Stage 'Driver'

Perfect Pussy (along with Wild Moth) will be playing Nov. 16 at Elvis Guesthouse on Avenue A.

For a sample of them live… here's "Driver" via footage from a show in September 2014.

EV Grieve Etc.: Sheldon Silver on trial; the Beastie Boys on 'Soul Train'

[2nd Avenue & East 6th Street assist via Derek Berg]

Sheldon Silver on trial (The Lo-Down … The New York Times)

Checking out the menu items at Arepa Factory on Avenue A (Gothamist)

The $12.5 million penthouse at 10 Bond sells after 2 weeks (Curbed)

Hunting and eating (well, swallowing) rats with Christo in Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)

Sally Davies on photographing the East Village (The Phoblographer)

"3 by Tom DiCillo" next week at the Anthology Film Archives ... includes 20th-anniversary screening of "Living in Oblivion." DiCillo and Steve Buscemi will be doing a Q-and-A on Nov. 11 (Anthology Film Archives)

Family heirs battle over movie chain, which could prompt a sale or break-up. The company owns several theaters in New York City, including the Angelika and Village East Cinema on Second Avenue and East 12th Street (The Deal ... H/T The Real Deal)

Squeezing the juice out of Organic Avenue (The New York Times)

The Beastie Boys on "Soul Train" in 1990 (Dangerous Minds)

The Ludlow House grows (BoweryBoogie)

Positive thoughts for Dr. Know of Bad Brains (Flaming Pablum)

Four female probationary firefighters will graduate from the FDNY Fire Academy, bringing the number of women firefighters to a total of 49 — a landmark high in the FDNY’s 150-year history (The Village Voice)

In defense of gentrification (The Atlantic)

An East 10th Street townhouse inspired by India (Ephemeral New York)

Artie's hardware store on West 14th Street has closed (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Details of the murder case of a well-known dentist on Bond Street in 1857 (Off the Grid)

21 great NYC diners (Eater)

The retail space at Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A is available for $24.5 million; plus, naked model marketing clarification!

[Photo Tuesday by Peter Brownscombe]

The retail space at developer Ben Shaoul's in-progress new building is now on the market.

Cushman & Wakefield has the listing:

A retail interest at the base of a newly developed eight-story, luxury condo building designed by Issac & Stern located on the east side of Avenue A between East 6th and East 7th Streets. The retail is long term leased to Blink Fitness for 15 years with two (2) five (5) year options. Blink Fitness has over 38 locations in the NYC Metro area and is an affiliate of Equinox Holdings, who’s long term debt is rated B2 by Moody’s. The retail unit will consist of 6,717 SF of ground floor space with 11’ 8” ceilings and a 5,177 SF lower level with 9’ 2” ceiling heights.

Additionally, the space will feature a glass facade and over 76’ of frontage on Avenue A. It is located just south of Tompkins Square Park and within walking distance to the F, 6, N, R and L train stops. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a long term leased, low maintenance asset in the heart of one of the fastest growing neighborhoods of Manhattan.

Price: $24.5 million.

The listing also includes some new renderings of the building, which looks even bigger than the recently disclosed 8 stories…





In other 100 Avenue A news, broker Ryan Serhant, star of "Million Dollar Listing New York," offered some clarification (sort of!) via Instagram about the naked women (and one man?) …



…that are at the center of the building's marketing campaign that we wrote about last Friday…

This is a real model, with real paint. This is my team, my developers, my clients, my friends, my family, my fans. This is for everyone who sells something who does it differently. This is for the kids who wear clothes other kids won't or don't. This is for the the Dad who goes back to school to make his kids proud. This is for the student who turns in 2 pages of a 5 page essay - and aces it. This is for everyone who has been bullied, talked about, made fun of, and pointed at. This is for the tattoos hidden under suits at work. This is for the study breaks and the over-time. The crazy dates and the rosé wine. Learn the system, use the system, change the system. 100AVEA.com

A photo posted by Ryan Serhant (@ryan_serhant) on Nov 2, 2015 at 6:14pm PST

Per Curbed, who noted the Instagram on Wednesday:

What does a naked, painted woman have to do with multimillion dollar condos? How does this, the image or the condo, speak for "everyone who has been bullied, talked about, made fun of, and pointed at," as Serhant's text suggests? Reminder: this is a development bringing expensive apartments to a neighborhood its developer has had a hand (an arm, really) in bringing into its current state.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Trying to figure out what is going on at 98-100 Avenue A

Last holiday for P.C. Richard on East 14th Street

The city has plans for 124 E. 14th St. at Irving Place that don't include TVs and home appliances.

As Crain's first reported, the city's Economic Development Corp. is now accepting proposals to redevelop the city-owned site that P.C. Richard (and Son!) has leased the past 19 years.

To Crain's!

The EDC is encouraging developers to pitch projects that include new office space for booming industries in the neighborhood, such as technology and creative businesses. According to the city's guidelines, the development could provide fledgling companies with the space to get started and also a location for young but established firms to transition from incubator and co-working spaces that have sprouted around the city into their own digs.

Oh, incubators! (Doesn't P.C. Richard already sell those?)

And!

"The current site of the PC Richard store will serve as a new tech hub in Union Square, capitalizing on the academic and transit advantages offered by the neighborhood and its proximity to the Flatiron district," said Maria Torres-Springer, president of the EDC, in a statement.

The lease for P.C. Richards is up in February. Expect some bigger than the normally big sales!

Maybe this will be priced to move...

The Fantastic Tea Shop is for sale (and for rent)

An EVG reader noted the arrival of a for rent sign in the window at the Fantastic Tea Shop at 128 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue…

There is also a smaller sign in the window, noting that the business is for sale. (Call Anita: 917-291-4811.) So maybe you could buy the business and renegotiate the lease with the landlord (no mention of rent in the listing) … or move it elsewhere.

The cafe opened here back in January.

The Village Veterinarian is moving on East 11th Street

Just noting the recent arrival of the coming soon signage at 318 E. 11th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... announcing the new (larger) home for The Village Veterinarian, who is currently down the street closer to First Avenue.



The sign points to an opening in early 2016.

The previous tenant here, Soon Beauty Lab (who consolidated their operations), closed back in January.

Repost: The Ninth Street Bread N Cake Bakery was great until they applied for a liquor license

Digging into the archives here with this post from Nov. 5, 2010...

-----

Thanks to Goggla's comment the other day, we've all been spending far too much time looking at photos from the New York Public Library archives ... EV Grieve reader Pinhead came across this shot..

It's taken from the old Cooper Union building, looking at Stuyvesant Street to the east toward St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, 1856.


As Pinhead says: "Be sure to zoom the amazing detail, like the Ninth Street Bread N Cake Bakery at 172 E 9th (an address that doesn't exist anymore because of the NYU dorm)."

RIP Hank Penza

[Photo by Goggla]

Word is circulating that Hank Penza, who owned the Mars Bar, died on Oct. 29.

There isn't much information about his passing at the moment. A member of the Facebook group "Mars Bar was a riot in the Nineties" confirmed his death with a Penza family member. He was believed to be 81 or 82.

His bar ownership began in 1957 on the Bowery Among them: Hank’s Crystal Palace, Willie’s, the Penthouse and Bowery East.

Penza opened the Mars Bar in 1982 (or 1984 depending on the source) on Second Avenue and East First Street, where it continued until its demise in July 2011.

In 2005, the Observer published a colorful feature on Penza. To some excerpts:

His father came to New York from Italy as a boy and worked on the Brooklyn Bridge before serving in World War I. He was, said Mr. Penza, a “great provider” and a “stark-raving-mad right-winger” who hated Franklin Roosevelt and the smell of perfume.

Young Hank started working early. He and his pals in Corona, Queens, would go “junking”: loading up a horse and wagon with milk bottles and stuff to sell.

Soon he was helping out at crap games, doing what were called “mopey pinches”: Whenever the bookmakers got busted, they’d pay Hank $50 to go to court, and he’d be back on the street in hours.

And!

At 19, he got a $200-a-week job at the “21” Club. He wore a tux, took reservations and ran errands. If a man dining with his wife needed to make contact with his mistress at the Stork Club, he’d deliver the message.

He joined a crew called the 40 Thieves and started making money by “cleaning up” bars (i.e., getting rid of undesirables). Once they spent two weeks getting rid of some ruffians from a bar by sending them to another one across the street. A month later, they paid the ruffians $3 each to return to the first bar so the 40 Thieves could get the job back.

But he said he declined offers to join the Mafia.

“Nobody can make me, man,” he said. “I’m a made man. My name is Penza-we’re made, period. We don’t need that shit. That’s all movie stuff.”

His reputation grew. Two British guys gave him $1,500 to clean up their bar on lower Fifth Avenue, which had been overrun by pimps.

In 1957, he bought a bar at 12 Bowery and renamed it Henry’s.

After the Mars Bar closed, rumors circulated that Penza would open a new bar nearby. Thiose plans never materialized, though he was reportedly a partner in the business that eventually opened in the Jupiter 21 building on Second Avenue and East First Street.

Back to the Observer profile…

Still, he said, even now, New York is the only place to be. “I love it,” he said. “It’s the greatest place in the fucking world. There’s no place like this, man, and I’ve been all over the world. I love this city because they make me somebody. When I go somewhere else, they don’t treat me as well as they do. Here, they treat me with elegance. In Florida, I’m a little fucking scumbag.”

[Photo by Goggla]

Updated 11/10
The New York Times published a feature obit today.

Per the article:

In addition to his son William, he is survived by another son, Mark; a daughter, Kim; and three grandchildren.

William and Mark Penza own Billymark’s West, a bar of the Mars Bar stripe, on Ninth Avenue at 29th Street.

Lit Lounge is back for a return engagement in front of CB3's SLA committee

[EVG photo from September]

A familiar name is on CB3's SLA committee docket this month.

Lit Lounge actually appears twice on the agenda… for an alteration and corporate change…



According to the paperwork (PDF!) filed online ahead of the Nov. 16 meeting, Lit is reducing its size from two floors to one, cutting the occupancy of the bar at 93 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street to 157 in the process.

Meanwhile! As DNAinfo reported, as of Sept. 29, Cock owner Allan Mannarelli is now the majority owner/managing member of Lit. Hence the corporate change… (and if anyone can explain the 40 percent…)



In August, the SLA committee voted against Mannarelli's application to move the Cock from its current Second Avenue home several blocks north to the Lit space.

Per DNAinfo:

Mannarelli said the owners were considering a move to split the space and possibly add a new bar on the ground floor. “LIT [is] still alive,” he added, although plans to move Lit Lounge to Brooklyn were not completely off the table.

And so the maneuvering continues.

Lit first closed at the end of July after 13 years. There was talk of a relocation to Brooklyn, but those plans haven't been realized. Lit did briefly reopen on the weekend in late September.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Confirmed: Lit Lounge is closing on 2nd Avenue

New, confusing signs up at the former Lit Lounge space

Le Petit Parisien opens today on East 7th Street

[Photo from Oct. 29 by Derek Berg]

A follow-up to our post from Friday about Le Petit Parisien … the French-style sandwich shop is scheduled to open for business today at 32 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

You can find their menu here. The sandwiches start at $9. And if you are so inclined, there's one called the Louis XIV — with foie gras and fig confit — going for $25.





For now, the listed hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. (They may want to consider staying open a little later for the coming-home-from-day-job crowd…)

You can find more info at the Le Petit website here.

Photos via Le Petit Parisien

All uses considered for former coffee shop on East 5th Street

Been meaning to note the recent arrival of the for rent sign at 543 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Per Winick Realty, all uses will be considered for the 300-square-foot space. The rent is available upon request.

Kamakura Coffee Shop, a place that I happened to really like, closed here in September 2014 after a year in business. As I understand it, Tom the owner had to return to his native Japan to attend to some family matters.

For a like-minded business... Matcha Cafe Wabi opened last December a block away at 233 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B.

Workers removing the scaffolding and sidewalk bridge from PS122

[Photo by Kate Puls]

The northeast corner of First Avenue and Ninth Street has been under a sidewalk bridge since the extensive, multi-year gut renovation started a few years back at the 122 Community Center ... however, in a noticeable sign of progress, workers have started to remove the scaffolding (and, perhaps soon, the sidewalk bridge) this afternoon, says EVG reader Kate Puls...

PS122, one of the organizations here, is expected to have its grand reopening next summer.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Come along on a tour of the under-renovation 122 Community Center on 1st Avenue

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now — oh, forget it

Earlier today on Avenue A and East Seventh Street...


[EVG photo]

... then a little later...


[Derek Berg photo]

Previously on EV Grieve:
And we can build this thing together, stand in stone forever, nothing's gonna stop us now

As always, headline inspiration here.

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: Jose Ilarraza
Occupation: Military, Construction.
Location: 3rd Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A
Time: 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2

I’m from Puerto Rico. I was raised here since I was 11. It was your typical 1970s. I’ve lived on East 2nd Street since I was 11. Back then you had Chinese, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans. But back then, if you wasn’t doing something right, you were going to do something wrong.

I remember graduating from PS 22, going to Seward Park High School and then I told my friends, "Listen I’m leaving." We had a little group. We had colors back then. Back then the gangs wore colors. We had a little group that we put together called PHA. What it means was Potheads of America. That’s it. "What are you doing flashing colors," they’d say. "Listen, read the back, Potheads of America." "Oh, you guys are alright." It was about 50 of us and we never snatched chains, mugged anybody, never. That was not our thing. Our group looked out for each other. If the group could help you, if you had a problem or something, they’d take care of you.

Did you ever go to cadets when you were young? It was fun. I turned my time into Boy Scouts. I was an Eagle Scout. I was a Scoutmaster. It was something that I followed since I was a little kid. I loved adventure and just the outdoors. I have a story for you. When I was 5, I was watching Hawaii Five-O. I told my mom, "Ma, let’s go to Hawaii." She says, "Let’s go." So I went into the bedroom, took my book bag and put some clothing inside, t-shirt, toothbrush and sandals. I come out running, and I said, "Let’s go!" She goes, "The cab just left."

And I pulled a fit. I started crying and all of a sudden I stopped, and said, "What is wrong with you? That’s not normal." I told her, "When I grow up, I’m going to go to Hawaii. I’m going to go in the Army. I’m going to go to Hawaii and I’m going to marry a Hawaiian girl, and I’m going to have a baby boy." And that’s what I did.

Myself, I can’t complain. I accomplished everything. I was a squad leader. I was E5. I served seven years with the Infantry. I was with the 25th Division. In Hawaii, you have time for everything. It’s a long day, but it’s an enjoyable day. I enjoyed Hawaii immensely. Everything slows down. I got married in Hawaii. I got married to a Wahini. In Hawaii they call girls Wahini. My dream was to marry one of them. And I got married, had a son. It hurt to leave them in Hawaii, but I knew I was doing the best thing, because if I had brought them here I would have lost them to the street. I got divorced, you know, and things were hard, so I decided to come back home.

[When I left for the Army] it started getting worse here. Then I came home in 1985 from the military. I had a year to go, but I saw that my mom needed me more. When I came home, I was shocked how fast and how quickly you had to learn your street smarts. There was a [police operation] called Pressure Point. I [returned] April 19 at seven in the evening from Honolulu to New York. I had a small amount of weed that I brought with me from Hawaii. Back then it wasn’t so strict. At 7:30, I got arrested. I was smoking weed with a friend of mine and the smell was so amazing that the two cops had to go and come right back. I said, "Listen, I don’t have anything. This is all I have. I just landed from Hawaii, from the service."

This place looked like someone threw a bomb. A lot of times someone would set a fire and the building would collapse. A lot of drugs. It felt like, "Wow, man, what happened here?" I would walk around my neighborhood and I would go, "What the fuck happened?" When I got back, I started looking for my friends and a lot of them were dead. A lot of them OD’d or they moved somewhere else. I found a few. There were only a few. And we’re still friends, you know?

After I got out, I was working construction. I was working in a building on Avenue C and 2nd Street. We gutted that whole building and with that I would send my son money. But three months after, I lost [track of] my family. I lost my son. I ended up being the super for like five years. Then I worked in the Garment District. I was the assistant manager of this clothing company, and then after that I went to work for the VA. I worked in the building maintenance. I was also my friend’s personal nurse.

For 24 years, I was looking for my son, and I didn’t give up. And I found him. He was in Las Vegas. I went to see him and found out the reason why I couldn’t find him was because they had moved from Honolulu to Maui. But I did find him.

When I met him, he tells me, "Pops, I was looking for you three weeks ago and it came out that you were deceased." This kid is my mother’s only grandson. I made it my business to find him for my mom. We just spoke about two days ago. He’s dating a Japanese girl, with two little girls. She’s in the Navy; she’s a Master Sargent. My son is a Sargent in the Army. He’s a geospacial engineer. I’m very proud of him. He’s in Fort Hood, Texas, right now. This is his second tour. Twenty-four years I was looking for him. I’ll be honest with you, I thank God for my son. He gives me a reason for living.

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