Meanwhile, Steiner East Village tells Avenue A to get in its belly

With a discussion of the new developments two blocks away at 500 and 524 E. 14th St. ... might as well look at the progress of developer Douglas Steiner's rather gargantuan condoplex at 438 E. 12th Street and along Avenue A to 11th Street... aka Steiner East Village...





... looks as if Stei Town might just swallow the corner buildings on 12th ...



To recap, the 7-story, 82-unit building features Steindos starting at $1.1 million... with the 4-bedroom Steinhouse with 1,364 square feet of terraces that's asking $11.25 million.

Steiner bought the former Mary Help of Christians property in 2012 from the Archdiocese of New York for $41 million.

Previously

Stubby cups and mini bubbles coming to East 14th Street (yes, more bubble tea)

PaTea is opening its second NYC location at 227 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... Per the signage: "The first Stubby Cup in the East Coast."



Here's more about the company:

[W]e are a family owned business and we strive to bring the authenticity of Taiwanese bubble tea to everyone.

The name “Patea” is from the concept of “It’s Party Time”. Our passion is to bring joy and a fun experience to all customers while experimenting on some of the newly innovated flavors.

The first PaTea opened at 135 Mott St. in 2013.

The previous tenant here, a mobile phone business, came and went very quickly.

Meanwhile, directly across 14th Street, the sign is now up for the incoming Pink Bear Ice Cream, which specializes in rolled ice cream...



Also directly across the street, another bubble tea shop.

Melt Shop bringing grilled cheese sandwiches to 4th Avenue

Signage has arrived at 135 Fourth Ave., where another location of Melt Shop is coming soon.

This looks to be the fifth Manhattan location for the expanding quick-serve restaurant that specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches (and tater tots).



This location between East 13th Street and East 14th Street has applied for a beer and wine license. They are on the June CB3-SLA docket, though the item won't be heard during the committee meeting.

The previous tenant, Desi Shack, the quick-serve Indian-Pakistani restaurant, closed in April after less then two years.

After 2 months, J-Mar Special Touch barber shop closes on East 6th Street

[Photo from April 2 by Vinny & O]

J-Mar Special Touch barber shop opened at 343 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue in early April.

There was a price cut within a few weeks of opening...


[Photo from May 6 by Vinny & O]

...and by Saturday, workers had cleared out the space... bringing an end to J-Mar Special Touch's two-plus-month run...


[Photo by Michael Hirsch]

Until last fall, the space housed a rental shop that specialized in Bollywood cinema.

Week in Grieview

[NOT @LinkNYC. Photo by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Screaming Mimi's is leaving its home of 25 years on Lafayette for West 14th Street (Monday)

POTUS comes to town (Wednesday)

Mount Sinai Beth Israel ready to sell its First Avenue campus (Wednesday)

Tompkins Square Park has a Prince-inspired piano for the next 10 days (Wednesday ... Thursday)

The last exhibit at ABC No Rio before building demolition (Friday)

Chico's tribute to Muhammad Ali on Avenue B (Tuesday)

A new era (for awnings) at Veselka (Thursday)

Report: Steve Croman filed for alterations in 32% of his East Village properties (Friday)

Baby hawks fledge (Friday)

Vintage clothing boutique D.L. Cerney returns to the East Village for the summer (Friday)

A Hōkūleʻa sighting on the East River (Wednesday)

End days for Surma Books & Music (Tuesday)

Something brewing (demolition) for former beer distributor on East Second Street (Tuesday)

The Grassroots Tavern now opens 1 hour earlier (Thursday)

The St. Mark's Church Greenmarket returns for another season (Tuesday)

East Village-based artist Ori Carino unveils Ramones mural in Forest Hills (Tuesday)

Kanye West almost played at Webster Hall (Monday)

Welcome to Stuyraq (Thursday)

On East Houston, empty lot awaits million-dollar condos (Wednesday)

Former Avenue D Rite Aid has been demolished to make way for a 12-story building (Tuesday)

Plywood for 4 St. Mark's Place (Monday)

Restaurant-ready space at 58 St. Mark's Place asking $19k (Thursday)

A farewell show for Other Music (Monday)

A cakery for East Second Street (Monday)

DOUBLE RAINBOW (Sunday)

201 Second Ave. is for sale (Thursday)

Hi, Ben Shaoul would like to buy your building (Wednesday)

Puke Island Part 6 is this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park

Here's the rundown of band's via Facebook...

2PM R.O.T.T.E.R.
2:45 PURPLE PAM AND THE FLESH EATERS
3:30 CHAOTIC MELTDOWN
4:15 THE DECEIVERS
5:00 WE ALL DIE

Saturday evening clouds

Photo this evening from East 12th Street by Lola Sáenz

Hi, I'm a baby hawk

The first of the three Tompkins Square Park hawklets fledged on Thursday (by now, the other two may have as well)...

EVG regular peter radley shared these photos of the first fledger from yesterday afternoon... striking a pretty badass pose...





The first of Christo and Dora's eggs hatched in late April. So this one is roughly 8 weeks old. They grow so big with the daily rat tasting menus.

Updated 1:16 p.m.

Apparently the third hawklet just fledged...

Spellbound: Some love for Enchantments, the city's oldest witchcraft shop

The Guardian checks in with a feature on Enchantments, 424 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, which has been selling custom-carved candles, blended oils and various herbs and resins the past 34 years.

To some excerpts with owner Stacy Rapp:

The shop does not perform spells, Rapp tells me, after leading me to a quiet backroom away from the heady smell of the incense. The shop provides supplies that people use to perform a spell. Enchantments strictly sells supplies for good magic, Rapp explains, which is one reason to which she attributes its continuing success. The shop puts out positive energy, so positive energy comes back to it, she explains.

And...

Not everyone is charmed by the pink-haired witch of East 9th Street and her egalitarian spiritual musings. People have called the shop in the past to tell employees that they are going to hell and are in league with the devil, says Rapp. When an article on the shop ran alongside photos of Rapp years ago, men would call the shop proposing to marry her in order to save her soul.

Image via the Enchantments website

Enjoy 6 hours of peaceful green space on East 2nd Street today

[A scene from the cemetery in 1831 via Harper's Weekly]

The New York City Marble Cemetery on East Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue has its first Neighborhood Open Day of the season today...

An opportunity for our friends and neighbors to enjoy our peaceful green space.

Saturday, June 11
Sunday, July 10
Saturday, Aug. 13
Sunday, Sept. 10

11 am to 5 pm

In the top photo... former President James Monroe was briefly interred here in July 1831... he was transferred to his native Virginia in 1858. (The procession shut down Astor Place, which was in its first year of reconstruction.)

A little bit of 'Heaven'

Here's Brooklyn-based Japanese Breakfast with "In Heaven," some dream pop from the band's recently released record Psychopomp.

They'll be at the Bowery Ballroom on June 20 opening for Mitski... that show is sold out, though.

Fledge night

After several days of practice, the first of Christo and Dora's red-tailed hawklets fledged last evening in Tompkins Square Park...


[Photo by Goggla, reposted with permission]

A small crowd gathered to watch as the young one took off to the west (as far as to the Krishna tree anyway)... Goggla was there. Check out her play-by-play here.

The other two hawklets should fledge very soon... expect to see a little erratic flying in Tompkins Square Park this weekend...

The last exhibit at ABC No Rio before building demolition

As previously reported, ABC No Rio will be shutting down at the end of the month ... the cultural center on Rivington Street between Suffolk and Clinton will be demolished this fall to make way for a new "environmentally friendly" structure.

Before that, there's still one more exhibit, which starts tonight.

Via the EVG inbox...

"InFinite Futures" + "The Past Will Be Present"
June 10 — June 24

OPENING Friday June 10 at 7:00pm
VIEWING HOURS Sundays 1:00 - 5:00pm
Tues, Wed, Thurs 4:00 - 8:00pm

"InFinite Futures":
Kevin Caplicki with Alexander Drywall, Peter Cramer + Jack Waters, Barrie Cline with Paul Vance, Jody Culkin + Christy Rupp, Mike Estabrook, Fly,
Brian George + Kelly Savage, Julie Hair, Takashi Horisaki, Becky Howland, Vandana Jain, Mac McGill, Max Schumann, Noah Scalin, Amy Westpfahl, and Zero Boy.

"The Past Will Be Present"
Margarida Correia, Jade Doskow, Vikki Law and Chris Villafuerte

"InFinite Futures" and "The Past Will Be Present" are funded in part with support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.

ABC No Rio's zine collection recently moved to the nearby Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center... while the Saturday matinee punk shows will move to various venues across the city.

You can read more about the new building and check out the renderings at the ABC No Rio website.

Previously

H/T EVG reader Bobby G.

Report: Steve Croman filed for alterations in 32% of his East Village properties

According to an analysis of Department of Buildings filings, there’s about one alteration application for every three East Village apartment units that Steve Croman owns, The Real Deal reports.

Croman of Croman Real Estate and 9300 Realty was arrested last month. In a lawsuit via New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, "Croman directs an illegal operation that wields harassment, coercion, and fraud to force rent-regulated tenants out of their apartments and convert their apartments into highly profitable market-rate units." In total, Croman was hit with 20 felony charges and faces 25 years in prison.

The Croman revelation was just one finding from The Real Deal's investigation of DOB permits dating to 2012 to determine which landlords filed the most permit applications relative to the number of units they own in the East Village.

Per TRD:

Other East Village landlords with a high alteration strike rate include Mark Scharfman’s Scharfman Organization, which owns about 4,000 units citywide ... The company filed 19 alteration permits at its 118 East Village units since 2012, a rate of about 16 percent.

Jared Kushner’s Kushner Companies, which has acquired a sizable portfolio in the neighborhood since 2012, also made the top five. It filed 77 alteration permit applications and owns at least 522 units in the neighborhood. Raphael Toledano’s Brookhill Properties, which owns about 400 units in the East Village, was fourth on the list and filed 53 alteration permit requests.

Per previous published reports, Kushner and Toledano have been accused of trying to force out tenants at East Village properties in the past. (Like here ... and here... and here...)

And what might all these filings mean?

Emily Goldstein, an organizer at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, an affordable housing advocacy group, believes any correlation between a high rate of renovations and harassment allegations may be more than coincidence.

“I think it raises a red flag,” she said. “I think absolutely an unusual rate of alt filings is cause for concern.”

However, reps for the landlords "emphatically rejected such characterizations of renovation work."

Find the the full Real Deal report here.