The Mary Help of Christians bell towers are coming down

The western tower is down ... and the demolition continues.

Photo by an East Village resident.

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: Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba and son Jake, 10
Occupation: Lead Singer, The Dictators NYC, Owner of Manitoba’s bar, DJ, Sirius XM Radio Inc.
Location: Felix Millan Little League, East River Park
Time: 1 pm on Saturday, Aug. 10

I grew up in the Bronx. I’m an Eastern European Jew and my grandparents came over and settled around here, but they moved up to the Bronx when the Bronx was like Westchester. They wanted to get out of here because this was all tenements back in the old days. I started hanging out down here when I was 15 years old, around 1969. I’ve been living here since the mid-80s. I was always drawn to this neighborhood. Me and my friends went down to the Fillmore East to see concerts; I came down to comic book stores to buy Robert Crumb comics, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.

I saw The Stooges — I saw Iggy when he got booed off the stage cutting his chest open at the Electric Circus ... I saw The Who, The Kinks for $5. We went to the Schaefer Music Festival at Central Park, I saw Ike and Tina Turner and the Ikettes and the Beach Boys, all for $3. That was what it was like growing up in New York. Everybody came to New York, so every weekend me and my friends would be like, where do you want to go? Who do you want to see?

This was the living theater, it was bohemia, it was the edge and we were all very attracted to the culture and the history and the history comes from the the Beat Generation, into the Hippies. I was sort of stuck between. For example, I’d go see The New York Dolls at The Mercer Arts Center and then I’d go see the Grateful Dead a few days later. I didn’t care — I liked both of them. Then a point came where CBGB opened up and we started playing this place called the Coventry in Queens, which was a famous club on Queens Boulevard. We used to see Joey Ramone before there was a band called the Ramones.

The Dictators were in that little space where The Dolls were breaking up. MC5 and the Stooges were kind of burning themselves out. And then along comes this band The Dictators. We weren’t there before Television or Patti Smith, but we were the first band from that little scene to get a record out in 1975 — Go Girl Crazy! So what happened was we made three albums, we broke up, we made reunion shows.

In the 90s, it was like we became sort of bigger stars than we ever were. You see, the generation right after your generation has to sort of distance themselves from you to be cool. You can’t say, “Oh yeah, this is cool.” It’s natural for a generation to distance themselves, but then the next generation comes in and now books have been written and mystiques have been developed. I’ve got a week of shows in the Midwest coming up, three weeks of shows in Spain and maybe a week in the West Coast in the spring. If I can do 30 to 40 shows a year, I’m able to scratch the rock-and- roll itch. I’ve got that in me.

I opened the bar 15 years ago. I was working at 2A on the corner of 2nd and A, and after five years of bartending I wanted more, so I got investors together and opened up Manitoba’s. And I’m a sober guy for almost 30 years. To me I look at the bar as a clubhouse. It’s Richie’s rock and roll clubhouse, that I get to do as long as I can be a good enough businessman to pay my bills and get everybody paid. I get to keep this great culture alive that seems to be dying all around me, replaced by hookah bars and hip hop.

Jake just pitched a complete game — a 10-3 win. It’s the best two out of three, so if they win one more they win the championship. The whole team jumped on him. I picked him up in the air. Three little Spanish girls, like 9,10,11 came over to him and said, “Come here, you’re cute.” He came running over and said, “Dad, those girls said I’m cute!” He was excited. Then they came by the game today to watch him play. When you can throw a baseball, chicks dig it.

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

The Portal of Movement is on the move!

You've been reading about 13 Portals, the interactive street art project that is being unveiled around the East Village this summer. Co-creator Nicolina (along with Pérola Bonfanti) passed along word to us that someone removed (stole?) Portal 3 from outside the former P.S. 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East 10th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Any idea what happened?

"We have no definitive clues. However, some guy asked if he could buy it while we were installing it," Nicolina told us. "We told him that it was for the street and that it wasn't for sale. I imagine it could be him if he wanted it badly enough, but it could be anyone. Whoever did it was very deliberate because they had to stand up on the ledge and forcefully peel off the canvas, which we glued there with liberal amounts of contact cement."


[Manny Inoa]

Portal 3, called, oddly enough, the Portal of Movement, will be back. Nicolina says that Patrick Nash at Boxcutter design has agreed to help them by printing out a replacement for Portal 3. The new portal should be up soon.

In February, someone vandalized Portal 1 on Avenue C and East Seventh Street.

Check out the 13 Portals website for more info.

Everything that you may have wanted to know about Nestor, the missing blue puppet

So you know that Nestor, a baseball-cap-wearing alien puppet, went missing last week on Avenue B near East Ninth Street ... Serena Solomon at DNAinfo interviewed Nestor's owner, Tim Kubart.

Details!

Kubart, who lives in Greenpoint, was house-sitting for a friend in the East Village when he lost his beloved puppet, which he uses when he performs with his kids' band Tim and the Space Cadets.

And!

Frankie Cordero, who has been a puppeteer on Sesame Street commercials and Comedy Central, made the most recent Nestor, a process that involved illustrators drawing markups for how the puppet needed to look.

The currently lost Nestor cost $1,500 and took about two weeks to make. While he is hopeful that someone finds Nestor, Kubart is already saving for a new puppet.

Read the whole article here.

First sign of 6-floor building above the plywood at 227 E. Seventh St.

[September 2012]

A spot check over at 227 E. Seventh St. ... where a 6-floor building is rising from the plywood near Avenue C (behind Zum Schneider's, basically) ... As we previously reported, DOB permits show that each floor will contain one residential unit.



Here's a look at the rendering via BuzzBuzzHome...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Asbestos abatement on East Seventh Street, then a new 6-story building

Slider's in the works for East 11th Street

Slider's is coming to 647 E. 11th St. The new restaurant is on the August CB3/SLA docket for a beer and wine license.

According to paperwork on file at the CB3 website ahead of Monday's meeting, the space will feature a menu with (surprise!) sliders as well as salads, wraps, etc. The configuration calls for six tables (seating 38) and a bar with 14 seats. Proposed hours are 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday through Wednesday; until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

The address near Avenue C was previously home to Kasadela, the Japanese cafe that wasn't able to reopen after Sandy.

This month's committee meeting is at the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. Start time: 6:30 p.m.

In this 1979 interview, a 'misbehaving' Patti Smith loses her mind, plays the clarinet

Hello Germany! Here's a 1979 interview from Rockpalast, a music TV show in Germany, featuring Patti Smith.

YouTube describes it this way:

Hilarious. A misbehaving Patti Smith (and Richard Sohl) with a very serious host (Alan Bangs) who keeps asking the same question and translates everything she says. Lenny Kaye tries to answer the question in the end.

Pride & Joy BBQ update; and one idea for Dolly Parton drag queens and bathtub moonshine

Celebrity pitmaster Myron Mixon was close to opening Pride & Joy BBQ at the former Lucky Cheng's space this summer, but, as we noted yesterday, he's reportedly not involved with the restaurant anymore. He also filed a lawsuit against his former partners.

Hayne Suthon, who owns (and lives) in the building on First Avenue and operates Lucky Cheng's, now on West 52nd Street, says that she believes the remaining partners intend to continue with the restaurant, but hasn't heard details on their new plan of action.

"The space looks amazing — so much work and energy went into creating it," she told us via Facebook. "It's like a ghost town downstairs with nothing going on in that huge formally rather lively space. I still live upstairs and miss the activity."

Although the plans are still up in the air for Pride & Joy, she floated one idea.

"Maybe I'll move back the drag queens all dressed up like Dolly Parton, have them on the grill, making peach cobbler or bathtub moonshine."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Myron Mixon's Pride & Joy BBQ now in the works for the former Lucky Cheng's space

Myron Mixon lawsuit puts opening of Pride and Joy BBQ in question at former Lucky Cheng's space

Residential, retail and an additional floor for 212 E. 14th St.

Work continues at 212 E. 14th St. near Third Avenue... in a building nestled between the "21st Century living in the heart of Olde New York" that is The Jefferson.

Anyway, there's plywood and a sign up now that provides a few more details on what's next here... namely residential and retail...





In early June, the DOB approved the following:

VERTICAL ENLARGEMENT, GUT DEMOLITION & CONSTRUCTION OF NEW INTERIOR , TO CONVERT AN EXISTING 5-STORY BUILDING WITH 4 APARTMENTS ABOVE A RETAIL FLOOR , TO A 6-STORY BUILDING WITH 10 APARTMENTS ABOVE THE RETAIL FLOOR. REMOVE INTERIOR NON-BEARING PARTITIONS THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING, INSTALL NEW PARTITIONS AS PER PLANS FILED HEREWITH.

And we looked inside the space the other day... not much of anything left...



There is an active retail listing for the space ... most recently the Super Saving Store, which closed in June 2011. Don't expect any super savings here in the future either. Or anything like another previous tenant — Irving Klaw's Movie Star News, home of celebrity stills and Hollywood pin-ups through the years... here's an ad for the shop during its time at 212...


[Vintage Sleaze]

Head over to Jeremiah's Vanishing New York for more on Movie Star News and another former neighbor – the Jefferson Theatre.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Before it was the Mystery Lot

What a 'prized position' will cost you on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Eastside Bakery (.net?) closed down at the end of April on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place... making four empty storefronts here in this Theatre Condo complex.



The rent is "upon request." However, we do know of one interested party who kicked the tires on the space — 1,650 square feet upstairs, 3,000 square feet downstairs for prep, storage, etc.

The rent? $27,000 a month.

Per the tipter: "So, no. Enjoy your newest branch of Starbucks or Chase!"

As we recall, the Gap paid $33,000 for the space back in the late 1980s... though they had more square footage...

P.S.

Bonus photo with some Sir Shadow art on the for lease sign...

[Updated] Man removes alternate side parking sign to steal bike on East 13th Street

Here's the scene on the north side of East 13th Street at Avenue A Sunday morning around 7:15... Larry Watson, proprietor of Percy's Tavern, pieced this together from the surveillance cameras... showing a man arriving on the scene with a bag of tools...



He cut the tether wire from the restraint to remove a table from Percy's sidewalk cafe... he then placed it under the alternate side parking sign ... and climbed up to remove the street sign...



... the man then lifted the bike over the pole and calmly walked away...



Watson cautions anyone from locking their bike to this sign... "as it has been prepped for the right bike to be tied to it."



Here's a Google Street View showing the sign... and bike attached to the pole...



Updated:
Police have made an arrest in this theft.

Speaking of bikes and street signs...

EVG Facebook friend Philip Daccord shares this photo from Great Jones near Lafayette ...

Mary Help of Christians down to last floor

[April]

A quick check in on the ongoing demolition at the former Mary Help of Christians property on Avenue A at East 11th Street and East 12th Street... the school appears to be down to its last floor...


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Meanwhile, this past weekend, former parishioners returned to say prayers in front of what remains of the church on East 12th Street...


[Photo by Paul DeRienzo]

Developer Douglas Steiner bought the property last fall for an unspecified residential complex.

Previously.

Alphabet Plaza's backside is getting bigger

[April]

We haven't checked in on the backside of Alphabet Plaza since late June. The 12-story mixed-used apartment building at East Houston and East Second Street/Avenue D continues to inch skyward as this photo from EVG reader Ray shows...



Difficult to tell what floor the workers have reached... but a slightly educated guess is 9-10.

We'll be back in a couple of weeks with photos of people moving in...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: 12th-story 'Alphabet Plaza' in the works for Second Street and Avenue D

Alphabet Plaza ready to rise on Avenue D

Alphabet Plaza is rising on East Houston and Avenue D

Archie and Sons now open for biz

Archie & Sons is now open on Third Avenue at St. Mark's Place... we've already heard good things about the 50s-style luncheonette, from the no-nonsense interior to the straightforward menu.

We wrote about it back on July 30:

Archie & Sons has roots on Long Island (Hewlett) where proprietor Howie Cohen ran Archie's Deli until 2010.

Cohen is also one of the investors who bought the Papaya King brand several years ago.

While we didn't get a chance to speak with Cohen, Blake Gower, part of the Papaya King team, told us a little more about Archie & Sons.

"Howie and his family have been in the business for decades. The presence of B&H and Stage reinforced our thinking that the East Village was the right kind of neighborhood to bring this to life in NYC; there's a certain warmth and appreciation for homey neighborhood places that persists in the East Village," Gower said. "I grew up eating at the original Archie's — I still have dreams about side dishes of Howie's macaroni salad."

Let us know if you try it...

Cronut™ delivery service offers Cronuts™ for $35 each (aka, Noted)

A reader shares this Craigslist post marked "East Village":

I have 4 delectable cronuts from Dominique Ansel Bakery available for delivery 8/13, 8/14, 8/15, 8/16 and 8/17.

$35 per Cronut.

Cronuts™ are those half croissant, half doughnut things that people stand in line for over on Spring Street. They go for $5 retail.

Anyway, certainly not the first Cronut™ delivery service... and certainly not the last...

Myron Mixon lawsuit puts opening of Pride and Joy BBQ in question at former Lucky Cheng's space

As we first reported last November, celebrity BBQ chef Myron Mixon was going to open a restaurant/saloon in the former Lucky Cheng's space on First Avenue. (Read that post here.)

After months of renovations, Mixon and company held a preview at the space on May 21... which prompted a four-star Yelp review. Everything seemed to be ready to go. On May 29, the Pride and Joy NYC Facebook page announced that they'd be "opening soon."

And that was that.

In recent weeks, someone removed the Facebook page. The Pride and Joy BBQ website is now "under construction." And the space has sat mostly dormant in recent months... the East Second Street side has all the hallmarks of a stalled business — a broken window and door... and a Wacky Wok menu...



Turns out that there was a good reason for the inactivity: Mixon has reportedly parted ways with the restaurant that bears his name. (A location opened in North Miami Beach last November.)

The Daily Meal has the scoop:

According to the lawsuit (Myron Mixon and Jack’s Old South LLC against Pride & Joy LLC and Pablo Cardenas), which was filed on August 8th, Mixon is accusing his partners, Mike Saladino, Chris Mayer, Paul Thielecke, Jose Santa, and Pablo Cardenas, of trademark infringement, breach of contract, and misappropriation of name and likeness; it also alleges that they also owe Mixon a large sum of money in licensing fees for his name.

The Daily Meal notes that Pride and Joy's fate here has now been thrown into question.

While the Miami location is going strong, the New York outpost has yet to open. If it does end up opening, however, Mixon’s name and recipes will be nowhere near it.

And what will become of the giant rotisserie?



Previously on EV Grieve:
Myron Mixon's Pride & Joy BBQ now in the works for the former Lucky Cheng's space

Fire reported at incoming Pride and Joy BBQ on East Second Street

Watch The Birdman of the East Village

The full version of Jessie Auritt's documentary short on the proprietor of Rainbow Music is now online. The nearly 10-minute video takes a look at one of the neighborhood's more intriguing shopkeepers, a man simply known as the Birdman who works amid the stacks of used CDs, videos and cassettes here at 130 First Ave.

Check it out.

The Birdman from Jessie Auritt on Vimeo.

You can read our Q-and-A with Auritt here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

Noted

EVG reader MA spotted this Urban Etiquette Sign in the Ageloff Towers lobby... apparently some "subleasers" are displaying their "primative [sic] behavior" on the roof deck here on Avenue A between East Third Street and East Fourth Street.

Parmys Persian Fusion coming soon to First Avenue

[EVG file photo]

There's finally a tenant for the long-vacant space at 125 First Ave. between St. Mark's and Seventh Street. The plywood is up!



Matt Rosen passes along word that the storefront will be home to, as the sign shows, Parmys Persian Fusion... with kebabs and the like...



The restaurant has applied for a liquor license ... they appear on this month's CB3/SLA agenda. You can read more about the plans on the application (PDF) filed ahead of next Monday's meeting.

Most recently (in 2009), the address was home to Revitali Hookah Lounge‎ (and before that, Prana). In early 2012, there were plans here for a fish and meat market, but the financing fell through. Oh, and there were those Starbucks rumors for this space in 2010.