Reader report: These street lights along East Houston have been out for several years

An EVG reader tells us that there are two street lights out just west of Avenue A along East Houston and East First Street ...



According to the reader, the lights have been dark "for several years."

"I have called 311 several times and even talked to the guys who have been working on [the East Houston Reconstruction Project] for the last 600 years. They never get fixed," the resident says. "It is very dark on both Houston and First Street. I have almost stepped on little dogs since I can't see them and tripped on the horribly uneven sidewalk."



This can be a rather treacherous thoroughfare here. There's a lot going on with various traffic patterns … not to mention the construction equipment, the bus stop, the pedestrians, etc. … made all the more challenging along a darkened corridor …



As for the East Houston Reconstruction Project, the city expects the work between the Bowery and the FDR to be completed by December 2105. (Find an update here, PDF) Perhaps the lights will come back on then.

Shakespeare & Company space is for lease on Broadway

The longtime home of Shakespeare & Company is up for grabs at 716 Broadway. As we first reported on Monday, via a tipster, the store had lost its lease here between Washington Place and Waverly Place.

Our tipster said that the landlord wants a big rent hike. How big?

Massey Knakal agent Brendan Gotch told The Commercial Observer, who first reported the news of the listing yesterday, that the asking rent is now $50,000 a month. While he does not know Shakespeare's current rent, the new rate is "probably two or three times what they're paying now."

Mr. Gotch explained that while both he and the landlord are sad to see the Shakespeare & Co. go, business is business. "That part of Broadway has changed," he said. "Their lease has expired and they're staying on briefly until the landlord acquires a new tenant. The fact of the matter is that along with many bookstores, they are having trouble paying rents that were affordable 10 years ago when they signed these leases."

Our tipster mentioned that some store regulars were interested in a crowd-funding campaign. However admirable, such a campaign is likely not going to help the store stay in a space asking twice as much rent as before…

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Shakespeare & Company loses lease on Broadway

6 St. Mark's Place is for lease; NY Tofu House officially closes

[Image via Massey Knakal]

There's a new retail listing for 6 St. Mark's Place. Which means that NY Tofu House, which papered up their front windows/doors after service on Sunday, isn't actually closed for renovations.

Here are listing details from Massey Knakal:

The offering could include the Second Floor as well for a total of 7,200 SF.

New build out with vented kitchen.

Existing full liquor license

Selling lower level, with kitchen and seating

Thanks to the local student, tourist, and resident populations, thousands of people walk by the space every day.

Neighboring Tenants: 51 Astor Place, Chipotle, Pinkberry, Yoga to the People, Cooper Union, NYU

There's no mention of the rent. Tofu House opened in November 2011. In late 2010, Cafe Hanover flamed out after just five months. The asking monthly rent for the two floors then was [dun dun dun] $50,000.

Previously, before the quick succession of restaurants, No. 6 was home to Mondo Kim's ... and going back ... No. 6 was first, starting in 1913, home to the Saint Marks Russian and Turkish Baths ... which, in 1979, became the New Saint Marks Baths, the gay bathhouse (purportedly the largest one in the world) that the city eventually closed in 1985 during the AIDS epidemic.

Also, in 1914, The Modern School — "an anarchist school with Emma Goldman on the board," according to NY Songlines — had space in the building.

Food writers looking for remembrances of Princess Pamela

[Image from the East Village Eye via Ephemeral New York]

We received this email the other day:

Princess Pamela ran Princess Pamela's Little Kitchen on East 10th Street starting in the 1960s, and later in the less-glorious years, Princess Pamela's Southern Touch over on 1st. During the heyday Dizzy Gillespie was going. Miss Pamela wore a red wig, was known to sing and host bizarro salons, and let you in only after chatting you up at the door and approving of your entry into the fold. I have been completely captivated by this lady and surely its a story worth telling — at this juncture though we are not even sure what became of Pamela.

The request comes from an assistant working with Charleston, S.C. and New York-based food writers Matt and Ted Lee, who often freelance for Travel + Leisure, Bon Appetit and The New York Times. They have their own recollections of Princess Pamela that they'd like to build on. "As Pamela is famously elusive, they are casting a wide net trying to find any definitive details."

You may email the writers here.

Here's one remembrance from blogger Mangozeen:

Princess Pamela had a well-deserved reputation for orneriness. After ringing the buzzer, she checked you out and a woman in a white nurse's dress came to get you and walk you up to the restaurant that looked like it had been a railroad apartment. On a good night Pamela would drunkenly sing along with the jazz quartet. Their shining glory was a prominently displayed picture of Jackie Kennedy. I lived across the street. My hillbilly girlfriend and I went a few times. Once we climbed the stairs. Princess Pamela took a look at us she said, "We're full." I peeked inside. There wasn't a soul in the room, but she said, "Come back tomorrow." And we did.

Gruppo owner opening Mezcla on Second Avenue and East 19th Street

A little out of our usual coverage zone… but we wanted to mention this… We had been to Capucine's Restaurant with its tuxedo-clad waiters on Second Avenue and East 19th Street a few times through the years… A rent hike helped shutter the place after 33 years in business on April 1, 2013, as Jeremiah Moss reported.

While walking by 327 Second Ave. the other day, we spotted the signage for what's coming next…



Mezcla will serve Latin and Spanish food here … with a soft opening expected on Monday, according to DNAinfo.



Owner Antonio Gomez, a Lower East Side resident, operates Posto across Second Avenue at No. 310 … (he also owns Gruppo on Avenue B).

Per DNA:

Gomez plans to source most of Mezcla's ingredients — including eggs, pork and rabbit — from his own farm upstate.

Gomez has already begun growing tomatoes and basil on his farm to use at his Manhattan pizzerias — in addition to Posto, he also owns Gruppo, Vezzo, Spunto and Tappo — but he soon plans to dedicate the entire 92-acre farm for ingredients to use at Mezcla, he said. Changes include expanding egg production from 100 per week to about 1,000, he said.

High times! CBGB to sell 'gourmet cannabis edibles'

Just noting a Help Wanted ad that Gothamist spotted at Eater:

Recipe Consultant , CBGB, New York

CBGB is globally recognized as the birthplace of punk & new music. One natural expansion is into world of high-end, gourmet cannabis edibles. From the Bowery & Berlin to Red Rocks and The Gorge Amphitheatre; CBGB is a trusted curator for new experiences. This includes the exciting world of hand made cannabis treats.

We have developed a full line of edibles that will soon be available in 20 states but we need you to fine tune the recipes as we strive to set a new industry standard for quality, taste and originality.

Do you have the punk spirit? Can you speak well on camera and in the press? We want to hear from you!

The ad is dated March 25.

[Updated] The Marshal seizes Luca Bar on St. Mark's Place

Several readers pointed out this notice, dated Monday, on the bar-restaurant at 119 St. Mark's Place. There isn't any mention of a closure at this time at the Luca Bar Facebook page. Calls to the bar are directed to an automated voice-message system.

This isn't the first time that the Luca Bar has had a run-in with the Marshal/landlord/State of New York. There was an eviction notice served last June.

In June 2011, the Marshal seized the bar as well. According to The Local , the owners owed state tax officials $31,385.49, not including interest and penalties; that the bar has six open warrants for unpaid taxes dating to November 2009.

They always seem to be able to bounce back.

The folks behind Luca Bar recently opened the Roost on Avenue B.

Updated 4/11
Luca Bar is back open for business.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Spotted on 2nd Avenue and East 4th Street by Derek Berg]

A last look at Rizzoli Bookstore, destined for the wrecking ball (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

3 people injured in fire on Grand Street (DNAinfo)

Café Rakka on St. Mark's Place a "cheap eats" destination (Eater)

A new look for Kelly's on Avenue A (BoweryBoogie)

First signs of demolition on Grand Street ahead of the Essex Crossing project (The Lo-Down)

An update on the Washington Square Park redesign (Washington Square Park Blog)

J&R closes for major revamp (Curbed)

… and two upcoming events to note at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space at 155 Avenue C…

• Friday, April 11: “Technologies of Friendship in the Urban Space,” Discussion and Video Presentation, 7 PM

MoRUS is pleased to welcome visiting activist and sociologist Dr. Syd Krochmalny to present a unique, video-documented study of reclaimed urban space through peaceful and creative activism in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The viewing and discussion will be followed by a Q&A with Dr. Krochmalny and a reception. Details here.

• Saturday, April 12: “Rent Rebels: Resistance Against the Sellout of a City,” Film screening with two showtimes, 6 PM and 9 PM

Berlin has changed a lot in the last years. Flats that once were unattractive are now being used as secure investment objects. Massive rent increases and the transformation into owner-occupied flats make affordable housing a rare good. The recent tenant protests are a reaction to this city transformation disregarding the lives of its inhabitants. The movie is a kaleidoscope of the tenants’ struggles in Berlin against their displacement.

A Gathering of Tribes 'faces the end of its time'

Efforts to save A Gathering of Tribes have not been successful.

Steve Cannon, the blind poet who founded Tribes in 1991, sent out an appeal in early March looking for a donor to buy the building that the arts and cultural organization has called home at 285 E. Third St. between Avenues C and D.

On Monday, the following notice went out in its newsletter:

In case you haven't been informed — Tribes faces the end of its time. Steve Cannon will be moving out on April 15 to a new apartment just around the corner.

Although, Tribes shows, poetry reading, open mics, etc., will not continue. We will still have our website, reviews, literary journal and fly by night press for publishing books.

Cannon confirmed the news in an email yesterday afternoon. "Yes, unfortunately this is it for Tribes."

Cannon and Tribes have been locked in a lengthy battle with building owner Lorraine Zhang now for the past three years, including various court appearances and eviction notices.

He bought the building in 1970 for $35,000. As The Villager reported on March 20, "Cannon fell into debt trying to sustain Tribes and maintain the dilapidated building. … Frustrated with trying to play landlord as a blind man, Cannon sold the building to Zhang in 2004, with an agreement that he be able to continue living there, and holding 'non-for-profit' [sic] arts activities in his apartment and the back garden for another 10 years."

Zhang purchased the building from Cannon for $950,000. She is currently asking $3.35 million.

Despite the closure, Cannon promises to be a high-profile figure in the weeks and months ahead. There's a benefit in his honor on April 23 at The Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Cannon will also be 2014's poet laureate of the Lower East Side during the Howl! Festival.


[Cannon via Facebook]

Previously on EV Grieve:
A Gathering of Tribes faces an uncertain future on East Third Street

Facing eviction, A Gathering of Tribes looks for a donor to purchase its East 3rd Street home

Where's the listing for Walter De Maria's $25 million home-studio on East 6th Street?

The longtime home-studio of the late Walter De Maria hit the market this past Feb. 19. The asking price for the building: $25 million.

On Tuesday, we noticed that the listing was "no longer available" on Streeteasy …



We wondered if someone, perhaps, has the property, which also includes the empty lot next door at 419 E. Sixth St., in contract. Or maybe there's a price chop in the works. Hard to say!

A rep for Cushman & Wakefield, who listed the address, did not respond to an email about the status of property.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. De Maria, who died last summer at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Biomed Drugs & Surgical Supply Co. closing on 3rd Avenue

The going-out-of-business sale continues at Biomed Drugs & Surgical Supply Co. at 50 Third Ave. near East 10th Street…



Not sure of the reason behind the closure… (and we're not even sure if we've ever been inside the drug store…)

The listing for the space doesn't appear online just yet at the EVO Group website.

Wicked Wolfe BBQ arrives on East 14th Street

Any EVG reader was surprised yesterday to see $1 pizza back at the former $1 slice joint Joey Pepperoni on East 14th Street…



Turns out there are new proprietors for the space just west of Second Avenue… Wicked Wolfe BBQ will sell BBQ (duh), sandwiches and pizza…



They aren't officially open yet … only for pizza. An employee said that they just installed the smoker, and were still working on it… they'll also be moving the Snapple machine off the sidewalk…

629 E. 5th St. arrives on the market for $12.5 million

There's a new listing for 629 E. Fifth St., a building on the north side of the cul-de-sac between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Per Massey Knakal:

The building consists of approximately 18,550+/- gross square feet. There are 24 residential units, all of which are Free Market. Of the 24 apartments, 13 are month-to-month, 6 expire at the end of April, 3 are currently vacant and 2 expire between May and July. The rents are performing at less than 75% of market and considering the building is fully deregulated, an investor could quickly bring the units up to market rents as the leases expire. Therefore, a gross annual income of around $930,000 could be achieved in a relatively short period.

And that price: $12.5 million.

Report: Plans for new residential complex on Clinton Street include 37 residences

[Photo of current 50-62 Clinton St. via BoweryBoogie]

Developer Icon Realty filed plans yesterday for the new retail-residential complex coming to 50-62 Clinton St.

According to New York Yimby, architect Ramy Isaac's building will total 37,868 square feet — good for 37 residences. Plans also call for 1,836 square feet of commercial space.



Despite the plans, one remaining tenant, Wylie Dufresne's wd~50, appears to be staying put. When asked about it last week, he told Grub Street, "We're fine. We're not going anywhere! Don't worry."

BoweryBoogie first reported this impending new construction between Stanton and Rivington back in January.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] The future of 50-62 Clinton St will look something like this

Bubblicioius

Photo in Tompkins Square Park today by Bobby Williams

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[An EVG reader sends in this photo of the former Mary Help of Christians property]

Pearl Paint closing on Canal Street? (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

After just 5 months in business, Paulaner Brauhaus closes for 'refurbishment' on the Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

Last chance to see Charles Schick and Regina Bartkoff in "The Two-Character Play" at Bullet Space (292 Theatre)

About the first-ever Lower East Side photo walk (The Lo-Down)

Expect a massive Chik-fil-A invasion (Eater)

Who was Louis Zuflacht at 154 Stanton St.? (Lost City)

A short history of New York City's various Titanic memorials (The Bowery Boys)

Jim Knipfel's 30 must-see punk rock movies (Den of Geek!)

... and EVG contributor Michael Sean Edwards has some work up at 9th Street Espresso on East 10th Street...

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: Jon Gerstad
Occupation: Contractor
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: 2 pm on Friday, March 21.

I’m from Midtown but I went to school on 11th Street and 2nd Avenue. I moved down here in 1987. Music and art attracted me to the neighborhood and I was working around here and all my friends were here, so it was natural.

I’m a contractor. I was working for a lot of landlords doing repairs and maintenance, plumbing and plastering, electrical, boilers and all of that. Being that I was working for landlords, the budget was never quite what I wished but it was work that I was proud of.

I was also in a rock band — several, actually. From that period of time, my favorite was the Fabulous Barbatones, with James Romberger. I played drums. Because I was working for landlords, I was able to rent places cheap, so I was able to get a basement on 3rd Street on the Hells’ Angels block and I built a recording studio.

I worked with a lot of bands and played a lot of places. It was always really convenient. If we had a gig at CBGB we wouldn’t have to get the man with the van, we’d just bring up the trap case on wheels, load stuff on it and wheel it around the corner. East 3rd Street was the safest block in the whole neighborhood and it still is. Right next to the 9th Precinct on 5th Street, somebody was going to steal the front wheel off your bicycle or take your seat. They’d strip your bike right outside of the police precinct but that would never happen on 3rd Street.

At the time there was a lot of drug dealing in the neighborhood and there was always the abandoned, stolen car out there up on blocks, and we’d use it as a dumpster. If you were doing renovations, you’d have to find someplace to dump your plaster and we’d just put it in the back of those stolen cars.

In 1983, I had this opportunity to rent a storefront for $250 a month. I had been thinking about it for awhile, so I started an art gallery. Since all my friends were artists, I thought it would be cool. I did a little art too and I went to art school, but nothing much. I felt that my friends, because they were really applying themselves much more than I was, were doing better work than I was. The first gallery was called Nolo Contendere and then a year and a half later I broke up with my partner, so I decided to use a name that nobody could take from me — my own. So I started the Jon Gerstad Gallery.

It was very vibrant when we first started. There was great artwork going on down here. People uptown and in SoHo had no idea what we were doing here. They couldn’t fathom it. Now easily a dozen of those artists, both dead and still alive, are famous. Maybe 20 galleries or 25 galleries moved to SoHo if they had the money, and you could get a sizeable loft in SoHo for like $2,500 or $3,000 a month, but that was never in my budget.

The gallery was open for five years, till ’87, until Michael Musto said on the front page of The Village Voice, ‘Downtown is Dead.’ I was one of the first six to open and one of the last six to close. It ran its course. It got the point where housewives from New Jersey would rent storefronts to show their friends’ bad art, which had nothing to do with the East Village. The scene just got overly diluted.

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

And then there were 3

[Photo by Francois Portmann]

The hawk couple (Christo and Dora for now) of Tompkins Square Park now have three eggs in the nest on the 7th floor of the Christodora House... Goggla, who has been monitoring the activity here, figures that we could see some baby birds in the first couple of weeks of May.

Find more nest cam shots from Francois right here.

If you are new to this story, then please go visit Gog in NYC ... here … and here … and here for more background.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Red-tailed hawks nest on the Christodora House

The hawks of Tompkins Square Park have laid an egg at the Christodora House

More eggsciting hawk news from the Christodora House

Construction watch: Alphabet Plaza

We walked by Alphabet Plaza, the 12-story mixed-used apartment building going up at East Houston and Avenue D, the other day (Saturday!) ...



and noticed a few more new developments... such as the emergence of the parking garage...



There is a curb cut...



In total, there will be 135 units here, 30 of them affordable (the deadline to apply was Feb. 18).



Other building amenities include 24-hour doorman, valet services (laundry drop-off and pick-up), fitness center, residents lounge, landscaped roof decks with BBQ area and bike storage.

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

Easy as...: Alphabet Plaza makes first appearance above ground

Here are details on applying for one of the 30 affordable units in Alphabet Plaza

The Marshal seizes This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef space, which is now for rent

That's it for This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef. The Marshal came calling yesterday, taking possession of the four-plus-year-old restaurant known for mixing beef and Cheese Whiz at 149 First Ave.

There's also a for rent sign in the front window.





The saga here began on March 12 when the city closed the sandwich shop, run by the team behind Artichoke Basille, "for operating without a permit."

A handwritten note appeared a few days later explaining that the restaurant "forgot to renew" its permit. The note mentioned that they would reopen.

To date on this two-block span of First Avenue, we're now down two quick-serve sandwich places. JoeDough closed at 135 First Ave. in February. The proprietors plan to use the space for their catering operation. At the same time, though, Schnitz has opened at East 11th Street.

Previously.