More drama at 50-58 E. Third St.; 'heavy construction' awaits tenants who stay

Here's more on the saga of 50-58 E. Third St. As Curbed noted, the new owners are GRJ, a fund co-founded and co-managed by brothers Graham and Gregory Jones. (Pictured.) They closed the 78-unit, three-building package for $23.5 million.

Someone slipped this following note under the door of the building's remaining tenants...

Good afternoon,

I wanted to send you an email to introduce myself as I will likely see you around the building in the coming weeks. I work with GRJ who is the new owner of 50-58 East 3rd Street. As you may have heard, GRJ has extensive plans to renovate 50, 54, and 58 East 3rd Street and I am personally speaking with all tenants about relocation opportunities and buyouts.

Many units on your floor and the floors above you and below you are already vacant or will be vacant in the next few weeks. Heavy construction will begin in all of the units and hallways in 30 days and many tenants have accepted our offer as most people aren't interested in living in a building that is under construction and they would much rather move during the summer months.

Are you available to speak this week? Please give me a call at the number below. Thank you in advance and I look forward to speaking with you.

Meanwhile, we also hear that tenants who live in basement apartments were given notice that they had 10 days to vacate their homes ... given that that space was zoned with the city as storage/commercial space ... and their apartments were now deemed "illegal dwellings."

However, according to the tenants, the previous landlord renovated the spaces into habitable apartments. Some tenants still have time left on their leases for these units...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Three apartment buildings sold on East Third Street

Advocate for East Third Street buildings moving to Washington Heights

More about the lease renewals at 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St.

Tenants at 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St. banding to together in face of building sale

Tenants turn detectives to out short-term rentals and illegal hotel guests

This past weekend, The New York Times published a piece about residents of Stuy Town listing their apartments as hotel rooms on the website AirBnB.com.

(For most residential buildings, a 2010 law prohibits rentals of fewer than 30 days. Although those who microsublet for fewer than 30 consecutive days and remain present in the unit along with their guests — and those who don't accept money from renters while away on vacation — are exempt, according to city officials, as the Post recently pointed out.)

Short-term rentals of this nature have been a problem for the housing complex for about two years and residents are concerned about things like bed bug infestations – which are on the rise — and security risks. Unhappy with CWCaptial and Rose Associates' response to the ongoing problem, residents have taken their frustration to the Tenants Association's Facebook page, posting links and the names and addresses of the hosts. From the article:

John Marsh, vice president of the tenants’ association, blamed the complexes’ leasing agent, Rose Associates, for not policing the “explosion of short-term rentals.” The tenants, in partnership with Brookfield Asset Management, are trying to buy the properties.

“It’s odd that people who are not private investigators can take these people’s information and find them on the Internet,” Mr. Marsh said. “Given that capability, you would imagine that someone like Adam Rose, who is quite resourceful, can do the same,” he added, referring to the co-president of Rose Associates.

In response, Joe DePlasco, a spokesman for Rose Associates and CW Capital, which took control of the two complexes in 2010 after Tishman Speyer defaulted on the property, says they have sent sent cease-and-desist letters to 50 tenants since the middle of last year.

In related short-term hotel news, two apartments at 31 St. Marks Place appear to have surfaced on another short-term rental website, manhattanbnb.com. A tipster believes the apartment listed as “#15 St. Marks Place” is really an apartment at located at 31 St. Marks Place.

Says the tipster:

"I’m curious about the development of two of the apartments in the building being used as hotel rooms aimed at tourists.

I stumbled upon this website www.manhattanbnb.com with the cringe-worthy motto “Live Like We Live!” which lists one of the apartments in 31 Saint Marks Place as “#15 St Marks Place”

I don’t understand how one couple with the cutesy name, John n’ Lucy, have all these apartments in the neighborhood to let out to tourists. John n’ Lucy certainly have never lived in my building.

Now that the media outlets such as the Times are on the story, more and more residents are feeling empowered to do something about the short-term rentals in their buildings. We'll be posting more of these moving forward...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The house rules of a short-term rental on St. Mark's Place

Thanks for the Plywood Blogging Portals!

We've been meaning to do this since the plywood fence went up last month around the incoming apartment complex at 74-84 Third Avenue...

Thank you for including Plywood Blogging Portals... these handy portals will make our job so much easier to snoop around and take photos of the construction minutiae... we're getting up in our blogging years, so this will save us from climbing, jumping or rappelling...

Still, not much to see back there just yet.

[Last week, probably]

And some day...

Noted

A reader sends us the following... "It seems that the bar crawl/scavenger hunt trend continues, this time with an 'Olympic' theme on Sunday, July 29th."

"You sprint to catch the subway in the morning, jump hurdles at the office, and not-so-gracefully dive into bed at the close of the day — sounds like you're primed for the Olympic Scavenger Hunt, which starts in the East Village. With today's deal, pay $30 (regularly $60) to partake in this boozy, fun-filled event on July 29. Arrive decked out in costume (for extra points) at SideBAR or the Village Pourhouse downtown at noon to register, pick the country you want your team to represent, and have a libation. Then, begin your journey through Little Italy, Chinatown, Little India, and more, where you'll find hidden clues, solve riddles in foreign languages, and earn points. Best yet, you'll enjoy discounted, internationally themed drinks along the way at neighborhood bars, and conclude your excursion with an after-party at a secret location — just don't treat a tabletop as a podium."

Per the reader: "Hopefully the East Village/Little India portion of the day will be over early. Wishful thinking."


[Image via]

[Updated] Nicoletta has expanded its delivery zone!

[via ‏@robbyohara]

A few weeks ago, as we learned via Eater, fancy Wisconsinish pizzeria Nicoletta announced that they were starting delivery service in the East Village:

And the delivery zone was: First Avenue to Third Avenue, and Ninth Street to 11th Street.

Now, as the above sign shows, they've expanded the zone to include East 12th Street and Eighth Street...

Soon, they may make it all the way down to Avenue A...

Updated: A few readers mentioned that the sign (photo above) is outdated ... or hasn't been updated ... According to the Nicoletta website, the delivery zone is: 6th to 12th streets from 4th Avenue to Avenue B.

[CANCELED] Free tonight in Tompkins Square Park: 007, Pussy Galore and Goldfinger

The Films in Tompkins series continues tonight with "Goldfinger," with pre-movie music by The Luddites. This is the third in the James Bond series, starring Sean Connery as 007 and Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore.

Here's what Bosley Crowther had to say about the film in The New York Times in 1964:

[I]n this most gaudy of his outings—the most elaborate and fantastic to date—he manages to bestow his male attentions on only a couple of passing supplicants. One is a pliant little number who expires early, sealed in a skin of gold paint, and the other is a brawny pilot who remarkably resembles Gorgeous George. Neither is up to the standard of femininity usually maintained for Mr. Bond.

Why this neglect of his love life is difficult to imagine—except that Mr. Bond's off-handed conquests were always open to a certain amount of doubt, a certain amount of skepticism as to how much of a Lothario he actually is. Indeed, they have often intimated a bland contempt for, or, at least, a slippery spoof of the whole notion of masculine prowess. One might question whether Bond really likes girls.

Oh, Bosley!

And now, some friends channel Shirley Bassey...



And as we'll cut-n-paste all summer long:

Free. Gates Open at 6 p.m. Music Starts ½ Hour before the Start of the Film (sundown)

Aug. 2 — Donnie Darko, Music by The Rad Trads
A Two Boots 25th Anniversary Event with Free Pizza!

Aug. 9 — The Big Lebowski, Music by Main Squeeze Orchestra
A Two Boots 25th Anniversary Event with Free Pizza!

Aug. 16 — Poltergeist, Music by Timbila

Dates subject to Rain Delays.

Films In Tompkins is sponsored by Ella, The Blind Barber, Two Boots, Grolsch, GalleryBar, Tower Brokerage and NYC& Company.

CANCELED due to the weather... no makeup date yet...

Report: St. Mark's Bookshop crowdsourcing funds to relocate

Per Crain's, we learn that there's a Lucky Ant campaign under way to raise $23,000 to help the St. Mark's Bookshop move to a new, smaller location... Per the campaign:

In order to survive these difficult times, St. Marks is repositioning itself in the marketplace and implementing a new strategy for the future. These changes, such as moving to a more affordable location and developing a more sophisticated online presence, are a direct response to the changing business environment and will help the bookstore to once again become financially viable. Major changes are not cheap however, and St. Marks needs capital to finance these improvements. Through community investments, St. Marks hopes to raise the capital needed to once again make itself a viable business.

Learn more on this here. This comes on the heels of the successful Cash Mob that Jeremiah Moss organized last Saturday.

Plus, it's difficult to compete with cornhole on the new Bowery

[Photo by Jeremiah Moss]

From The Wall Street Journal today:

When the Bowery Poetry Club closed its doors last week, it sent a familiar ripple of dismay through the rapidly gentrifying East Village.

Check out the rest of Lana Bortolot's article here, which includes comments from Jeremiah Moss...

"Whether it's a bar or a cafe or bookstore, [the East Village] was a place where people could meet, talk to each other and share ideas. Not only have we lost those people, but those who remain don't have a place to crash into each other and create that kind of friction."

Looking at the East Village Brownstone

So 13 months have passed since we checked in on this under-renovation brownstone at 224 E. 12th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...

Last year!

Now!

The building is called The Brownstone.

Per the organization's website:

The Brownstone uses New York City as an experiential classroom to promote personal, communal and social responsibilities for young Jewish participants to develop a code of ethics for living with integrity and purpose as contributing and leading members of society.We collaborate and build partnerships with a wide range of organizations to further Jewish education and identity and to strengthen young Jews’ commitment to Israel.

Our mission is to strengthen Jewish identity and peoplehood, foster community development, and cultivate the next generation of leaders.

The building will include a rooftop terrace, sleeping quarters, library, and classroom and workshop space. No word on a completion date.

Here's a rendering...

Previously on EV Grieve:
12th Street brownstone becoming mini university for Jewish education

Revisiting: East 13th Street and 'Taxi Driver'

[226 E. 13th St. last week]

We've had several thousand posts of late about the Mystery Lot ... as well as on 222 E. 13th St., the long-abandoned building between Third Avenue and Second Avenue that will become the Bea Arthur Residence ... providing housing for up to 18 homeless LGBT youth.

During all that, a few people brought up the pivotal role this stretch of 13th Street played in "Taxi Driver." Well, all that has been well-covered before... but it does seem like a good time to quickly revisit the 1976 film.

Plenty has been written about the locations for the movie, most notably Scouting New York, who meticulously created now and thens for a post in October 2009.

A sampling just from East 13th Street...

Here's Iris and Travis traveling east on the street (The Jefferson Theater is on the left, where the Mystery Lot is now)...

...and Iris and Travis entering 226, where she took her clients ...

Scouting New York has a lot more on the locations here, including now-and-then photos from this neighborhood. Off the Grid has more on the East 13th Street locations here.

And here's Sport and Travis...

Clearing out the Bowery Poetry Club; plus, free knowledge!

We spotted workers clearing out the Bowery Poetry Club yesterday...

...we picked through the contents...looking for some kind of sign... Oh, nuts!

Free knowledge was also available, though there weren't many takers here...

[Via the EVG Twitter account]

The space is undergoing renovations, with an anticipated fall return as something else that will include part of the Bowery Poetry Club... (The Wall Street Journal has more on the Club's future today.)

Per the BPC website: "Poems Are Sill Being Written!"

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is Duane Park in the Bowery Poetry Club's future?

What is happening with the Bowery Poetry Club?

Bob Holman on the future of the Bowery Poetry Club

Has La Isla closed on East 14th Street? (And we hope not...)

Several readers noted that workers looked to be clearing out the restaurant near Avenue B yesterday... we stopped by later, but no one was around... and the gates were closed...

We also called, though there wasn't any answer or outgoing message... Perhaps they're doing some summertime renovations...

Anyway, it is (or was) always an inexpensive option for large servings of, among other items, rice and beans ... mashed plantains... papas rellenas. I don't recall any meals on the menu being more than $7 or $8 (excluding the combo meals!)...

CB3 OK'd a beer-wine license for them back in September 2010.

A photo of La Isla from 2008... via Eating In Translation...

[Flickr]

h/t @AMDuross

Outside 170 E. Second St.

Just a quick follow-up to our post yesterday about 170-174 E. Second St. hitting the market for $16.5 million... Allen Ginsberg lived in 170 for a few years... I realized that I didn't have a photo of the plaque that notes this... figure I'd better get it for the archives... before a new landlord buys the building, strips it of every shred of character while converting one-bedroom homes into three-bedroom rec rooms and quadrupling the rent...

Heidi and Extra Place open today on, uh, Extra Place

A few weeks back, we pointed out two new restaurants (from the same owner) coming soon on Extra Place... Well, they open today.

So, via the press materials: There's Extra Place at No. 8, a namesake restaurant with 50 seats serving Mediterranean fare, and Heidi at No. 6, a smaller Swiss eatery with 20 seats ... both "offering traditional cuisine of their respective regions made with local, high-quality ingredients."

Hours and stuff: Extra Place will be open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday, 12 p.m. to 2 a.m.; brunch Saturday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and dinner 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Heidi will serve dinner Monday through Sunday, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Diner's Journal has more on the two restaurants here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
With new restaurant opening, will Extra Place finally become a dining destination?

Extra Place now officially a Dead End

Meanwhile, Extra Place continues to maintain its proud heritage

DOT removing bike racks from Astor Place

EVG reader 8E sends along this photo from today at Astor Place, noting: "Looks like there'll be fewer bike racks at Astor Place by Friday."

Indeed.

Anyone know what's going on here? A ramp up to the Citi Bike system? Back in April, StreetsBlog noted that Astor Place will be home to a 55-dock station next to the uptown 6 train entrance.

Or. Something related to the Death Star?

Just guessing...

Paving and peace on East 11th Street

The DOT is currently prepping parts of East 10th Street tonight for repaving... signs said they'd be doing all this tonight and tomorrow... from Avenue D westward...

... workers seem to be randomly tossing down barrels to block off various streets and Avenues and bike lanes ...

...a little later...

[Bobby Williams]

And last Thursday and Friday, crews worked on East 11th Street... and it kinda seemed festive... (maybe not for the workers on a hot and humid night)...

A few shots from the weekend...

[Shawn Chittle]

[EVG reader Allison]

... and on another section of East 11th Street...

Kenny from 11th St. reported that some neighbors decided to help out — because you never know when those extra chopsticks will come in handy to decorate the street ...

...and perhaps some repaving-related damage to this tree?

[Shawn Chittle]

Or is this our very own Virgin Mary Tree?

A disagreement on Cooper Square

Just a brief moment from the afternoon on Cooper Square, where a disagreement of sorts broke out between the driver of a delivery truck and a cyclist...

Bobby Williams, who took the photos, figures there would have been a fistfight had the NYPD traffic officers not intervened...

And all those involved then went on their way.

170-174 E. 2nd St. hits market for $16.5 million; Allen Ginsberg among the former tenants

Massey Knakal added the listing today:

The subject properties are two well-managed adjacent mixed-use buildings located on the North side of East 2nd Street, between Avenues A & B. 170-172 East 2nd Street has 3 retail stores and 34 residential units; 27 Free market, 6 Rent Stabilized and 1 Rent Controlled. 174 East 2nd Street has 1 retail store and 9 residential units; 8 Free Market and 1 Rent Stabilized. The buildings share a boiler that burns #2 oil from a 4,000 gallon tank. The electrical systems/wiring were upgraded in 2008 and tenants pay their own electricity.

And No. 174 has nearly 3,600 square feet of air rights available. Total price: $16.5 million.

Anyway, you may have seen the plaque out front of No. 170 showing that Allen Ginsberg lived in apartment 16 from August 1958-March 1961 ... this was one of the many places he lived in the East Village until his death in 1997

In a Habitats feature from August 2000, The New York Times ran a feature on the apartment where Ginsberg wrote "Kaddish" — "a mournful elegy for his mother, Naomi, that is considered one of his best works."

(New York Songlines also noted that Ginsberg edited "Naked Lunch" while living here... as well as "where Ginsberg and Timothy Leary began planning the psychedelic revolution.")

As the Times said of this block, "Not long ago, this was major drug territory, and landlords had to defend their turf assiduously; now it is being infiltrated by students from New York University."

The Times reported that two NYU students were living in the two-bedroom apartment, paying $2,000 a month in rent.

To the article:

When the plaque went up on the East Village building saying that it was where Allen Ginsberg once lived, the two young men who now occupy the poet's old apartment had only this to say:

Who was he?

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

Recap of the successful St. Mark's Bookshop cash mob (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Chinatown Working Group is in favor of the East Bowery Preservation Plan (BoweryBoogie)

LaMama paints its roof (The Lo-Down)

Comparing NYU's old and revised expansion plans (Curbed)

Bicyclists may have to go to a safety class for receiving a ticket (The New York Times)

Through the years at Fifth Avenue and East 14th Street (Ephemeral New York)

The Bandit spotted on East Fifth Street (The Gog Log)

Forbidden Planet moving down Broadway (Flaming Pablum ... Gothamist ... EV Grieve)

Last of the older businesses on West Bleecker is closing (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

And a photo showing the progress of One World Trade Center... taken Saturday by Bobby Williams...

Incoming construction at the Mystery Lot: A 'nightmare' or 'nightmarish'

As noted yesterday morning, workers brought in equipment to start the big dig for the 82-unit, eight-story development here at the Mystery Lot...

We looked at the site last evening... Workers put up barriers on the north side of East 13th Street, putting an end to any parking along here for the foreseeable future...

We exchanged emails with a few residents who live facing the lot... and they each used either "nightmare" or "nightmarish" to describe the impending construction...

Meanwhile, EVG reader Katja shared photos from the beginning and end of the first day of construction...