EV Grieve

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Storm trooper

Photo in a rainy Tompkins Square Park today by Derek Berg...

The Peter Stuyvesant-PO-replacing residential building tops out on 14th Street

Workers have apparently reached the top at 432 E. 14th St., planting the flag at the retail-residential building at the site of the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Here's a comparison with the rendering in circulation...

To recap, the entrance to the nearly 23,000-square-foot Trader Joe's will be on the 14th Street side of the building while residents will access their rentals from the 13th Street side. The plans show 114 residential units with 20 percent designated as affordable housing.

And another recap: Reps for Benenson Capital Partners and Mack Real Estate previously sought a variance to build four more floors (to 12 from 8) than the zoning would allow to make up for the "extraordinary construction costs" from poor ground conditions here. They withdrew this request in March.

No word yet on when rentals may start here or if the building will have a name that pays homage to the previous tenant, the Post Office, maybe something like Next Window Please, Marked As Delivered But We Didn't Actually Deliver It or You Can Come Back Tomorrow If You Want.

You can find coverage about the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office here.

Liberty Toye now lighting up Avenue B

As previously mentioned, Liberty Toye is the name of Ben Shaoul's condoplex taking over his nursing-home replacing rentals at 62 Avenue B.

And now, the sales office at 44 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street sports neon signage ...

There's still just a teaser site up to request info about the condos on Avenue B and Fifth Street, where yesterday workers removed the Bloom 62 banner on the north-facing wall...

Bloom 62 started renting in May 2013. Prices topped out at $7,600 for a four-bedroom apartment.

Shaoul recently announced that he will accept Bitcoin for Liberty Toye, where units will run between $700,000 and $1.5 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on Cabrini's closing announcement

A look at the 'Hip young crowd planting roots at Bloom 62'

1st signs of Ben Shaoul's Bloom 62 going condo on Avenue B?

More details on Ben Shaoul's condo conversion Liberty Toye, where you can buy with bitcoins

[Photo from 2012]

The Continental says it will close late next summer

[Photo from Friday]

As first reported yesterday, Papaya King has closed its location at 3 St. Mark's Place.

Last week, Real Estate Equities Corporation made public (via The Real Deal) its plans to demolish the existing low-rise buildings at 3 St. Mark’s Place, 23 and 25-27 Third Ave. to make way for a 7-story office building.

There wasn't any mention of a timeline for the existing businesses to depart ahead of the demolition of this northeast corner. Given Papaya King's quick departure, it seemed as if the development would take hold sooner rather than later.

Yesterday, however, The Continental, one of the remaining businesses, addressed the situation on its website. Here's part of the message via owner Trigger Smith:

It is with heavy heart that I have to inform everyone that Continental has less than a year left. Some time after the end of August 2018, this corner will be knocked down and developed. It's truly heartbreaking that we and so many Old Skool places are falling by the wayside but unless you own your building that's how it goes.

For going on 27 years this Bar has been my life. First as a Rock Club and then as a Dive Bar and I've loved every minute of it (mostly speaking). Don't hate my landlords. They're older now, got a great deal and I can't blame them and I want to thank them; Eddie, Ruth and Jack (RIP) for treating me like Family and always giving me an affordable rent and I also want to thank Jeff Bezos for not selling Beer. Special Thanks to my Staff — especially Noel and Bingo, the Bands, the Regulars and the rest of you lunatics for coming to my bar all these years! I'm grateful and honored that we're part of NYC Rock History and I'm also very proud of this incarnation, what I call a Classy, Dive Bar. When I was bartending my way through college — this was my Dream and it happened! I will always be so deeply grateful for this experience...Trigger

[EVG photo from May]

The Continental was a live music venue from its inception in 1991 through the fall of 2006, becoming home then of the five-shots-of-anything-for-$10 promotion before that changed to five-shots-of-anything-for-$12 in the spring.

Trigger signed off with the P.S.: "[I]f we're very, very busy for the remainder, it's possible that we'll have the funds to relocate!!!"

As Crain's previously reported, the bar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice.

City Kids bringing the East Village Playhouse to long-empty storefront on 6th Street

The signage is up now at 340 E. Sixth St. for the East Village Playhouse, a small classroom and performance space via the City Kids Foundation. (Keith Haring designed the City Kids logo.)

Here's more about them:

Founded by Laurie Meadoff in 1985, The CityKids Foundation has established and maintained cutting edge youth development programs, training tens of thousands of diverse young people, by providing opportunities for personal growth, leadership, and artistic expression.

Their programs include the CityKids Repertory Company, "an intensive audition-based performance program that combines training in performing arts disciplines with a unique leadership development model."

Not sure at the moment what programming will take place in the Sixth Street space.

This marks the first tenant in the storefront here between First Avenue and Second Avenue in more than nine years. Tribal Soundz, the world music shop, closed here in the fall of 2008. (Jeremiah Moss wrote about Tribal Soundz here.)

H/T Michael Hirsch!

Previously on EV Grieve:
The sound of storage on East Sixth Street

Monday, November 6, 2017

Prepping for Election Day

As you may have noticed, tomorrow is Election Day in NYC.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can find out where you need to vote here.

Curbed has a general NYC voting guide here.

Among the races of interest around here, with info via the Gotham Gazette...

City Council District 2 open seat (held by Rosie Mendez):
Carlina Rivera, Democrat & Working Families
Jimmy McMillan, Republican & Rent is 2 Damn High
Donald Garrity, Libertarian
Manny Cavaco, Green
Jasmin Sanchez, Liberal

Mayor:
Bill de Blasio, incumbent, Democrat & Working Families
Nicole Malliotakis, Republican & Conservative & Stop de Blasio
Bo Dietl, Dump the Mayor
Sal Albanese, Reform
Aaron Commey, Libertarian
Akeem Browder, Green
Mike Tolkin, Smart Cities
(Dr. Robbie Gosine is waging a write-in campaign)

This piece in am New York touches upon some of the topics in the mayoral race.

Fall foliage in Tompkins Square Park — red-tailed hawk edition

Christo was hunting in the cover of the fallen leaves today in Tompkins Square Park, as these photos vaia EVG correspondent Steven show...

After a failed attempt or two, Christo emerged with a meal...

A look at NYC's burgeoning chain-restaurant scene

[EVG file photo]

Crain's today examines the increased presence of chain restaurants in NYC.

As they report, since 2008, the number of Dunkin' Donuts in NYC has expanded by 75 percent, from 78 in 2008 to 157 in 2016. In total, chains now represent about 13 percent of NYC's overall restaurant total.

Some excerpts from Crain's:

New York City is quickly becoming the capital of fast-food nation. More chains are moving in to replace diners and other independent restaurants forced out by relentlessly rising rents. Although many chains have broadened their menus and are experimenting with fast-casual dining, the bread and butter for most remains fried meat and a hefty soft drink.

"Fast-food chains used to draw a skull and crossbones around New York when they were looking for places to expand," said Gary Occhiogrosso, who runs consulting firm Franchise Growth Solutions. "Now they all want to be here."

Why?

A record 4.4 million New Yorkers are employed, and many want something fast and cheap for lunch. Tourism has doubled in the past 20 years, to more than 60 million, and many visitors look for familiar fare to munch on. And while there appears to be a glut of fast-food restaurants across the country — which experts see as a growing threat to the industry as a whole — New York is still relatively underrepresented. According to the Department of Labor, only 2% of the city's private-sector employees work in limited-service restaurants, compared with 4% nationally.

Read the full article here. H/T Eater.

Papaya King closes on St. Mark's Place ahead of new development

Papaya King's neon signage came down over the weekend at 3 St. Mark's Place ... marking the end of the hot dog purveyor's four years here... (A Papaya King rep confirmed the closure to me in an email.)

As reported on Friday, Real Estate Equities Corporation is planning to demolish the existing low-rise buildings at 3 St. Mark’s Place, 23 and 25-27 Third Avenue to make way for a 7-story office building. That also means the end here at some point for the Continental, Korilla BBQ and E Smoke Shop.

The Papaya King opened in the East Village in May 2013. The original location on Third Avenue and 86th Street and newer spot in downtown Brooklyn remain in service.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Breaking: Papaya King sign going up on St. Mark's Place — right now

Report: The AltSchool's East Village location is closing

AltSchool, a start-up whose investors include Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel, will close its East Village location at the end of the academic year, BusinessInsider first reported.

The Wall Street Journal noted that AltSchool is closing three of their seven private schools "so they can concentrate on developing their software platform for districts to purchase." The East Village location opened last year at 1 Avenue B at East Houston.

Here's more about AltSchool, which charges $27,000 annual tuition for students in kindergarden through fifth grade (these paragraphs are via the Journal):

The small schools serve as laboratories for AltSchool to refine a platform that organizes students’ work and tailors assignments to their individual needs...

And...

AltSchool is part of a “personalized learning” movement that has fans and skeptics. Supporters say it helps children become self-directed and resilient, which will help them in a modern workplace. Critics say hype about the approach has run ahead of any extensive research showing it works.

AltSchool officials sent emails about the East Village closure to parents this past Thursday evening.

Wall 88 looks closed on 2nd Avenue

Multiple readers have pointed out that Wall 88 has not been open lately, including this past weekend here on Sixth Street and Second Avenue.

The Wall 88 phone kicks into a full voicemail box. There isn't any mention of a closure on its website and social media properties. (Yelp states Wall 88 is permanently closed.)

However, despite the fact that the gates have been down for a week, the Wall 88 Facebook page is still robo-posting stock photos and sentiments ...

The restaurant serving rather pedestrian pub fare opened back in March. There was a quick turnaround here after Lions BeerStore closed.

Lions BeerStore — part retail shop, part restaurant — opened in November 2015. An EVG reader said that the Lions BeerStore owners are partners in the new venture, though someone else is/was involved in the day-to-day operations.

H/T Ryan John Lee

Wise Men closes on the Bowery

After a 5-year-run at 355 Bowery, Wise Men has closed here between Third Street and Fourth Street.

The cocktail lounge wrapped it up after service on Friday, as BoweryBoogie first noted. There wasn't any reason given for the closure. (The space had been on the market.)

Photographer Danielle Levitt, S magazine creative director Christina Chin and hospitality vet Caroleyn Ng were behind this venture. It was modeled after the steakhouse that Chin's parents opened on Mulberry and Bayard in Chinatown after they arrived to the States from Hong Kong in the late 1960s.

Before Wise Men, the space was home to Osaka Vibe/Orange Valve — aka, that kind of weird sushi place on the Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation of sorts: That kind of weird sushi place on the Bowery

Former kind of weird sushi place on the Bowery is now home to the Wise Men

[Photo from 2011]

A quick look at the incoming Joe and Pat's

Work continues inside 168 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street, where the Staten Island pizzeria Joe & Pat's is opening a location...

EVG regular Lola Sāenz shared these photos the other day showing how the interior is shaping up...