An appreciation: That empty lot on 13th Street

Between Third Avenue and Second Avenue. The empty lot has been discussed for years. It has sat vacant since 1986. The Jefferson Theater was here. According to Cinema Treasures:

[T]his theater was located at 214 E. 14th Street near Third Avenue. The entrance was a narrow space between two tenement houses with the bulk of the theater (auditorium) located in 13th Street. The Jefferson operated at least into the 1970s and was demolished in 2000. Today, the site is filled with bricks and debris from the demolition and the old Jefferson as passed on.

Here's what it looked like near the end, via Forgotten NY:



Despite threats/promises of development through the years, the lot -- 23,000 square feet -- remains empty. But for how long? So, until NYU or something comes along...

Earlier this week:








The previous week:

WIll Permanent Brunch be serving booze?

Permanent Brunch, at 95 First Ave, near Sixth St., apparently finally opens tonight or Monday. The place was supposed to open last fall, but didn't. Since then, they've collected assorted stop work orders. (Looks like they may owe the city $5,000 too.)




Whatever. People buying a few of those $6 doughnuts will take care of that!

Meanwhile, in yesterday's post on PB's bacon bar, Goggla asked this: Do they have a liquor license? Good question! The writeup at UrbanDaddy, which specializes in getting the scoops on the douchiest places around, mentioned something about Bloody Marys. Though I didn't finish the article. (You try to finish it!) A doozy of a piece on PB in the Examiner mentions a "Champagne List."

I didn't see an active liquor license listed for PB on the SLA Web site. [Update: A commenter says PB purchased the license from the previous tenant.]

Perhaps after serving brunch for a few months, some new owners can come in with a big dumpster. They fill it with booze. Anyone is welcome to swim in the alcohol -- just as long as you have a reservation. The dumpster can fit up to 60 people. The name: Permanent Drunk.

Rethinking the treehouse office

On 11th Street near Avenue B.

Ad for Julia Child movie is oddly erotic

First, though, the latest ad to grace the building on Third Avenue near 12th Street.



And, um. Really? I'll say nothing else, in fear that I will appear in a blurb for the movie...

"Julie & Julia is finger-lickin' good!"
-- EV Grieve

Noted

"Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has pushed an ambitious green agenda and cast himself as a national environmental leader, routinely runs afoul of his own anti-pollution policy by letting his official SUVs idle, sometimes for more than an hour." (AP)

Uh-oh

And on the Web:

Noted

Permanent Brunch, which opens to the public Monday on First Avenue near Sixth Street, features a bacon bar.

Speaking of pigs

Peter's: A disappearing face of New York disappears

Last July I did a post titled The grocery stores of St. James Place. I've always liked Peter's grocery at 25 Madison St. on the corner of St. James Place down on the outskirts of Chinatown and the LES. And for good reasons. You don't see many old-school storefronts like this anymore.



A great sign.



And I love the corner angle.

Unfortunately, when I went by the other day, Peter's was gone. I'm not sure how long ago it disappeared.






Peter's is featured in "Storefront: The Disappearing Face of New York," by James and Karla Murray. Peter's was owned by Peter Migliorini, who took over the business from his father (also named Peter).

Knickbocker Village has a post on Peter's.

So what will become of this unique space?

Walking by the Cooper Square Hotel is always good for a photo opp

Last night.

And now, a short history of walking by the Cooper Square Hotel!















Now you see it...



...now you don't.

Rockrose wants you to "do it all" and "live large" on Water Street (now with prices!)

Rockrose continues pimping, er, primping 200 Water St. in the Financial District, home of the former NYU dorm turned luxury rentals. Given the original new slogans, "do it all" and "live large"...




Rockrose is either marketing to recent grads or former readers of Trump Magazine.

And The 200 Water Street Web site now has a price list for rentals.



Let's see: 449-square-foot studios start at $1,700...and they go up to the 1,300-square-foot studio duplex with home office and sleeping loft for $3,850.

Also! Speaking of people likely to order pizza...Grub Street and Eater reported that the new Grimaldi's on John Street will deliver pizza for free to 200 Water Street. Or! If you go the Grimaldi's, you won't have to wait in line!

Previously on EV Grieve:
200 Water Street now leasing

Guerilla gardening on Third Avenue

Third Avenue near 12th Street.

An improvment on this?

Noted

Third Avenue and 10th Street.

And what about the cargo shorts, Dickchicken?

Dickchickens are everywhere. But I hadn't seen this one, though. On Avenue B near Houston.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

CB3 says no to Koi (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Mason Dixon and other CB3 highlights (The Lo-Down)

14th and B from 1918 (Ephemeral New York)

More vintage NYC postcards (This Ain't the Summer of Love)

At Superdive: "The main problem is how drunk the people who go there are when they depart. They stand outside and scream at each other as though they are all hard of hearing even though they are way too young for such problem... I can hear this drama, most loudly on Friday and Saturday nights, from way around the block. Seriously. They aren't even on my block and I can hear them around the corner and up 76 steps." (Blah Blog Blah)

When "Gossip Girl" groupies convene (BoweryBoogie)

"The storefront vacancy rate in Manhattan is now at its highest point since the early 1990s — an estimated 6.5 percent — and is expected to exceed 10 percent by the middle of next year." (The New York Times)

Lady GaGa conducts interview in coat made of mini Kermit the Frogs (Esquared)

From The Wall Street Journal:
"During the real-estate boom, New York had between 4,000 and 6,000 sidewalk sheds. During the real-estate bust, New York still has between 4,000 and 6,000 sidewalk sheds. Construction sites have gone dark, but façades keep buckling and cornices keep cracking as if nothing had happened to the economy.

Shed builders may be the only busy hardhats left in town. In some cities, sidewalk sheds go up when work is in progress. In New York, especially if landlords are broke, sheds go up and stay up because work is making no progress. Good times or bad, the sidewalk shed is one of those things that make New York New York.

"They're ugly, dismal and ubiquitous," says Rick Bell, who heads the American Institute of Architects' New York chapter. "They define our pedestrian experience -- like the arcades of Bologna."

Subway mascot gets snappy new costume, cape, mouth -- and name!

At Second Avenue and St.Mark's. Whoa! Look at all the changes. The Subway Dude is now Subman! And he has teeth! And more veggies! And he no longer wears the old-man shoes. Look at the yellow boots! And those arms!




Previously on EV Grieve:
It's Feb. 18, and we've already exceeded our quota for stories on Subway for 2009

February Subway dude photo via Slum Goddess.