Posts that I never got around to posting: Couch/body-in-carpet combo

On Avenue B.

Here comes the fear again: “THEY’RE BAAAACCCCKKKK”

Eater and Grub Street have the news on the rebirth of LeSouk on Avenue B ... And here Grub Street's take:

We just received an e-mail with the subject line “THEY’RE BAAAACCCCKKKK,” and the content is indeed enough to strike fear into the hearts of East Villagers. On Monday, Le Souk will reopen its doors after six months on hiatus following the loss of its liquor license and a successful lawsuit against the SLA. But residents of Avenue B, take solace: A spokesperson tells us that while the operation will be more or less the same at first, it may become more of a restaurant once its second, clubbier location in the Horus space at 510 Laguardia, Le Souk Harem (which will serve French-Moroccan cuisine but with more of an emphasis on the French), opens around Fashion Week. Details are still up in the air (we’ll keep you posted), but this much is certain: The beast has arisen.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: LeSouk to continue haunting the East Village

Ninth Precinct meets with residents to discuss quality-of-life issues surrounding the Cooper Square Hotel

Deputy Inspector Dennis Dequatro, commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct, met last night with local residents who are concerned about the ongoing quality-of-life issues surrounding the Cooper Square Hotel.

According to Dequatro, Cooper Square Hotel officials have called for a meeting with the Ninth Precinct. The call occurred after the NYPD, State Liquor Authority, Health Department and other agencies visited the hotel on July 2, Dequatro said. Several violations were found, though he couldn't recall the specifics at that moment. (According to public records, the Department of Health issued the hotel 45 violations during a visit on July 16.)

Before hooking up with the hotel, police officials wanted to hear complaints about the hotel firsthand from residents.

Dequatro quickly discussed the nearly four pages of stipulations (they begin on Page 7 here) that the hotel agreed to in order to get CB3 to approve the liquor license. And Dequatro explained the difference between laws and stipulations, which are really just a civil agreement. Or something. If there's a violation of the stipulations, then the only recourse is to notify the State Liquor Authority (SLA), who will take it under advisement.

"Other agencies have allowed [the hotel] to open a business next to your windows," Dequatro said. "It's not going to be an easy thing to enforce...to correct. We can't work magic."

The residents, nearly 20 total (also in attendance -- Stuart Zamsky, head of the East Fifth Street Block Association, and Susan Stetzer, CB3 district manager) then chimed in with their stories.

One resident talked about the blowout this past Saturday afternoon on the hotel's increasingly notorious 21st-floor penthouse, apparently available for private events. The thump-thump-thump was deafening down on Fifth Street, the resident said. "No one could stand out there there without getting their eardrums blown out." When she went to complain, a hotel hostess dismissed her with the wave of a hand, she said.



Regarding the Saturday bash, another resident said he went to the hotel to complain, but no one would summon the manager for him. Anyway, the employee told the resident that he couldn't do anything because the hotel was paid $20,000 for use of the penthouse.

Another party raged Sunday night until 11, a resident said. A Sixth Street occupant said, "You get girls screaming off the penthouse. I can hear what the DJ is saying." And she lives on the first floor.

While Dequatro is aware of noise issues from the balcony and back garden, he was surprised to hear about the 21st-floor penthouse. "I wasn't aware this space existed until 10 minutes ago," he said. Some residents said that they were never told about plans for a penthouse during community meetings with hotel officials before the Cooper Square opened.



Meanwhile, down below: One Sixth Street garden-level resident said hotel guests throw cigarette butts and trash over the fence and into her yard.

Dequatro took the names of any residents willing to let the NYPD into their homes with sound meters during a hotel penthouse party (or elsewhere). However, the NYPD sound meters can't measure the bass coming from the speakers on the penthouse -- a source of many of the residents' complaints. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has the sound meters for this, though that agency, with a smaller staff, takes longer to respond, Dequatro said.

No date has been set for a meeting between the Ninth Precinct and the hotel.

In the end, Dequatro said he knew what residents were going through. "I understand that there are frustrations...I understand that there are tensions."

For further reading:
Residents discuss the problems created by the Cooper Square Hotel: Meanwhile, across the street, a party for a sports car (EV Grieve)

Notes from the Backside (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Party at Cooper Square Hotel (EV Grieve)

Another view of the Mystery Lot

Just wanted to follow-up on the Mystery Lot post from late July. Wanted to have a record of the lot from the 14th Street angle looking south toward 13th Street.







And thanks to everyone who left comments on the post. Chris Flash had a chance to look around at the interior of this property's former occupant, the Jefferson Theater. "The place was in horrible condition, but definitely could have been rehabbed. The lay-out was tight but perfect for sight lines and accoustics -- I could feel the history still living inside there."

A shame.

Dirt candy

As we've pointed out, seemingly everything was tossed out after Max Brenner/Chocolate by the Bald Man abruptly closed last week.

Meanwhile, EV Grieve reader Donald Stahl passed along this photo he took last Friday outside the former Bald Man's home...



Not even the gummi bears or marshmallows were spared.

Dumpster of the day

Outside Bounce Deuce.

City funding likely not behind new public art

On Avenue B near Eighth Street.

92 Seventh Street gets a sidewalk shed

...for the six-story residential building ...getting squeezed in here near First Avenue ... And the new building now sports its first floor.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

Looking at the last days of Coney Island? (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Ken Mac is back, and shooting in the Meatpacking District (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Shopping under the Manhattan Bridge (Hunter-Gatherer)

Restaurant supply store actually opening on the Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

Eateries dealing with liquor license delays (The New York Times, via Eater)

"Bollywood Hero" flash mob in Times Square at 2:30 (Esquared)

How's their football team?: Welcome to Stuy Town U (NYPress via StuyTown Lux Living)

Looking at "The Blank Generation" (Stupefaction)

OTB doomed? (The Huffington Post)

Filming "Eat, Pray, Love" in the neighborhood (via)

Aces & Eights GM: "I understand that drunkards make your life miserable"

So, where were we? Tom Michaelsen, the general manager of Aces & Eights on Avenue A, is interested in engaging readers/the neighborhood. As he wrote yesterday:

I'd love to get ideas from the community as to how we could improve your quality of life. If anybody has anything constructive to say, I would love to hear it.

Someone suggested playing NYC classics such as "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Taxi Driver" on a designated movie night. And Marnie, a mother of two, had this to say:

My concerns about Aces & Eights LES are really, to be honest, not something that I think you alone can address. I appreciate your contributions to charities bringing potable water in places like India. I wonder, however, if your charitable contributions might not win you more respect if they were spent here in the neighborhood.

This neighborhood has many public schools which do not receive adequate funding, and therefore rely on the contributions of parents and local businesses.

Another thing we, as parents, need to deal with on a regular basis is not only the noise from local bars (which frankly, my children have learned to sleep through since birth) but the aftermath. The people urinating in doorways, the vomit on sidewalks, the garbage, the stench in the summertime.

I think if you could find a way to direct your efforts towards making real changes to the daily life of local residents we would all be a lot more tolerant of the noise and the general image of the bar itself.

Thank you for listening to those whose lives are impacted by your livelihood.

To which Tom responded,

We have actually already partnered with United Neighborhood House Junior Board, which support local settlement houses like Third Street Music School, University Settlement Society and Henry Street Settlement.

The event was quite a success and I am fully open to working with them or any other charities which benefit the community again.

Community consciousness is something I take very seriously. I understand that drunkards make your life miserable and I will do what I can to stem the tide of urine and vomit from our neighbor's doorsteps.

And another commenter found that A&E has already been a good neighbor:

I live around the corner from Aces & Eights, and when it first opened there was an issue with really loud HVAC equipment up on your roof. One of our residents was brave enough to march right in to your club and tell you about it. And you know what? The issue was taken care of, and the noise issue went away. I give you credit — that's not what we all expected to happen. thanks for being a good neighbor.

Meanwhile, there's another comment thread going here.

So, what else? Here's your chance. (And I think we have the cargo shorts/douche/frathole angle already covered.)

The mystery of 442 E. 13th St.

A reader is looking to solve the mystery of 442 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. This longtime resident lives on 12th Street, and his windows look down on this small, unmarked building. He writes:

It has no signage. Years ago, it had a small sign, Electrical Motor Maintenance.

I'd like to know what goes on in there. The industrial air conditioners are noisy and are on 24/7.

20 years ago, I filed a complaint with the DEP about this building because at the time there was also a noxious smell being emitted from a chimney on the building, but the DEP found nothing.

The building is generally locked up (it's rare to see that entryway door open).

What's the deal?

I walked by and, to some surprise, found the door open...but no one was around -- which only added to the mysteriousness... Not much in the DOB either.



So what's going on here?





And here's an aerial view supplied by the reader:

Searchlight Sculptures over Tompkins Square Park

While looking up articles on the late Tony Rosenthal, the sculptor of the revolving black cube on Astor Place, I came across a piece on Frosty Myers. I'm familiar with the work of Myers, particularly The Wall on Houston and Broadway, though I didn't know about the following, via an article from the December 2006 Art in America:

Myers is also the author of temporal "Searchlight Sculptures," nighttime installations of carbon-arc searchlights that were sited at the four corners of Tompkins Square Park in the East Village in 1966, in Union Square in 1969, in a park in Fort Worth in 1979, and elsewhere. The beams tent upward to join at an apex in the manner of a vast pyramid. In 1966, using laser equipment made available by a trade sales representative, Myers projected a red laser beam from his studio on Park Avenue South to the outside of Max's Kansas City several blocks away, where a mirror redirected the beam the length of the restaurant so that it completed its trajectory through the smoky din of the art-world watering hole, concluding at the far wall of Max's storied back room.

Here's a shot of the "Searchlight Sculpture" in Tompkins Square Park.

151 Avenue C: "This prime East Village location stands out as a rare opportunity for users, investors and developers"

Back in May, I reported that this two-story building at 151 Ave. C -- between Ninth Street and 10th Street -- is on the market. There wasn't any information about this property listed, though.



However! The property is now on the Massey Knakal site for $2,350,000. According to the description:

A 23' wide, 3,450 square foot, 2 story building located on Avenue C ... R7A zoning provides for approximately 4,186 buildable square feet of additional air rights. The ground floor features extremely high ceilings, exposed brick and will be delivered vacant. The second floor is occupied by a bar paying an under market rent of $500/month that expires in 2015. This prime East Village location stands out as a rare opportunity for users, investors and developers.

Noted

"Kate Hudson devouring tacos with her mother, Goldie Hawn, and Donna Karan at Mercadito on Avenue B." (Page Six sightings)

Heaven and hell (and whatever's in between) at the Mars Bar

Art show inspired by heaven, purgatory or paradise next Sunday.

Posts that I meant to post Monday but forgot to post: The Bald Man is really gone

Last Wednesday, Max Brenner/Chocolate by the Bald Man closed. On Thursday, Jeremiah noted that the Second Avenue chocolatetorium was dechocolating the place.

While walking by on Saturday, I saw that even the mattresses designed for people to sleep off one too many choctails were discarded...

In case you are looking to "make it"

Hi!

I thought you and your readers at EVGrieve would be interested in the following:

Amidst the busy sidewalks and crowded streets, NYC is flooded with musical talents of all kinds and MTV2 and Time Warner Cable are searching for the next best thing in the NYC music scene! If you or your band are looking to “make it” in the industry, then what better way to be heard by receiving “The Best Breakout NYC Artist Award” at the 2009 VMA’s? On August 14th, MTV will review the top 20 ranked NYC artists and select 3 to battle it out in front of top MTV VMA talent at a Time Warner Cable MTV VMA weekend pre-party! All types of artists are welcome to enter so click here to sign up and showcase your talent OR sign up as a fan to participate in the process and hear what NYC is made of! http://www.ourstage.com/go/mtv2nyc

An opportunity to offer Aces & Eights constructive ideas to improve your quality of life in the neighborhood

Tom Michaelsen, the general manager of Aces & Eights on Avenue A, checks in with another comment. Anyone have any constructive comments?

Aces & Eights LES (the LES differentiates us from our other location, FYI) has helped raise enough money to build two wells in the town of Devki, India through an organization called 1Well.

Aces & Eights LES helped raise over $1200 for UNH (United Neighborhood Houses), which is an umbrella organization that presides over the Settlement Houses of New York, a number of which are in the Lower East Side.

Yes, beer pong, that much maligned representation of jockdom and fratholiness you all despise (possibly because you didn’t make the Varsity team in high school? Don't worry, neither did I.) helped make that happen.

Now I know it isn't much. I know we could do more, but I ask, where were you? What were you doing for your community while this "frathole" was giving back?

It is fairly easy to insult me and this establishment. However, I'd prefer to have a conversation. That is why I wrote what I wrote and why I am writing this. I'd love to get ideas from the community as to how we could improve your quality of life. If anybody has anything constructive to say, I would love to hear it. If you just want to insult me and the business keep it to yourself.

I will be at Aces & Eights tonight. It's trivia night. The beer pong tables are converted and people sit and answer questions for prizes. It starts at 9pm. It's good fun. You are all welcome to join. I'll even buy you your first drink if you mention EV Grieve. My name is Tom. I am the one wearing the green t-shirt that says "Douchebag" on it. Seriously.

Noted

"RadioShack is changing its name to 'The Shack,' hoping to present a fresh face to consumers as the electronics retailer directs more of its resources to selling wireless products." (InformationWeek)

Happy New Yorkiversary

"Who cares who you were or what you were doing before you moved here? Your New Yorkiversary is the day you really arrived — figuratively as well as literally." (New York Post)

And in a separate piece, Danica Lo explores the topic some more...:

In this great city we call home, there are two kinds of residents: New Yorkers and people who've just lived here a while.

Sorry, kids.

It doesn't matter how much you feel like a New Yorker, how fast you walk, how many slices of pizza you've gobbled or how much vitriol you seethe at tourists. Forking over income tax to the city doesn't get you a NY-er badge.

Students, your tuition and living costs at NYU and Columbia may be steep, but they don't buy you native status. And if you grew up out of state, moved to the city after college and have worked here for 10 years? Sorry, you're still a transplant.

As a native — I grew up in Queens, went to preschool in Bayside, PS 31, MS 158 and Stuyvesant High School (with all the other Asians) and have worked here all my professional life — my tenuous and negotiable definition is that you're a New Yorker if you completed the majority of your formative years' pre-college education — elementary, middle, junior and high school — somewhere in the five boroughs.