Reader mailbag: Running out of hope in a moldy apartment

[Generic mold photo from the Internet]

From the EVG reader mailbag ... a rather complicated question:

I've been in my rent-stabilized apartment for about 15 years now. The first day of move-in I became immediately and seriously ill with flu-like symptoms. I was diagnosed with asthma, which I never had before.

In the first or second winter (I cannot remember) we realized that there was a serious roof leak that led directly to our bedroom ceiling. Anytime snow melted on the roof, we'd get the leak.

By 2005, it was sort of "fixed" but again, whenever the show or rains were serious, we'd get the leak.

A few years ago, while making the bed, I leaned my hand against the wall where the leak was. It collapsed into a hole about the size of a human head. I covered it immediately with duct tape, in several layers, because the smell of mold was so bad.

I've told my landlord about the problem in writing several times as well as over the phone. He refuses to fix it or even look at it. Neither he nor the super will help me.

Because I am constantly behind in rent (I've not been fully employed as an editor since 2010), I have not pursued the matter. While I'm currently making some strides in paying back rent thanks to eBay, I'm always in the hole for at least $2K...and I'm running out of stuff to sell.

I'm broke. I have no money or resources to move. I went through my 401(k) and savings paying for rent years ago. No health insurance now. No social services of any kind ... and no family to help.

What can someone like me do? I have no legal representation. I'm afraid that the expense of a gut renovation in this unit will force the rent beyond the current $1,630. I cannot afford a penny more. What I'd love would be to go to court and seek an abatement for the use of my bedroom for the past however many years and apply that money to the money owed as well as removal of the mold (or cleaning) and new sheetrock.

Currently, I'm thinking of moving the bedroom into the living room and closing off the bedroom and then calling the inspector. Is this the best solution to both solve the problem while keeping me in my home? I really have no other place to go.

So… what might be the most careful course of action to take if you need serious and potentially costly repairs (permanently fixed leak, mold removal and cleaning, new sheet rock) in a rent-stabilzed place where the leaseholder account is in arrears and you fear being evicted?

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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: What has happened to the Cooper Station Post Office? (41 comments)

Reader mailbag: Can the landlord 'drill' the lock to gain access to my apartment for simple repairs? (15 comments)

Reader mailbag: Should we receive a rent abatement for having sporadic heat and hot water?

Reader mailbag: How often does your mail get delivered?

Reader mailbag: Where can I get my Mac fixed now?

A lot of things to do in community gardens this weekend

[EVG file photo of Orchard Alley on East 4th Street]

Via the EVG inbox...

Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) is hosting its 3rd annual Harvest Arts Festival this weekend — a celebration of the arts, community gardens and Loisaida.

On Saturday, 30-plus community gardens throughout the East Village and Lower East Side are hosting performances in music, dance, poetry, comedy, spoken word, the arts, environmental workshops and teach-ins, and more.

On Sunday, the Festival gets on its feet as gardeners march together in the People's Climate March en masse.

Find all the info right here.

Cafe Mogador: Still got it?

In the "Throwback Thursday" column at Fork in the Road this week, Kevin Kessler writes about the 31-year-old Cafe Mogador at 101 St. Mark's Place.

And?

Mogador is, arguably, the truest culinary expression of what was once called a modern East Village restaurant. It's hip, laid back, and older than it seems (it opened in 1983), but it's also vibrant.

The food still works too. "The café serves ultra-reliable Mediterranean fare from breakfast through dinner."

All of which reminds me that I haven't been here in a very long time.

GG's, bringing pizza from the backyard to your table on East 5th Street

[Photo from early September via EVG reader Sal]

GG's is now in soft-open mode at 511 E. Fifth St. Goat Town owner Nick Morgenstern revamped the space here between Avenue A and Avenue B officially opens this weekend.

Eater got a sneak preview.

The menu is more relaxed than Goat Town's, with a strong emphasis on pizza, and some ingredients still coming from the backyard. Pies include the "Ev Greenery", which is topped with greens, lamb chorizo, sauce vert, grano padano, cherry tomatoes and pickled red onion. There is also a clam pie with three varieties of bivalves on it and a pie topped with morcilla and ricotta. Slices of two pies are available daily for around $4 at lunch.

Head over to Eater for shots of the interior and the menus.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Goat Town is closing to make way for a pizzeria

The transformation of Goat Town to GG's on East 5th Street

GG's announces itself on East 5th Street

Close encounters

[Via Bill the Libertarian Anarchist]

So if you were around Avenue B (below, say, East Seventh Street) late this afternoon... then you likely heard the helicopter PRETTY MUCH LAND IN YOUR LIVING ROOM...


[Via @in_vino_nyc]


[Via EVG]

We've heard various sources for the noise ... including that a crew was filming a skateboard documentary (!?) ...

Updated 9-19

A reader sent along another photo…



… and a video…

An 'East Village Eye' mini-symposium, plus back issues and T-shirts

Ugh. Sorry for the short notice on this. My fault! This free event is tonight 6-8. Via the EVG inbox...

The East Village Eye Archive, in conjunction with Printed Matter, Inc., presents the First "Officially Sanctioned" Back Issue Selloff, in which selected copies of the East Village Eye magazine will be put on sale to the public ... as well as several fabulous t-shirt designs sporting historical East Village Eye covers.

East Village Eye was a monthly magazine that produced 72 issues from 1979 through 1987, focusing on the music, art, film, words, performance and social movements of the era, much of which was being made in the neighborhood it called home. The magazine is known today for its uncanny and prescient sense of culture´s evolution and direction, fluidly moving between the street, the avant-garde and the world at large.

To mark this big selloff event, we are presenting a mini-symposium entitled “How Hip Hop Came Downtown,” covering the process in which members of New York’s media and fine art communities brought rap music, graffiti art and breakdancing from the inner-city ghettos to a wider audience that has since spread across the world. Leading this discussion will be Eye publisher/editor Leonard Abrams, scholar Yazmin Ramirez, musician and multimedia artist Michael Holman, and Fab 5 Freddy.

Find more info here. Printed Matter is at 195 Tenth Ave. between West 21st Street and West 22nd Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with Leonard Abrams, publisher of the East Village Eye

Today in photos of a possibly abandoned stuffed lion on St. Mark's Place

Between First Avenue and Second Avenue... no word just yet what the lion used to be attached to... but we're on it, at least until lunch...





Photos via EVG reader John Coakley...

The International eyeing move next door to the former South Brooklyn Pizza space

There are plans to relocate neighborhood favorite the International one storefront away on First Avenue between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

International owner Molly Fitch, who along with Shawn Dahl, reopened the bar in June 2008, said that the opportunity to move so close is too good to pass up. However, it's not a done deal just yet.

If it works out, then Molly and the International crew will have more room to work with. South Brooklyn Pizza, which closed in April, was split into two sections, the space for to-go slices and a dining room.

Molly, who also owns the Coal Yard one block to the south on First Avenue, said that she would use the space on the right for an NYC-style to-go pizzeria. The left side of the storefront would house The International. (She'd retain the warm, comfortable vibe of the current bar.)



This would be the fourth iteration of The International, which was originally on St. Mark's Place before the owner moved it to its current location at 120 1/2 First Avenue. The International closed in 2002 after the death of the partner of the original owner's son. The space sat in limbo until Molly and Shawn reopened it in 2008.

The application for a new liquor license will likely be one of the items expected before the CB3/SLA subcommittee meeting next month.

Security guards and Stop Work Orders for Icon Realty-owned East 12th Street building

Icon Realty added to their East Village portfolio with the purchase of 222 E. 12th St. for $2.545 million in late 2012.

The city approved permits to renovate some of the units in May. At that time, a neighbor told us that the building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue was now tenant-free as the gut renovations began.

Apparently that was not the case, though.

A different neighbor told us about the recent arrival of security guards at 222's front door.

The neighbor relayed the following: "I live a few doors down and asked why there was a security guard, and a tenant said that the building owner was trying to force tenants out using the construction and that the tenant had succeeded in getting the Department of Buildings to halt work. I've never seen a security guard outside a building before for this reason."

The city issued two Stop Work Orders last week.

According to one complaint (in the DOB's ALL-CAP style):

THE OWNER OF THE BUILDING LIED TO THE CITY CLAIMING THE BUILDING WAS EMPTY IN ORDER TO OBTAIN A PERMIT TO DO CONSTRUCTION ILLEGALLY. THERE ARE 7 TENANTS STILL LIVING INSIDE THE BUILDING.

And the other complaint:

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS ARE CONSTRUCTING LUXURY APTS INSTEAD OF NECESSARY REPARS., NO TENANT PROTECTION PLAN FOR ALT

Have other tips or photos about the situation here? Please send them our way via the EV Grieve email

Countdown to the People's Climate March

The People's Climate March is coming up on Sunday. (Details here, if you're interested.)

Ahead of that, the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) is hosting a variety of events in the neighborhood, including:

Tonight, 4 – 8 pm: Banner and Puppet Making for People's Climate March
@ La Plaza Community Garden, (9th St & Ave C)

Bring paints, props, and food to share as we make ecological puppets and props in our green space for the upcoming People’s Climate March and Ride.

Friday, 4 – 8 pm: Sign and Patch Making for People’s Climate March
@ Loisaida Harvest Festival; La Plaza Community Garden

Join in the festivities of the Loisaida Harvest Festival and make signs and patches for the People’s Climate March and Ride.

Saturday, noon – 2 pm: FREE Lower East Side Sustainable Community & Garden Walking Tour
@ At MoRUS

The Lower East Side has the highest concentration of community gardens and squats of any neighborhood in the country. Come explore these sustainable buildings and spaces on this one-of-a-kind, full-access walking tour.

Saturday, 6:15 pm: Presentation on the History of Grassroots Environmental Activism in New York City
@ At MoRUS

Come learn how sustainable grassroots community projects have ignited social change and policy change in NYC. Hear about different sustainable subjects, like how community bicycle activism changed the whole city to a more safe and sustainable design with bike-lanes, auto-free plazas and greenways. Hosted by the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space featuring a conversation and video screening by Wendy Brawer of Green Maps and Bill DiPaola of Time’s Up Environmental Organization.

Visit the Museum's events page for more info. MoRUS is at 155 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

Meanwhile, the Third Annual LUNGS Harvest Festival is happening this weekend... which also coincides with the march... Check out the LUNGS website here for details on events happening at various community gardens around the neighborhood. We'll have more on LUNGS later this week...

You can finally shop at 51 Astor Place!

The IBM Watson building finally has some (temporary) retail.

On Tuesday, hotelier-developer Ian Schrager unveiled the sales office and model apartment for his incoming hotel-condo tower at 215 Chrystie just below East Houston.

We haven't covered this at all so … we're looking at a 28-floor building due, maybe, winter 2016. There will be 11 residences sitting atop the 370-room hotel.



Per Curbed:

Prices start from more than $7 million for a two-bedroom, half-floor apartment, while the full-floor units on the 30th and 31st floors will be more expensive, naturally. The penthouse, which takes up the whole 32nd floor plus a roodtop deck, will be "in the twenties."

The Real Deal notes that the condo prices are poised to break a sales record for the neighborhood. No kidding.

Anyway, the sales office, on Third Avenue near East Ninth Street, has a model unit with a living room, dining room and kitchen, per Curbed. (Not sure about a bathroom. But ask anyway. Say you had a particularly bad $1 slice. It will be cool.)

Here's a rendering of one of the units…



Head over to Curbed for more details. Also, the Observer.

Please don't mind the new Avenue A pipeline

@evgrieve There's a tiny hole on Avenue A and 7th. pic.twitter.com/XAU2BlNSea

— Eden Brower (@edenbrower) September 17, 2014

Condos possibility for the coolest building on the Bowery

[Via Wikipedia Commons]

The former Amato Opera is not the only historic building on the Bowery to be heading to the condo after-life.

Those rumors from last month are true: 190 Bowery, the longtime home of photographer Jay Maisel, has been sold, the Times confirms today.

RFR Holdings bought the mysterious, 37,000-square-foot building on the corner of Bowery and Spring Street.

To the Times for quotes from RFR co-founder and principal Aby Rosen ...

“The building is in terrible shape. There’s no heat, Jay lives in just a small area of the building, another winter is coming, and it was time,” said Mr. Rosen, who spent six months cajoling Mr. Maisel into selling the home. “When you own a property for that long, and you are not a real estate professional, it takes a lot of convincing.”

Mr. Rosen, who has yet to close on the purchase and declined to reveal the price, said the building could be converted for retailing at the base with condominiums above, or possibly offices or even an art gallery.

Maisel bough the 1898 Germania Bank building in 1966 for $102,000. He and his family have lived there ever since. The price tag of the building was estimated to be at $50-plus million.

Today in 'Pardon our Appearance' signs

Outside the Standard East Village on Cooper Square ... "Pardon our appearance improvements underway" at the fire hydrant someone is painting...



Photos by EVG Fire Hydrant Correspondent Derek Berg...

Please do not cut down bendy tree just yet

That's the message on signs that appeared this morning around the doomed leaning elm (aka bendy tree) in Tompkins Square Park...



As previously reported, an arborist hired by the Parks Department found the favorite tree structurally unsound and recommended that it be cut down. However, there is a movement afoot to, at the very least, get a second opinion on the tree's health and involve the Community Board in the decision before the Park loses another tree.

Photos via Church of Stop Shopping

Previously on EV Grieve:
UGH: Bendy tree in Tompkins Square Park has been condemned

Bendy-lujah

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: Mike Schweinsburg
Occupation: Community Activist
Location: Tompkins Square Park, East Eighth Street and Avenue B
Time: 3:20 on Thursday, Sept. 11

I was born in San Francisco and raised in Buffalo, from where I escaped when I was 16. Came here to New York City. Since then, I’ve lived and worked all over this country, Europe and Africa. And every location I went to, I always came back to New York.

It was a New York interruption. When I finished with one career or endeavor then I’d come back to New York. You would think it was pursuing a career, but no. I’ve been involved in real estate, broadcasting, international shipping and trading, food supply, transportation, temporary employment services, and then I said, "Mike, what is the matter with you? Why can’t you just grab ahold of one of these things?" This was around 1995.

So I had to examine where I was at. I realized that sadly all my family was dead, so there was no one whose expectations I had to live up to. Not going to have any children, so I don’t have to amass a fortune, leave an inheritance, fund a college education or a wedding. I was really free, so I decided one day to do whatever it was I wanted to do. I realized that the only common thread to all those sort of endeavors was that one way or the other, each of them exposed me to some form of social injustice, and so I wanted to help do something about that. I wanted to help create change. I wanted to make a difference.

So then I became a full-time activist — first with the Anti-Violence Project. Now at the time I believed that all politics was bullshit and all politicians were bullshit. But I was very close with the executive director of AVP and her partner. One day she came to me and said, "Mike I’m leaving." I was crushed. Besides the work that the agency performed, she was my inspiration. So I felt kind of rudderless. "Where are you going? Why are you doing this?" She said, "Well I’m going to run for political office." I said, "I believe in you. Sure, get somebody like you in elected office and then we’ll do some shit."

That person was Chris Quinn, who became Christine Quinn and became less recognizable as the hero that she was to me. But, it did get me involved in politics.

So I was actually thrust into a district leader campaign over on the West Side for Arthur Schwartz, who was running for district leader against all the established clubs. It was a big win. Now I’m really interested in politics. So I began, and a candidate came to me named Larry Sauer, who wanted to run for City Council on the Upper West Side. I tried that. I’m not going to say I saw that one through because it was just too full of holes, but during that time Margarita Lopez approached me ... So I went to work for her. Now that got me involved in the Lower East Side, and that captured me entirely. The great thing to come out of that experience was meeting Rosie Mendez, who was chief of staff [for Margarita López]. That tied me forever more to the Lower East Side.

So I’ve been [in this neighborhood] now for about 10 years and stayed involved, well not as involved as I should be. I started to get complaints from my friends here saying, "Mike, you know, when you lived out in Queens we saw 10 times as much of you as we do now that you live here." I was working for a Brooklyn Councilwoman for eight years as her communications director and she is the only incumbent in the last cycle to have lost her election, so I was unemployed from the first of the year, but I didn’t rush into getting another job. I said, "I need to reconnect with my old community."

So that’s what I did for several months, got involved in housing justice issues with GOLES, several community things, but the thing I’m happiest with is I formed a block association for East Eighth Street from Avenues B to D and that’s going very well. We have 45 members already and we’ve only had one real general meeting. We’ve been helping with the plantings on the street and all that working with the Parks Department and the Lower East Side Ecology Center. We’re planning a big block party next year with a pet fair, bringing in the ASPCA with half a dozen of their big vehicles to give free vaccinations, spay-neutering, microchipping, behavioral and grooming advice, and bringing in all the animal care agencies.

That’s kind of the vision for next year for the block party, but we have a lot of other things to do. You know, we’ve got a couple of Croman-owned buildings on the block, so [we’re] always at war. We certainly have no objection to our more wealthy neighbors. That makes for the mix, you know. It’s been a very rewarding experience because I’ve gotten to know my neighbors through all of this, and the more I know them the more I love them. I used to have dreams of retiring in Africa, which held my heart for a long, long time after I left there. Now my sole dream is to get old and die here.

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

BSA tells Ben Shaoul to remove the illegal penthouse on East 5th Street within 60 days

The Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) has finally ordered the removal of the long-contested penthouse at 515 E. Fifth Street.

A quickie recap: The BSA had previously ruled in 2008 that landlord Ben Shaoul needed to remove the 6th and 7th floors. However, his attorneys had requested that the city grant a zoning variance to "permit the constructed enlargement, minus the penthouse, to remain" here between Avenue A and Avenue B.

According to the Tenants Association of 515 East Fifth Street, the BSA gave Shaoul 60 days to complete demolition. Upon documentation of the removal, the BSA will consider granting the various zoning variances to keep the 6th floor.

As we understand it, there are four units in total on these two floors.

Meanwhile, will Shaoul actually comply within the 60-day timeframe? (No snickering!) It only took Shaoul about three years to start the demolition process on the illegal penthouse at 514-516 E. Sixth St. The scaffolding and sidewalk shed have been at the site for 15 months. And part of the penthouse remains, according to neighbors.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] 5 years later, another BSA hearing on illegal rooftop addition at 515 E. Fifth St.

Protest at 515 E. Fifth St. this morning, site of Ben Shaoul's illegal addition

The disappearing illegal penthouse of 514-516 E. 6th St.

Never-ending battle wages on over additional floors at 515 E. Fifth St.

Never-ending battle over additional floors at 515 E. Fifth St. promises to keep being never-ending

CB3 not into Ben Shaoul's zoning variance for 515 E. 5th St.

Another BSA hearing on Ben Shaoul's illegal rooftop addition; plus, rent 1 of the contested units!

Angelica Kitchen is latest East Village restaurant in danger of closing

Angelica Kitchen has been serving vegetarian and health-conscious fare since 1976. Like many other restaurants, though, Angelica Kitchen is struggling in today's real-estate environment.

So the folks from Angelica have embarked on a public awareness campaign … from a site titled "Don't Let This Happen!" (the Angelica turning into a 7-Eleven, for instance):

After a couple of very difficult years including a hurricane and a debilitating winter 2013-2014, Leslie — Angelica's owner — had to make the tough decision of either closing the restaurant after almost 40 years in business or signing a new lease skyrocketing the cost of occupancy. She signed the lease in March.

Since then, Angelica Kitchen has introduced several new products (such as beer and wine!). However, it hasn't been enough. What can you do?

Dine often with friends and family at Angelica's. Get takeout. Give Gift Certificates. Recommend us. Share our posts on social media, like us on Facebook. The fact is, we need your financial help and we're not messing around here. Keeping Angelica's doors open is not something we can do without you!

And upcoming…

We will be holding "Kitchen Table Talks" in the coming weeks to discuss Angelica's situation and what is needed to prevent the non-stop proliferation of chain stores and banks in the East Village. Please come to our first "Talk" Sunday Sept. 21, 4:30 PM; appetizers and beverages will be served.

Angelica Kitchen is located at 300 E. 12th St. near Second Avenue.

Amato Opera looks to be getting an encore as city OKs residential use

[EVG file photo]

On the Bowery, the historic Amato Opera building has sat vacant since the company closed on May 31, 2009.

In January 2009, Anthony Amato, the company's 88-year-old founder, announced that he had sold the building that the Opera had called home since 1964. (Amato died in December 2011.)

In recent years, new landlord Steve Croman had applied to convert the theater at 319 Bowery between East First Street and East Second Street into a commercial and residential building. Now according to DOB records, the city approved the plans on Monday. Plans show three residential units above the ground-floor retail space, which is still on the market.


[Rendering for 319 Bowery via RKF]

Plans originally called for a penthouse here... though we didn't see any mention of that in the approved permits.



BoweryBoogie got a look inside the decaying Amato Opera back in June 2013. (Check out those photos here.) The building was later hit with a Stop Work Order.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Life after the Amato Opera

Costume drama on the Bowery as the Amato Opera empties out

Ruin of the Bowery nearly complete: Last season for the Amato Opera

Earlier today in the rain on 1st Avenue

At East Third Street.

Helpful message from the NYPD?

Photos via Derek Berg