Biang! is hiring, and looks to be open soon in the former Alder space on 2nd Avenue

As we first reported last week, Xi'an Famous Foods owner Jason Wang is moving Biang!, his family-style Chinese restaurant, from Main Street in Flushing to 157 Second Ave.

The sign on the restaurant front here between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street notes that Biang! is now hiring servers and buspersons... with a December 2015 opening date.



So it sounds as if they are quickly converting the space of the previous tenant, Alder, chef Wylie Dufresne's bistro that closed after two-and-a-half years at the end of August.

As Eater noted, the well-regarded Biang! — which specializes in skewers and noodles — received one star from The New York Times. Biang! was also included on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list.

Biang! is on tonight's CB3 SLA committee docket for a beer-wine new liquor license.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Jason Wang bringing Xi'an Famous Foods offshoot Biang! to the former Alder space on 2nd Avenue

A look at the rest of the December CB3-SLA agenda for tonight

Ahead of tonight's CB3 SLA committee meeting, we've looked at four of the applicants:

• Biang!, 157 Second Ave.
• Bagel Belly, 114 Third Ave.
• Unnamed concept, 131 Avenue A
• IL Mago, 234 E. Fourth St.

So the meeting is at 6:30 p.m. in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

You can find the whole meeting docket here. Otherwise, what follows are a selection of what the committee will hear tonight...

Renewal with Complaint
• Revision Lounge and Gallery (219 Avenue B Music Lounge Inc), 219 Ave B (op)

• Poco (Becaf LLC), 33 Ave B (sidewalk cafe)

CB3 recommended to deny Poco's liquor license renewal back in July. You can find the minutes of the meeting here.

From those minutes:

Community Board 3 has now received complaints from residents from April of 2014 through July of 2015, about the failure of the business to oversee the sidewalk, unruly drunk patrons from the business blocking the sidewalk, excessive noise from patrons and music emanating from the sidewalk café, which has an open façade, all you can drink brunch specials, the sidewalk café operating past its permitted time of 10:00 P.M., the service of alcohol at the sidewalk café after its permitted closing time and the café taking up too much of the sidewalk;

...and, in May of 2015, the Department of Consumer Affairs issued two (2) violations against this business for its sidewalk café exceeding its permitted footprint on the sidewalk and having ten (10) too many tables when it was permitted for ten (10) tables and twenty (20) seats with a closing time of 10:00 P.M. every day; and, this business has received eight (8) 311 commercial noise complaints between April 13, 2014 and June 25, 2015, between 3:30 P.M. and 1:00 A.M., six (6) of which resulted in police reporting that they took action to correct a nonprime ...

Poco's website advertises that they are "NYC's favorite boozy brunch."



The sidewalk cafe renewal is up for discussion tonight.

• No Malice Palace (197 Artichoke Corp), 197 E 3rd St (op)

Sidewalk Cafe Application
• Schnitz (DY Schnitz LLC), 177 1st Ave

Alterations
• Russ & Daughters Cafe (FourthGen LLC), 127 Orchard St (op/minor alt prior to opening to reflect final layout)

• Russ & Daughters Cafe (FourthGen LLC), 127 Orchard St (op/add live music once a month/display liquor bottles)

• Juke Bar (Maddsg LLC), 301 E 12th St (op/add live music)

• Turntable 50' and 60' (Vintage B Inc), 56-58 Ave B aka 235-237 E 4th St (wb/extend hours to 1am)

New Liquor License Applications
• Numero 28 (La Meridiana I LTD), 176 2nd Ave (upgrade to op)

• Villa Cemita Inc, 50 Ave A (wb/legalize alt)

Items not heard at Committee
• Akina Sushi Inc, 424 E 14th St (wb)

-----
b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations

605 E. 11th St. is for sale

Wiechert Properties has the listing for the building between Avenue B and Avenue C.

GREAT INCOME PRODUCING APARTMENT BUILDING: 20 Units, 5 newly renovated vacant apartments, New electrical throughout building, New video security system, upgraded roof, gutters, heating system.

The listing also includes the annual expenses for No. 605, which is interesting to note, though the punctuation appears to be off. This is exactly as it appears:

Current Expenses Inc. 14, 562-Taxes 77, 394 Fuel 35, 403-Water Sewer 3, 939

In any event, the asking price for the building is $16 million.

Image via Streeteasy

What's going behind 43 St. Mark's Place?

EVG reader Danny writes in...

Something strange is going on in the backyard of 43 St Mark's Place. The concrete patio has been been removed, and dozens of orange five-gallon buckets full of dirt are stacked in its place.

Does anyone know what's going on here? Is it a police investigation of a decades-old crime scene? Have archaeologists found the location of Peter Stuyvesant's outhouse? Or maybe the owners just decided that they have more dirt back there than they need, and they're getting rid of some. There's probably no room for a wheelbarrow to maneuver through the building, so buckets are the only way out.

Ramen Zundo-ya softly opens tonight on East 10th Street

Over at 84 E. 10th St., the sign is up noting that Ramen Zundo-ya is having its soft opening tonight here between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

This is the first U.S. restaurant for Tatsuya Hashimoto, who launched Ramen Zundo-ya in 2002… there are now 15 locations throughout Japan.

You can read more about the restaurant chain here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ramen Zundo-ya opening first U.S. outpost on East 10th Street

[Updated] Air pollution today?

EVG reader George Cohen says that early this morning, from after midnight to the time he went to bed, "a severe air pollution smell came through my windows" in his East Village apartment.

"I was in Beijing in 2013, and the air smelled like this. At about 10 am I went out, and Avenue D, down past Houston Street was in a THICK STINKY SMOG."

He took the above photo late this afternoon, "and I still could smell polluted air."

Cohen said that he checked the air pollution stats online, which received a "good" rating on one site and "moderate" on another...

"I beg to differ. This is f----d up. This could be an example of faulty air monitoring, or it's a coverup. Not likely, but I certainly did not imagine the smell and the visuals. I wonder what's up?"

Updated 12/7 11 a.m.

Via the Weather Channel... in ALL CAPS:

... AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT THROUGH MIDNIGHT...
THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION HAS ISSUED AN AIR QUALITY HEALTH ADVISORY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
RICHMOND... KINGS... QUEENS... NEW YORK... BRONX... WESTCHESTER... ROCKLAND.

AIR QUALITY LEVELS IN OUTDOOR AIR ARE PREDICTED TO BE GREATER THAN AN AIR QUALITY INDEX VALUE OF 100 FOR FINE PARTICLES. THE AIR QUALITY INDEX... OR AQI... WAS CREATED AS AN EASY WAY TO CORRELATE LEVELS OF DIFFERENT POLLUTANTS TO ONE SCALE. THE HIGHER THE AQI VALUE, THE GREATER THE HEALTH CONCERN.

WHEN POLLUTION LEVELS ARE ELEVATED... THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RECOMMENDS THAT INDIVIDUALS CONSIDER LIMITING STRENUOUS OUTDOOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS. PEOPLE WHO MAY BE ESPECIALLY SENSITIVE TO THE EFFECTS OF ELEVATED LEVELS OF POLLUTANTS INCLUDE THE VERY YOUNG, AND THOSE WITH PRE-EXISTING RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS SUCH AS ASTHMA OR HEART DISEASE. THOSE WITH SYMPTOMS SHOULD CONSIDER CONSULTING THEIR PERSONAL PHYSICIAN.

A TOLL FREE AIR QUALITY HOTLINE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED SO NEW YORK RESIDENTS CAN STAY INFORMED ON THE AIR QUALITY SITUATION. THE TOLL FREE NUMBER IS: 1 800 5 3 5, 1 3 4 5.

Openings: Hou Yi Hot Pot, Kingsley

Hou Yi Hot Pot is now open at 97 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street...



This is the second location for Hou Yi Hot Pot, which also has a spot on Hester Street in the northern fringes of Chinatown. Serious Eats called Hou Yi "comfortable and friendly" and "This is your Manhattan Chinatown go-to for hot pot."

And at 190 Avenue B between near East 12th Street, Kingsley, a seasonal French-American restaurant, opened this past Wednesday...



Here's the Times with some thoughts on the restaurant:

Three spaces — a dining room with a long bar, a loungelike area and a back room, all softly done in neutral tones — serve the same menu that the chef Roxanne Spruance delivers from her semi-open kitchen. She worked at Blue Hill, WD-50 and Alison Eighteen. Gallic touches show through in roasted bone marrow with shallots and tarragon, monkfish with melted leeks and a chicken thigh napoleon.

Kingsley's website is here and the menus are 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

A look at Kingsley, opening this fall on Avenue B

Let there be new lights on Cooper Square

Oh, just noting the recent arrival of new lamp posts for Cooper Square...



...as part of the ongoing reconstruction of Astor Place.

Anyway, the lamps look pretty nice, and will capably help illuminate the way to the new CVS on Astor Place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Alamo has been away from Astor Place for 1 year now

Today in stretch limo parking on East 6th Street

Practice makes... via an EVG reader this afternoon...

The ghost in you

Today in Tompkins Square Park by Bobby Williams...

Openings: Autre Kyo Ya, Tac N Roll

Autre Kyo Ya, the sister restaurant of Kyo Ya, the Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant at 94 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, is now in soft-open mode at 10 Stuyvesant St.



As Eater points out: "Autre Kyo Ya is slightly different, with more affordable price points and more inspiration from western cooking." (Eater has a copy of the menu for the restaurant just off of East Ninth Street and Third Avenue.)

GM Erina Yoshida and her father Tony also own Sunrise Mart and the cocktail bar Angel's Share. Autre Kyo Ya last housed the tapas bar The Barrel.

Meanwhile, Tac N Roll, a quick-serve Mexican restaurant at 124 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, is also in soft-open operations.



Here's a look at their menu via their still under-construction website...



And for now, the second taco is free...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Autre Kyo Ya coming soon to the former Barrel space on Stuyvesant Street

For those about to Cookie Walk

In case you didn't see the signage up at St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church on Avenue A at East 10th Street ... the 7th annual Cookie Walk is happening here next weekend...



Dec. 12 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Dec. 13 from noon to 3 p.m.

Head over to the official site for more details. But basically:

This is not your average church bake sale!
Let us transport you back in time.
As you enter the Cookie Walk, you will be greeted with the smell of baking cookies made from only the best ingredients. We have been baking non-stop for days so that tens of thousands of fresh baked cookies await you. There is nothing hi-tech here - just holiday goodness and old-fashioned fun.

Take a walk through our Cookie Wonderland and fill a box with your favorites from over fifty varieties of homemade confections. There are two sizes of boxes: $15 & $25 plus special Gluten Free options at our yummy Hot Chocolate Bar! And, the hot chocolate - no mix here - a secret recipe that is hand-stirred for a half hour and topped with marshmallows, whipped cream or both!

After the last cookie is packed, be sure to visit Tinseltown a holiday gift market for everyone on your list.

Perfect for young families! At our Little Elves Bakery & Workshop, children 10 and under can create their own sweet masterpiece to take home – no charge except to have FUN! Santa will also visit through the day for pictures at our awesome Photo Booth.

Let's hope that the wrong Santa doesn't show up on the 12th...

Developing/breaking: Lights going up on the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree

After waiting 75 minutes in line for lights at the Rite Aid on First Avenue, Crews were out this morning to start the annual tree decorating (aka putting up the lights in an often haphazard fashion)...


[Photo by John Greally]

Meantime, we haven't heard anything yet about the official tree lightning ceremony (this year will mark the 24th annual). Last year's event was on Sunday, Dec. 14. So maybe Dec. 13 this year? We'll find out!

Updated 10:43

Via Steven...





And later... via Bobby Williams...



-----

From the archives ...


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Jenny from the bloc

Oh, was just reading about !!! serving as their own opening act, renaming themselves Stereolad to play a set of Stereolab covers at a show in Seattle Tuesday night.

So here is the real (now-retired) Stereolab from 1993 with "Jenny Ondioline," the lead single from the album Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements.

EV Grieve Etc.: Manitoba on Manitoba's; love for Love Gang

[Photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

Talking with Handsome Dick Manitoba at Manitoba's (The New York Times)

Meeting the the proprietors of "rocker babe emporium" Love Gang on East Ninth Street (The Village Voice)

Where to find bikers, drugs and rock-&-roll onscreen (Anthology Film Archives)

Hawk interlopers in Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)

A new chef for Avant Garden on East Seventh Street (Eater)

Crazy amenities alert: Extell is giving buyers in Asia dibs on luxury apartments in the new 80-story tower on the Lower East Side (The Lo-Down)

The alleged tenant harassment continues at 135-137 Eldridge St. (BoweryBoogie)

Perfect Pussy singer Meredith Graves now has a weekly column featuring recipes and record reviews (The Village Voice)

A review of Garth Risk Hallberg’s sprawling new novel, "City on Fire," set in 1970s NYC (The New Yorker)

A look at Ben Shaoul's rental-to-condo conversion on First Avenue and East 23rd Street (NY Yimby)

The great La Taza de Oro is gone for good in Chelsea (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

That time someone thought it might be a good idea to fill in the Hudson River (Ephemeral New York)

Uncovering the documentary about an all Ace Frehley cover band (Dangerous Minds)

Moby trades the Lower East Side for Los Angeles for his new vegan restaurant venture, Little Pine (Well + Good)

The disappearing Hogs & Heifers (DNAinfo)

Diversions: The Swedish punk Peanuts (BoingBoing)

From the EVG inbox...

Bayside! The Musical! will makes its return to NYC and run alongside the hit show Full House! The Musical! at Theater 80 (80 St Marks & First Avenue) from Jan. 7 through Feb. 26. (Details here.)

And tomorrow at the Lower Eastside Girls Club...



And, lastly, EVG contributor Grant Shaffer finds that people can be sooo plastic on the L train...

History reimagined with $4.4 million penthouse at former 6th Street synagogue

[Photo from last month by Michael Hirsch]

Sales on the three luxe condos at the former Congregation Mezritch Synagogue at 415 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue are underway, as Curbed noted yesterday.

There are just two renderings to gawk at for now in the building with the tagline "History reimagined … For modern living."





And here are some of the amenities via the official 415 site:

Residences:
Direct entry via keyed elevator
4”-wide plank oak flooring throughout
Original stained glass windows in second and third floor residences

Kitchen:
Statuarietto Venato marble countertop and backsplash
Dornbracht Elio pullout spray faucet
Summit 24” two-zone wine refrigerator in Penthouse
InSinkErator garbage disposal

Master bathroom:
Herringbone pattern Cambric Persian White Classico honed marble tile floors
Bianco Bello polished marble tile walls
Custom double-sink vanity with honed Bianco Bello marble countertop
Deep soaking bathtub

And what will that Herringbone pattern Cambric Persian White Classico honed marble tile floors cost you?

Per Curbed:

[C]onsidering the size of the apartments and the location, they're pricey: the second-floor two-bed is $2.95 million; the third-floor unit is $3.25 million; and that penthouse, which has two private terraces, is asking $4.4 million.

Not mentioned anywhere is the proximity to the all-new Dunkin' Donuts on First Avenue and East Sixth Street.

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

Condos at former East 6th Street synagogue will start at just under $3 million

Sidewalk bridge comes down as condo conversion continues at former East 6th Street synagogue

More Italian in store for the former Perbacco space on East 4th Street

Last summer, Perbacco, the well-regarded regional Italian restaurant on East Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, quietly closed its doors.

In the months that followed, we expected to hear more about the situation ... or at least spot a for rent sign on the gate. That never happened.

Now, however, there is an applicant down for a new beer-wine license during this month's CB3-SLA committee meeting on Monday. (This item will not be heard before the committee.)

According to the public documents (PDF!) on file at the CB3 website, an Italian restaurant going by the name of IL Mago is in the works.

The paper work shows 18 tables accommodating 48 diners, with a six-seat bar. The proposed hours are 3 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, with an 11 a.m. opening time on Saturday and Sunday. We don't know anything about the proprietor of the new venture just yet.

Perbacco opened in 2000 at 234 E. Fourth St. People seemed to like it. (In his last review for the Times, Frank Bruni gave it high praise with two stars.)

In May 2014, Perbacco closed for a four-month long revamp that included a new design, menu and focus on wine. They were closed for good within nine months.

Anyway, the December CB3-SLA committee meeting is Monday night at 6:30 in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

The Sirovich Senior Center is holding its Annual Flea Market Fundraiser on East 12th Street

From the EVG inbox via the Sirovich Senior Center, which serves nearly 300 low-income older adults, providing them with access to various activities, such as arts, education and exercise classes.

The Sirovich Senior Center is holding its Annual Flea Market Fundraiser, showcasing ceramics, sculptures, knitted clothing, and more handmade items created by older adult members. All money raised will go to support arts programming at the Center. Sirovich is one of three Educational Alliance senior centers and is funded in part by NYC DFTA and UJA Federation.

Dates & Times:
Friday, Dec. 4: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 5: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Location:
331 E. 12th St., between First Avenue and Second Avenue
Sirovich Senior Center, Auditorium

A final group photo at Vic's Pizza on Essex Street

Back in September, we shared some of the group portraits that photographer Nick McManus took during the last day at three neighborhood businesses — Sounds on St. Mark's Place, Rainbow Music on First Avenue and Bicycle Habitat on Lafayette, which merged its retail spaces.

McManus — a group portrait artist who works on Impossible Project Polaroids for gallery exhibition — visited Vic's Pizza on Monday, the last day for the 45-year-old business on the Lower East Side.

The building housing the pizzeria at 51 Essex St. at Grand will reportedly be demolished to make way for a 6-story retail-residential structure.

Owner Victor Mendez told DNAinfo that he tried to move locations, "but found that most available retail spaces were at least $5,000 per month, a major price jump from the $2,200 he was paying on Essex Street."

The photo that McManus shared with us features Mendez seated center with fellow building evictee Taylor Twist, who lived upstairs from Vic's, and his friends...



Twist created the Vic's sweatshirt and hats in the photo to raise money to help Mendez start his post-pizzeria life. (There will be more info on the Vic's sweatshirts and hats here at Twist's website.)

You can find more of McManus' work via Instagram.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Closing time: Portraits of 3 newly shuttered storefronts

You won't shoot your eye out with the Flavor of the Month at Mikey Likes It on Avenue A

As previously noted, I always like Andre Trenier's 1980s-inspired murals on the roll-down gate at Mikey Likes It, 199 Avenue A near East 12th Street.

This month it's Ralphie from "A Christmas Story."


[Via Instagram]

And the flavor of the month: "Christmas Story" — an egg nog ice cream with carrot cake chunks and pumpkin pie pieces.