[EVG Flashback] About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

Originally posted on Sept. 24, 2008...

As you may know, New York has a great piece this week on 190 Bowery, a space that I've long been curious about. Wendy Goodman gets right to it in her lead:

The building at 190 Bowery is a mystery: a graffiti-covered Gilded Age relic, with a beat-up wooden door that looks like it hasn’t been opened since La Guardia was mayor. A few years ago, that described a lot of the neighborhood, but with the Bowery Hotel and the New Museum, the Rogan and John Varvatos boutiques, 190 is now an anomaly, not the norm. Why isn’t some developer turning it into luxury condos?

Because Jay Maisel, the photographer who bought it 42 years ago for $102,000, still lives there, with his wife, Linda Adam Maisel, and daughter, Amanda. It isn’t a decrepit ruin; 190 Bowery is a six-story, 72-room, 35,000-square-foot (depending on how you measure) single-family home.

There's another building that I've been curious about: 421 E. Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.



I was told years back that an artist lives there. Indeed.

According to Forgotten New York: "421 was a Con Edison substation built in 1920-21 that converted direct current to alternating. It is at present (2008) the studio of modern artist/sculptor Walter De Maria. His most famous installation is The Lightning Field (1977) is permanently installed in the desert at Quemado, New Mexico, and was commissioned by the Dia Art Foundation, who run the site and provide accommodation for visitors. The work consists of hundreds of stainless steel rods projecting from the ground to a uniform height of around six metres (20 feet). Rows of 20 rods extend for one mile, while rows of 16 extend for a kilometre, making a square grid of standard and metric proportions. The work is designed to attract spectacular lightning strikes."

NY Songlines has a few more details: "This building, which looks like a giant-robot laboratory, was actually built in 1919-21 as a New York Edison transformer substation — turning DC current into AC. Since 1980 it's been owned by artist Walter De Maria."



Wonder if we'll ever get to see the inside of this space...

Related:
Miss Representation on 421 E. Sixth St.

[EVG Flashback] Why people move away

Originally posted on Feb. 4, 2009...



I've noticed a few more people than usual moving from the neighborhood. (Perhaps there's a reason for so many more men with vans signs.) Given the drop in some rentals, maybe these people are just moving a few blocks away to a building with better deals. Or maybe they lost everything and have to go bunk with a relative. Or maybe they came here during the heady days of, say, 2005 and figured to become the next Carrie Bradshaw. (Or at least have the chance to sit on her stoop!) I wish I could go up to these people and conduct exit interviews. Why are you moving? What will you miss about the neighborhood? What are you glad to be leaving behind? I'm always curious about this.

Luckily, I came across a blog written by a young professional living on the LES. After one year here, she is moving to another undisclosed neighborhood. Almost in answer to my questions, she provided a list of things she will miss and not miss about her apartment and the LES. Among the items:

Things I will miss:
--The gym. I hope I can still force myself to go to the gym when it isn’t in my building!
--My stainless steel stove
--Dry cleaning in the building
--The statue of Vladimir Lenin on top of the Red Square building. I can see him from my bed so I wake up to him with his right arm in the air every single morning.

Things I will not miss:
--The girls who scream, “Where’s my boyfriend!?” at 4 a.m. while leaving the Lower East Side bars on any given day
--The symphony of honking on Houston Street that forces me to sleep with earplugs
--The fresh vomit that I sometimes step over while leaving for [work] on any given day
--The smell of pickles from Katz Deli that I am forced to inhale when walking home every day
--The fact that there is not a close enough Starbucks
--The mural of Kiss on the brick wall on the bar across from my apartment

I guess that says it all.

[EVG Flashback] Celebrities are just like us! (Dive bar edition) (aka: OMG! It's Keanu!)

Originally posted on Sept. 2, 2008...


According to this week's Page Six Magazine, "stars are forgoing getting trashed at clubs —- and seeking a far trashier scene." Like bars WE like to go to! And so the magazine features six such places where you don't have to pay $12 for a bottle of beer: "Pull up a stool to New York’s greatest, and grubbiest, dive bars." (Their words, not mine.)

Here's their report on Joe's on East Sixth Street:

Alphabet City Dive-y-est Element: Gunk-covered floor and bathrooms tinier than airplane stalls — all presided over by the toothless but friendly day-shift bartender, Tommy.

Celebrity Customers: While the former speakeasy hasn’t changed — or perhaps been mopped — since owners Joe and Dot (who refuse to give their last names) took over in the ’60s, stars have made Joe’s their dirty little secret. “Drew Barrymore comes here and so does Matt Dillion,” reports barfly Magda. “Keanu Reeves was just in last month, playing pool,” she adds. “Celebs are sick of getting their covers blown and want a taste of reality,” says Tracy Westmoreland, owner of legendary but now-closed dive Siberia. That “shipwrecks” like Joe’s are more popular than ever signals “the new golden age for dive bars,” he adds.

Is that a fake nose and moustache or are you just happy to see me?

Please claim these at the front office.

[Photo by Dave on 7th]

Smashed car windows on East Fourth Street

A reader this morning notes a slew of smashed car windows on East Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... "I noticed a few others between B and A before realizing it was a trend," the reader said.

Try the new vegan pizza for free tonight at Two Boots on Avenue A

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Thought I'd tell you about the deal before it happened rather than after ... (see Crif Dogs anniversary post)...

Totally Ghoul

A seasonal Beau original on Second Avenue at Fourth Street...

[Goggla]

[Bobby Williams]

And EV Grieve reader Alysha captured the artist at work....

100 Third Ave. looks to be Nevada Smith's new home

Earlier today, we posted next month's CB3/SLA agenda... and on the rundown: A new liquor license for Nevada Smith's at 100 Third Ave., which is one block north from the football (soccer!) bar's current home... 100 Third Ave. had been under renovations for years, including some additional floors.

The address once housed The Lyric Theatre starting in 1910... This photo from the NYPL Digital Archives is dated April 24, 1936...



As for the current Nevada Smith's home... let's revive those rumors that most of the block is going down...

A tipster told us in the summer that a new development was going up here. (And nothing related to NYU, we've confirmed.)

The Manhattan Parking Group moved out from their space at 12th Street at the end of August.

Per a commenter earlier today:

Yep, Nevada Smiths is just moving up the street (I think at the end of the year). I am told the new space is far bigger and will have three floors of bar space.

The current building is to be demolished as the fire department have deemed parts of it to be unsafe which is why the scaffolding is up.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Those persistent rumors about 74-76 Third Avenue and the future of Nevada Smith's

The East Village will lose a parking lot and gain an apartment building

[Updated] Melee this morning at 7A

From Dave on 7th this morning on Seventh Street and Avenue A: "I just witnessed the most violent act ever. Four or six people busting up 7A. A woman screaming. It was frightening. Four long minutes later, the police arrived."

We'll have more info as it becomes available later in the day.

[Updated]
I asked Dave on 7th for more details. He was rushing to work at the time he saw the fight. Just after 6 a.m. ... He's standing on the corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street. He hears a woman scream. He turns around to see a man inside the back of 7A beating an unseen person on the floor. Then a whole scrum seems to appear.

Meanwhile, the woman continues to scream. Dave calls 911. While on the phone, a man walks out 7A's side door and starts heading up Seventh Street. He stops, and comes back. He picks up one of the sidewalk tables and throws it through one of 7A's windows on Seventh Street.

Before the police arrive, the man who was punching someone emerges from inside and hops into a waiting vehicle. (Dave gave the description to the police.) The vehicle pauses for several moments and leaves the scene right when the NYPD arrive.

Roughly four or five minutes pass from the time of the 911 call to the NYPD's arrival. "I can tell you it was bad enough to chase some of the staff out to the street."

Dave on 7th stopped by late this afternoon. The hostess on duty claimed NOT to know about the incident. Someone had replaced the window.

New owner for 86 E. Fourth St.; no new leases for current tenants

86 E. Fourth St. at Second Avenue has been on the block... listed at $8.95 million.

Roberto Ortiz, a principal at Eastern Consolidated, who represented the seller, told this to the Observer last week:

Mr. Ortiz suggests there is a huge upside for this particular property because no significant renovations have been done in a very long time, and a committed buyer with resources could significantly up the rents when the current leases expire.

“It’s all about renovations,” said Mr. Ortiz.

Indeed. A resident gave us the scoop:

I suspected by the comings and goings of various groups of engineer and banker sorts that the building was quietly being shopped around for sale earlier this year. My suspicions were recently confirmed when I, along with the rest of the building tenants, received building sale notification letters under our doors one evening.

In any event, I also suspected that a building sale would bring a gut renovation or demolition of the building, as well. This now also appears to be right on target. The new owner and management are declining to offer new leases as current tenant leases expire. Par for the course

None of this will happen without a fight, though. Oh, and RURU & Associates was the buyer.

Villa Capri condos coming to Seventh Street

Big news on Seventh Street courtesy of Dave on 7th... changes are coming to 222 Seventh St. near Avenue C...

The following sign just appeared...

So it looks like a new building with additional floors... and by fall of 2012? Seems awfully ambitious... Looks as if the new owner bought the building in 2008. According to the Corcoran listing:

Four story building built in 1901 with an additional two stories of air rights. Currently configured as a three family with an owners duplex, and two floor through two bedroom apartments. Large south facing garden. Excellent opportunity to create a architectural dream home.

Streeteasy has the closing price at $3.2 million. We're tracking down more details on all this now.

Meanwhile, word is that this was the onetime studio of sculpturist Louise Nevelson. A look at Property Shark notes that she did own the building at one point.

Action-packed November CB3/SLA agenda: The Bean wants booze; so does Japadog

[Via The Bean on Facebook]

Woo. Here we go.

SLA & DCA Licensing Committee
Monday, November 14 at 6:30pm — JASA/Green Residence, 200 East 5th Street at Bowery

Renewal with Complaint History

• The Porch (The Porch Inc), 115 Ave C (op)

The Porch closed up last month, as Dave on 7th pointed out. We heard that the Porch was moving and an Indian restaurant was taking over... perhaps from the same owners?

• Kelly's (Diddler Doyle Corp), 12 Ave A (op)

• Kenka (Hinomaru Inc), 25 St Marks Pl (op)

• Diablo Royale (East Village Café & Restaurant LLC), 167 Ave A (op)

Arrive early for a good seat. This will be dramatic, perhaps.

Applications within Resolution Areas

• Cafetasia (Cafetasia Inc), 85 Ave A (up/op)

Seeking 100-ounce vodka tubes too?

• Essbar (102 Ave C LLC), 102 Ave C aka 230 E 7th St (up/op)

Edi & the Wolf upgrading...

• Nublu, 151 Ave C (op)

Nublu temporarily moved to under Lucky Cheng's back in August ... as the Nublu blog said during the summer, "last week we got our liquor license taken away due to an anonymous complaint that we are too close to a House of Worship." You can read about it all here.

• Pouring Ribbons (Lead to Gold Inc), 225 Ave B (op)

Anyone know what's going on here... the White Noise space?

• To be Determined, 116 Ave C (op)

The former Lava Gina space.

• Japadog Inc, 30 St Marks Pl (wb)

As we first reported last month, Japadog, the crazy popular Vancouver-based artisanal hot dog stands, is opening its first NYC outpost here.

• Alphabet City Beer Co (Alphabet City Wine Co LLC), 96 Ave C (b)

Looks like a beer companion to Alphabet City Wine... 96 Avenue C has been a vacant storefront for some time... we'll have more on this later...

Alterations/Upgrades

• Cien Fuegos (Cien Fuegos LLC), 95 Ave A (alt/op)

• Peels Restaurant (Radley Realty Corp), 325 Bowery (alt/op/additional standup bar)

New Liquor License Applications

• Shoolbred's, 197 2nd Ave (op)

• Nevada Smiths (92 Nunz Walk Inc), 100 3rd Ave (op)

Maybe they're not closing after all!

• The Bean (54 2nd Ave Bean LLC), 54 2nd Ave (wb)
The Bean (147 1st Ave Bean LLC), 147 1st Ave (wb)

Interesting... What do you think about The Bean also serving wine and beer at its new locations?

• Nicoletta (Letta #1 LLC), 160 2nd Ave (wb)

A taker for the former Cafe Centosette space at 10th Street.

• Ichibantei LLC, 401 E 13th St (wb)

This is the the eatery that serves a range of Japanese "soul food" just east off First Avenue. A scratch from previous agendas...

• Golden Cadillac, 446-448 E 13th St (op)

The (now former?) Mug Lounge.

---

b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations |up=upgrades

And now, First Park without the BMW Guggenheim Lab

Alos, a lot of people talk about how BMW/Guggenheim cleaned up the lot and curbed the rat population... Did BMW/Guggenheim hire exterminators to take care of this? Was it a city thing? It was never clear to me who was responsible. Anything preventing the rats from returning?


Photos by Bobby Williams.

Commenter comedy gold

Unfortunately, our busy social schedule prevented us from attending the Official Grande Opening of the new Upright Citizens Brigade theater/theatre on Avenue A and Third Street on Saturday night. On Saturday night, we drank alone again at the Blarney Cove.

Dave Itzkoff at The New York Times has an article on the opening, including details on the challenges of getting the space ready. (You know — Hot Chicks Room sign drama.) As for some of the entertainment Saturday night, Itzkoff noted:

A second show at 9:30 offered a grab bag of acts that were, in theory, supposed to keep their sets to five to seven minutes. Sue Galloway, who plays an ambiguously accented comedy writer on “30 Rock,” performed a character piece about a drunken office worker singing an aggressive version of “I Will Follow Him” at a karaoke night; David Cross, the “Arrested Development” star, read remarks posted on the East Village blog EV Grieve that complained about the Upright Citizens Brigade’s arrival. (“Go back to campus, you new jack cornballs,” one outraged commenter demanded.)

As a thank you, all the commenters who chimed in on the Upright posts will receive replica fruit plates that the guests enjoyed there Saturday night.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Your 'Hot Chicks Room' sign update

[Updated] Resident starting a petition to have the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign removed at the Upright Citizens Brigade (47 comments)

Breaking: UCB will remove the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign!

'Hot Chicks Room' sign will now bring ruin to compost

More photos from yesterday's Halloween concert in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Halloween concert in Tompkins Square Park today

By Dave on 7th...

Happy Halloween from Billy's Antiques

Houston and the Bowery....

Reminders today: Concert in Tompkins Square Park, tribute to Bob Arihood

Also, as we mentioned, the organizers are going to have a table set up with a memorial for Bob Arihood. The organizers are looking for photos to mount on a huge poster board that they'll have at a special table for Bob. These can be shots of Bob and/or photos that Bob has taken over the years....

You can print them out from Neither More Nor Less or Nadie Se Conoce and bring them along...

Starting soon...

Local man decides to hack off arm while enduring a 127-hour line at Rite-Aid

Yeaahhhh. Our friend Goggla posted this photo the other day from everyone's favorite Rite-Aid on First Avenue at Fifth Street....

And Happy Halloween...

11th and B circa 1983

BoweryBoogie was first to post this video a few weeks back... it's a short circa 1983 by French filmmaker Marie Martine ... mostly filmed on Avenue B and 11th Street...

The video has been making the rounds... thought we'd also post it... the video is 20 minutes, so dig in...

11th & B from J. Sprig on Vimeo.