An eatery for nearly every corner on the Bowery

After seeing that 2 Cooper Square will likely one day be home to a restaurant in its retail space...



...it's time to look at the fledgling restaurant row here ... in which every corner has, or will have, a bar/restaurant...

Well, you could start at Houston with Pulino's on the corner...



...and, while DBGB, isn't technically on a corner, it is the next closest business to the corner...



...then you have Double Crown on the southwest corner of Bleecker...



with Think Coffee on the north side...



...there's the new Taavo Somer/William Tigertt diner on the northeast corner of Second Street...



...Sala next to the empty lot on Great Jones...



...and Gemma on the east side of the Bowery...



...it's just a matter of time before the former Salvation Army East Village Residence becomes a restaurant... (it almost became a sushi joint last summer...)



...And!... it's just a matter of time before Downtown Auto and Tire becomes a restaurant ... (it almost became a Segafredo Zanetti Espresso Café a few weeks back...)



...and, of course, Bbar and Grill here on Fourth Street across the way from 2 Cooper Square....



...and on the southeast corner of Fourth Street, there's Phebe's...



So! That's nine corner spots... with three on the way... one dozen spots for roughly four blocks...not to mention everything in between...such as the V Bar's new theater/restaurant combo action at the former Amato Opera...

The 'immense' work continues at St. Brigid's

A few weeks ago, I noted the ongoing work at St. Brigid's on Avenue B and Eighth Street... from my untrained eye, it appeard that the entire northside wall had been removed... I checked in with Edwin Torres, chairman of the Committee to Save St. Brigid's, for an update...



"The work going on is immense. The floor in the basement has not been poured yet ... but yes, the north wall was dismantled."



And as for a finish date: Work is currently scheduled to wrap up next summer.

Previously.

U-turn like this, and you'll likely be hit

Given some of the taxi tomfoolery I see (quick stops, illegal turns, etc., etc.), I'm surprised that I haven't encountered more scenes like this on Avenue A last night between Ninth and 10th streets...




Bob Arihood, on the beat one last time, captured the T-boned cab making an illegal u-turn... and getting popped by the other cab...

Looking at the Village Green condo pool table

Just off the lobby by the new gym Wellness Center here on 11th Street...




Figured an eco-indulgent building would have a pool table with ... green billiard cloth or Mali pool table felt.

Meanwhile, the lobby and pool table make an appearance in a new listing for a home here via Corcoran...

ConEd back on 11th Street; ditto for 10th Street

We recently noted that ConEd had wrapped up its work on First Avenue and 11th Street... and just like that, the steampipe is back ...




ConEd has also been working day and night on 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue....apparently there are (or were) a few buildings and other other assorted apartments without power...




Thanks to EV Grieve reader Blue Glass for these two photos...

Lethal weapons

Heh. Avenue A near 14th Street... (And a new "Expendables" poster has already replaced this one...)

Concerning a witness' tale

The following post was reported on and written by Bob Arihood. He also contributed the photos.



Sunday night we found a witness that was present when Markey was picked up by an ambulance . We will call this witness , known to this writer as G . G also made the call to 911 to get medical care for Markey and another passed out Russian individual known as Igor . G felt that Igor was in worse condition than Markey , thus when Markey was actually taken away it was mistakenly assumed that he was Russian. Because of this there was some considerable confusion that made it much more difficult to correctly identify Markey . Markey was taken in at Beth Israel hospital as a "John Doe" . What follows is G's recounting of Markey's last afternoon on 7th street and his removal to Beth Israel Hospital by ambulance .



G , a friend and drinking buddy of Markey, was walking west on 7th street near 226 east 7th street with another drinking buddy when he noticed Markey . G and his associate had been to the "Cobra" store . This store, just a short distance away at the corner of 7th street and avenue C, has the best prices on the cheapest of malt liquors — King Cobra Malt Liquor . Cobra is the favorite of many, including Markey . Many of Markey's friends walk this stretch of 7th street to and from this store all day long .



It was the hottest day of the year , the temperature was well beyond 100 degrees . G noticed that Markey , surrounded by numerous empty Cobra cans , was motionless and that a white froth was seeping past his parted lips. On this hot afternoon Markey was supine and motionless where the man , probably Igor , is seen in the picture below , not where Markey's little memorial is seen today . G nudged his leg and Markey mumbled a bit . Having no cell phone, G asked a man from the church across the street to call for an ambulance because he feared that both Igor and Markey were in trouble , drunken sick in the heat on this hottest of days . Assuming that the ambulance would arrive G went on his way .



30 minutes later G again passed by Markey who, when he again nudged him, was utterly unresponsive . No call had been made . G found a phone and made a call to 911 himself and the ambulance arrived in 4 or 5 minutes . The medical technicians worked on Markey at the scene for a long time and then took him to Beth Israel . G insisted that they take his possessions . The ambulance crew refused to take Markey's possessions with him to the hospital . Markey's possessions amounted to a backpack with his few personal effects including, most importantly, his writings . These possessions were fortunately all gathered together and taken by a friend who happened by chance to walk by .

Nothing that G witnessed at the scene indicated to him that Markey had been beaten or in anyway abused by anyone . G's conclusion is consistent with that of Markey's family , NYPD and the attending doctors at Beth Israel . Markey died of a head injury received when he fell and struck his head earlier that hottest of days this July of 2010 .

Markey's family also passed along the link to an online guest book for friends to sign.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

Reminders tonight: Community Garden Planning Meeting

Time: 7 PM
Location: ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St., between Clinton and Suffolk Streets, First Floor
Summary: The community gardens are up for review again and we need to come up with some strategies to save them.



From the meeting notice:

Throughout Times Up's! long history, we have always been educating the city about the benefits of community gardens. Our volunteers and supporters have continuously been involved with protecting, saving, maintaining and creating new ones.

Years ago, Time's Up! and the More Gardens coalition were working together diligently to protect gardens. In an important campaign at the Esperanza Community Garden on 7th Street, we were involved in a two month, 24 hour encampment, complete with lock downs, a working press team, and a legal team.

When the city decided to destroy the Esperanza Community Garden with backing from Donald Capoccia, a serial garden killer, on February 15th, 2000, Time's Up! and More Gardens had helped assemble over 100 people inside the garden. Dozens were locked to cement blocks and decorative towers.

In addition to the lock downs, garden activists sought the help of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to save the garden. As the garden was being threatened, the activists working with Spitzer rushed this case to Justice Richard D. Huttner of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. As Huttner was ruling, the city went ahead anyway and demolished Esperanza Gardens.

With news of the destruction reaching court, Huttner awarded temporary restraining orders and his ruling blocked the city from moving against 174 lots until the court was to meet again in a month. Although we lost the Esperanza Garden, the campaign was successful as we heightened the awareness and importance to save all of the gardens that were on the citys auctioning block. The number of lots that received restraining orders was increased to up to 200 more with the 2002 Spitzer Agreement.

Unfortunately, this temporary restraining order is up for review this year. Lets work together with the community and protect these gardens for good!

And here is a news release on the matter.

2 Cooper will have retail and restaurants, probably

But of course! According to the RKF site, up to 22,764 square feet of retail/restaurant space is available. And the new tenants can take possession of the space in September, the site notes.



And if you're a floor-plan junkie, then you're in luck! There are plenty of floor plans!






The west side of the Bowery falls under CB2's jurisdiction... so they'll be the ones wrestling with another liquor license along this stretch.

Will Stable Court become a reality?

If you look at the retail plans on the RKF site for 2 Cooper Square, then you'll notice the inclusion of Stable Court...



According to the indispensable Forgotten NY,

Stable Court is one of those "only-on-maps" streets. Many maps show Stable Court on the west side of Cooper Square just north of East 4th Street.

No court is immediately apparent. But...

...a driveway alongside the brick building that harbors the Village Voice offices goes west, then north, just like the maps say Stable Court does. So, maybe Stable Court isn't just fiction after all.

Just south of Stable Court, or where it's supposed to be, stands the Old Merchant's House Museum, in which a colonial-era town house owned and occupied by the Tredwell family for centuries is maintained in the style of the 19th Century.

So will there actually be a court/street/alley here?

As you can see, there is a gap between 2 Cooper and the Kaplan Building...




And Stable Court flows into the empty lot between 2 Cooper and the Merchant House...




I'm very curious to see what becomes of this lot... and of Stable Court...

Store for rent in the Copper Building

2 Cooper Square isn't the only new East Village condo that will feature retail space... "store for rent" signs have now gone at the Copper Building on Avenue B at 13th Street...




No info just yet on pricing and what not for the space... the original listing didn't mention anything about retail space...

EV Eatery Etc.: Dutch gin on Second Avenue; iPad at Butter Lane

Here at the former Bounce Deuce space on Second Avenue and Sixth Street...someone sunk a fortune into renovating the space... Per Diner's Journal in the Times:

With interest in the ancient Dutch style of gin known as genever growing in cocktail circles, it was only a matter of time before a genever bar opened in New York. Vandaag, near the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street in the East Village, will be the first when it has its soft opening on Tuesday.

As I noted in the spring, a pizza joint was taking over the former Cafe Brama space... Eater has the story of Plum here.



Cafe Hanover in the old Mondo Kim's space is still closed...



Life Cafe reopened this past Thursday after a temporary closure for renovations....



A reader passed along a photo of the iPad in Butter Lane where you can look at cupcakes and stuff. Do with this information as you please.

The grass is always greener on Second Avenue

NYC the Blog reported Friday that a pot plant was found growing here in the wild... Sure, you can click on the NYC the Blog link to find out for yourself where this might be, but I will not be the one to tell you it's on Second Avenue near First Street. No, that wouldn't be the right thing to do. As for looking for it myself, I can neither confirm nor deny that.

Anyway! As NYC the Blog wrote: Is this a public art project meant as wry commentary on how New York City is going to pot?

Gate down at Superdive this weekend

In the 13 months that Superdive has been open here on Avenue A, this is the first time that I've ever seen the gate down. I dialed up their phone number too, maybe order a keg or something. And I got a message saying that this "was not a working number" and to check the number again... I did, via their website...

So what's this mean? Nothing, really... probably just decided to close for the slow summer weekend... and they have a new phone number that they haven't made public yet...

Also on Avenue A: Forbidden City remains closed

Thanks to the reader for this shot... Forbidden City has been closed of late... given the number of complaints levied against the bar/restaurant/club, the CB3/SLA denied their liquor license renewal last month...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Forbidden City's renewal denied

Rock

Oh, just noticed that an exterior sign for Billy Hurricane's on Avenue B is up...Far as I know the bar isn't open just yet...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Whatever happened to simple bar names...concepts?

[Updated] Markey Hayden Bena, 1956-2010

We received the sad news this weekend that Markey Hayden Bena has died.


[Markey, (center) here with Slum Goddess and Johnny "Crutch"]

There are many rumors circulating about what may have happened to Markey. Some basic facts: He was found unconscious several days ago on Seventh Street. He never regained consciousness and died later at a hospital. In an e-mail to Bob Arihood, Markey's aunt said that there was only one mark on his head, which resulted from a fall onto the sidewalk grating. According to his aunt, the NYPD investigated the incident and concluded that he simply fell and hit his head. (Markey was prone to falling down, particularly when he had a few too many drinks.)

As for rumors, followers of Bob's Neither More Nor Less will recall several violent incidents in the past in which Markey had been attacked and beaten by a group of young males. (The first post on this topic was dated May 15, 2009.) In Bob's estimation, Markey had been attacked and beaten five times in the past year. Yesterday, on the hottest day of the year, there was talk in Tompkins Square Park that Markey had been pummeled by baseball-bat-wielding thugs and other scenarios that we'll refrain from circulating.

Regardless, while it's possible that something more happened here, the facts presented to Markey's family show that he died as a result from a fall. So until some further evidence is produced...

Markey was a friend to many people... and the neighborhood has lost another fixture.

Friday night, some of Markey's friends scrapped together enough money to drink to him with 17 King Cobras and a PBR. Friends have erected a memorial for Markey at 224E. Seventh St. near Avenue C.



Updated: A reader said detectives were in Tompkins Square Park this morning asking questions about Markey...

Melanie has a nice photo of Markey in the Park from this past March...

There is family memorial planned for:
Saturday, Sept. 11 at 5 p.m.
Andrett Funeral home, 353 2nd Avenue (at 20th Street)

Thanks to Bob Arihood for the two photos and assistance in gathering the facts for this post.