On sale, but not going out of business

Amaran, the home furnishings store on Avenue B at Seventh Street, seems to have been holding sales now for months and months... which leads to some speculation that the store is going out of business... which leads to their latest sales sign...




The store is NOT going out of business...

Sell phones

Back in February we wondered how long before the old red booths were removed at the now-shuttered Telephone Bar on Second Avenue...



Now East Village Feed (via Eater) has the answer... they were removed today as work on the new frat bar continues.... a reader said the booths will be sold at an auction.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ringing in the 13th Step: Old Telephone Bar will lose its Telephones

The Telephone Bar and Grill closing after 22 years

What's coming to The Telephone Bar space? Some fratty debauchery, perhaps

Going to the Shepard Fairey mural, and we're going to get married...

Oh my. In case you haven't seen this shot that Jill posted on Blah Blog Blah... On their wedding day, a couple apparently stopped to have photos taken in front of the illegal (maybe!) Shepard Fairey mural on Houston and the Bowery...



There's so much I want to know. Was this a planned stop? Or were they just motoring by in the Bride Mobile and spontaneously decided to combust stop? Or did the happy couple drive all over the city and have their photos taken in front of things, like the Kiss Mural outside Nice Guy Eddie's? (Now THAT is romantic!)

On a Sunday (Blah Blog Blah)

Look! Books! Real books!

Last month I told you that a used book store is opening at the former Etherea Records space on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Fourth Street...

When this place does open, I think a few skeptical people (not me, never!) expect to find a store with 3-4 fake books and 30 different kinds of draft beer or froyo or froram (frozen ramen, of course...)

But! Over the weekend, workers were busy putting up books on the shelves...



It is, indeed, a used book store... and, if all goes well, look for it to open this weekend.

Throwing punches outside Gem Spa

I usually don't pay much attention to that Boxer game here at Gem Spa on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place... it's usually hidden behind displays of hats and sunglasses during most of the times that I pass by...



But not always!




Is this really a good idea to let people get worked up and pay to throw some punches...? Or is this actually a good idea because any drunken aggression may be taken out on the machine? Dr. Grieve is now in session.

Looking for people who are experiencing noise from Lit Lounge

Last Thursday, I noted the steps that Lit Lounge is taking to become a better neighbor... And now the East Fifth Street Block Association has placed signs on Lit Lounge's neighbors on Second Avenue ...



As the sign notes: "Your cooperation will not just help yourself, but future tenants who will come in your wake."



Previously on EV Grieve:
How Lit Lounge is trying to be a better neighbor

Beachside at Pulino's

Life's a beach on the Bowery....



...and Pulino's has nudged a few tables further out on the sidewalk ...

Looking at 52E4's commercial space, and that cake no one ate

After the attempts to open The Bowery Bazaar/Boutiques on Bowery this past fall/winter... I'm curious what's next for the commercial space at 52E4, the 15 stories of condo on the Bowery near Fourth Street...

Last Thursday, there was some kind of one-day exhibit in the space... and no one apparently liked the Crayon cake... it was still sitting there a few days later...




Meanwhile, the big slab of commercial space on the third floor remains on the market for $2 million. Core listed the property back in January...



In case you're curious. Per the Core listing:

Commercial condo of 3,775 sf, comprising the entire third floor for sale at downtown's hottest address on the Bowery. Located beneath the residential 52 East 4th Street, which has won the Society of American Registered Architects 2008 Design Award, this space can be bought as a whole or several pieces. The commercial entrance is at 351 Bowery (between E 4th and E 3rd Street) with 43 feet of oversized glass frontage facing west and additional windows facing north. Private elevator and bathrooms provided. Available immediately. Neighbors include Whole Foods, The New Museum, Gemma, Patricia Fields, John Varvatos, The Box, The Bowery Hotel, The Cooper Square Hotel, Blue and Crea. [sic]

Do you get pool rights too?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Boutiques on Bowery likely not opening yesterday — or ever

Bar (temporary) closure sign shows flair for the dramatic

Here we are outside 2x4/Ambiance/Evolution on Second Avenue at Fourth Street... and why is the bar closed for a few days...?



"Our flair bartenders have entered a flair educational contest."

OK! We'll just continue on our way then...

Previously on EV Grieve:
At Evolution Lounge: Vodka martini, flipped, not stirred...

What's the buzz on East 10th Street?

In this apartment building on East 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, not everyone is thrilled about the new intercom system... activated via your cell phone or landline...

Police helicopter in action again

After last night's episode ...Several EV Grieve readers pinpointed the helicopter this evening to east of Avenue C and roughly a little south of Seventh Street...



We arrived to find a very low-flying helicopter... no word just yet on what or who they were looking for...



As EV Grieve reader Erin noted, "Last week a burglar came in through a 2nd floor window in our building on e 6th betw B & C. My neighbor screamed when she saw him, and he ran off. Some construction is being done on the ground floor, and the fire scape ladder had been extended down the ground - that's how I think he got up."


Previously on EV Grieve:
Rooftop burglar spotted on East 10th Street

There is NO ESCAPE

Looking north from Union Square on Park Avenue South... And white before Memorial Day? Tacky!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Breaking: Oh, God! No! No! NOOOOOOOO!

East Village eatery odd-n-ends: Roasted pig on Avenue C; snoop guard at Diablo Royale; orderly chairs at Village Pourhouse

Saturday saw Zum Schneider's annual May Day celebrating ...



...where people lined up on Avenue C and Seventh Street...



...to dine on swine...



The apparently shuttered Musical Box on Avenue B is giving away its couches...



Trash bags were up on the windows yesterday morning at the Cooper 35... Some students were inside filming, I was told by someone standing there... they were open as usual later...



Noted at Village Pourhouse on Third Avenue and 11th Street....



The coming soon Tallgrass Burger on First Avenue near 13th Street has posted its menu on the storefront...



The coming soon Diable Royale on Avenue A has put up snoop guards to ward off various bloggers and tipsters...



I have no idea what was happening here. However, as I learned in my Hyperlocal Blog Class, you always take photos of anything happening at Motorino on 12th Street...




I haven't been to the Holiday in months... since then they have added draft beer...



The owners of Ballarò Caffè Prosciutteria on Second Avenue prepped for their newly approved sidewalk cafe last week by repairing the big crack in the sidewalk out front ...




And for no reason, two photos of the Spring Lounge from last week... where Kate Hudson was holed up filming a scene for a movie that we will never see...

What brownstone lovers dream of, apparently

So here we are on Stuyvesant Street... where a one-bedroom unit at No. 46 is now on the market... a one-bedroom home marked at $1.4 million...



According to the Corcoran listing:

This house that dates from 1853 is located in one of Lower Manhattan's prettiest Landmarked Historic Districts where Stuyvesant Street meets East 10th Street overlooking St Mark's Church in the Bowerie, The Renwick Triangle and the Abe Lebewohl Triangle (garden). A truly special apartment in the only co-op on Stuyvesant Street. This handsome Anglo-Italianate town house is 33' wide. The Double Parlor and the English basement with pocket garden is just what brownstone lovers dream of...

The first open house was yesterday... You'll have to see the dream yourself on another day...

Update:

Ha, ha... a Curbed reader notices a little Photoshop magic on two of the photos in the listing... it has something to do with the lights... "Lights, Camera, Action at Historic East Village townhouse" (Curbed)

Tweet this: A classic urban etiquette sign outside Tom & Jerry's

Outside Tom & Jerry's on Elizabeth Street...




For further reading:
‘Where Everyone Knows Your Twitter Handle’ (The New York Times)

Pants up at the Glover Center

The campaign against baggy pants has been in the news of late... Meanwhile, a sign awaits visitors at the Andrew Glover Center on Avenue B between Seventh Street and Sixth Street....




Here's a little background on Andrew Glover. He was an NYPD officer gunned down during a routine check of a car double-parked on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B on Sept. 16, 1975. He was 34. Sgt. Frederick Reddy, 50, was also shot and killed. Time magazine has an outline of the manhunt for the killers.

Here's an excerpt from an Associated Press article on the shootings.

Deadheads: Rebranding East 10th Street

Along this rather deserted stretch of East 10th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue... realtors are using a summer-of-love-ish-approach to filling the recently renovated storefronts...





Previously on EV Grieve:
99X is closing