Soon, you might be able to do your post office business at a former Duane Reade

We're due for an update on the the proposed relocation of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office on East 14th Street... there was a town hall meeting on the subject last Monday... Jefferson Siegel has a nice recap of the contentious meeting in the current issue of The Villager.

There's a lot to cover.

Briefly.

1) People are generally pissed off by this possible closure.

2) The plan would work something like this: The carriers who sort and deliver mail to homes and businesses in the area would be shipped off to the Madison Square Station on East 23rd Street near Third Avenue while large parcel services would operate out of the F.D.R. Station at 54th Street and Third Avenue. (Handy!)

The USPS would lease the former Duane Reade on East 14th Street near First Avenue for retail services, such as stamp sales and P.O. boxes. (At least the space wouldn't become another bank branch, as rumored.)



3) Residents have until next Tuesday (May 7) to submit their comments to USPS. From the article:

Comments, which must include the name Peter Stuyvesant Post Office, can be sent to: Joseph J. Mulvey, Facilities Implementation, U.S. Postal Service, 2 Congress St., Room 8, Milford, MA 01757-9998.

(Be sure to use the correct postage.)

Despite being pressed on the topic, the USPS rep at the meeting wouldn't divulge the building's landlord. The landlord reportedly told the USPS that he/she has other plans for the building, which was erected in 1951.

Right the whole Villager article here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Posters urge residents to 'voice your opinion' about the former PS 64

These posters arrived last night around the neighborhood...


[Photo via MoRUS]

...urging residents to speak out against the plan to turn the former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center into a 500-bed dorm on East Ninth Street just east of Avenue B.

The building is a topic of discussion at two upcoming CB3 committee meetings... as well as at a Landmarks Preservation public hearing... (we'll have more information on that meeting later).



Meanwhile, there is a petition campaign in circulation that reads:

COMMUNITY USE - NOT DORMITORY

Respect our community. Respect this community treasure: Old P.S. 64 located at 605 East 9th Street.

Old P.S. 64, a designated New York City landmark, has a long and valued history serving our community. This building could easily serve our community again. Dormitory use of this building does not serve our community. Cooper Union should not house students in old P.S. 64.

We ask that old P.S. 64 be returned to use for our community.

Find the petition here.

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

Report: Former PS 64 one step closer to becoming a 500-bed dorm for multiple NYC colleges

Petition campaign asks: 'Return PS 64 to the Community'

Motor City Bar to remain open through June

Back in February, we first heard that Motor City Bar would be closing on Ludlow.

At the time, we heard they'd close sometime between March and June.

Here's an update from the Motor City folks: They plan to be open through June. And there's a Grand Finale Party planned for June 23 featuring The Swingin' Neckbreakers. Stay tuned for more details.

The landlord chose not to renew the bar's lease... Motor City opened at 127 Ludlow in 1996.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Motor City Bar is closing on Ludlow Street

Iconic Hand Rolls has apparently closed

Bill the Libertarian Anarchist noted that workers were clearing out Iconic Hand Rolls last night on First Avenue near St. Mark's Place... the temaki shop opened last June here ... and this morning, the space is completely empty. Perhaps they're just remodeling.



No mention of a closure or renovation on the Iconic website or on their usually active Facebook or Twitter accounts. The phone number is not in service at this time.

The restaurant recently launched a campaign in which 50 Iconic logo stickers were placed within a five-block radius of the store. Per Washington Square News: "Clues on the whereabouts of the stickers will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Those who find the stickers can use them to redeem a free temaki roll, a cone-shaped and hand-rolled sushi, from the store."

And there were these new ads, like this one on St. Mark's Place...



Iconic Hand Rolls had some tough luck at the outset — their AC conked out and they had to remain closed during their first weekend in business. And there was that plywood mischief too.

Longtime parishioners hope to be able to salvage items from the doomed Mary Help of Christians

As you likely know, permits were filed last Thursday to demolish the now-vacant parcel of Mary Help of Christians that includes the church, school and rectory, according to DOB records.

Developer Douglas Steiner has plans for a residential development on this prime East Village space on Avenue A and East 11th Street and East 12th Street.

We heard from a longtime parishioner, who said that she is "hurt and confused beyond words" about the impending demolition.

Some of us have been speaking about trying to secure a few items from the church that are of great historical significance, most specifically the church bells and the cement statue of Mary Help of Christians outside located on 11th Street on the upper floors of the school ... in order to gift them over to the Salesian order. There also some liturgical books that the Salesians have inquired about. The pipe organ unfortunately is beyond our capabilities.

The former parishioners are hoping to be able to contact Steiner and see if these items can be salvaged.

Image via Curbed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Baiting Mary Help of Christians

Mary Pupillo - 'A true relic of the East Village'

The Schumacher announces itself on Bleecker Street

Just noting the recent arrival of branding for The Schumacher on Bleecker at Mott... the building was once the Schumacher & Ettlinger printing company, which began in the 1860s. They were one of the many German lithographic companies that created advertisement art for the cigar industry.

Curbed has been reporting on this project. Among the details:

The building will contain 20 two- to four-bedroom apartments priced from about $3 million to $25 million.

And it will look like this...



Read more at Curbed here.

Citi Share docking stations arrive on St. Mark's Place at 1 a.m., quickly tagged

EVG regular Stephen Popkin notes that the Citi Bikes docking stations arrived on the north side of St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue (in front of the former Holiday Cocktail Lounge) ... around 1 a.m. (Per Stephen's estimation, the installers were working quietly...)



Plans called for 31 docks here in a no-parking area of the street.

Updated:

Well, later, someone felt compelled to write RAMEN on the docking station...



...and another angle via Shawn Chittle...



Meanwhile! On East Fifth Street at Avenue C... EVG reader Mish noted that workers installed the docking station here around 11 p.m.



Per Mish: "We're already taxed as it is parking wise, and the street is a dead end. Really failing to see the logic in this choice of location. I'm not sure they realize how much of an adverse effect this is going to have on commuters in the neighborhood."

6 months after Sandy

I don't have anything really to add to the numerous "6 months after Sandy" stories (like this one) that were in the media today... However, I did notice that a temporary boiler is still needed at the NYCHA houses on East Sixth Street at Avenue C... it's the last one that I'm aware of in the neighborhood.

Today outside 100 Avenue A

Still waiting for something to happen with the building. Photo by Bobby Williams.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

East Village Farms is closing; renovations coming to 100 Avenue A

Inside the abandoned theater at East Village Farms on Avenue A

Breaking: Citi Bikes docking station arrives on East Ninth Street and Avenue C

They ... are... everywhere... now... can't keep ... up.. with ... all ... the ... docking.. stations... arriving...

Thanks to to EVG reader Greg for this shot.

Updated:

Ah! Per @TYJK, the docking station is now parked on the north side of East Ninth Street... across from 9th Street Espresso...



And whatever happened to the bike guy here...? Also! Probably would have still been room for the Mystery Camper...

Updated:



Another shot of the final product via Bobby Williams...

[Updated] Here is your East Fourth Street Citi Bikes docking station

Dropped in fresh this afternoon on the south side of the street ... just a little west of Second Avenue, as these photos by EVG reader John Iz show...







Who's next?

Updated:

Derek Berg passed along a few more photos from East Fourth Street...

[Updated] 'Street Safety Managers' back on the East Village streets

This is becoming a common sight now weekday mornings... the presence of so-called Street Safety Managers.

To refresh your memory, per a DOT news release:

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced that DOT Street Safety Managers (SSM) are assigned to key bike and pedestrian corridors and bridge paths in Manhattan to help enhance safety among pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, further enhancing street safety as bike ridership grows, as DOT starts enforcement of commercial cycling laws and in advance of the 6,000-bike launch of the Citi Bike system.

EVG reader John took these photos... he chatted with the manager on duty this morning on Second Avenue at East 11th Street.

Per John: "They alternatively show a stop or wrong way sign to the bike lane as the lights change ... and he thinks the 'worst' corridor is 20-30s & Broadway."

And!

"He seemed pretty upbeat about being in the rain, shrug. Not too many bikes around now but they seemed to obey the sign."



And here's a shot on First Avenue at East Ninth Street from 10:30 a.m. via EVG regular Derek Berg...

New York Sports Club in the works for Avenue A

Back in February, a tipster told us that New York Health & Racquet Club is taking over all of the floors above Gracefully on Avenue A near East Second Street... turns out that's not quite accurate. According to documentation (PDF) on file at the CB3 website, the proposed new tenant for the upper floors of 28-30 Avenue is New York Sports Club.



This item is on CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public and Private Housing Committee docket for May 8, as Serena Solomon pointed out Friday at DNAinfo.

Off the Grid completed a thorough history of the building back in July 2011. The building dates to 1871. And in its early days, it was part of Little Germany, serving as a German ballroom known as Concordia Hall.

Later, per Off the Grid:

The earliest evidence of furniture seller Burger-Klein occupying the building is from 1939.

In 1959, a four-alarm fire destroyed the roof and top floor of the building, resulting in a significant alteration of building’s façade, most likely the face of the building we see today. It is noteworthy that the owners chose to replace what had once been an architecturally significant facade with a mid-century modern wrapping that in its own way and for its own time is as extraordinary as the 19th century face of the building.

The Burger-Klein building’s uniqueness in the streetscape is a big part of what inspires so much curiosity about it.

Read the whole post here.

Maybe the Sports Club will keep the Burger-Klein sign?

Previously on EV Grieve:
RUMOR: New York Health & Racquet Club taking over the space above Gracefully on Avenue A (24 comments)

Veselka Bowery has closed

After a 17-month run at Avalon Bowery Place, Veselka Bowery has closed, as we first reported yesterday morning. They closed at 4 yesterday, then held some "private event" in the space. (Food for Cheap Trick?)

The consensus among readers and others we talked with: Sad but not surprising. It never seemed all that full. There were attempts to get a bar crowd by showing Yankees games ... Veselka also launched a free pedicab service: "If you don't want to wait for a table at the original Veselka, we will give you a free Pedicab ride to our new restaurant Veselka Bowery."

And we recall an inauspicious opening in October 2011, where Veselka Bowery teamed up with Urban Daddy, who usually champions the likes of Superdive, for a $75 sneak preview tasting menu that includes a "five-course pierogi-and-vodka pairing." (Read the comments from that post.)

At the end of the day, people seemed to just want a diner. But that concept isn't going to work here, at a glass-and-steel factory like Avalon Bowery Place.

Anyway, the food press will likely have some exit interviews with the Veselka folks about what happened here. For now, the signs on the Veselka Bowery door thank people for their patronage, "Love and Light to you all!"

[Updated] Making way for the Citi Bikes docking station on East Second Street

The docking stations for the Citi Bikes bike share continue to pop up around the neighborhood... We've heard a few stories where cars were towed from areas where the docking stations were going in — despite the lack of warning via No Parking signs. (Gothamist has more about this here.)

These signs are up on East Second Street just east of Avenue, as EVG reader Mark White points out...

Per Mark, the signs are "taped facing straight out to the street, not at an angle for drivers POV. As you can see, they are not easy to spot and on a congested block where where is never any parking as it is, I'm sure they will be angrily torn down in no time."





And the Citi Bikes drama continues...

Updated 1:01 p.m.

As predicted, Mark notes that someone ripped off part of the No Parking notice ...

Another parcel of East 14th Street for sale

As we've been noting, many businesses on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B are either relocating or closing to make way for some yet-unspecified development.

Last December, we learned that eight parcels consisting of 222 Avenue A and 504 - 530 E. 14th St. (excluding No. 520) were leased for a 99-year period by the respective owner of East Village 14 LLC.

Now, 534 E. 14th St., the building directly next door to the former ABC Animal Hospital, has hit the market. Not necessarily related to the other development, but certainly worth noting. Per the listing at Plaza Real Estate Group:

A unique Five Story walk up building located in central Alphabet City. Close to shopping, cafes, bars and all the East Village has to offer. This walk up building boosts a recently gut-renovated lobby complete with walls of mirrors and mosaic tiles.

Make: Steel/ Brick Size: Approximately 6,700 Square Feet Block / Lot: 407/ 25
Improvements: New Gas conversion/Burner. Brand new gut renovated Lobby 1st floor. All Hallways were recently renovated. Apts. over $1500.00 are renovated.

Air Rights: Approximately 3,705

Price: $7,150,000.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

Bargain Express has closed on East 14th Street

Baiting Mary Help of Christians

Warning signs are up now at the Mary Help of Christians church and rectory on East 12th Street ... as workers baited the buildings with rat poison in advance of the impending demolition here...



Reps for developer Douglas Steiner filed permits on Thursday to demolish the now-vacant parcel of Mary Help of Christians that includes the church, school and rectory, according to DOB records.

Steiner has said that he'll build an an 80/20 residential development that's "contextually appropriate for the neighborhood."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Petition campaign launched to stop luxury housing at Meltzer Tower

Friends of Meltzer have launched a petition campaign to help stop the city's plan to lease the park space at Max Meltzer Tower to private developers... among other things, the new development would wipe out the park at the senior citizen development at 94 E. First St. near First Avenue ...

Per the petition:

The proposed NYCHA infill plan will create luxury housing on existing properties throughout New York City intended for residents with limited incomes, depriving them of much needed air, light, space, and recreational facilities. In the case of Meltzer Tower, a residence for low-income seniors, NYCHA is planning to destroy a local park adjacent to the building containing a stand of over two-dozen fully mature trees.

Find the petition here.

There's also a Facebook group called Friends of Meltzer with more details.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Outrage over proposal to turn the green space at the Meltzer Tower into private development (35 comments)

The Jefferson sales gallery now open on East 14th Street

Last Monday, The Jefferson — the luxury condos that rose up from the former Mystery Lot on East 13th Street — unveiled its pricing and floor plans, as BuzzBuzz Home first noted.

And the "sales gallery" is also open on East 14th Street ... where we assume retail will eventually take over once the condos, priced from $850,000 to $2.49 million, are sold. Oh, and the gallery is "by appointment only."



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

The last days of the Mystery Lot

Before it was the Mystery Lot

The Mystery Lot developers using famous dead comedians to sell condos at The Jefferson

Do Do is missing

EVG reader Seth shares this:

Anyone who's walked regularly down Broome between Eldridge and Forsyth probably knows "Do Do" — the temple cat at the Guan Gong Temple, 294 Broome. He's often sitting stoically with his quiet Buddha-nature by the door, observing passersby. Sadly, he's missing, and the temple congregants have put a few signs up around the neighborhood. Hopefully neighbors can keep an eye out around the neighborhood and park and if they see him (hopefully alive) grab him and bring him back to the temple. He's a bit of a neighborhood fixture.