For 10th birthday, Dunkin' Donuts on 1st Avenue and East 6th Street closes for renovations

The Dunkin' Donuts on the northeast corner of First Avenue and Sixth Street shut down after the business day on Thursday... the plywood and the closed for renovation sign are up... Happy 10th birthday!? (Seems like this DD has been here longer...)



As you can see, they are closing for "less than two weeks." And there's no truth to the rumor that the big DD cup out front will be available for use as a hot tub at parties.

A call for zoning protections along the University Place/Broadway corridors

[EVG photo from July 2014]

Via the EVG inbox…

Tomorrow (11/14) at 12:30 pm, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), City Councilmember Rosie Mendez, State Senator Brad Hoylman, and local community leaders and affordable housing advocates will gather at the corner of 12th Street and University Place, across from Bowlmor Lanes, to call upon the Mayor and the city to finally move ahead with proposed zoning protections for this area prohibiting high-rise towers and encouraging the creation of affordable housing.

Demolition has just begun on Bowlmor Lanes, which is to be replaced with a 300 ft. tall luxury condo tower with no affordable housing. GVSHP has proposed a rezoning of the area which would limit the height of new construction and encourage developers to include affordable housing.

For almost a year GVSHP, local elected officials, and community leaders have tried to convince the Mayor and the city to move ahead with the plan. So far, they have refused.

See more information here and here (PDF).

Back in August, 6sqft got the first look at some preliminary renderings at the 23-floor building that will dwarf its neighbors between East 12th Street and East 13th Street…


[Click on image to go BIG]

Bowlmor Lanes closed in July 2014.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Building that houses Bowlmor Lanes will convert to condos, like everywhere else around here

76-year-old Bowlmor Lanes closes for good today

Bowlmor says goodbye

Bowlmor Lanes replacement: 23-floor residential building

Here's the Bowlmor Lanes-eating 23-story condo coming to University Place

Guided by 'Voices'

Brooklyn-based trio Sunflower Bean recently announced that their debut open drops in February… ahead of a record release party at the Bowery Ballroom. (Tickets went on sale today.)

Here is the band with "I Hear Voices."

EV Grieve Etc.: Why R. Crumb hates the Observer; a squash court for East River Park?

[Headless commuter exiting the L train via Grant Shaffer]

Man wanted for raping 1 woman, attacking 2 others in a 3-hour spree on the Lower East Side (WPIX)

Why R. Crumb hates the New York Observer (Slum Goddess)

Group hopes to open city's first public squash court in East River Park (BoweryBoogie)

Some history of the Tompkins Square Branch of the NYPL (Off the Grid)

About the Mudd Club rummage sale, which benefits the Bowery Mission (Stupefaction)

Here are the hotel plans for 50 Bowery (The Lo-Down)

The latest from the Sheldon Silver trial (The New York Times)


[Faces on East 4th Street via Derek Berg]

FINALLY! An LES restaurant with a $54 chicken entree on the menu (Gothamist)

Porsena turns 5 on East Seventh Street (The Village Voice)

Hearth on East 12th Street will revamp its menu and interior come this January (The New York Times)

Celebrate some films that meet the approval of avant-garde luminary and downtown NYC legend Jack Smith, who would have been 83 tomorrow (Anthology Film Archives)

Solo Dora action (Gog in NYC)

Downtown NYC photos from Gary Green circa 1976-1986 (Flaming Pablum)

The La MaMa Puppet Series 2015 continues (La MaMa)

Two theater students at NYU subject themselves to be featured in The Hunt look for an apartment in the East Village (The New York Times)

"The Lost Arcade," a new documentary film by Kurt Vincent and Irene Chin, tells the story of the legendary Chinatown Fair (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

"Ian Svenonius is a strange man" (NPR)

New study sheds new light on the connection between gentrification, restaurants and race (The Atlantic)

Target is opening a location in Tribeca next year (Racked)

Diversions: The campaign to bring back "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (NPR)

...and the first of the public meetings begin tomorrow to discuss the Gardens Rising Project... details below...

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

[Photo montage from like August]

As we noted back in August, the Chase branch on Avenue A at East Second Street and the location on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place would close after business on Nov. 12.

So, uh, being Nov. 13, those branches are now closed...


[Photo by EVG Chase Branch correspondent Steven]

According to Chase, the branch at 130 Second Ave. will consolidate with the location two blocks to the north at No. 156 while the Avenue A outlet will merge with the branch at 106 Delancey.

The Chase at 156 Second Ave. recently renovated the lobby, adding new ATMs and decorative lighting...




[Photos by EVG Chase Branch correspondent Steven]

The asking rent on the Second Avenue Chase space is $72,000 a month, per the Icon Realty listing. The rent is available upon request for the Avenue A storefront.

Feel free to leave your favorite memories of these Chase branches in the comments.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

The retail space at 20 Avenue A is on the market

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Ciao for Now extending their hours now into the evenings

[Image via]

Ciao for Now launches their evening service tonight... moving forward, the cafe at 523 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The menu will feature a variety of soups, salads, stews, cheeses and desserts on a rotating basis.

And via the EVG inbox...

Co-owner Amy Miceli says that the decision to add evening hours with home-cooked meals was based on a desire to fill the void left in the community’s changing restaurant landscape.

“We miss Old Devil Moon and Back 40, places to enjoy a quiet drink and a casual, calm meal with friends; not breaking the bank, not crowded out by folks yapping into their cell phones.

Our regulars miss those places too so we are making the food we like to eat, serving it with the wines we like to drink, in an atmosphere we would like to relax in.”

The new hours are as follows:

Monday: Breakfast/Lunch: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Tuesday - Friday: Breakfast/Lunch 8 a.m. - 5 p.m./Dinner 5 - 10 p.m.
Saturday: Brunch 9 a.m. - 4 p.m./Dinner 5 - 10 p.m.
Sunday Brunch: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

More details on the deal that saw the northeast corner of Avenue A and 12th Street change hands

Back on Monday, an EVG reader told us that 194-196 Avenue A and 503-505 East 12th Street had been sold.

The Commercial Observer provides more details on the deal that saw Dalan Management and real-estate investing firm Avenue Realty Capital buy the portfolio of four mixed-use buildings for $16.8 million.

Per the CO:

“We are excited to control four buildings on a prime corner of Avenue A and 12th Street in the East Village,” Daniel Wrublin, a principal at Dalan, said in a prepared statement. “The properties are in good condition, but we have substantial improvements planned to take them to the next level.”

Yes, "the next level." As the reader, who is also a resident in one of the buildings, told us: "I have a feeling that chances of us getting priced out next year are high. Womp."

El Camion and Double Wide Bar & Southern Kitchen occupy the retail spaces.

No. 196 housed Avenue A Wine & Liquor, which closed back in August. That storefront is for lease with an asking rent of $10,500 a month.

B&H Dairy will now bring the borscht and challah right to your door

[EVG photo from August]

B&H Dairy at 127 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street will now bring their borscht, blintzes and tuna melts to your doorstep … with the launch of a delivery service...



As you can see, the hours are 2-10 p.m. weekdays; 3-11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The delivery zone is within the confines of Houston to 14th Street … and Fifth Avenue to Avenue D.

And for those of you who don't like ordering by phone, the online delivery service launches next month.

Exit9 turns 20 today on Avenue A

[Exit9 owners Charles Branstool & Christy Davis pic by Stacie Joy]

Exit9, the gift shop at 51 Avenue A between East Third Street and East Fourth Street is celebrating its 20th anniversary today…

Aside from 20 percent off, here's what to expect, via the store flyer…

1st sign of the incoming CVS at the Death Star

The "Chopping This Winter" isn't the only new signage to note at 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star … on the south side of the building, the incoming CVS hoisted its first letters — Grocery!



The CVS letters are also to the right of the Grocery, but are semi-obscured by brown paper…



Let me know if you can't spot the C. I will point it out.

Oh, and do other CVS stores in the city have actual groceries? (I've been in the one on Fulton and Nassau, and while they sell groceries, I wouldn't call it a grocery.)

Anyway! No word on when this location will open. So anyone in the market for the CVS Homeopathic Constipation Relief that the kids like will have to check other stores.

Fall on East 10th Street

Photo today by Grant Shaffer...

FYI — Christmas is coming

Spotted on Second Avenue between East 14th and East 15th streets this morning by William Klayer.

No word if this was related to a Happy Hour.

Your chance to brainstorm ideas to renovate the Tompkins Square Park Playground

Just a heads up for your calendars or Post-it notes… Councilmember Rosie Mendez is hosting a meeting this coming Tuesday evening to discuss ideas for improving the Tompkins Square Park Playground near East Seventh Street and Avenue B … as the above-flyer says, Mendez has allotted some $900,000 to renovate this space… this is the first step in the improvement process…

The meeting is Tuesday night at St. Brigid's on Avenue B (enter the community center space on the East Eighth Street side) from 6:30-8 p.m.

253 E. 7th St. is now a pile of bricks

[Image from 2014 via Massey Knakal]

Over between Avenue C and Avenue D, the former four-story residence at 253 E. Seventh St. is no more...





An LLC with a Grand Street address bought the building in August 2014 for $4.3 million. The new owners have plans (waiting for final city approval) to put up a 6-story building with six residences on this now-empty lot.

Thanks to EVG reader Daniel Root for the demolition photos.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Options for this lovely East 7th Street townhouse include demolition

New building in the works for 253 E. 7th St.

The disappearing 253 E. 7th St.