Mowing the Mystery Lot

I can't recall having ever seen workers actually working inside the beloved Mystery Lot here on 13th Street... I always figured someone quickly -- and magically! -- cut back the weeds around 5:40 a.m. on a Sunday... And here we are in broad daylight... Anyway, I'm not sure how these fellows got inside...the main gate appeared to be locked from the outside. More mystery!



I was yelling at them to get their attention... I wanted to go inside (legally!). But, for some reason, they didn't hear me...



Meanwhile! Someone tagged the back of the billboard thing here...



When will someone hit the front?



P.S.
The blue tarp was back up the other day...




Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation: That empty lot on 13th Street

Another view of the Mystery Lot

NOW what's going on with Superdive...?

The Keg Tapping Gang at Superdive appeared to be all set for this month's CB3/SLA meeting ... As Eater noted, "The Superdive space is on the docket, and apparently the new tenants want to change the size and location of the bar and add a kitchen."

But, as you can see, the "corp to be formed" part of this equation is now a scratch... (again... they have been a scratch the last few months...)



So, there are a lot of possible reasons for this scratch ... paperwork... the deal fell through... there was actually never a deal, etc. So maybe they'll remodel the space but not transfer the license...

Meanwhile, the We're open Friday and Saturday Nights/Yay! signs have been removed...

East Village eatery odds and ends: Opening the Ballarò sidewalk cafe; hiring at the Ninth Ward; looking at the Library's mirror in the bathroom

Ballarò Caffè Prosciutteria on Second Avenue between Fourth Street and Fifth Street now has their sidewalk cafe up and running...(the CB3/SLA approved it in April.)



...not sure about the couch, though...



26 Seats on Avenue B between 10th and 11th is on the CB3/SLA docket this month under the Alterations/Transfers/Upgrades ... to something called Paris Cuisine Inc.



A new fancy cocktail bar called Ninth Ward is opening on Second Avenue in the old Thai on Two place...from the people behind Shoolbred's across the way... Oh, and they're hiring now...



An espresso and wine bar is coming to the former Hala Pita space on Ninth Street near Avenue A...



Oh, I saw these T-shirts on sale on Mulberry...




Something new coming to the former Chabela's space at 40 Avenue B... to something called Little Printz Cafe LLC.



And East Village Feed reported: "The New York Film Academy Café will be continuously screening silent films on it’s new 65 inch television located on the outside of the Astor Place café." And you could see the TV in the window if there wasn't such a glare...and I wasn't, inexplicably, standing behind the tree...



And here's the smoking area...



The Bhakti Cafe is now open at 25 First Ave. ... (Well, it's not open for the day yet in this picture...)



Many places were closed on Memorial Day, but, oddly enough, Avenue A's brand-new Diablo Royale Este closed for the entire holiday weekend...



Hey, when did the Library get a mirror in the bathroom? (the one on the left.) Did I just not notice?



Hey, when did Katz's get that sandwiches sign? Did I just not notice? Too busy getting into shoving matches with those German tourists last time?

Lost: An orange, white and blue glass pin (head of a man)

I've been thinking about this handwritten note that I saw attached to a building on Ninth Street near First Avenue yesterday ...



The writing reminds of a relative on my mom's side of the family... I recall him being lonely and sad all the time. I recall that he made little circles to dot his i's. I thought he did that to try to cheer himself up. I'd like to know more about the lost pin. I thought about calling the number several times, but couldn't do it.

10th Street, 6:33 p.m., June 2

On the set of "Something Borrowed" at Renwick Triangle.

When the Dead Apple Tours limo dies

On Second Street and Avenue A tonight.

Noted

From The Wall Street Journal:

Condo prices, as measured by square foot, were down 14.9% in March compared with the same month a year ago. In fact, prices declined in seven of the eight neighborhoods tracked by Radar Logic. The biggest decline was on the Upper East Side, where average prices fell 28.8% to $925.93 a square foot. The only neighborhood that posted an increase in prices was the East Village/Lower East Side, where prices per square foot rose 1% to $903.64.

Your guide to the doomed corners of the Bowery

It's challenging to remember all the change coming to what's left of the Bowery... so, a recap, starting next to the New Museum...

1) Speaking of the New Museum, they bought the former restaurant supply company at 231 Bowery here back in September 2008 for $16.6 million, according to the Times. Museum officials said they'd use the top floors for offices and storage and lease out the groundfloor to retail...



2) The parcel of land across the street from the New Museum has nearly 67,000 square feet of buildable space -- six lots on the Bowery at Prince Street... and it has been on the market...the Bari family has owned the property since the 1940s...



3) Eater reported last week that a new restaurant is taking over part of the Sunshine Hotel annex at 245 Bowery at Stanton Street...



4) At 57 Bond at the Bowery (your "new intersection of cool")... the former WaMu bank branch can be yours for retail... Seems like a 1,000 years ago when a Sunoco was on this corner.



5) 325 Bowery at Second Street will become the latest manly-man eatery/bar from Taavo Somer and William Tigertt...



6) I don't know about the southwest corner of the Bowery and Great Jones... can't image this will be an empty lot for too much longer...



7) As I reported last week, the space is available immediately at 348-352 Bowery, which includes the corner lot...



8) The former Salvation Army East Village Residence at 347 Bowery was primed to become an upscale sushi place, but the Koi people decided against it... still for the taking...



9) And as it has been reported this week, 2 Cooper Square will have apartments for upwards of $20,000 a month.



Plus:

10) The White House at 338-340 Bowery is doomed... 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 is destined to become a hotel...

11) The former Amato Opera building is now taking offers for use as a restaurant...

12) 250 Bowery is a stalled hotel project that is now a hole in the ground... As BoweryBoogie put it: "A dormant pit of doom defined by overgrowth, rusty steel pylons, and errant trash."



13) How about the northwest corner of Houston and the Bowery where Shepard Fairey is getting tagged now? Jeremiah has more on the history (and future) of this space....

And this is just from Prince to Fourth Street... keep going south and you'll find more disturbing closures and developments... BoweryBoogie has been all over this...

Not even a new dickchicken on one of these corners makes me smile anymore...

How to sell the Bowery today

Here's the brochure for the retail space at 231 Bowery... I don't think it needs any narration from me...

The last days of the Downtown Auto and Tire?

As I mentioned, the whole parcel at 348-352 Bowery is up for grabs... the listing says this 800-square-feet of outdoor space is available... and that restaurants are welcome...

While on the Bowery, I figure it's time to start documenting Downtown Auto and Tire at Great Jones... oddly enough, I didn't see one person here while I took these shots... it was as if the workers had already been banished from the new Bowery...










I imagine the new neighbors here with westward-facing windows don't care much for this view...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Please meet the next corner of the Bowery primed for something luxurious