CheLi signage up at 19-23 St. Mark's Place

Signage went up Friday for the new restaurant coming to a space at 19-23 St. Mark's Place...





A tipster had previously told us that CheLi was affiliated with Szechuan Mountain House on the other side of the upper level here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

CheLi is taking over from Chipotle, who vacated the premises in August 2018.

Meanwhile, in the lower portion of this complex, Teso Life, a Japanese variety store with several NYC locations, is the new tenant for the former St. Mark's Market. Next door, Mi Tea is in its third month of dormancy due to "renovations."

Monday's parting shot

Given today's crappy weather... here's a flashback to yesterday in Tompkins Square Park, where the Eric Paulin Quartet played for a social-distancing crowd.

Thanks to Walter Wlodarczyk for the photo! (Check out his work here.)

The Union Square Greenmarket will return Wednesday

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Union Square Greenmarket is closed Monday, March 23! GrowNYC is temporarily pausing its Greenmarket operations on Monday and Tuesday and will REOPEN this Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Markets will be closed for two days only. During this time, Greenmarket staff will prepare additional social-distancing measures we can take to ensure your safety while you shop for fresh, healthy food, as well as the safety of our farmers and staff. Visit the link in our bio for more details on our markets being essential businesses as well as the safety measures we are taking. Thank you for your patience and your support.

A post shared by GrowNYC Union Sq Greenmarket (@unsqgreenmarket) on Mar 22, 2020 at 7:33pm PDT

H/T Daniel...

S'MAC's curbside service

Sarita and Caesar Ekya, owners of S'MAC on the northwest corner of First Avenue and 12th Street, have reorganized the storesfront to make curbside ordering and pickup easier. (They are delivering as well.)

Meanwhile, we're continuing to try to update our list of East Village cafes-restaurants that are currently open for takeout and delivery. The list remains incomplete for now.

An East Village stay-at-home shopping list

EVG reader Krikor Daglian spotted this discarded paper on Avenue A yesterday... a shopping list with essentials such as milk, butter, white wine, whiskey, pot and bong cleaner.

Monday morning rush

The scene at Union Square this morning at 8:40 ... the first day of Gov. Cuomo's PAUSE on nonessential workers reporting to work.

Photo by Pinch...

Local business resources via EVIMA

The East Village Independent Merchants Association is gathering resources for local business during the COVID-19 health crisis.

Per their Instagram message:

The impacts of this unique emergency are substantial and will be ongoing. We have compiled a variety of resources that provide relief to East Village merchants at eastvillage.info.

We will continue to update this information as new programs become available in an ever-changing environment.

They are also posting concerns from local business owners on the EVIMA Instagram account...

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A post shared by EVIMA (@evimanyc) on Mar 20, 2020 at 9:20am PDT

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A post shared by EVIMA (@evimanyc) on Mar 21, 2020 at 6:10am PDT

Soil testing underway at the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

[Photos by Steven]

Late last week, we spotted a Davey Drill in the empty lot on the northeast corner of St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue... where workers were taking soil samples ahead of the controversial new office building planned for the space...



Where we left off: On March 4, the City Planning Commission held a public meeting to discuss the air-rights transfer for the 10-floor building ... at which time local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera submitted joint testimony with Assemblymember Deborah Glick and State Sen. Brad Hoylman opposing the plan. Rivera holds the key vote when the proposal eventually comes before City Council.

This item won't likely advance any further for the time being. As the Village Preservation pointed out, the city approval processes have shut down for the time being during the coronavirus outbreak. The City Planning Commission still needs to cast its vote (all expect an approval) before it heads to City Council.

With the air-rights transfer, developer Real Estate Equities Corporation would be allowed to build 8,386 square feet larger than the current zoning allows.

Regardless of an extra 8,000 square feet, the project will continue.



Previously on EV Grieve:
• Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• End is nearing for the businesses on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• New building plans revealed for 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

• Concern over potential air-rights transfer for new office building on St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue

Brooklyn Dumpling Shop setting up shop on 1st Avenue and St. Mark's Place

[Photos by Steven]

Signage for Brooklyn Dumpling Shop arrived back on Friday at 131 First Ave. (aka 82 St. Mark's Place) ...



This will be the first storefront for Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, a food truck business affiliated with Brooklyn Chop House.

They plan to sell 32 varieties of dumplings 24/7. Here's a look at their exterior plans, via Facebook...



For now, you can visit the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop website for details and updates. (They were planning on a June opening.)

Workers divided this former single-occupant storefront into three spaces. Eiyo Bowl, a vegan quick-serve restaurant specializing in acai and rice bowls, was the first tenant to sign a lease here, as previously reported.

The previous tenant, Foot Gear Plus, closed in July 2018 after nearly 40 years in business.

Gem Spa is closed for now

[Photo by Lola Saénz]

Gem Spa is now closed indefinitely on the corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place. Owner Parul Patel had launched a delivery service for the shop's egg creams and other items during the COVID-19 crisis.

For now, Gem Spa's online store is up and running. If it's of interest, then you can support them here too.

Report: Gregg Singer offers former P.S. 64 for use as a medical facility during COVID-19 crisis

ICYMI: Controversial landlord Gregg Singer has offered to donate the former P.S. 64 on Ninth Street to the city for use to potentially treat patients infected with the coronavirus.

As Crain's first reported, Singer conveyed his offer in a letter to Mayor de Blasio as well as to the offices of Gov. Cuomo and President Trump.

According to published reports, the city is seeking potential medical surge facilities, such as hotels, dorms and even the Javits Convention Center.

The city dismissed the offer to use the derelict building that has been vacant for more than 20 years between Avenue B and Avenue C.

“We’re not interested,” the spokeswoman told Crain’s “It doesn’t meet our needs.”

The building looks to be in disrepair, with broken windows and a crack in the facade on the western corner of the landmarked building.

However:

“We have an engineer’s report stating the building is safe,” Singer said. “It’s like when you build a makeshift hospital or triage center in an open field. This would be the same thing here, but indoors.”

Singer bought the property — the former P.S 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center — from the city during an auction in 1998. You can read the archives for more on the long history here.

Sunday's parting shot

Thanks to Goggla for sharing this moment of beauty today... the magnolia tree in the New York City Marble Cemetery on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue is in full bloom...

Local community gardens are now closed to the public

[View of the 6BC Botanical Garden]

In response to Gov. Cuomo's PAUSE executive order, community gardens in the East Village and elsewhere in NYC are now only open to volunteers for "absolutely necessary maintenance."

Here's part of an email to gardeners from Bill LoSasso, director of the GreenThumb program:

I hope that you're all healthy and staying safe ... Effective immediately, and until further notice, all gardens on NYC Parks property are open to gardeners only, and only for absolutely necessary maintenance. They must remain closed to the public. While this will be disappointing to many, this is a necessary decision in order to help protect public health.

You can find the full policy and updates at this link.

Peace & Amnesty

As seen on Avenue A.

Thanks to Brian for the photo!