Critters in Tompkins Square Park hoarding sandwiches ahead of epic winter storm

Unless you have a better explanation!

Photo this afternoon by Bobby Williams

Week in Grieview

[1st Avenue and East 9th Street via Derek Berg]

Permit pre-filed for new 12-floor building at 79-89 Avenue D (Tuesday)

Ess-a-Bagel on the move (Monday)

RIP Christopher "Gonzo" Gonzalez (Friday)

Christo and Dora are building another nest (Friday)

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's NYC pop-cultural video gem (Thursday)

Space that houses 1st Avenue's Polish-American diner Neptune is on the market (Tuesday)

Out and About with Gala Darling (Wednesday)

Sunrise where the Domino Sugar Refinery stood for nearly 135 years (Monday)

Warwick and Framus Custom Shop closes on East 7th Street (Wednesday)

Car alarms still annoy (Monday)

New residential building at former 14th Street post office will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room (Thursday)

The Continental files for bankruptcy (Thursday)

Gina's Grill returns (Thursday)

The Save Manitoba's crowdfunding campaign is underway (Wednesday)

Matty's takes over the Idles Hands space on B (Tuesday)

Saint's Alp Teahouse closes for a revamp (Tuesday)

M. White closes on East 13th Street (Friday)

A threat against the 9th Precinct (Monday)

Tuscan food specialist opening 1st U.S. outpost on 4th Avenue for some reason (Tuesday)

City OKs 15-story mixed-use retail-residential building on 14th and C (Wednesday)

Gas problem temporarily closes Thai Terminal (Sunday)

Gingersnap's Organic is leaving the East Village for the West Village (Tuesday)

A $2,400 pizza at Fat Sal's? (Thursday)

All-new 212 E. 14th St. seeks retail tenant (Thursday)

Pinkberry remains closed; UPS InfoNotice® awaits

As we first noted this past week, the Pinkberry on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue abruptly closed on Tuesday… just days away from the FroYo mothership's 10th anniversary.

Meanwhile, a UPS InfoNotice® dated Wednesday remains on the door… looks like they were here for a pick up…



And this Pinkberry location has been scrubbed from the chain's website…



According to this listing, 10 PB locations remain in the city … as well as locations in Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina and Ohio, among other states not listed here.

Little Pakistan Deli has apparently closed on 2nd Avenue

There hasn't been any sign of life here at 200 Second Ave. between East 12th Street and East 13th Street. We heard a city marshal seized the deli earlier in the week. We noticed it closed starting this past Wednesday.

Meanwhile, next door along this stretch of businesses with Little and country names in them, Little Poland remains alive and well...

d.b.a. is back open on 1st Avenue

A reader told us that d.b.a. reopened last evening.

The bar at 41 First Ave. between East Third Street and East Second Street closed for renovations in early December.

As previously noted, David McWater is d.b.a.'s new owner. (His other bars include Milano's and Doc Hollidays.)

It was our understanding that the bar would have the same basic look and feel... except for maybe the bathrooms. We'll swing by later to see how it all looks.

Ray Deter and Dennis Zentek opened d.b.a. in 1994. Deter died in July 2011 from the injuries he suffered in a bicycling collison. Zentek died on March 23 from head injuries he sustained in a fall down a flight of stairs.

The d.b.a. in Williamsburg closed for good in late November.

Previously on EV Grieve:
David McWater looks to be the new owner of d.b.a.

Meanwhile outside Gem Spa

We have no idea what's happening here on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place... just rumors (a breakout attempt among them)...





Photos by Derek Berg

NYPD Rally underway now in Tompkins Square Park

A quick note reminder to the drivers and owners:

It is the entrant's responsibility to provide manufacturer's documentation such as sales brochures, workshop manuals, service bulletins, etc., where necessary to substantiate the eligibility of the vehicle and its components.

Photo today by Derek Berg

Last night's winter wonderland this morning

Thanks to EVG reader Peter Brownscombe for the photos from along Avenue A…



… and East 11th Street…

Enjoy the Silence

The London-based Savages have been playing at various (sold-out) NYC venues this month ahead of releasing the follow-up to their debut record, 2013's "Silence Yourself".

Here's live footage of "Fuckers" ...

RIP Christopher "Gonzo" Gonzalez

A reader shares the sad news with us...

Christopher "Gonzo" Gonzalez died at Beth Israel Hospital this morning after suffering a heart attack on Monday. Poet, chef, organizer, member of the Campos Community Garden on 12th Street and longtime resident of the East Village (East 6th Street) since 1990.

There is a vigil at 6 at Campos Gardens 12th between B and C tonight for those who want to pay respects.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Tompkins Square Park the other day via Derek Berg]

Manhattan Borough President: Gigi Li's leadership at CB3 wasn't biased (The Villager)

RIP Faith Seidenberg, the attorney who made McSorley's open to women (The New York Times)

Hey, Sheldon Silver was arrested (The New York Times)

Video of former art gallery space 2B, now home to a Duane Reade (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

A last look at SPURA before the mega Essex Crossing development (BoweryBoogie)

Rev. Billy suing the MTA (Runnin' Scared)

See some French classics from the 1930s-40s (Anthology Film Archives)

The condofication of University Place (The Real Deal)

Seward Park trench collapse (The Lo-Down)

50 years of historic preservation (Off the Grid)

When Lou Reed collaborated with Kiss (Dangerous Minds)

Billie Holiday's NYC (The Bowery Boys)

Allen Ginsberg sets the record straight about LSD (The Paris Review)

And in time for Valentine's — the Death Star necklace (BoingBoing)

... and EVG reader Karen Loew spotted a discarded holiday tree trying to escape from Manhattan at Stuyvesant Cove the other day...

The planets are lining up tonight for your viewing pleasure (hopefully)

Local astronomy buff Felton Davis passed along the following …

Furnerius, Petavius, Vendelinus, and Langrenus were so jagged last night on the rim of the 2nd day old crescent moon that they looked like scabs about to be broken off. Tonight there will be a fascinating arrangement as Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Mars and the Moon all line up in the southwest at sunset.

I will set up on the corner of 2nd Avenue and East 3rd Street as usual, at about 5 p.m., but we don't have a really clear perspective toward the southwest. People may want to check out other locations.

Red-tailed hawk parents Christo and Dora are building another nest on the Christodora House

An EVG reader writes in:

Christo and Dora seem to be back in nest mode. The past day or so they've been carrying sticks and such to shore up the nest (same one as last year, on top of the A/C unit). This morning they were both hanging out in the nest.

It is true. The red-tailed hawk parents are rebuilding their nest that netted three offspring last year on the Christodora House on Avenue B and East Ninth Street ... (someone removed the remains of the old nest in November.)


[Yesterday]

We ran this by our hawk-watching friend Goggla.

They've both been hanging around the nest area, so it's good to know they're back at it. Interesting that Dora is helping out. She did all the supervising last year, while Christo would cut the sticks, then get her approval before taking them over to the nest. She didn't like one of his choices and kicked it out of the tree when he presented it to her.

On Wednesday, Goggla noted Christo's first stick-gathering session of the season.

Last year, Christo didn't start the stick-gathering, nest-building activities until Feb. 14.

To be continued for sure. And visit Gog in NYC for all the off-season hawk activities here.

And now a flashback... a time-lapse video of the hawk kids via East Village resident and photographer Francois Portmann ...



Photos by Bobby Williams

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

Breaking (heh) news: The hawks of Tompkins Square Park are officially parents

OMG baby hawks! (UPDATED WITH VIDEO!)

VIDEO: Watch the baby hawks of Tompkins Square Park dine on some rat

Revisiting the 1980s videos of Nelson Sullivan

Though the years we've posted some of Nelson Sullivan's 1980s videos, including "The first nice Sunday of 1987 in the East Village" ...



... and "Walk with Tish Gervais in the East Village of the mid-1980s"...



A post showing a lot more of Sullivan's work yesterday at Gothamist reminded us of these. In total, Sullivan shot more than 1,900 hours of tape over a period of seven years. Head over to Gothamist for a lot more of his time capsules of downtown life.

His video archive was donated to NYU's Fales Library & Special Collections in 2012.

Sullivan died of a heart attack on July 4, 1989.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The East Village of Nelson Sullivan

The first nice Sunday of 1987 in the East Village

'The Fabulous Personalities of 1980s New York'

Raclette bringing French fare to 195 Avenue A

The sign is up for the new tenant coming to 195 Avenue A just north of East 12th Street.

The Raclette sign promises croques and tartines. We don't know anything else about the cafe at the moment.

However, on the April 2012 CB3/SLA committee docket there was a Raclette going for a wine and beer license in the former Jubb's Longevity space at 508 E. 12th St. Those plans never materialized. (And the same name and concept can't be a coincidence.)

The previous tenant here, Brooklyn Piggies, which sold pigs in a blanket, closed in late November.

About the condofication of the Congregation Mezritch Synagogue on East 6th Street

[Photo from April 2014 by Bobby Williams]

Renovations continue to convert the Congregation Mezritch Synagogue at 415 E. Sixth St. into luxury condos.

The landmarked building between Avenue A and First Avenue was in disrepair and the congregation's population had dwindled. Synagogue leaders signed a 99-year lease with East River Partners worth some $1.2 million. The renovations include a penthouse addition and an elevator. The synagogue will reportedly retain space on the ground floor for their use.

The Daily News offered up a few more details about the plans here. For starters, sales for the three units will commence this fall, though developer Jody Kriss of East River Partners declined to discuss pricing.

In addition, East River Partners are planning "to pay an annual maintenance fee to keep the shul running for 200 more years."

And what about the controversy regarding the condo conversion when the plans were first announced?

"Back when we started the construction, people would curse me out," Kriss added. "But when they found out that we were preserving the synagogue, and not demolishing it, they wanted to shake my hand, instead."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Plan to add condos to historic East Sixth Street synagogue back on

Play spot the potential penthouse atop the East Village synagogue

A final look inside the Anshei Meseritz synagogue on East Sixth Street

Stained-glass windows removed ahead of condo conversion at Congregation Mezritch Synagogue

M. White has officially closed on East 13th Street

We hadn't seen the lounge at 448 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue open lately. For good reasons. According to a tipster, M. White called it quits about two weeks ago.

M. White, formerly known as Mug Lounge, was temporarily home to a post-Heathers venue.

Paul Kostabi on the gates at 12th and C

Earlier today, local musician-artist-locksmith Paul Kostabi created these new sprkl-infused murals for the gates outside the 12CGallery on Avenue C at East 12th Street...

PandaCat provided the photos...









... and here are two more shots via Robert Galinsky ...





Brooklyn-based illustrator/painter Tatyana Fazlalizadeh created a new mural last Saturday on the East 12th Street side.

(And because someone will bring it up: There were reports of gunshots at this intersection on Tuesday.)

Hey, the MTA upped the cost to ride subways and buses today

[EVG file photo]

From The Times:

The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted [today] to raise the base fare on subways and buses by a quarter, to $2.75, and the cost of a 30-day MetroCard by $4.50, to $116.50.

The new fares, which will take effect on March 22, were part of a package of increases approved for the system’s trains, buses, tunnels and bridges.

Read the whole article here.

Report: Jukebox-revenue dispute forces the Continental to file for bankruptcy

[Image via]

The Continental filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, its second filing since 2009, Crain's reports.

At issue, a jukebox-revenue dispute that "eventually snowballed into a lawsuit that went on for about seven years." The lawsuit ended in arbitration with $49,762.96 awarded to PLK Vending, according to Crain's.

Owner Trigger Smith said that he will "do everything in [his] power to keep this bar going."

After 15 years as a live-music venue, the Continental at 25 Third Ave. near St. Mark's Place ditched the stage for a "classy dive bar" makeover in 2006. As Crain's notes, the jukebox at the center of the legal dispute replaced the bands.

Flashback to an article in The Villager in February 2006 about the venue discontinuing live music.

“It’s sad that places like this are closing, but times are changing,” said Justin Weiner, a 24-year-old real estate financial analyst, who read a newspaper while he waited for his friend’s band, Against the Wall, to play. Now a lot of people hear new music on MySpace.com, not in clubs, he said.

H/T Eater