Tuesday, October 20, 2009

At CB3/SLA meeting: Le Souk denied; residents speak of "mayhem" and "crazy fistfights"; proponent suggests people would prefer living in Staten Island



As you read this, the CB3/SLA licensing meeting is just wrapping up (that joke never gets old!). An EV Grieve reader was there for part of the meeting and kindly filed this report. For that, we offer many thanks to this dedicated soul.

Things got off to a good start at 6:45 with the announcement that eight agenda items would not be covered, leaving only 27 matters to discuss.

After a brief discussion of budget priorities (largely a formality) the action got underway with Renewals with Complaint History.

First up was St. Dymphna's of 118 St. Marks, looking to renew its full liquor license. The board raised the issue of whether the establishment is allowed to utilize its back yard space, citing a 2007 DOB decision which indicated the back yard could not be used, and the fact that its SLA renewal application did not indicate a back yard space was in use, though it is. The establishment is under new ownership, and the current proprietor indicated he was not familiar with that DOB decision or the previous complaint history. The Board voted to approve the renewal with the stipulation that the back yard space not be used.

Next up was Spur Tree Restaurant of 76 Orchard Street, looking to renew its restaurant wine license. No one was present to represent the applicant, and the board voted to deny the renewal for non appearance.

Le Souk

That took us right to the main event -- Le Souk -- which was called in not to discuss a renewal but to address the complaints that have been lodged against it since reopening. The discussion started with a recap of the December 2008 board decision to not vote on the club's renewal, the club's license being suspended at that time. Six residents were then given an opportunity to speak. Le Souk's opponents described the improvements in quality of life during the time the club was closed.

One resident was quoted via letter as saying "life was so peaceful on Avenue B" during that time. Opponents reported that since the club has reopened, "all sorts of mayhem" has occurred, including "crazy fistfights" and "animal behavior." One resident opined about the nature of Le Souk patrons, stating that they "drive the taxi drivers to the point of insanity," a reference to the honking problem on the corner. It was also noted that the police do not ticket for honking on the corner of 4th and B despite posted warnings, purportedly because they are not able to determine which cars are doing the honking.

Seriously. One resident indicated that "life has been intolerable since Le Souk has reopened" and the letter writer was again quoted, saying "a superclub like Le Souk has no business in the neighborhood." Residents also cited loud music emanating from the club and Web site reviews which tout dancing going on in the club in violation of cabaret laws.

Two Le Souk proponents spoke in favor of the club, one saying that "the community was in shambles while Le Souk was closed," the argument focused on economics and the idea that this is not the time to shutter a club that brings much business to the neighborhood. He also suggested Le Souk is doing a better job now relative to the abysmal job it had done in the past (not the most ringing endorsement) and made a reference to some people maybe preferring to live in Staten Island.

Le Souk's proprietor indicated that traffic is a problem throughout the East Village and not a function of his club, saying in fact that he does not have a traffic or congestion problem in front of his establishment. He was then scolded by the board for failing to organize a meeting with residents to work through issues outside of the CB meeting process, as he had promised to do sometime in March. A member of the Le Souk management team indicated they would make the meeting happen this time. It was noted that Le Souk has 7,000 square feet of space.

By this point the room had become quite hot and a Le Souk proponent had to be directed by the board to stop speaking out of turn, one board member wondering aloud if security needed to be summoned. After much discussion of the language of the motion, the board voted to deny the renewal, when it comes up. In response to a direct question from a resident, asking if Le Souk would begin turning down the volume of its music starting this weekend, Le Souk indicated that it would.

Thailand Cafe

It was now 8:02. Still so early and only 23 agenda items to go. Next up was Thailand Cafe on 2nd Avenue, looking to add some manner of outdoor seating. The board expressed concerns with the already numerous outdoor seating arrangements on that stretch of 2nd Avenue, and whether the clearance depicted in the plans between the outdoor seating and bus shelter in front of the establishment would actually be as large as the plans suggest (15 feet). Residents were organized against the plan, 10 or so standing together to indicate their opposition. One suggested the idea of dining outdoors several feet from a stream of city buses would perhaps not be the best dining experience ever. There were also 23 letters submitted in opposition. The board voted to deny this plan due to bus shelter proximity and existing levels of sidewalk congestion in that area.

At this point one of the board members learned that an attendee was waiting to speak on the matter of Chickpea, agenda item 28, and let him know that the item had been announced among those canceled at the outset. Mercifully this happened two hours into meeting and not 10.

Cien Fueguos

Next up was Cien Fueguos LLC, looking to open a Cuban fine dining establishment at 95 Ave A. The owner and team made a fantastic presentation, top to bottom. They produced 1,000 signatures from East Village residents in support of their plan, 200 of them living in the immediate vicinity. Numerous residents spoke on their behalf including the owner of the building. The presentation included statistics on the prevalence of Cuban restaurants in Manhattan (there are just 43, and only five of those are considered fine dining establishments) which were compared to comparable statistics for Italian restaurants. The owner operates four other establishments in the East Village without incident and the management team's experience running orderly restaurants was touted, as was the fact that the venture will bring 40-50 new jobs to the neighborhood and include a sandwich shop. The board issued a favorable opinion on the application with basic stipulations, some of which the operating plan for the establishment already included.

(Someone said this owner is the guy behind Bourgeois Pig and Death & Co.. I thought Death and Company had some issues in the past, but am not sure. They were pretty clear about the owner running four places and not having problems.)




Caffe Bon Gusto


Next up was Caffe Bon Gusto, for which the sailing was not smooth. The applicant himself did not show up, instead sending two representatives, one of which seemed to be his attorney. The board noted that the application (for a wine license) was more or less identical to the application it rejected in September 2007. And that with only 10 signatures in support of the restaurant -- four of those from residents not in the immediate vicinity -- the applicant has not demonstrated that his establishment will provide a substantial benefit to the community, a requirement to secure a favorable opinion from the board in a resolution area. No residents signed up to speak for the club, but the applicant's attorney noted that no residents turned out to speak against it either.

Postscript


At this point our reader left. It was after 9 p.m.

How do they manage to get through 27 agenda items? I can't fathom it.

Get well soon

At the Mars Bar early yesterday evening.




Previously on EV Grieve:
Mars Bar regulars get in the way of a Drew Barrymore photo shoot

The Times goes to the Mars Bar with one of those guys who's in "Gossip Girl"

Greed is good?



New signs up at the Bowery Bazaar in the E2E4 building on Bowery between Third Street and Fourth Street. "Brought to you by Greed"? Still not sure what this place is trying to be.

Previously.

Noted


Over at the Examiner, Sabrina Brody, the LA Celebrity Headlines Examiner, writes about Madonna's sue-happy neighbors upset about the noise coming from the star's NYC apartment. And then! the story goes here:

[I]t could be the general irritating whiny new fad that's started since New York City's gentrification rate skyrocketed. All these people moving to Alphabet City and the Lower East Side who proceed to complain that the notoriously grungy, loud neighborhood is grungy and loud. Hey, it's a city! A pretty tight city. The noise is part of the rush. YOU LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY.

Monday, October 19, 2009

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition



"Mike Bloomberg owns this town" (New York)

Whole Earth Bakery to reopen in a week (Melanie, previously)

What's coming to the former Old Devil Moon space (Alphabet City Soup)

SATC fans pay for their crimes (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Ray's now offering Belgian waffles (Neither More Nor Less)

A visit to La Parisienne, a classic old school NYC diner (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Death & Co. now serving until 2 a.m. (Grub Street)

Catching up with Etherea Records (Stupefaction)

The scoop on Alchemist's Corner (Patell and Waterman's History of New York)

Apples on Orchard (BoweryBoogie)

Art cars on Second Street (Slum Goddess) And on Delancey.


And Elvie's turo-turo on First Avenue appears to be closed as of last week...

Mars Bar regulars get in the way of a Drew Barrymore photo shoot

Over the weekend, we had a very important post about some guy from "Gossip Girl" going to the Mars Bar for one of those "A Night Out With" features in the Times.

And the conversation turned to Drew Barrymore's recent photo shoot at Mars Bar for the new issue of Nylon. So here are the shots from that Mars Bar photo shoot in the magazine. (Dunno why the guy in the newsstand got so annoyed when I did this!)





Um, you can't even tell it's the Mars Bar. As EV Grieve reader ak commented, "still trying to decide if i believe that the background was photoshopped out of the others." And Goggla said: "I was there for the Barrymore shoot and the weird thing is they used white backdrops for the photos. If they wanted to block out all the graffiti, why go in there in the first place? (they also made sure to block out all the regulars)" And Jeremiah found some outtakes from the shoot here:







Since Goggla was there, I asked her more about the shoot...:

There were about 14 regulars in there and they just had the ones sitting at the end of the bar move out of the way. They shot back by the bathrooms and up front by the windows, but put backdrops up in both places. They didn't even hang around to drink, so I really don't know why they bothered.

"Joe's is only closed temporarily"

As we posted yesterday, the great Joe's Bar on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B has been closed the last few days...



However! Jeremiah received the following response about Joe's on his Facebook fan page:

i can deliver GOOD news to you from a very reliable inside source -- Joe's is only closed temporarily -- some little insurance snafu but they will return in full force - don't know when -- stayed tuned. (we can't lose more places, i'm starting not to recognize my own hometown anymore). ugh.

Chico back to create an anti-violence mural



Lyn Pentecost, executive director of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, passed along this message on Friday evening:

The Lower Eastside Girls Club has brought Chico back from Florida to paint a few murals before the snowflakes fall:

He’ll start next week on an Anti-Violence message mural to be designed and painted by Chico and the POP (Power of Peace) Youth Anti-Violence Coalition founded a year and a half ago when Tina Negron -- the older sister of a Girls Club member -- was murdered at Key Food on Avenue A.

Since then POP has held a youth conference with Rosario Dawson, Ben Valentin (Tina’s brother) Angel Seda (GOLES) and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez at City Hall, a community march last Spring, three widely attended handbill clinics and competitions, and now -- in response to the recent tensions -- we’ve brought back Chico...the master messenger.


I'm told that he'll be starting at Avenue B and Houston.

Previously on EV Grieve.

Superdive is helping fight hunger

Tonight, Superdive is hosting a Drag Bingo Night....



Proceeds benefit the S.A.F.H. soup kitchen on Ninth Street.

Seizures: Layaly shuttered on Avenue B



B&T hookah hotspot Layaly at 98 Avenue B near Sixth Street was shut down last week.



Even the vanity ATM is gone.

Before:


Now:

Something finally coming to 95 Avenue A

The corner northwest corner of Avenue A and Sixth Street has been empty forever, it seems, since that place called Le Zoccole shuttered... As EV Grieve reader Creature points out, something called Cien Fueguos LLC will go before the CB3/SLA tonight for a liquor license...they're aiming for a sidewalk cafe too...


Smooth sailing tonight...???

Also tonight on the CB3/SLA docket: the long-awaited Caffe Buon Gusto at Fifth Street and Avenue B goes for a liquor license. Meanwhile, the space continues to attract a variety of street art... such as this sailboat made from red tape...should be plenty of red tape tonight too...



Read my previous 5,987 posts on Caffe Buon Gusto here.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Outtakes from a walk in the rain, part 1 of 1

On First Street, lining up for brunch at Prune before their 10 a.m. opening...



In Tompkins Square Park...



Houston and Avenue B...



On First Avenue and First Street... an MTA driver patches up her bus with tape...


Very bad things: Joe's Bar is closed, at least temporarily

Swung by Joe's last night on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... seemed like a good bet to escape people watching sporting events on TV...and it was closed...no note to patrons or anything either.



Apparently the bar has been closed for several days now. We don't know why for sure. However, a neighbor vaguely said something about a paperwork glitch with the state. Hmm.

And this is what the bar should have looked like last night...



Let's hope this isn't the beginning of a Joe's curse.

Image via.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Times goes to the Mars Bar with one of those guys who's in "Gossip Girl"


The Times does its "A Night Out With" feature this week with Penn Badgley, one of the "Gossip Girl" cast members. Other Music starts the night. Then!

He stopped first at the John Varvatos store on the Bowery that replaced CBGB. After poring over dress shirts and vintage stereo equipment that cost about the same, Mr. Badgley declared, "At least they didn’t turn it into a bank."

A few blocks east, he arrived at Mars Bar, the grimy dive where tourists go in search of authentic punks and authentic punks go to start drinking at midday. He seemed unsure of his choice of bars ("I think it's closed," he said), but then he threw open its front door and entered.

A Sid Vicious cover of "Something Else" was blaring on the jukebox, and the narrow bar was crowded with colorful patrons. "I think we're wearing the same sneakers," Mr. Badgley said, pointing to a barfly in a patchwork of tattered winter gear and brown Nikes. (The woman with him was similarly attired, wearing a hula hoop as an accessory.)

As Mr. Badgley reached across to grab a watery Bud Light, he accidentally nudged someone with a tattoo of a revolver on his neck and quickly apologized. "That's all right, brother," the man said. "You’re beautiful-looking."

His girlfriend, tall and thin with her hair in long bangs, clearly recognized Mr. Badgley but acted as if she didn’t care. "I think it's completely ridiculous," she said of "Gossip Girl." "I don’t really watch it 'cause it's not my scene."


And the piece ends on this note:

As Mr. Badgley left the bar, Black Sabbath’s "Fairies Wear Boots" was playing. "I've found that people are cool if you don't treat them like jerks," he said.

Image via.

"Entering the East Village come weekends is like wandering into Dante’s Eighth Circle of hell..."


A few East Village-related items from the "Best of Manhattan" issue of NYPress this week...

Best East Village Bar to Get Trashed and Evade the B-and-T Hordes: International Bar
120 1st Ave. betw. St. Marks Pl. & E. 7th St., 212-777-1643
Entering the East Village come weekends is like wandering into Dante’s Eighth Circle of hell, in which hair-sprayed ladies and six-pack men lick, suck and swallow their way into new, louder personalities that we’d like to pop in the mouth. Thank heavens for the neighborhood’s sole refuge, International Bar. In the dark, railroad-car confines, we love plugging metal into the juke and popping a squat at the bar — there’s often a seat, no matter the night. And then we order the combo that’s as deadly as fugu: a can of Schaefer and a two-ounce blast of sweet well whiskey, priced at $4.

Best Headstone for the Corpse of the Bowery: DBGB Kitchen and Bar
299 Bowery at E. 1st St., 212-933-5300
Celebrity chef Daniel Boulud may not be the first inspiration-starved millionaire to burnish up his Bowery project with the memory of punks, but his antiseptic new bistro, DBGB (an awkward pun on CBGB’s,) definitely makes him the No. 1 offender. Standing on the corner of the Bowery and E. First Street, it perfectly embodies the death of the punk rock idyll and the wide cursive script painted around its steel-framed gray windows quite literally gives the restaurant the look of a cemetery — or an up-market option in a Rochester Mall.


Best Bar Idea with the Worst Execution: Superdive

200 Ave. A betw. E. 12th & E. 13th Sts., 212-448-4854
Tableside keg service, democratic access to the soundtrack, mix-your-own cocktails—what could go wrong? In a word, everything. The ideal form of Superdive — which brings what we can only imagine to be the worst of the Midwestern college town drinking experience to the East Village — is bespoilt by human nature. Douchy dudes drink until they get shouty and shovy and play hip-hop ironically at unsafe levels. Mix that with girls who are impressed, and you’ve got a problem.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Just desserts



Thee Milkshakes.

Only three letters?

Just sitting around today, trying to complete the always-challenging In Touch crossword puzzle...

Village Green opening its houses this weekend

Village Green, everyone's favorite "eco-indulgent" new condo on 11th Street, will be holding open houses this weekend. The $2 million penthouse is still up for grabs... According to the listings, at least nine of the 36 units are in contract.

Anyway, in case you can't make it, here's what it may or may not look like:







Upon seeing the open house ads, we thought the plywood on the ground level might be gone. As of last night, still no view of that gym.



Previously.

Not so Sweet: Old school bakery temporarily closed

Rounding the corner on 11th Street at First Avenue yesterday, I saw a disturbing site...



Something Sweet is closed for a "personal matter." And the shop, open now some 30 years, is already missed...




For further reading:
Rich cookies come in small packages (The Villager)