543 1/2 E. 6th St. is for sale

[EVG photo]

The corner buildings on Avenue B and East Sixth Street — aka home of Sunny & Annie's — is warmly being marketed as an "East Village Performing Investment."

Let's check out the listing, which arrived last week, via Halstead:

543.5 East 6th Street consists of two contiguous and inter-connected buildings at the corner of Avenue B and East 6th Street. The buildings comprise five residential apartments and two ground floor commercial units, all free market and all currently leased. The free market residential units are on annual leases and the commercial leases expire on 2020 and 2016.

Additionally, there are approximately 800 square feet of available air rights. Luxury triplex unit with deck and private roof, currently rented at $9,000.00/ month, would make an excellent owner occupied unit. Triplex and one bedroom units could be upgraded to increase rent roll. Roof replaced 1 year ago. New HVAC units in triplex. Triplex decks replaced one year ago. Great opportunity to own a performing asset, or as a live in opportunity with income.

The price: $8.95 million.

Here's a look at that triplex above Sunny & Annie's...







Interestingly enough, we wrote about these buildings six years ago to the date.


[In case you don't believe me]

At the time, the asking price was $4.8 million. (According to public record, the building last changed hands for $4.2 million in 2006 to a revocable trust.)

Meanwhile, Sunny & Annie's and the Woodhouse Spa (that name!) are the two retail tenants. It's not clear from the listing whose lease expires in 2016 ... and which one is up in 2020, per the listing.

Triplex images via Halstead

Noted

Perhaps it's time to start thinking about the annual gathering of drunken revelers in costumes.

No, not Halloween...

Multiple EVG readers have passed along photos of the "We love SantaCon!" poster on the front door of the Continental, Third Avenue at St. Mark's Place...



Per the sign, first noted here, the Continental will open at 11 a.m. on the day of SantaCon.

So far, there hasn't been any official announcement about a date or location for the annual gathering of [______________].

But the organizers have already started priming the pump, or whatever…

About 'a coordinated visit' to buildings owned by Brookhill Properties on East 5th Street

[EVG file photo of 233-235 E. 5th St.]

Despite assurances to the contrary, some residents who live in the 16 buildings that Raphael Toledano's Brookhill Properties recently purchased are apprehensive about their future rental situations… especially with the news that has been coming out of 444 E. 13th St. in recent months, where rent-stablized tenants claim that they were allegedly threatened and harassed to leave their homes after Brookhill's January acquisition. (See The New York Times and DNAinfo for more background.)

We received the following statement from the East Fifth Street Toledano Tenants Coalition, consisting of five Toledano-owned buildings on Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

[T]hese five buildings on East Fifth Street received a coordinated visit last Thursday [Oct. 22] by a group of representatives from the New York State Attorney General’s office, The New York City Department of Buildings and The New York State Division of Housing and Renewal. All apartment doors were knocked on, and representatives spoke with available tenants, made inspections of apartment conditions and building conditions and issued violations to the buildings. Perhaps the presence of these state and city agencies will ensure that Toledano’s tenants on East Fifth Street will not have to suffer what those at 444 East 13th St. did.

Meanwhile, a resident on East Fifth Street passed along this letter, noting that "Brookhill forgot to pay his post office box fee! Attached is a letter all East Fifth Street residents received last week."


[Click on image for larger view]

Per the note:

We are doing our best to have your monthly rent payments processed as soon as possible and apologize for any delay in doing so during this first month of ownership. Moving forward you can be confident that processing of your payments will be timely and accurate. This being said, if you have found that your rent check has not been processed for the month of October 2015 and your bank account has not been debited, please re-send your payment to the below address. We have been informed by USPS that there was a system glitch, which resulted in the return of numerous tenant's rent payments. This was remedied on October 19,2015.

If your payment was processed and thus your account has been debited, no action is required on your part. Please continue to ensure that your check is made payable to the order of
the specific LLC designated to your building.

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

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

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

At NatureEs, the Mars Bar replacement that apparently is no longer open

There hasn't been much, if any, daytime activity over at NatureEs, the juice bar/cafe/"wellness center" combo at 21 E. First St. in Jupiter 21, the residential building that rose from the grave of the Mars Bar and several other businesses here between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Former Mars Bar owner Hank Penza was reportedly a partner in this new venture that included a founder of Juice Press.

The cafe space was seemingly cleaned out about a month ago… the doors are always locked during the announced business hours… for at least a week in late September, there were signs on the door noting a closure for a private event...



An EVG reader noted bouncers and a line outside on several nights in early October (there is an active liquor license for the space)…



Out of curiosity, I stopped by NatureEs twice during its run … once right after it opened this past May. There was a disorganized vibe to the place, though you may expect a little chaos shortly after opening.

NatureEs actually didn't have much for sale in this huge space — six juices … a chia bowl. The (presumably?) manager, who treated me like an undesirable party guest, said they were making smoothies, but they didn't have menus yet. They also had hot soup — a lentil bean concoction, which seemed a little much on this unseasonably warm May afternoon. They had two small to-go dishes. The chia bowl and a broccoli/cauliflower mix. Neither item had the ingredients (nor the price) listed. The vegetables had a sauce, but no one knew what it was. Also, the AC wasn't working.

I returned later in the summer, when NatureEs looked more inviting…



I looked around the well-appointed space … I was the only person there, other than the lone employee…



I looked at some body oils and scented candles… it had the feel of a fake store created for a film set…



Eventually I decided to — in the name of blogalism — fork over $11 for a smoothie … the Starter Wife, featuring avocado, pineapple, spinach, ginger and coconut water, sounded appealing (enough).



The employee said of course, and disappeared into the back room. He returned several minutes later with a sheepish look and the news that he did not have any avocados on-hand to make this smoothie. Maybe come back?

Yesterday, CB3 released its roster of meetings for November, including the SLA committee meeting set for Nov. 16.

Among the items on the agenda under alterations:

• Naturees (Paulmil Cafe Inc), 21 E 1st St (alt/op/convert juice bar to Spanish bistro and add additional bar)

So it appears there are plans to convert the juice bar/spa into a bar-restaurant.

Previously on EV Grieve:
NatureEs calls: About the organic cafe coming to where Mars Bar 2.0 was in the works

A quick look inside NatureEs, the new organic cafe coming to 21 E. 1st St.

Hitchcocktober movie of the week: 'Rear Window'

Tonight at 8, a personal favorite with the Hitchcocktober movie of the week at the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at East 12th Street... it's "Rear Window"



And thus we conclude another Hitchcocktober. See you next month for NovemBay, featuring the oeuvre of Michael Bay...

An Autumn afternoon

Photo in Tompkins Square Park today by Bobby Williams...

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: Robert, who is a little camera shy, with Stellar
Occupation: Hair Stylist
Location: 2nd Street and Avenue A
Time: 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23

I’m from upstate New York originally. I moved to California after graduating from SUNY Binghamton. I went to beauty school and ended up having my own salon. It was great. I had traveled around California and had friends who were living in Monterey. I spent 15 years there. But I became sick of the friggin’ fog.

I came to the city in 1986. My parents were moving back up from Florida. I spent two weeks with friends from California and partied my ass off. Then an apartment I had fell through at the last minute and friends said, oh but so and so knows this place on St. Mark's and 1st, so I ended up there with a couple of roommates.

At that point, I would come to Avenue A, go to Odessa, go to the Pyramid Club to go dancing and stuff, but you couldn’t go into the Park. It was a real mess. But I enjoyed the part of the neighborhood you could walk in. It was friendly. You could actually talk to people and meet people and stuff. There’s a sense of community. It’s changing. There are all these new buildings that to me don’t seem to fit in.

My career went really great in California. After a few years I got a clientele together and had my own salon. I was busy as hell. Then when I moved here, I found a salon to work in on 7th and 23rd. It was called Eclipse. I started dating the hair colorist. Then the salon closed for back taxes. We were able to get clients files. So we ended up sitting on 23rd Street splitting up the files. It was coming up summer and you know how dead the city gets. We were like how are we really going to survive?

I ended up back in California because that was the place where I knew. Only lasted a year there because [my boyfriend] freaked out. I think he expected Florida. In California, he'd stand on the balcony looking out through the fog and say, They called this place fuckin’ beautiful?

So we moved to Orlando. This was back in the 1990s. There were lots of job openings and, of course, the weather was great. We had a pool in the backyard and a two-bedroom house. But you can’t make any money. After doing hair for 20 years I was getting paid like $7.50 an hour. I stayed for two years and had eight jobs. I worked a couple jobs for Disney — for the Epcot Center.

I ended up coming back here. I moved to an apartment on Avenue A near 14th Street. There was a large thunderstorm once when I wasn’t there. I came back and said something’s wrong downstairs. There was black mold from floor to ceiling and all around. And [management] did their half-assed renovation of it. They just took a cloth and washed it and slapped on some paint. I didn’t think it was healthy to continue living there. I tried to get the landlord to check it out, to do something about it. The building manager wouldn’t so I got a local lab. I took a piece and they tested it and it came back with like four pages. It was Stachybotrys plus seven or eight other molds. My landlord was like, You’re just freaking out. I was like, You’re goddam right I’m freaking out.

So it was time to move. And now I'm in an apartment between C and D. It is a safer place in a lot of ways, but, then again, I would say that I don’t think it’s that safe, especially on Avenue D and especially later at night. I was returning home [over the summer] and walking the dog. I went up the steps and I saw the cops who were walking by me and I said, thank you for being out here and walking the beat, because I feel like Avenue D is going downhill and they turned to me and said, the whole neighborhood is going downhill.

In my building, two people have reported junkies walking in during the afternoon … and finding junkies in the hallway shooting up. As you walk down the stairs, there are stairs that lead into the basement. I walked out awhile ago and there was a junkie on the steps. He turned and looked up at me and carried on.

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

Check out the new 10-story building for the former 2nd Avenue BP station

The demolition work got underway yesterday (officially anyway) at 24 Second Ave. at East First Street.

As if that's not newsy enough, the city OK'd the plans (per DOB records) on Monday for the new 10-story retail-residential complex that will call this corner home. (Pretty speedy turnaround for the city. Reps for the developer only filed the plans in July.)

Dumbo-based RSVP Studio is the architect of record. While we didn't find any renderings at RSVP, there is a new one on the website for mortgage lender Ladder Capital, who provided a bridge loan for … brace!



Permits show some 45,000 square feet for the 31 residences (rentals? condos?) … and another 5,700 square feet for the commercial space.

As New York Yimby first noted in July when the developers filed the permits, apartments will begin on the second floor, with four to five units per floor through the sixth story. The seventh and eighth floors will host two duplexes, and the ninth and tenth floors will hold one penthouse duplex with a private roof deck. Amenities include a shared terrace and recreation space on the second floor, and a fitness room, storage and bike storage in the cellar.

The BP — which was the second-to-last gas station left in the East Village — closed in July 2014.

Previously on EV Grieve:
RUMOR: Gas station going, boutique hotel coming on Second Avenue? (31 comments)

BP station on 2nd Avenue closes this month

The 2nd Avenue BP station has closed

Report: 50,000 square feet of condos coming to the former 2nd Avenue BP station

Permits filed to demolish former 2nd Avenue BP station

More about the 10-story building taking the place of the former BP station at 24 2nd Ave.

A look inside the last East Village gas station

On 2nd Avenue, Moonstruck Diner is now The Kitchen Sink

So we're told the sign/name switcheroo happened in the middle of last week here on Second Avenue at East Fifth Street ... goodbye Moonstruck Diner, hello The Kitchen Sink...



As we understand it, the ownership is the same... and while the diner standbys (burgers, omelettes, sandwiches, etc.) remain, the menu has been glammed up a bit, which would explain the cringeworthy arrival of Punk Rock Shrimp...



The owners revamped the space back in January ... this was on top of the fall 2014 revamp that ushered in the arrival of a new bar, draft beer and multiple flat-screen TVs ... (and — mason jars!)... running a diner in NYC is a tough business these days with rising costs and changing tastes.

Anyway, we've stopped by several times in recent months for dinner ... and the food was always solid, and the service friendly… we'll give The Kitchen Sink a whirl one of these days too, though the thought of saying We're going to eat at The Kitchen Sink doesn't sound so appealing…

[Updated] Former Sustainable NYC space for lease

The for rent sign has arrived at 139 Avenue A, previously home to Sustainable NYC the past seven years between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

The sign just arrived, and so the listing hasn't made its way to the Douglas Elliman website yet. Updated: The rent is $12k a month.

The eco-minded general store and café closed back at the beginning of August after waning sales and missed rent payments.

And some related reading from the Times in 2007 … when the address was home to Alt Coffee … because someone usually mentions Alt Coffee in relation to this address.

There are now 2 ping-pong tables in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo last week by Derek Berg]

The city installed the ping-pong table in Tompkins Square Park back on March 18, 2011… and while the table has been the scene of mindless bloodletting through the years… The table has proven to be a popular draw… so much so that the city has placed another one in the Park … over near the basketball courts…


[Image via Facebook]

Both tables come courtesy of local manufacturer Henge, whose president, Alan Good, is an East Village resident.

We asked Good why he donated another table to Tompkins Square Park.

"Tompkins won over other locations because of the astonishing growth in spirit of the core group of players there," he said via an email. "The age range is now 11 to 75, with a wide mix of economic classes, with people giving lessons to newcomers."



Henge continues to hold ping-pong tournaments on Saturdays this fall (see their Facebook page for details).

And now, a look though the EVG archives at some non-ping-pong moments at the ping-pong table…


[August 2014 via Bobby Williams]


[March 2013 via Bobby Williams]

[March 2012 via Bobby Williams]

[May 2011 via EVG]

[Updated] American Apparel packing up its spandex, cotton and denim and leaving the LES

BoweryBoogie points out today that the 11-year-old American Apparel outpost on East Houston and Orchard has closed… probably not a shocker given that the company is teetering on the verge of financial collapse or something less dramatic sounding.

On this occasion, we will dig deep into the EVG archives for this post from December 2009 thoughtfully titled "And now, my collection of the newish American Apparel ads" …







… and maybe our first sighting of the American Apparel van on Avenue A in December 2008… bringing the micro-mesh to the people…



Updated 6:38 p.m.

An American Apparel spokesperson emailed us the following statement:

"This store closure is a next step in implementing our previously announced turnaround plan, which includes closing underperforming locations and investing in new stores in promising areas."

So the LES is no longer promising?

Saint's Alp Teahouse closes for good after today

Saint's Alp Teahouse, purportedly the first teahouse to bring bubble tea to New York City, is closing its door after service tonight on Third Avenue.

Owner Bob Chan didn't offer any reason for the closure. (Lost lease? Increased rent? Decline in business?)

Here's a note from Chan from under the "About Us" tab on the Teahouse website:

The first location opened in 1995 in Chinatown on the corner of Mott Street and Bayard Street. Back then I don't believe bubble tea was even a word in the English Dictionary. Now you can get bubble tea almost anywhere.

When foods get popular, they get commoditized. It becomes a way for many people to cash in on what's popular today. This is a double edged sword. The obvious benefit is the popularity. I am very happy that the product is getting national, even international recognition. The downside is that in many attempts to cash in, some very important aspects are taken for granted. The quality is compromised for profit margins. The experience is compromised for convenience.

This outpost of a Hong Kong-based chain opened in the East Village in 1999. They closed for a month at the beginning of the year for a renovation and menu upgrade.

East Village writer Christine Champagne told us about the closure. She had been a regular since 2002. "I come on my own a few days a week to get a break from work. It is one of those places where you can sit and think and not be bothered or you can chat with the employees if you are so inclined."

The retail strip in the base of NYU's Alumni Hall between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street is rather barren now: Four of six storefronts will sit empty. Subway was the last tenant to go. Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery closed in July 2014. Citi Habitats moved out in June 2014.

Local politicos seek answers from the Blackstone Group on the Stuy Town air rights deal

News broke last week that The Blackstone Group was partnering with Canadian investment firm Ivanhoe Cambridge to buy Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.3 billion.

As part of the new agreement with the city, Blackstone will preserve 5,000 units as affordable for the next 20 years, according to The New York Times.

Only later did more details emerge, that the deal contains an inducement: Blackstone has New York City's backing to sell the property’s unused development rights, as The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Per the Journal:

Development rights — also known as air rights — are a hotly contested jewel sought by Manhattan developers. Every property has its own allocation of air rights based on zoning, and for those buildings that haven’t used all of them, the rights can be sold to others looking to build vertically. But such sales are generally restricted to properties on the same block.

Stuyvesant Town has more than 700,000 square feet of these rights, according to people who have reviewed the property’s zoning. That is more than half the size of the Chrysler Building— roughly enough for about 1,000 rental apartments.

Yesterday, City Comptroller Scott Stringer sent John Gray, global head of real estate, a letter asking for clarification on the density of the air rights Blackstone may be transferring.

Here are portions of the letter:

[W]e must express our concern regarding your intention to pursue transferring air rights from ST/PCV to the surrounding communities. This component of the agreement has not been disclosed in any detailed way either in the public documents or in our New York’s communities are keenly aware of the potential impacts associated with air rights, and any plan to radically change the zoning of a large parcel of land must include the community’s voice. ST/PCV tenants, the local community board, and the surrounding neighborhoods need and deserve a detailed description of Blackstone’s intentions including the scale, timeline and public purpose of the zoning change.

Air rights are not a commodity that can be transferred across the city at will; they are zoned onto individual properties pursuant to a larger neighborhood plan and only after full consideration of the potential impacts. The transfer of air rights from one block to another has only been permitted in connection with a clear public purpose and only when limited to the immediate vicinity of the site in question...

While ST/PCV is an iconic community endowed with substantial open space, the two superblocks that make up the complex include neither landmarks nor public parks. Further, the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the superblocks have few vacant parcels to accommodate any new density. Therefore, the public purpose of your proposal, and the boundaries within which an air rights transfer can occur, are not readily apparent.

The public reporting has indicated that only 700,000 square feet of air rights are available on the site. However, the October 2015 term sheet applies no restriction on the total density that can be transferred, and Department of City Planning data indicates that the unused air rights on the two superblocks could amount to 10.7 million square feet when community facility uses are included. While we recognize that no official number has yet to be set, the potential impacts of 10.7 million square feet of density on public transit, streets or other critical infrastructure are staggering, and the true number must be clarified and publicly disclosed.

Finally, while we appreciate that no formal agreement has been submitted, a change of this potential magnitude deserves immediate public disclosure and discussion. It is essential that these conversations begin prior to finalizing an agreement to ensure time for community consultation.

The letter was also signed by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and State Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh.

Among the questions they are seeking answers to:

• What is the scale of density of air rights that Blackstone is intending to transfer?
• What is Blackstone’s intended timeline for public discussions, disclosures and feedback?
• What geographical constraints is Blackstone considering for receiving sites of the density?

Image via

Here's what Ben Shaoul's 98-100 Avenue A will likely look like now

[EVG photo from Saturday]

Now that we know Ben Shaoul's new condo building will be two floors taller at 98-100 Avenue A... what will the final product look like here between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street?

The current rendering on the plywood looks like...



But here's the actual rendering (H/T NY Yimby!) via Issac & Stern Architects...





According to Isaac & Stern, the mixed-use building is approximately 30,000 square feet with and 44 residences. In announcing sales of the condos last month, The Real Deal noted that there would be 33 residences. Per broker Ryan Serhant, prices will range from the high $1,000s per square foot to north of $2,000 per square foot.

As previously reported, Blink Fitness will be the commercial tenant.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Trying to figure out what is going on at 98-100 Avenue A

The Swiss Water® Coffee Studio opens Friday on Lafayette and East Houston

[Photo via EVG reader Mike]

A pop-up shop opens Friday in part of the BP station on Lafayette and East Houston that's facing demolition to make way for a retail-office building.

Here's the deal about the Swiss Water® Coffee Studio via Facebook:

This is a one of a kind experience to try coffee like you’ve never had it before.

Inside the Swiss Water® Coffee Studio you will be invited to experience the Art of Coffee Without Caffeine. Be guided through a sensory experience that includes espresso, hand crafted manually brewed coffee and cold brew options. There will also be educational elements of how we remove caffeine from coffee with our innovative and unique 100% chemical free process.

In the evenings, the experience amplifies the Art of Coffee Without Caffeine and additional musical elements and creative coffee cocktails will be introduced.

The studio will be up through Nov. 8. You can read more about the company here.

Sexy East 9th Street raccoon for Halloween

Photos last night on East Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C by Shawn Chittle…