14th Street, 6:19 p.m., May 12

Stuyvesant Grocery is destroyed

A little after 6 tonight, workers were taking apart the fire-ravaged Stuyvesant Grocery on 14th Street at Avenue A after today's three-alarm fire...





The tree near the store on Avenue A also had to be chopped down to battle the blaze.




Previously.

14th Street fire video

Video by Liberation Iannillo.

(Via BoweryBoogie)

Firefighters also made sure pets were safe from fire

Our friend Cat Sitter in the City posted the following story (and photo credit to Cat Sitter's friend Pauline...)

I saw a few people out on Avenue A clinging to their cats, including the nice guy above, who told me that he lived in an apartment building that was evacuated for fear that it might also catch on fire. The firemen made sure to save any animals that were in the building, he noted, including his handsome cat Gus Roberts.

More on the fire that engulfed the corner of 14th Street and Avenue A here.

Read Cat Sitter here.

(Updated 3:23) Stuyvesant Grocery after the fire

From the Post:

Essa Assabahi, 29, who works at Stuyvesant Convenience, watched from across the street as the shop burned.
"That's my job right there," he said. "Now I'm unemployed."

DNAinfo noted that the smell from the flames reached SoHo.

Photo by Sergey.

Blarney Cove survives the fire

And who knew that the Blarney Cove had a Twitter account? @blarneycove

The Blarney Cove is open!

And despite the fire a few storefronts away.... I called and they said everyone's fine and they were open for business. And patrons could be heard in the background to prove it....




[File photos]

(Updated 12:57) After the fire: No injuries reported

Still no injuries have been reported.

Now from NY1:

Firefighters from about five ladder companies are still working to contain a blaze on East 14th Street near Avenue A. The fire broke out just after 10 a.m. on the roof of a one-story building and became three alarms about an hour later.

At least four businesses including a pizza restaurant, a convenience store, a hair salon and a Jackson Hewitt tax preparation office were damaged in the fire.

No serious injuries were reported.

The owner of the 24-hour convenience store said he smelled smoke and heard commotion next door at Pete's-A-Place pizzeria, where workers were making renovations, and ran over to help put out the fire.

"At first when I smelled the smoke I thought it was a small fire so I could help with that one. I could really stop the fire," said the convenience store owner. "But when we went upstairs, the flames were very, very big, very intense."

There is no word yet on what caused the fire.

Streets in the area of the fire have been temporarily closed.

Photo via Sergey.

Update from the scene

Per a reader: "I don't think anyone was harmed, fortunately. The fire started in Pete's-a-Place and spread — flames were shooting up from the roof. I talked to the son of the grocery store owner and he said everyone was okay. The firemen broke out the windows of the grocery store, tax place, pizza place, and hair salon and sprayed water in the stores as well as on the roof. I think it's under control now."

Photo courtesty again of Sergey.

"The fire is gone, as well as the roof from the deli"

Per Sergey: "The fire is gone, as well as the roof from the deli."

Fire update

Per a reader: "The main damage seems to be to the Stuyvesant deli, Pete's-A-Place and Jackson Hewitt."

On 14th Street and Avenue A.

Breaking: Fire getting under control at 14th Street and Avenue A

Per Sergey on the scene: "I think it's going to be over soon. There is less black smoke coming out."

Breaking: Firefighters battling to keep fire under control at 14th Street and Avenue A

More up-to-the-minutes photos from Sergey.

Breaking: Fire on 14th Street and Avenue A

Many thanks to EV Grieve reader Sergey for these on-the-scene photos of a fire that appears to have started near Stuyvesant Market on Avenue A and 14th Street. More to come.

Butta late than never: Avenue C coffee shop finally opens

After a long saga ... including past due rent and a seizure... EV Grieve reader DianeB sends along the photo with word that Bread and Butta on Avenue C near 11th Street is finally opening this morning...



P.S.
With apologies to BaHa for that headline.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Bread and Butta is hiring

Community center and supportive housing coming to East Ninth Street

During the CB3 Zoning Committee meeting Monday night, board members received an update on the community center and supportive housing that's coming to 710 E. Ninth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D... to the Henry Street Settlement Day Care #3 building...



The project includes a community facility space on the ground floor and in the basement... the upper levels will house 46 units (28 studios and 12 one-bedroom apartments). According to the community presenters, the housing will serve homeless young adults and young adults aging out of the foster care system. An additional 12 units will be set aside for young single adults with a child.

The project is a joint venture among Phipps Houses ... University Settlement/The Door ... and Loisaida, Inc. SLCE Architects created the plans...

No word yet on a start date for renovation of the building, which was erected in 1876. Currently across the street, work continues on the Dona Petra Santiago Apartments. Plans call for an eight-story, 57-unit facility for seniors.

"All uses considered" at former Graceland

Thanks to EV Grieve reader BaHa for these photos from yesterday afternoon outside the former Graceland on Avenue A and Second Street... workers removed all of the former Graceland canopy...




and new "for rent" signs are up...



Workers told Graceland regulars before closing that another grocery was taking the place here... that doesn't necessarily appear to be the case... here's the listing... it's going for $115 a square foot... anyone have high hopes that something good for the neighborhood will take this place...?



Yeah, me neither.

Your chance to "escape from the world" on East 12th Street

Over here at 407 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, there's a new listing for a condo penthouse for the terrace lover in you. (And you.) Sure, I could talk it up, but let's have the listing do that...

CONDO PENTHOUSE WITH 2 TERRACES
This very special triplex home with 2 private terraces includes a large planted roof terrace and is an oasis in the heart of the East Village. Enter into a large living room/dining room combination with a modern galley kitchen and a powder room. A dramatic staircase with double height ceilings leads you to the second floor Master that contains a separate sitting room, private bath and the first terrace. Continue on to the third level to the second bedroom with an additional loft suitable for storage or sleeping, and another full bath. From here you can enter your very private roof deck with electricity and water, a wonderful space for entertaining or as an escape from the world. The apartment has a north/west exposure with wonderful light and skyline views and a top of the line full size washer and dryer.

And here it is...







Two terraces equals two raging keggers at a time! But the price is a little more on the champagne side: $1.299 million.

NYU's "secondary displacement" effect on the East Village

Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo also covered Monday night's CB3 Zoning Committee meeting in which NYU present their Invasion Expansion 2031 plan...

These points from the meeting are worth noting from his coverage:

The number of students living in the East Village, whether in NYU dormitories or rental apartments, has proved to be the most contentious aspect of the college's increased presence in the neighborhood.

Furthermore, committee members explained, the waves of upperclassmen that often choose to rent apartments in the East Village lead to the "secondary displacement" of longtime area tenants.

Previously on EV Grieve:
NYU's expansion plan for the East Village

Lights on for the new B&H sign

The other day, we noticed workers tinkering around with the new B&H sign on Second Avenue...



...turns out they were just installing new lights on the sign...



And the green is growing on me (so to speak).

Previously on EV Grieve:
An unscientific survey! What you had to say about the B&H sign

Previously.