Demolition starts tomorrow at former counterculture theater on Avenue B

EV Grieve reader Ron Z. spotted workers and a new sign up this morning at the long-empty 185-193 Avenue B at East 12th Street.

According to the DOB, demolition will start here tomorrow...

There are plans waiting approval at the DOB for a mixed-use seven-story building with 44 units. (You can read a short history of what's happening with the space here.)

The address was a movie theater for many years, first the Bijou in 1926, then the Charles. (The theater closed in 1975, and a church took over the space.) A fire broke out in the building in October 2006.

Earlier this year, Brooklyn-based photographer Matt Lambros took shots of the space for After the Final Curtain, his photo site on abandoned architecture.

You can find his photos here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Revival planned for church and theater on Avenue B

Inside the Charles

Former landmark countercultural theater now for rent on Avenue B

7-story building in the works to replace former countercultural theater/church on Avenue B

Jeff Buckley died on this date in 1997

[Jeff Buckley on St. Mark's Place circa 1993 via]

Peter Ferraro at East Village Radio reminds us that today is the anniversary of Jeff Buckley's death in 1997. After working with his band in Memphis on the evening of May 29, Buckley went swimming in Wolf River Harbor off the Mississippi River and drowned. Buckley was 30. He had one studio album to his name, the critically praised "Grace" that came out in August 1994.

"He did so much with one studio album," Ferraro said in an email. "It's one of my all-time favorite records. I could only imagine what would've come next."

Buckley, an East Village resident since 1990, was a regular at Sin-é at 122 St. Mark's Place in the early 1990s. (The St. Mark's version of Sin-é closed in 1996.) His Monday night residency was quite popular.

You can read his official bio here.

Late last summer/early fall, a few scenes for "Greetings From Tim Buckley" filmed in the East Village. Here's the official synopsis for the Jeff Buckley-Tim Buckley biopic:

Greetings from Tim Buckley follows the true story of the days leading up to Jeff Buckley’s eminent 1991 performance at his father’s tribute concert in St. Ann’s Church. Through a romance with a young woman working at the concert, he learns to embrace all of his feelings toward the father who abandoned him — longing, anger, forgiveness, and love. Culminating a cathartic performance of his father’s most famous songs, Jeff’s debut stuns the audience and launches his career as one of the greatest young musicians of his time.

Penn Badgley from "Gossip Girl" fame — and no stranger to the East Village! — portrays Jeff. No exact release date yet for the movie. (There's another Jeff Buckley biopic in the works, which you can read about here.)

East Village Radio assembled a collection of Jeff Buckley videos, which you can find here.

Mystery Lot ready for retail

As you probably know, the Mystery Lot here off East 14th Street east of Third Avenue will become an 82-unit, eight-story development some day. The work permits, which are still pending city approval, say that the space will include 86,409 square feet for residential and 5,275 square feet for retail.

And now, the "retail opportunity" sign has arrived ...

Not a whole lot of info via the official retail listing...

However, there will be room for retail in two storefronts, which includes the current empty slot between Chickpea and the 123 condo...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Mystery Lot likely facing a luxurious end

On the CB3/SLA June docket: Beer and wine for Ninth Street Espresso (on 10th Street)

We'll have more about the June CB3/SLA docket later... (the meeting is June 18) ...

Here are a few notable items:

Sidewalk Café Application
• Starbucks Coffee (Starbucks Corp), 145 2nd Ave

Don't think this is for alcohol ... just getting their paperwork back in order for the sidewalk cafe that the city shuttered ...

Applications within Resolution Areas
• To be Determined, 34 Ave A (wb)

The mystery applicants for the former Aces & Eights space are back. Third month in a row that they've appeared on the docket. The new applicants have pulled out of the last two meetings.

New Liquor License Applications
• Nevada Smiths (92 Nuns Walk Inc), 100 3rd Ave (op)

Getting ready to settle into their new home.

• Ninth Street Expresso (Higher Grounds Café Inc), 343 E 10th St (wb)

As Scoopy first reported at The Villager, Ninth Street Espresso on East 10th Street is moving next door into half of the former Life Cafe space... and this move looks as if it will include a beer-wine list.

Also... mystery applicants for the former Hea/Friend House space on Third Avenue at 13th Street... and the Mercadito Cantina on Avenue B... and something new for Bar on A, which had been for sale...

And how was your weekend?

A few observations via Twitter...

The entire lower east side smells like shit

— Tiff Yu (@teamoney) May 26, 2012

The East Village is a ghost town & I love it!
— ®ahel Ghebremichael (@RahellaBella) May 28, 2012

Walking in the East Village, a man pulls out his penis and starts urinating wildly in the middle of the street. #NYC
— Felicia(@FeFeLaRoux) May 27, 2012

Zaitzeff has closed on Avenue B

[EVG file photo]

On Sunday night, we noted that Zaitzeff was closing its Avenue B location. Turns out that the healthy burger joint closed up for good last night at 18 Avenue B near East Second Street. the Zaitzeff locations in Murray Hill and the Financial District will remain open...

The Typhoon Lounge has closed on St. Mark's Place

A tipster passes along word that The Typhoon Lounge on St. Mark's Place just west of First Avenue has closed. Sunday was the last night for the Japanese bar-restaurant, which opened in the late 1990s... Per the tipster: "The details behind it closing are a bit murky, but I was told earlier this week that the owner wasn't making enough money out of it to justify keeping it open."

Despite the steady weekend crowds and party groups that still came through, the place apparently couldn't make a go of it in the still-struggling economy.

While the tipster noted that the food and sushi weren't particularly exceptional, it was always solid ... and, more important, there was a steady community presence there...

Snack Dragon was closed all weekend on East Third Street

Last Tuesday, a reader told us that Snack Dragon on East Third Street near Avenue B got DOH'd... folks behind the tiny six-year-old takeout tacqueria were hoping to be back open for the weekend... Unfortunately, that never happened... and they were closed for the holiday weekend... Here are the signs posted on the Snack Dragon gate ...

...as you can see the Orchard Street outpost was open for business...

They received 45 violation points on Tuesday... and 33 on the follow-up visit two days later... the usual evidence of various live things...

In case you want to see a really nice rooftop garden

[Photo by Bilyana Dimitrova]

Came across an article on the Remodelista website from the weekend ... in which two architects/designers discussed creating an East Village rooftop garden... The two "were tasked with maximizing the panoramic views while maintaining a sense of privacy, which they achieved via strategically placed walls, canvas screens, and plantings."

Speaking of privacy... There's an outdoor shower (photo below) ... per the article: "While the outdoor shower was designed for privacy, there is a view of the Empire State building from the small rectangular opening."

[Photo by Bilyana Dimitrova]

Forgot to go look where this is... maybe 11th Street just west of Avenue A?

[Updated] Vandaag has been closed lately is officially closed now

Several readers pointed us to Vandaag, the well-regarded Dutch-Danish bistro on Second Avenue and East Sixth Street. The restaurant has been closed of late. One reader put the date at May 20.

EV Grieve regular peter radley, who took these photos, said this sign has appeared in the window for at least a week... "plumbing emergency"

He also noted that the plants and flowers inside the restaurant are dead...

[EVG]

A reader photo from Sunday night... you can see the mail stacking up on the floor...

There isn't any outgoing phone message with an explanation of the closure. The restaurant's Facebook page hasn't been updated since May 8. Open Table is not accepting any reservations. We sent the Vandaag folks an email asking when they might reopen.

Vandaag opened in July 2010 in the former Bounce Deuce space. Vandaag owner Brendan Spiro is involved with a new restaurant, Woodland, in Park Slope that opened on May 21.

Updated: 3:15 p.m.

Eater gets word that Vandaag is closed for good.

Patricia Field moves on the Bowery

This past weekend... we watched workers move goods from the Patricia Field boutique on the Bowery... On Saturday, the designer closed up her store of six years at 302 Bowery...

... and she'll open at the newly renovated showroom space that she already owned at 306 Bowery/298 Elizabeth tomorrow... EV Grieve reader Pedro took a look at the new storefront during the weekend...

Meanwhile, the space at 302 is for rent now — $30K a month. We wrote about that here.

Celebrating the last weekend of the summer

As we close out another summer, we take a look at some of the iconic structures around the city... Bobby Williams took a little road trip today...

... and from yesterday...

We are looking forward to the fall and cooler temperatures ahead.

Hold on. What?

Oh, it's not Labor Day weekend?

Are you sure?

This is what records people were buying on Memorial Day weekend 2012

[At Kim's]

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...

Did you?

Spotted along First Avenue.

Today in photos of large bones found on the sidewalk

Photo by WIlliam Klayer.

First Avenue bus bulbs on the way

Catching up on a few items that I meant to post last week. (Or maybe the week before.) Such as!

Over on First Avenue between First Street and Second Street ... the MTA is, as the sign shows, building sidewalk extensions (bus bulbs!) for the M15 and the Select Bus Service...

...the sign says something about completion during the fourth quarter of this year...

As Streetsblog puts it: "Bus bulbs — sidewalk extensions into the street at bus stops — keep bus shelters and ticket machines out of the way of pedestrian traffic. And by allowing buses to load passengers without having to pull to the curb and back into traffic, they also make for faster rides."

... Meanwhile, no word on how this is slowing down the limo departure times outside Lucky Cheng's...

Today in photos of things splattered on the sidewalk

Cooper Square at Sixth Street. Perhaps I'll start a separate site for this kind of thing.

Celebrating 28 years of saying 'There goes the neighborhood'

We trot this one out every so often... It's the cover story from the May 28, 1984, New York magazine ... The article talks about the influx of chain stores, art galleries and chic cafes. "And real-estate values are exploding" as a result. Said one longtime resident on the changes: "I've lived in my rent-controlled apartment for years and pay $115 a month. I live on the Lower East Side. The young kids who just moved in upstairs and pay $700 a month for the same space — they live in the East Village."

Find the whole article here.

Zaitzeff closing Avenue B location

A tipster passes along word that the family-run Zaitzeff burgers is shutting down its Avenue B location that opened in 2007 after tomorrow... the Zaitzeff locations in Murray Hill and the Financial District will remain open...

Just a few scenes at the Loisaida Festival today

A few moments from the 25th anniversary of the Loisaida Festival today on Avenue C... via Jacob Anderson ... always one of the best street festivals around...

Ivy Irizarry-Rivera, right, of Ivy Jewel, was one of the few vendors based in the neighborhood... (Many of the other vendors were from the outer boroughs, according to festival officials...)

Above, Sixth Street resident David Joffe gives a demonstration of one of his trinkets for sale...