A

The Mediterranean-themed restaurant at 167 Avenue A between East 10th Street and East 11th Street has now been closed for nearly two weeks… the sign on the door points to a renovation…



… though a neighbor says that there hasn't been much renovating happening here.

The newly renovated space is on the market … the rent is $16,500 (and $650,000 key money). Per the listing at LoopNet:

GORGEOUS ESTABLISHMENT — the decor and atmosphere. The place gives you a feeling that you are somewhere on an old boat in the sea. Plus, the candles all over the place makes it very romantic.

The restaurant, an offshoot of Ethos Meze on Third Avenue and East 36th Street, opened here last July 2.

Rent a parlor floor on East 14th Street

There's a parlor floor for rent at 325 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue … directly above the Crocodile Lounge…

Cushman & Wakefield has the listing… all uses considered at the moment… the asking rent is $7,500…



And the listing has some of the loneliest still-life photos that we've seen for some time (or ever?)…

Explosion stories: East Village business owners bond, and look to an uncertain future

[Photo from East 7th Street today via Vinny & O]

Representatives from nearly a dozen East Village businesses that were either destroyed or damaged in the deadly gas explosion on Second Avenue on March 26 met this morning to offer support and advice ... and talk about the future.

Here is some coverage from The New York Times:

Tarun Kundu’s nearly 20-year-old copy shop, tucked around the corner, at 45 East 7th Street, was crushed when the building it occupied, 119 Second Avenue, came toppling down.

“I have nothing, in my store is everything,” said Mr. Kundu, a Bangladeshi immigrant who has three daughters and lives in Woodside, Queens.

And...

“We’re alive,” said Roop Bring, the owner of Sam’s Deli, a bodega that operated for decades on the ground floor of 123 Second Avenue ... before being destroyed as a result of the explosion, which, according to the authorities, erupted in the basement next door, at 121 Second Avenue. “That’s what important.”

DNAinfo, WPIX and Bedford + Bowery also provided coverage of the meeting held at Café Mocha.

Reader report: San Marzano reopens tomorrow

San Marzano, the restaurant that serves handmade pasta at 117 Second Ave., has been closed since the deadly explosion took down three buildings across East Seventh Street on March 26.

Yesterday, city crews removed the barricades that surrounded No. 117 on the southwest corner ... EVG regular Vinny & O stopped by San Marzano today, where staff there said that they would be back open tomorrow ... so there's another restaurant to add to the list of Saturday's Small Biz Crawl on Second Avenue.

Updated: They will be open at 5 p.m. Friday

Lulu grows up

10th Street and Avenue A this morning. (Because someone will ask: The crib was empty.)

Photo by Steven Hirsch

There's a campaign to buy the women suing over the 2nd Avenue blast 1-way tickets out of NYC

As the Post reported the other day, two women who were subletting an apartment at 129 Second Ave. have filed a $40 million lawsuit related to the deadly explosion on March 26.

Lucie Bauermeister, 23, and Anna Ramotowska, 26, are suing Con Ed, 121 Second Ave. landlord Maria Hrynenko, contractor Dilber Kukic and Hyeonil Kim, owner of Sushi Park, claiming they were "severally injured, both physically and mentally" by the explosion that killed two men and injured more than 20 people. Each are seeking $20 million.

Per the Post:

Their building reopened March 28, but Bauermeister complained that the smell of smoke was so “putrid,” she didn’t want to sleep there.

Ramatowska said she got “like, five or six scratches” when she went outside to inspect the blast site. Bauermeister didn’t suffer any physical injuries — but did say she is seeing a $175-an-hour psychologist to deal with the trauma.

Both women said they plan on moving to the South.

Meanwhile, perhaps to expedite that move, there is a crowdfunding campaign underway titled "Evict Fire Victim Bilkers from NYC."

Per the campaign:

Buy two one-way bus tickets out of NYC and a good riddence letter in the form of a full page ad in a NYC paper for heartless opportunists Anna Ramotowska and Lucie Bauermeister (or help the real victims of a tragic multi-building fire)

To date, $90 has been raised.

Find the campaign here. [Updated 11:09 p.m. — the campaign site is no longer active]

Screengrab from FOX News via Jezebel

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] 2nd Avenue subletters suing for $40 million over deadly explosion (66 comments)

Looking at 117 2nd Ave., another building owned by East Village blast landlord Maria Hrynenko

The city yesterday removed the remaining barricades on Second Avenue south of the blast site… so the sidewalk on the west side of the Avenue is now open up to Seventh Street … making it easier to visit the storefronts along here, like New Yorkers Foodmarket and Moishe's Bake Shop, which happens to be closed for the holiday until Sunday.


[Photo yesterday by Derek Berg]

As Crain's reported, the maze of barricades and fire trucks in the days after the deadly explosion on March 26 cut business by 50 percent at New Yorkers Foodmarket, according to owner Michael Schumacher.

The south side of Seventh Street at Second Avenue is now open to pedestrian traffic as well. The building on the corner, No. 117, is also owned by Maria Hrynenko, who is at the center of an investigation over an illegally tapped gas line at 121 Second Ave., where an explosion at Sushi Park killed two men and injured more than 20 people.

She is also the landlord of the adjacent building at 119 Second Ave., which collapsed in the ensuing fire.

With the barriers gone around No. 117, a Stop Work Order dated March 27 is now visible…






[No. 117 photos yesterday by EVG reader Ryan]

No. 117 had been going under extensive renovations in recent years, as we reported here.

According to DOB records, there's a complaint on file for a "gas meter installed in a prohibited location" (dated March 28) and "installation of two new gas boilers and gas piping" without a permit (dated yesterday).

As several media outlets have reported, Hrynenko inherited 117, 119 (aka 45 E. Seventh St.) and 121 Second Ave. from her husband Michael, who died in 2004. He operated the Kiev, the popular diner at No. 117 from 1978 to 1990.

The corner space is now home to San Marzano, which remains closed.

[Photo of No. 117 from 1979 by Michael Sean Edwards]

The Post reported yesterday that investigators have "six prime suspects" in the blast at 121 Second Ave.: Maria Hrynenko, her son Michael Jr., contractor Dilber Kukic as well as an unidentified subcontractor and two workers.

Per the Post: "In addition to murder — which carries a maximum 25 years to life in the slammer — other charges said to be under consideration include second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide."

Hrynenko is also the owner of 46 E. Seventh St. and 96 Second Ave., though through different companies, according to The Wall Street Journal. Per the Journal: "Both buildings have complaints with the Department of Buildings dated April 8, citing a need to verify compliance for the plumbing system, and both were cited by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in February for failing to register with the department."

--

For further reading: Landlord Of Destroyed East Village Apartments "Didn't Know Any Better" (Gothamist)

How to help 73-year-old East Village mainstay B&H Dairy get up and running again

[EVG photo from yesterday]

B&H Dairy, the classic small lunch counter at 125 Second Ave., remains closed after the deadly explosion on March 26 killed two men and brought down three buildings several storefronts away.

Word came via Facebook that B&H would reopen by yesterday here between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street. That didn't happen. However, an employee told Eater yesterday that the 73-year-old kosher dairy restaurant was getting its gas hooked up again … and hoped to be up and running soon. (Hopefully in time for Saturday.)

However, the expenses have piled up these past two weeks. Now, the East Village Community Coalition, Fourth Arts Block and miLES are helping B&H owner Fawzy Abdelwahad launch a crowdfunding to "keep alive its tremendous history in the East Village."

You can find more details about the campaign here. Investments range from $5 (you get a big thank you on Facebook) to $150 (10 percent B&H discount for the year).


[Undated photo via Smallknot]

A pop-up shop for damaged East Village boutique Enz's

125 Second Ave. was badly damaged during the explosion and subsequent fire that brought down its neighboring buildings to the south on March 26.

Enz's, the rockabilly boutique in one of the retail spaces at 125 Second Ave., is continuing to try to reopen its longtime home here with the help of a crowdfunding campaign.

Meanwhile, as The Lo-Down first noted yesterday, owner Mariann Marlowe is operating a pop-up shop at 103 Allen St. just below Delancey through next Wednesday...



Made in the Lower East Side (miLES) operates the storefront, which is available free of charge to any East Village business affected by the Second Avenue building collapse. Details here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to Enz's Boutique

14th and C now waiting for the Karl Fischer-designed 15-story retail-residential complex

Crews have demolished the one-level structure at 644 E. 14th St. at Avenue C.



Coming soon, as previously reported: a 15-story mixed-use retail-residential complex here on the southwest corner.

The Karl Fischer-designed building will total 61,789 square feet. DOB permits show 8,578 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. The remainder of the first five stories will host a community facility, which will span 18,937 square feet, and 50 apartments will sit above.

Per the signs not he plywood, the work will be completed by summer 2015. Hurry! Unless they mean the demo...



The previous tenant here was the R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Development back in play for East 14th Street and Avenue C

More details on the sale of 644 E. 14th St.

Here comes a 15-story retail-residential complex for East 14th Street and Avenue C

Prepping the former R&S Strauss auto parts store for demolition on East 14th Street and Avenue C

City OKs 15-story mixed-use retail-residential building on 14th and C

Here's what's coming to the former Hummus Place space on St. Mark's

Last Thursday, we noted that a new tenant was in line to take over the recently shuttered Hummus Place at 109 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Eater has more details on what's coming soon here: Ori Apple, who owns the Hummus Place mini-chain, is opening a restaurant called Timna NYC in the space.

Amir Nathan, one of the partners in the new venture, described Timna NYC as "a casual but elegant Mediterranean place."

There are plans for Yemenite kubaneh bread, tacos made with Jerusalem's signature mixed grill of sweetbreads, preserved lemon, and tahini, and sea bass sashimi with tabouli and tzatziki. Nathan says the team is a couple of weeks from a soft opening.

Hummus Place closed for renovations in early February, never to reopen (at least as Hummus Place).

Patti Smith is headlining the East Village relief benefit Sunday at Theatre 80

Author Alan Kaufman, who's helping to organize the fundraiser at Theatre 80 Sunday evening for displaced East Village residents, confirmed to EVG contributor Stacie Joy this afternoon that Patti Smith is now headlining the event.

All the money collected will be donated to the Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) to help those affected by the deadly gas explosion at 121 Second Ave. on March 26.

The benefit at Theatre 80, 80 St. Marks Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue, will feature “performers and celebrities from the world of music, literature and drama,”per the Facebook event page.

As previously noted, Sting and Trudie Styler donated a sum reported at $36,000 for the benefit.

There are a handful of tickets, ranging from $70 to $150, left. You may order them here.

We'll have more information about the event from Stacie tomorrow.

Image by smial via Wikipedia

Reminders: Fundraiser for 2nd Avenue tonight at the Parkside Lounge

Tonight at the Parkside Lounge (East Houston at Attorney) ... Details via the EVG inbox...

Please join us as we come together as a community to raise money for all those affected. $5 at the door gets you awesome food from neighborhood establishments, a drink ticket, drink specials, DJs and live music. Try your luck in the raffle and win big in the silent auction! All food, entertainment and prizes are being generously donated by local businesses.

ALL proceeds from the door, raffle and auction will be donated directly to LES Ready!, a wonderful group that focuses on both preparedness training and recovery in the event of a disaster, and works specifically with residents of the Lower East Side and the East Village. LES Ready! has generously agreed to earmark the funds contributed from this event specifically for those displaced by the explosion and fire. It will be used to help families and residents pay for security deposits and rent in their new homes, as well as related expenses.

Visit the Facebook event page for more details on the area businesses who donated items for the evening.