The 1st Annual Santa Con for dogs is Saturday

Slum Goddess shared this flyer photo with us for — the First Annual Santa Con for Dogs

Hmm, interesting choice for branding given the outrage over the human version of SantaCon every year, an event that brings together elected officials to write letters To Whom It May Concern.

Anyway, the Canine Con is part of a celebration via The School for the Dogs on East Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B for their clients and pets. There will be photos with Santa ... then a parade from the East Second Street facilities over to d.b.a. at 41 First Avenue between East Second Street and East Third Street. (More details are here.)

So expect more peeing and pooping on the sidewalks from participants just like last Saturday!

Smoke shop, the new nail salon, opening in former nail salon on Avenue A

Well, OK — if you made it past that headline... a tipster tells us that a smoke shop (water-pipe and vaping accessories, etc.) is opening over at 221 Avenue A between East 13th Street and East 14th Street where the nail salon was. No one was around the premises to confirm. But this is what our tipster hears.

Noted

[Photo by @iyumnewyork]

Perhaps in time for the premiere of "The Force Awakens" ... flyers announcing a Chewbacca Roar Contest have been spotted around... this one is on the Bowery at East Houston.

Apparently these flyers are a staple on or near April Fool's Day in various cities and states... calls to the the number in suburban Boston on this flyer eventually lead to a voice-mail where there isn't any mention of a Chewbacca Roar Contest.

Stuy Town T-Mobile store robbed at gunpoint

Police are searching for two men who robbed the T-Mobile store on First Avenue near East 19th Street on Sunday afternoon.

Here's some narrative via Town & Village:

While one of them waved a gun around, the men ordered two employees and one male customer into a back room. The suspects then forced an employee to turn over 40 Apple and Samsung phones off a shelf as well as approximately $1500 in cash from a safe.

The NYPD released this surveillance video today... the customer, who is carrying a cane, is made to lie down on the floor while an employee hands over the merchandise and money...



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.

Chica, the trilingual parakeet, is missing

An EVG reader spotted this in a First Avenue building... (You can email us if you found Chica...)

[Updated] How much for this new-to-market home on 1st Avenue?

This arrived on the market this morning on First Avenue at East 12th Street...



Details are scarce. However, as you can tell, this coveted location offers easy access to public crosstown/uptown transportation and the First Avenue bike lane. Close to some of the neighborhood's best restaurants, shops, schools and bone broth.

What are you willing to pay for the chance to live here? (And don't be put off by the small size!)



1 p.m.

This is a project called #smokersnyc via photographer Mark Reigelman II ... taking this around the city and putting it over manhole covers to make it look like the chimney is in use...


[Via our friends at @academyrecords]

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

It's now a little more obvious that the now-closed Chase branch on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place is for rent.

The retail ribbon has arrived on the property via Icon Realty. The retail space has been on the market, with an asking price of $72,000 a month, per the listing, which notes the address is acceptable for "General Retail Use, Restaurants/Bar, Office Space, Gyms/Fitness Centers."

As the Commercial Observer first reported back in August, J.P. Morgan Chase sold the 2-level space to Stellar Management for $12 million. (Stellar and Icon teamed up to buy the gas-challenged No. 128 next door.)

The former Chase site allows for redevelopment of the 2,380-square-foot site into a mixed-use retail and residential project of 9,520 square feet, the Observer noted.

The branch here at 130 Second Ave. closed after Nov. 12 and consolidated with the location two blocks to the north at No. 156.



Photos by EVG correspondent Steven

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

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Out and About in the East Village 2015 recap

Since Aug. 1, 2012, East Village-based photographer James Maher has interviewed residents of the neighborhood for our series Out and About in the East Village.

Well, we're wrapping up OAAITEV (as we like to call it) for the year to prep for the incoming Valentine's Day holiday. So here's a look back at the people we featured during the year. We'll be back with more OAAITEV in January 2016. Many thanks to James for continuing to provide us with these stories every week. (And thanks to Stacie Joy for filling in!) And thank you to everyone who has shared their stories.

Meanwhile, happy holidays and see you in the next post.

Jan. 7 — Zachary Mack

Jan. 14 — Magic Brian

Jan. 21 — Gala Darling

Feb. 4 — Adrianna Grezak

Feb. 11 — Eileen Johnson

Feb. 18 — Sheila Rothenberg Part 1

Feb. 25 — Sheila Rothenberg Part 2

March 4 — Stephen Shanaghan and Arnoldo Caballero Part 1

March 11 — Stephen Shanaghan and Arnoldo Caballero Part 2

March 18 — Regina Bartkoff and Charles Schick Part 1

March 25 — Regina Bartkoff and Charles Schick Part 2

April 8 — Kecia (and Hazel)

April 15 — Diane McLean

April 22 – Mildred Guy

April 29 — Mark Mace

May 6 — Philip Van Aver

May 13 — Rineke

May 20 — Robert Shapiro

May 27 — Alicia Mercado

June 3 — 2015 recap!

June 10 — Sharon Jane Smith

June 17 — Ilyse Kazar (and Shiro)

June 24 — Glenora Blackshire

July 1 — Nelson Vercher

July 8 — Jeremy X. Halpern

July 15 — Maurice Whitaker and Laura K. Reich (Lulu)

July 29 — Wendy Scripps

Aug. 5 — Norman

Aug. 19 — Arthur Rivers

Aug. 26 — George Cameron

Sept. 2 — Jennifer Bonilla

Sept. 9 — Lisa Arbetter

Sept. 16 — Kim Gallagher

Sept. 23 — Eva Dorsey

Sept. 30 — Matthew (with Vincenzo)

Oct. 7 — Elsie Flores

Oct. 14 — Mickey Davis

Oct. 21 — Gina

Oct. 28 — Robert with Stellar

Nov. 4 — Jose Ilarraza

Nov. 11 — Willie Correa

Nov. 18 — Karen Platt

Dec. 2 — Andru Cann

Dec. 9 — Tony Feher

Feel the need for speed? Then think twice about taking the M101/102/103

A few bus lines that East Village residents may — or more likely, may not — depend on have been recognized. And not really in a good way.

The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives have handed out their annual awards highlighting poor bus service in NYC.

To the news release!

The “winner” of the 2015 Schleppie is ... a tie! The 2015 Schleppie goes to the M1 and the combined M101/102/103, both with a dismal 37 percent of buses arriving with big gaps in service or bunched together.

New York City Transit calculates “wait assessments” for “42 high-volume routes,” the same routes first chosen by Transit two decades ago. Wait assessment measures how closely a line sticks to scheduled intervals for arrival. Wait assessment becomes poorer the more buses arrive in bunches or with major gaps in service.

“In the realm of unreliable bus service, the M1 is the king, and the local M101/102/103 is the queen," said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. "Their unhappy subjects, the riders, must endure the tyranny of frequent and long waits, followed by a parade of buses that pass by in bunches, like a herd of lumbering elephants."

In addition, the M14A was named the fourth-slowest bus in the system, according to this report, with an average speed of 3.9 MPH at noon on a weekday. (Topping the list was the M66 crosstown at 3.1 MPH.)

Still not too late to ask for a hoverboard for xmas.

[Updated] CB3 committee to hear proposal to landmark the Provident Loan Society Building on East Houston

[EVG file photo]

CB3's monthly Landmark's Committee meeting tonight will include a hearing on the proposal to landmark the circa-1912 Provident Loan Society Building, 223-225 E. Houston St. at Essex. (This item was withdrawn from a previous month.)

Why landmark the building? Well, for starters, to save it from receiving a 12-story extension...


[Image from Bluarch Architecture via BoweryBoogie]

As BoweryBoogie first reported in late October, the building's owners want to add 41,000 square feet for 38 residences (and a gym and bike storage) and well as commercial space. BB noted on Nov. 30 that the owners have already filed the permits for the new floors.

According to the Request for Evaluation (PDF!) of the circa-1912 building:

The Houston St. corridor continues to re-invent itself, now including new high-rises, redeveloped tenements, and dazzling penthouse additions to historic commercial buildings. Developers continue to create a newer, more diverse context with glass-clad high rises towering through unchanged rows of ornate tenements.

Unfortunately, we are losing some commercial buildings, which helped to open up the tight streets and sidewalks into their private spaces, adding to the context of this corridor. Further south, commercial spaces like this one-story branch office building are becoming less common. The Provident Loan’s branch office on Essex and Houston is a valuable contributor to the neighborhood, and helps balance the diversity of uses in the area.

After a string of random clubs and concepts through the past 20 years, the Provident Loan Society Building is currently unoccupied. The space served as a studio for Jasper Johns in the 1970s.

The Landmarks Committee meets at 6:30 p.m., University Settlement at Houston Street Center/273 Bowery.

Updated 12/17
BoweryBoogie attended last night's committee meeting, in which CB3 backed the bid to landmark the building. BB has more on the longtime residents who own the building plus the latest rendering right here.

$1 million will get you a studio at Ben Shaoul's new East Houston Street condoplex

The pricing for Ben Shaoul's incoming condoplex on East Houston and Orchard Street (the official address is 196 Orchard) is now available.

The Real Deal had the scoop yesterday:

Prices at Ben Shaoul’s new Katz Deli-adjacent condominium, designed by Ismael Levya Architects, will start at just under $1 million for studio apartments and $1.23 million for one-bedroom units, the developer tells The Real Deal.

With studio sizes starting at 555 square feet and one-bedroom homes starting at 655 square feet, that pegs the starting price per square foot above $1,800. The total blended price per square foot is likely to top $2,000 a foot, however.

And the latest rendering of the building, which will include an Equinox in the retail space, looks like...



The property on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard previously housed a single row of storefronts, including Ray's Pizza, Bereket and Lobster Joint.

Meantime, no word yet if Ben will choose a naked-lady motif to sell the units like he is over at 100 Avenue A, where the residences will range in price from $1.3 million to $2.3 million.

While the units are more expensive here, you'll save money by joining Blink Fitness, the $25-amonth club that is taking the retail space in the building between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Someone threw black paint bombs at the naked women condo ad along 100 Avenue A

Making way for Ben Shaoul's new retail-residential complex on East Houston

Katz's is now the last business on East Houston between Ludlow and Orchard

The gift of SantaCon keeps on giving

This gentleman on East Fourth Street near Second Avenue told EVG contributor Derek Berg today that he picked up the Santa outfit on Saturday ... after a SantaConner had removed it for the evening ...

Biang! is now open on 2nd Avenue

Biang! — the sit-down Chinese restaurant via Xi'an Famous Foods owner Jason Wang — is now open at 157 Second Ave.

The well-regarded restaurant, — it received one star from The New York Times — has relocated from its original location in Flushing to here between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

A sign on the door notes cash only for now. (Not sure about alcohol — they were just on the CB3/SLA docket yesterday.) And for now they are using the sidewalk cafe guard from the previous tenant — Wylie Dufresne's bistro Alder, which closed after two-and-a-half years at the end of August.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Jason Wang bringing Xi'an Famous Foods offshoot Biang! to the former Alder space on 2nd Avenue

Report: Armed robber takes hedge-fund manager's $26k Rolex

The Daily News reports that an armed robber took a $26,000 Rolex from a hedge-fund portfolio manager who was bar hopping in the East Village early Sunday morning.

The incident occurred on East Second Street near Second Avenue about 2:15 a.m. when a man approached the 33-year-old victim and showed him the butt of a gun. The robber also took $200 in cash, according to the News.