Report: Workers claim that 2 Bros. doesn't pay minimum wage, offer overtime

Employees of the 2. Bros. Pizza chainlet have filed a class-action suit, claiming that they worked 60- to 70-hour weeks for less than minimum wage and without overtime.

Per the Daily News, who first reported on the lawsuit:

"They built their dollar pizza empire on the backs of my clients and other workers by grossly underpaying them," said their lawyer, Adam Slater. "It’s just unfair."

Gabriel Bailon, who worked as a piemaker and cashier at the chain’s flagship pizzeria on St. Marks Place and saw 2 Bros. become a citywide staple, said he and other employees were talked into staying with phony promises about raises, but their bosses never came up with the dough.

An attorney representing the owners of 2 Bros., Eli and Oren Halali, as well as their father, Joshua, said they would prevail in court.

"2 Bros. pays its employees in compliance with city, state and federal law and categorically denies the claims made by the plaintiffs," the attorney told the Daily News.

Slater said that the suit represents 12 employees, with more coming forward, and that damages could exceed $10 million.

Pushcart Coffee opening an East Village outpost

The Pushcart Coffee banners have arrived on Third Avenue at East 12th Street in NYU's Third North dorm retail properties … taking over the space last held by Just Sweet ...



This is Pushcart's third NYC location, which will go by Stuyvesant Alley. As the Pushcart website explains:

This shop sits next to a now-forgotten street called Stuyvesant Alley. The Alley was the scene of all the good, bad and ugly of old New York. It was a notorious hang out for ne'er-do-wells like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who lived down the street, it was the scene of a beautiful painting by Armin Landeck and it was a convenient place to store a peddler's pushcart off nearby bustling Third Ave. The Alley disappeared in the mid-20th century and today is replaced by a dormitory of New York University.

As for an opening date, a Pushcart Facebook posts states "very, very soon."

They'll be joining another new neighbor next door ... the 21-year-old Excel Art and Framing Store is moving here, after losing its lease at 38 Third Ave. between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street...



Back to coffee — there's plenty of it right around here with the Wayside on East 12th Street just west of Third Avenue ... City of Saints Coffee Roasters on East 10th Street between Fourth Avenue and Third Avenue ... Third Rail Coffee on East 10th Street near Second Avenue ... Think Coffee on Fourth Avenue between East 12th Street and East 13th Street… Everyman Espresso on East 13th Street west of Third Avenue…

Not much progress on the all-new Tompkins Square basketball courts

[Photo from May 30]

Workers began tearing up the Tompkins Square Basketball Courts on May 29.

As we previously noted:

...the New York City Parks Department teamed up with YouTube for the renovations, which include an entire resurfacing of the courts with new cement and paint, and installing new basketball hoops. Parks officials said that work will be completed by the time the city schools let out for the summer on June 26. YouTube is funding the renovations, which are estimated at $300,000.

It doesn't appear that the city will hit that kids-outta-school deadline. The courts look essentially the same now as they did on May 29...





At this rate, the courts will be ready by time the students return to school.

The gym equipment is still accessible, though...



Anyway, your new YouTube courts will look like this, via a rendering from YouTube…

Icon Realty adds the for rent signs at the former Cafe Pick Me Up

The for rent signs have arrived at 145 Avenue A, former home of Cafe Pick-Me Up, who was rent hiked out of its 20-year home here at East Ninth Street. (The cafe is now doing business from its sister restaurant Gnocco at 337 E. 10th St. just west of Avenue B.)

As for No. 145, the asking rent is $15,000, according to the listing, which also notes the space is perfect for "restaurant, bar, clothing store, salon, and all general retail uses."

An EVG reader sent along this photo showing what's left of the interior last week...



The owners still have five years left on the lease in the adjacent space at 147 Avenue A. Co-owner Gian Luca Giovanetti told DNAinfo that they were unsure what will become of this storefront.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

Café Pick Me Up closes Sunday night ahead of a move to share the Gnocco space on East 10th Street

More about the new Café Pick Me Up-Gnocco combo on East 10th Street

Checking in on the incoming building at 'the four corners of Downtown'

It has almost been four months since we checked in on the progress at 76 E. Houston St., where a 2-story building is in the works for the former Billy's Antiques space.

The northern wall is now quite visible from the street here between the Bowery and Elizabeth…



The brokers are marketing this location as "the four corners of Downtown," with a Summer 2015 completion date. Well, workers are obviously not going to make that deadline.

Eventually the space will look like this…


[Image via Sinvin]

BoweryBoogie reported last fall that work slowed down here due to Certificate of Occupancy issues and a dispute over the property line.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Deal off to bring Crif Dogs to the former Billy's Antiques space

The Houston/Bowery Mural Wall has been boarded up

Full stop work order for 76 E. Houston St., and the return of Billy's Antiques (sort of)

Week in Grieview

[Photo on East 9th Street Friday by Derek Berg]

Get well soon, Ray! (Wednesday)

Rent hike will force Bikes, By George! to close on East Fourth Street (Monday)

Tenants rally for better living conditions at 128 2nd Ave.; file contempt of court motion vs. landlord Icon Realty (Friday)

Tompkins Square Bagels makes it official on Second Avenue (Monday)

Gas leak shutters Dallas BBQ, leaves residents without hot water and cooking gas (Tuesday)

Report of an OD at the First Avenue McDonald's (Thursday)

Report offers recommendations for preserving independent East Village businesses (Tuesday)

Out and About with Ilyse Kazar (Wednesday)

"The great sandwich experiment" has ended at Lord Hamm's (Tuesday)

Keeping The Bowery Mission in mind this summer (Friday)

Live in a cottage above Third Avenue (Tuesday)

The Typewriter Project arrives in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)

J. Crew executives post taunting Instagram pics on Third Avenue hours after staff layoffs (Thursday, 46 comments)

Le Jardin Bistro has closed on Avenue C (Friday)

Students with autism create planters for the Dorothy Strelsin Memorial Community Garden on Suffolk Street (Thursday)

Nail salon in the works for former Amor Baker space on Avenue B (Thursday)

The new residential building on East Houston and Suffolk (Tuesday)

Work begins on the incoming Mimi's Hummus on East 14th Street (Thursday)

Taxi Parts Inc. now open on First Avenue (Monday)

A letter from the editor (Sunday, 241 comments)

93 2nd Ave., home of Lit Lounge, is for rent (Friday)

The rent is due at the incoming Turntable Retro Bar & Restaurant on Avenue B (Wednesday)

Bago now serving food to-go on First Avenue (Monday)

Dinosaurs are now extinct on East 12th Street (Wednesday)

Noted

ATM out-of-order signs are getting so informal...



Photos on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue via EVG ATM Correspondent Steven...

The V-Spot is soft opening this weekend on St. Mark's Place

The family-run Park Slope vegan restaurant The V-Spot recently started selling empanadas from their TK outpost at 16 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

And now this weekend they are in a soft-opening phase. Per Facebook: "We will have our delicious Latin, Organic, Vegan comfort food ready to serve you. Right now, we're here personally sampling small bites & vending baked empanadas." Hours today are 1-9 p.m.



And here are lousy photos of the menu that I took...





In other V-SPot news, the family successfully reached its $50,000 Kickstarter goal ... with 295 backers pledging $50,673 to help open the restaurant on St. Mark's Place.

We're running out of different ways to say that the New York City Marble Cemetery is open today

Today at the New York City Marble Cemetery on East Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... via the EVG inbox...

Come celebrate midsummer today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at our first Neighborhood Open Day of 2015 ... featuring music 12 to 2 p.m. as part of makemusicny's Exquisite Corpses tour.

The Exquisite Corpses will also be in Abe Lebewohl Park outside St Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue and East 10th Street this afternoon from 2-4.

And for your calendars...

Upcoming Neighborhood Open Days at the New York City Marble Cemetery:
Saturday, July 11
Sunday, Aug. 9
Saturday, Sept. 12
11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

And!

Fall Open Weekend, with historic displays, photos and artifacts
Saturday and Sunday
Oct. 17-18
11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Read more about the cemetery here.

2 hawks fledge as 1

[Photo via TwoHawksNYC]

Hawk watchers were happy today to see two of Christo and Dora's three offspring successfully fledge today... (thankfully none of that drama like last year.)

One of the kids ended up atop 507 East Fifth St., the building that houses Sophie's just east of Avenue A...

The TwoHawksNYC blog has an account with photos of what happened today right here. And Goggla will have photos soon.

The baby hawks have been nesting 12th floors above Avenue A on the Ageloff Towers between East Third Street and East Fourth Street…

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

Hawk (and egg) watch continues on Avenue A, now with the help of a live webcam

Christo and Dora are parents! (Again!)

Look at the 3-week-old hawklets high above Avenue A

Growing up so quickly above Avenue A

Mermaid love on 1st Avenue

Photo between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street today via Derek Berg... post Mermaid Day Parade...

Maybe keep your windows closed over here for awhile

[Photo of 442. E. 13th St. from June 6]

As you may know, the directionally named luxury condos Thirteen East + West are in the works at 436 and 442 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

An EVG reader notes that there is activity of late at No. 442, where there's an Area 51-looking scene unfolding on the rooftop of the former mystery garage… turns out there are posted notices for asbestos removal here…



Per the reader: "Neighbors on East 13th as well as on East 12th are warned to perhaps keep their windows closed during this tear-down procedure."

No. 442 was previously home to the mysterious Electrical Motor Maintenance, which never seemed to be in operation. Still, for years, the rooftop boasted several venting units that were alway purring away, protected with an anti-crime lighting system. What were they protecting?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tracking the coming changes to East 13th Street between Avenue A and 1st Avenue

A look at the new luxury condos coming soon to East 13th Street

The mystery of 442 E. 13th St.

A mural continues to grow on Avenue C

[Photo Wednesday by Peter from 8th Street]

On Wednesday, artist Zio Ziegler began work on a mural on the north-facing wall of the recently unveiled 137 Avenue C at East Ninth Street …

Here's how the mural was looking last evening in this photo via EVG Facebook friend Karen Platt…



The mural kinda looks like the plot of a Ridley Scott film. Actually though the building owner commissioned the wall to a nonprofit, the Solutions Project, to paint on in conjunction with the launch of their clean energy NYC campaign.

On Thursday, the Solutions Project held a kick-off event next door in La Plaza Cultural Community Garden where Mark Ruffalo, co-founder of the campaign, and Leonardo DiCaprio spoke while launching a national campaign that aims to "make clean energy more accessible and affordable for 100 percent of the people." (Read the news release about the campaign here.)

Several community leaders and activists were also in attendance.

Mark Ruffalo & Leonardo DiCaprio in the Lower East Side--100% clean energy campaign #100isNow http://t.co/wTrtrzXS4H pic.twitter.com/z59YHqwiZh

— GoLES (@GOLESNYC) June 18, 2015

There's a a vintage cookbook cook-off and potluck at Jimmy's No. 43 today

[Image via Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks]

Jimmy's No. 43, 43 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, is hosting the following event today. Via the EVG inbox…

Join us today from 1-3 p.m., where we'll be serving up dishes from recipes found in vintage cookbooks (for our purposes, we're looking at recipes prior to 1985, so not the typical stuff you can Google)!

It's in part to welcome Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks to the neighborhood and also to continue our #EastVillageLoves campaign that we launched after the explosion in March.

Bonnie Slotnick opened her first cookbook shop in the West Village in 1997 and recently moved the business to East Second Street. Her stock in trade is out-of-print cookbooks, mainly 20th-century titles at affordable prices.

Find more details here.

Meanwhile, Jimmy's No. 43 has debuted a new collaboration with Chef King Phojanakong of Kuma Inn and Umi Nom … resulting in Tito King’s Kitchen at Jimmy’s No. 43, which will feature Thai and Filipino street food. Read more about this at Eater.

Come as you are

The Mighty Wah with mighty fine hair from 1984... "Come Back"

Tenants rally for better living conditions at 128 2nd Ave.; file contempt of court motion vs. landlord Icon Realty

[EVG file photo]

Angry tenants at 128 Second Ave. spoke out yesterday about their ongoing issues with landlord Icon Realty, who they say has yet to fix the building's heat, hot water and gas despite a court order to do so.

The rent-regulated tenants filed a contempt of court motion this week against Icon Realty, DNAinfo's Lisha Arino reports.

Per the article:

"Icon Realty has done very little to restore the services in the building so these tenants are taking it to the next level and bringing contempt of court charges against their landlord to restore these services," said lead organizer Brandon Kielbasa from the Cooper Square Committee, which has been aiding the building's tenants.

Also...

According to a lead inspection conducted by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and provided by the tenants’ attorney, dust samples collected during a March 3 inspection found lead levels up to 250 times the legal limit

The building also has 114 violations, all of which were issued this year, according to a Department of Housing Preservation and Development spokesman, leading to $4,000 in charges for emergency repairs the agency made as well as heat and hot water inspections.

HPD also sued Icon Realty in an effort to get the landlord to correct all of the building's violations and civil penalties. The case was settled earlier this month, the spokesman said, with the owners paying $7,500 in fines and agreeing to correct the violations.

An Icon spokesperson told DNAinfo that the court-ordered deadlines did not give Icon enough time to fix the building's issues. In addition, the spokesperson said that Icon installed a temporary electric water heater and provided hot plates to residents.

The spokesperson said that the landlord hopes to have the heat and hot water fixed in the next few weeks.

The building's residents have been without heat, hot water and gas since March.

"The tenants in 128 Second Avenue have endured enough," Councilwoman Rosie Mendez said in a statement released yesterday. "Icon Realty has hired armed 'Fire Marshalls' to patrol the building as a form of intimidation when all that they are required to do is ensure that tenants do not use the detached fire escape. The principals of Icon Realty are bad actors that are in contempt of court because they have not restored court ordered necessary services such as gas and hot water. The Judge should set an example by throwing the principals of Icon Realty in jail until all 67 life threatening and immediately hazardous violations out of 114 outstanding violations are cured."

Icon Realty took over ownership of the building between East Seventh Street and St.Mark's Place in the fall of 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tenants at 128 2nd Ave. file suit against Icon Realty in housing court

Troubling talk about 128 Second Ave, and the long-term future of the Stage

[Updated] Report: Icon Realty serves the Stage an eviction notice

Stage owner Roman Diakun responds to allegations of illegally siphoning gas

Petition to help reopen the Stage

The Wall Street Journal on the ongoing issues at Icon Realty's 128 2nd Ave.

East Village tenants demand end to months without heat, gas at 128 2nd Ave.

EV Grieve Etc.: Listening to a 'relocation specialist' at work; bouncing baby hawks at play

[Photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

Tourist dies in Third Avenue L tunnel (Daily News, NBC 4)

Listen to a "relocation specialist" try to convince rent-controlled residents to move out of their apartment on East 13th Street (Gothamist)

Video of Armani-clad broker Fredrik Eklund enjoying his turn demolishing 50 Clinton St. (The Lo-Down)

Big changes are afoot at Beth Israel on First Avenue (The Villager)

Those bouncing baby hawks above Avenue A (Gog in NYC)

About looping (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

When the Ramones made their live European television debut (Rolling Stone)

Last weekend for the This Is Celluloid series, featuring "Two-Lane Blacktop," Excalibur" and "Buffalo '66" (Anthology Film Archives)

A feature on the brunch at Pardon My French on Avenue B (The Wall Street Journal)

Chloe Sevigny's former East 10th Street home back on the market (Curbed)

Eggs-citing news for LES community gardens (BoweryBoogie)

A review of Virginia's, now open on East 11th Street (Daily News)

The 33rd annual Mermaid Parade is tomorrow (Coney Island USA)

The man who dove off the Flatiron Building (Ephemeral New York)

... and it was window-washing day at the Schwimmers... beats Windex and a ladder...


[Photo yesterday by Derek Berg]

Keeping The Bowery Mission in mind this summer

An EVG reader passes along the following reminder about The Bowery Mission...

This is the time of year when the clients need t-shirts/socks/underwear to deal with the summer heat. Generally large or xl on the t-shirts and underwear.

Also, this is generally the time of year when they really need volunteers.

Everyone wants to volunteer around the holidays and they literally have volunteers standing around because there are too many of them. Hunger and homelessness is a 24/7/365 condition. It doesn't end after the holidays. This is the time of year when they can use the help.

Here's the link if you are interested in making a donation ... anything from cash, food to clothes.

The Bowery Mission, which has served homeless and hungry New Yorkers since 1879, is at 227 Bowery near Prince.

93 2nd Ave., home of Lit Lounge, is for rent

Several readers have pointed out that a "store for rent" sign arrived above 93 Second Ave. on Tuesday. The space between East Sixth Street and East Fifth Street has been home to the Lit Lounge these past 13 years.

The space has been on the market for several months. There's a listing at Misrahi Realty.

We reached out to a Lit co-owner to see what might be happening here… whether the bar/club/music venue is closing or moving to a new location.

The Fuse Gallery, located in the space behind Lit, closed in September 2013.

Le Jardin Bistro has closed on Avenue C

[Image via Facebook]

An EVG reader hadn't seen the low-key French bistro open since at least last Thursday.

Turns out there's a good reason for that: Management left this message Monday on Facebook …

It is with a broken heart that I need to inform you that Le Jardin Bistro has closed its doors.

I want to thank all of you, employees, customers, friends for helping us to make the past year so special.

My kitchen crew was amazing and gave it all, to allow us every day to serve exceptional food: Thank you.

Customers: You have been supportive and your friendliness has been really inspiring. On the behalf of all the members past and present of Le Jardin Bistro, I thank you for all you did for us and with us.

The revived restaurant at 115 Avenue C between East Seventh Street and East Eighth Street opened last August in the former Apartment 13 space. The original Le Jardin Bistro was on Cleveland Place until its 2010 closure. They opened in 1995.