Ode to the Mystery Lot

An inspired (and anonymous) reader sent this along...

O Mystery Lot!

Home to dead bodies
But also morning glories

Used by some as a dumpster
But also bore a fabulous monster

Full of contradiction
Don't let us lose you to construction!

Think you can do better? We'd like to hear it. Or at least read it. In the comments... or via gmail...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Mystery Lot likely facing a luxurious end

Before it was the Mystery Lot

Wednesday afternoon, The Real Deal reported that developer Charles Blaichman bought the long-vacant Mystery Lot on East 14th Street for $33.2 million.

Seems like a good time to repost an earlier item about the lot's former tenant — The Jefferson Theater. Per Cinema Treasures:

The old Jefferson Theatre opened in 1913 as a B.F. Keith’s vaudeville theater in what is now known as the edge of the East Village. Later the RKO Jefferson, this theater was located at 214 E. 14th Street near Third Avenue. The entrance was a narrow space between two tenement houses with the bulk of the theatre (auditorium) located in 13th Street. The Jefferson operated at least into the 1970’s and was demolished in 2000. Today, the site is filled with bricks and debris from the demolition and the old Jefferson as passed on.

And a few photos of the theater through the years...

[Undated photo by tkmonaghan via Cinema Treasures]

[Undated photo via]

[From 1986. By kencmcintyre via Cinema Treasures]

[Top two photos via Warren G. Harris via Cinema Treasures]

[April 2011 from 13th Street]

Jeremiah has a good bit of Jefferson history here.

Parting thoughts on the 'Labbers' — or 'Blabbers' — on East First Street

Yesterday, EV Grieve reader CLAJR left this comment on our BMW Guggenheim toilet post... the comment/essay deserves its own post...

Thought folks might be interested in this, which I wrote in August.

The presence of BMW Guggenheim Lab on my block has me asking a lot of questions about the role of corporate foundations in policy development.

Predictably, Labbers insist their corporate patron is enlightened, unselfish, benign. In my experience, corporate philanthropic activity is always closely aligned with business interests. Cultural and academic institutions have been colonized by corporate money in a way that makes it hard to view them as independent agents in service to the public good. Or have I just been reading too much Chris Hedges, watching too much Inside Job?

One Labber told me that as a European, she was familiar with public distaste for corporate sponsorship. She patiently explained that, while in many European countries the state supported the arts and culture, it was because Europe lacked a "culture of philanthropy," like the one we have in the U.S. She argued that private patronage of the arts was an age-old practice (I think the Medicis were mentioned), and that there is "good" corporate sponsorship and "bad" corporate sponsorship. Presumably, McDonalds and KFC (whose logos were ubiquitous in the film shown last Thursday, Jem Cohen's "Chain") are "bad" and BMW is "good." This looks like plain old luxury branding to me. In fact, the Guggenheim itself could be considered an upmarket chain.

And it wouldn't be such a huge problem if, say, BMW helped to pay for the production of a film series or a music festival that was open to the public. But the BMW Guggenheim Lab purportedly exists to explore solutions to some of the biggest challenges our society faces: basic resource and infrastructure use, political use of public space, how to prevent cities from being "segrified" (a BMW/Gugg neologism I believe is meant to include both the ideas of gentrification and segregation).

The BMW Guggenheim Lab defines itself is "Part urban think tank, part community center and public gathering space" Do we really believe that a privileged class of PhD candidates in the pay of a luxury carmaker are the best heads to put together on these problems? And do we really believe that this is a "community center," when the reality is that BMW Guggenheim bought their way into our community by paying to get rid of the rats that had long made the site uninhabitable (residents had no success over 20 years in raising money to do so.) Talk about privatization of basic services!

Judging from the academic jargon spoken here, the "community" being addressed is the international "creative class," whose interests may not be directly aligned with those of our local community, or in fact, 88% of the world. I hear no Spanish. I hear no Chinese. I barely hear English, I mostly here Academ-ese.

The Labbers (or as I like to think of them, Blabbers) seem impatient with criticism about corporate branding and sponsorship, rolling their eyes when another old codger from First St. rails against the corporate takeover. Most denizens of the East Village these days are merely looking for more edgy cultural experiences or products, and they seem to become as quickly bored with BMW Guggenheim Blab as I do. But the good folks of Berlin may give them more hell. I hope so.

Exclusive first look inside the Bowery 7-Eleven

Well, it's only exclusive if you don't stop and peek over the brown paper covering part of the windows here at the 7-Eleven coming to the retail space of John Legend's former residence...

Anyway!

Woo?

Former Mosaic Cafe for rent on Avenue C

The Mosaic Cafe on Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street closed last month... The for rent signs earlier went up earlier this week...

Co-owner Rachel Fuchs told us last month that "business was going well. Unfortunately, we had to close due to issues with the landlord."

Stalled 180 Ludlow now apparently much brighter at night

A reader asks, "Any idea what's happening at The Ludlow construction site? Lots of new lights put up in the last day or so."

Well, the amazingly stalled 180 Ludlow project is a little outside our usual coverage zone. But! We walked by last night... and there do seem to be more lights... Yes? No? Maybe?

Perhaps for a Haunted Work Site this Halloween season? (We wish! Sounds so unsafe!)

Anyway, for more about the ongoing saga here (hotel! rentals! hotel again!) you can catch up at BoweryBoogie and The Lo-Down.

And now, a photo of a rat climbing a tree in Tompkins Square Park

Today they're climbing a tree, tomorrow, they'll be driving the M14A.

By Bobby Williams.

Toasties is toast on Union Square

NYU Local reports this morning that Toasties, a favorite food-beverage stop among the construction worker and hungover NYU student set, has closed. The Marshal has seized the always-serviceable deli with sidewalk cafe on Union Square West near 15th Street. Apparently they haven't been making the rent with their landlord, NYU.

NYU spokesperson John Beckman told the NYU Local that:

"Toasties now owes NYU the equivalent of about 8 months of back rent, some $200,000. Over the course of the last three years, we have met with the owners several times, made significant efforts at being accommodating, and worked out a series of payment plans; each time, the owner agreed to the plans and ultimately failed to live up them."

$200,000? That's a lot of Sgt. Sweet Pepper Combos.

[Image via New York]

Breaking: BMW Guggenheim Lab ready to remove the toilets

Photo this morning via EV Grieve reader Steve Carter... and why not just leave them for the weekend (and Thursday night and...) party crowd?

Dinner at the East Village IHOP

We've talked enough about the outside of the new IHOP on East 14th Street. So it only seemed fair to go inside the place. We waited several weeks after the grand opening to allow the kitchen time to work out any kinks. Or something.

By Lux Living

After my incredibly popular review of the new lesbian Phoenix, Grieve put me on desk duty. [Editor's note: I did?] Only recently has he decided to wean me back onto the Internet with such high-brow assignments as reviewing new ATMs, public storage units, and the much talked about IHOP on 14th Street.

Knowing that self-induced, explosive diarrhea is more fun with a partner, I begged Marty to join me on this trip into suburban enemy territory. We met at the Blarney Cove and, after a few cocktails with a peg-legged mute named Muttly, we were off.

The new IHOP has all the ambiance of a check cashing joint on 23rd Street. If they ever hope to succeed in making this place a “late night destination for hipsters” their PR people dream of, the first thing they need to do is adjust the stadium lighting. On top of the overall retinal bleaching, each booth has its own interrogation light bulb dangling between you and your dining companion.

It was so bright I could see the back of Marty’s eyes. If you pop in here for a bite to eat after some late night drinking but before some late night fucking, forget it. All bets are off. Nobody looks good in here.

The menu is a West Virginian’s dream come true that includes Country Fried Steak, Thick-Cut Bone-In Ham Dinner, and a wide variety of burgers all of which come with bacon. Lots of bacon. The only saving grace to this health care crisis menu is the calorie count listed next to each item so the choice of how fast or slow you’d like to die from coronary disease is all yours. Onion rings are a mere 1,250 calories BTW.

We started with an order Monster Mozza Sticks which came so lukewarm the cheese was like white tar.

I ordered the Philly Cheese Steak AKA Steak-Ums on a buttered mini sub roll with onion rings. Opting for the slow death, I ate only two of the onion rings. After getting management’s permission to order from the kids menu, Marty treated himself to a large pancake that came with all the fixings to draw a face on it – strawberries, bananas, whipped cream and yogurt in a tube. His meal was far more engaging than my butter soaked white trash delicacy.

And then there were the bathrooms. Single occupancy for men. Single occupancy for women. Have fun with that late-night disaster in the making.

The one thing this place has going for it is they have the most courteous staff I have experienced in a casual dining spot of this caliber. Our waitress, April, was incredibly friendly. She entertained our numerous questions about the stupid menu, didn’t yell at me for taking random photos of the syrup, and was kind enough to ask the management if we could order from the kids menu. She checked in on us several times and we tipped her generously for putting up with our shenanigans.

Bottom line, eat at a real restaurant people.

But look! On the way home we ran into Lady Gaga!

Marty wrote about the experience here.

This is what Time Warner Cable's recent East Village meltdown looked like

Remember back on Oct. 6, when a good chunk of the East Village/Lower East Side was without Time Warner Cable/Road Runner service?

OK, you don't have to swear.

Anyway, there's a post on at the Time Warner Cable Untangled blog.

TWC's director of digital communications, Jeff Simmermon, walks us through what happened... and how much of a mess it is to quickly repair... He starts by posting a photo of what you typically see under an NYC manhole (no snickering!), namely a mass of unmarked cables that belong to everyone from Time Warner to Verizon to RCN...

Here is the area where the fire happened that knocked out our service... the fire melted their fiber-optic cable...

...and here's an upclose look at the affected fiber cable...

This is what a healthy (unmelted!) fiber-optic cable looks like...

...and here's the cable after the Oct. 6 fire...

Per Simmermon: "It took the better part of the day to identify the problem, dig in, seperate the cable out and splice in a new piece of fiber-optic cable. Each of those hair-width fibers has to be reconnected to precisely the correct wire, or else the whole thing doesn’t work. Imagine re-connecting a severed ponytail and you’ve got the basic idea."

Oh, and the stuff in the top photos that look like remnants from a wig? Insulation for some of Verizon's cable.

All photos via Untangled. Thanks to EV Grieve reader Creature for the link.

Christodora apartment on market for first time in 17 years

Well, here's a one-bedroom home in the Christodora House on Avenue B that's new to the market. It's starting price: $1,150,000.

Here's the description at Halstead:

Own one of the most unique units at The Christodora House. This One Bed One Bath Loft-Style Space has been off the market for 17 Years! Enter and enjoy the High ceiling and the Private Terrace of 165 Sqft, French doors lead into the Bedroom with a wall of closets, to the left step down into the Sunken Living room which leads to the Separate Kitchen, full Bathroom and above then over 100 Sqft of storage space. Hard Wood Floors grace the Serene Space, enjoy coffee or catch some rays on the re-appointed Terrace.

Uh-huh. And photos...

There's an open house Sunday at noon and Monday at 5 p.m. And we really don't have anything else to say about this.

So who has eaten at Ko-Z noodle shop on East Sixth Street?

Well, we missed this one...

Turns out that the tiny Thai eatery between Avenue A and Avenue B has been open for more than a month.... Has anyone tried it?

Dreams of new development on East Second Street trashed

Please hold your booing until the end of the post.

Is that a Ramy Issac addition on the top?

At the memorial for slain teen on East Ninth Street

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Early Sunday morning, someone shot 17-year-old Keith Salgado outside the Campos Plaza on East 12th Street near Avenue C. He later died from his wounds at Bellevue Hospital.

A memorial created by loved ones remains in front of his home on East Ninth Street near Avenue C.

Tonight, Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo reports that police are closing in on a suspect in the shooting.

Breaking: The Mystery Lot likely facing a luxurious end

Oh no!

The Real Deal is reporting this afternoon that developer Charles Blaichman has purchased the long-vacant Mystery Lot on East 14th Street for $33.2 million. Among other projects, Blaichman teamed with Jay-Z for a boutique hotel/development deal near the High Line that eventually imploded.

Excuse us: We need a minute to compose ourselves.

Previous Mystery Lot coverage here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Outside Cooper Union yesterday, by Bobby Williams]

Remembering teen gunned down on East 12th Street (DNAinfo)

Is there a rat or parent problem in Tompkins Square Park? (Save the Lower East Side!)

Photos and video from Occupy Times Square (Slum Goddess)

Goggla has more photos too (The Gog Log)

Another go for Ruby's on the Coney Island board walk? (Eater)

Will the Harry Chong letters live to see another tenant? (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

A review of prime & Beyond on East 10th Street (The New York Times)

Q-and-A with the drummer of A Place to Bury Strangers, who is also one of the people behind the new No Fun on Ludlow Street (Fork in the Road)

A Place to Bury Strangers musical interlude...



Drinks at Sardi's (Marty After Dark)

Frank Prisinzano's Sauce shows itself (BoweryBowery)

Would you sit on a retractable balcony? (Brick Underground)

Shots fired on Rivington Street last night (The Lo-Down)

The Best of New York 2011 issue (The Village Voice)

The best NYC greasy spoons (New York Post)

The most affordable thing now at 110 Third Ave. is the $199,000 rooftop cabana

Yes, that's right ... right over here at 110 Third Ave. near 14th Street.

Here's the Corcoran listing:

"Private roof cabana – 479 square feet. Stunning views of downtown, the river and the Manhattan skyline."

And here it is... what you get for $199,000:

One catch: It's only available for purchase with apartment 18C. (Or if you happen to already live at 110 Third Ave.) And 18C is going for $2.499 million.

Protest at 515 E. Fifth St. this morning, site of Ben Shaoul's illegal addition

In November 2008, the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) ruled that one-story additions to 515 E. Fifth St. and 514-516 E. Sixth St. are illegal and should be removed. As the Post reported at the time, "the BSA's ruling returns the entire matter to the Buildings Department, which could require removal of the added occupied floor on East 5th Street and the one now under construction on East 6th Street." (The Villager reported on the story here.)

Ben "Sledgehammer" Shaoul's Magnum Management is behind the enlargements, as Curbed pointed out.

In any event, we've sort of forgotten about all this... Of course, the tenants of 515, who have led this campaign, haven't. They have organized a protest this morning at 10. Via their news release:

Tenants of 515 East 5th Street in Manhattan, the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center, Councilmember Rosie Mendez, Good Old Lower East Side and Community Board Three will call on the Department of Buildings (DOB) to finally force developer Ben Shaoul to come into compliance with the law and evacuate and dismantle a roof top addition tomorrow — an addition that was deemed illegal by the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA). In addition, there are 13 major code violations that put tenants in danger, including fire safety issues (there was an electrical fire at the building in March), that continue to be unresolved. The DOB has thus far not responded to the BSA’s decision and tenants feel that they are being forced out by the developer for higher paying renters.

Meanwhile, we looked at recent rentals in the new floor at Streeteasy. Someone rented the one-bedroom apartment at 6C in July for $2,700, according to Streeteasy.

Here are some photos of the apartment that comes with a private (and per the BSA, illegal) roofdeck.

Wonder if anyone told the new residents about all this before they moved in...

P.S.
Here's what is going on at 514-516 E. Sixth St.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Important notice about "partying" in Shaoul buildings on East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street

Lincoln memorial remains in Tompkins Square Park

This past weekend, Dave on 7th passed along a photo of a white T-shirt — with an Abraham Lincoln quote — displayed on the Hare Krishna tree in Tompkins Square Park... As of yesterday, the shirt remains. Part of a permanent collection then?

[Dave on 7th]