Don't be shy about frolicking in that remaining East Village snow!

Or maybe it's part of a meteorite. Either way! Enjoy! Enjoy!

Yesterday's hawk in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Bobby Williams

It's 'Alright' now

Pussy Galore with "Alright" from 1987... and this video cuts off the last 14 seconds. It ends how it begins. Loudly.

10 questions for 2014

Hey, it's still early in 2014. And there are many storylines to monitor in the coming year in the East Village. Here are 10 of them.

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• Will 51 Astor Place be fully leased by the end of this month?

That's what developer Edward Minskoff told The Commercial Observer on Dec. 13. "By January 30 we’ll be 100 percent leased there, and that's all I'll say." Off to a fine start with the announced arrival yesterday of IBM's Watson. (Bonus question: Will Twitter be one of those new tenants? Bonus question No. 2: Who will fill those retail spaces?)

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• What will happen with the former Amato Opera building on the Bowery?

The Amato Opera building has sat vacant since the company closed on May 31, 2009. A retail listing arrived for the ground-floor space about 17 months ago.

Current owner Steve Croman has plans to turn the circa-1899 structure into luxury residences, with the addition of a penthouse. However, the city hasn't approved those plans ... and there's still a Stop Work Order on the space dating to June.

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• Will Extra Place becoming a dining destination?

It's question we've asked a lot these past few years... the former alley behind the former CBGB is currently restaurant-free after a few closures and Oaxaca Taqueria moving to East Seventh Street.

However, restaurants are on the way... including Red Hook Lobster Pound and a Momofuku outpost. "Left Bank" promise fulfilled seven years later?

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• What will become of the Salvation Army's former East Village Residence?

The shelter closed here at the Bowery and East Third Street in August 2008. After a few false starts, there are now plans with the city to demolish the interior of the 3-story building, though there's no word on what's next here from the privately held real estate firm who owns the space.

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• Where will the St. Mark's Bookshop move?

In November, Publishers Weekly reported that St. Mark's Bookshop had found a new retail space "in the East Village in a space near Avenue A and Third Street." The article didn't mention where, exactly, the rent-challenged new store will be. The owners have said that nothing has been signed yet for a new space.

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• What will take the place of the former Odessa Cafe and Bar?

Oh, kind of a personal one as a longtime fan of the Odessa. Plans for a "new American brasserie/bistro" apparently fell through here. And the deal to reopen the Odessa Cafe and Bar at 117 Avenue A never materialized … and a for rent notice arrived on Dec. 28.

The Odessa Cafe and Bar closed after service on Aug. 31. The Odessa had been in operation here since 1965.

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• Will this be the year that something actually happens at the former PS 64?

The former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street has been rotting away these past 12-plus years. Perhaps the building will be converted into dorms. Or perhaps the building would return to the community, the preferred choice among some residents and activists.

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• What will become of the soon-to-be-former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office?

This branch on East 14th Street is apparently closing in the coming months. The USPS will lease the former Duane Reade on East 14th Street near First Avenue for retail services, such as stamp sales and P.O. boxes.

The lease expires at the current location at the end of next month. The landlord reportedly told the USPS that they have other plans (residential?) for the building, which was erected in 1951.

And it appears the big clear out has already begun — Dave on 7th recently spotted these sorting tables (pictured above) stacked up on the loading zone on the East 13th Street side.

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• What East Village mainstay will close next?

We don't want to make this a sport. But Christ. The year is nine days old and we've already lost Sapparo East (and maybe Shima) as well as 7A.

... and on this note...

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• What will some developer buy in 2014 to convert to upscale housing?

So many choices! Churches! Two public libraries! A power plant! A men's shelter! A big Park in the middle of the East Village!

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This isn't meant to be any kind of exhaustive list of stories to watch... What are you keeping your eye on here in 2014? Let us know in the comments...

Reader mailbag: What can I do with my record collection?

A longtime EVG reader writes in...

"Do you know any person or place that would still be interested in records? We're moving and the records can't come with us, and we have decades of stuff ... there's little if any monetary value to some of the records, but someone somewhere may want them."

The reader figures there are at least 500 LPs (pictured above), probably "mostly 1960s & some '70s and some guitar stuff." There are also some 78s.

So… Any record stores around here still buying some vinyl?

Separately, perhaps you are interested in a few of them? The reader is happy to just give them to a good home. Here's the reader's email if you'd like to know more about the records.

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We often get reader queries ... asking for help with, say, donating clothes or books ... or finding an East Village-based caterer... If you have a question for the masses, then try the EV Grieve email...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader mailbag: Places to eat that have that old East Village vibe (45 comments)

Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time? (52 comments)

Reader mailbag: Where is a good place to get a cup of coffee in the East Village before 6 a.m.? (25 comments)

Reader mailbag: Do you have any suggestions for East Village-related holiday gifts? (22 comments)

Renovations in store for 137 Avenue C, home to the Sunburnt Cow

Several things are going on over at 137 Avenue C… just south of East Ninth Street. The building was sold last February for $2.45 million to 137 Avenue C, LLC. (The address eventually leads to Corigin, a private holding company specializing in real estate and private equity investments.)

A plan to renovate the entire building is in process, dated Wednesday, with the Department of Buildings. Per the DOB's all-cap job description: "INTERIOR RENOVATION OF FIVE STORY MIXED USE BUILDING AMENDED CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY WILL BE OBTAINED."

The DOB lists Ramy Issac, no stranger to the East Village, as the architect of record. Issac specializes in penthouse additions here, legal or otherwise. To date, there isn't any sign of an extra floor for No. 137.

Meanwhile, the ground floor is home to the Sunburnt Cow, now just a weekend-only bar. Last Sunday, the Cow didn't open. According to the Cow's Facebook page: "Unfortunately we experienced a major water leak during the night and the FDNY have shut off all water to the building. We will not be open for brunch today."



The sign on the door says closed due to building maintenance. The bar, which remains for sale, is next scheduled to be open this evening.

This building has changed hands several times in recent years… last going for $1.48 million in 2004, per public records.

Trashing Viva Herbal Pizzeria

This past Sunday, readers noticed that Viva Herbal Pizzeria, the gluten-free, vegan pizza joint at 179 Second Ave. near East 12th Street, had apparently closed.

There was some thought, though, that the space might have been damaged by a leak or some bodies came bursting through the floors.

That was not the case. On Wednesday afternoon, workers cleaned out the space, bagging up paper products and pizza boxes and dumping them around the corner on East 11th Street.

Viva's #1 Customer spotted these, and was not pleased.





"Fitting that the movie 'All Is Lost' is playing next door at the Village East Cinema," Viva's #1 Customer told us.

Karen Loew, who works nearby at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, also spotted the workers emptying the contents of the former pizzeria.



The fellows cleaning out the space, who didn't work for the former or future tenant, said they thought that another pizzeria will replace Viva (makes sense) ... and that Viva was moving to a new location (doesn't quite make sense, given that the workers trashed perfectly good supplies).

In any event, a for lease sign is now up in the former Viva window. The space had been on the market since last August.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Viva Herbal Pizzeria has closed on Second Avenue

East Village-based Liquiteria taking over the Gray's Papaya space

By now you likely heard that Gray's Papaya, the beloved longtime hot-dog dispensary on Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue, abruptly closed on Wednesday, as Eater first reported.

The story quickly unfolded in the ensuing 24 hours… turns out the landlord was jacking the rent up to $50,000 a month from $30,000, per Fork in the Road.

Yesterday afternoon, East Village-based Liquiteria emerged as the new tenant for the familiar corner of Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue. Eater, who has been All. Over. This. Story. ... quoted from the chirpy Liquiteria news release: "Liquiteria's new West Village location, at the iconic corner of 8th Street and 6th Avenue, is the former location of legendary Gray's Papaya. Liquiteria is excited to create a health and wellness oasis on this vibrant corner in the dynamic West Village neighborhood."

The quickly expanding Liquiteria also announced that it would open a new location on Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street this spring. We originally heard from a Fourth Avenue tipster that the former Brothers Deli and Dryden Gallery spaces would become a Juice Generation and Pie Face.

Well, Pie Face opened in October … so perhaps Liquiteria is opening in the Dryden space… or, perhaps, in the now-vacant Blimpie location on the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street.

Liquiteria's flagship store is on Second Avenue at East 11th Street.

[Image via Eater]

Reminders: MulchFest is this weekend!

[Photo Wednesday by Bobby Williams]

Exciting times this weekend — it's the annual MulchFest tomorrow and Sunday ... our eighth or ninth favorite days of the year in Tompkins Square Park!

As a special treat this year, chef Wylie Dufresne will be on-hand to show you how to make instant pea parmesan noodles in saffron consomme with morel dust entirely from mulch.

Treecycle hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days. So, as the parks website says, bring your holiday tree "to be recycled into mulch that will nourish plantings across the city." If not you, then maybe give your neighbor's annoying teen a few bucks to drag it there for you.

Report: City tickets cars stuck in ice on East 12th Street

Yesterday, EVG regular Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C spotted this Saabsicle and several other cars frozen to the ground on East 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B… apparently the result of a crack in the street the city won't bother to repair.

Despite the predicament that these drivers found themselves in (Hi, do you have a blowtorch that I can borrow?), the city reportedly handed out parking tickets to the owners of these cars.

Per the Post:

A street leak frozen by this week’s bone-chilling “polar vortex” trapped cars parked on East 12th Street near Avenue A, where residents were forced to sit in cars or risk getting a fine [this] morning.

Some drivers were handed $65 tickets — which neighbors called just plain cold-hearted.

“I couldn’t get my car out right away and when I told them that they were like, ‘I already started writing the ticket,” said David Griffith, a 29-year-old, who works in the nightlife biz.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Saabsicle discovery this morning on East 12th Street

Today's hawk-eating-a-rat photo in Tompkins Square Park

Photo by Bobby Williams

[Updated] Someone is playing really loud music along Second Avenue (again)

[The former Virgins]

Updated a few things from the previous version...

Oh, back in October 2012, there were published reports about The Virgins practicing in frontman Donald Cumming's apartment on Second Avenue between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street. Some people didn't care for the noise.

Per DNAinfo:

"I think they are so full of themselves they keep their window open," said the resident, who declined to provide her name, at a meeting of the Ninth Precinct Community Council.

And that was that.

The band officially broke up back in November.

Now the noise complaints from the building are back ... with a band playing (previewing Cumming's upcoming solo record?), practicing (whatever!) with the windows open again ... and some neighbors aren't happy, as we've heard.

One resident said that the band started playing last night around 10:30-11 ... and continued until near 2 a.m. Ditto for Sunday evening. They didn't play for as long on Monday night — until 11 or so.

"They are so absurdly loud ... and it's really disruptive to those of us in the East Village who work 9-5 (more like 8-7) jobs," one neighbor told us today. "It's hard to sleep when the music is playing so loud."

Solutions?

"I've called 311 and the 9th precinct; 311 doesn't ever get back to me, and the 9th Precinct has hung up on my phone calls at least seven times," the resident said. "I appreciate that they're part of what makes this neighborhood great, but it's really impacting my sleep schedule — and that of my neighbor's — in a negative way."

Report: IBM's 'Jeopardy' computer and $1 billion group headed to 51 Astor Place

There are multiple reports this morning that IBM is making Watson, that smart AI computer system who kicked some "Jeopardy" ass a few years back, the centerpiece in the company's new $1 billion business unit.

And why should you care? Let's go to Forbes to tell the story!

IBM says it plans to spend over $1 billion on the new unit, which already includes over 2,000 employees, in the next several years, out of the new 51 Astor Place. Mike Rhodin will head up the group, which the company hopes will help it reach a $20 billion revenue projection for its big data and analytics services by 2015.

The announcement of the new unit and its headquarters in ‘Silicon Alley’ is for a simple reason: to find some positive momentum for IBM within CEO Ginni Rometty’s 2015 roadmap, while showing techies in New York that IBM can be cool, the company hopes.

Here's the official Watson website with more details on the company's new 51 Astor Place space.

Perhaps 51 Astor Place developer Edward Minskoff will have the joint fully leased by the end of this month after all.

And say — do artificially intelligent computer systems like tuna melts?

Updated:

Reaction from Twitter...

.@evgrieve Wait...what? I thought @KenJennings was moving in. This is completely different.

— 51 Astor Place (@51deathstar) January 9, 2014

RIP Don Holley

Don Holley, a beloved champion of the East Village, was struck and killed by a car upstate early Monday morning. He was 62.

According to WKTV-Utica, Holley, who is from the area and was in town visiting friends, was taking an early-morning walk along Route 20 in the town of Sangerfield in Oneida County when he was struck by a car. Oneida County Sheriff's Deputies said that they have not located the driver who initially hit Holley.

In the East Village, Holley was a tireless volunteer in all the schools his boys, Vance and Charlie, attended. He served as president of the Earth School Parents Association and was a familiar figure in the Tompkins Square Park playground.

"Don was an education activist. He went to umpteen school board and Parent Association meetings and was always vocal about changes that were needed in East Village schools that his boys attended," his friend Bonnie Stein told us. "Don helped plan and get things done. He was a doer not just a talker. Reliable. Smart. Fun. Serious. People loved Don. Except maybe some school board officials..."

Most recently Holley had been living in Coney Island. But his presence was still felt here.

"The community is deeply saddened by the loss of this dynamic and caring human being," said his friend Tim Schellenbaum.

There's no word just yet about a memorial service.

[Image via Facebook]

Stuff that you can't make up: More FroYo for the East Village

Hey now. EVG reader Malin passes along the above photo... sadly noting that the former New Amici Pizza space on Third Avenue at East 12th Street will become home to... Funkiberry.

MORE FROYO!

Per their website: "Funkiberry is the land of endless yogurt possibilities, where you rule the portions, the choices and the scene."

Perhaps this will make up for that Yogurt Crazy shop that never opened across Third Avenue.

There are two Funkiberry locations in Brooklyn.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village FroYo craze lives on, apparently

Quintessence mourning death of an owner; wrapping up crowdfunding campaign to save restaurant

We heard that sad news that Steve Bohen, an owner of Quintessence and the husband of co-founder Mun Chan, died Tuesday night following a short illness. He was 62.

One friend of the couple shared this about Steve: "He was dedicated to making Quintessence a success and a truly wonderful human being."

Meanwhile, Quintessence, the 13-year-old vegan restaurant on East 10th Street, is currently fighting to keep the doors open.

The owners launched an Indiegogo campaign back on Dec. 27, and are not even close to their goal by midnight tomorrow. (Sorry for the short notice — we just learned of this ourselves.)

Here is part of the appeal from the owners:

A business such as this is not a money maker, or get rich and retire operation but more of a non-profit community serving operation serving a needing market. Therefore if we do not maintain a certain level of business to generate a certain level of cash-flow we will not survive. We do not have backers or investors to float us through a low season or even a momentary lull. We need customers daily to keep things moving.

All this said winter is particularly difficult for us as patrons tend to eat more cooked/hot foods pulling their business from us and going somewhere else. I understand and realize this as each year for the past 13 years this has been the case. We have run special incentive programs during the winter months in the past and they have help us until business picks up again but it was not so easy and it was only a small part of what carried us through the winter months.

This year has been particularly tough as the economy has forced our patron to spend less at the same time as Organic and Raw Products have jump in price to an all-time high. We try our best to offer our very special foods at a reasonable price but our cost of goods sold is simply too high for any substantial profitablility. All Quintessence owners work second jobs, our employees are paid first and the rest goes to operations cost.

New Corner Magazine closed for renovations; new operator to take over

New Corner Magazine (or King's Magazine), the longtime newsstand on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue, is currently closed for renovations.



Said a distraught resident yesterday: "Workers are tearing the place apart; the guts are on the sidewalk."

We checked in with the building's landlord, who said that the space will remain a newsstand, though there will be "an upgrade in the operator and the space."

We always rather liked the old space…


[Via Yelp]

Picnic has apparently closed on Second Avenue

Picnic opened to great fanfare last September, garnering write-ups everywhere from Gothamist to Fork in the Road. (We cut-n-paste the news release here.)

The menu from chef Nicholas Nostadt, formerly of Williamsburg's Berry Park, leaned toward American comfort food. (Cheese Ball with Roquefort!) And the space was lovingly renovated.

In any event, it appears that Picnic has closed. Several readers have noted the space has been dark the past week or so. The phone kicks into a generic voice-mail greeting after a lot of rings. There's no sign on the door or mention of a closure on their Facebook page or website.

However, one person with knowledge of the restaurant, which formerly housed the Kiev one day a long time ago, said that it was closed.

The restaurant is also listed (PDF) for rent at Eastern Consolidated.

Per asking rent per the marketing flyer: "$14,354 per month with 4% increases per annum."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Storefront renovation for 117 Second Ave.; last call for Song 7.2?

A Picnic for Second Avenue

Report: Jerry Delakas receives 2 weeks to reach deal with city to operate Astor Place newsstand

Some potentially good news to pass along. The city has granted Jerry Delakas two weeks to reach an agreement with the city to continue operating the newsstand at Astor Place, Serena Soloman reports this afternoon at DNAinfo.

Per her article:

"This will give us two weeks to work things out," said Arthur Schwartz, an attorney from Advocate for Justice, which is representing Delakas. "If someone else gets in that would be a big mess."

Schwartz also filed a petition Wednesday in an ongoing effort to get the 64-year-old Delakas temporary approval to operate the newsstand — his only source of income — while the city makes its decision.

Schwartz said the fight for Delakas to be granted his own license by the Department of Consumer Affairs will be "an uphill battle," because he had been operating under the umbrella of a former owner and never had the license transferred into his name.

"He will only get his license back if the mayor intervenes," Schwartz said.

Mayor de Blasio is said to be aware of the situation with the newsstand, which Delakas has operated since 1987.

Previously on EV Grieve:
City shutters Jerry's Newsstand on Astor Place for 'operating illegally'

The story about the city shutting down Jerry's Newsstand on Astor Place actually gets worse

More about saving Jerry's Newsstand

Helping Save Jerry

Claim: Serge Becker and Josh Picard are taking over the soon-to-be-former 7A

Since our post this morning about East Village mainstay 7A closing by the end of this month... various readers/tipsters have passed along word of who is apparently taking over the space: Serge Becker and Josh Picard.

Becker and Picard are heavy nightlife/hotspot restauranteurs with names like Lafayette, Miss Lilys, the revamped Joe's Pub and The Dutch among their credits.

Here's a passage from a feature on Becker from the Times in 2011:

After three decades of designing many of downtown’s most distinctive hot spots, Mr. Becker has earned a reputation as a night life impresario whose presence assures an attractive clientele and discerning doormen. The Box is a nightclub that mixed bottle service with burlesque. La Esquina is a taco stand that propelled the speakeasy trend (there’s a “secret” Mexican restaurant underground) to absurd heights. Before that, there were the Bowery Bar, Fez, M.K. and Area. His latest project, Miss Lily’s, is a Jamaican restaurant on West Houston Street with hosts whose job often involves shepherding patrons elsewhere.

A tipster told us back in November that 7A would become a southern-themed restaurant.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Reader report: 7A will close at the end of the month