Oh rats: CB3 reportedly tops in Manhattan for vermin

Community Board 12, which covers Washington Heights and Inwood, no longer has the worst rat problem in Manhattan, according to DNAinfo.

Per DNAinfo, the new honor goes to:

Community District 3 — which covers the Lower East Side, East Village and parts of Chinatown — earned the new No. 1 ranking for 2015, the Health Department said.

Well, I didn't see this report online just yet... The department reportedly ranks districts "based on measures of active rat signs, such as fresh tracks, droppings, holes and gnaw marks." (Mmmmmmm)

Anyway, you are welcome CB12!

Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg

Ian Schrager's 215 Chrystie now in the condo-building phase

Well, I've mostly been following along with the developments at Ian Schrager's hotel and condo development at 215 Chrystie St. just below East Houston via Curbed and BoweryBoogie.

Walked by the construction site the other day and hello!



When completed, the Herzog & de Meuron-designed building will be 28 stories, featuring 370 hotel rooms via Schrager's Public Hotel brand, topped off by 11 ultra-luxury condos, which appear to be going up now ...



The final product will have a real, authentic street-art vibe...



Oh! Well, you can see the 215 model inside the Schrager Sales Office in the Death Star/51 Astor Place...



According to Streeteasy, several of the residences are in contract. And several units are still up for grabs, including PH3 which is selling for $18.75 million... and includes top-of-the-line everything (kinda just guessing with that price) with 360-degree views that you can take in from your John Pawson custom-designed concrete tub.



Simply toss a piece a plywood over the tub and outfit with some table felt for when the gang comes over later for poker night.

Report: Sheldon Silver found guilty in corruption trial

Assemblyman #SheldonSilver was found guilty Monday of selling his office for legal fees https://t.co/2jIzzNAM0H pic.twitter.com/jsICVP0see

— POLITICO New York (@politicony) November 30, 2015

In case you missed the news this afternoon... let's go to the Times:

Sheldon Silver, an assemblyman who rose from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to become one of New York State’s most powerful politicians, was found guilty on Monday in a federal corruption trial, ending a case that was the capstone of the government’s efforts to expose the seamy culture of influence peddling in Albany.

The 71-year-old Silver faced seven counts of honest services fraud, extortion and money laundering ... and he was convicted on all counts. He now faces up to 130 years in prison.

To Twitter for some reaction...

We'll be convening a conference of imprisoned New York state legislators at the earliest opportunity. I believe we have enough for a quorum.

— Fake Sheldon Silver (@ShellySilver) November 30, 2015

Noted

OK, who keeps doing this?

Photo by Derek Berg

Previously on EV Grieve:
Strategically placed trash bags raise suspicion of hijinks on Avenue A

Someone placed free handmade scarves in Tompkins Square Park

Goggla spotted these this morning by the entrance on Avenue B at East Eighth Street...



The tags on the scarves read:

I am not LOST!
I was made with you in mind.
I am yours to keep.
Stay warm with my hugs!

Updated: Bagel Belly coming to 3rd Avenue

You may have noticed some activity at 114 Third Ave. near East 14th Street, home until May of Delicacity (aka Robin Raj!).

Now there are posted signs about the new tenant...



... 114 Bagel & Grill Inc.



The applicants are on CB3's SLA committee meeting docket on Dec. 7 for a beer and wine license. There isn't any other information about the place online just yet.

The place is described as a restaurant ... Maybe they will grill — and not toast! — their bagels?

Updated 7 p.m.

The questionnaire (PDF!) from the applicants is now online at the CB3 website.

The deli/cafe will be called Bagel Belly. And the proposed hours are 6 a.m. to midnight seven days a week. The proprietors also own Namu Deli & Grocery at 252 Third Ave. between 20th Street and 21st Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More Robin Raj intel (and what about those cartoon hams?)

Oh no! Robin Raj is no longer Robin Raj!

Robin Raj finally makes the move, though there's no sign of the cartoon ham

Live above Robin Raj

Reader report: Rent hike KOs Delicacity (RIP Robin Raj) on 3rd Avenue

New plywood for the empty lot where the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office once stood

This past Friday, workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside where the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office once stood at 438 E. 14th St. near Avenue A...





... and a view from the East 13th Street side via EVG regular Greg Masters...





Workers then put up a new plywood fence...


[GM]


[GM]

... and by Saturday...





An 8-story retail-residential building featuring 114 units is on tap. (Waiting for the rendering via SLCE Architects to appear on the plywood.)

The residential entrance will be on East 13th Street, as previously reported ... a short walk to the incoming Avenue A L train entrance.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room

... and one last time...


[Photo by Gian G. via Yelp]

Encouraging signs at Nino's

[EVG photo from Nov. 11]

Nino's on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place had to close on Oct. 21 due to a gas leak in the building, according to a sign on the door. (There was a similar sign a storefront away at Yoshi Sushi, 131 Avenue A.)

On Nov. 17, the pizzeria was hit with an eviction notice.

Nino Camaj, the owner of Nino's, told Bedford & Bowery last week that the gas was shut off in the building without any notice to him or the residents.

"Now they want us to pay rent for the month we have been closed, and I’m not paying that, that’s their problem." Camaj’s lawyers are currently in conversation with the lawyers of the landlord, Citi Urban Management, to dispute the rent charged for the month during which Nino’s was forced to remain closed.

Meanwhile, this past weekend, Nino's posted help wanted signs...





... perhaps a good sign that the business will be up and running soon enough.

2 'modern jewel box retail spaces' for rent on Lafayette

The new building construction phase has (mostly) ended here at 372 Lafayette on the southwest corner of Great Jones.

And the retail-for-rent signs on the ground floor of the residential building are now in place...



We checked the listing via Sinvin for more details on the two spaces on the market (dubbed "NoHo's Newest: Small Spaces, Big Presence"):

Two gorgeous modern jewel box retail spaces located in one of the trendiest areas in downtown Manhattan. Impressively high ceilings with huge showcase windows. Where sophisticated shopping meets downtown cache, this part of NoHo is quickly becoming the east side’s answer to Bleecker Street.

And why does "this part of NoHo is quickly becoming the east side’s answer to Bleecker Street" sound more like a threat? Anyway! No mention of the asking rent. You need to ask. But possession is immediate.

The last business on this corner was ZP Auto Repair Shop.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New skyline for Lafayette Street?

Another corner still primed to fall on NoHo

Demolition starts on former garage and lot; new developments coming for Lafayette Street

Looking at the future luxurious corners of Lafayette Street

New, improved inflatable Santa arrives on East 14th Street tree lot

[Happier days in 2013]

JUST when we though that the tree stand on East 14th Street and First Avenue would go another holiday season without a Santa Claus...


[Saturday morning]

... an EVG reader let us know that a new, [maybe] improved Santa inflatable now adorns the trailer...





Maybe by Dec. 25 this st. Nick will look as grubby as the previous one... maybe we will witness a Christmas miracle...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another year without grubby ol' St. Nick on East 14th Street; what to tell the children?

Week in Grieview

[Morning in Tompkins Square Park]

City council members talk up new L train entrance coming to Avenue A (Monday)

Former dorm being pitched as Luxury Renting 101 (Tuesday)

Gas work in building temporarily shuts down Hot Kitchen on Second Avenue (Saturday)

Someone threw black paint bombs at the naked women condo ad along 100 Avenue A (Friday)

The revamped Dunkin' Donuts reopens on First Avenue (Thursday)

How about some more 99¢ pizza for Avenue A (Monday)

The Alamo has been away from Astor Place for one year now (Wednesday)

The Gerber Group responds to criticism over Mr. Purple (Tuesday)

234 E. Seventh St. is for sale (Wednesday)

Pinche Taqueria has closed on Lafayette (Tuesday)

115 Avenue C is for sale (Monday)

Report: Letter claiming to be from terrorist group found at East Ninth Street boutique (Wednesday)

East Sixth Street switcharoos: Another name change for La Esquina Burritos and Bar; Spice Cove exits (Monday)

26 Avenue B getting its high beams on (Tuesday)

Former Vegtown-Chubby Mary's-Led Zeppole space for rent on East 14th Street (Monday)

First Bitcoin ATM arrives on the Lower East Side (Tuesday)

That photogenic Ford F-Series pickup truck from 1961 is for sale (Wednesday)

... and a look at some of the murals that recently arrived at First Street Green via the Centre-fuge Public Art Project...





... and an EVG reader let us know that a new deli/cafe called Stuyvesant Organic has opened in the former Kennedy Fried Chicken space on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... don't know too much else about the place at the moment...

Mixing politics and free standing lamps

The sign reads: "I work ... unlike Trump's immigration strategy." And it's written on the back of an immigration form.

Photo on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue by @katblomberg

Pushcart Coffee closes East Village location

An EVG reader stopped by Pushcart Coffee on Third Avenue at East 12th Street in NYU's Third North dorm retail property this morning... only to find a sign that the place closed for good after service yesterday...



The sign simply says "unfortunately, we had to close our doors." This location opened on July 1. The other Pushcart locations remain open.

As previously noted, there were already many coffee choices right around here with the Wayside on East 12th Street just west of Third Avenue ... City of Saints Coffee Roasters on East 10th Street between Fourth Avenue and Third Avenue ... Third Rail Coffee on East 10th Street near Second Avenue ... Think Coffee on Fourth Avenue between East 12th Street and East 13th Street… Everyman Espresso on East 13th Street west of Third Avenue… and the newly opened Le Café Coffee at 145 Fourth Ave. between East 13th Street and East 14th Street. Not to mention the recently relocated Dunkin' Donuts on East 14th Street just east of Third Avenue.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Pushcart Coffee opening an East Village outpost (20 comments)

Report: East River Park rape suspect now in police custody

A man accused of raping a jogger in East River Park on Wednesday night has surrendered to police, according to published reports.

Surveillance cameras reportedly captured 28-year-old Paul Niles using the victim's credit card at a deli near the scene of the attack.

Police say that Niles was riding a bike when he approached the 26-year-old woman jogging near the FDR Drive and Cherry Street around 7:30 Wednesday night.

According to NY1, after Niles turned himself in at a precinct in Queens, he was charged with rape, robbery and identity theft against the jogger and with forcible touching of another victim, who he approached separately.

Updated:

Per the Daily News: Niles pleaded not guilty to rape, robbery and identity-theft charges. If convicted of the most serious charges, he'd face up to 25 years in prison.

Niles also told investigators that he had been living at a rehab facility and a homeless shelter "and is suicidal."