Claim this land!

You know the empty lot over on East Second Street near Avenue D...?

Anyway, there are now signs on the Second Street side providing information on how you can use this space... Members of 596 Acres recently posted these ... (the Brooklyn-based group of gardeners have identified vacant lots throughout NYC ... they want to help empower local residents to take them over and make the land something useful and green ...)

It's a great opportunity to do something with this space... the surrounding area won't be green for too much longer. Behind this property... the Karl Fischer-designed, 33-unit apartment building is under way where 316-318 E. Third St. used to be... workers demolished the circa-1835 house back in March.

And to the east of this plot... on the corner of Houston and Avenue D ... a big development is in the works... But this particular parcel will remain empty, as I understand it...


Read more about 596 Acres in this Times feature from April.

The Wayland plans to expand on Avenue C

The Wayland opened on Avenue C at East Ninth Street back in January... and now the cocktail bar and music venue plans to expand to the empty space next door that Bite Me Best recently vacated.

Rob Ceraso, one of the owners, confirmed the move.

"The main catalyst for the expansion was to gain a full kitchen. When it was offered to us it was hard to say no," he said in a message via Facebook. "Our food has become more popular than we had originally anticipated. We've grown out of the tiny kitchen we designed behind the bar."

Ceraso said that most of the former pizzeria will be used as a kitchen and prep area. In addition to offering more menu items, they will increase the size of the bar by five-six seats... with another four seats at a table.

He noted that the kitchen will continue to be open during almost all of the bar's business hours. They've been serving food until 2 a.m. on weeknights and 3 a.m. on weekends.

And the general reception so far for The Wayland, which took over the Banjo Jim's space?

"Things have been going well," Ceraso said. "The neighborhood has been really great to us."

The Wayland appears before the CB3/SLA committee next Monday for approval.

The Meatball Factory looks rather closed

EVG reader Tony noted the following this past weekend:

The Meatball Factory/Pop-up Restaurant/The Meatball Factory Plus has not looked very open the past week, with no sign of any movement in other ways, either. Hopefully it is not going to become a 7-11 or IHOP East.

True. The space looked rather deserted when we stopped by. They were not open during their announced hours yesterday. The inside was in some disarray... there were dirty glasses ... empty shelves... scattered tables and chairs...

Perhaps, like several other restaurants (Prune, The Immigrant), The Factory took off last week for vacation. But there's no note... No message on Facebook... No outgoing phone message...

The Meatballers opened here on 14th Street and Second Avenue to some fanfare last October (our dearly departed reviewer liked it!) ... the place had a celebrity chef of sorts, "Top Chef" alum Dave Martin, who left in the spring,

The Factory apparently closed in early May ... quickly becoming a pop-up restaurant by The Hole people called Hole Foods.

It reopened in late May with an expanded menu that featured a little bit of everything. Sake! Sangria! Fajitas! A raw bar!

As you may recall from last July ... a Meatball Factory rep told an EV Grieve reader that the meatballs here "will put the Meatball Shop to shame."

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Renovations for the Meatball Factory

Noted

Spotted at everyone's favorite, the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office on East 14th Street... Via Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C, who noted: "Don't bother — there's no pleasing those other doors."

Wine bar aiming to take over former Furry Land Pet Supplies

Furry Land Pet Supplies closed up here on Avenue A near East 12th Street last January... Now, a couple hopes to open a wine bar in this space. The applicants are on the July CB3/SLA docket.

We'll have more information on this later. Meanwhile, the proprietors did meet with neighbors, one of whom noted that, aside from wine, they will serve "light appetizer-type food." No kitchen. With a closing time of 2 a.m.

The CB3/SLA meeting is next Monday at 6:30 p.m. The usual place: JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery.

Inside the new Nevada Smiths, featuring 2 life-size projection screens

So Nevada Smiths closed up on Third Avenue last November... and as we first reported, the soccer/football bar was going to move north one block to 100 Third Ave. (In the meantime, they've been showing matches at Webster Hall.)

Anyway, work continues at the address... and owner Paddy McCarthy gave DNAinfo's Serena Solomon a guided tour of the new space last week... You can read the article here.

A few highlights of the new, $3 million establishment:

The bar will broadcast soccer matches and other sporting events from around the world on 20 plasma televisions scattered throughout the space, as well as a pair of massive projection screens that measure 18 feet by 10 feet.

"It will be the only [television screen] you can see life-sized people on," said McCarthy, boasting that the projection screens are the biggest of any bar in New York City. The screens are so large, in fact, that a crane had to hoist them into the building through a window, with the job requiring an eight-man team.

For McCarthy, the sound system is a huge focus of the new Nevada Smiths because he wants sports fans to hear games crystal clear.

"No matter where you are, there will be speakers everywhere," he said, noting the space will be soundproofed throughout.

McCarthy also said that the space won't be just for sports fans — there'll be a wine bar in the basement.

One last note: McCarthy is renting an apartment directly above the bar.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Those persistent rumors about 74-76 Third Avenue and the future of Nevada Smiths

The East Village will lose a parking lot and gain an apartment building

'Endless Brunch' will live on when the Sunburnt Cow reopens

On Thursday, we passed along the news release stating that The Sunburnt Cow on Avenue C will temporarily close and "not only undergo a physical transformation, but ... also shift focus to more gourmet oriented food and drink as opposed to its current deal-driven status."

Given the end of its "deal-driven status," we assumed that also meant the end of the drunken brunch deal, featuring "all you can drink" uh, drinks... and hordes of woo-wooers weekend afternoons...

Not so!

Per a Sunburnt Cow rep: "The Cow plans to continue the weekend 'Endless Brunch' when it reopens."

Our apologies to the temporarily crestfallen Endless Brunch crowd.

Per the Cow's Facebook page, they will remain open through August ... before the renovations begin.

Week in Grieview

[Avenue A at East 10th Street]

St. Mark's Bookshop looking for smaller home (Monday)

Parishioners hear that Mary Help of Christians has been sold (Friday)

Moving away from 50-58 E. Third St. (Tuesday)

Meet the brothers who bought 50-58 E. Third St. for $23.5 million (Thursday)

The future of the Bowery Poetry Club (Friday)

Jugger-nut! (Monday)

Aiko! (Tuesday)

Sinkholes! (Friday)

The end of the Odessa Cafe and Bar? (Friday)

Temporary sunroof at 154 Second Ave. (Thursday)

A cab rams into the Staples on Broadway (Sunday)

Mourning TomKat's breakup (Monday)

Chico's temporary Kiss mural (Wednesday)

Nicoletta's hilariously small delivery zone (Friday)

'Bernie Williams' is missing [Updated: RETURNED HOME]

Creature and several other readers noted these flyers that they first noticed on Friday night... around the southern stretch of Avenue A and side streets...

...and an earlier version of the flyer...

[Via Creature]

Updated: Per the comments, Bernie has returned home after a short holiday...

Keeping cool in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Bobby Williams.

More on the Cro-Mags stabbing at Webster Hall Friday night

Colin Moynihan at The New York Times has more on the assault that took place Friday night at Webster Hall involving Harley Flanagan and current members of the Cro-Mags.

Per the article:

John Joseph, the band’s lead singer, said that Mr. Flanagan had been at odds with other members of the Cro-Mags since he left the band in 2000 and had not been permitted to rejoin.

“This dude has been a negative thorn in the side of this band forever,” Mr. Joseph said. “I hope he gets what’s coming to him.”

Flanagan was reportedly charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

BoweryBoogie was a witness to the assault... read his reports here.

Having a barrel of fun on East 14th Street

At First Avenue via Crazy Eddie, who notes the "Death Race 2000" vibe... either that or the barrels melted.

Sunset on East 11th Street

Photo by Shawn Chittle.

Today in photos of rats looking out of a sewer grate

Our friends @nyccorners were staking out a sinkhole in Tompkins Square Park today, trying to snap a shot of a huge rat sticking its head out...

But!

Little did they know, the rats were staking them out ... from the sewer grate...

Siggy's Good Food opens tonight on Elizabeth Street

The second outpost of all-organic Brooklyn Heights restaurant Siggy's Good Food opens today at 5 on Elizabeth Street... just a little ways in between Houston and Bleecker. (Siggy's replaces Rice, which closed in the spring, per Eater.)

Per the Siggy's website:

It is our belief that pure, good food plays a vital and significant role in our lives, promoting physical and emotional well-being. "Organic – back to better!" highlights the difference between organic, naturally grown food – full of vital nutrition and lots of life, as opposed to artificial, instant food. We believe in the power of food and its positive effect.

They will serve dinners only for the first week, then open for lunch as well...

Cooling centers

Someone emailed us, suggesting that we mention where people can find cooling centers in the neighborhood. So... To find the cooling center closest to you, call 311 or visit OEM's Cooling Center Locator here.

Here are locations that we found...

Tompkins Square Library
331 E. 10th St

Campos Plaza
611 E. 13th St.

John Paul II Friendship Center
103 E. 7th St.

Hamilton Fish Park Library
415 E. Houston St.

Meltzer Towers SC
94 E. 1st St

Ottendorfer Library
135 Second Ave.

Exclusive: It will be hot today

[8 a.m. on East 14th Street and Second Avenue]

I was thinking of maybe putting together a Hottest Day of the Summer post for tomorrow ... So, if you have some good Hot in the East Village-type photos that you'd like to share, please send them my way via the EV Grieve email.

If not, then I'll just post some stuff from EV Heave.

A lonely job

St. Mark's Place this morning.

Aiko in progress

Aiko got started last night working on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall ... just a little progress to show... we'll check in later the mural is further along...

This morning under the Steve Jobs tree in Tompkins Square Park

More on the Steve Jobs tree here.