Seeing double at former Tasti-D-Lite spot

Signs are up at the former Tasti D-Lite on Second Avenue near Ninth Street...



..for something called New City Vision.



An optometrist perhaps? Or a real-estate company?

Ray's to be on Fox and My 9 News tonight

Sorry...short notice....just saw this over at Slum Goddess...Fox 5 and My 9 are doing pieces on Ray's tonight. Fox 5 is on at, uh, now...and My 9 at 11.

Update: Fox posted the segment here.

Get your calcium chloride on East 13th Street

Get your salt from inside that rather mysterious building on 13th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Futurizing about the corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue

Earlier today, we spotted workers cleaning out the former Robin Raj space on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue...





Perhaps this is an early sign that a new horrible tenant is on the way... The space has been vacant for nearly a year. As reported then: The landlord was looking for $60,000 a month in rent...

The holidays on ice....

The holiday decorations on Ninth Street at Second Avenue came down this morning...





...ruining a potential blog post when I discovered that they were still up in April...

Ray's makes the Times

From a feature today titled "Fixture of Avenue A Faces the Threat of a Padlock."

A few excerpts:

Opposite Tompkins Square Park, the usual sort of post-midnight gathering was taking place on a recent evening inside a cramped storefront with tile floors and a worn blue counter.

Kevin Mag Fhloinn was there, talking about a probability system he invented, which makes a spin of the roulette wheel so inviting it barely feels like a bet. Mitch Green told how he once tried to interest Rocky Graziano in buying a neon sign. And there was a smiling man who introduced himself as Thrilly-D; he plunked a large order of Belgian fries onto the counter, and, with beery breath, invited his new comrades to dig in.

And!

It was just past two in the morning and steel gates rattled on Avenue A as neighboring stores locked up for the night. Mr. Alvarez peered through a window as a police car sped past. And Mr. Green reminisced about the neighborhood in the mid-1970s, when the streets were so desolate that you couldn't find a cab.

"When there was nothing else around," he said, "Ray was around."

[Photo: Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times]

Haitian relief efforts in the neighborhood

Many neighborhood bars/restaurants/schools are holding fund raising events to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti... For instance:

Bespoke Chocolates on Extra Place is donating 100 percent of their profits today toward Americares’s Haiti relief fund. (Via The Feed)

Drink specials tonight at Professor Thom's on Second Avenue...



At St. Brigid Catholic School on Seventh Street and Avenue B...



From Hearth on First Avenue at 12th Street... "The events have particularly hit home for us as one of our own staff members was born in Haiti and has many friends and family there at the moment. In support of him and all those immediately affected by the tragedy, on Tuesday, January 19th, Hearth will be donating 50% of our gross revenues received that evening to help fund the relief effort." (Via Eater)

And I don't exactly know what this is at Zum Schneider on Avenue C and Seventh Street...



On Wednesday, Knife + Fork on East Fourth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue is giving 20 percent of every customer's bill, including tip, to Haitian relief efforts. (Via Eater)

If you know of any other neighborhood relief efforts, then please let me know, via e-mail or in the comments...

Open Road Park, East 12th Street, 9:16 a.m., Jan. 17

A listicle to debate: The best East Village restaurants

I originally posted this on Friday morning...The conversation in the comments continues. So I decided to move it up for the weekend...



As promised, Robert Sietsema listed "the best East Village restaurants" over at The Village Voice today.

And....

10. Dirt Candy (Vegetarian), 430 East 9th Street, 212-228-7732
9. Porchetta (Central Italian), 110 East 7th Street, 212-777-2151
8. The Smith (Gastropub), 55 Third Avenue, 212-420-9800
7. Back Forty (New American), 190 Avenue B, 212-388-1990
6. B & H Dairy Lunch (Jewish Dairy), 127 Second Avenue, 212-505-8065
5. Hasaki (Sushi), 210 East 9th Street, 212-473-3327
4. Prune (New American), 54 East 1st Street, 212-677-6221
3. Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar (New American), 101 Second Avenue, 212-979-1012
2. Momofuku Ssam Bar (New American), 207 Second Avenue, 212-254-3500
1. Ippudo (Japanese Noodles), 65 Fourth Avenue, 212-388-0088

No Odessa! Why you *&^%*#%*&^3!

OK, I've only been to four on the 10 here. And of those four, I'd never go back to Porchetta, which I tried once after caving in to peer pressure.

Also included in the feature....

Readers' Suggestions

Mamoun's Falafel (Middle Eastern), 22 St. Marks Place, 212-387-7747
Veselka (Ukrainian), 144 Second Avenue, 212-228-9682
Degustation (Science Chef), 239 East 5th Street, 212-979-1012
The Redhead (New American), 349 East 13th Street, 212-533-6212
Motorino (Pizza), 349 East 12th Street, 212-777-2644
Ukrainian East Village Restaurant, 140 Second Avenue, 212) 614-3283
Kyo Ya (Japanese), 94 East 7th Street, 212-982-4140

Bowery and Houston, 10:48 a.m., Jan. 16

A photo shoot. Should I know who these guys are? A woman with a British accent was taking their photo. She kept saying. "Amazing."

Noted

On 10th Street at Avenue B.

Going bananas

The Dickies.

When the Gap moved into the East Village

A reader comment from last Friday's post on the St. Marks Cinema:

I remember when the Gap opened — and one of the local street peeps dropped his drawers, backed up and shat directly on the big plate glass window. The East Village was very creative, vocally and fecally, about expressing its opinion on the encroaching gentrification...

Indeed, an article from May 4, 1988, in Women's Wear Daily discussed the neighborhood's reaction to the Gap, which opened at St. Mark's and Second Avenue in March 1988. They paid some $33,000 in monthly rent, which pretty much blew the curve for any other merchant.

Here are some passages from the article, which isn't online:

----

The Gap's move onto St. Marks Place here has not engendered neighborly love. Far from it.

The situation is a dramatic example of how sportswear chains, in the fight for market positioning, have come to be seen as harbingers of change in older, deteriorated neighborhoods, bringing with them the threat of escalating rents and a squeeze on smaller retailers.

Reaction to the 4,000-square-foot store, which opened March 16, ranges from quiet discontent to strident opposition. Similarly, when the 700-unit chain opened on the corner of Haight & Ashbury Streets in San Francisco last year, locals picketed the store and threw eggs at the windows for several days.

A frequent response to the glare of The Gap's fluorescent lights has been, "There goes the neighborhood." The store, at the corner of St. Marks Place and Second Avenue, is at the intersection of the East Village's two primary shopping streets.

The East Village is unquestionably on the move; opinions vary on whether the direction of the move is to be applauded. The Gap could be the magnet that attracts other retail chains to the area and changes the face of the neighborhood forever.

Many observers predict the arrival of The Gap will speed gentrification and push out long-time tenants. It is an old story reminiscent of other areas of the city -- the West Village, Columbus Avenue and lower Broadway. Local retailers fear rents will soar and they will be forced to leave. Some stores have already relocated to side streets.

----

While landlords cheer the appreciation of their proporety, tenants boo the deterioration of another bohemian mecca.

"The East Village is original. There is nothing like it," said Christine Braun, manager of Trash & Vaudeville, a store known for its funky to contemporary clothes. "But slowly it's changing and the Gap is a sign that there will be more."

According to Braun, there is a new clientele on St. Marks adhering to the norm and rejecting the underground values that once prevailed. "These kids have credit cards. Years ago they never did."

Retailers credit the unique boutiques for improving East Village shopping traffic and doubt The Gap will lure people downtown. They also argue that The Gap's clothing would not compete with their merchandise. Some mentioned that they only thing The Gap might do is assuage those tourists who are intimidated by the neighborhood.

-------

Pete Mayo, owner of East Village Leather, on St. Marks Place, elaborated: "Anyone who has a lease pending hasn't got a shot in hell." He signed a lease in October 1987 -- "probably the last one on the block before The Gap moved in" -- at a fifth of The Gap's price.

Mayo's partner also owns St. Marks Leather, which until three years ago shared The Gap's space along with Shazaam, a designer boutique, and the St. Marks Theater. He and Mayo opened East Village Leather because the lease at St. Marks Leather will be up for renewal soon and they wanted to insure a spot on the block.

"Who knows what will be happening here with rents then?" said Mayo. "It's getting to the point where the small retailers are having to grab what they can. Many are moving off St. Marks and Second Avenue to the side streets, like Fifth between First and Second Avenues. Only about four businesses have been on this block for over 10 years."

"Mayo, like most of those interviewed, expressed a desire to see the new Gap fail. Residents want to it to close on principle. They say The Gap is ruining the neighborhood.

"There are tour buses coming down the block now," said a 10-year veteran of St. Marks Place. "On Sunday afternoon it's scary with all the blue blazers and gold buttons."

One East Village painter was so angry the night after the store opened that he threw a cinder block at the full length glass windows. They didn't break. "The windows buckled, but after three blows I gave up," he said.

--------

Garrick Aug Associates, one of the largest commercial store leasing companies here, arranged the deal for The Gap in the East Village. According to Faith Consolo, vice president of Garrick Aug, The Gap pays $100 per square foot annually. Rent on the 4,000-square-foot-store is therefore $33,333 per month. It is "absolutely" the most money paid in the block's history, according to Consolo.

"The Gap has broken the barrier of what that area is all about," said Consolo. "It will be the anchor. The Gap will have the same impact as Tower Records did the same impact as Tower Records did on lower Broadway. And the East Village will eventually like lower Broadway or Columbus Avenue. There will be less color and more sophistication."

Consolo predicted the East Village would have fewer galleries, restaurants, and family-run shops. "Chain stores are interested in the East Village now, sophisticated merchants, both national and local."

----------

Charles FitzGerald, landlord, store owner and resident of the East Village, elaborated on The Gap's appearance and influence on the area: "The Gap could have used the corner space to experiment with new merchandising techniques that would appeal more to the local customer rather than just putting up the formula store."

FitzGerald sees The Gap's effects from two perspectives -- as a landlord and as a long-time resident. He arrived on St. Marks Place in 1959. Seven years later, he purchased 9 St. Marks -- where he lives and also operates Bowl & Board, a home goods store -- and, a year after, 12 St. Marks. In 1984, FitzGerlad bought 33 St. Marks Place, adjacent to the site of the new Gap.

"As a real estate owner, it is obviously positive," declared FitzGerald. "Property goes up in value and there is an inferred stability with The Gap's presence."

"Now I can get the money to renovate the building. I wasn't able to before The Gap or something like it came in and stepped up the area to a new retailing plateau." FitzGerald has been losing money on the building from the start.

As a longtime resident, FitzGerald would like to see the area go back to the way it was in the Sixties but realizes it just won't happen. "Because of the low rents -- when I moved here I paid $20 per month with a bunch of people -- there was opportunity for the individual's creativity. Everything was new and that's what made the East Village a vital place.

"Slowly our neighborhood has undergone the transformation from being a caldron of creativity to a standard business operation. You used to have to do something very individual to get people here."

He doubts whether The Gap will last in its new locale, noting that people go to the East Village to get away from the mid-America image The Gap projects. He said the same merchandise with a different name carrying a less negative connotation might go over fine.

----

Many interviewed ... said The Gap is always empty. "No one has been flocking there so far," said Bellomo. Among the few customers on a Friday afternoon were a couple of Dutch tourists. "I was surprised to see it here," said one. "I heard people outside complaining, but I heard they had cheap jeans."

Jean Martinez, another Gap customer, also found The Gap on St. Marks an odd sight. "It sticks out like a sore thumb. I didn't want to come in but my husband needed jeans really badly," she said. "I said to him I hope no one I know sees me in here."

Corporate executives of The Gap, based in San Bruno, Calif., declined to be interviewed for this article, but Greg Odem, assistant manager of the East Village store, took issue with those who said things were dull inside: "We are busy at night and on the weekends. The adult store (a Gap Kids shares the space) is above corporate projections. We didn't expect the store to be doing as well so soon."

Odem said the store generated more than $1,000 a day and added that it was already evident the store would make it on Second Avenue. Although the store has entrances on St. Marks Place and Second Avenue, the chain opted to go with the 133 Second Avenue address.

"They think we are destroying the East Village image, but like everywhere else, they will accept it," said Odem. "It's just going to take some getting used to one both our parts. Besides, developers were already planning to revamp the area. We just happened to be the first to move in."

He admitted, though, that there was resistance: "We get stickers on our window asking, 'Why are you here?' or saying 'Go away' and so forth every morning."

-------

Postscript.

The St. Mark's location closed in 2001, one of the eight Gap stores that were shuttered in 2001 and 2002.

The corner today....

Look, no Superdive!

The last time I looked at Google's Maps of the neighborhood, I had nearly two-year-old views of late summer 2007. Now, it seems as if Google has caught up to the spring of 2009 (based on the movies being advertised at the Loews Village — "17 Again!")

Anyway, it's really amazing how much has changed just since late last spring...for instance, do you recall a kinder, gentler time along the 200 block of Avenue A...?

Spring 2009...



And...




For further reading:
Traveling the East Village streets of late summer 2007 (and who wants to go see "Mr. Bean's Holiday"?)

Google Streets (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Not everyone appreciates Danny Meyer's hospitality advice

Discarded books somewhere on East Ninth Street. (What is this book?)

No pants

Fourth Street near Avenue A the other morning -- 8 degree wind chill.

Previously.

For anyone who thinks the East Village is turning into a big campus

On Avenue B near 12th Street.

Tower to reopen on Broadway (for a multimedia installation)

From the press release:

Spotlighting more than 20 artists that work with sound, light, and image, Never Can Say Goodbye celebrate the store’s historic role as the locus of the community — the old way to meet people face to face and share music and information.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Right when people are talking about an uptick in LES violence... Bob Arihood brings word of a double stabbing at the Pyramid Club (Neither More Nor Less) And the mainstream media is covering it too (ABC-7)

The victim of the Dec. 5 Delancey bus-bike tragedy was a 74-year-old resident of 620 E. 13th St. in the Tanya Towers project (The Villager)

Another kitschy/thrift store closing (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Rebecca Marx at the Voice on the Tavern on the Green and Ray's sagas: "Proceeds from the auction will go towards paying off Tavern's $8 million debt; it's too bad that some of it can't go towards paying off Ray's, too." (Fork in the Road)

Looking at Balade, the new Lebanese restaurant on First Avenue (Fork in the Road) And find more food news and opinions courtesy of BaHa (With Leftovers)

About tonight's CB3 community benefit plan meeting (Save the Lower East Side! ... and the Lo-Down)

Koi bags its Bowery plans (Eater)

"Unique living opportunity" on LES — complete with roof deck! (BoweryBoogie)

And Indian Curry Mahal was getting gutted the other day at 78 Second Ave. ...




And, from a reader, at the Newark Airport the other day... Tiger still lives in an ad...

Looking at the Bunker on the Bowery, former home to William Burroughs, among others

In response to the post yesterday on the endangered White House at 338 Bowery... several readers sent along the following link from online magazine The Morning News.

It's an interview with Brooklyn-based photographer Peter Ross and his collection "of weird, touching, and often unexpected" photos of the possessions found in the former Bowery home of William Burroughs...


[Photo by Peter Ross]

There's also a Q-and-A with Ross, who talks a little more about 222 Bowery (aka The Bunker), where Burroughs lived from 1974 till his death in 1997. The building's owner, John Giorno, has left Burroughs' apartment intact, where his possessions include blow darts and nunchucks.


[Photo by Walter Chin via]

An excerpt from the Q-and-A with Ross:

Q. I have a sense that this stuff couldn’t have existed at the same time as an iPhone or even a digital camera—it seems very much from another era. Do you feel like this is just because Burroughs was old, or is there something else going on?

A. Well, I bet I’ll go through half a dozen iPhones in the time it would have taken Burroughs to resole those shoes. That makes me feel greedy, wasteful, and self-indulgent. Maybe I’d be better off keeping the modern world out. Maybe we all would. Let’s all just grab our nunchucks, put on our shoes and hat and walk the streets of Manhattan.

Here's a look inside the apartment, which is used by Giorno for Buddhist teachings...



[Photos via Derek Wang at Flickr]

Here's a little more on 222 Bowery via The Times from December 2000:

Two years ago the poet John Giorno succeeded in getting landmark designation for the 1885 brick loft building at 222 Bowery, whose occupants have included the artists Fernand Leger and Mark Rothko and the beat writer William S. Burroughs. Mr. Giorno serves as secretary-treasurer of the co-op board for the building, which was built as the Young Men's Institute by the Y.M.C.A., and this year he had to backtrack on masonry repairs to meet Landmarks Preservation Commission requirements.

The changes increased the repair budget by two-thirds, Mr. Giorno said, but he is happy with the way things worked out.

In 1884 the Real Estate Record and Guide predicted a rosy future for the Bowery, the lower section of Third Avenue from Chatham Square in Chinatown to Fourth Street, saying that it was "destined to be the great retail mart of the central and eastern portion of the city," even though it was lined with beer gardens and saloons and surrounded by tenements and lodging houses. But the officers of the Y.M.C.A. focused on the saloons, because a year later they built their first branch, the Young Men's Institute, at 222 Bowery, between Spring and Prince Streets, to try to counteract the forces of dissipation.

While the Bowery turns into one giant luxury property after another, it's nice to know that this piece of history remains intact...

For further reading:
The Last Days of Loserville (The Village Voice)