Thursday's parting shot

Photo on First Avenue today by Derek Berg

Saturday in Tompkins Square Park

Via the EVG inbox...

WHO: Blonde Boy Wilson + The Chosen Frozen - Gas - Skitzopolis - Ruckus Interruptus - Universal Truth Machine - Density ... plus special guest Jennifer Blowdryer

WHAT: Amazing bands, political speakers and literature tables

WHEN: Saturday, July 22, 2 pm - 6 pm

Sponsored by The Shadow (the latest edition will be available at the show)...

Updated with new flyers...

Report: Man arrested after 3 failed bank robberies

Somebody's been watching too many heist movies https://t.co/qrXMoZPhCE

— New York Post (@nypost) July 20, 2017

The NYPD has arrested a man for attempting (unsuccessfully) to rob three local banks, two on the Lower East Side and one on Broadway near Astor Place.

"This was a very bad bank robber," a police source told The Post, who reported that cops arrested Richard Callison, 22, of Oradell, N.J., near 14th Street and Third Avenue.

During his attempted robbery Tuesday at the Bank of America on Delancey Street:

[He] also failed to make off with any dough, despite passing the teller a note that said: “Give me all the big bills, make the wrong move and you will get shot.”

The missive ended with the words: “Rapido, rapido.”

The teller was not intimidated by the note, and simply locked her drawer and walked away from the window, leaving the crook standing there empty handed, police sources said.

Neither here nor there but the suspect does have a passing resemblance to Spaulding Smails from "Caddyshack."

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. Starting today, she is sharing some of the photos here for a new EVG feature.





Tenants: Drew (since 1997) and Mia

Why did you move to the East Village?
Drew had been coming to the city for many years to attend the Halloween parade and visit his brother. He moved here from Colorado. One year he dressed up as Prince. His first roommate in the apartment's birthday was Oct. 31.

How did you get your apartment?
Drew was interested in the apartment but lost it to two NYU students. The first night the students moved in they went out for the night. When they came back all of their stuff had been stolen. They decided they didn't want to live there and Drew got the apartment.

What is your favorite thing about where you live?
The stoop. Drew said he met practically everyone he knows on his block on the night of a blackout. He brought out his grill and started grilling all the food in his fridge before it went bad. Neighbors brought out chicken wings. A nearby restaurant brought over some sushi tuna to grill.







If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email.

More about Boris and Horton, the dog-friendly cafe coming to Avenue A

[The same photo I posted on Monday]

Back on Monday, I reported that Boris and Horton, billed as "New York's first dog friendly coffee shop and community space," was in the works for the former Ost Cafe and Raclette spaces on Avenue A at 12th Street.

The applicants, Coppy Holzman and his daughter, Logan Holzman, appeared before CB3's SLA committee meeting that night for a new beer-wine license.

Allegra Hobbs at DNAinfo was at the meeting, and has more details in this article:

Boris and Horton, named for owners Coppy and Logan Holzman's respective pooches, will be divided by a glass wall into two sections per Department of Health rules — a cafe side will offer up beverages alongside pastries and sandwiches, while the pet-friendly side will provide a lounging space for folks with dogs, plus a photo booth and pet supplies.

"It's like basically going to someone's nice living room with your dog, and it's adjacent to a place where you can get all your food and coffee," said Coppy Holzman.

And!

Patrons are free to move between the spaces as long as their dogs stay on the designated dog side, explained the Holzmans — and staff will be on hand to momentarily watch dogs if an owner has to dash to grab a coffee.

And dog-less New Yorkers who just want to hang out with a bunch of dogs are welcome throughout, they said.

The CB3-SLA committee approved the application with some stipulations, "including installing soundproofing and monitoring noise from canine visitors."

Boris and Horton is expected to be open this winter.

Café Floral Delight now open on 10th Street

Café Floral Delight opened earlier this month at 380 E. 10th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Here's more about the operation via the cafe's Facebook page:

Café Floral Delight offers delicious coffee from Devoción, pastries from the wonderful Balthazar, and beautiful custom designed buttercream cupcakes by Jiahn, the owner herself.

EVG reader EVJackie, who shared these photos, stopped by yesterday and wrote in:

I went in this morning and got a cold brew and a sugar cookie that was decorated with edible flowers. They have other goodies too, like cupcakes and various breakfast-type pastries. They were also promoting their yogurt/compote parfait today by giving away free samples. It was pretty good, so I'll probably go back.

The cafe's hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday...


[EVG photo]

Meanwhile, next door, I Salon is coming soon... it appears to be their second NYC location...



The I Salon space was previously home to a pawn shop, which moved to a new storefront a block away between Avenue C and Avenue D.

N'eat is currently closed

N'eat, which serves "New Nordic fare," has not been open this past week (and perhaps longer) here at 58 Second Ave. The sign on the door between Third Street and Fourth Street says: "Due to unforeseen building issues, we have to close temporarily for maintenance work."



There isn't any mention of the closure on the restaurant's website or social media properties. A call to the restaurant reveals that the number is no longer in service. N'eat is not accepting reservations, and OpenTable notes that the restaurant is "permanently closed." Lastly, there aren't any new work permits, which might indicate work on the building, on file for the address at the DOB.

The restaurant opened in early November.

La Newyorkina joins Astor Plate on Astor Place

As previously noted, Astor Plate, the food-and-drink kiosk serving Mud Coffee, opened back on Saturday.

And yesterday, a second food vendor debuted for the season on Astor Place, adjacent to the uptown 6 stop.

Here's more about La Newyorkina via the EVG inbox...

Founded in 2010, La Newyorkina features an amazing array of sweets and treats from Chef Fany Gerson’s native Mexico. The La Newyorkina story started with paletas (hand-made, seasonal ice pops) using traditional Mexican flavors like tamarind, chocolate and dried chiles. The paletas were sold out of carts at local food festivals and built a loyal following at Smorgasburg, Jacob Riis Park and the High Line. La Newyorkina’s Astor Place kiosk will showcase a broader menu, including a variety of Mexican confections and pastries (paletas, ice cream and chamoyadas) as well as Dough doughnuts for breakfast.

In other Astor Place news, Jim Power and Julie Powell will be hosting Mosaic Making Workshops and giving three guided walking tours of the Astor Place Mosaic Poles on Saturday. Find the details here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
La Newyorkina softly opening on Astor Place place today; first of 2 new food vendors

What's happening with the former Edge space?

The Edge, the neighborhood bar on Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, closed last September after 29 years in business.

The space had been on the rental market... of late, though, the for lease sign hasn't been visible.

An EVG tipster says there has been some activity in the space, and points to clues in the front window of a possible new tenant...



However, there aren't any work permits on file for the storefront that might provide any details, such as if workers are venting the space for cooking.

Updated

This sign is now on the front door... Reso Box...

Noted

Someone added a little detail to the new anti-rat, Big Belly trash can that the city placed here on the northwest corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street last Thursday. Big Belly watchers believe the addition arrived Monday night.

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing 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: Brian Breger (and Molly)
Occupation: Writer/TV Producer
Location: 3rd Street between 1st and A
Date: 3:45 pm on Sunday, July 16

I’m originally from Brooklyn. I moved to the neighborhood when I was in college. It was a place where I could get a cheap apartment, and they weren’t very particular about who rented ... I don’t know if it was actually the worst neighborhood in New York in terms of the crime, but it was one of the few.

So I moved here in 1970, and I lived on 3rd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue right near the Hells Angels. The buildings on either side of me were abandoned. One of the things we did that first summer was rush out of the building when the fire engines came because there were inevitably fires there. A lot of homeless people lived in the buildings – we didn’t call them homeless people then, we called them street people.

I was a college student and a young writer, and there were lots of other young writers, painters, dancers, and theater people. As students we had no money, and as bohemians we continued to have no money. It was filled with people who wanted to have the opportunity to make art and live cheaply.

I graduated from City College, and many of us stayed in the neighborhood because we could live here and work a couple days a week and make art. A friend of mine ... had a tiny gallery on 5th Street, and then more and more galleries started to come – and there was a very active scene in the 1980s into the 1990s.

But at the same time also things like the Nuyorican Poets Café first opened in the 1970s, so it wasn’t just a white scene, it was a multicultural scene. There was a genuine mix of people. I used to say that everybody in the neighborhood hated each other, but everybody got along because they had to. I’m not saying that the Latin families in my building across from me were particularly friendly to me, but they weren’t unfriendly. There was no hostility. Everybody was basically poor – so that was a great leveler.

I was primarily a poet. I ran readings in various places with a couple of friends, Chuck Wachtel and Harry Lewis, also poets. Chuck is a distinguished novelist as well. I eventually started to work in documentary and was a screenwriter, and then I came back to documentary. It was independent, it still is, but I also make films for places like National Geographic, Discovery, A&E — all sorts of documentary channels. So that’s what I’m doing now.

There was a great energy here. There had been people here in the mid and late 1960s before us who had been the original bohemians in this neighborhood, and that just grew, and it continued to grow through the 1970s. There was a very active jazz scene in this neighborhood. I was a bartender at a jazz club called the Tin Palace, which was a central place where young musicians came and played, and I also ran a reading series there.

The Tin Palace was on the Bowery and 2nd Street, so it was bad outside. That was when the Bowery was a place that you wouldn’t go to after dark unless you had a place to go to. This was an extremely dangerous neighborhood. There were places that you wouldn’t walk at night. You wouldn’t even go to Avenue A unless you were going to a specific spot, but you wouldn’t be strolling along Avenue A.

There were two blocks in the neighborhood that were actually safe – one was 5th Street between 1st and 2nd because of the police precinct, and the other was 3rd Street between 1st and 2nd because it was the Hells Angels block, and the Hells Angels would actually ask people if they lived on the block if they were strangers.

The thing that has always made it special is the remarkable mix of people that live here, and still live here despite the gentrification. I raised two daughters here, and I chose to raise two daughters here along with my wife because it was a place where you had every imaginable kind of person, every income, from people with fancy apartments to people who could barely meet their rent. There were people who were interested in everything — in art, in politics, in every imaginable activity that the city had. They congregated here, and not to the same degree as they did, but they still do.

I think the fact that this neighborhood always had that incredible mix of artists and real people, and people from different backgrounds and different cultures – it’s always been a very alive neighborhood — and that’s what I wanted my children to experience, and I think it made them good people. They accept difference in every aspect of things.

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

An update on Steiner East Village, 'Usherer of Alphabet City Gentrification'

[Photo from Saturday]

CityReality provides an update on developer Douglas Steiner's luxury condoplex, Steiner East Village, in a piece titled "Usherer of Alphabet City Gentrification More than 50% Sold."

As the headline suggests, 44 of the building's 82 units along Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street have been spoken for.

The building, which features an indoor pool and 5,000-square-foot "rooftop park," also holds the distinction of having an East Village record-breaking sell-out of $225 million.

A passage from the post:

As of mid-July, much of the building’s exterior is complete. Closings are expected to begin this fall with occupancy likely following soon after. A recent episode of Million Dollar Listing featured the building, where celebrity broker Fredrik Ecklund just so happens to be leading sales. Reflecting on the social impact Steiner East Village may have on the community, Ecklund and others commit thousands of dollars to fund a cooking program for kids at a local park.

The CityRealty piece doesn't mention anything about the 11,000 square feet of retail space that will apparently be available along Avenue A. (The last listing we saw is from 2014.) For people concerned about the increase in chain stores here (joining the incoming Trader Joe's and Target around the corner), you can likely count on one or two more in this space.

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

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Developer Douglas Steiner lands $130 million loan for EV condo construction

Douglas Steiner's church-replacing condos emerge from the pit; plus new renderings

Developer Douglas Steiner presents Steiner East Village


[The church property in August 2012 via Bobby Williams]

More about Martina, Danny Meyer's 'fine-casual pizzeria' coming to 11th Street

Martina, the Roman-inspired pizzeria from Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, is opening next month on 11th Street at Third Avenue ... in the former lobby of Eleventh and Third, the 12-floor residential building here.

Esquire profiles the executive chef, Nick Anderer, and provides a few more details on Martina — "a fine-casual pizzeria with a paired-down, cheaper menu, as well as service at a counter instead of table side."

To an excerpt:

With Martina, Anderer will experiment with hospitality — he wants to figure out how to toe the line between serving customers food quickly, but not making them feel like he made their meal before they walked in the door. That means snacks and drinks ready right after you order and take your buzzer.
Meatballs, Martina Mista salad, seasonal vegetable dishes (starting with zucchini), potato croquettes, etcetera.

For booze, Anderer wants to offer the same quality of craft wines and champagne as his recent spots. "So if somebody does want to go high-brow, low-brow and have a seven-dollar pizza with some awesome champagne they can do it without breaking the bank," he says. Not to mention that gelato machine, serving a basic vanilla flavor that he'll use to make desserts like affogato.

#capricciosa

A post shared by Martina (@martinapizzeria) on Jul 14, 2017 at 7:34am PDT

Previously on EV Grieve:
Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group planning Martina for 55 3rd Ave.

Former S'MAC space for lease on 12th Street

Earlier this month, S'MAC (aka Sarita's Mac & Cheese) moved from their 11-year-old home on 12th Street several storefronts away to the northwest corner at First Avenue.

And now that former 12th Street storefront is on the rental market. The listing hasn't made its way online yet. Per the signage, the landlord is looking for a restaurant tenant.

The other restaurants right along here are Pata Negra, Motorino, Thai Terminal, Ducks Eatery and, soon, Saltwater NYC, an Australian coffee shop.

Previously on EV Grieve:
S'MAC is open in new home on 1st Avenue and 12th Street