In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

In an article published last week, The Villager reported that the residents living in East Fifth Street buildings newly aquired by Raphael Toledano's Brook Hill Properties had "documented more than 140 interactions, altercations and outright threats by Toledano and his camp during the two-month period from this July 8 through Sept. 8."

In a Talking Point column in this week's paper, The Villager lets the 25-year-old Toledano outline his plans for the neighborhood:

The reason I chose to grow my business in this beautiful neighborhood is simple: I believe in the East Village. I am not here to transform this community, rather I am determined to become a part of the fabric of the neighborhood that so many wonderful New Yorkers call home.

And!

My plans for these buildings are simple. We want to renovate the apartments and common areas, improve the outward appearance and take suggestions from tenants for how to make the East Village the ultimate live / work / play community.

Beyond that, we are committed to making meaningful contributions to improve the welfare of the community. I have been engaged with a number of organizations to find out what we can do to help, and I look forward to announcing new partnerships in the next few weeks. But in the meantime, what you need to know is that my company is here to make the East Village a better place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Some Halloween-related things to do tomorrow (Saturday!)

There is the 25th annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade from noon to 3 p.m. …

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The Ruff Club at 34 Avenue A is hosting an after Halloween Parade party from 2-5 p.m. …

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The El Sol Brillante Community Garden Party Benefit is noon to the moon here at 530 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B…

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The El Sol Brilliante Jr. Community Garden tag sale is noon-4 p.m. at 537 E. 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B…

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La Plaza Cultural on the southwest corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street is hosting some pumpkin carving from noon-4 p.m. … (While it's free, there are a limited number of pumpkins, per the planners.)

Familiar names on the list of the city's most demo-happy developers

[View of 500 E. 14th Street in June via an EVG reader]

From The Real Deal today:

Gary Barnett’s Extell Development filed a whopping 18 demolition permits between Jan. 1, 2014 and Sept. 30, 2015, twice as many as the next most prolific filer, Icon Realty Management, according to an analysis of Department of Buildings filings for Manhattan projects by The Real Deal.

Around here, Extell demolished a row of single-level businesses (Blarney Cove, Bargain Bazaar, ABC Animal Hospital, who moved to 200 Avenue A, etc.) on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B to make way for two 7-floor retail-residential buildings.

As for Icon, we can't recall them demolishing anything, just adding on to existing buildings and helping close several small businesses with rent increases (Allied Hardware, Alex Shoe Repair, Dusty Buttons, Cafe Pick Me Up...)

If you are in the market for a life-sized replica of GG Allin

Then you are in luck... this GG Allin model made his debut outside Search & Destroy Tuesday afternoon on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, as EVG contributor Steven noted ... it's a creation of Blankit Novelties, and "Al E. Gorey" (creature sculptor) and "Harris C." (master of molds) ...



Mr. Gorey says he is raising money for a GG Allin comic with a cover by Jeff Zornow.

For now, GG will remain in the window at Search & Destroy... where it likely costs $6,666, the proceeds of which will fund the comic book...(you can ask Al E. Gorey about it via Facebook)



Oh, and that GG codpiece is removable...

Gas leak closes Nino's for now

Several readers noted that the pizzeria on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place closed yesterday... the sign on the door points to a gas leak in a neighboring building as the cause.

As we understand it, Nino decided to close not to take any chances... they are hopeful that they will be able to reopen tomorrow, Saturday at the latest…

Updated



The gas leak has always temporarily closed Yoshi Sushi at 131 Avenue A…

Trying to figure out what is going on at 98-100 Avenue A

Ben Shaoul's new building going up at 98-100 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street continues to intrigue and confuse local zoning enthusiasts.

We've gone through the various DOB permits and have come away generally confused.

EVG reader something structural shares our curiosity and confusion... so we took another step-by-step look here to see if we can figure out what is going on, mainly how many stories will this thing end up?

1. A new building permit was filed for and issued for a total floor area of 27,693 sf and a total FAR of 3.41. The description is "APPLICATION BEING FILED TO CONSTRUCT A NEW 6 STORY BUILDING." That suggests a pretty standard filing in R7A. Maximum FAR of 3.45 inclusive of commercial. OK!

2. A complaint was filed "NB UNDER CONSTRUCTION EXCEDS THE BULK AND HEIGHT OF THE PROPOSED 6 STY BLDG" on 9/28/15. A cursory look at the accepted ZD-1 confirms it looks nothing like what's out there. With us so far, right?

3. DOB (BEST Squad High Rise unit) stopped by 9/30/15 and issued a partial Stop Work Order. There's no indication if this was for zoning, or one of the other 8-10 violations they received for safety, protection of adjacent properties, etc.

4. Two weeks later, on 10/14/15 their Architect of Record filed a new PAA. The documents haven't been scanned yet, but:
- The PW1 now says "APPLICATION BEING FILED TO CONSTRUCT A NEW 8-STORY BUILDING."
- The residential floor area went to 30,399 sf with an additional 6,775 sf for commercial. Total FAR is 6.60, up from 3.41.
- The comments on the filing? "FILING PAA HEREWITH TO AMEND PW1: FLOOR RANGE, JOB DESCRIPTION, ZONING CHARACT ERISTICS, BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS, SCHEDULE A AND REVISE PLANS." AKA: filing for a different building. And the city approved this amended plan exam just yesterday, per DOB records.

Meanwhile, the structure was topped out before they even filed the amendment. So there you go. Plenty for zoning enthusiasts to mull over.

The new building's Schedule A shows 38 units ... and retail stores on the ground floor. Last month, it was announced that the building will house 33 condos, ranging in price from $1.3 million to $2.3 million. In addition, as previously noted, the retail space will house a 12,000-square foot Blink Fitness center.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

Inside the abandoned theater at East Village Farms on Avenue A

New Facebook group is advocating for a Trader Joe's on Avenue A

Workers back demolishing what's left of 98-100 Avenue A

Rest assured, there isn't a fire in the hole at 98-100 Avenue A

Ben Shaoul's 98-100 Avenue A emerging from the dewatering hole

Life next to 98-100 Avenue A

Condos at Ben Shaoul's 98-100 Avenue A will start at $1.3 million; high-end gym eyed for retail space

Carol Lipnik, live at Pangea on 2nd Avenue Sunday evenings

Carol Lipnik's Sunday evening residency continues in the cabaret room at Pangea, the 25-year-old Mediterranean bistro at 178 Second Ave. between East 11th Street and East 12th Street.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy attended this past Sunday's performance … "She was doing original material and people responded well to her off-the-cuff commentary and soaring singing voice."




[Matt Kanelos accompanies Lipnik on piano]



Rachel Mason was her guest performer last Sunday. (Recent guests have included Joey Arias, Justin Vivian Bond and Penny Arcade.)



Lipnik performs her ethereal cabaret at Pangea Sunday evenings at 7:30 through Jan. 31. Tickets are $15 in advance; $20 at the door, with a $15 food/beverage minimum. You can look for tickets here.

Read our interview with Pangea owners Stephen Shanaghan and Arnoldo Caballero here. Read an interview with Lipnik, a Coney Island native, here.

Organic Avenue is behind on rent on 3rd Avenue

The entire Organic Avenue juice-bar chain abruptly shut down after the business day last Thursday. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

The "closed until further notice" sign arrived the next day at the East Village/Midtown South (MiSo) location on Third Avenue and East Ninth Street. (The message gives the hope that they might return…)

And this week a past-due notice arrived on the front door…



We're curious what the rent is for this modest-sized corner space… the notice puts the monthly rent at $13,583.33. (In total, this OA owes the landlord $27,838.33 for September and October rent… as well as the water and sewer bill.)

A Forbes columnist shared some thoughts on the OA story yesterday, if you're interested.

Serial entrepreneur Doug Evans launched Organic Avenue fifteen years ago with partner Denise Mari out of Mari’s Lower East Side apartment. In 2013, Mari and Evans sold Organic Avenue to investment firm Weld North, who hired a former Pret A Manger executive to oversee operations.

And!

In many cases, years or months, after a startup is bought out, the company is closed. Others think they can do it better, but the truth is that no one knows your business like you do. Founders are the heart of any small business. Their passion keeps the lights on, and corporate executives or large sums of capital can never replace the blood, sweat, tears that founders put into their startups.

With this closure, the strip of storefronts on the west side of Third Avenue between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street looks even sadder … just two businesses remain open — the UPS store and an eyebrow salon.



Keep an eye on that Duane Reade on the East 10th Street corner expanding.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Organic Avenue is calling it quits (18 comments)

New residential buildings come into full view on Lafayette Street

A whole year has passed since we looked in at the dual residential buildings rising on Lafayette between Bond and Great Jones…

For starters, all the construction netting has been removed from 372 Lafayette at the southwest corner of Great Jones. This Morris Adjmi-designed building was expected to be rentals. The DOB Schedule A shows eight apartments in the building … with retail on the ground floor.

There has been much more written about 10 Bond Street, dubbed "a boutique collection of 11 superlative residences" designed by Selldorf Architects.

Workers removed the sidewalk bridge here yesterday…



According to Streeteasy, several units are in contract (one for $7.7 million; another for $6.7 million. Curbed has photos of the model unit here.)

Oh, and if buying now is not your thing, then you can opt for a two-bedroom rental for $14,500.



Back to 372 Lafayette for a moment. The corner was previously home to ZP Auto Repair Shop, who was able to secure a new space in 2011 in Brooklyn. Jeremiah Moss noted yesterday at Vanishing New York that, despite brisk business, the shop has lost its lease and is closing on Oct. 30.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New skyline for Lafayette Street?

Another corner still primed to fall on NoHo

Demolition starts on former garage and lot; new developments coming for Lafayette Street

Looking at the future luxurious corners of Lafayette Street

Hitchcocktober movie of the week: 'Marnie'

It wouldn't be a Thursday in October without a Hitchcocktober movie of the week at the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at East 12th Street.

And tonight at 8! "Marnie" …



And upcoming (Hitchcocktober always goes by so quickly!):

Oct. 29 — "Rear Window"

You can buy advance tix online here.

Report: 25 to life for man who beat grandfather to death on East 6th Street

The man found guilty in the beating death of 68-year-old Wen Hui Ruan in May 2014 was sentenced to 25 years to life yesterday.

Per the Daily News:

"You've ruined this family's life. You are a danger to this community whenever you are at liberty," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ann Donnelly said before issuing the hefty sentence to Jamie Pugh, 21.

Ruan died from the injuries he sustained in the unprovoked assault on East Sixth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. Ruan, a retired garment worker who lived on Avenue C and East Seventh Street with his wife, had just dropped off his granddaughters when the attack occurred.

"I'd like to say to the family I'm sorry for what I've done," Pugh said, when given the chance to address the judge, as the News reported.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: East Village resident dies from injuries sustained in brutal attack

[Updated] Report: Murder suspect's mother says her son was high on Molly at the time of attack

Report: Family of Ruan Wen Hui wants hate crime charges brought against suspect

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: Gina
Occupation: Social Worker
Location: East 2nd Street and 1st Avenue
Time: 5:30 pm on Monday, Oct. 19

I was born in Canarsie, Brooklyn. I came to the neighborhood in 1990. I needed to get a job and I had been going to school full-time, and I couldn’t continue that because of my situation. So I got a job at NYU and got tuition remission and finished my degree there. Then I just stayed in the neighborhood.

I got my master's degree in social work. I’m the director of a homeless shelter in the neighborhood. It’s a shelter for older adults with medical and mobility issues. I feel like it’s a very service-rich neighborhood in many ways and I hope that continues because there are a lot of people who have been living here a long time who don’t have high incomes and [it’s hard] to be able to maintain, especially when people become older. It’s difficult to balance if you’re working your whole life and you’re living paycheck to paycheck — one thing can set you off and then you wind up in a shelter.

People like to vilify the homeless but really most people are just poor in a city where rents are skyrocketing. So I feel good that I’m making a difference in helping people to get into a secure environment. Anyone, anyone can wind up there.

My interest in the neighborhood is totally outside of my professional life, though. It’s just a coincidence that I wound up getting a job here. I moved onto St. Mark’s Place in 1990 and that was like the middle of everything. I used to go to Green Door parties at Coney Island High. There was a lot of music and creative people.

But then I got tired of living on St. Mark’s because it was just a little too busy. There were people sleeping on my steps and stuff, so I moved down to the Lower East Side, just a couple blocks below Houston Street on Clinton Street, and then I watched that neighborhood open up. It went from a couple little shlock stores to this whole stretch of trendy restaurants. You never, ever would have expected that in a million years.

My husband grew up in this neighborhood. There was a small Ukrainian community that has really dissipated. I knew nothing about the Ukrainian community until I met him. It’s interesting that there are still people who go caroling. I remember I was my mother-in-law’s house after we first met and some carolers came around and sang Ukrainian Christmas carols. So there’s still a sense of community in that way that’s still there. It’s nice to know at least that the people who’ve been living around here a long time who all know each other still stick together.

Most of my friends who are not native New Yorkers have left because the things they came for aren’t here anymore. The cost of living goes up, but the things that make it fun are gone. It’s depressing, isn’t it? [The neighborhood has] been taken over by people just want to come and drink and just tear the place apart, and it saddens me because the sense of community is really withering away.

In the mid-90s, you had people who were creative, people who were just fun. Now it just feels like you’re being trampled on and then everyone leaves. I think there’s still a sense of community to some extent and we can’t be stuck in the past, but at the same time we should all be part of shaping the future, instead of being the passive recipients of consumerism.

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

A look at Kingsley, opening this fall on Avenue B

Just checking in on Kingsley, the new, 65-seat restaurant in the works at 190 Avenue B between East 11th Street and East 12th Street.

Kingsley is scheduled to open this fall. The restaurant has a website here and Facebook page.



Here's the restaurant's description via Facebook:

Our focus is seasonal, local, market-driven, contemporary French-American cuisine. The menu, cocktail program, and wine list are dynamic and unique, to complement the atmosphere. All dishes have interesting juxtaposition of flavors and textures, while still being balanced and reminiscent of classic dishes and tastes. The goal is delicious, inspired, and creative food and drink.

Chef-owner Roxanne Spruance's resumé includes working in the kitchen with Wylie Dufresne at the late WD~50 on Clinton Street. (You can read the rest of her bio here.)

The previous restaurant at No. 190, the 7-year-old Back Forty, closed for good after service last Dec. 21.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Modern American in the works for former Back Forty space on Avenue B

Thanksgiving dining deal season underway

[Photo yesterday by EVG Dining Correspondent Steven]

We're just five weeks out now to Thanksgiving … and Dallas BBQ on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place just might be the first local restaurant to fire up its Thanksgiving Dinner Specials… the Thanksgiving Dinner Banner arrived on the sidewalk yesterday…

Looks like a good deal for $15.99, though, strangely, nothing will be BBQ'd.

Opening day tix remain for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' at the Regal Union Square 14

You probably already know that presale tickets for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (No. VII!) went on sale last night after the new trailer debuted during halftime of that Giants-Eagles game.



Just out of curiosity we poked around the Regal Union Square 14 website and found seats still available during various times on Dec. 17 and Dec. 18 (and probably other times, though we didn't actually look) ... Union Square is always a site for a marathon screening of George Lucas' saga starting Dec. 17 ... and ending six movies (and several Jar Jar Binks sightings) later with the premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in 3D.

No. VII is also playing at the blockbuster-friendly Regal Battery Park Stadium 11. (Does anyone else strongly dislike the Regal Union Square 14?)

A sidewalk message outside the Stage on 2nd Avenue

Seen outside 128 Second Ave. this afternoon … a new message that reads: "Push back predatory landlords! Icon we see you!"

The 35-year-old diner has been closed since March 30 here between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place during an ongoing legal tussle with landlord Icon Reality.

Thanks to EVG contributor Steven for the photo.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[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

[Updated] The Stage is giving away its bulk food and supplies to charity

Report: The Stage is suing landlord Icon Realty to halt eviction process

The Stage is now crowdfunding to help in its legal fight with Icon Realty

Reader report: St. Mark's Place street sculpture hauled away

[Photo by Allen Semanco]

Over the weekend we heard from someone concerned that the latest sculpture (that arrived mid-September) on the northeast corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place was starting to lean, and possibly in danger of falling.

Now EV Grieve reader Allen Semanco reports the following: "Well, whoever was afraid of this sculpture hurting someone, worry no more. It was unceremoniously dragged into the back of an AQEL Sheet Metal (Harlem-based) pickup truck this afternoon around 1:30. New window gates, here we come."


[After 1:30 p.m.]

As you can see in the above photo, the recently arrived chair with the legs remains…

Debunking a landlord's harassment tactics

In an earlier post today, we recapped the Page 1 story from the Times yesterday in which tenants of Raphael Toledano's 444 E. 13th St. secretly recorded conversations with the landlord's alleged agent who was trying to scare them into leaving their rent-stabilized apartments.

As a response to this, Brick Underground spoke with a real-estate lawyer to get a point-by-point takedown of every approach used in the recordings. As writer Virignia K. Smith notes, the situation provides "a learning opportunity for anyone facing illegal scare tactics from their own landlord."

To the article:

"These are classic harassment techniques, they've been around for decades," says Sam Himmelstein, a lawyer who represents residential and commercial tenants and tenant associations. "It's almost like the guy read the DHCR's standard harassment complaint form and said let me 'do all the things they list there'." (Indeed, a good amount of what's said on these recordings flies directly in the face of recently-enacted laws designed to protect regulated tenants from harassment.)

The Brick Underground piece goes on to have Himmelstein debunk claims made in each of the recordings published by the Times, including "The whole building is being de-stabilized, so your rent will increase regardless."

A lesson here: Don't "take anything a landlord (or representative) tells you at face value, even if it all sounds very official and above-board."

Read the full article here.

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

[Photo from May by Stacie Joy]

Raphael Toledano and his Brook Hill Properties continue to make headlines. Here's a look at two recent published reports…

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In case you missed the Page 1 story in The New York Times yesterday … the paper published additional recordings between rent-stabilized tenants of Toledano's 444 E. 13th St. and one of his alleged brokers.

In an ongoing legal fight, the tenants submitted audio and video recordings to housing court depicting the agents trying to scare them into leaving their apartments.

“The building is going to be shaking; the vermin will start running,” one agent, who identified himself as Newton Hinds in a cellphone audio recording, said about the planned demolition.

According to the Times, Toledano denied harassing the tenants, and blamed Goldmark Property Management, which he subsequently fired, for all the problems. (Lawyers for Goldmark have denied in court papers that Hinds worked for them.)

In any event, the state's Tenant Protection Unit and attorney general's office are reportedly investigating the situation at No. 444, which Toledano bought in January for $6.1 million ... "and had subpoenaed information on Mr. Toledano's properties."

Toledano's East Village portfolio has grown substantially in recent months. In September, Brook Hill Properties completed the purchase of 16 East Village buildings from the Tabak family, paying $97 million for a portfolio that amounts to 301 apartments and 15 retail spaces.

The current issue of The Villager has a detailed article about the encounters residents of the recently acquired buildings on East Fifth Street have had with the 25-year-old Toledano, who often goes by Raffi.

To date, tenants in six of Toledano’s E. Fifth St. buildings have documented more than 140 interactions, altercations and outright threats by Toledano and his camp during the two-month period from this July 8 through Sept. 8. Some have reported being followed in the street by Raffi’s cousin Isaac Toledano, while others report encounters with a group of men dressed in black stepping out of SUV’s and insisting on entering and inspecting tenants’ apartments.

However, according to the article, there haven't been any "recorded complaints or reports of harassment by Toledano and his team" since Sept. 8. And as we noted on Sept. 23, some tenants in the buildings received welcome letters and boxes of chocolates from Brook Hill.

The charm offensive wasn't limited to residents. A volunteer at the 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden shared this letter with us:

By way of introduction, I work with Brook Hill Properties, a new landlord in the East Village. One of our commitments is to serve the community and its residents. As part of that, we are interested in partnering with organizations such as the 6&B Garden to explore ways in which we can work together in the East Village neighborhood.

We would welcome the opportunity to come to the garden and learn more about your vision and goals as a leading community group. In doing so, we are hoping to better understand the role we can play in becoming an active community partner.

Meanwhile, according to The Villager, Toledano is currently under contract to purchase an additional 11 buildings in the East Village, West Village and Murray Hill for $55 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

Brookhill Properties launches chocolate offensive

The monthly 9th Precinct Community Council meeting is tonight; plus 1 way to end a party

[Image via Facebook]

The 9th Precinct Community Council meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m.

We heard about one topic that residents will address during tonight's meeting. According to the East Fifth Street Block Association, there have been increasing complaints from residents on Second Avenue and on the southeast side of East Sixth Street and the northeast side of East Fifth Street who "are suffering from noisy, late outdoor parties."

Specifically:

"There was one in the yard of 237 E. 5th St. on Saturday and neighbors from various abutting buildings could be seen hanging out of their window entreating the revelers to quiet down. Police were called and did not show up ... the whole thing finally was shut down when someone hosed the party down."

The meeting, which starts at 7 p.m., is at the 9th Precinct, 321 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.