[Updated] First sign of future construction About the outside of 100 Avenue A

A Davey Drill arrived yesterday near 100 Avenue A at Seventh Street...


[Bobby Williams]

But it apparently has nothing to do with 100 Avenue A as we previously suggested. (Has to do with with Niagara and Black Market.) Our apologies.

It's the first sign of any work activity related to the future of the former East Village Farms, which closed back in February. The city disapproved the first round of plans to renovate the space, including adding a "dwelling unit" and roof garden on the upper floors.

Workers bring in the drill before a construction/demolition job to test water levels and gauge the composition of the soil and stuff beneath the street. (H/t, BoweryBoogie.) This doesn't mean work will be starting tomorrow. But it's on the way.

So! Let's move right into this then.

Meanwhile, as you've probably noticed... the space in front of the former grocery has turned into a makeshift shelter at times... (We first noted this back on April 6.)


[Bobby Williams]


[Bobby Williams]

In recent weeks, it appears an effort has been made to clean up the space.


[Dave on 7th]

As the signs show, Anthony is trying to keep it tidy.


[Dave on 7th]


[Dave on 7th]

On numerous occasions, we've watched the NYPD move people along...





Typically they head to the Park or congregate on the corner of St. Mark's and Avenue A. Or they simply move around the corner...



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

East Third Street lot in contract; city OKs Karl Fischer-designed apartment building

[File photo]

Back in January, we noted that the lot at 321 E. Third St., just west of Avenue D, was on the market for $6 million. According to Streeteasy, the 5,770 square-foot lot is in contract. Stay tuned for details on what will be coming here.

Meanwhile, across the street, the Karl Fischer-designed, 33-unit apartment building will be shooting up soon enough where 316-318 E. Third St. used to be... workers finished demolishing the circa-1835 house back in March.

The lot is empty now, though not for long.

The city OK'd the plans for the new building on May 11.

Previously on EV Grieve:


Another parcel of East Village land ready for development

33-unit, Karl Fischer-designed building rising at former home of Community Board 3 member

Landmarks Preservation Commission rejects hearing for 316 E. Third St., paving way for 7-floor condo

Lovely townhouse with bucolic gardens on East Third Street ready for "creative expansion"

The sound of storage on East Sixth Street

Yesterday, EVG reader Bill Stepp noticed some activity at the long dormant storefront at 340 E. Sixth St. ...



... most recently the home of Tribal Soundz, the world music shop that closed in the fall of 2008.



Since then, the storefront has sat empty. Bill saw three men "unloading and moving what looked like kitchen equipment."

New business?

"One told me it will be used as storage."



Perhaps it will be a storage unit for the Schwimmers across the way.

Anyway, there aren't any new work permits on file with the DOB to provide any further clues here. Meanwhile, for a little more history, Jeremiah wrote about Tribal Soundz back in the fall of 2008 here.

Babel expanding on Avenue C

Over on Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street... work continues at the former Duke's ... the neighborhood bar that closed at the end of 2011.

Back in March, we heard that Babel Lounge and Hookah Bar next door was expanding into the Duke's space. You can see the progress in these photos via Matt LES_Miserable...





Babel is on the month's CB3/SLA agenda for the new space.

Dunno what Babel is like — have never been inside. But the loss of low-key neighborhood bars like Duke's, and, soon, TenEleven, is tough on a street becoming dominated by high-end drinkeries ...

Anyway, how it's all looking...

White Plains bar-restaurant owner looking to open former Friend House space on Third Avenue

Last month, Friend House closed on Third Avenue at 13th Street... the for rent signs quickly went up... and someone is already looking to take over this prime space. There's an applicant for the address on this month's CB3/SLA meeting on June 18.

According to CB3 documents (PDF), one of the principals owns and operates two bar-restaurants in White Plains — the Brazen Fox and neighbor Ron Blacks. This yet-unnamed restaurant is proposing hours of 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. seven days a week. The applicants — Niall Henry and Declan Rainsford — are also proposing an unenclosed sidewalk cafe on Third Avenue and 13th Street for seating up to 32 people from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

According to Westchester Magazine, Ron Blacks (currently closed for renovations) has 15 TVs and 40 taps. Brazen Fox, per the website, features a martini happy hour as well as nightly specials such as "Ladies Night" on Wednesdays and "Suds for Scrubs," a new promotion in which anyone showing a medical ID can get "$5 draughts."

Faith

A photo of a photo shoot... under the Faith side at Temperance Fountain in Tompkins Square Park today...

By Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Spotted on 11th and B the other day ... photo by Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C]

The great chain explosion (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Nolita House closes on East Houston (BoweryBoogie)

Midnight movies at the Sunshine (The Lo-Down)

IHOP invading Carmine Street (DNAinfo via Eater)

Krist Novoselic the keynote speaker for the CBGB Festival (Rolling Stone)

Iggy and Patti casting choices revealed for CBGB biopic (Variety)

20-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis busted for having an 8-ounce beer in the Union Square subway station (Gothamist)

Bob Egan's PopSpots (Curbed ... PopSpots ... previous NYC album photo quizes on Flaming Pablum)

Report: NYPD investigates possible suicide at 104 Second Avenue

[Image from Gothamist News Map]

A man died this morning after apparently jumping from the roof at 104 Second Ave. at East Sixth Street, DNAinfo reported.

The man's body was found in the courtyard in the rear of the six-story building. Police do not suspect any foul play, according to DNAinfo.

As the for rent signs turn at 34 Avenue A

EVG reader Anna notes the above new "for rent" sign (with bonus typo) for the seemingly doomed 34 Avenue A ground-floor space... last occupied by Aces & Eights. By our count, this is the the third broker since last August...As noted earlier today, the mystery applicant vying for the space is no longer on this month's CB3/SLA docket.

The listing at Living New York says that the space is rented. But why would there be a new broker?

Anyone have details on the future of this address? Can we still hold out hope that a cassette-swap shop will open here?

Previously on EV Grieve:

Four seasons at 51 Astor Place

DP in EV shares this photo series with us ... showing the demolition of the former Cooper Union engineering building... starting late last summer through this spring... and the progress of the incoming Fumihiko Maki-designed office building.









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

East Village — the new Midtown?

Workers chopping down the trees at 51 Astor Place

Reader report: TenEleven closing at the end of June

[EVG file photo]

There have been rumors that TenEleven on Avenue C between 10th Street and 11th Street will be closing some time this month. (See this tweet by East Village Eats.)

Via Matt LES_Miserable ... According to sources familiar with the bar's status, the place is "switching over" on June 30. Word is a management group that "runs some other bars" is doing some kind of lease buy-out. Apparently it is likely to become a "very different" place.

Last summer, the bar had to temporarily close while waiting for its liquor license renewal... The CB3/SLA committee refused to renewal the bar's license due to some complaints... the SLA eventually renewed TenEleven's license.

In any event, this is all too bad. As we've written, TenEleven is the kind of bar that we need more of around here ... featuring the works of local photographers and artists ... and hosting the occasional musician as well as group events... It's a solid neighborhood bar that seemingly doesn't appeal to the woo-woo pack that arrives every weekend.

Hardcore/punk cassette art at L'asso EV

EV Grieve reader Greg Barris, a partner at L'Asso EV, passed along news of this exhibit going on through July at the pizzeria/restaurant on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street ...



Here's the official description of the exhibit via Facebook:

DEMO-LITION explores the artwork of demo tape/cassette releases from the Hardcore/Punk/Metal music scenes circa 1980s - early 90s. A variety of covers and full-sleeve art will be on display, along with anecdotes from a selection of bands and artists...

And about the organizers...

In the mid-1980s, Freddy Alva and Eric Wielander were growing up in the New York independent music scene, producing compilations, publishing fanzines, watching scores of Punk and Hardcore bands perform, and reviewing releases. At the time, bands were self-releasing their recordings (from approximately 4 songs up through album-length material) on cassettes a/k/a “demos.” With these releases, with a run of anywhere from 30 to several hundreds if not thousands, the sleeve art was put in the hands of whichever band member was graphically gifted, or turned over to a friend.

Find out more at the DEMO-LITION Facebook page.


[Click to enlarge]

The show opened last Thursday. Here's an account from that night by United by Rocket Science ... We're looking forward to checking this out...


[Via Facebook]

34 Avenue A scratches again (again)

For the third 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 repeatedly 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.

The CB3/SLA committee meeting is on June 18. Good seats still available.

A sidewalk shed exits outside Vazac's

[Sunday]

A few readers have pointed out that workers removed the sidewalk shed outside the Horseshoe Bar/Vazac's/7B on the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue B on Saturday ... workers erected it in late March, fueling speculation that, perhaps, the four-story Peter Jarema Funeral Home ad ... ("air conditioned chapels") with its old exchange "OR4-2568" might get painted over (for whatever reason).

Several residents noted that the sidewalk shed looked rather wobbly, and the DOB quickly slapped a Stop Work Order on the address in early April for lack of proper permits.

Not sure if any work was ever done on the building. The city eventually issued permits, which pointed to "remedial repairs."

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Outside The New York City Marble Cemetery yesterday, by Bobby Williams]

Developer wants rooftop variances on East Ninth Street (Off the Grid)

Parkside Lounge raising money for new stage (BoweryBoogie)

Lower East Side Heritage Film Series wraps up (The Lo-Down)

At the DayLife Festival on Orchard Street (DNAinfo)

City has seen a 42% increase in retail sales since 2007 (Racked)

Who is taking all of our cats? (Slum Goddess)

Last meal at Prime Burger (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

And Snack Dragon is back open on East Third Street after a bout with the DOH ...

Howl! Festival links recap

Here are the links to our Howl! Festival photos from the weekend... in one handy place... And thanks to everyone who shared photos with us...

Back stage for Low Life 6

Art Around the Park, Part II

Art Around the Park, Part I

Allen Around the Park

Let's get this Arty started

A lot of Howling

Canvassing Tompkins Square Park

Countdown to Howl!

Check out more photos and videos from Howl! at GammaBlog ... and Fresh Paint NYC ... and BoweryBoogie ...

[Updated] Hotel Toshi takes up residency at newly renovated 147 First Avenue

Funny, back in May 2010, a construction worker told Matt at Neighbohoodr that 147 First Avenue was going to be a motel. Ha, ha. Good one!

Anyway, work looks pretty complete on the upper levels here at East Ninth Street... and we've been waiting for any kind of rental-condo listings to go live at the Icon Realty website.

Well, turns out the construction worker was nearly right — the space is now part of the Hotel Toshi/Smart Apartments empire. Per the Smart Apartments website ...

"This is a self-service apartment style hotel located in the East Village on the corner of E9th Street and 1st Avenue. There is no front desk and check-ins must be completed at an iPad kiosk located in the building lobby. At a compact 280 square feet, this corner unit studio apartment packs everything you need for a modern and comfortable stay in New York City. The East Village is full of things to do: consignment and vintage shopping (Tokio 7, Ina), brunch (Prune, Sunburnt Cow), bars, cafes, lounges, and boutique shopping."

We typed in some random dates this month to see about rates. The "studio: corner series" is $299 a night ... and the "studio — standard" is $279.

[Updated] Here is the temporary certificate of occupancy.... the city issued this on May 4; it expires on Aug. 2. (The PDF is here.) It shows a Class B designation, which allows for short-term occupancy, such as hotel rooms...



Icon Realty is also listed on DOB permits as the owner of 325 E. 10th St. where another short-term apartment has been operating ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ninth Street and First Avenue shocker: Motel ... Hello?

Hotel Toshi takes over 325 E. 10th St.

When Hotel Toshi took over an East Village building

Hotel Toshi hit with all sorts of violations on East 10th Street

21 E. First St. has its first floor! (Sort of...)

Let's take a look at Second Avenue and East First Street. It has a skyline now.

One floor down, 11 more to go before a bland-looking apartment building is in place...

Also, we'll start referring to it by its official project name... which is, I think, 21 East First Street...

As the for rent signs turn at the former Amato Opera

Here we are at the Amato Opera on the Bowery, which has sat empty since the company closed on May 31, 2009.

A mini recap since the Amato closed: In July 2010, CB3 gave its blessing for the owners of the V Bars to open a "bar/restaurant/theater experience" in the former Amato Opera on the Bowery. However, those plans fell through. The space was for rent for $22,500 a month... then the whole building went for sale for $6.95 million. Now, we're up to our third or fourth real-estate rep...

The latest sign is now up ... RKF has the listing...

No price mentioned. A few details from the listing:

All uses accepted
Space may be leased in existing layout as a former theater
Entire building available for lease

Steps from The Standard East Village, The Bowery Hotel, New Museum, 40 Bond Street and AvalonBay at Chrystie Place

Likely won't be sitting empty for another three years.

Last thing... the rendering people (scalies!) seem quite life-like:

Particularly the texting zombie walking right into traffic on the Bowery...

For further reading:
Amato Opera (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Life after the Amato Opera

Costume drama on the Bowery as the Amato Opera empties out

Ruin of the Bowery nearly complete: Last season for the Amato Opera

Go inside the Amato Opera here.