9-story hotel next to Merchant's House a no go for now

Various residents and and preservationists came out last night at a CB2 meeting to oppose plans for a nine-story hotel next door to the landmarked Merchant's House on East Fourth Street. Plans call for demolishing the one-level garage/repair shop adjacent to the circa 1832 Merchant's House.

There are concerns that the construction next door would harm the landmarked Museum.

As DNAinfo reported, CB2's Landmarks Committee unanimously voted to deny the application. The proposal will go before CB2's full board meeting on May 24. According to DNAinfo, the Landmarks Preservation Commission will consider CB2's recommendation in June when it gives final approval for the new structure The Landmarks Preservation Commission will consider the proposal in June.

Anyway, you haven't seen the last of this proposal, which will likely be modified to a 4- or 5-story structure.

Curbed has coverage from last night here.

And starring Alan Rickman as Hilly Kristal

Last Tuesday, Roger Friedman at Forbes noted that the CBBG movie by husband and wife filmmakers Jody Savin and Randall Miller was a go.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that well-regarded English actor Alan Rickman will play CBGB founder Hilly Kristal in the biopic about the club's origins.

And here's Rickman as Hans Gruber inside the Nakatomi Plaza in "Die Hard."

[Image via FanPop]

51 Astor Place (almost) has its first tenant

[Sunday at the the pit. Photo by Bobby Williams]

As you may know, the Death Star 51 Astor Place is being built entirely on spec. However, The Commercial Observer brings news that 51 is ready to ink its first tenant — the Hult International Business School. Pending approval of the state's Board of Regents, the school with campuses in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai is expected to take the entire second floor.

No word on where they'll lease space for their fraternity and sorority houses. (OK — that's a joke.)

H/T Curbed.

Today in TV commercials filming in front of Veniero's

Chase continues to film a commercial or something around the neighborhood... seen here on East 11th Street at First Avenue right now ...

...where Shawn Chittle found an briefly unattended craft services tent...

A mid-morning Craigslist 'Missed Connections' break

5 am — St Marks to 20th Street - w4m (East Village)
Date: 2012-05-13, 2:37PM EDT

Met outside Crif Dogs and walked from St Marks to 20th Street really late at night/early morning. Had a photo session w/ a homeless man. I bought cup noodles from him. I was wearing a black and yellow leopard print dress and ketchup on my face...

Via

Construction starts at the the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space on Avenue C

[Bobby Williams]

Construction started yesterday at C-Squat on Avenue C ... the building's long-empty storefront will serve as the future home to the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space — aka, MoRUS.

Laurie Mittelmann, who along with Bill DiPaola, the executive director of Time's Up, is helping spearhead the project. She gave us a quick update last night.

"We're building a staircase to connect the museum's storefront with the basement — a portion of which will also be rented to us. C-Squat residents are funding the installation of a new storefront and roll gate, which will be constructed by a 6th St. squatter. Hopefully we'll have interns working in the space in a week or two (the construction is scheduled to go at light speed) and we'll be open to the public in about a month and a half."

As in The New York Times reported in March, the museum "was being established to, among other things, tell the story of how activists in the East Village took over abandoned properties and over the years transformed them into permanent housing or community gardens."

And in case you haven't seen this yet, here's a video about the museum...



And here's the MoRUS website with more information.

'RESPECT this gesture'

Spotted on East Seventh Street. I keep reading this and don't think I totally get it either. I should have taken a photo of the look too.

Belcourt has closed; Prune people's Calliope on tap

Over on East Fourth Street and Second Avenue, Belcourt has closed...

As we pointed out in January, the space will give way to a "new American" restaurant called Calliope run by some Prune alums... According to Diner's Journal, Eric Korsh, the executive chef at the Waverly Inn, will be opening the space with his wife, Ginevra Iverson, Prune's one-time sous chef.

And if you were a fan of Belcourt's "famous brunch and Oyster hour," they'll be doing it across the street at Nomad now, according to the Belcourt website...

Free tonight: Richard Hell, the 1980s in 'Smithereens'

From the EV Grieve inbox...

The Seward Park Branch Library is pleased to announce the first program of the Lower East Side Heritage Film Series: the Eighties. Tonight at 6:30 in our Community Room. In this installment of our FREE monthly series we will be showing on VHS:

Smithereens (1982, 89 min., VHS)

Susan Seidelman directs her first feature film: Wren is nineteen and determined to break into punk rock. The pieces of her world are scattered over Lower Manhattan: a grungy Lower East Side apartment, the abandoned train yards along the Hudson River, and the helter-skelter world of East Village rock clubs. It doesn't matter that Wren can't sing, write songs, or play an instrument. She's desperate to make the scene, and desperation makes people do dangerous things.

Starring Susan Berman, Bran Rjin and Richard Hell. With music by the Feelies, ESG, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

Seward Park Branch Library
192 East Broadway

And here's a trailer of sorts...



And here's an article that Seidelman wrote for Filmmaker magazine about making the movie.

That '70s show on Avenue A with 'Blood Ties'

"Blood Ties," a 1970s-era family crime drama, will be filming around parts of Avenue A and Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place today, most likely. (Unless the rain KOs filming for the day... It is supposed to rain, right?) Clive Owen and Mila Kunis star in the English-language debut of director (and actor!) Guillaume Canet ... it's actually a remake of the 2008 French thriller "Les Liens Du Sang" ... the cast includes Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Zoe Saldana, James Caan, Lili Taylor and Domenick Lombardozzi...

Checking in on the CB3/SLA meeting: Standard East Village gains approval for alteration

Previously.

h/t @ShaneEvanDavis

[Updated] Report: Woman jumps to her death on East 11th Street

Details are still coming in regarding an apparent suicide on East 11th Street at Second Avenue this evening around 5:30. Witnesses put the incident occurring at 300 E. 11th St. According to the Post, EMS rushed the woman to Bellevue where she died.

Updated.

A reader said that she was upset to see remnants from the tragic scene left behind on the sidewalk this morning ...

Updated:

In the comments, someone left the URL to the woman's obituary in The New York Times. You can access that here.

[Updated] Reader report: Starbucks closed on Second Avenue

Interesting message via EV Grieve reader Bayou earlier this afternoon:

The starbucks on 9th and 2nd has been closed by the city for operating illegally.

i didn't have my camera. does that mean it didn't happen?

Well, turns out that it did happen... Bayou just sent along the above photo...

Report: Officers now patrolling 9th Precinct locker room

A few weeks ago, the Post reported that someone has stolen four 9mm handguns, two bulletproof vests and other items from a locker room at the Ninth Precinct in recent months.

Today, the Post says that department officials have "assigned an around-the-clock security detail" to the locker room, which is inaccessible to anyone walking in the station's East Fifth Street entrance.

Per the Post: "The city is worried about keeping crime down on the streets, but they can't even control it in their own precincts," one source fumed.

Flyers urge residents to speak out against Standard East Village alteration

The Standard East Village is on tonight's CB3/SLA docket... Major alterations are in store for the hotel's public spaces on Cooper Square and East Fifth Street...... (We wrote about it here.)

Meanwhile, someone placed these flyers on buildings near the hotel... asking residents to speak out against the proposed changes...

Here's the diagram for the ground-floor space...

You can find the hotel's proposal (PDF) at the CB3 website here.

Mystery masonry garden wall coming down at the Mystery Lot

While we wait for something significant to happen at the Mystery Lot ... we did notice a new permit from the city last week approving work for "removal of masonry garden wall." (Estimated Total Cost: $10,000.)

We're not quite sure what garden wall this is...

Short of hopping the fence, which we'd never do ... we can only guess at this moment... Photos from the weekend...

We even called in the EV Grieve satellite for an aerial shot...

Anyway, at the DOB website, there are permits pending approval related to building over this lot of bricks and mystery. The plans for the building were disapproved the first time on April 20.

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. The work permits say that the space will include 86,409 square feet for residential and 5,275 square feet for retail.

Previously.

And how was your weekend?

A few observations via Twitter... perhaps we'll make this a weekly Monday feature.

Insane people on 2nd Avenue riding the white horse in a telephone booth. Stay classy, East Village

— Arthur (@dangeroustype) May 13, 2012

Rumor is Ryan Gosling is roaming the East Village with his shirt off and he's holding puppies.

— april lanier (@mushwin) May 13, 2012

If you're making out in a Ford Taurus on Avenue A, your girlfriend's ass is on the horn. If you could move on that'd be great. #EastVillage

— Ryan Avenue A (@RyanAvenueA) May 13, 2012

Last year at this time, workers began demolishing 35 Cooper Square

Just noting that workers arrived on May 12, 2011, to start the demolition of the formerly historic 35 Cooper Square...

And one year later...

Wonder if someone will commemorate the one-year anniversary with another sign...

Taking another look at the 154 Second Ave. rendering

Just continuing to watch the interior demolition at 154 Second Ave., the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

[Friday]

Plans call for several new floors here for "luxury rental apartments" ... as well as nearly 4,600 square feet of ground-floor space "perfect for: retail store, restaurant," per the Icon Realty listing.

And there's an updated rendering for the building too.

Previously.

[Image via Off the Grid]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former funeral home looks to double in size with help from 'the controversial penthouse king of the East Village'

Redeveloped funeral home looking for a few live retail tenants

34 Avenue A scratches again

For the second consecutive month, the mystery applicant hoping to take over the bar-restaurant space at 34 Avenue A has pulled out of the CB3/SLA committee meeting.

As we've cut-n-pasted from past posts, CB3 has rejected all the recent plans for a bar-restaurant-performance space here.

This space has been one long dramedy since Aces & Eights opened in March 2009.

Meanwhile, you can find the rest of the CB3/SLA docket for tonight here.