How is your Houston Street Corridor Reconstruction going?

Speaking of East Houston... On Monday, we posted information from DNAinfo's report that the $60 million Houston Street Corridor Reconstruction project would not be completed until the summer of 2014. (One year later than planned.)

The DNA article focused on business owners (the Subway in the Red Square shops is reportedly hurting) and traffic ... We asked readers who live along here for any construction horror stories.

Here are a few of the responses:

RyanAvenueA said...
The intersection of A and Houston, where 1st st begins, is still a pedestrian nightmare. Drivers aren't sure where to go which slows down the intersection so that someone eventually ends up flooring it through a red light. A couple months ago I saw a big truck take out one of the construction barriers. As for Subway's decline, I have to imagine the fact that there's now 40 other Subways in walking distance means some of your customers probably live closer to the competing stores.

---

Anonymous said...
challenging to walk around. inevitable that some poor pedestrian will get hit by a passing car. i don't wish that to happen but i just have a sixth sense about disasters...

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Anonymous said...
Cycling across Houston at A is a weird dash-now-and-hope-for-the-best exercise...mostly because cars don't know where to go most of the time, so bikers are left to dodge.

[Updated] A solidarity march for students in Montreal

Clayton Patterson shares these photos from last night... a group marched through part of the neighborhood in a show of support for the ongoing student protests in Montreal... (read the background here). ... the group (more than 100 strong by Clayton's estimation) arrived at Union Square at 10 p.m. ...

One reader said that the NYPD closed Tompkins Square Park early last night to prevent any groups from congregating there...

Updated 12:34 —
Colin Moynihan at the Times has a piece in the City Room this morning about the Park's early closure...

Updated 9:57 p.m. —

Here is an article from Animal titled "NYPD locks 100 people inside Tompkins Square Park to keep Occupy out." Here is the link.

Local resident wins national baking contest

Oh, I'm just running out of headlines to describe the ongoing brown-paint battle alongside Verizon on 13th Street at Second Avenue... how it's looking now...

Previously.

Today in photos of books that no one dug out of the trash on Avenue A

At East Fifth Street. Anyone?

Baoguette Cafe back open on St. Mark's Place

Last Wednesday, the DOH temporarily closed Baoguette Cafe on St. Mark's Place with 80 violation points... Anyway, just a quick note (post?) to say that they are back open... (The DOH website didn't have the Baoguette entry updated just yet...)

Photo by Bobby Williams.

[Updated] EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[An empty Avenue A late last night. By Shawn Chittle]

CB3 votes on SPURA tonight (The Lo-Down)

A silent film set on Astor Place (Flaming Pablum)

Old photos of the LES (Curbed)

Nolita House closing on East Houston (Eater)

Jewel Bako alum opening sushi place on East 12th St. called Bugs (Grub Street)

The Public Theater getting high-end dining, drinking options (Gothamist)

Busting an illegal gambling ring on East Broadway (BoweryBoogie)

The death of a Ninth Avenue block (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

A cab ride will likely be more expensive (The New York Observer)

Joey Ramone's second posthumous album, "...ya know?," is out today... Here's the video for "Rock 'N Roll is the Answer" released on Record Store Day last month ...



...and a reader passed this along... Bareburger on Second Avenue at East Fifth Street has a comedy night... featuring Janeane Garofalo (and others!) tonight...

Sales pitch or warning?

Dave on 7th spotted this at King's Court Realty on St. Mark's Place the other day...

The 'island' of Astor Place

[Via Curbed]

Catching up with a piece from Bloomberg yesterday about the incoming 51 Astor Place.

Developer Edward Minskoff said that he is seeking between $88 and $115 a square foot — rates that approach "the highest rents for top-quality space in Midtown Manhattan, the most expensive U.S. office market, as a booming technology market fuels demand for trendier areas."

Per the article: "Office demand in New York is shifting from the glossy skyscrapers of Midtown preferred by banks to the quirkier mix of neighborhoods to its south that’s home to Chelsea warehouses, Soho galleries and the punky shops on St. Mark's Place where Joey Ramone and Madonna refined their fashion sense."

Minskoff went on to say that he "expects a company will pay for the opportunity to plant its flag in the East Village the way Google asserted its presence in Chelsea."

Per the article: "The Google building is a good building, but it’s a big factory building," he said. "It doesn't knock your socks off. Fifty-one Astor is like an island. It’s very, very visible."

And how!

So years from now we can revisit the "the quirkier mix of neighborhoods" to see how they fared during this post-Midtown boom.

We've been curious how the Death Star at 51 Astor Place will impact the surrounding area... Does the quirky have any chance for survival? For instance. What becomes of street vendors or street art on Astor Place? (Regardless of how you might feel about the street artists or street art.)

[Bobby Williams]

[Bobby Williams]

Or will the 51 Astor-Sculpture for Living glass-tower combo be too much to overcome? Will everything be crushed underfoot? Or, perhaps, 51 really will be an island safely moored off shore from the rest of the neighborhood ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
51 Astor Place demolition begins July 1; 17 months to build new black-glass tower

East Village — the new Midtown?

Bistro Cafe & Grill now open on First Avenue

... on the southeast corner at Second Street... the awning tells you just about everything the place will serve... wraps, burgers, salads, gyros... let us know if you try this place.

Previously.

Here's a springtime view of the Steve Jobs tree in Tompkins Square Park

Last November, workers from Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project planted a Dawn Redwood tree in honor of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs... the plaque recognizing Jobs went up in March.

Meanwhile, we realized that we hadn't stopped to look at the tree this spring when the lawn was empty... Anyway, here's a springtime view...

Previously on EV Grieve:
RUMORS: Memorial tree for Steve Jobs planned for Tompkins Square Park

Mystery Lot wisdom

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Report: Space that houses Rite Aid on Avenue D hits market for $22.5 million

[Google Street View]

That above stretch of retail that includes a Rite Aid on Avenue D between Seventh Street and Sixth Street hit the market today for $22.5 million, The Real Deal reported. The site is earmarked for a residential development that "could potentially rise 12 stories" — particularly with "the creation or preservation of affordable housing."

In a news release announcing the sale, Eastern Consolidated's Alan Miller said, "The residential portion of the building will, no doubt, provide spectacular views of Manhattan as well as views of the East River and beyond."

Read The Real Deal piece here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[In the rain in Tompkins Square Park last week ... by Bobby Williams]

Million-dollar parking space at 66 E. 11th St. (New York Post)

Break-dancing in Tompkins Square Park [video] (The Gog Log)

Mystery tenant leases former HSBC branch on First Avenue at 14th Street (pcvstBee)

The Mosaic Man's new cups of Joe at the Bean (BoweryBoogie)

Thefts continued at 9th Precinct even with security detail (New York Post)

Breaking glass during renovations at 118 E. Fourth St. (Occupy East Fourth Street)

Momofuku Milk Bar opening a Montauk branch (Eater)

NYU's class of 1932 (Ephemeral New York)

Looking at the new McHale's (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Hotel Chelsea lobby phone booths are history (Living With Legends)

A reader sent along this poster spotted yesterday on East Fourth Street... not much information...

A reader reports that the new gelato place on Second Avenue below East Fourth Street is now open...

[Yesterday morning]

...and last Friday we noted that renovation work had started on the bar/restaurant at the Standard East Village. We were really wrong. The workers and wood that we saw turned out to be for the NoHo Design District Festival at the Hotel... We apologize for the mistake...

East Houston Street construction will be a living hell for an extra year

The $60 million Houston Street Corridor Reconstruction started in the fall of 2010... with a scheduled wrap date of next spring.

But!

DNAinfo learns that various complications have added another year to the project — pushing the expected completion date to the summer of 2014.

Per the article:

The news came as an unpleasant surprise to many Lower East Side and East Village business owners, who said the work from the Bowery to the FDR Drive ... has turned the street into a nightmarish obstacle course for drivers and pedestrians, driving away customers and hurting their business.

The franchise owner of the Subway sandwich shop in the Red Square shops "said he's considering closing the location after losing about 50 percent of his customer base because of the narrowed sidewalk, obstructed crosswalk and other construction headaches outside his door."

The article focuses on business owners and drivers... how about residents who live along here? Anyone with any construction horror stories?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

[An EVG East Houston file photo]

Claim: David Schwimmer will inspect his new East Sixth Street home this week

The word on East Sixth Street is that David Schwimmer is supposed to stop by some time this week. He'll be checking out the progress at his incoming home at 331.

Meanwhile, we heard the swimming pool rumor again. A tipster told us this at the start of construction. Probably not a big surprise that the home would include an indoor pool. We didn't see anything showing a pool in the DOB permits, though we could have missed an update.

In any event, a neighbor reports that late last week workers hauled out two dumpsters full of dirt from the basement, where the pool will allegedly be ...

Addition by subtraction at East Sixth Street church

We've been curious about Iglesia Pentecostal Sarepta at 701 E. Sixth St. (just east of Avenue C) for some time... the church has not been in use of late ...

[Google Street View]

And the corner lot adjacent to the church has been empty for as long as we can remember...

All this always leads to speculation of some sort of new development... Several weeks ago, a sidewalk shed appeared here...

According to the DOB, the city approved work way back in October 2001 to "build a new 2nd story over exiting one-story masonry building."

Regardless, it was a little jarring to see that workers actually removed the existing second level late last week...

[Top two photos by Bobby Williams]

The DOB permits say that the second floor will hold the church offices and an activities room. We hope to talk with someone from the church about the plans and renovations...

Plus, maybe we can find out more about the empty lot...

[Bobby Williams]

And how was your weekend?

A few observations via Twitter... perhaps a new weekly Monday feature.

Dustin hoffman and jonah hill walking in the east village together. Strange couple?

— Paige Davis (@paigeDav) May 19, 2012

3am, 13th St: Awakened by hooting and applause at a volume that implied toplessness #eastvillage

— Handel (@handelsaurus) May 20, 2012

I know the East Village is dead, but did I have to see 2 popped collar preppies with bags of golf clubs on Ave A? Sheesh!

— Greg Garry (@GregGarry) May 20, 2012

Water store opening on East 10th Street

Here we are on East 10th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A ... previously the brief home to Cowgirl's Bakery... Molecule is opening soon here...

Per the sign on the front window, it's "a better way to buy water." They will sell "hyper-filtered, perfectly pure, eco-conscious" water... looks as if they'll sell some organic, vegan and raw food too...

'No bar/restaurant' for former Habibi Lounge space

The former hookah bar here on Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street closed some time last November... for rent signs are up now... specifically — "no bar/restaurant."

A call that should make some nightlife-fatigued neighbors of this stretch of Avenue A happy...

Last day to vote for your favorite NYC 'historic places'

Today is the last day to vote in the Partners in Preservation contest in which 40 New York landmarks are competing to win grants (awarded based in part on the number of online votes each organization can gather).

Per the news release about all this: "The program will infuse $3 million in grants to preserve the city’s historic buildings, icons and landmarks."

And there are two East Village historic places in the running...

• DMAC - Duo Multicultural Arts Center on East Fourth Street
Project: Restoration of 6 murals, decorative tin ceiling

• St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
Project: Restoration of the portico

Supporters can vote for the place of their choosing at the Partners in Preservation website.

Previously.