That's apparently it for Exchange Alley; is 424 E. 9th St. a doomed restaurant location?

Last Monday, we noted that Exchange Alley on East Ninth Street had not been open for the past week or so. Everything was still in place inside. It looked like a working restaurant.

In recent days, we noticed that the space had been cleared out … and paper is now hanging in the front windows. The phone is no longer in service either.

Perhaps we can say that this is a jinxed/doomed location for a restaurant? Exchange Alley, which opened in August 2012, was the latest to give this space a try between Avenue A and First Avenue … where Olivia, Sintir and Zi' Pep all closed in fairly quick succession.

As Eater put it, "Exchange Alley opened to some decent buzz, but most of the big critics skipped the restaurant, and the hype quickly died down."

Huertas officially opens this week on First Avenue

We've been watching the progress over at 107 First Ave. between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street, where Huertas, a restaurant featuring "the cuisine of Northern Spain," is set to debut.

Fork in the Road reports that chef-owner Jonah Miller will officially open the doors tomorrow evening (they've been in soft-open mode since last Tuesday).

Here's more about Miller, who started working in restaurants in the city at age 14, via FITR:

Miller's inspiration comes from a variety of experiences. "When I was coming up, it was a time when Spain was influencing cooking throughout the world," he says. "That and the fact that Spanish was spoken in kitchens made me want to study abroad in Spain in college. When I was there, I realized the experience of eating in Madrid is not really available in New York."

So he built it, giving an East Village space a revamp to make it feel old — "We want people to feel like they've been here before," he explains …

This address was previously home to L'asso EV, the pizzeria that closed in July 2013.

Here's is the restaurant's website with more info and menus and stuff.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Huertas, opening this spring on First Avenue

Twist-ing the night away, though it's no longer self-serve

Several readers pointed out that Twist was open for business this past weekend on Avenue A… Some folks put the place up for dead, as the fro-yo shop between East Fifth Street and East Fourth Street had not been open much during the past 3-4 months…

But! It is open… with a new look … and the the place is no longer self-serve. Someone will serve it for you. (Gelato is also on the menu.)

Twist opened last September.

Meanwhile, unlike Twist, Twister on Second Avenue is officially closed.

Easter Sunday

Well, while walking toward East River Park late this afternoon… we spotted this scene on Avenue C … a woman pushing a fake Xmas tree… We have nothing to prove that this actually happened today and not, say, Dec. 28. (Though it was likely snowing then!) Maybe take our word for it?

Via the EVG Twitter account

[Updated] Easter at the makeshift altar on East 12th Street

A look today at the makeshift altar on the East 12th Street plywood …



… where Mary Help of Christians once stood…



Developer Douglas Steiner awaits city approval for his retail-residential complex at the now-empty lot.

Photos by EVG reader Alta Tseng.

Updated 8:13 p.m.



UGH. EVG reader Amy L. Anderson shared these photos from about 4:30 … someone destroyed the makeshift altar. Happy Easter!



Updated 9:11 p.m.

Alta just let us know that someone made an effort to put the altar back together…





Previously on EV Grieve:
New residential complex at former Mary Help of Christians lot may include rooftop swimming pool

Meet your new neighbor on Avenue A

Makeshift altar arrives at former Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church

Week in Grieview

[Shoot for Calvin Klein sunglasses on East 7th St. Friday via Derek Berg]

NYPD looking for this attempted rape suspect (Tuesday)

Behind the postponement of the Howl! Festival (Friday)

Kushner and friends want to destroy this building's garden, tenants say (Tuesday)

Yoo's Convenience Store is closing on Second Avenue (Monday)

Take a look at the all-new plans for 75 First Ave. (Friday)

Hey, it snowed! (Wednesday)

AlphaBet Cafe has closed (Friday)

Speculating about the future of the Tifereth Israel Town and Village Synagogue (Thursday)

Citi Bike continues to inspire (Tuesday)

Portico repair underway at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery (Thursday)

Sign campaign to end the noise on this rooftop (Monday)

OddFellows bringing ice cream to East Fourth Street (Tuesday)

The Russ & Daughters Cafe is shaping up (Wednesday)

Insomnia Cookies coming to the East Village (Wednesday)

At the memorial for d.b.a. co-founder Dennis Zentek (Wednesday)

The July 4 fireworks returning to the East River (Monday)

Exchange Alley has apparently closed (Monday)

Virage remains closed for renovations (Wednesday)

James Spader alert (Wednesday)

Lunar eclipse! (Tuesday)

Speaking of moons… from East 11th Street Thursday evening via Grant Shaffer…

[Updated] Today in maybe-strange things hovering in the sky

EVG Roving Photographer Bobby Williams happened to have his camera pointed down Tribeca way… when THIS appeared…



Non-plausible theories welcome.

Updated 2:37 p.m.

Thanks to the several readers who sent along this alert from the NYPD…

A private architecture firm will conduct height surveys of buildings in Manhattan today, Sunday, April 20th, and tomorrow, Monday, April 21st. The architectural height surveys will consist of a large balloon aloft approximately 800 feet today from 11 a.m. until 8:15 p.m. in the vicinity of Chrystie and Stanton Streets, and tomorrow from 7 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. in the vicinity of East 58th Street and Sutton Place.

[Updated] Easter at St. Brigid-St. Emeric

On Friday, workers installed a new sign for St. Brigid-St. Emeric …

Meanwhile, the cross that the church put out here on the corner of Avenue B and East Eighth Street two weeks ago made it through this holy season without being tagged, stolen, etc.



A reader seriously asked us if the plastic casing was bulletproof. We really have no way of checking that.

Updated 10:30 a.m.

Jesus is now inside the plastic casing.

NBA action on Avenue A

[Photo via @fashionbyhe]

Several EVG readers noted that someone was projecting some NBA games/highlights this evening on the side of 220 Avenue A near East 14th Street….

Not the first time that we've seen some NBA action along Avenue A…

Min's Market is closing today

[Photo via @TheWeeklyNabe]

Last call today for Min's Market on the southeast corner of Clinton Street and East Houston. Not surprisingly, a rent hike is to blame for this ouster.

Meanwhile, stuff is mostly on sale…



H/T Mike Brown/@Lot71

Record Store Day is underway

Here's the scene on East Fourth Street outside Other Music… where the line went around the corner on Lafayette … the store opened at 10.

Photo via Vinny and O …

More details on the Day here.

Good Friday on Avenue C

Photos by Bobby Williams

Hey, it's Record Store Day tomorrow

As the headline says, Hey, it's Record Store Day tomorrow.

Here's a list of the special releases/limited editions that will be available (for a price) at participating venues. (Who's going for the Ray Parker Jr. 30th anniversary "Ghostbusters" theme vinyl?)

Among the local record stores taking part…

Kim's, opens at 8 a.m. — details here

Other Music, opens at 10 a.m. — details here

Turntable Lab, opens at 10 a.m. — details here

And at Academy on East 12th Street …

Academy Records East Village store opening 10am for @recordstoreday ! We have tons of RSD merch as well as a killer selection of used recs!!

— Academy Records NYC (@AcademyRecords) April 17, 2014

Find the list of all the local venues here.

As always, we enjoy supporting local record stores year-round…Good Records NYC ... A-1 Records ... Sounds ... Rainbow Music...

This is the 'End'

The Jesus and Mary Chain and "The Living End" from 1985.

That pre-Easter rush

[Photo by William Klayman]

Wow. Here's the line early this afternoon for East Village Meat Market on Second Avenue... where everyone is stocking up for Easter...

The Times featured the shop in the City Room yesterday...

The weeks before Easter are now the market’s busiest time of year, as this vestige of the old community continues to draw customers, many who once lived nearby, or who worshiped at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church. Long departed from the neighborhood, they, or their families, now travel hours to shop for holiday fare they say is difficult to find elsewhere.

The Tompkins Square Greenmarket is open tomorrow (but not Sunday) for the holiday weekend

From the EVG inbox...

The Tompkins Square Greenmarket will be CLOSED Sunday April 20th, and OPEN tomorrow, Saturday April 19th.

As of now, attending farms will be:

• Stannard Farm

• Meredith's Bread

• Rogowski Farm

• Red Jacket Orchards

Food Scrap Collection 8-1

Textile Recycling 8-4

Noted

[Image via NYU Local]

The former home of Bleecker Street Records, forced to relocate after a rent hike to $27,000, will next become a Starbucks. (Grub Street)

Making up for not getting the Bleecker Bob's space, perhaps?

A checkup for the Bendy Tree of Tompkins Square Park

Workers today are tending to the Bendy Tree, the elm next to the the Hare Krishna Tree in the center of Tompkins Square Park ... workers are giving the tree an MRI (???) to check for decay, etc.

Hope that Bendy is OK — it's probably our most favorite tree in the Park.

Hey, you darn kids! Get out of the tree!


[Photo the other day via Bobby Williams]

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Disguises might help. Photo by Derek Berg]

Controversy as Steve Cannon leaves his longtime home at A Gathering of the Tribes (The New York Times)

Mamoun's raises price of their falafel sandwich from $3 to $3.50, Internet reacts (Gothamist)

The Easter rush at the East Village Meat Market (The New York Times)

Checking in on the hawks of Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)

Listen to R. Crumb and The East River String Band in the Soundcheck studio ... segment airs tonight at 9...



A look at "The Real Estate Show Was Then: 1980" (The New York Times)

Permits OK'd for the 7,895th new LES hotel, Ian Schrager's Public Hotel (BoweryBoogie)

Report: Cycling makes city streets safer (The Washington Post)

Long-stalled First Avenue site now has a brand-new rendering

[Image via Google circa Jan. 2013]

The long-dormant site on First Avenue adjacent to your favorite Rite Aid on East Fifth Street is back from the dead… After years of stops and starts and various renderings, plans are now in place for an 8-story development that will look something like…



New York Yimby got the first look at the plans yesterday. Per their report:

Permits indicate the development will span 34,055 square feet, with the bulk of the project dedicated to residential use. 8,456 square feet will be given to ground-floor retail, while the remaining 25,599 square feet will be divided between 27 units. 75 First Avenue will stand 80 feet in total.

NYY points out that the site's developer is Orange Management, and the project's designers are HTO Architects and NO Architecture, who provide this eye-rolly description on their website:

The facade responds to the contradictory fire codes for the building envelope. The east façade can freely open up, maximizing natural daylight. The glass on the north facade is a gradient of glazing apertures, each floor changing the percentage of opening from low to high corresponding to more sought-after views above and more stringent fire ratings below. The roof HVAC bulkheads are clad in a metal lattice framework for a vertical garden, adding desirable lushness and evaporative cooling to the roof deck.

Plans here have evolved through the years with various developers and architects. A rendering from 2007 showed a 14-floor development looking something like... (pre the the 2008 rezoning) ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Developer: A shorter building in the works now for 75 First Avenue

High-rise for 75 First Avenue back in play