EV Grieve

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The Bean's First Avenue location opens Thursday

The Bean's Ike Escava tells us that the location at 147 First Ave. (at East Ninth Street) will open on Thursday ... Meanwhile, EVG regular jdx wandered into the location yesterday for a look...

Previously on EV Grieve:
A bigger Bean coming now to 147 First Ave.

Rumors: Ground floor at 147 First Avenue will include the Bean AND a bar

The Bean is now apparently opening on every corner in the East Village

Starbucks confirmed for 219 First Ave., former home to Allen Ginsberg's favorite Chinese restaurant

[March 30]

Back on April 26, a worker at the newly unveiled 219 First Ave. told EV Grieve reader Greg Masters that a Starbucks was opening in the retail space here...

Of course! But you never know with such intel from construction workers.

Anyway, in the last few days, paper went up on the windows here at East 13th Street ...

A newly issued work permit points to the incoming tenant...

Well, a Starbuck singular.

And while we let that sink in... might as well bring up again that the ground floor here once housed the Mee Noodle Shop, a favorite spot for Allen Ginsburg.

As the Times noted in its obituary on Ginsberg from April 1997:

Ah Lan Chong, a waitress at Mee's Noodle Shop and Grill on First Avenue, which was Mr. Ginsberg's favorite Chinese restaurant, remembered Mr. Ginsberg in simpler, less heavily freighted terms.

Sure, she knew he was someone important, someone artistic. She could tell that from overheard conversations and from the way other diners would sometimes point at him when he entered. But to Ms. Chong, he was mainly the unfussy man with a dependable hankering for steamed flounder in ginger sauce. "When he came in," she said, "we knew what he wanted."

And so it goes...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Today in rumors of another Starbucks opening in the East Village

219 First Avenue ready for a chain store, probably

All is well in air-conditioning land along East Seventh Street

Here's a slightly belated follow-up post on the situation at 140-150 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... As we reported last May 10 ... to address leaks, the landlords were going to seal up the wall sleeves for air conditioners ... and were asking residents to purchase window units (which the landlord will kick in $200 for...)

Several residents were quite unhappy with this situation. (Read our post here for all the background.)

Meanwhile! A resident provides an update: "All is fine in air conditioning land, but the scaffolding will be up for a while longer while they repoint and replace the AC sleeves."

Here's the latest missive from the landlords...

[Click image to enlarge]

Another six months for the scaffolding? Down in time for the holiday season!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Why there could be a long, hot summer at 140-150 E. Seventh St.

Your chance to make this East 13th Street building a little taller

406 E. 13th St. near First Avenue is back on the market ... the current asking price for the building with two residences and a retail space is $4.3 million.

A few of the highlights via RES Sales and Marketing Corp:

• New roof engineered for future build out
• All walls sound deadened and constructed with heavy gauge steel studs
• Approximately 1,350 sf of air rights (amount is estimated and subject to NYC dept of buildings and city planning approval)

We'll skip over the stuff about Brazilian walnut "jotoba" hardwood floors and show show you some pictures via Streeteasy...

...and the A Building is likely just a little out of reach to have dueling roof parties...

No Nukes tonight in Tompkins Square Park

From the EV Grieve inbox...

30 years ago on June 12th, over a million people gathered in Central Park to protest against nuclear energy and weaponry. To commemorate the beautiful memories and break through the anti-nuclear movement, we're going to walk again! Come march/dance/shout with live n.o.n.u.k.e.s. DJs via WBAI NY, 99.5FM! Bring your own radio or boombox to the march and tune to 99.5FM at 8PM. If you are not in NY, listen live on WBAI.org and join the demo wherever you are. Keep the no-nukes noise alive!

Guest shouters: Alice Slater, Chris Williams, Minori Nakamura and the Raging Grannies!
Host/producer: Ken Gale, Eco-Logic, WBAI 99.5 FM, NYC

Taylor Mead still loves the neighborhood

The Paris Review checks in with a wistful feature on Taylor Mead, the 87-year-old writer-actor-performer-Warhol-star ... who moved to New York in the late 1950s...

A few things from the article ... Lucien on First Avenue is his favorite restaurant — "it’s one of the few places he leaves the apartment for." Also, the landlord is apparently trying to boot Taylor from his rent-stabilized Ludlow Street apartment. The heat was off all winter.

With a nod to its headline, "Taylor Mead's Lost East Village," writer Craig Hubert notes that "People and places are gone for good, and during our conversation the East Village begins to sound more and more like a ghost town. Taylor is the last resident, the final holdout."

Perhaps ... but...

Taylor wanted to make clear that, although the neighborhood has changed drastically, he still enjoys being here. “I love my neighborhood. And I love the new yuppies, they’re very nice. They help me get out of cabs.”

Read the full piece here.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Noted

Never any mattress police around when you need them at Union Square.

Photo by Shawn Chittle.

This afternoon outside 100 Avenue A

Previously.

Photo by Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

[Running for the bus this morning. #Mondays]

McSorley's for sale? (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

The cakes of Amor Bakery on Avenue B (Fork in the Road)

Debbie Harry and Patti Smith on the CBGB biopic (Savannah Now)

New plans for the LES Business Improvement District (The Lo-Down)

A Starbucks opening on Division Street? (BoweryBoogie)

A single-family mansion for Ludlow (Curbed)

Revisiting the Pickle District on the LES (Ephemeral New York)

Inside Nicoletta on Second Avenue (Eater)

... and yesterday afternoon, we were walking on Irving Place and noticed a short line. Turns out it was for a Lana Del Rey show at Irving Plaza.

Scanning the line, we had to ask, "Is that THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N.?"

The main event on East Sixth Street at First Avenue

@JacobDAnderson passes along this info:
Replacing a gas main at 6th St. at 1st Ave. Worker said they'll be done in a couple weeks.

Peeling off the Gin Palace plywood on Avenue A and East Sixth Street

Workers this morning are removing the plywood at the Cienfuegos space on Avenue A and East Sixth Street...

January!

[EVG reader Creature]

And now, via Dave on 7th...

The former El Cobre on the ground floor is gone. The owners decided to change concepts. As Eater pointed out in November, the new space will house an English fish and chips restaurant called Gin Palace, "focusing on gin cocktails and old style English pub fare."

Time Out notes that the latest venture from Ravi DeRossi opens on Wednesday. They got the first look inside ... and report:

Although the bar takes its name from the swank gin joints of 1800s London, the decor channels a steampunk aesthetic with a space-age chandelier crafted from green-neon-lit bars, brass bands and light doodads; black-patent-leather walls; and a ceiling painted to resemble watch gears.

So, if we have this Cienfuegos stuff straight (which, we probably don't, as we've never been inside) ... the Cuban-influenced rum bar upstairs remains the same... ditto for the bitters tasting room called Amor y Amargo, which replaced the sandwich shop Carteles. And the main space will now serve fish 'n' chips.

Previously.

Breaking: Huge truck parks outside the David Schwimmer mansion — but why?

A tipster passes along the following photo from outside David Schwimmer's incoming home at 331 E. Sixth St.:

Per the tipster:

Another "what is it?" moment ... as the Schwimmer Shack gets a monster delivery (of delicious shakes and tasty burgers, maybe?). Note that the huge truck is heading in the wrong direction.

Shakes and burgers aside ... what else might be inside...?

Construction starts this week at Karl Fischer-designed apartment building on Third Avenue

That is according to the always-reliable worker on the scene here at 74-84 Third Ave., the former home to Nevada Smith's, Yummy House and a parking lot.

The temporary parking lot closed up last week...

...and a little credit for Karl...

Anyway, the worker said digging will commence this week for this...

As The Real Deal reported, the corner will one day house an 82,000-square-foot, nine-story residential building with 94 units. And retail.

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

Celebrating the host countries of Euro 2012

Euro 2012 — "the planet's second-most-important soccer tournament," as ESPN put it — kicked off last Friday... and in honor of host countries Poland and Ukraine ... East Village resident (and EVG reader) James C. Taylor created this Euro 2012 poster...

[Click image to enlarge]

Per James: "What better occasion to celebrate the host nations' historic presence in the East Village and significant contribution to the neighborhood?"

Rudy Volcano now open on Avenue C

A Rudy Volcano store opened Memorial Day weekend at 167 Avenue C near East 10th Street ... here's the official news release that arrived in the EV Grieve inbox this past weekend...

Rudy Volcano’s stores have been hubs of their communities for over a decade. Originally from Guatemala, and with a special interest in the arts and crafts of Latin America, Mr. Volcano builds on a wide-ranging background, a keen eye, a delight in clothing and cloth from foreign climes, a knack for discovering and nurturing indigenous talents around the world, and the joy of sharing his discoveries with a devoted customer base.

Rudy’s stores, their merchandise, ever-changing inventory and fast window displays, reflect his holistic vision. Rudy Volcano businesses are eco-responsive, devoted to fair trade practices, to organic materials, to one-of-a-kind garments and crafts, and to developing ongoing relationships with creative artisans and neighbors alike. Each store is a meeting place for people from a myriad of cultures, for artists and artisans, for performers of every kind, environmentalists and tame animals.

There's another location in Jackson Heights.

Things that you cannot make up on Third Avenue: Yogurt Crazy!

Hahahahaha.

We've gone Yogurt Crazy!

Sorry! Seems about right. Hardware store closes (in January 2010). FroYo store opens ... here on Third Avenue between 12th Street and 11th Street.

And that name! Yogurt Crazy. Yes. It's crazy.

La Betola now open on East Sixth Street

As we first pointed out back on March 19, a new espresso bar was coming soon to 514 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B ... (read that post here) ...

The cafe with a handful of seats opened on Saturday. Hilary on 6th, who sent the above photo, gives it high marks... Another reader noted that the proprietors, John and Jessie, will be featuring the work of local artists on the cafe walls. First up: photographer Erica Read.

Didn't hear about other things, such as type of coffee they serve, food and WiFi... will swing by for a report later... Meanwhile, if you go, then let us know what you think...

A Nicoletta for every window

Just noting that the signs are in the window now for Nicoletta, the incoming, high-endish pizzeria on Second Avenue at 10th Street ...

The place reportedly opens Friday, per Diner's Journal...

Details from Diner's Journal on Thursday:

[Chef Michael White] will serve 12- and 16-inch pies to eat in or take out. The tables in the restaurant, a high-ceilinged box in wood and brick with 62 seats inside and 38 on the sidewalk, are fitted with little metal sockets in which the stems of cantilevered pizza stands are placed, so a pizza does not take up table space.

Last month, CB3 OK'd a sidewalk cafe totaling 17 tables and 37 seats split between Second Avenue and 10th Street. Expect a mob out there this summer.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Cafe Centosette closes on Second Avenue

Former Cafe Centosette space becoming a ~~fancy-pants~~ pizza place

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Feast of Corpus Christi

Earlier today, parishioners of the St. Stanislaus Bishop And Martyr Roman Catholic Church on East Seventh Street celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi with a march through the East Village...