Reminders: Ray's delivery

And the menu...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Ray's new Saturday evening delivery service starts tomorrow

Day of snow

As I was the first to report, it snowed yesterday... and some readers were nice enough to send along some photos to help provide a slice of life in the neighborhood from yesterday...

Minnie Romanovich




Megan Morrissey
@mmorrissey





Ken Mac

The day after

Seventh Street and First Avenue

Everything that you've ever wanted to know about the Rusty Knot Party Bus

In January I wrote a post about the Rusty Knot Party Bus, which picks up Knotgoers in Williamsburg and then on First Avenue and First Street and plies them with alcohol before they go to the nautica-themed faux dive on the West Side Highway for a swingin' Monday night...

I didn't actually get on the bus. But I was curious!

Thankfully, a Times reporter boarded the party bus... and pretty much answered all my questions... To the story!

“This bus is a little bit like going back to the New York of the ’70s or ’80s, when it wasn’t about the money, it was about the spirit,” said Richard Mark Jordan, an actor from Bushwick who was gyrating in the aisle with friends and high-fiving strangers.

His revelry, while enthusiastic, seemed tame when compared with the crazed riders chanting “Party bus! Party bus!” while pounding their palms on the bus’s windows. Two guys in skateboard sneakers leaped onto a vinyl-upholstered seat, jerking their heads to the metal anthem “Hell Bent for Leather,” air guitars apparently cranked up to 11.

A woman in preppyish attire who in another context might be mistaken for a Congressional aide tried to crawl through a roof hatch, but her progress was blocked by a bolted cover. She had to settle for another form of misbehavior — pouring a can of Bud over a male friend’s head. He didn’t seem to mind.

“This is raging!” said Ryan McGaffigan, a 32-year-old sales manager in a wool cap, plaid shirt and ’50s-style glasses. He had just polished off two Buds “shotgun” — puncturing the can and finishing it in one long swig.

How could it be boring? The bus runs on irony as much as diesel. The basic premise is a cultural inversion: Manhattan tastemakers once sneered at the “bridge and tunnel” crowd overrunning their night spots. Now, they haul them in by the busload.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rusty Knot Party Bus makes East Village debut

The Alright stuff

Go fish

Since writing about this three-bedroom condo on 13th Street at Avenue A this week, the price has been slashed by 10 percent from $1.175 million to 1.05 million...



And there's an open house Sunday from noon to 1:30. If you go, please let me know if that fish is still there...

A walk in the park

And if you took some snow photos, feel free to send them along... Was thinking of doing a big neighborhood snow post tomorrow.

grieve98@gmail.com

If not, then you'll get more Lady Gaga-in-hats photos....

Avenue A several hours ago

A little something for our East Village friends stuck in dreary warm locales today.





And we promise no more snow photos today. Unless, of course...

From Donald to now: 511 E. Fifth St., 1B

Last month, we wrote about Donald Baumgartner, a longtime East Village resident who was evicted from his East Fifth Street apartment... Neil Janowitz, one of Donald's former neighbors, had continued to stay in touch with Donald, who's now living at East Haven Nursing Home in the Bronx.

Donald had lived at 511 E. Fifth Street since 1967. As Neil described:

"His place in 511 was a trip. Like a time warp. No one had renovated it in two or three decades, so it had a bathtub in the kitchen, two interior bedrooms with windows that looked out on the living room and lots of built-in cabinets and trunks. The floor was so badly worn that you could see various layers/flooring styles dating back an unknowable amount of time."

A few days after Donald was evicted by the landlord, Neil shot some video of the apartment... and last week Neil went back to see what the apartment looked like now...



(Uh, apparently the video isn't appearing in some browsers. You can go directly to the source here.)

I understand that Donald was paying $700 a month for rent... will be curious what this two-bedroom apartment will go for after the extensive renovations...

Previously:
Donald is well and missing the East Village

New bar slated for 12th Street and Avenue A

In March 2006, the building housing the Raven on the northeast corner of Avenue A at 12th Street was shuttered by a devastating fire... The building has been renovated, and the storefront (pictured below last fall) has been on the market for quite some time ...



On March 15, the Raven appears on the CB3 SLA docket (No. 15 and No. 16 on the agenda) in the Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades category. The docket reads:

El Camion (El Camion III Inc), 194 Ave A (trans/op) (The Raven)

Meanwhile, according to the real-estate listing...

Approx. 1500 sq ft vanilla box with liquor license, large wraparound storefront, basement (with dedicated internal staircase), and possible sidewalk cafe.

Price: $90,000
Rent: $10,500
10-year lease

I'm curious to see how this one plays out... there have already been numerous complaints about the bar scene on the upper stretch of Avenue A... Jill has noted this... and she took this shot in front of Drop Off Service last summer, for an idea of what life is usually like here on the weekends...



Previously on EV Grieve:
CB3 to explore bar-related noise issues on Avenue A?

Observations from last night's noisy bars meeting

A memorial for Taz remains at 12th and A

Whenever the gates are down at the northeast corner of Avenue A and 12th Street...



... you can see that a tribute remains for Eric "Taz" Pagan, the LES resident who was murdered outside Forbidden City last August...

New sidewalk cafe for Table 12

And in keeping with this 12th Street and Avenue A theme... on Feb. 9, the CB3/SLA approved a sidewalk cafe for Table 12 on the southeast corner. The sidewalk cafe must shut down at 10 p.m.... and they can set up again at 8 a.m. The majority of the 28 seats will be on 12th Street.

New thrift store on Third Street to open next week

Last week I mentioned that the former Dance Tracks on Third Street near First Avenue is becoming a thrift/vintage store... Last night, I noticed that workers were filling the stores with clothes...






All I know is the shop is expected to open next week... the following week at the latest...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Long dormant Dance Tracks soon to be home to a vintage clothing store

Smell like gentrified railroad tracks

You may have seen this over at Racked yesterday... worth calling attention to....



For only $145 ($220 for 100ml), you can buy Bond No. 9's new High Line fragrance.

Per the Post today:

"This is a real, local, New York railroad-track fragrance," Rahme said. "Eighty percent of the notes come from plants and flowers that grow on the High Line."

But as much as New Yorkers may love grazing weeds, purple love grass and oak, many had doubts about wearing them.

"Gee, I hope it's not based on some of the dog poo that lies around here a lot of the time," said Gretta Baker-Allen, 27.

An inspired Thomas Verlofski, 24, said, "Maybe I'll design an after-shave based on the smell of the public toilets in Penn Station. I'm sure that would be a best-seller."

Noted

Via BuzzFeed: "The New Orleans nightclub Republic instituted a new dress code this month, refusing entry to anyone dressed like the kids from Jersey Shore."

Grieveslist: Roommate wanted for great two-bedroom apartment on East Fourth Street

Every so often we hear of a nice, easy-going person looking for a nice, easy-going roommate... you know, no whackjobs... Here is such one nice person looking for a roommate...

I just moved into a gorgeous, well-renovated two-bedroom apartment in the East Village and would like to rent the spare bedroom out to someone by March 1. The apartment has a great layout, real windows in every room including bathroom, kitchen and living room, lots of sunlight throughout, and a full bathroom w/tub. The spare bedroom is lovely and fits a full-size bed, small desk and chair, cabinet, and it has a closet in it with overhead storage space. This room is currently fully furnished but can come unfurnished. It has a large window, great light and exposed brick and the entire apartment has gorgeous brand new hard-wood floors.

I have two cats, so cat-friendly people only please. I am female, 30-something, friendly and social, very chill. This place is for someone looking for an airy, light, sunny apartment in a very well-kept old East Village building. It’s on 4th street, which is a great block, and is a couple blocks from the F/V trains and a 10 minute walk from the L train. Lots of bars, restaurants, cafes, shops, etc if you don’t know the area, but also it is a quiet and lovely street. The apartment is in the back of the building so no street noise. It is super cute. Please get in touch if interested.

She's asking $1,350.

Interested?
E-mail:
rschlam@hotmail.com

[Update: By the way, this is legit... there's no punchline or Lady Gaga jokes here....]

2 Cooper Square looking for some "masculine, attractive, intelligent" Clive Owens types with kids — but, lordy, not kids who actually live with them!

Well, if you've been following along, then you seen our little 2 Cooper Square grow up right before eyes on Cooper Square at Fourth Street.... The 15-story rental-retail combo is coming along nicely....



Now! The difficult part. Getting people to move in. So we'd better get some sexy dude types to make us swoon... The casting call has gone out for the "2 Cooper Building Brochure and Web footage" project. An EV Grieve Reader and actor sent along the notice....



And the lead: Male / 40 to 50 / Caucasian

"Masculine, attractive, intelligent, a Javier Bardem or Clive Owen type occupation is not easily guessed, possibly has teenage kids who don't live with them"

They're also requesting submissions for extras from "New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico."

More floors for Seventh Street and Avenue D

In his Mixed Used column this week in The Villager, Patrick Hedlund reports that 91 Avenue D at the southwest corner of Seventh has sold for $1.32 million (or $443 per square foot!) ...

To the story:

The buyer purchased the 2,982-square-foot building, which features about 2,400 additional square feet of air rights, as an investment property and plans to construct additional floors, according to Phillip Huang, a senior associate at Massey Knakal.

"I think that those smaller deals are just getting a ton of interest now," he said, adding that the site, located on the fringes of the East Village next to large housing projects, generated about 10 offers in two months on the market.

And later:

With properties selling for "under a million and a half, $2 million, you get a lot of people who probably were looking at residential [units] and now they're looking at some cheaper buildings," Huang added.

Uh-huh.

Looks as if this block will be getting spruced up. The new home of the Lower Eastside Girls Club will be built on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Eighth Street. (This 12-story building -- a new development that will actually give something back to the neighborhood -- will include a community center and 72 apartments.) According to a recent column by Scoopy, the Girls Club will be breaking ground in April.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will Avenue D finally turn into Avenue C?

Meanwhile, before we christen Avenue D the next Greenpoint...

At 401 E. Eighth St. just a few steps off Avenue D, a new six-story apartment building was slated to go up in this lot...



However, the lot appears to be abandoned now... I haven't seen any activity here in months...




Shiming Tam Architects are listed with the DOB. A search of their site doesn't turn up any plans for this space.

And some photos of the lot from this past October...Because, dear reader, I enjoy nothing more than taking photos of empty lots.

Another million dollar A Building home back on the market

At the A Building, 425 E. 13th St., between Avenue A and First Avenue, another unit has hit the resale market. Yesterday, Corcoran listed unit 4C for $1.385 million.

According to the listing:

Feel like you're on vacation in this LUXURY Two Bedroom, Two Bath plus a BEDROOM SIZED Home Office and Terrace located in "The A Building". You are guaranteed to never be bored, In this full service building you have a 24 hour Doorman and Concierge, Engaging Rooftop Pool, a Health/Fitness center, Courtyard Garden and Floor to ceiling windows. Rooms are wired for internet and cable.

Apparently the previous owners got bored. The unit was originally sold in March 2008 for $1.27 million. You can see this unit for yourself during an open house Sunday noon to 3 p.m.



Hope that booze is still on display in the kitchen... (Whoa, did we just walk into a bachelor pad?!)



According to StreetEasy, there are six other active sales at the A Building, including the penthouse with the zebra skin rugs... Five of the units are resales. Aside from 4C, which was discussed above...

Unit -- Resale Asking Price
5A -- $1.47 million -- (sold in April 2008 for $1.275)
PH -- $2.1 million -- (sold in March 2008 for $2.05)
5N -- $920K -- (sold in May 2009 for $790k)
4B -- $795k -- (sold in March 2008 for $670k)