If these plywood walls could talk...

In the last week, several messages have gone up on the plywood outside the former P.S. 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street... Building owner Gregg Singer filed plans to renovate the space into dorms for an unspecified school on Feb. 12. (The city disapproved the first round of plans on April 1.)

Jefferson Siegel sums it up this way in the current issue of The Villager:

Neighborhood animosity has boiled for years over owner Gregg Singer’s attempts to develop the location for various uses, including as a 27-story university dormitory. At one point, angered by the opposition, Singer threatened to turn the building into a drug rehab center. The old school was eventually landmarked and now Singer and his partners are trying to retrofit it as a student dorm once again, according to plans filed with the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Now to a few of the messages spotted on the politically charged plywood since the latest plans for the use of the space were revealed:




[Photo via MoRUS]


[Photos via MoRUS]

As for the fire on East Ninth Street late last Friday night... the Post noted this on Wednesday:

Authorities are hot on the trail of a group of inadvertent firebugs.

The suspects set a bonfire on an East Village sidewalk to stay warm but accidentally set three cars on fire, cops said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Deed for 'community facility use only' at the former P.S. 64 now on the market

Something new in the works for PS 64?; plus sidewalk bridge expiration anniversary

Welcome to the neighborhood, Mr. Sarkozy

Oh, we were enjoying a leisurely walk one recent evening and we spotted Olivier Sarkozy, half-brother of the former French president and beau of Mary-Kate Olsen, standing on the sidewalk outside the lovely James Renwick-designed home at 123 E. 10th St. that he reportedly purchased last summer.



While reports said that he bought No. 123, we thought we also saw him enter the adjacent property at No. 125 (both were on the market) with the movers, who were carrying various boxes marked "Sarkozy," like the one in the back of the van marked "Bridgehampton Dishes."



We did not spot any marked, say, "Mary-Kate's pots & pans."

And the Di Bella Bros. sign is hidden once more on East 13th Street

On Monday, EVG regular evilnyc noted that there was some sign work going on at the Hamptons Market on First Avenue ... workers removed the sign on the north side of the building, which revealed ... the beloved previous tenant ...



...Di Bella Bros., the Italian deli that dated to 1925.

Obviously this was going to be a short-term reveal... sure enough, a reader noted that the Hamptons Market sign returned yesterday...



...looking as if it belongs more in a food court than on a city street...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Di Bella Bros. ghost signage uncovered on East 13th Street

East Houston Wine & Liquor is now open in (at?) Red Square

East Houston Wine & Liquor opened Monday on East Houston in the Shoppes at Red Square ... and they're having a 10-percent-off deal the first week. (Nice of me to tell you that five days in!) ... the space was previously home to a spa-salon.

I browsed the aisles... not sure about prices, since I make all my liquor at home in the tub. (Soapy, but effective!) Maybe if you go you can tell me what you think of the place in the comments. A few other details — they deliver and they have nice refrigerator magnets.

BoweryBoogie noted the opening back on Wednesday.

Spring on St. Mark's Place

By Bobby Williams.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Mini UFO on Avenue B? Via Bobby Williams]

Christine Quinn threatens media who run ad she doesn't like (The Village Voice)

Police say this guy tried to steal a purse on East Eighth Street (CBS)

Another fucking FroYo chain invades NYC (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

EV artist Stephen Tashjian (Tabboo!) has a new book out (Paper)

The East Village of a TV show called "Mad Men" versus the actual neighborhood in the 1960s (The New York Times)

Great old-timer Pizza Box closing on Bleecker (BoweryBoogie, Flaming Pablum)

TR Crandall Guitars now open on East Third Street (DNAinfo, previously on EV Grieve)

A tribute to 6 great diners (The Lo-Down)

Summer in the City, Spring edition (Slum Goddess)

DBGB hosting a pig roast featuring special guest Marky Ramone (Eater)

And, as we exclusively reported last night, it rained. And thundered!

Yeoooooooooow.
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) April 11, 2013

Also! Mark Benigno put together a composite of the lightning strikes...

Reimagining this 12-story East Village building, now on the market

So 200 E. 11th St. at Third Avenue is now on the market. Per the Massey Knakal listing: "Rarely do downtown elevated apartment buildings become available for sale. When they do, it is even more unusual that they are as untouched and with so much upside potential as 200 East 11th Street (AKA 55 Third Avenue)."

Indeed.

A deeper look at the listing (PDF!) shows what the new owner could do, such as converting one bedroom units into to two-bedroom units.

But! The biggest changes — at least for passersby — would happen on the outside of the building, where the listing notes "[a] buyer may wish to expand the residential floor plate above and restore the building above by reskinning glass."



Let's take a closer look at this reskinned glass.



The new rendering doesn't happen to show the current retail clients — M2M or the copy shop. The third storefront is home to The Smith.

There's no price listed for the building.

Here comes David Schwimmer's rooftop garden

EVG reader Eva notes that there's a special delivery being, um, delivered to David Schwimmer's new Mansion this morning on East Sixth Street.

"There is a lot getting dropped onto the roof of the Schwimmer manse.

Trees and a huge silo shaped thing just landed. Yes, full-grown trees are being hoisted onto the roof.

Eva promises to alert us when (if!) the Belize Oval II Hot Tub Spa goes up...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Here is David Schwimmer's East Village home

'Mania Days' back on Avenue A today; KATIE HOLMES HIGH ALERT

You may have noticed the fairly large production camped out in various streets around the neighborhood... such as Avenue A and St. Mark's Place...



...where crews were filming a scene yesterday for "Mania Days" at the Odessa Cafe...







...and the crew is back filming today...



We didn't mention this earlier because ... THE MOVIE STARS KATIE HOLMES, the former East Village resident who broke our collective hearts last summer following the dissolution of her fairytale marriage to actor Tom Cruise. (Ah, love is so fickle...)

And we were worried about The Pandemonium this sighting might cause. And you thought you'd never see her here again! (Except for a few weeks ago on Avenue B.)


[Via Just Jared]

Anyway, on a more serious note, the movie sounds serious. Per Just Jared:

The 34-year-old actress is reportedly starring in the film about “a manic depressive rapper (Luke Kirby) who gets involved with a manic depressive poet (Holmes) in a passionate affair that results in a pregnancy.”

Spike Lee is a producer; Paul Dalio, a producer at the David Lynch Foundation, makes his directorial debut. (Perhaps worth noting that his father is billionaire Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.)

Anyway (again). Pensive Katie! on Avenue A... thinking about Mamani Pizza...


[Via Celebrity-Gossip-Net]

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village reeling over breakup of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Non Katie Holmes photos by Bobby Williams

Your chance to have your bicycle blessed

Via the EV Grieve inbox...

What: Saint Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery will be holding its 1st annual Blessing of the Bicycles. The event is ecumenical and welcoming to all cyclists of all persuasions wanting to take a moment to contemplate a safe cycling season and to get their bikes blessed.

When: Saturday April 20, 2 pm. In case of rain the Blessing will be moved to the same time on April 27.

Who: Open to all ages and cyclists of all skill level and experience.

Why: With expanded bike lanes and a new bike share program about to begin bicycle ridership is set to increase for 2013. New York City is a wonderful place to bicycle; cycling is good exercise and an alternative mood of green transportation. Saint Marks Church-in-the-Bowery is encouraging the community to consider cycling as part of their transportation and recreational options and offering a blessing to cyclists and their bicycles in contemplation of a safe and joyous bicycling season.

Conversations tonight about possible improvements to Tompkins Square Park

[Tuesday in Tompkins Square Park via Bobby Williams]

Tonight, CB3's parks committee will hear a request for support "for possible improvements to and restoration of Tompkins Square Park," per the meeting agenda. The East Village Parks Conservancy has a draft proposal for a three-phase restoration project. (Find a PDF of the proposal here.)

A few snippets from the proposal....

Tompkins Square is one of New York City’s most storied and beloved public squares, first opened in 1834 after the Stuyvesant family gifted the land to the city.

Over time, the Park’s design has been repeatedly altered to accommodate the politics and needs of the neighborhood’s growing population. Renovations in the 1960’s and 1990’s stripped the park of its elegant historic character.

It is time to envision a plan for the park that both looks forward in programming and sustainability and also back in materials and details to restore the park’s design integrity.

The first phase:

"Restore the park perimeter and entrances, reconstruct pavement, curbs and fencing, install tree guards, prune and plant trees. Link to the park’s history and surrounding gardens."



Anyway, all this is in the draft proposal phase, but the conversations are starting... CB3's parks committee meets at 6:30 p.m. at the BRC Senior Center, 30 Delancey Street.

Oh, the PDF includes this shot of the Park via 1934...



All this aside, what would you want to see improved in the Park?

Watch this guy go beserk inside Lebrini's Pizzeria on Avenue C

Bobby Lebrini, proprietor of Lebrini's Pizzeria on Avenue C at East Third Street, shared this video with us... the incident that takes place occurred about three years ago. (He filed a police report at the time; the NYPD has seen this.) He thought he'd share it for entertainment value... he's currently cleaning out his video collection. First of several, perhaps!

A few things. The set-up.

Man and woman walks into the pizzeria. She orders a slice. He doesn't order anything. And then she proceeds to break up with him.

The rampage begins in the last 30 seconds, if you'd like to move along to the end.

"I added music to lighten the mood a little," Lebrini said. "It's painful to watch for me to this day even though it happened three years ago. He never was caught and I'm pretty sure she is from the neighborhood, although I never spotted her again."

A few things for after you watch it.

Yes, that is shatterproof glass.

"He did break the two windows on the side doors, but amazingly the front window didn't break after two hits." The tab: 1 table, 3 chairs, 2 windows and 1 picture. "Approximately $1,500 that came out of my pocket because insurance didnt cover it.

"That's another thing — he didn't even buy a thing."

Progress at the 'slowly handmade' 154 Second Ave.

We haven't checked in at 154 Second Ave., the former home of the Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel, since the end of January.

Here's an update on the "luxury rental apartments" with ground-floor retail via EVG reader Terry Howell:

"As you can see, this building is being slowly handmade. I have listened to every one of those girders being hammered into place by hand over this winter. You can see a small pile of girders waiting to be placed and pounded together on the flooring. There is a crew of about 5-6 guys who are doing it all!

Meanwhile! It looks as if there is an empty space in the rear... Perhaps a Party Patio? (A reader called a patio where these bros always hang out on East Fifth Street the "Dick Deck.")

Or, preferably, maybe a little green space with grass and what not...



...And a view of the front from Tuesday...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Former funeral home looks to double in size with help from 'the controversial penthouse king of the East Village'

Redeveloped funeral home looking for a few live retail tenants

The walls come tumbling down at 154 Second Avenue

Bob Perl's East Village

The Commericial Observer has a piece this week titled "Robert Perl: The East Village’s Counterculture Landlord."

A few passages.

Mr. Perl, the president of East Village specialist Tower Brokerage, is a rarity among local landlords for his long tenure and his wistfulness about the gentrified area’s squalid punk rock past.

And!

Mr. Perl’s advocacy on behalf of Life Café owner Kathy Kirkpatrick during the rent dispute, and his affinity for the East Village’s increasingly blunted edge, suggests that he is a benevolent landlord in a neighborhood with an ingrained suspicion of, or antipathy toward, real estate professionals. “The cynicism they have today is very different from the ‘Die Yuppie Scum’ days” Mr. Perl said. “You were more likely to be lynched as a capitalist pig in the ‘80s than today. Money is something people look up to now, as opposed to deride.”

Read the article here.

[EVG file photo]

And, after the storm...

10th and C via Bobby Williams.

2 amazing photos of tonight's incoming East Village thunderstorm

Well, we're find out how well The Jefferson handles a thunderstorm!



A view from East 13th Street via EVG regular Katja...

April 10

Northeast corner of 12th Street and Third Avenue. The new issue of the Voice as the time stamp.

Report: Ditch Kills team scrap plans to open tiki-bar concept on Avenue B

The partners behind Long Island City hotspot Ditch Kills will not pursue opening a cocktail bar in the former Mercadito Cantina space, DNAinfo reported this morning.

This decision follows Monday night's contentious CB3/SLA meeting in which the committee denied the request for the lounge to be called The Asphalt Jungle at 172 Avenue B.

After Jean-Paul Buthier, owner of vintage shop Rue St Denis at 170 Avenue B, spoke out against the applicant, Dutch Kills partner Richard Boccato replied that he and his partner Ian Present were "not carpetbaggers," adding, "with all due respect, sir, your accent doesn't sound like a Native New Yorker," as Grub Street first reported.

According to DNAinfo, the committee's denial "shocked Present, who grew up on Avenue B near East 10th Street, just a block from where the proposed bar was slated."

“It would have been a dream of mine to open a bar on the block I grew up on,” said Present, who added his mother still lives on the street and that his family has roots in the neighborhood dating back more than 110 years.

Present and Boccato were applying for for a full liquor license, with a 1 a.m. closing time Sunday to Tuesday and 2 a.m. on Wednesday through Saturday.

“We respect the neighborhood,” Present told DNAinfo.com New York. “We know that it’s residential, and we weren’t looking to stay open till 3 or 4 am.

“I didn’t feel the decision was actually a reflection of the desires of the community," he added.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dutch Kills crew aiming to take over former Mercadito Cantina space on Avenue B

[Updated] Report: CB3 says yes to Golden Cadillac, denies the Asphalt Jungle (17 comments)

About Mercadito Cantina closing:'Open letter to EV Grieve and CB3' (58 comments)

What's going on at Open Road Park?

EVG reader Steve Carter notes this morning that workers are on the scene at Open Road Park, the playground popular with skateboarders adjacent to the East Side Community High School on East 12th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...

It appears that the workers are dismantling/pulverizing the benches and other seating areas around the park.

One young man with a skateboard said, "I got to go inside before I kill somebody."

There have been off-and-on again issues here the past few years... In June 2011, officials from East Side temporarily closed the park. During a public meeting, officials cited increasing incidents of discarding trash and debris, smoking cigarettes, selling marijuana ... and trouble with people not respecting set school or other programmed activities.

We'll see what's next here ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Open Road Park closed now on 12th Street

Why the Open Road Park is closed

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: Jasmin Olmo (and Rocko)
Occupation: Stay at home mother, Medical Assistant
Location: 9th Street and Avenue C
Time: 3:15 on Sunday, April 7

I’m 28 and I’ve lived in this area all my life. Right now I’m home with the kids and my husband works. I have two kids, an eight year old and a four year old, but I do have my certificate as a Medical Assistant. I did that for a year and then decided to take some time to take care of my kids. Hopefully once my son is in regular school then I can go back to work.

My grandparents were from Puerto Rico. My grandmother was born there. I believe she came here when she was a teenager with her mother. I think they came for a better life and everybody was moving here at that time. My grandmother cleaned houses but mostly she was a homemaker. She had 7 kids and her first very young so she was mostly home with them. I had my mother, my grandmother, and my great grandmother here. My daughter was able to see these generations of women and the family. We have a lot of family. My grandmother has 22 grandchildren. I’m the 22nd. I’m the baby.

Both my parents were from the neighborhood and they met very young, in junior high school, and they were together ever since. My father was a Marine and then he worked for Sanitation. My mom also cleaned houses when she was young and then there was a point in her life where things were really rough. Both of them are now deceased, so it’s great hearing stories about them being young and the things they’ve done. My mom was a wild one when she was young. Hearing stories about her, it’s like, “Okay I’m definitely not like my mother.” That’s one thing that my grandmother used to always say to me, she was like, “You, next to your mother, you are an angel. Your mother used to do some crazy stuff.”

I can tell you, there are these projects on Avenue D, they start on 6th Street and go down to Houston Street, called the Lillian Wald Houses. My grandmother was one of the first tenants to move into those projects. She knew everyone who moved in and all of the families that were there for all those years. She was head of the tenant patrol for years. I probably have a family member in each project. We have family throughout the whole neighborhood and everyone knows each other. My Aunt still lives over there.

Me and my friends would run around the projects playing manhunt, playing hide and seek, and my mom would be in front of one building and I’m on the whole other side of the project. She didn’t have to worry because she knew everybody and everybody knew us, so if I was doing anything wrong they were definitely going to tell her. We would play manhunt and there would be like 10 of us in the elevator acting stupid and we’d get stuck in there for like two hours, hot as hell, in the summer, just hoping and praying that nobody’s parent would find out. But of course, somebody would find out. We caused a lot of trouble growing up but she didn’t have to worry about us. Nowadays it’s really different. I won’t let my daughter go downstairs to the store by herself or walk to school by herself. That’s the sad thing about it.

On my block on 10th Street on the weekends everybody’s outside playing music and somebody’s always having a party. If you walk down 10th Street between B and C, there’s always going to be people out. But I remember in the summer you could walk down Avenue D and everybody was outside with their kids. I mean everybody, in front of the stores just hanging out. The East River, I remember when I was like 7 or 8, every weekend in the summer they would have music out there. They would have a DJ in one spot and a Spanish band in another and have food. That’s what I can remember about being in this neighborhood. There was always music and food and people dancing and rejoicing and just hanging out and kids running around. Back then you didn’t have to worry about your kids running around. Nowaways it’s not like that anymore. You’ll see people here and there but a lot of people left. They’re out in Florida or down south. If you go to Miami you’ll see a bunch of people that you know from your neighborhood.

The only time you see a whole bunch of people now is during the Loisaida Festival. Every May, every Memorial Weekend, they have a big festival down Avenue C. It’s right before the weekend of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, so you’ll see a lot of people selling flags and t-shirts and there’s all types of food. You can come and eat, they have some rides for the kids, and they usually have like five Spanish bands come out. People dance in the streets and the kids are running around. You’ll see people that you haven’t seen in years. Everybody comes back for Loisaida because they know they’ll see people that they haven’t seen in awhile. They come back to see family and friends. That’s always fun to see.

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