'Holiday Grand Opening' tomorrow night for the Lobster Joint on East Houston

The import from Greenpoint will have a "Holiday Grand Opening" here tomorrow night on East Houston... (OPEN BAR!)

[Click image to enlarge]

The space previously housed Lina Frey, as BoweryBoogie previously noted. And this lobster venture will likely be more successful than the previous lobster venture on East Houston. Remember Urban Lobster?

For lease signs up now at the former Diablo Royale Este on Avenue A

In our post last week on the one-year anniversary of Tompkins Square Bagels, owner Christopher Pugliese said that he'd love to open an old-fashioned Italian-style pork store/market in the now-empty space next door. The comments were overwhelmingly in favor of such a concept.

Diablo Royale Este closed at the end of August after some ongoing issues with the State Liquor Authority (among other things — the bar has long drawn the ire of neighbors since it opened in May 2010).

The space at 167 Avenue A had been on the market for months. However, a sign just went up here at the end of last week.

It's a big space — 4,000 square feet. There's isn't any mention of rent. However, the listing includes these "notes and highlights:"

400 sf backyard for seating (permitted to be open until 10pm on week days and 11pm on weekends)
Legal lower level with bar and seating
2 year-old kitchen and equipment
Full 4 am liquor license.
Occupancy for 150 people.

As much as everyone likes the idea of a market here — something people in the neighborhood want and need ... given the almighty valuable liquor license attached to this, the reality is we'll likely get stuck with another horrible bar that no one wants and exclusively for Weekend Woo-rriors from afar.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Diablo Royale Este owner blasts the 'blasphemous lies' of residents, invites the State Liquor Authority to investigate

Avenue A transformed into fraternity-sorority party for Diablo Royale Este's 'Boats 'N Hoes' bash

Diablo Royale Este apologizes for 'Boats 'N Hoes' bash

It's just another Saturday night on Avenue A

Classic Gourmet Deli no longer on Frist Avenue

A few weeks ago, we noted the new signage for the Classic Gourmet Deli on First Avenue... which, as many people pointed out, had its share of typos... including "Frist" Avenue instead of First Avenue.

[Bobby Williams]

Anyway, EVG regular William Klayer reports that the sign has been spellchecked (spell checked? spell-checked?) ...

Reader report: The Third Man opens this week on Avenue C

Over on Avenue C between Seventh Street and Eight Street, The Third Man is ready to open. A reader saw a sign on the door this past weekend saying something like, "closed for a private event: come back next week."

The cocktail lounge is by the Edi & the Wolf owners down the block. The lounge will be called "The Third Man," named after the 1949 film-noir classic starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton.

There was the requisite preview post on Thrillist from Dec. 3. Per that post:

The bar serves Austrian/German beers and wines, but it's all about those chef-driven cocktails — purportedly, they're more accessible to the palate of someone who's not deep into the cocktail world, and are instead adjusted to the palate of someone who... eats food.

And!

Upscale bar bites will come over from the Edi kitchen, and include Long Island fluke (which most people consider "being from Long Island and not on steroids in the last five years") w/ watermelon radish, and house-cured speck.

No more Ughters Zers on East Houston

Noted the other day...

"Ughters Zers" (Photo via Josh Russ. The neon sign will be fixed.) @ Russ & Daughters instagr.am/p/TFXip_j_Gg/

— Russ & Daughters (@LoxPopuli) December 11, 2012

And the classic neon is all back...

The parties at La Vie have moved to Horus Cafe

At the end of November, an East First Street tipster told us that the State Liquor Authority had revoked La Vie's liquor license on East First Street. (The license had apparently expired in February 2011, but La Vie had been operating under the NY State Administrative Procedures Act, aka SAPA).

As we understand it, La Vie can still apply to have its license reinstated at a future SLA hearing. There's currently a "sorry but due to an emergency La Vie will be closed" sign on the door.

Now, another tipster points us to a new sign... La Vie's owners are also involved with the Horus Cafe...

Says the tipster, who lives adjacent to La Vie: "I feel for anyone who lives by Horus."

A sort of rainy Sunday in Tompkins Square Park

Dunno about you, but I'd welcome a few more days like this... photos by Bobby Williams.

Week in Grieview

[East Houston Street]

Tompkins Square Bagels turns 1, and a great idea for the adjacent space (Thursday)

Manhattan views from the Christodora in 1929 or 1931 (Tuesday)

Out and About with Angel Eyedealism, lead singer of the Fake Pussy Shadows (Wednesday)

This parking lot on East 7th Street will become a six-floor apartment building (Wednesday)

Naming part of East Sixth Street after Donald Suggs (Thursday)

Natori is still open (Thursday)

About the new lights at St. Brigid's (Tuesday)

Bleecker Bob's isn't moving to the East Village (Monday)

There is now a bar here called The Drunken Clam (Thursday)

For people who shit their pants 3x a month or more (Monday)

The Memories of Tompkins Square Park poster just... won't...die (Tuesday)

Claire Forlani's disembodied scotch ad hands (Tuesday)

Another launch date for Citi Bike share (Monday)

Fern Cliff Deli closing on Third Avenue (Monday)

More glass for 51 Astor Place (Thursday), which prompted this comment of the day:

Honest to god, even in my wildest dreams, I didn't think this structure would make me feel as bad as it does whenever I am near it. The prospect of it coming into being was always depressing, and I knew I would hate it once it was built. But I seriously didn't realize how absolutely, devastatingly oppressive, and just outright confounding it would make me feel emotionally when I am around Astor Square area.
They could build a dozen more Avalon Chrystie's on the Bowery and it would not have anything near the affect that this one building has at Astor Place. I truly feel lost when I am there. Like I'm in a weird dream.

SantaCon 2012: 'I'm going to fuck your shit up bro!'

On East 29th Street... via Gothamist.

Santas apparently stole this sign from Pangea

Via the Twitter feed for Pangea on Second Avenue...

Has anyone seen this sign in the #Eastvillage tonight. #Santacon ruffians stole it. #cometoyoursenses instagr.am/p/TPD1nwHghO/

— pangea (@pangeanyc) December 16, 2012

Visiting old friends on Avenue A this Sunday morning

Ray's and Odessa...

A few scenes from SantaCon 2012: Scourge of the city or good time had by all?

As you may have noticed yesterday... Heh. Lordy, I have more photos. Here are just a few from the East Village. You get the idea. Oh, you get the idea. Maybe I'll add more later.

[Photos via Baha]

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[At Linen Hall on Third Avenue, via EVG reader Corina]

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[At Tompkins Square Bagels]

Gawker had this post yesterday afternoon: Any Santacon Participant is the Worst Person in New York Right Now

And GammaBlog has more thoughts and photos (and a video) from the East Village yesterday.

Ho ho ho, who wouldn’t go?: The morning after Santa Claus terrorized came to town

[Spotted on St. Mark's Place]

[Spotted at Phebe's]

[Trailer-Park Santa still stands]

Our friends at EV Heave are out and about this morning. So far, there's only this. [WARNING: Do not click unless you really want to go to a site called EV Heave]

Miracle on East 14th Street.

Headline and photo by Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C via Facebook.

An Unsilent Night in Tompkins Square Park

Previously.

Photo by Shawn Chittle.

FYI

East village is already a disaster #santacon

— Katya (@katya323) December 15, 2012

what's with all the 20 somethings running around the east village dressed like jerry sandusky?

— Jena Friedman (@JenaFriedman) December 15, 2012

8 things to do tonight in the East Village that don't involve Santas

[Big Ben]

I've heard from a few people today who said that they aren't going out today because of the Santas... That's kind of dumb, huh?

These are 7 things worth doing just off the top of my head, so to speak... Feel free to leave other ideas int he comments...

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• Go to the Ben Gazzara retrospective at the Anthology Film Archives. Tonight, "Husbands" at 6:30 and "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" at 9:15. (Info.)

• Visit the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space at 155 Avenue C (Info.)

• Attend the annual holiday fair at d.b.a., 41 First Ave. 3-8 p.m.

• Take part in the annual Unsilent Night, the boombox caroling walk from composer Phil Kline's. Meeting place is 7 at the Arch at Washington Square Park... and traveling to Tompkins Square Park. (Info.)

• See Desire! [A Varsouviana], a "heart-stopping, pill-popping remix of Tennessee Williams’ sexiest play" at Under St. Mark's. 7 p.m. (Info.)

• Attend a world premiere dance performance of "Devouring Devouring" at the Ellen Stewart Theatre on East 4th Street. 7:30 p.m. (Info.)

• Check out the Sensitive Skin #9 Reading Release Party at A Gathering of the Tribes. 7-9 p.m. (Info.)

• Enjoy the quiet comfort of the William Barnacle Tavern at Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place.

'Open clubhouse' at Ruff Club this weekend

From the EV Grieve inbox ... from East Village resident Danny Frost, who's opening the Ruff Club at 34 Avenue A... dubbed "a social club for dogs."

We're having "Open Clubhouse" events today and tomorrow from 11am-4pm. Folks can stop in for a coffee and tour our space, meet our staff, and apply in-person for membership.

We'll likely do a couple more of these ...After tomorrow, for the next couple of weeks we'll be open only for events and temperament screening appointments.

After the holidays, our daycare (off-leash play areas) and social club (the dog-friendly space with coffee and wifi in the front — picture the front bar room at Mo Pitkins / Aces & Eights with the bar intact but with a lending library instead of alcohol) — will be open 7am to 9pm weekdays, and we are still working out the exact weekend schedule. Boarding will be available 24/7/365.

Here's their website.

IT HAS BEGUN

Receiving all sorts of emails, tweets, etc. this morning with photos of the Santa-suit-clad partygoers beginning to form packs in the East Village ...

[Via Goggla]

[Via William Klayer]

The latest count on Facebook has 30,223 SantaCon attendees ... and that's separate from the Santa pub crawl that meets at the Village Pourhouse this afternoon... already hearing horror stories about the Santas. And this was before 10 a.m. Remember, once exposed to another Santa, the Santa virus begins mutating its host...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's where the Santas will be on Saturday (47 comments)

Noted

The wooiest stretch limo ever spotted in the East Village? You can't really make this stuff up. Avenue A and East 11th Street last night.

Photos by Shawn Chittle.