Construction watch: 67 Avenue C

As previously reported, the two-story Kingdom Hall owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses at 67 Avenue C will soon yield a 7-story, 7-unit residential building.

Work started here between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street earlier this month ...



The city approved permits for 1,843 square feet of commercial space and 7,451 square feet of residential space on Aug. 1. The building will get five new levels, including "a penthouse vertical extension."

As we understand it, the Jehovah's Witnesses will continue to use the adjacent space at 63 and 65 Avenue C.

Korilla BBQ's interior will include an illustration by East Village artist Terry Galmitz

Korilla BBQ made a splash of sorts with the building-high, tiger-striped mural outside its first restaurant coming to 23 Third Ave. at St. Mark's Place.

A news release that crossed our (pretend) desk last week provided some more details on Korilla's interior, which will include an intricate illustration by East Village artist Terry Galmitz.

According to the release, "Korilla will present its street culture within the context of the illustrious history of the East Village. As a new establishment in the area, Korilla pays homage to the past, while embracing the present, and aiming to shape their surrounding landscape in a positive direction in the future."

Galmitz, 67, has lived in the East Village his entire life. And we've always really liked his work.


[Illustration by Terry Galmitz]

Korilla BBQ is expected to open in early October.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Terry Galmitz's East Village

Chop Chop Yow: CityMd signage arrives at The Jefferson

We pointed out a few weeks ago that The Jefferson's retail space at 216 E. 14th St. near Third Avenue would be home to a CityMD practice.

Anyway, just wanted to point out that the sign is up now for City MD ... "Chop Chop Yow?"

Rejected headlines:
Doctor, doctor, give me the news — I have a bad case of blogging you

Previously on EV Grieve:
Jefferson retail façade — revealed

The Mystery Lot developers using famous dead comedians to sell condos at The Jefferson

The Jefferson reveals what '21st Century living in the heart of Olde New York' costs

CityMD Urgent Care center coming to The Jefferson's retail space on East 14th Street

Bricks and glass for the incoming Cooper Square dorm

Just noting the progress at 200 E. Sixth St., the 13-floor building that will one day house students from Marymount Manhattan College.



Look, bricks! Glass!





Meanwhile, the retail space here is for lease.

Previously on EV Grieve:
City OKs 13-floor dorm for Cooper Square

Updated: Here's what the newest East Village dorm will look like

Dig bottoms out on Cooper Square; here comes the dorm, here comes the dorm!

The Bowery Mission is short on donations

Per Lisha Arino at DNAinfo today:

The Bowery Mission’s food pantry is in “urgent need” of donations, as its food supply has dwindled and demand for meals has increased, officials said.

Entire shelves at the 227 Bowery soup kitchen are completely bare and essential items like pasta, canned goods and condiments are in short supply, according to Assistant Director Matt Krivich.

People can donate pasta, rice, condiments, pasta sauce, canned vegetables, beans and other food items at the Bowery Mission, 227 Bowery, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They also need clothing. Find more info here.

The truth is out there

EVG reader Brian Polay spotted yet another variation of the guy-looking-for-a-girlfriend flyer... this one featuring FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner from "The X-Files" looking for a Dana Scully. Must love science too?

These particular flyers were spotted on East Ninth Street and Second Avenue. Actually on the street.

No, 'NYC's first bar for pregnant women' isn't opening on Avenue A

As we first noted on Thursday, signage appeared for Gestations — "NYC's first bar for pregnant women" — on the long vacant corner of Avenue A and East Fifth Street.

Seemed pretty evident that it was some kind of gag (despite the appearance of an authentic State Liquor Authority notice) complete with a Facebook and Twitter account and outgoing phone message.

The sign attracted some attention in the media…



The Post even assigned three reporters to the story…



Per the Post:

The business hasn’t applied for a liquor license or other permits for the space, said Community Board 3 leader Susan Stetzer.
“They’re saying it’s a bar, but they haven’t applied for a liquor license.

At this point it’s nothing … Maybe it’s going to be a milk bar or a juice bar,” she said.

The fake bar also attracted attention in Times Square …


[Via Facebook]

The broker for the storefront told us on Friday that the building's landlord rented the space for the sign for a month. (It's for a bar-finding app called Bartendr.) So you have about three and a half more weeks left to be amused, shocked, annoyed, disgusted, whatever, etc.

East Village Pharmacy moved from here to 41 Avenue A in early 2011.

The storefront has remained empty since then…


[Photo from Wednesday]

According to another store owner on the block, a veterinary's office will open here.

Updated: Restaurant in the works for Top A Nails storefront on Avenue A

[Image via Goggle Street View]

As we mentioned last week, CB3 has released the SLA licensing committee docket for October.

One mystery item on the agenda (to be heard Oct. 6) is a new liquor license for 137 Avenue A — currently home to Top A Nails between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

So far, there aren't many details on the CB3 website about the applicant. The application (PDF!) notes that a restaurant with a full liquor license is in the works. There isn't any mention of the names behind the project. Attorney Ravi Ivan Sharma reps the applicant. (Sharma worked for Pride and Joy BBQ as they tried to open a restaurant in the former Lucky Cheng's space on First Avenue.)

This might prove to be a challenge for the applicant — a full liquor license within a so-called saturated area in a space that previously didn't house a bar-restaurant.

At this point, we're not sure what the deal is with Top A Nails. Based on the number of people we see waiting for manicures and pedicures, this place seems to do brisk business.

Updated 10:58 a.m.

It appears that there might be a mistake on the application with the address. The folks at the salon say they aren't moving. The application might then be for No. 135 — home now to Lucy's. Ugh.

Updated 4:56 p.m.

We're still waiting for clarification on this... the CB3 schedule shows 137 Avenue A ... the application on file at the CB3 website mentions 137 Avenue A on Page 1 ... and 137 Avenue C on Page 2... the owner listed is the same as 137 Avenue C's owner... so, this appears to be a mistake. The application is very likely for 137 Avenue C then — the former home of the Sunburnt Cow...



Updated 5:08 p.m.

There was a mistake on the application — it's for 137 Avenue C, not 137 Avenue A as posted at the CB3 website. Sorry for any moments of panic.

Full reveal at the all-new 200 E. 11th St.

The exterior work appears to be complete at 200 E. 11th St., home of the rebranded Eleventh and Third. The 12-floor building went through a top-to-bottom renovation, emerging looking less like a 1970s-era dorm …





Oh, and here is a photo from Saturday after workers removed the sidewalk bridge… (the other photos are from Friday) …



Benchmark Real Estate Group paid $57 million for the building late last year.

The building on East 11th Street and Third Avenue now includes a gym, yoga studio, rooftop terrace and lobby with espresso machines. Apparently people have been indulging — Streeteasy shows five active listings, with an average price of $4,887.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Someone actually paid $57 million for this East Village building

Reimagining this 12-story East Village building, now on the market

NY Copy & Printing forced out of longtime E. 11th St. home, opening second location on E. 7th St.

Eleventh and Third indulges in some nonsensical branding

Rebranded 'Eleventh and Third' will have rentals upwards of $10k

Retail space housing The Smith and M2M asking $25.5 million on 3rd Avenue

Urban Etiquette Sign, sidewalk chalk edition

Spotted this message outside an apartment building on East Second Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...

Kamakura Coffee Shop has closed on East 5th Street

We were really sorry to see that the little coffee shop here just west of Avenue B closed last week. It was a nice, unpretentious spot with good coffee and (mostly) vegan baked goods.

The shop was named for Tom the owner's hometown in Japan. He opened up here last Sept. 30.

Au Breve Espresso remains closed for renovations

On the topic of closed coffee shops… Au Breve Espresso closed back in early August… the sign on the door pointed to a renovation.

Meanwhile, a look inside reveals an empty space… making it appear that this is more of a "closed for renovation" ...





Au Breve's website is no longer active. Au Breve opened in November 2011.

A Davey Drill and a dream

Last Thursday, we noted the arrival of a Davey Drill outside the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch on East 14th Street.

As the above photo shows, the drill is now across the street … doing a little soil sampling in a new spot.

EVG reader stickmanpk, who took the photo, offered some wishful L train thinking.

"Could they actually be thinking about adding a second entrance for the subway at Avenue A in anticipation of the 2,000 new residents we’ll see with the coming developments? Hey, you’ve gotta have a dream…"

Previously on EV Grieve:
UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Report: Closure of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is pretty much a done deal

First sign of more development on East 14th Street?

Asbestos abatement to begin at former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office

New 7-floor buildings for East 14th Street include 150 residential units

Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail

When the Circus (Amok) came to town...

Circus Amok performed two free shows in Tompkins Square Park this afternoon... had a whale of a good time!





Photos via Bobby Williams...

Noted

Spotted outside The Winslow on East 14th Street this afternoon...



Photos via William Klayer

Week in Grieview

[Photo Wednesday of Matthew Silver at Astor Place by Derek Berg]

50,000 square feet of condos coming to the former 2nd Avenue BP station (Wednesday)

Houston Street Beer Distributors on East Second Street primed for development (Friday)

"Misinformation" cited as DOB issues Stop Work Order at the former PS 64 (Wednesday)

Torah ark from East Village synagogue finds new home on Wall Street (Thursday)

Avenue A and East Houston shaping up (Monday)

Davey drill arrives ahead of rumored development at former East 14th Street post office (Thursday)

Out and About with Michael "Mikey" Cole (Wednesday)

23-floor building in the works for the former Bowlmor Lanes (Monday)

About cyclists who run lights (Wednesday, 42 comments)

The Cock moving to the Idle Hands space (Friday)

TREE CAT (Wednesday)

M & J Asian Cuisine coming to 14th and B (Monday)

Take a peek at the latest peephole dioramas on Avenue C (Friday)

Ellen Turrietta, the movie (Tuesday)

Now at Red Square — AMERICA'S LARGEST COSTUME SELECTION (Monday)

Jimmy McMillan plans on running for governor (Tuesday)

Exciting new business opens on University Place (Tuesday)

154 Second Ave. comes into full view (Tuesday)

Gut renovations enter 16th month at 338 E. Sixth St., where 1 tenant remains (Wednesday)

Former St. Mark's Bookshop for lease (Wednesday)

5 years later, Os Gêmeos returning to the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall (Thursday)

Laundromat replaces laundromat on Avenue B (Wednesday)

Explore the history of Tompkins Square Park … in Tompkins Square Park

[A children’s garden opened in Tompkins Square Park in 1934.]

Ugh. Meant to post this much earlier… from the EVG inbox...

Tompkins Square Park on Exhibit: From Bouwerie To Greenmarket
Sept. 28 & Oct. 5, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Market Information tent

Salt marsh, military parade ground, park, site of dissent...Tompkins Square Park and the land on which it stands contributes a rich history to New York City and the East Village. Join GrowNYC, the East Village Parks Conservancy, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation as they explore the history of Tompkins Square in images from its beginnings as the bouwerie (or farm) of Peter Stuyvesant through today.

There are more details and archival images at Off the Grid.

'At the Crossroads' today with Circus Amok in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo from 2012 by Bobby Williams]

Via the EVG inbox…

Circus Amok Presents "At the Crossroads." This year, we encounter a heroine at a climate change crossroads! After a mystifying and bewildering vision of the earth at two disparate ends, our desperate circus performer and former operatic contralto must act in haste to in order to save the earth from plunging off the tight rope of doom into the pit of big box capitalism ... or will the Raging Goddesses reach their apoplectic hands into the fate of us all?

The performances (free!) are at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park

Circus Amok "is a New York City based circus-theater company whose mission is to provide free public art addressing contemporary issues of social justice to the people of New York City." Read more about them here.

Crescent moon over 2nd Avenue last evening

Here's a report from local astronomy buff Felton Davis… from last night:

A crystal clear night, and the crescent moon was out and over 2nd Avenue shortly after 6 p.m. Later tonight it will pass directly over the planet Saturn — a rare occultation — but not visible from the streets of Manhattan. How high would a person have to be to see this occultation? About 2,548 miles. Let's be grateful for what we can see at street level!

… and Bobby Williams took this photo at 7:42 p.m. from his observatory…

Today in signs that people don't notice

Outside the 2B n 2C sculpture garden on East Second Street...