205 Avenue A primed for 2 new floors

Back in August, we reported that a resident-free 205 Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street was getting a two-floor extension courtesy of developer Terrence Lowenberg and architect Ramy Issac.

Workers have been gut-renovating away these last few months... and now on the roof, the first sign of the new floors to come...

Meanwhile, here's an angle from the rear ... where it appears that workers gave been extending the back of the building as well...

[via EVG regular Greg Masters]

Max has apparently closed on Avenue B

As Eater first reported last Jan. 31, Max, the Avenue B stalwart, was expanding to Williamsburg some time in the near future... a few days later The Wall Street Journal reported that they would actually be closing the Avenue B location when the Brooklyn space was ready ... not sure what the status is with the expansion.

A reader noted the following yesterday...

@evgrieve Saw furniture being loaded into a truck this morning from Max on Ave B... any clue what's going on?

— James Feldman (@james_feldman) January 6, 2013

Another tipster reported that Max has, indeed, served its last meal here, as of New Year's Eve ... the place was closed last night...

Per the Journal last Feb. 3:

Luigi Iasilli, an owner, wrote in an email that he plans to close the East Village location as the neighborhood is getting "slow."

"I finally found what I believe I was looking for," he said of his Williamsburg site. "For me, [it is] going back to the roots, small space, $3,000 rent, a small yard, a mixed ethnic neighborhood with only a bodega across the street."

There are rumors that the east side of the Avenue here between Third Street and Fourth Street, the stretch of storefronts that included the LeSouk empire and Max, will receive a few extra floors during an upcoming renovation ...

[EVG file photo]

EV Grieve Eatery Etc.: Little Italy Pizza space for rent; Gruppo signs up on Avenue B

On Christmas Eve day, EVG regular Stephen Popkin spotted workers quickly cleaning out the short-lived Little Italy Pizza joint at 23 Third Ave. at St. Mark's Place. How quick was it? Noted one commenter:

I passed by just as the workers were hilariously loading trays of fresh pizza dough along with half used cans of tomato sauce and olives in the back of a white van while trying not to spill them all over the place. A guy carrying out a deli cheese slicer said they needed to leave in a hurry.

The space is now for rent... the listing isn't online just yet...

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Signage update on Gruppo, which is relocating to a new home down Avenue B... to 98 Avenue B between East Seventh Street and East Sixth Street ...

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And there's this...

@evgrieve@eastvillageny One of our regulars found our sidewalk sign, that was stolen during #SantaCon! Thanks. twitter.com/pangeanyc/stat…

— pangea (@pangeanyc) January 6, 2013

Drunken Santas apparently stole it that one awful day ... it randomly appeared Saturday night on East 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

Here's your new Duane Reade signage on First Avenue; plus — will they keep the clock?

Oh! Back in May, a tipster told us that the Duane Reade on East 14th Street was moving into the former HSBC branch (the one that some residents tried to save) on First Avenue just north of 14th Street. Signage is now up. Think that clock that never has the right time will stay?

Anyway, a drug store is sorely needed here... as neighbors would have to walk directly next door to the CVS otherwise.

And the Duane Reade around the corner will eventually close ...

We Grievestrated the move on Oct. 2 ...

The soon-to-be-former Duane Reade space remains on the market (PDF) ... Seems like a perfect spot for a Walgreens!

EV Grieve Eatery Etc.: Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's closes for renovations; new 4th Avenue bar opens

The Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's action-packed combo opened on First Avenue in June... by the fall, the joint was for sale. At last look, the asking price was $189,000.

Meanwhile, several readers have noted that the space has been closed of late...

...and a sign on the door points to a "renovation."

Will the former former King Gyro continue to be a Pudgie's-Nathan's-Arthur Treacher's? Or will it become a new combo of fastish food?

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Back in October, that gigantic Fourth Avenue bar the Forum "closed for renovations." And now, the space is back open as The Royal...

...we don't know a thing about the new venture... kind of looks the same as Forum, at least from the outside. We were never inside.

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...And on Second Avenue, don't be alarmed if you see the gate down at the Stage...

... the EVG favorite is closed today for Ukrainian Christmas ...

Open hydrants on East 10th Street

The FDNY responded to a call a few minutes ago on East 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... everything seems to be OK... firefighters came and went fairly quickly, per witnesses ... here's a photo from the scene via @af ...

Noted

Man in Tompkins Square Park yelling'kill me. Put me out of my misery.'

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) January 6, 2013

Week in Grieview

[Salon 13 on East 13th Street via Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C]

Remembering some friends and neighbors who died in 2012 (Monday)

4 East Fourth Street buildings hit the market for $32 million (Thursday)

East Side students returning soon to East 12th Street (Friday)

The year in East Village photos — 2012 (Tuesday)

The year in East Village photos — Bobby Williams edition (Tuesday)

Anti-7-Eleven street art on Avenue A (Monday)

Remembering Sunando Sen (Wednesday)

Former Mars Bar space becoming a fucking bank branch (Wednesday)

But will there be a Mars Bar 2.0? (Thursday)

East Village stories to watch in 2013 (Wednesday and Thursday)

Cracked buildings help shut down Avenue B construction site (Friday)

The top-5 viewed EV Grieve posts from 2012 (Monday)

So long to Bargain Express (Friday)

First sign of the Penistrator this winter (Sunday)

UPS Store replacing Atlas Barber School on Third Avenue

Jeremiah Moss first reported that the Atlas Barber School closed on Third Avenue at the end of May... As he noted, the landlord jacked up the rent to $11,000 a month — a little much for a barber shop charging $5 a haircut. (Read his post on the place and its history here.)

And there's now a new tenant for the space... a UPS Store...

Seems like the kind of business that will succeed with a brand-new office building going up a few hundred feet away... Also, a UPS Store closed on Second Avenue in April 2011 for financial reasons, per the sign on the door at the time.

Previously.

[Updated] Art or vandalism?

Near Avenue A this morning...

Updated 3:27

Vandalism. EVG reader Adam shared this photo of the owner cleaning off the van this afternoon...

Noted

Spotted on East Second Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...

Can't quite make out the chalk in this photo... reads "Clean this up."

Skywinter

Photo tonight by Bobby Williams.

[And sorry to ruin a nice photo with that corny headline]

Today outside 100 Avenue A

Previously. Photo by Bobby Williams.

[Updated] Madman Espresso now open on East 14th Street

On Monday, EVG reader Tony told us that an espresso bar is ready to open at 319 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... in space that previously housed a Verizon store.

Tony follows up, noting that Madman Espresso has opened...

Looks like a nice space. Please let us know if you try it.

Updated Jan. 6

Here's a photo of the cafe with its sign...

Noted

Spotted on Third Avenue...

Hey Upper West Side – Eat It!

More rats my ass...

Dining on rat this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park... photos by Bobby Williams...

Altered Images

Because we just don't play enough Canadian synth-pop around here... Images In Vogue with "In The House" circa 1986. Kudos to Robert Smith's hairdresser, who must have been doing a lot of freelance...

See a little of the 1970s-1980s East Village tonight on Turner Classic Movies

Thanks to EVG Facebook friend Steven for pointing out the late-night (early-morning) schedule at Turner Classic Movies...

The cable channel is showing two films from No Wave cinema pioneer Amos Poe... "The Foreigner" from 1978 at 2 a.m. and "Alphabet City" from 1984 at 3:45 a.m. ... both filmed in and around these parts.

Alex wrote about "The Foreigner" a few years back at Flaming Pablum.

Here's a scene featuring Debbie Harry...



Then there's a Hollywoodized "Alphabet City."

Here's the plot cut-and-pasted from Wikipedia:

The film takes place entirely in one evening, with the time being indicated chronologically on the clock in Johnny's Trans Am. Early in the evening Johnny meets with his friend Lippy, an eccentric cocaine dealer played by Michael Winslow. They discuss the planned burning of an apartment building, called for by the mob. As their discussion progresses, it becomes clear that it is Johnny who must carry out the burning of the building before the night is over, and moreover, his mother and sister live in the targeted building. This request from the Mob pushes Johnny to plan a split from the Mob, which proves difficult...

Hmm. Did I mention that lead Vincent Spano wears studded ankle bracelets?

I wrote this about it five years ago:

I wanted to like the movie more than I did. It's definitely worth watching for many reasons, such as seeing a hammy Jami Gertz play a high-priced teen hooker.

And here's the trailer ...



And you should also quickly realize if you are watching the correct movie called "The Foreigner."

East Side students to return to repaired East Village school in 2 weeks

[From November, via Bobby Williams]

As you'll recall, students and faculty had to evacuate East Side Community School and Girls Prep Charter on East 12th Street back in September when a maintenance worker found part of the eastern wall separating from the rest of the structure.

In the last few months, workers have busy rebuilding the damaged wall. One estimate via NY1 put the students back in the building in late February.

However, East Side Principal Mark Federman just tweeted the following...

January 18 is our last day at NT and PS 1.Back at East Side in 2 weeks #fb

— Mark Federman (@MarkEastSide) January 4, 2013

So this likely puts the return date at Jan. 21 for the students who have attending other area schools ... more details as they become available...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Schools making it work while repairs continue at 420 E. 12th St.

Rodent revelations: The Upper West Side has twice as many rats as we do

[Tompkins Square Park last fall, via Bobby Williams]

City stats released yesterday show that the Upper West Side (the 10024 and 10025 zip codes) have lodged more than 1,183 "rodent complaints" with 311 in the last two years, according to the Post.

As reported: "The UWS had nearly twice many reports as the Lower East Side and the East Village, which phoned-in 688 complaints in the same period."

Are we going to just sit here and take this from those wusses? Now get out there and leave even more half-eaten containers of food and slices of pizza on the sidewalks and in Tompkins Square Park!

On a serious note, Gothamist has a cool interactive map showing the number of complaints in the five boroughs by zip code. Find that here.