Loew's Avenue B is part of one of the great rags-to-riches stories of showbiz history. Movie mogul Marcus Loew erected it on the very site of the tenement building where he was born. Needless to say, his birthplace was demolished to make way for the luxurious 1,750-seat theatre, which was designed by Thomas W. Lamb and first opened on January 8, 1913, with vaudeville as its main attraction and movies thrown in just as fillers..
The Avenue B was the top Loew's house on the Lower East Side until the mid-1920s, when the circuit took over the Commodore on Second Avenue, which was a much busier area for entertainment and shopping. The Avenue B was reduced to playing movies at the end of their Loew's circuit run, and remained so until its closure around 1957-58
The theatre cost $800,000 to build. In his opening night speech, Marcus Loew said "This is the most pretentious of the houses on our string, because my better judgment was over-balanced by my sentimentalism and my longing to do something better here than I ever did before." According to corporate histories, the Avenue B was never successful, but Loew's kept it running for decades as a memorial to its founder, who was born on the spot.
About a week and a half ago I get a txt from my roommate who came home late to water dripping from our ceiling. He put a bucket under it and i called the next day to have the guy come around to see what the hell was going on. We found out that the apartment upstairs toilet had overflown and the maintenance guy was actually standing in my “kitchen” on a walkie talkie and said “so basically she has shit water in her apartment” I mean WHAT?! I know its true but seriously. Talk about that with your friends later. He said he was going to fix the upstairs apartment and then fix ours at 3 (this was at like 11am) I had to leave so I told my roommate the maintenance guy never came back. Saw him in the stairs the next day brought it up again and he said that they were having a lot of floods. still hasnt been fixed.
We just learned that Ben has purchased the property where Cabrini Home is at 542 East 5th Street from another private owner to convert to condos. The home says their lease runs out in April 2012 and they are being forced to close. Can't anyone stop him? They want to stay but so far, no dice.
Bagels Return To The Lower East Side from Shawn Chittle on Vimeo.
Let’s cut straight to the point. I know you have been hearing rumors that we at The Standard Hotels were bringing you, our Stan D’esirably loyal family, another property in New York City to call your own. Well, I’m here today to squash all those rumors and to give you the facts straight from the Stan’s mouth…
WE ARE VERY PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE 5TH ADDITION TO OUR STANDARD FAMILY WITH THE STANDARD, EAST VILLAGE!
There. I said it, and there’s no turning back.
Since you’re already part of our family, you know how very unique all of the siblings are. The Standard Hotels in Hollywood, Downtown LA, Miami and New York are each special in their own way, and this latest property already fits right in.
Don’t get too excited though! Unlike The Standard, New York, this Eastside counterpart, located on the corner of East 5th Street and Bowery at Cooper Square, is going to be a more mellow alternative to all the boom in your Westside room. Spanning 21 floors with 145 rooms offering stunning cityscape views, The Standard, East Village will offer you all the spacious comforts and high ‘standards’ to which you’ve grown accustomed.
Over the next year, we’ll be refurbishing the rooms, revamping the restaurant and reimagining the public spaces to make everything perfect for you. Oh, and when I say I’ll be “working”, I mean I’ll be at the bar sipping my martini, pointing at things and telling people where another bar should probably belong.
We’re really excited to be moving into the hood with old friends like Creative Time and The New Museum and to meet all the new friends waiting for us. We know we’ll see you there, so keep checking back for updates. I’ll be keeping you posted every step of the way.
xoxo
Stan
