More about the church vs. the travelers on Cooper Square

[Photo on Cooper Square at Seventh Street from June]

Last month, we noted that the travelers who slept outside the First Ukrainian Assembly of God on Cooper Square at Seventh Street had been driven away after someone from the building sprinkled bleach powder on the sidewalk.

Later, someone dumped garbage at the spot (including used toilet paper) and tagged the building.

The Post has a follow-up on this today with a piece titled "Vagrants are going to war against an East Village pastor." The paper talks with the church's leaders, Irina and Ivan Belets.

Alarmed by a growing daily gathering of junkies and hobos, the Belets took matters into their own hands July 22 by sprinkling Comet bleach powder all over the sidewalk in front of the church...

The cleanser fended off the unwelcome interlopers for just a day. “They retaliated and spray-painted all kinds of profanity like ‘f–k you’ on the walls,” Irina said. “They also dumped garbage all over the powder and left a garbage bag filled with used toilet paper.”

And...

The vagrants urinated on the church steps — forcing the Belets to scrub them every day for months in a futile effort to get rid of the “unbearable” stench, Irina said.

Some members of their flock began to skip their weekly Sunday service because of the putrid smells.

And the city reportedly won't do anything about it...

The Belets say they have complained to the city constantly to no avail. They say they have filed at least five complaints through the 311 hotline, and the NYPD confirmed it has received at least 14 calls to 911 this year for the church address, including five reports of disorderly persons...

For now, Irina Belet said the powder has kept the travelers at bay, but she believes they will return. "We need real help. We need the city to do something."


[Photo from today]

Updated

An EVG reader just said that this is a cover story...

On the fence about this rat capture

In today's red-tailed hawk action... Christo and Dora's 2017 offspring, nicknamed Manhattan (or 10, for being their 10th hawklet), captured a rat. (Not sure is this is her first solo grab.)

As Steven, who shared these photos noted, she then crashed into a Park fence ...



Momentarily stunned, Manhattan stayed in this position for several minutes, then flew off again with the rat.

[Updated] Flags — and tarp — have been removed from building at 8th Street and Avenue D

[Image via @visionsofmatty]

This afternoon, the Confederate and Israeli flags were removed from the windows of the top-floor apartment at 403 E. Eighth St.

As we first reported yesterday, workers hung a tarp from the roof to cover the flags from view on the street below.

It's unknown exactly how long the flags had been in the windows (five months to a year, per different media accounts) in the corner building at Avenue D. However, it wasn't until after last weekend's deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., when people started taking notice. (DNAinfo reported yesterday that a pair of the German Naval flags emblazoned with the iron cross were in the windows for roughly a decade before they were replaced by the Confederate flags some time last year.)

Police have been on the scene since a man threw rocks at the windows on Wednesday morning. There is also an unconfirmed report of an the NYPD arresting a man last night for throwing a rock at the windows.

Previous media accounts reported that both the building's property manager and the NYPD had asked the tenant, a 43-year-old male who has lived here for 12 years, to remove the flags.

Will update when more information becomes available about what transpired here today.

Updated 3:15 p.m.

DNAinfo has more on last night's arrest.

Darren Keen, 34, yelled and broke a window at 403 E. 8th St. around 8:40 p.m. before fleeing, according to the NYPD. He was arrested roughly 30 minutes later.

Keen was charged with criminal mischief, given a desk appearance ticket and released.

Updated 8 p.m.

NY1 was actually first to report on Keen's arrest last night.

Police say officers heard the sound of broken glass at a building on East 8th Street near Avenue D.

When they went to investigate, the NYPD says they found a trail of blood leading to the next building and up to Keen's apartment.

Police say Keen admitted to breaking a window and was taken into custody.

He spoke exclusively with NY1 hours earlier and told us he was upset about the flags.

"Everything to make that guy's message go away is good. And I'm going right now to the hardware store and I'm going to pull those tarps up and I'm going to paint a giant Wu-Tang logo on those tarps right now," he said.

It's still not clear who actually removed the flags. Keen is taking credit for it via an Instragram post (breaking the window gave reason for the police to enter, and they took down the flags). Per an updated DNAinfo post: "An NYPD spokesman denied that police entered the apartment and took the flags down, saying that it was freedom of speech."

Other sources have claimed that the building's management entered the apartment and removed the flags. There hasn't been any report of where the tenant is.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Anger over Confederate flags on 8th Street and Avenue D

[Updated] Workers place tarp over flags on 8th Street and Avenue D

So now you're thinking about getting a pair of solar eclipse glasses

Several people have asked if I knew anyplace in the East Village where one can buy solar eclipse glasses.

You need a pair of the special glasses, of course, to safely view the big event Monday afternoon. In NYC, we'll have a partial solar eclipse — about 70 percent of the sun will be covered when the moon passes directly between the sun and the Earth, as I cut and pasted.

Anyway, I have no idea where you can buy glasses here. (You're welcome!) This list of reputable vendors via NASA mentions 7-Eleven as an authorized nationwide dealer, among many others, such as Best Buy. For the sake of research, I stopped in the Avenue A 7-Eleven. The clerk had no idea what I was talking about.

Other articles mention that public libraries nationwide have them. Perhaps, but not around here...

We are very sorry, dears, but we have no eclipse glasses. 😎😎 #avagardner #solareclipse #libraries

A post shared by Tompkins Square Library (@tompkins_square_library) on Aug 17, 2017 at 2:22pm PDT

Has anyone seen a store selling the glasses in the East Village? This article at Curbed lists several places in NYC with glasses, such as B&H (the photography shop on Ninth Avenue, not the diner on Second Avenue) and Adorama on 18th Street.

As for particulars on Monday, via the NYC Parks Department:

The best time to view the eclipse is between 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. (weather permitting). The actual event occurs at 2:44 p.m. The eclipse will last only three minutes, so be prepared!

And etc. etc.: The last time the United States experienced a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse was 1918. After Monday, the next coast-to-coast total solar eclipse is due on Aug. 12, 2045, which coincides with Webster Hall's reopening.

In closing, please protect your retinas if you view the eclipse in any of these recommended Parks.


[Spurgeon Tanner!]

And because there are so many good songs with "sun" in the title...

Limb down in Tompkins Square Park

This branch fell last evening during the storm...



I believe it's part of a Red Oak tree from No Elm Island...



This is the second time in two weeks that a storm brought down a large branch in the Park.

Last Saturday for Summer Streets

[Last Saturday around 8 a.m. on 4th Avenue]

You know the drill ... until 1 p.m. today... from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, along Lafayette and Fourth Avenue for part of the route ... with a pit stop at Astor Place for Citi-branded events. Details here.

Have posted this before, but it's worth noting again just how far Summer Streets have come, from its early days on Broadway...

Moment in the 'Sun'

Prepping for Monday's solar eclipse (but not without the proper eye wear please!)... from 1990, it's Ultra Vivid Scene with "Staring at the Sun."

[Updated] Workers place tarp over flags on 8th Street and Avenue D

[Reader-submitted photo]

This afternoon, workers dropped a black tarp from the roof over the windows on Eighth Street displaying the Confederate and Israeli flags.


[Photo via @zmack]

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the tarp — building management or concerned neighbors. Both the property manager and the NYPD had reportedly asked the tenant to remove the flags.

As of now, one of the Confederate flags is still in view. Not sure if workers plan on adding another tarp. [Updated: See below]

The flags had been on display here at Avenue D for months, according to various published reports. (The amount of time varies from five months to a year, depending on the source.) As The Daily Beast noted, "It was only after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend that the whole neighborhood took notice of Confederate flags across from their homes."

Multiple sources in published reports described the tenant, a 43-year-old male, as mentally ill.

Per the Daily News:

The head of an East Village block association says the clamor to evict a local resident for displaying two Confederate flags is completely misguided.

“This is not someone whose intent is to inflame passions or anything like that,” said Michael Schweinsburg, president of the Eight B C D Block Association. “He is a mental health concern. So no, eviction is not something I would welcome or support.”

And The Daily Beast: "The flags, according to several neighbors who know their owner, might be as much a product of mental illness as they are of racism."

Police have been on the scene since a man threw rocks at the windows on Wednesday morning.

Updated 3:15 p.m.



Updated 4:45 p.m.

DNAinfo reports that the top-floor windows "showcased a pair of the German Naval flags emblazoned with the cross for roughly a decade before they were replaced by the Confederate flags." A neighbor also said that the tenant "routinely shouted racial slurs out his window several times a week until about four years ago."


[Reader-submitted screengrab from Google Street View]

Updated 8/19



There's an unconfirmed reader report that a man was arrested last night for tossing a rock or some projectile through one of the windows...

Updated 2 p.m.

The flags have been removed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Anger over Confederate flags on 8th Street and Avenue D

EV Grieve Etc.: The money behind bad landlords; an apology from Cornerstone Cafe

[Photo on 2nd Avenue this morning by Derek Berg]

The money behind New York’s worst landlords (Public Advocate's Office)

Cornerstone on Avenue B apologizes, fires staffer for using Asian slur on customer's to-go check (NBC New York)

Does gentrification really displace New Yorkers? (Crain's)

Cyclists steal wallet from motorist on Second Avenue and 14th Street (New York Post)

Christo continues to reduce the rat population in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography)

Some great titles in the Anthology's "This Is MiniDV (on 35mm)" series this weekend, including "Inland Empire," "Dancer in the Dark," "The Gleaners & I" and "24 Hour Party People" (Anthology Film Archives)

Preview of Martina, opening tomorrow on 11th Street (Eater)

Two Bridges tenants continue to push for judicial review over Mega-Towers (The Lo-Down)

Op-ed: Is there a double standard at CB3 when it comes to liquor licenses for Chinatown-based establishments? (BoweryBoogie)

"Empire City," an NYC documentary from 1985, is now streaming for rental on Vimeo (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Surkusa is a "new app you’re about to hate that helps businesses manufacture an instant cool factor" (Grub Street)

Fun with bubble tea at The New York Times (Eater)

When Bowie was in Iggy Pop's band (Dangerous Minds)

Kung-Fu film fest at the Metrograph this weekend (Official site)

From the Twittersphere ...

It's rumored OFFICER TUBBS is publishing a book of daily affirmations. @evgrieve He's like the giving tree. https://t.co/GxLFzX2Y6k

— Liberation Iannillo (@thevulgarera) August 18, 2017

... and a free show tonight at Otto's, 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Please Repost! TOMORROW, August 18th from 10 PM - 4 AM. FREE concert hosted by Wendigo's own @oscar_oscar_nyc! Featuring DJ Acacia @_likeabadgirlshould_ with bands @Twin_Guns @BeechWoodnyc and @TheTrashBags! This event will be held @Ottosnyc

A post shared by Wendigo Productions (@wendigoproductionsny) on Aug 17, 2017 at 3:30pm PDT

New ownership taking over the Alphabet Lounge space on 7th and C

[Photo from Tuesday night]

New operators are planning to open a bar in the current Alphabet Lounge space on Avenue C at Seventh Street.

CB3's SLA committee approved the application for a new liquor license during their monthly meeting on Monday night.

In an interesting twist, the main applicant, Jennifer Shorr, used to live in the building at 104 Avenue C. She and her fiance, Brian Powell, are planning to open a neighborhood bar in the space. (This is a sale of assets.)

There was a lot of love for the applicants in the room: Four longtime residents of either No. 104 or a nearby building spoke out on their behalf. The residents talked about what a horror show Alphabet Lounge is, and that an approval here would replace a bad, disruptive business with good operators.

However, committee members said that the applicants needed to better articulate their method of operation, which seemed to be "it will be better than what's there now." Said one committee member: "You are asking us to approve something because you're really nice people." (The PDF of their application is here.)

Powell, who said he has served as a consultant on many bar-restaurant openings in NYC and Southampton, most recently owned Grange, an American bistro in Westwood, N.J. (He said they decided not to renew the lease this summer after six years in business.)

The still-unnamed venture will offer a limited food menu, though Powell emphasized that they will be a bar first and not a restaurant. "We're not trying to hide anything," he said. One of the first orders of business will be to remove Alphabet Lounge's ample sound system. Shorr said that they may have an occasional performance featuring acoustic musicians.

In the end, the committee members signed off on the application.

Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen will be open the next 2 Sundays

Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen, the basement cafe that serves as a fundraising arm of the St George Ukrainian Catholic Church nearby on Seventh Street, is winding down its customary summer break.

The proprietors have announced that they will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the next two Sundays here at 33 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square... no word yet on an official opening day this fall...

Hi there🤗! As we have promised we keep you posted about our opening. So, we are open next 2 Sundays (August 20th and August 27th) from 9 am to 5 pm. So far it's just Sundays. We'll let you know when we are open full time. See you Sunday 😉! Great day to everyone!🌸 . Всім привіт 🤗! Як ми і обіцяли, повідомляємо Вам, як буде працювати Стріча. Поки що ми будемо відчинені наступні 2 Неділі (20 і 27 Серпня) з 9 ранку до 5 вечора. Слідкуйте й надалі за нашими новинами, ми повідомимо, коли ми відчинемось"на повну". Побачимось цієї Неділі😉! Всім гарного дня!🌸 . #streecha

A post shared by Streecha🇺🇦Ukrainian kitchen NY (@streecha) on Aug 17, 2017 at 8:48am PDT

Updated 8/20

Here's the menu...

Good morning🤗! We are open today🌞! Slide👉for English menu and daily special for today👆 . Доброго ранку 🤗! Ми відкриті сьогодні 🌞! Листайте 👉 щоб побачити, що ми маємо на страву дня 👆 . #streecha #streechamenu #delicious #ukrainianfood #ukrainian #food #menu #ukrainiankitchenofsaintgeorgechurch

A post shared by Streecha🇺🇦Ukrainian kitchen NY (@streecha) on Aug 20, 2017 at 5:37am PDT

Dojo Noodle House closed for now on Avenue B

Dojo Noodle House, which recently changed its name from Dojo Izakaya, went dark earlier this week on Avenue B near Third Street, according to a tipster, who shared these photos...



Someone added a "until September" with a frowny face under the closed sign on the door...



There's no mention of a temporary closure on the restaurant's website. The phone just rings without any recorded outgoing message.

The closed-until-September notice also coincides with the arrival of the space in a retail listing this week (asking rent is $5,800 for 350 square feet).

Dojo Izakaya opened to great fanfare in November 2014. The small space was an offshoot of chef David Bouhadana's Sushi Dojo on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. (Bouhadana reportedly parted ways with the Dojo camp the following year.)

In any event, perhaps the landlord will fix the hole in the sidewalk outside Dojo Noodle House before they reopen...

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. She will share some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.



Tenant: Linda, since 1972.

Linda contacted me after seeing my first post on EV Grieve.

She said that her mother recently passed away. Her apartment is almost vacant.

"I will be returning the keys to the landlord in a couple of days," said Linda, who wanted a record of the place she had spent her whole life.





Although the apartment was almost completely empty of furniture and personal items, it was filled with strong emotions and memories. Linda's grandparents had lived and died there. So too had her father and now her mother.

"I have spent years fighting for this apartment," she said. "I am not in a relationship or have a family. Do you think I should stay and fight for this place?" [Ed note: Linda was not evicted, and decided to leave on her own to start anew somewhere else after living in this space her entire life.]

One of the earlier fights Linda had to win was proving that her mother was a resident there. Linda's mother did live in the apartment, confined to a hospital bed.

Linda said that it took "thousands of pages to prove this."

Her mother loved that the apartment was close to church and her favorite stores on 14th Street, such as the Stuyvesant Stationery shop She especially missed La Isla, the inexpensive Latin restaurant between Avenue A and Avenue B that closed in 2012.







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

Report: Icon Realty investigated in tenant harassment probe

A joint state-city task force is investigating Icon Realty over tenant harassment, The Real Deal reports.

The task force has been looking into several complaints of tenant harassment while holding talks with the Noho-based real estate investment firm, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

The task force consists of the New York Attorney General’s office, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the city Department of Buildings and the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

To date, Icon has not been charged nor subpoenaed, sources told The Real Deal, adding "that the parties are in advanced talks regarding a potential settlement."

After learning that they were on the task force's radar, Icon reportedly "has changed its approach." (Still, Icon recently made the list of Stabilizing NYC's "10 worst predatory equity landlords" in NYC.)

In May 2016, the realtors announced that they had hired a chief safety officer to oversee the construction and renovation work in Icon buildings. Earlier that month, during a rally outside two Icon properties on May 9, Cooper Square Committee and several elected officials accused Icon of employing "construction-as-harassment" tactics to displace rent-stabilized tenants.

At the Icon-owned 128 Second Ave., tenants in March 2015 filed a HP Action for Repairs and Services, citing inconsistent heat, lack of fire alarms, a broken fire escape, front door, and stairs, and other dangerous living conditions. Residents have also alleged "harassment from the landlord in order to push out rent-regulated tenants." The next month, the tenants filed a contempt of court motion against Icon for the ongoing building issues.

Icon first made headlines here in 2008 ... when a contentious battle broke out between longtime tenants at 176 E. Third St and Icon, the building's new owner. In September 2008, the Post reported that several rent-stabilized tenants were fighting to keep "their East Village neighborhood affordable by turning down buyout offers of up to $125,000." Those residents also accused Icon of harassment.

In 2011, Icon sold No. 176 as part of a portfolio to Stone Street Properties for $90 million.