Former St. Mark's Bookshop space still for rent on 3rd Avenue

[Photo from April 23]

Back in April, we noticed that someone had removed the for lease signs from the former St. Mark's Bookshop space at 31 Third Ave. … perhaps ahead of a new retail announcement?

Well, no.

There are just new signs up for the broker…

Now!



Last September!



Here's the description of the space via the listing at Jones Lang LaSalle:

• Neighbors include: Cooper Union, Organic Avenue, The Smith,The Standard Hotel, St. John’s University, New York University,TD Bank, Muji
• Surrounded by retailers, restaurants and corporate offices
• Manhattan’s hottest tech and educational hub
• Firms in the area include: J.Crew, Facebook, AOL, IBM Watson
• Over 65,000 undergraduate and graduate students in the surrounding area
• Consistent foot traffic with St. Mark’s Place, Astor Place and Cooper Square steps away

The rent is available by request. (St. Mark's Bookshop had been paying $23,500 a month here, according to the Times.)

St. Mark's Bookshop moved last summer to a new storefront on East Third Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former St. Mark's Bookshop for lease

MoRUS hosting photo exhibit, fundraiser for Peace Museum NY

Via the EVG inbox...

Photos by New York-based photographers that speak to the theme “Cycle of Peace” will be showcased and for sale at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) tonight through Sunday to raise funds for PEACE MUSEUM NY.

Curated by Catherine Talese, the exhibition opens tonight and run from 7 to 11 p.m. at MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between 9th and 10th Streets, with live entertainment by activist/musical duo Bethany Yarrow and Rufus Cappadocia at 9 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Cycle of Peace exhibit will be celebrated through the weekend at MoRUS with such live entertainment as Janet Restino, performing poetry on Sunday at 7 p.m. and Lorena Ambrosio performing on Friday at 9 p.m. While the exhibit remains on view at MoRUS on Saturday, Community Peace Events will be held at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden on 9th Street and Avenue C from noon to 6 p.m.

Co-sponsored by Times-Up!, a Peace Bike Ride will begin at the Gandhi Statue in Union Square on Sunday at 2 p.m.
visiting the East Village and its community gardens and ending at MoRUS.

Find more details at the Facebook event page.

Report: Equinox signs deal for Ben Shaoul's new retail-residential complex on East Houston

The fitness club has leased the entire second and third floors of Ben Shaoul's incoming development on East Houston and Orchard, the Post reports.

There's still 30,000 square feet of retail for the renting, per the Post.

Ben Shaoul and Real Estate Equities, a Midtown-based firm, paid $75 million for the one-level group of properties next to Katz's on East Houston and Orchard Street. Demolition is apparently underway.

Shaoul's 10-story building will include 83 residential units.

Your weekly Black Seed bagels post

The sidewalk bridge went up yesterday outside 174-176 First Ave., where workers are rehabbing the space for the new tenant — Black Seed bagels...

And here's a look inside yesterday at the interior renovations of the former DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe space...



Thanks to EVG reader William Klayer for the shots!

Previously

Rocky picture show

Animal-control officers from the NYPD responded to a report of a sick or wounded raccoon yesterday in Tompkins Square Park...





EVG contributor Derek Berg, who took these photos, said that the officers were gentle with the raccoon, which one of them named Rocky. After getting checked out, the officers said that Rocky would be released...

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Rineke
Occupation: Retired, 'Many Things'
Location: East Houston
Time: 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 11

I’m from Amsterdam. I moved to the city in 1991. Love brought me. I married my husband on New Year's Eve that year and we’re still married. Originally he’s from Philadelphia and he lived here.

He lived on 11th Street, next to an empty building that used to be The Ritz. Then Webster Hall opened. Things changed. The main ballroom, the techno was next to our kitchen. When they were really having a party the things that hold your pots on my stove would [vibrate]. When you sat on the toilet you could feel the vibrations in the water pipes.

If you can’t fight them, join them. So I went to work there as a receptionist. There were so many interesting people, weird people, wonderful people, but it was clear we needed to move because I couldn’t live like that. We had friends who wanted to buy something instead of paying rent, so I looked for a year and a half until we found something that we could afford and that was this house.

We bought it in 1994. It was an interesting period of time. My husband and the other person had [9-5] jobs, so they went to work. My husband was sometimes terrorized when he went to work because he had to wear a suit. But for women people were polite and respectful.

I came home once and I [noticed] a cleaver leaning against the front door. I thought, ‘that’s weird. I know if you have a fish head that’s not so good news if you find that.’ So I called the police and asked, ‘What does it mean if you find a cleaver leaning against your home?’ They asked me, ‘Do you want to be connected to lost and found?’ ‘No, I just want to find out if it means anything.’ ‘Oh, well hold on to it for a week because it might be evidence. If we don’t come back to you, just throw it away.’ The first year was full of these weird things.

I worked at the Amato Opera, but it’s closed now. It was funny because I was teaching arts and my husband retired. I wanted to do something and I discovered only then that there was this opera theater and they needed help in the costume department. I always made the costumes for school plays and we did Shakespeare. They said that I could come and help.

So the first season I did things and little projects and after the first season, the owner Anthony Amato asked, ‘Can you take over the costume department?’ I was scared to hell. When I started I didn’t like opera that much, but he changed that. When you’re exposed to something so intensely, you either run away or you develop a love for it. I worked until they closed in 2009.

Anthony was 89, I think, when he actually closed. He hoped his family could take over but it went different from what he imagined. There was nobody who really… it was impossible. He did everything, the auditions, the rehearsals, kept an eye on the finances, the scheduling, plus he would do the lights. He would install a new show every five weeks. He would direct; he was really amazing. Nobody can do that.

He wanted to help educate young singers. He was like a platform for young singers to experience and do a full opera. The big opera houses — you only get a chance when you are already there, but how do you get the experience? And sometimes people made it big and would happily come back to him and do a role, do a whole opera just for fun. That was a wonderful period.

Anthony was a short man, slightly taller than I am, but he was grand in everything he was doing. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to work with somebody like that. It was such an inspiration. He was very old. Who still works from early morning to late at night with all the things he was doing? He had a passion.

The funny thing is that everybody wants a long life but nobody wants to grow old. He was an old man but he kept doing what he wanted to do. He just went for it. That was inspiring to see that you don’t have to become a boring person. His energy… I’m jealous.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Another setback for B&H's return on 2nd Avenue

[Photo last week by Derek Berg]

B&H Dairy owners Fawzy and Ola Abdelwahed hoped to have their small lunch counter at 127 Second Ave. back open by now … and they were apparently a few inspections away from reopening.

However, this past Saturday during an inspection, the FDNY said that the B&H needs a new fire suppression system … which will push the opening back at least three weeks.

Fawzy and Ola have now taken to Kiva Zip, a crowdlending site for small-business loans to raise $10,000. The loan will go to repairs and renovations, employee salary and groceries when it is time for reopening.

On Kiva Zip, Ola writes that their 12-year-old son "is already looking forward to helping us, which makes me so happy! Maybe in the future he can continue the work like his parents, and continue to be the proud owner of B&H like his parents."

B&H, between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street, has been closed since the deadly gas explosion on March 26.

Previously on EV Grieve:
How to help 73-year-old East Village mainstay B&H Dairy get up and running again

Your chance to (legally) ride a Citi Bike for free tomorrow

[Citi Bike photo by Derek Berg]

Here are the details via the EVG inbox...

On Thursday May 14, Switzerland Tourism invites New Yorkers to experience the fun and freedom of bicycling in honor of Bike-to-Work Week. From 12:01 am to 11:59 pm, Citi Bike day-passes will be available for free at any Citi Bike station kiosk. This is the first time a partner has provided a free day of Citi Bike passes.

What makes Switzerland the perfect partner for Citi Bike? Easy: Switzerland offers 5,600 miles of cycling routes and 2,800 miles of biking trails as part of a program called SwitzerlandMobility. Switzerland is the place to go for anyone who wants to swap NYC's high-rise buildings for stunning mountain scenery and city bike lanes for well-marked cycling and mountain bike routes which crisscross a land full of surprises.

To ride New York City free on May 14 from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM, riders just need to swipe a credit card and select the 24-Hour Access Pass option. No promo code is needed. A $101 security hold may be placed on the card. Standard overtime fees apply to trips that last longer than 30 minutes.

Gut renovations underway at interesting new business opening on East 14th Street

[440 E. 14th St., at last look]

At last look, workers had stripped away the facade at 440 E. 14th St. near Avenue A, where a Domino's Pizza is being delivered…

Yesterday, an EVG reader noted that the interior demolition is underway…



The space was previously home to the 99-Cent Discount Center.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Interesting new business opening on East 14th Street

Work continues at interesting new business coming to East 14th Street

[Updated] A group exhibition at 190 Bowery opens Saturday

[That same photo of 190 Bowery that we always post]

If you ever wanted to see the inside of 190 Bowery, then here's your chance.

Developer (and art collector!) Aby Rosen, who purchased the landmarked Germania Bank Building at Spring Street from photographer Jay Maisel for $55 million, is putting on an art show that opens Saturday night here along with Vito Schnabel.

Per the invite:

Vito Schnabel is pleased to announce the opening of First Show / Last Show, a group exhibition at 190 Bowery on May 16, 2015. Featured artists include Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, Jeff Elrod, Ron Gorchov, Mark Grotjahn, Harmony Korine, and Julian Schnabel.

“The artists included in First Show / Last Show are seven of my favorite painters. I have had the privilege of living with some of their works and have long wanted to show them together. There are very few artists whose work immediately conveys its significance, like each of these seven. They represent three generations of great American contemporary art, ranging in age from 35 to 85.

I grew up in New York City, walking by the former Germania Bank countless times. I always wanted to go inside, thinking it might be a perfect place for an exhibition. This is the first time this 1899 landmark building will be open to the public since the bank closed in 1966 and it became a private residence.

The show runs through May 31. (We updated the post because we had it completely wrong!)

As previously reported, some sort of still-unnamed creative agency has leased floors 2-6. The groundfloor retail remains on the market.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission — or a group pretending to be them — recently praised the owner's decision to keep the exterior graffiti, according to Curbed.

Updated 5-17

The opening was cancelled … it's now invite-only…

H/T The Lo-Down!

Key Food is out of flowers

Raymond and company apparently did a brisk business selling flowers Sunday in honor of Bono's birthday Mother's Day...

So if you want flowers, then maybe you can come back here on Avenue A and East Fourth Street tonight at 11...



Photos by Stacie Joy

[Updated] Police hunt for suspect in Union Square hammer attacks

The NYPD has released a sketch of a suspect accused of two hammer attacks in and around Union Square last evening between 7:36 and 7:46.

According to NBC 4 New York, one of the victims was sitting on a bench in Union Square "when she saw the suspect looking at her, police said. When she looked back, he took out a silver hammer and struck her."

The second victim on West 17th Street didn't see the hammer but felt the impact, per NBC 4.

The women, ages 28 and 33, were taken to Lenox Hill HealthPlex with minor injuries, and have been treated and released. The man is also suspected of a third attack on a 20-year-old man earlier in the day on Sixth Avenue and 35th Street.

The NYPD released the above sketch, describing the suspect as having a medium build and wearing a black waist length jacket with a black backpack, dark-colored baseball hat, dark jeans, and black sneakers.

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.

Updated 1:04 p.m.

The Wall Street Journal has more details about the attacks:

A 28-year-old East Village woman leaving Union Square Park was struck by a man who she said had been sitting across from her on a bench in Union Square moments earlier, a law-enforcement official said.

She told police that the suspect had been smoking Newport cigarettes, the official said. The woman said that as she left the park, she was hit on the head from behind by the man with a hammer.

Updated 5/13

The NYPD has released a photo of the suspect...



Updated 11:17 a.m.

According to DNAinfo, the police shot the suspect as he tried to attack an officer with a hammer near Port Authority this morning. No word just yet on the condition of the victim.

Rumor: Moonstruck Diner opening location on Avenue A

Ethos Meze East Village closed for renovations at 167 Avenue A back in late March... and there hasn't been much activity in the space here between East 10th Street and East 11th Street ... except for someone removing the Ethos Meze sign.

The restaurant is owned by the same folks who run the Moonstruck Diner chainlet in the city. Now comes word via the rumor mill that the owners will convert the space into another Moonstruck, similar to the one on Second Avenue and East Fifth Street.

The space remains on the market, however.

1st activity at 500 E. 14th St. since the demolition phase, and when the standing water froze

There's finally some activity to note at the southeast corner of 14th Street and Avenue A, home one day to a 7-floor retail-residential building from Extell Development.

Last week, workers erected some fencing and plywood …





Workers have put a temporary sidewalk in place on East 14th Street for pedestrian use once the construction begins...



Perhaps this is a sign that approved permits are on the way? The city has yet to OK the new building (the DOB disapproved the last round of plans back in November, according to city records). Meanwhile, the only thing happening here in previous months is the standing water on the lot freezing and thawing.

As a reminder of what the new development will look like… here's the conceptual rendering… 500 E. 14th St. will have 106 residential units.



And further to the east, 524 E. 14th St. will house 44 residential units…



The demolition of the one-level row of buildings along East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B wrapped up last August.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

New 7-floor buildings for East 14th Street include 150 residential units