[EVG file photo]Walking along the backside of 41 Cooper Square the other day...
Perhaps it's some kind of post-modern art... or maybe a tribute to the tenement buildings nearby...
Thursday, March 22, 2012
One way to patch up a $111.6 million building
[EVG file photo]Walking along the backside of 41 Cooper Square the other day...
Perhaps it's some kind of post-modern art... or maybe a tribute to the tenement buildings nearby...
The end is near(er) for the Mystery Lot
We knew this day was coming... not that it makes it any easier... an unhappy East 13th Street tipster points us to the DOB website, where there are three permits pending approval (dated March 15) related to building over this beloved land of bricks, discarded holiday trees, aliens, etc.
[EVG file photo]
As the Post first reported on Jan. 19, the space will become an 82-unit, eight-story development that should break ground this summer for a late 2013 opening. "Prices are still to be determined for the project’s studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom units," according to the Post.
The work permits say that the space will include 86,409 square feet for residential and 5,275 square feet for retail. The good news about the retail: You can likely count out an iHop ... 7-Eleven... KFC... Dunkin' Donuts...Duane Reade...
BKSK is listed as the architect of record... according to the BKSK website, their residential work includes 25 Bond Street, home of $20 million apartments and, once, Will Smith, as Curbed has noted.
We leave with this aerial view of what became the Mystery Lot circa 1913... from ConEd looking at the southeast corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue...
And you can spot the former Jefferson Theatre...
(And apologies — have had this for so long we don't recall the original source... Per Mick in the comments, this is a Shorpy photo.)
As the Post first reported on Jan. 19, the space will become an 82-unit, eight-story development that should break ground this summer for a late 2013 opening. "Prices are still to be determined for the project’s studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom units," according to the Post.
The work permits say that the space will include 86,409 square feet for residential and 5,275 square feet for retail. The good news about the retail: You can likely count out an iHop ... 7-Eleven... KFC... Dunkin' Donuts...Duane Reade...
BKSK is listed as the architect of record... according to the BKSK website, their residential work includes 25 Bond Street, home of $20 million apartments and, once, Will Smith, as Curbed has noted.
We leave with this aerial view of what became the Mystery Lot circa 1913... from ConEd looking at the southeast corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue...
And you can spot the former Jefferson Theatre...
(
Redeveloped funeral home looking for a few live retail tenants
On Monday, we pointed out that workers have the scaffolding and sidewalk shed in place outside 154 Second Ave., the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel. Plans call for several new floors here with the help of architect Ramy Issac.
And we spotted a listing (PDF) for the retail space over at developer Terrence Lowenberg's Icon Realty....
There is nearly 4,600 square feet of ground-floor space "perfect for: retail store, restaurant," per the listing. Rent is upon request.
The rendering looks similar to Lowenberg's other current projects at 147 First Ave. and 326-328 E. Fourth St.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Former funeral home looks to double in size with help from 'the controversial penthouse king of the East Village'
[Updated] City fixes Avenue C Sinkhole, Jr
On Friday, we pointed out the longtime sinkhole getting sinkier along Avenue C... on the east side of the sidewalk between Sixth Street and Fifth Street ... it's the neglected sinkhole on the block, the one that wasn't named to Page Six the Magazine's "Sinkholes to Watch" list for 2012 or once rumored to play Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games."
But!
EV Grieve reader Steven noted that a crew arrived this week to start work on the long-sinking sinkhole... Tuesday...
And yesterday...
Per a reader: "I just wanted to share with you the *very* exciting news that after years and years, the sidewalk pothole on Ave. C between 5th and 6th street has finally been filled..."
Updated: Via Steven, how's the former sinkhole is looking this morning...
Meanwhile! Up at 13th Street... the city/ConEd have finished repairs on the star sinkhole... Filled!
Previously.
But!
EV Grieve reader Steven noted that a crew arrived this week to start work on the long-sinking sinkhole... Tuesday...
And yesterday...
Per a reader: "I just wanted to share with you the *very* exciting news that after years and years, the sidewalk pothole on Ave. C between 5th and 6th street has finally been filled..."
Updated: Via Steven, how's the former sinkhole is looking this morning...
Meanwhile! Up at 13th Street... the city/ConEd have finished repairs on the star sinkhole... Filled!
Previously.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
City unveils new line of defense against red light running
Stop — or else. Avenue A today. Photos by Bobby Williams.
[Updated] Report: Threat of violence cancels the BMW Guggenheim Lab show in Berlin
The BMW Guggenheim Lab packed up and left last October after its two-month-plus run here on East First Street. The Lab was then off to confront comfort in Berlin in the
However. In his *Everday Chatter column today, Jeremiah Moss points us to this item at The Atlantic: "BMW Guggenheim Cancels Its Berlin Exhibition Amid Threats of Violence."
The Atlantic post cites Bloomberg News:
"This decision was made as a consequence of threats to the project," the BMW Guggenheim Lab said in a statement. Police and local authorities said there was an elevated risk, it said.
Left-wing activists used the Internet to urge protesters to “derail” the project, according to the daily Tagesspiegel newspaper. Their protest was that the project would accelerate the gentrification of Kreuzberg, leading to higher rents and new luxury residential developments, the newspaper said.
One public meeting ahead of the Berlin debut reportedly drew "vociferous opposition." And depending how good your German is...
Updated:
Here's the site where the Lab was going to set up... via Spiegel Online...
EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition
Press conference tomorrow to tell Scott Stringer to vote "no" on NYU's proposed expansion plan (Off the Grid)
Found! The old Jade Mountain neon sign (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
The latest on protection of the Bialystoker Nursing Home (The Lo-Down)
Zum Schneider is opening a branch in Montauk this summer (Curbed Hamptons)
More Sons of Essex late-night menu ads (BoweryBoogie)
The basement comedians of the East Village (NYU Local)
NPR piece on community garden power struggles includes Campos Community Garden (NPR)
Thoughts on Five Napkin Burger on 14th and Third (Eater)
NYC King Kong murals (Flaming Pablum)
...and posters are up for "Girls," the new HBO series that Judd Apatow executive produced and filmed on the Lower East Side... (Flavorwire likes it...)
'And the screams continue'
In January, a resident told us the following:
Readers had some theories — the sound of the neighborhood dying, Lana Del Rey, etc.
But the screams continue. A reader left this at 12:56 a.m.:
Previously on EV Grieve:
Looking for an explanation about those bloodcurdling screams
I live on Second Avenue, between Fifth and Sixth Street, and this is the second night since last week that I've heard bloodcurdling screams around 12:30 a.m. outside of my window toward Sixth Street.
Readers had some theories — the sound of the neighborhood dying, Lana Del Rey, etc.
But the screams continue. A reader left this at 12:56 a.m.:
We hear it also, and the screams continue...I hear it pretty much every night now. Last night someone actually responded by yelling "shut the f#%* up!". The night before I was woken up every hour from around 1 to 4. It is getting ridiculous and I don't know about other people, but I wake up every time because it is so disturbing. I reported it to the 9th precinct today but all they could say is call them when it actually happens. It's so hard to pin point where it is coming from though because it is relatively short, and usually when I'm sound asleep. If it is a person, which it sounds like it is, I really hope they get caught. If it is cats, I hate to say it, but they should be euthanized. Someone please help all the restless neighbors, it is getting very tiresome.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Looking for an explanation about those bloodcurdling screams
'Trouble' in mind: Q-and-A with director Michael Knowles
"The Trouble With Bliss" opens Friday at the Village East Cinemas on Second Avenue at East 12th Street. The movie is based on the novel "East Fifth Bliss" by former East Village resident Douglas Light, who lived at 343 E. Fifth St. for several years.
"Dexter"/"Six Feet Under" star Michael C. Hall plays the title character in this darkly comic tale about 35-year-old Morris Bliss who's stuck in a state of inertia.
[Michael C. Hall]
Morris longs to travel, but he never leaves the East Village. He doesn't have a job and he lives with his widowed father (Peter Fonda). For good measure, he starts a relationship with the 18-year-old daughter (Brie Larson) of his former classmate (Brad William Henke) and tries to avoid his over-eager neighbor (Lucy Liu). Anyway, trouble.
Director Michael Knowles and his cast and crew filmed around the neighborhood during the spring of 2010. (We covered some of this here and here.)
[Hall with Michael Knowles]
Knowles answered a few questions for us via Facebook ...
Why was the novel "East Fifth Bliss" something that you wanted to adapt into a movie?
There were a a number of reasons I wanted to adapt "East Fifth Bliss" into a movie. The first was that I laughed a lot while I was reading it so I thought it would be fun to make into a movie and share with as wide of an audience as possible. Second, I loved the overall message, which to me was basically "live your life. Stop putting things off and do what you say you're gonna do." This is a story and a message that, if told well, can really resonate with most people.
I also felt that we could make a great movie from the novel because of how unique the characters, humor, tone and world Doug had created were.
Morris is a bit of a sad sack, yet you find yourself rooting for him. How did you strike a balance to make a character that moviegoers will ultimately find likable?
Naaaaaaa. Morris is.... Okay, yeah, you're right, he is a bit of a sad sack but he never complains about his life or feels sorry for himself. On some level, Morris is living a life of Bliss. He, for some reason, has accepted his life as it is and it isn't until things start happening to him that he realizes that he as been a bit rudderless for the past 20 years or so. I think that since Morris doesn't feel sorry for himself it makes it easy to like him ... and he is on the receiving end of a lot of jokes in the novel as well as the movie.
How did you find the experience filming in the East Village?
I loved filming in the East Village. Before I moved to Los Angeles 4 1/2 years ago, I lived in New York for about 13 years and 11 of those years in the East Village. So for me it was perfect to come back and film in a neighborhood I knew very well.
Any memorable moments from the shoot?
There was one night that we were filming in front of the Blue & Gold Tavern on East Seventh Street and we knew it was supposed to rain. So we had to get the scene shot as quickly as possible. As soon as we started rolling, firetrucks came around the corner with the horns and sirens blaring —and it started to pour. We cut and I remember standing under this tent we had set up and watching three firetrucks come to a stop right where we were filming.
Turns out a neighbor had called the fire department on some neighbors who were barbequing on the street nearby. The whole scene was funny since it was so far out of our control. Ultimately, after a handful of starts and stops we did manage to get the scene shot. The whole cast was a bit punchy from being up all night. It was magical.
-------------
Also, folks from the movie will give a few EV Grieve readers a free set of tickets for any screening of "The Trouble With Bliss." We've never done this kind of thing before, so ... the first few people to send EV Grieve an email this morning can get the tix. Just need your name. We'll pass on your name and email to the publicist who will make it all official from there. Well, wasn't sure what to expect with this. But several people quickly sent along an email for tickets...more than the allotment. Thanks for the interest!
Previously on EV Grieve:
About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"
Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light
[Photos Courtesy 7A Productions]
"Dexter"/"Six Feet Under" star Michael C. Hall plays the title character in this darkly comic tale about 35-year-old Morris Bliss who's stuck in a state of inertia.
Morris longs to travel, but he never leaves the East Village. He doesn't have a job and he lives with his widowed father (Peter Fonda). For good measure, he starts a relationship with the 18-year-old daughter (Brie Larson) of his former classmate (Brad William Henke) and tries to avoid his over-eager neighbor (Lucy Liu). Anyway, trouble.
Director Michael Knowles and his cast and crew filmed around the neighborhood during the spring of 2010. (We covered some of this here and here.)
Knowles answered a few questions for us via Facebook ...
Why was the novel "East Fifth Bliss" something that you wanted to adapt into a movie?
There were a a number of reasons I wanted to adapt "East Fifth Bliss" into a movie. The first was that I laughed a lot while I was reading it so I thought it would be fun to make into a movie and share with as wide of an audience as possible. Second, I loved the overall message, which to me was basically "live your life. Stop putting things off and do what you say you're gonna do." This is a story and a message that, if told well, can really resonate with most people.
I also felt that we could make a great movie from the novel because of how unique the characters, humor, tone and world Doug had created were.
Morris is a bit of a sad sack, yet you find yourself rooting for him. How did you strike a balance to make a character that moviegoers will ultimately find likable?
Naaaaaaa. Morris is.... Okay, yeah, you're right, he is a bit of a sad sack but he never complains about his life or feels sorry for himself. On some level, Morris is living a life of Bliss. He, for some reason, has accepted his life as it is and it isn't until things start happening to him that he realizes that he as been a bit rudderless for the past 20 years or so. I think that since Morris doesn't feel sorry for himself it makes it easy to like him ... and he is on the receiving end of a lot of jokes in the novel as well as the movie.
How did you find the experience filming in the East Village?
I loved filming in the East Village. Before I moved to Los Angeles 4 1/2 years ago, I lived in New York for about 13 years and 11 of those years in the East Village. So for me it was perfect to come back and film in a neighborhood I knew very well.
Any memorable moments from the shoot?
There was one night that we were filming in front of the Blue & Gold Tavern on East Seventh Street and we knew it was supposed to rain. So we had to get the scene shot as quickly as possible. As soon as we started rolling, firetrucks came around the corner with the horns and sirens blaring —and it started to pour. We cut and I remember standing under this tent we had set up and watching three firetrucks come to a stop right where we were filming.
Turns out a neighbor had called the fire department on some neighbors who were barbequing on the street nearby. The whole scene was funny since it was so far out of our control. Ultimately, after a handful of starts and stops we did manage to get the scene shot. The whole cast was a bit punchy from being up all night. It was magical.
-------------
Previously on EV Grieve:
About the building that inspired the novel "East Fifth Bliss"
Q-and-A with 'East Fifth Bliss' author Douglas Light
[Photos Courtesy 7A Productions]
11-17 Second Avenue is starting to rise from the bowels of the Mars Bar
Early last evening. Before you know it, a 12-story apartment building will be here. And then?
Bonus photos from yesterday of the bendy thing...
Bendy photos by Bobby Williams.
About the Boiler Dilemma
From the EV Grieve inbox...
Beware — The push is on right now to get all buildings in NYC to convert their boilers to Natural Gas.
Don't let this happen to your building! As we all know, East Village buildings are increasingly populated with at least a few, and usually with a majority of young business-oriented tenants with a strong sense of entitlement who care little about the future of the neighborhood. When decisions are made about the maintenance and preservation of their buildings, the only criteria they consider is immediate cost, convenience and mainly the future sale price of their domiciles.
ConEd is giving New Yorkers the option to switch to #2 heating oil boilers — OR offering substantial discounts for conversion to gas burning boilers. Both options continue our dependance on the use of fossil fuels. There ARE alternatives, but ConEd and Bloomberg are both pushing natural gas. ConEd is the sole supplier as well as deliverer of gas — unlike the current heating oil or alternatives, so the switch to gas will add billions to ConEd and Oil and Gas Corporations' already outrageous profits.
The City’s new heating oil rules require buildings to stop using heavy oils by 2030, (and if your boiler uses #4 or #6 oil, you mush switch soon). Building owners are tempted to convert to gas, due to its current low price. But what is the true cost of “cheap” gas, when fracking could ruin our air and water, and bring radon-laden shale gas to our stoves? Are conservation, solar thermal and biodiesel realistic alternatives?
More info here.
Report: 99-year lease in play for 74-84 Third Ave.
The Real Deal reported last night that a development company called YYY Third Avenue signed a 99-year ground lease "that requires payments each year of about $1 million" for 74-84 Third Ave.
The site is currently home to a in-progress demolition of the former Yummy House and Nevada Smith's. As The Deal Deal noted, Karl Fischer is architecturing an 82,000-square-foot, nine-story residential building with 94 units here. (The permit is still pending for all this.)
A YYY Third Avenue rep said that the site would be a rental building with studios, and one-, two- and three-bedroom units. "He declined to comment on the annual rental payment or elaborate on the project."
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
Workshop tonight on rodents and pests
Workshop starts at 6:30 p.m. at 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Via EV Grieve reader Steven.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Spring
Photos by Bobby Williams.
EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition
Last-ditch efforts to landmark the Bialystoker Nursing Home (BoweryBoogie)
Visiting Anthony Pisano on Seventh Street (Tripping With Marty)
An excerpt from Johnny Ramone's autobiography (New York)
A buyer for historic 25 Stuyvesant Street (The Real Deal)
Zombie spring! (The Grumbler)
Something to read while texting: 'How to Roll A Blunt For Dummies' (Runnin' Scared)
Get your fried pizza on Ludlow Street (Eater)
The Hoodie Shop opens on Orchard (The Lo-Down)
The classic Carmine's at the Seaport still sits empty after a rent hike forced them out two years ago (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
Breaking: Large dead lobster spotted in Tompkins Square Park
Just now via Jose Garcia.
Uh, explanations?
More from Jose:
"Definitely not alive but clearly had a rough night. Maybe missed the party bus or something. Who knows?"
Uh, explanations?
More from Jose:
"Definitely not alive but clearly had a rough night. Maybe missed the party bus or something. Who knows?"
More about the lease renewals at 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St.
Last Thursday, a resident told us that Abart Holdings LLC has sold (or is selling) the buildings at 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St. on this block between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
Another tipster has shared a copy of the letter that some residents of the three buildings received...
Per the letter: "It has been agreed with the impending new owners that your lease will not be renewed and that you will be expected to vacate at the expiration of your lease."
Per the tipster:
"There are definitely much older families who live in the building, and suddenly they've been unceremoniously thrown out. The building is terrible as it is — several break-ins, terrible staircase, the entrance is poorly maintained — and now they are kicking everyone out."
But the residents are getting organized.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Three apartment buildings sold on East Third Street
Know your rights: Help with understanding NYC rent laws
Another makeshift shelter arrives along the Liz Christy Garden
As we reported on March 7, city officials dismantled and discarded the makeshift shelter that a homeless man had been living in the past three months on the Bowery at East Houston...
One thing probably doesn't have to do with the other... but the timing made a few readers curious... DBGB set up its sidewalk cafe four days after workers removed the shelter, which sat about 30 feet from the southern edge of the cafe...
In any event, we noticed that the man, who a Liz Christy volunteer said is from Cuba, has set up a much smaller space not too far away from where he was... so far, nothing more than a chair and a few bags...
[Bobby Williams]
One thing probably doesn't have to do with the other... but the timing made a few readers curious... DBGB set up its sidewalk cafe four days after workers removed the shelter, which sat about 30 feet from the southern edge of the cafe...
In any event, we noticed that the man, who a Liz Christy volunteer said is from Cuba, has set up a much smaller space not too far away from where he was... so far, nothing more than a chair and a few bags...
Workers continue 7-Elevening the former J.A.S. Mart on St. Mark's Place
As you may unfortunately remember, we reported that a 7-Eleven will soon open on St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue in the the former J.A.S. Mart. (The official address is 133 Second Ave.)
Workers have been molding the 7-Eleven into shape, as this shot from yesterday by Bobby Williams shows... expect the sign and awning any day or two now ...
Previously on EV Grieve:
7-Eleven continues to feast on the East Village; next up, St. Mark's Place
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