Monday, May 17, 2010

The remaining piece of urban archeology at 24 Avenue A

On Friday afternoon, EV Grieve reader Paul Dougherty (check out some of his NYC-centric films here) captured a little bit of urban archeology under the former sign of Graceland on Avenue A at Second Street... As he says, the sign shows some of the old neighborhood when Avenue A was the baby-nursery furniture district... (BaHa snapped some photos too earlier last week.)



However, by Sunday, all traces of the ghost signage had been removed by workers....





The space now just sits and awaits its fate.

Previously on EV Grieve:
"All uses considered" at former Graceland

More here.

How was your weekend Shepard Fairey mural?

Just a recap...

Before!


Saturday morning!


Plus!
Paul Richard puts up a larger sign on Shepard Fairey's mural

Is the Shepard Fairey mural snatching babies now?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Historic bombing on the Shepard Fairey mural

Who's the landlord for the strip of stores that caught fire last week?



After the three-alarm fire wiped out the businesses on 14th Street and Avenue A, some residents began speculating about what might happen to the prime block of East Village real estate... The area here also falls outside the East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning ...

A reader says that the same crew who was doing work at Pete's-A-Place, where the fire started, has also been working on renovating Apt. #12 at 542 E. 14th St. at Avenue B. However, there are no permits on file with the DOB for this address.

According to the reader, the DOB has tried to get access to Apt. 12 without success. The workers allegedly don't answer the buzzer or door. There have been six complaints filed with the city since April about this unit. Among other things, the complaints include that the construction in the unit is causing the entire building to shake.

The 542 E. 14th St. building has had problems in the past... In August 2007, Curbed noted that workers ripped out the entire kitchen and bathroom in one unit and left a 12' x 6' hole in the floor in which the tenant could see into the apartment below.

Empire Properties owns 542 E. 14th St. as well as most of the rest of the block, including the fire-stricken businesses. Empire's holding company is the infamous Solil Management, which is the estate of famed real-estate investor Sol Goldman.

[Photo by EV Grieve reader Sergey]

Missing the Stuyvesant Grocery; plus Permacut relocates

This weekend, the fire-ravaged buildings remained shuttered on 14th Street and Avenue A after the three-alarm fire last week ... I didn't see any activity...



...though a fan of the grocery left a note...



Meanwhile, the folks at Permacut quickly relocated...good news. (Jeremiah had a great post on the Permacut sign last Thursday.)





Also, well, I don't know much about gut renovations... but this looks rather hopeless to me... fueling more speculation that this block will be razed.




Again, this is only speculation made by a few longtime residents... We all hope the business owners are able to rebuild here.

All fire coverage here.

East Village eatery odds-n-ends: French Creperie coming to St. Mark's; Rico getting evicted; people standing in line at Pulino's

Absinthe wine bar closed on First Avenue near Seventh Street back in November... the place became Lautrec Bistro.... now that place has closed... a new cafe is hoping to transfer the license here tonight during the CB3/SLA meeting... the new owners want to operate the garden... which has caused problems in the past...



As BoweryBoogie noted Friday, Pulino's finally outed its sidewalk cafe... and there were lines (and bare feet!)...



Officials served Rico, the hookah joint on Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street, with an eviction notice... (They closed once and reopened about two months later back in 2008.)




Signs for a French Creperie have gone up on St. Mark's Place next to the Hop Devil Grill... replacing the boitique that closed here...




Workers removed the plywood at the Pita Pan Sports Grill on Second Avenue and Sixth Street...



And, I have no idea when this happened, but the McDonald's on 14th Street near First Avenue has a walk-up window now...

More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Last week, Curbed noted the ongoing tenant meetings at the doomed White House (or Whitehouse) on the Bowery... The four-story building erected in 1916 now serves as a hostel as well as a permanent home for a handful of low-income residents... it's destined to become a hotel...

More meeting signs are up for the remaining tenants... and if the photos weren't so blurry, you'd be able to read that the meeting includes an update on preservation efforts ...



Plus, the tenants' attorney has gotten the landlord to OK exterminating for bed bugs. How humane of the landlord. They had to get an attorney to lobby for decent living conditions?



Meanwhile, I was thinking, what if this place shutters... and the sidewalk shed eventually is taken down... How will the Subway next door advertise?



Cosmic Cantina is closing

NYU fave Cosmic Cantina on Third Avenue near 13th Street...



is moving on in June, as the sign says...

(Updated) A Penny Farthing for your thoughts

[Apologies for that headline!] Next door to Cosmic Cantina we have Penny Farthing (named for an old-timey bicycle) in the former Cafe DeVille space looking very ready for action...





As Grub Street reported, it will have a "very industrial but comfortable atmosphere" courtesy of the folks behind Phebe's. How many times did someone proofread those signs to make sure that no one wrote Penny Farting?

The signs went up on Friday... and I spotted a bread delivery out front on Sunday morning... perhaps Opening Day is imminent.



Eater reports that Penny Farting opens tonight... and they'll be serving Appletinis and stuff.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's Penny-farthing on Third Avenue, not a sports bar

At the former Cafe DeVille, the black plastic goes up, the dead potted plants go out

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Is the Shepard Fairey mural snatching babies now?

A new addition next to the Shepard Fairey mural

Noted



Previously on EV Grieve:
The challenges of making the Sex and the City sequel "recession-friendly"

Street fair!

Third Avenue north of 14th Street...


The Smurfs are coming back to the East Village! The Smurfs are coming back to the East Village! The Smurfs are coming back to the East Village!

On Monday, May 24. Thanks for the heads up so that I have time to make more of these!




We hear that the storylines will include... Gutsy Smurf walking into Nevada Smith's on Day 1 of the World Cup and asking if they'll turn on the replay of the previous evening's Mets game... Smurfette getting drunk and talking louder and faster whenever she steps outside Heathers for a cigarette break ... and Grouchy Smurf starting a blog...


Previously on EV Grieve:
A lot of fuss to watch Neil Patrick Harris exit a cab for 10 seconds

Exclusive: The Smurfs show their immature side while filming in the East Village

Exclusive first look at "The Smurfs Movie" filming today in the East Village

Day 3 of the Ukrainian Festival






Saturday, May 15, 2010

Paul Richard puts up a larger sign on Shepard Fairey's mural

On Monday, we posted a video of Paul Richard hanging a sign on Shepard Fairey's Bowery/Houston mural... the sign was quickly removed...

And this past week Paul Richard put up another, larger sign, as you'll see here...



That, too, has been removed...

Historic bombing on the Shepard Fairey mural

Epic.







Jeremiah has the history of the wall here ... he also posted the first reports of the mural being defaced back in April...

Ukrainian Festival is under way

As of yesterday... and today and tomorrow...