Here's what's coming to the former Life Cafe space

We've been interested in learning about who was taking over the former Life Cafe corner space on Avenue B at East 10th Street. As mentioned on Monday, an applicant going by Yardbird LLC is on the October CB3/SLA docket for a wine-beer license. (9th Street Espresso is expanding into the other half of the storefront.)

Nialls Fallon, one of the partners in the new venture, sent me an email on Monday night. "We will be opening a cafe and wine bar in the coming months," said Fallon, who's still working with his business partner Gareth Maccubbin on refining the concept.

Both partners live in the East Village (Maccubbin directly across the street) and both have restaurant experience at two buzzy Mulberry Street eateries. Fallon was the general manager at Torrisi while Maccubbin held the same position at Torrisi spinoff Parm next door. Both resigned from their respective GM positions to work on this new project.

I mentioned that a lot of people were curious about the space's future, given that things around here have a knack for turning into either Subways/7-Elevens/Starbucks or bro-tastic bars. Plus, for some people, Life Cafe had been a regular spot for many years.

"We decided on the space for two reasons, the first being we didn't want to see the 7-Eleven-Starbucks scenario you mentioned happen there. Second, we wanted to be in an iconic space that carried on some form of community identity and East Village-ness," Fallon said. "I am excited to create something new and make sure that the corner remains owned and operated by locals."

Oh, and are they really opening a place called Yardbird next door to a newish bar called Blackbird?

"Yardbird is a reference to being on the corner of Charlie Parker Place, and was named before Lakeside turned into Blackbird," Fallon said. "Nonetheless, 'bird' will not be included in the name of the space."

Previously on EV Grieve:
After 30 years, Life Cafe closes — 'until further notice' — in the East Village

Mystery Lot killer REVEALED; bland, glassy box in custody

Good lord.

Curbed yesterday posted parts of the news released trumpeting the arrival of development sprouting right now at (officially) 211 E. 13th St., formerly the longtime home to the Mystery Lot.

Some details from that release:

Units will have nine foot ceilings, and a third will have "substantial outdoor space." There will also be six "private rooftop cabana terraces," which we assume will be connected to penthouses. Shared building amenities include a library, fitness center, residents and business lounges, and a rooftop terrace with an outdoor kitchen.

Back with more when we're done weeping.

[Some time ago]

Previously on EV Grieve:
City approves new building for Mystery Lot

The Mystery Lot likely facing a luxurious end

The last days of the Mystery Lot

DL team hoping to take over the The Porch on Avenue C

Big things are in the works for the former Porch on Avenue C between Eighth Street and Seventh Street. People behind the LES soap opera the DL (formerly Ludlow Manor) at 95 Delancey are aiming to open a bar-restaurant concept, according to paperwork on file with CB3.

"Apartment 13, 115 Avenue C" is on the October CB3/SLA docket. Behind the new venture is Paul Seres, president of the New York Nightlife Association and a member of Community Board 4 (serving Chelsea). Ludlow Manor/DL (and The Delancey) partner Aleksandra Drozd is also listed as an applicant.

The application (PDF) lists a "restaurant-bar" opening here with 36 tables (and 80 seats) and 1 bar with 12 seats (plus a patio on the second floor). No opening time is listed, but closing time is midnight Sunday-Tuesday; 2 a.m. Wednesday-Thursday; 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Food will be served during all business hours, and sample menu items include small plates of bone marrow gremolata ($14) and lobster brulee ($15).

How is the DL? Here is BoweryBoogie on it in July: "Scourge is probably the best word to describe the new party palace at 95 Delancey Street." A Yelper called the DL "one of the douchiest, skeeviest places I've ever visited."

There's not enough time to get into all all the history with the pre-DL incarnation, the Ludlow Manor, which included the involvement of Lady Gaga ex Luc Carl.

Seres came into the operation earlier in the year, and he gave his side of the story to The Lo-Down back in March. Read that here.

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Sarah "Sas" Stewart
Occupation: Environmental Engineering Marketing and Communications
Location: Avenue C between 7th and 8th
Time: 12:20 on Sunday, Sept. 30

I was born in Detroit originally; that’s where a lot of my family still is. I spent a couple of years in Hawaii, in Kauai, surfing, scuba diving and doing accounting — you know, the usual. Then I moved to New York about 6 years ago and have been living in the East Village for 4 years. Adventure brought me here. I had never lived here before or been here before and I just fell in love.

We were living in a small apartment that we loved a couple years ago and had very much made our own — until we got a letter saying that we were not going to be allowed to renew our lease. Then, shortly after, we got a lease and so we signed it and sent it back.

After a lot of trips to the public records department, we found out that our apartment had been illegally destabilized and they were trying to kick us out to turnover the apartment. It was a battle. The Cooper Square Committee helped us out and can tell you a lot of people’s stories similar to this. We had to get a lawyer and were lucky to find someone who would do it for free. It was terrible and they tried to take us to court and get us on a blacklist ... but it didn’t make us leave the neighborhood. We technically settled out of court and we haven’t had to really press to see if we still are on that list. A husband and wife own the building that we live in now and they’re wonderful and approachable and respectful.

This neighborhood has been a large part of our lives, but my fiancé got an opportunity to work in Vermont — and it was an opportunity that we couldn't turn down. So he moved up there recently and commutes to the city on the weekends and I will be following him up probably in the next year, but we're definitely going to be back. How can we stay away?

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Rockit Scientist Records to become a bubble tea shop on St. Mark's Place

John Kioussis, the owner of Rockit Scientist Records, which closed on St. Mark's Place in the spring, passed along word of the new tenant: A bubble tea shop. Uh-huh. Seems about right these days.

"Thank you NY real estate," he said on Facebook.

Jeremiah Moss first reported on Rockit's departure. Kioussis told Jeremiah, "my lease is ending and i don't want to renew at the current rate, i asked for a rent reduction and was turned down. While business wasn't great, it just isn't worth paying $8500 a month."

In six-year eviction fight, 'sushi defense' keeps East Sixth Street resident in apartment

A so-called "sushi defense" has saved a longtime East Sixth Street resident from eviction. The Daily News reports today that State Appellate Division judges ruled 3-to-2 that Masako Mogi could stay in her $992-a-month studio at 409 E. Sixth St., where she has lived since 1980.

The landlord, not named in the article, had been trying to evict her for six years. The landlord's attorney offered records showing that Mogi used a below-average amount of electricity — evidence she spent most of her time in a second home in Vermont.

But! For her part, "Mogi testified that she often eats out, orders takeout or makes sushi, which doesn’t require much juice."

I looked at Streeteasy, and found that the average price for an apartment here runs $2,715.

The most recent "gut renovated" apartment went for $3,000 this past summer. The listing included one of those stalky YouTube videos of the unit...

[Updated] In which we don't have any idea of what happened

So Bobby Williams spotted this blue tarp covering something in the middle of Tompkins Square Park this afternoon...

And just like that, two people showed up to uncover it...

... then a film crew appeared out of nowhere...

... and the actors...

...and they all left just as quickly once the rained kicked in.

Any guesses except what this really was are welcome.

Updated 10-3:

Oh, a blog friend says that it was a Bruce Weber commercial for Dior.

Noted

Um.

Going on until 3:30 today in Union Square. Per the Merrick Pet Care Facebook page: "Food worthy of a fork. This is the standard we hold ourselves to. Using only ingredients of the highest quality, it's food that elevates the bowl. It's food you will be tempted to eat." Top photo by Dave on 7th.

Same old rat story in Tompkins Square Park

Well, you've heard and seen this one before... this morning, while walking in Tompkins Square Park, I saw that someone had just plopped down about 10 pounds of bread chunks ... a few squirrels were nibbling on the feast...

... when the rats emerged from the nearby holes ...

Well, you can only really make out one rat in this photo...

And nearby...

Mickey Leigh on his brother Joey Ramone's 'New York City' video

You may have seen the new video for Joey Ramone's "New York City," which was released last Tuesday. (I first saw it over at Flaming Pablum.)

Ramone died in 2001; his posthumous album, "Ya Know" came out in the spring.

"We had to do something without the artist’s involvement, but that would pay homage to the artist," director Greg Jardin told Fast Company.

So Jardin took thousands of still photographs of Ramone's friends, fans and strangers throughout the city and "pieced them together to create a stop-motion tribute film in the spirit of the artist and the song," per Fast Company. (You'll likely spot a lot of familiar faces in the video.)

As you can see, the video starts in the East Village and first features Ramone's brother, Mickey Leigh, a longtime musician who also plays on "Ya Know?"

Via Facebook, I asked Leigh a few questions about the video.

What are your thoughts on seeing the final product — especially thinking back to how terribly hot it was during the filming in July?

I could not be happier about the way this video turned out. I love it! Director Greg Jardin did an amazing job. It's perfect for this song, and perfect for Joey. Fast, funny — the energy and feeling you get from it is just totally uplifting.

The love and respect all the people involved had for Joey emanates off the screen. Everyone had the right spirit, which is what inevitably got them through the shoot, as this was filmed during the most brutal heat wave in NYC on record. One of the producers actually did suffer heat stroke. But, thankfully, a few days later she was OK and back in action.

You do a lot to keep Joey's spirit alive as well as raise money for lymphoma research through the annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash. How does it make you feel to see the continued outpouring of affection/accolades with the new record and now the video?

Seeing that outpouring of love for my brother is what makes it all worthwhile for me. It's what enables me to keep going, and ward off the attacks and vicious insults hurled at me by the few blackhearted hatemongers too poisoned to enjoy what the vast majority of Joey's fans are so thrilled about. Their loss.

I do get a little appreciation from some of the more thoughtful people out there, and I appreciate that more than I can say right here. But, the display of sheer joy, and expressions of love for Joey from the overwhelming majority of his fans, far outweighs anything and everything else. They are just so happy to be hearing these new songs, and seeing this video. That's what it's all about for me.

A few signs of fall

As I first reported, it is now the fall. And I have done a lousy job of documenting this change of season...

[Pumpkins arrived last week at Sheen Brothers on Avenue B]

[Ditto at the Greenmarket at Tompkins Square Park. Photo by Bobby Williams]

[Time again for the annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog parade. Photo by Via ~ Joan]

[The leaves are turning color ever so slightly in Tompkins Square Park]

[Football fans are collecting their favorite gridiron great stickers from the Daily News ... and attaching them to a bench in Tompkins Square Park]

[Anheuser-Busch has unveiled its branded football cans]

[The TV networks are introducing their interesting, thought-provoking fall shows]

[Halloween City has unveiled its new scary masks]

East 9th Street buildings will soon be taller thanks to the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals

In August, a tipster told us that additional floors were in the works for a series of buildings owned by Terrence Lowenberg of Icon Realty on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... No. 329 ... No. 331 ... No. 333 ... No. 335.

However, at the time, the DOB hadn't approved any of the additional floors for these addresses dating back to early last year.

But that has changed. Off the Grid reported last Thursday that the Board of Standards and Appeals OK'd the rooftop additions.

[Via Off the Grid]

Per Off the Grid, which is the blog of the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation (GVSHP):

The owner of the remarkably intact tenements at 329-335 East 9th Street sought variances from the Board of Standards and Appeals to build additional floors without full compliance with the Multiple Dwelling Law which requires updated fire and safety measures when tenements are enlarged beyond 6 stories. These building have retained their cornices and façade ornamentation and are on a historic block of East 9th Street between 1st & 2nd Avenues that is also very much intact with buildings of cohesive scale and heights.

Despite the strong arguments against these additions being permitted from GVSHP, Councilmember Mendez, and the East Village Community Coalition, the Board of Standards and Appeals voted in favor of permitting these additions.

In addition, in another doozy, the Board of Standards and Appeals decide to allow illegally built additions to remain at the controversial 514-516 E. Sixth St. Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate Group is behind the enlargements.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Ninth Street parking lot will yield to 6-floor residential building

Perhaps 84 Third Ave. will have four extra floors?

Real-estate blogger Andrew Fine rounds up some facts and figures about the sun-blocking under-construction 84 Third Ave., the retail-residential combo coming to the space last held by Nevada Smiths and Yummy House.

The DOB OK'd the Karl Fischer-designed 94-unit, 9-story building with 72,000 square feet of residential, 9,500 square feet of commercial and 327 square feet (!) of "community space."

One mystery: He notes that the rendering that has made the rounds is actually 13 stories, a mere four over what the city approved.

In addition, two workers on the site told Fine that the building would be 13 stories. Maybe they thought no one would notice?

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

Former Nevada Smiths down to its last floor; city OKs work for new building

[Image via A Fine Blog]

EV Grieve Eatery Etc.: Taureau owner bringing new concept to East Seventh St.; Local 269 looks done

A few weeks ago, we noted that Taureau, the BYOB fondue place at 127 E. Seventh St., moved away from the East Village. The eatery relocated to 558 Broome St. Meanwhile, workers have been sanding the floors and painting the exterior and what not.

Now our friends at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop a few storefronts away report that a familiar face is returning... the owner of Taureau, Didier Pawlicki, will open another French bistro in the space... and he hopes to have it up and running soon.

----------

[Last month]

Unfortunately, it looks like the end of Local 269, the live music venue on East Houston and Suffolk. A flood apparently KO'd their sound system. Per a reader: "Recently they were having a hard time making ends meet and paying their bills/liquor distributors and I once [saw] the manager carting in cases of beer from a local bodega."

And now, a "To be Determined" applicant is on the CB3/SLA October docket.

----------

And at the incoming Entrez on Second Avenue ... we won't have to worry about dueling phone numbers: Blue Glass notes that workers have painted the awning black... Meanwhile, they open in the next few days...

Report: Mendez office to crack down on crusties

[East 11th Street last summer]

In his current column in The Villager, Scoopy reports that City Councilmember Rosie Mendez is planning to crack down on the crusties. A report that Mendez's office recently issued to Community Board 2 last week said that she is aware of the complaints about the seasonal transient population, and is working with outreach teams to help get them off the street.

Per the report, as quoted by Scoopy: "The challenge in removing them is that people have the right to refuse services and to live in the street. Rosie is researching the laws that protect such transients with the intent of tightening up loopholes, so that in the future, these individuals will not have the opportunity to take over the sidewalks in the East Village and Lower East Side and thereby reduce the quality of life of residents."

We asked Mendez's copy of the report, but did not receive any response.

Lease a (soon to be former) Duane Reade

In May, a reader told us that the Duane Reade on 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue would be moving into the former HSBC bank space (right next to the CVS) on First Avenue... just north of East 14th Street...

As the Grievestrator shows, the move would look something like this...

And now a reader points us to the new listing (PDF) for the soon-to-be-former Duane Reade space...

That's a lot of space, which may be too much for our used mixed cassette tape/zine shop. Or our Egg Store.

The last time a big chunk of retail like this was available on East 14th Street, the space became an IHOP.

A few things... the retail listing only mentions the nearby chains-franchises... and one of them, the AT&T store the next block to the west, recently closed...

As for the new Duane Reade on First Avenue, you likely will have to wait... the interior is still a major construction zone...

TV show love outside Vazac's

"Golden Boy" cast members Theo James and Bonnie Somerville (yes, we looked it up) on Seventh Street and Avenue B today. The incoming CBS NYPD-related drama about the two best looking detectives in history filmed all over the place today... or so it seemed.

Photo by Bobby Williams.

First Avenue Pierogi & Deli is back open

A reader lets us know that EVG favorite First Avenue Pierogi & Deli is back open after a vacation-remodeling combo on First Avenue near St. Mark's Place. They closed in August, and we saw bits-and-pieces of the new paint and tile coming to the interior... as well as the new awning outside. The apologetic reader didn't go inside, though, because she was carrying a lot of bags. So we'll get a report on the new-look space some other time.

First look at Lehane's Tavern on Seventh Street and Avenue B

A new TV crime drama titled "Golden Boy" is filming around the neighborhood today ... including scenes at Vazac's, the old-reliable location for TV and movie locations...

Looks like the fake bar sign for the shoot reads "Lehane's Tavern." (I don't recall seeing that name on the upcoming CB3/SLA docket. Haha.)

Photos by Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Bobby Williams]

RIP Neil Smith, CUNY prof and expert in urban gentrification (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

More on Pathmark's closure on the LES (The Lo-Down)

Sol Moscot leaving longtime LES HQ (BoweryBoogie)

The 'House of Death' on West 10th Street (Ephemeral New York)

Revisiting 'Stranger in Paradise' (Flaming Pablum)

Update on the case against Cro-Mags' Harley Flanagan (Brooklyn Vegan)

More about Jeepney, opening soon on First Avenue (Joonbug)

And in case you missed our post from Saturday... Steve's on the Bowery has closed. Reaction in the comments.

And an item from yesterday afternoon, when a reader noted several NYPD officers along Second Avenue between East Fifth Street and East Fourth Street... Per the reader: They were "bending over some guy who kept saying 'Fuck' over and over ..."