Anton van Dalen's pigeons, connecting us back to nature above Avenue A

[Photo from January 2012 by Shawn Chittle]

In case that you haven't seen this... Serena Solomon at DNAinfo has a nice feature today on longtime East Village artist Anton van Dalen and his flock of snow-white pigeons that are a common site in the skies above Avenue A between East 10th Street and East 11th Street.

"The flying is spectacular, and of course it connects you back to nature in a way that many of us in the city don't have," said van Dalen, who moved across the Atlantic from Holland as a young boy, following World War II.

Van Dalen, who has always felt a deep connection to his birds, took up pigeon keeping after learning it from his father and his brothers when they lived in Holland.

Check out the video here too. Find Anton's art here.

Jerry's Artarama taking over former Utrecht Art Supplies space on Fourth Avenue

[August 2012]

After 30 years at this location, Utrecht Art Supplies moved away from 111 Fourth Ave. last year... during the summer of 2012 Utrecht had moved into a new store on East 13th Street between University and Fifth Avenue.

The space between East 11th Street and East 12th Street had been on the market... and now there's a new tenant: Jerry's Artarama. The 15-store art-supply chain, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., has signed a 10-year lease for 4,452 square feet of ground floor space. Asking rent for the deal was $125 per square foot, per a release announcing the deal.

Jerry's is expected to open in early December.

Today in photos of Louis C.K. on First Avenue and East 6th Street

[Photo by Derek Berg]

Crews are out along East Sixth Street this morning to film scenes for the FX comedy series "Louie." BoweryBoogie noted that the the Emmy-Award winning comedian was back from hiatus and filming around parts of the Lower East Side yesterday... crews will also be filming around Avenue A/East Seventh Street tomorrow, per posted signs... (Pig Newton is the name of Louis C.K.'s production company.)

Season four is set to premiere sometime in May 2014, per BoweryBoogie. (And is this a good time to mention that I've never seen the show?)

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. James is traveling this week. East Village writer and photographer Joann Jovinelly compiled today's post.



By Joann Jovinelly

Name: Sally Young
Occupation: Mixed-Media Artist, Political Activist and Preservationist, Photographer
Location: Sixth Street and Avenue B Community Garden
Time: 10:30 AM on Friday, 9/27

I’ve been in the East Village since 1980. Although I’ve lived in different apartments, it has always been in this neighborhood. I first came to New York in the 1970s to visit from my home in Detroit. A lot of artists were coming to New York at that time, a period in which you could actually come and buy lofts for 30 to 40K.

I came here to simply be an artist and I fell in love with this city. I had had a solo show in Detroit, but when I arrived in New York, I started designing costumes for theatre and dance troupes, which I did successfully throughout the 1980s.

I first ended up on the Bowery and First Street in 1980. The Bowery was pretty crazy at that time. People [living on the street] were burning wood in barrels to stay warm, and there were a lot of bums. I had no heat or hot water in my apartment, nothing but a wood-burning stove. I collected firewood at night with my daughter who was then 3-years old. I remember walking down Bowery … also right at the corner of Houston Street and the Bowery was a place that sold live chickens.

New York was really, really edgy and very exciting at that time. There was a lot of crime. You really couldn’t turn your back on anything because it would be taken. But the bums along the Bowery never bothered you; they were just hanging out. You know, they’d set up ‘living rooms’ with couches, end tables, and table lamps even though they had no electricity … just these random living rooms on the sidewalk made from stuff that was pulled from the garbage.

In 1981, I moved to Fourth Street and Avenue B, and though a real slumlord owned the building, I sometimes had heat and hot water. My rent was higher than others who had lived there longer, but those people were getting harassed. There was one woman, Carmen, who used to go around the building slamming a baseball bat in the hallways and in the stairwells all the time, saying, ‘Mother-fucking landlord.’ People were writing graffiti all over the building’s interior walls that said, ‘Lynch the landlord; Fuck his wife.’ [One of the reasons renters were so upset was because] the owners were placing junkies in the building in order to harass the renters.

Tenants started organizing. And even though I had moved to a new apartment, I still had friends in the building, so I helped out. There were a lot of artists and older folks there at that time. I was photographing the building and keeping a record of the violations because we were going back and forth in court.

We got together one day to try to get rid of the junkies. All the tenants gathered together out front. [At that time] there were marches all over the place. Everybody was getting involved. It wasn’t the way that it is now — where people move into the building and they are paying very high rent, and there’s a very big difference between them and you.

At that time, even though we were paying more rent (maybe $300 a month) other people were paying much less, like $100. We were trying to help our neighbors who were very afraid. They were getting eviction notices and some didn’t speak English. They were being harassed. Many times I went to court to help explain things and make sure that they didn’t get ousted from their apartments. We were all trying to take care of each other.

To be continued... next week...

Joann Jovinelly is a freelance writer and photographer who still calls the East Village home.

Check out Sally's website here.

This is what it might be like living inside the Alamo on Astor Place

Per the clip that appeared Monday on YouTube:

Dave is a creative writer who lives inside the iconic Astor Place Cube in New York City. The cube's 8X8 panels add up to 64 square feet which adds up to 512 cubic feet. For Dave, who is 5'8", that is plenty of space to move around, write, cook, sleep, work out and even play guitar. Dave uses a bicycle generator to power up the lights and a handful of electronic gadgets.

Cute enough, though it's not for real... per Business Insider:

The video appears to be an elaborate advertisement for WHIL, a company that promotes meditation in the business community, started by Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson and his wife Shannon (a logo for WHIL appears at the end of the video.)

Report: Another Stop Work Order for incoming 7-Eleven on Avenue A

Early last month, the arrival of three AC units adjacent to the incoming 7-Eleven at 500 E. 11th St. (aka 170 Avenue A) prompted the city to serve a partial Stop Work Order. The units, installed an estimated 14 inches from residential windows, "shake the back of the neighboring building," according to the DOB.

Yesterday, the No 7-Eleven blog reported that the city served another Stop Work Order on the site, this time for blocking fire escapes.



As far as we know, this is the second time the site was hit with a Stop Work Order for blocking exits... on Sept. 21, 2012, the city served a Stop Work Order for "BLDG CONSTRUCTION WORK BLOCKING SECONDARY MEANS OF EXIT."

Despite the Stop Work Order, residents saw the workers continue to go about their business yesterday.

Construction of the convenience store is now in its 13th month.

Previously on EV Grieve:
3 new AC units at incoming 7-Eleven prompts Partial Stop Work Order

A Stop Work order at Avenue A's incoming 7-Eleven

7-Eleven alert: Are 2 chain stores replacing Bar on A and Angels & Kings?

Cafe Rakka closed for renovations on St. Mark's Place

The always reliable Middle Eastern spot at 81 St. Mark's Place is currently closed for renovations... (and this is an actual renovation, not code for, say, we're getting the hell out of here before the landlord figures out that we left in the dead of night ...)

The Avenue B location near East Third Street remains open for your design-your-own combo platters...



Also, Cafe Rakka is on this month's CB3/SLA agenda... paperwork on file points to a corporate name change...

The Standard East Village would like you to finish your book in one of their rooms

[EVG file photo via Paul Kostabi]

This from The Paris Review yesterday:

The Paris Review is partnering with the Standard, East Village to find a Writer-in-Residence. The idea is this: in January, a writer with a book under contract will get a room at the Standard, East Village, in downtown Manhattan, for three weeks’ uninterrupted work. Applications will be judged by the editors of The Paris Review and Standard Culture.

Ah, so the catch is that you have to have a book under contract.

As Richard Lawson put it at The Atlantic Wire:

[S]o you can't submit the Torchwood fanfic that you've been meaning to self-pub. No sir, this is only for legitimate writers. (As deemed by a small group of publishing people in New York City, anyway.)

Thoughts on this opportunity of a three-week lifetime for an author with a book deal?

E. 7th St. penthouse featured in 'architectural magazines the world over' wants $4 million

The penthouse at 128 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue hit the market this week... Guess we didn't really know just how nice it is up there...





Here's the listing from Halstead:

This East Village Penthouse, with spectacular views and an unforgettable roof terrace with 360 degree city views, is the ultimate in luxury living. Three years of painstaking renovation resulted in a remarkable home that has been featured in architectural magazines the world over, as well as in print and media campaigns for Fortune 500 companies and celebrity photo shoots.

Features include a chef's kitchen, wood-burning fireplace, laundry room, dramatic sky-lit staircase leading to a magical roof terrace, central air and top of the line lighting and fixtures. With approximately 1700 sf of interior living space and a full floor private roof deck, no detail has been overlooked in this modern loft living masterpiece.

Make this your sanctuary in the city.

Asking price: $4 million, aka the price hereabouts for "the ultimate in luxury living."

Updated: AlphaBet Cafe closed again for now [NOW BACK OPEN]

Last month, AlphaBet Cafe on East 14th Street and Avenue B had to close for "difficulties with the gas," according to a sign on the restaurant's front gate. (While that reason may be true, there was also a DOH-mandated closure — 55 violation points.)

The Cafe reopened the next week... only to close again last Friday — again via the hand of the DOH. Documents on file with the city show inspectors handed out 76 violation points ... including for the following:

• Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours.

• Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.

Yesterday, a reader spotted workers collecting their things from the space. According to one worker, AlphaBet Cafe is not going to reopen, that the owner has had enough. Calls to the restaurant go unanswered. And there isn't a note on the gate about any closure. We do hope that they return — always a good, inexpensive option here.

Updated 10/3



A reader spotted the owner here late Wednesday afternoon ... working and putting up new signs in the windows saying closed for repairs/renovations ... Perhaps a good sign for a reopening here.

Updated 10/5

The restaurant is back open. A reader just had breakfast there. A restaurant employee here did tell a local resident last week that the Cafe would not return.

Report: Zagat survey names Mighty Quinn's NYC's best new restaurant

Mighty Quinn's opened in late December over on Second Avenue and East Sixth Street ... And Ryan Sutton at Bloomberg reports this afternoon that the barbecue spot run by a former hedge funder was named New York's best new restaurant by the Zagat survey. (The survey is based on the responses of 48,114 participants.)

Never been here ourselves. Perhaps you have?

More details on the first restaurant from The Halal Guys

As we noted on Saturday, the Halal Guys are opening their first brick-and-mortar (ugh, hate that phrase) space on East 14th Street by Second Avenue... this on the heels of their food-cart expansion right out front.

Serena Solomon at DNAinfo has more details on the restaurant, which is expected to open early next month.

According to co-owner Khalid Ahmed:

He plans to work with a chef to develop new meat-free recipes that will only be served at the East 14th Street restaurant, which he said may also contain a juice bar.

Prices at the store will mirror the prices at the carts, with dishes such as chicken over rice going for $6 at all locations, Ahmed said.

In addition, he's still contemplating adding seating... or keeping it a to-go operation.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Halal Guys are now open on East 14th Street and 2nd Avenue

New sand for the Tompkins Square Park dog run

EVG regular Derek Berg passes along an update from the Tompkins Square Park dog run, which will be closed today and tomorrow so that workers can spread new sand around the place...



... per the sign up top, the large dog run will be open in the evenings ... and the small run will re-open once volunteers can spread the sand...

Updated: Lower Avenue B residents concerned over proposed new bar-restaurant

A restaurant called Brownstone Bar & Grill is on this month's CB3/SLA docket to take over the space last held by Affaire, the French bistro and lounge, which closed at 50 Avenue B last August. (Brownstone, whose CB3 application lists a menu of "Caribbean/Southern food," was originally on last month's docket ... but was a scratch.)

And Brownstone's possible arrival has sparked concerned neighbors to join forces to possibly speak out against a liquor license for the address. There are now flyers hanging in buildings and along Avenue B.

According to the flyer:

Help Stop a New Rowdy Late-night Club from Opening in Our Neighborhood!

We’ve all worked together for several years to force the closure of several late-night clubs that severely degraded the quality of life in our neighborhood. It’s been a long, hard struggle. The last one, Affaire, closed at the end of this summer. Now someone new wants to re-open a boisterous club in that location (50 Avenue B, near East 4th Street.)

We can’t let that happen! All that we’ve worked hard for and accomplished is risk!

WHAT’S BEING PROPOSED:

• The new occupant wants to operate a club for up to 200 people that will stay open until 2 a.m. on Mon.-Wed. nights, and until 4 a.m. on Thurs.-Sun. nights.

• The place will be known as Brownstone Bar and Grill. It plans to feature 8 video screens, play recorded music both as background and as “entertainment”, and host special events.

WHAT DOES THIS SOUND LIKE TO YOU?

Le Souk and Carne vale all over again!

WHAT’S NEXT:

Community Board 3’s SLA and DCA Licensing Committee will be considering an application by the operator for a liquor license at their next meeting – that will be our time to show up and speak out! You can read the full application here.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Show up at the CB3 Committee meeting to express your opinion and stand up together with each other – Mon. Oct. 7th at 6:30 p.m., at CB3’s offices, 59 E. 4th St. (between 2nd Ave. and the Bowery.)

• Write a letter to CB3 to express your opinion on this matter. Be sure to personalize it, and to talk about your experiences with such places as a neighborhood resident. You can send it to the office, or email it to info@cb3manhattan.org

Neighbors are meeting with Brownstone reps on Thursday night. Here are details on that:

Thursday Oct. 3 @ 7:30 p.m.

535 E. 5th Street (bet. Aves. A & B) in the ground floor Community Room

Hosted by the East 4th St. Block Association

Come meet and ask questions of the operators

Some neighbors here between Fourth Street and Third Street still shudder at the mere mention of Le Souk, which finally closed in 2009 after a lengthy battle with the SLA. (Of course, there were those various mystery parties at the space in recent years.)

Some residents fear a return to the bonkerish partygoing along here last seen in 2004-2006... a stretch that Eater dubbed "Hellmouth" back in 2006.

[Updated] East 14th St. synagogue on the market for conversion to residential, commercial use

[Image via Manhattan Sideways]

There's a new listing for 334 E. 14th St. ... current home of the Tifereth Israel Town and Village Synagogue just west of First Avenue.

The current asking price is $13,950,000.

Per the Massey Knakal listing:

Located on the south side of East 14th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, the synagogue currently has meeting room space on the ground floor, a double height sanctuary, and an extension with offices and classrooms. The third floor has an office and a classroom. This building is located on a highly visible retail corridor in the East Village. The property can be delivered vacant and would be suitable for conversion to residential or a variety of commercial uses. Ownership will entertain proposals for a Joint Venture or partial sale.

A little history of the structure, via New York Songlines:

The building was originally built in 1866 as the First German Baptist Church, designed in the Rundbogenstil by Julius Boekell. It became the Ukranian Church in 1928, when it gained two of its onion domes.

Updated 12:11 p.m.

Massey Knakal passed along this news release that addresses any possible concerns about the synagogue's future.

Many religious organizations today are finding themselves with outdated and inefficient space that no longer fits their needs. The Town & Village Synagogue (“T&V”) is one such institution who is taking affirmative steps to address their situation and improve upon their current home to propel their mission for the next generation. The synagogue’s motto is “Building Community & Commitment,” and to do so, they would like to redevelop their current space or to find a new, modern space to permit their congregation to grow, and that is easily accessible for their services and educational programs, including their award-winning Hebrew School.

Founded in 1948, the Conservative Jewish synagogue was created to serve the young men and women starting new lives after WWII in newly built Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village ... The original two story church building, which sits on a 60’ wide lot, was converted and added onto over the years. The total space now consists of 11,300 square feet consisting of a social hall on the ground floor, a double height sanctuary and an extension with offices and classrooms on the second floor.

The extension also provides for a third floor with an office and a classroom. While the building has grown in value over the years, the current layout, while offering many opportunities for a potential buyer, is no longer ideal for the synagogue. Having the sanctuary on the second floor has proved to be especially problematic for the synagogue. Although handicap accessible with a chair lift, it can sometimes take many minutes for T&V’s elderly and disabled members to enter or exit the space. The rest of the congregation also faces significant overcrowding on High Holidays and other key synagogue events. The current building organization also leads to a great deal of inefficiency and lost space needed for their various classroom and meeting space requirements.

T&V’s goal is to work with a developer to redevelop their current space or to relocate to a larger space within the neighborhood to a space with a 10,000 square foot floor plate or larger, with a ground floor presence. This type of space in the East Village is hard to come by, but the synagogue leadership has decided that unless they became proactive in their efforts they will never know if they can redevelop their space or find new space to meet their needs.

To aid them in their efforts, T&V has enlisted Massey Knakal Realty Services to market the property and solicit proposals. James P. Nelson, who is spearheading the marketing ... recommends a strategy of requesting a variety of proposals which could address the synagogue’s needs. These options include selling the property outright, or a partial sale, trade or joint venture where the property could be redeveloped with T&V maintaining its current location in a portion of the redeveloped and enlarged space.

Checking in on the work in progress at 31-33 2nd Ave., where Ben Shaoul is adding 3 new floors

[Photo from 2009 by LuciaM via Panoramio]

We first reported that developer Ben Shaoul was adding three new floors of residences at 31-33 Second Ave. back in June 2012...

Here's a quick look at the progress...



The sidewalk bridge is sporting some renderings of the final product, expected in the first quarter of 2014...





Approved plans on file with the city show that workers will remodel the existing commercial space on the ground floor ... remodel the existing apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors ... and add on top of the existing building. Each floor will contain two apartments. Based on the rendering, the original building will be stripped of all character to make it appear as if it belongs on a train set.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ben Shaoul planning a 3-story addition at 31-33 Second Ave.

Bracing for 3 new floors at 31-33 Second Ave.

Rumors: 'Top Chef' alum Jeff McInnis will help revamp former Mama's Food Shop space

Over on East Third Street at Avenue B, Heart 'N Soul came and went in just a month or so this past spring after taking over for the 15-year-old Mama's Food Shop. (Read all about that here.)

Now, a tipster tells us that "Top Chef" alum Jeff McInnis has bought into the space ... and that he and building owner (and Mama's Bar owner) Richard Freedman are in the process of revamping the restaurant and designing the new menu. The restaurant will apparently be called Root & Bone.

During the summer, McInnis reportedly parted ways with the successful Yardbird Southern Table & Bar in Miami ... He told the Miami New Times that he'd "take advantage of this down time and do some staging in a few restaurants around the country."

Upon closing in July 2012, Jeremiah Clancy, owner of Mama's Food Shop, sent a doozy of a farewell letter to various media outlets ... noting, among other things:

Avenue B is a ghost town commercially, the community nature of the neighborhood has all but vanished, and it is over-run every weekend by a generation that has no vested interest in the East Village community except to visit on the weekends.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Note outside Heart N' Soul explains that the chef had a 'nervous breakdown'

Mama's Food Shop closes after 15 years; 'the community nature of the neighborhood has all but vanished'

Campaign to protect the Village; corporate naming rights for the Washington Square Arch?

You may have seen these posters around the neighborhood in the last few days... spotted this one on Third Avenue at East 12th Street... Save Our Village launched the campaign... and they have a website...

Saveourvillage.org is a project rooted in love and respect. When you feel such a deep connection to what you love, you take responsibility for it. Responsibility leads to action.

Many of us have left our home, we are either unable to afford to live in Our Village or no longer feeling the inspiration to create. Many of us are artists in exile, awaiting the dream in belief that one day we will be able to return to our home.

We were joking that we want to form a provisional government

This project has been a return to our roots, understanding what we have been given and that it is now our responsibility to stand up and protect what we love.

The root of why we are taking a stand now is that we recognize that each of us would not be the people that we are without the magic of The Village and we want others to continue the tradition of creativity that we have received.

Only from researching the historic evolution of art and culture here, do we stand to understand the fountain of wisdom that we are so luck to be a part of.

Is it possible that the city is planning on selling the naming rights to the arch at Washington Square Park?

(Short answer: Yes!)

But we've never heard anything about this... so we checked in with someone who is far more tuned into the issues here than us — Cathryn at the Washington Square Park Blog. Her take yesterday:

We think that the above — selling naming rights to the Washington (Square) Arch — could never happen… but if this privatizing path that we’re being led on continues, is it really that improbable?

Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly films 'Shelter' in Tompkins Square Park today

Crews for the Paul Bettany-directed "Shelter" were back in Tompkins Square today... the film stars Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly in a "love story set among the homeless living on the streets of Manhattan."





... Bettany, her real-life husband, was also spotted minding one of the couple's children... (or, perhaps, just a random kid...)



Meanwhile, crews were also trimming trees in the Park today, as Dave on 7th noted...



And we forgot to ask how the film crew-tree crew battle ended up...

@evgrieve Now they cleared the grass so they can cut trees. THERE IS AN EPIC BATTLE ABOUT TO HAPPEN HERE.
— Eden Brower (@edenbrower) September 30, 2013

Film photos via Bobby Williams.

Why there were a lot of chainsaws and ropes in Tompkins Square Park today

Crews spent a good part of the day in Tompkins Square Park trimming back trees ...



... the high-wire act provided a bit of entertainment today (along with the film shoot...)





...and pieces of the leftover American elm make for nice apartment accessories, according to at least one reader...



Photos by Bobby Williams. (Except for that last one.)