East Village first and second graders display anti-Starbucks sentiments at the Bean

Back in September, we told you about the anti-Starbucks flyers that two first graders from The Neighborhood School (PS 363) on First Avenue and Third Street created...

Apparently the campaign didn't end there. Marjorie Ingall tells us that more first- and second-grade students from the school created an array of anti-Starbucks messages ... which are now on display in the window at the Bean on Second Avenue and East Third Street.

We asked the Bean's Ike Escava how this came about.

"A teacher from the school came in and said that the kids prepared something for us and asked when it would be a good time for them to present it to us...they ended up coming in the next day — about 25 kids with handwritten cards about how much they love our shop and support us," he said. "It was truly heartwarming, as is all of the continuous support that we get from this remarkable neighborhood."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Today's sign of the apocalypse: Starbucks taking over The Bean's space on First Avenue and Third Street

Report: Kips Bay 15 to get bigger?

Seeing a movie at one of the chain theaters in the neighborhood (oh, Regal Union Square!) is a soul-sucking experience that makes me question whether there is any good left in the world kinda sucks save for that 11:15 a.m. weekday showing (and even then...).

Which is why we don't see many mainstream movies.

But, if the mood strikes, we will, on occasion, traipse up to the AMC Loews Kips Bay 15 on this suburban stretch of Second Avenue ... less painful and less crowded usually...

[Via]

We're not alone in this pilgrimage. Which is why you might be interested in this item over at pcvstBee ... word there is that the theater will be expanding into the former Borders space next door... Not sure if this will make it better or worse. (More theaters, more crowds?)

Empanadas coming to East Ninth Street

That's the sign up in the window at the former Itzocan Café space on East Ninth Street just west of Avenue A. Perhaps this will make up for the loss of empanadas around here since Ruben's closed on First Avenue back in August 2010.

Anyway, a little food life here on East Ninth now with the arrival of Cigkoftem, the Turkish vegetarian fast-food, a few weeks ago...

Thanks to @jeneanchapman for the tip and photo.

[Updated] HomeAway mystery host allegedly keeps deposit for E. 13th Street 'stylish alcove studio'

Updated, Noon: The tenant from South Africa wrote in to say, "My husband reported him to Interpol and emailed him, after which he repaid my deposit."

We're used to hearing bad things about 'old futon as DIY hotel' website Airbnb but not so much with its lesser known competition HomeAway.

From the EV Grieve inbox we are getting word from a resident of South Africa that there is possibly an illegal hotel room operating at 528 E. 13th Street ... in which the host may have walked off with the traveler's $200 deposit. Says her email:

"Good morning. I wonder if you could help me in anyway possible. I think I've been scammed, trying to rent an apartment listed on airbnb.com. The address 528 East 13th street, and investigating a bit, I came across your blog that reported on the collapse of part of the building.

I've paid a $200 deposit, and have since not heard from 'Andy Melton.' This is the 2nd time I've been scammed in 14 months trying to book an apartment in NYC, after having rented several different ones over the last 8 years.

The listing on Homeaway, not AirBnb as she mistakenly writes, was placed by someone who says he's a Property Manager at CitiStyle NYC, a relatively new company with offices at 444 Park Avenue. Melton previously emailed her info on the listing:

Thank you very much for your inquiry. This spacious and stylish alcove studio on 528 East 13th in the East Village is available for $150 a night plus a $70 cleaning fee for your desired dates. The total would be $1120. We don’t charge taxes or any other fees.
If interested in booking please let me know and I will forward you the rental agreement with the booking check in details.
Please feel free to let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
All the best,
Andy Melton
CitiStyle NYC Property Manager

The HomeAway listing titled 'Stylish Alcove Studio in Great East Village Locale.' The interior shots of the apartment look too staged for a real person to be living there.

CitiStyle NYC has three listings — the East 13th Street unit and two in Midtown.

The area code listed for CitiStyle NYC is based in Northern Illinois...

This same number shows up on a Craigslist ad for a Wall Street "luxury rental" that someone named Blake is offering for "for $120 from February 14th to February 15th."

New York law prohibits stays of less than 30 days in all Class A buildings in the five boroughs. (We checked to see if 528 E. 13th St. was a Class A or B building, but there wasn't a Certificate of Occupancy of file with the DOB. See here.)

Anyway, perhaps someone at 528 E. 13th St. knows more about the apartment?

Thanks to new EV Grieve contributor Atomic for helping put together this post...

Updated July 6:
See response from Andy Melton of CitiStyle NYC in the comments...

Something Sweet is back open

We hadn't seen Something Sweet, the homespun bakery on the corner of First Avenue and East 11th Street, open at all so far in 2012. A few weeks ago, we called the shop, and received a "temporarily disconnected" message.

They've been known to close here or there through the years (death in the family, broken oven, vacation) without leaving a note taped to the gate. So we don't worry (too much)...

Last week, a reliable source said that the owners were having a few issues with the landlord... not to mention Verizon... the doors were semi-open last week, and we saw some people working inside...

In any event, the bakery reopened yesterday... another shop to appreciate...

City issues new work permit for Life Cafe

Not much has been happening here on East 10th Street and Avenue B since Life Cafe abruptly closed "until further notice" this past Sept. 11, as we first reported...

As The Villager pointed out in September, the sidewalk shed and scaffolding have been covering Life's sidewalk cafe for more than a year. Meanwhile, exterior renovations have yet to start.

Making this more challenging — Life "spans a space belonging to two different buildings with two different landlords whose dispute over the price of the work contract has prevented construction from starting," according to The Villager. At the time, owner Kathy Kirkpatrick said that she'd stay closed until the landlords complete the repairs.

[Last week outside 343 E. 10th St. By Bobby Williams]

On Tuesday, the city issued a new work permit for 343 E. 10th St. ... the first sign of any substantial exterior work here...

Anyway, none of this means that Life will actually reopen here once the repairs are made. Kirkpatrick was spotted removing kitchen equipment back in the fall... Regardless, it would be nice to see some kind of life here again... (ad: something useful and not horrible!)

A look inside Life on Dec. 22...

Luke's Lobster now a selling point for East Village apartments

Here's a listing for a bedroom apartment on East Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B ... the usual blather... but one selling point jumped out at us...

Steps from Lukes [sic] Lobster

Wonder if the real-estate types know that Luke's delivers?

This is what the southwest corner of 14th Street and Avenue C looked like on Feb. 6, 2012

This year, we'll post photos like this of various buildings, streetscenes, etc., to capture them as they looked at this time and place... The photos may not be the most telling now, but they likely will be one day...

Prom night at Doc Holliday's

Doc Holliday's is holding a Prom Night tonight at Ninth Street and Avenue A. Gentleman, don't forget your corsages. Ladies, please be careful putting on the boutineer!

Though Doc's is calling for "redneck formal attire," we understand that "retro" is back in for the Big Night... as seen in these obvious pop-cultural references...

For Spike...

Landmarks Preservation Commission sets June date for East Village landmarking

From the EV Grieve inbox ... via the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation ...

A date has (finally!) been set for a hearing on the proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District and a vote on the proposed landmark designation of 128 East 13th Street, the former stable/horse auction mart that also served for years as a the studio of artist Frank Stella. Both will take place on June 26.

WABC files report on East Village Farms, mentions local blogger

WABC Eyewitness News reporter Lisa Colagrossi has a report this morning on the probably doomed East Village Farms on Avenue A ... as well as a wider look at the ongoing demolition of so many buildings around here... we exchanged emails with her leading up to the report, and we thank her for including EV Grieve in the broadcast.

The piece is online ... and will be rebroadcast during the 4 p.m. newscast...

Previously on EV Grieve:
A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

East Village Farms is closing; renovations coming to 100 Avenue A

Inside the abandoned theater at East Village Farms on Avenue A

Reader reports: Village Farms closing Jan. 31; building will be demolished

Did David Schwimmer do anything illegal by tearing down 331 E. Sixth St.?

That's the question BrickUnderground asked an expert, real-estate attorney Steven Wagner of Wagner Davis, about the destruction of the circa 1852 home on East Sixth Street. Here's the rather longish short answer:

“Personally I think what he did was wrong if the building was distinctive and worthy of preservation, but that is not a legal issue,” Wagner says.

“When a building is not landmarked, but Landmarks has issued a letter that [it] is being considered for landmarking, the DOB will hold the any plans (including demolition) for 40 days, which is the maximum time the DOB has to review plans and issue a decision," says Wagner.

The DOB can usually find issues, says Wagner.

But, he adds, if the owner of the property files an application for demolition prior to the landmarking and gets a permit before the property is landmarked, the right to demolish survives the landmarking.

So you see, he did nothing illegal. I wish that you people would just leave him alone then!

Oh, and that photo illustration is via BrickUnderground.

Hat tip to Curbed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Noted

A reader pointed out this new listing for an apartment on East Sixth Street... looks like a nice place ... near restaurants and coffee shops and...

Not exactly sure where they were going with this description. We'll just go ahead and put it down for tranny bars.

So Max probably won't be opening that outpost on Second Avenue then, huh?

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Max will close its Avenue B location after the Italian eatery opens a branch in Williamsburg this spring...

Which reminds us... back in January 2010, as Eater first noted, Max was on the CB3/SLA docket to open a location at the rather mysterious northwest corner of Second Avenue and Second Street ...

Those plans never materialized, for whatever reasons... the CB3/SLA sign is even still on the front window...

We dug through the CB3 archives... Max appeared before the CB3/SLA committee in February 2010, and it looks as if they were approved for a license here...

Anyway, anyone know what's going on with this space here at 39 Second Ave. (aka 36 E. Second St.)? The building was owned by Wilbert Tatum, the publisher and editor of The New York Amsterdam News who died at age 76 in February 2009. Tatum's wife, Susan Kohn Tatum, transferred ownership of the building to Zubrinski & Co. LLC last April, according to city records.

Brown out at Boukies

There's noticeable work taking place at the former Heartbreak Cafe on the southwest corner of Second Street and Second Avenue... Workers recently painted the exterior from that red ...

to this...

[Bobby Williams]

Owner Christos (Pylos) Valtzoglou is planning on opening a place called Boukies that will specialize in small plates of Greek food

Many years back, the address here was home to The Second Avenue Theatre, later the Molly Picon, a Yiddish-language playhouse built in 1911. This info is via the invaluable New York Songlines. As the site notes, Walter Matthau got his start playing bit parts here.

For more information, we turn to Cinema Treasures. "David Kessler’s 2nd Avenue Theatre opened on September 14, 1911 and was the first of the Yiddish theatres to open along the 'Rialto.'" In 1958, the theatre went dark and was demolished for a parking lot.

Here's a photo of the theatre in its heyday via a Cinema Treasures reader.

For more on Yiddish theatre along lower Second Avenue ... visit The Villager here ... and here.

The East Houston Hotel is for sale; how about a new rooftop bar?

The Hotel East Houston over at Eldridge Street is for sale, according to an item in citybiz Real Estate. Price tag: $21 million.

Per one of the real-estate types marketing the place:

"The building's rooftop area and basement level could easily accommodate a restaurant, bar, lounge or a combination of all three, and preliminary architectural designs for such space have been completed."

As BoweryBoogie notes, "Despite the umpteen hotels currently in the development pipeline for the Lower East Side (Orchard Street in particular), it’s still not completely the greatest economic climate for pricey inns."

But we'll keep building — and selling — them anyway...

Eighth Subway sandwich shop opens in the East Village

In case that you couldn't smell tell ... the Subway opened here at 108 First Ave. today ...

This makes No. 8 here.

$500,000 cars aren't immune from parking tickets on Avenue A

And we're back with our Maybach 62S here on Avenue A ... now with a ticket.

Matt LES_Miserable, who took this photo, also spoke with the owner... and said that he was actually a very nice guy.

Headline of the day (so far)

Via DNAinfo:

Two People Overcome by Mysterious Smell in East Village Staples

No explanations just yet about what happened here on Broadway and East Ninth Street this morning. Do you have any theories?

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

[Flowers for Peter Cooper, photo by Dave on 7th]

City to unveil Delancey Street safety plan tonight (DNAinfo)

Best player on the Knicks sleeps in his brother's LES living room (The New York Times)

New York becoming less affordable, duh (Runnin' Scared)

Sale of Bialystoker Nursing Home coming soon? (The Lo-Down)

A look inside the new Empellon Cocina on First Avenue (Eater)

Remembering WQEW (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Olek returning to the Lower East Side (BoweryBoogie)

Inside the Amtrak Tunnels on the West Side (Gothamist)

Red Lobster opening up next to the Apollo in Harlem (New York Post)

And Matt LES_Miserable notes the asbestos rat outside the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on 14th Street and Second Avenue this morning...