The empty storefront has looked this way for a little while here on Third Avenue at East 12th Street... however, it looked particularly photogenic in this morning's sunlight...
The colorful FroYo establishment closed in March 2015. Funkiberry opened in June 2014.
The asking rent for the corner space was $21,321.00 per month. However, the property is now off the market. So perhaps a new business is on the way. (Cue Beer Store comment!)
Francis Salud, who is under arrest for the apparent random slashing of a man on East Sixth Street on Jan. 16, spoke to a Post reporter yesterday at the Manhattan Detention Complex.
Per that conversation:
Salud told The Post he was on his way to score some pot when victim Anthony Christopher Smith walked toward him near Third Avenue and East Sixth Street on Jan. 16.
“Yo, Jamaica, you got some of that good bud?” Salud said he asked Smith.
“I don’t even f–k with you gooks,” Smith responded, according to Salud.
Salud added, “The government is profiting from the conflict between Caucasians and African-Americans, and it’s getting worse.”
Smith strongly denied that he spoke with his attacker. "There was no conversation," he told the Post. "I was attacked."
As previously reported, Smith underwent eight hours of surgery, and needed nearly 150 stitches for the wound from his right ear to his lips. He has partial paralysis on the right side of his face because several nerves were severed.
After 14 years in business at 185 Avenue C between East 11th Street and East 12th Street, Cafecito will be closing its doors for good after service on Sunday.
Several regulars shared news of the Cuban restaurant's closure, and a staffer confirmed the news. There will be a closing celebration Sunday night at 9. All Cafecito friends and fans are invited.
As we understand it, business had been tapering off ... and the Cafecito team didn't want to see it go out of business slowly and sadly — "dwindling into another solemn East Village story," as one source put it. In any event, the owners aren't leaving the neighborhood — they also run Royale at 157 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.
Like other businesses in the area, Cafecito was hit hard during Sandy in October 2012. Longtime manager Manny Garcia was featured in an Out and About in the East Village here in March 2013: "There was four feet of water in the building and we were closed almost a month. We’re still trying to recover financially. We had to replace everything. We didn’t have power for 3 weeks and to this day we still don’t have Verizon."
One nearby resident praised Cafecito's management for all their help through the years. "They could not have been any more supportive of local causes."
There is already a suitor lined up for the space. An applicant will appear before CB3's SLA committee next month. At this point, the applicant's identity hasn't been revealed.
From the EVG inbox...concerning East Fourth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C
A terrible smell has been lingering since the blizzard like a dead dog — or, not to be overly dramatic, a dead person.
This morning the area was surrounded by yellow tape. A police cruiser was blocking the street to traffic, and a Con Ed van was parked at the scene.
EVG correspondent Stacie Joy had actually taken some photos of the block, which is now closed off for Con Ed and other assorted emergency vehicles.
A resident says that Con Ed is here responding to a service outage. As for the possible source of the smell, one of the Con Ed workers said that their meter readers didn't pick up any natural gas. Yay!
Meanwhile, farther down the block at Avenue C... the FDNY was on the scene...
The FDNY, witnesses said, was there because of a manhole fire (it is manhole fire season!), which they believe led to the service outage up the block.
A manhole fire could cause a smell ... though residents have noticed the aroma going back to Sunday. No one could place the smell. Some suggested a very large dead rat. Some went with fermenting garbage. Another theory included "maybe someone hit a deer."
Nearly all of the evidence recovered from the deadly ambush of two NYPD officers on Avenue B and East 11th Street on Jan. 27, 1972, has disappeared (Daily News)
Brooklyn-based artist Jessica Olah is currently on a mission to make several thousand peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — for the sake of art, empathy for her mother and a good cause...
Olah estimated that from September 1990 through May 2004, her mother made 2,340 sandwiches for her to take to school.
"I was bringing someone their lunch [one day] and just marveling over the fact that my mom made me school lunches everyday," said Olah, 30. "I stopped and thought, 'Wow, my mom made me lunch every day, not only when I was younger but until high school.' That is a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."
Inspired to "exercise empathy" for her mother, Olah began the task of making the same number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in five days...
Through Sunday, Olah, who raised $3,500 in a crowdfunding campaign, is making the sandwiches (roughly 10 a.m. to at least 6 p.m.) at the 12C Outdoor Gallery on Avenue C and East 12th Street. (195 Avenue C.)
People can come on by and watch this performance installation of sorts — titled "2,340 PB&J Sandwiches" — during the posted hours...
Each day, she is donating the sandwiches to The Bowery Mission.
As she told DNAinfo: "I wanted to do this as a meditation on what my mother has done. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a metaphor for a lot of small tasks mothers might do."
Well you know the lot on the northeast corner of Avenue C and Sixth Street has been empty for as long as anyone can remember. (Early 1980s by one estimate. The property apparently once housed a gas station.)
People have been trying to develop the lot, which includes a 10-by-12-foot hole, going back to 2003.
We bring all this up now because, on Tuesday, the city once again disapproved the plans for the building. Just the latest rejection going back to February 2013...
Last July, property owner Israel Rosenbaum told The Villager that — despite appearances and reports of rat sightings through the years — the corner lot doesn't pose any health hazards. "There are no issues at this property other than the long process of getting DOB approval to construct a new building,” he told The Villager.
Jim Hayes (aka Cowboy Jim) passed away on Jan. 2. He had been suffering from emphysema.
Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of biographical information at the moment.
Hayes had been a fixture off and on in the East Village since 1968. He could usually be found drinking coffee outside Porto Rico Importing Co. on St. Mark's Place and on a bench near the Hare Krishna tree in Tompkins Square Park.
There is now a makeshift memorial for him on the side of the shuttered Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place ... next to Porto Rico.
Thanks to EVG contributor Steven for the photos and information...
After more than a year, workers removed the plywood surrounding the long-vacant 269 E. Houston St. storefront at Suffolk ... where a new cocktail bar called Suffolk Arms has been in the works.
As The New York Timesfirst reported in September 2014, Giuseppe Gonzalez, whose bartending credits include Golden Cadillac, PKNY and Dutch Kills, is behind the new venture. According to the Times, "Expect an English pub exterior but a New York feel inside."
In an update a few weeks back, BoweryBoogie heard that the opening is expected sometime next month. The bar has a website, though most of it appears to be TK at the moment.
I felt it was worth mentioning that the vacant Chase branch on Avenue A and 2nd Street is now home to a half of a roll, a half of a bagel and a dead pigeon. It's anybody's guess whether the three are related but I suspect fowl play. (It's probably inappropriate to pun in the face of death but that one kind of fell into my lap).
Way back in November 2013 we posted about the one-story structure at 619 E. Sixth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C hitting the market for $5.4 million.
The listing mentioned that air rights for the property were available.
Indeed, the new owner is taking advantage of that wasted air. There are now (as of December) approved permits on file with the city for a 6-story residential building here.
The work order shows a 9,235-square-foot building with five residences, likely condos. Amenities include bike storage and a two-car garage ... and the 2-floor duplex at the top includes a private rooftop terrace.
The LLC listed as the owner shares the address with Mermelstein Development. DXA Studio Architecture is listed as the architect of record.
And here are renderings via the DXA website... with more details on the building...
To the architect-ese:
This ground-up building faces an inner-block garden on 6th Street in the East Village. A desire for full expanses of glass to view the garden and the skyline beyond presented a challenge with the heat gain associated with direct southern exposure. The design includes flexible, folding wood slat screens within steel frames that provide solar shading when needed, but that allow unencumbered views when repositioned to the sides of the facade.
The facade is clad in a Danish handmade brick and includes a full width mural along a sidewall that links the building in character with its East Village neighbors where street art abounds. The five residential units, from a small studio up to a dramatic three bedroom with office and double height duplex on the top floors, incorporate a simple and timeless palette of materials throughout.
The space apparently had been home to a Japanese furniture designer. Public records show that the property went for $135,000 in 1993. The selling price last year was $4.7 million.
Yesterday, we posted about an individual who voluntarily shoveled out a snowbound car on East Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... and left behind a typewritten note suggesting that if the car owner wanted to show his or her gratitude, he or she could make a small donation to Ollie's Place/Mighty Mutts Animal Rescue on East Ninth Street...
And here is the car that the person shoveled out...
Last evening, the resident shoveled out another car in the neighborhood and left a similar, typewritten note...
We tracked down the resident and asked a few quick questions about his or her actions...
On what made them decide to do this:
I like shoveling snow. I know that sounds a bit weird, but I’ve always liked shoveling snow. During [Saturday's blizzard], I shoveled out my car, some friends' cars ... and some other places. I actually put an ad up on Craigslist offering free snow shoveling services to those who were unable to do it themselves but didn't get any responses. So [on Tuesday], I just grabbed my shovel and found a car that was deeply buried and figured I would just shovel it out, which I did.
When I got home, I realized that maybe the person might want to know who shoveled out their car so I quickly typed up the first note, and put it on the car. I added the part about Mighty Mutts because I have been volunteering there for a long time and I’m always trying to find new ways to help them out.
On the use of a typewriter:
I used a typewriter because my printer doesn’t work, I have bad penmanship, and I like my typewriter.
On continuing the service:
So far I think I have done four cars with this type of note, and will try to do a couple more before alternate-side parking starts again.
I didn’t put much thought into this before doing it. But while doing it I started thinking it would be a good fundraising project for Mighty Mutts or any charity. People could sign up to have their cars shoveled and volunteers could go shovel to help raise money. The beginning of the year is always difficult because it is harder to raise money and people have already donated to charities during the holidays, but the operating expenses don’t change.
Shoveling snow is one of the only things I get to do that has a clear start and a clear finish, it is exercise, and I like to think it’s a good way to make someone’s day. Whether or not they want to donate is irrelevant — it’s a simple way to do something nice.
We also mentioned that the post attracted a lot of comments here and on Facebook. Overall, people were impressed and thought it was a nice act of random kindness. However, there was a contingent who found this note and gesture guilt-inducing and passive-aggressive.
We asked the resident about this.
"I guess I could understand how it could be seen as passive-aggressive. Maybe I worded the notes improperly, but that was never an intention. I really don’t want anyone to feel obligated to pay for something they didn’t ask for. I would rather they just enjoy having their car shoveled out without having to even think about it."
And over at 100 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street, Ben Shaoul's incoming condoplex is starting to finally look like a residential building.
Well, it's apparently lights out now for DF Mavens, the vegan ice cream shop and cafe on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.
The shop is dark... and there is a sign...
However, according to a DFM Facebook post this afternoon: "Our St. Marks location is closed until further notice. We are still available at retail locations."
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.
Name: Leslie McEachern Occupation: Owner, Angelica Kitchen Location: East 12th Street between 1st and 2nd Ave Time: 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 25
I was born and raised in Greenville, S.C. … nothing could be finer. I came to New York numerous times in the 1970s for visits, for fun. I was in college from 1967-71 and I was at a large school — the University of Tennessee — that had a lot of fringe people from Miami and New York City.
So I met all of these great, outrageous folks and got very much into an alternative lifestyle — meaning sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. I had a great time and was introduced to the alternative lifestyle, the vegetarian way of doing things. The back-to-the-earth movement was becoming strong at that point and it interested me a lot. I started working in a warehouse in Raleigh, N.C., for a company called Laurel Brook Foods and they were a wholesaler of natural foods. I also helped start a co-op there called Noah’s, which at that time had three families and now I’ve heard it has over 5,000 — still up and strong running.
I had started a small business representing certain natural foods, but I was going to different health-food stores around the country and trade shows and demonstrating their products. One day in 1981, I was at Greenberg’s. It was a very old school natural food store on First Avenue, between Seventh and St. Mark's Place. I was in there doing a miso demonstration and handing out samples and Frank Simons, the guy who had just bought Angelica Kitchen, walked in. I didn’t know him at the time but I had been a fan of Angelica. He and I caught each other’s eyes, to say it mildly. We got engaged and I moved from the mountains of North Carolina to New York to be with him. That was what got me here – falling in love and doing the right turn so many of us know about.
Angelica was at 42 St. Marks Place at that time. It was a small place and we had very few seats, so we had an open policy about seating. People came in and sat in any empty chair in the restaurant, whether it was a two top or a four top, so lots of connections were made that way. That was very fun. It was very community spirited. Organic wasn’t as much of an issue at that time but there were a lot of products available. That became my mission once I was in charge of the restaurant after Frank died. I really believed in the small, independent organic farmer as stewards of the land, so I was able to get on my soapbox through having Angelica Kitchen and really support the farmers.
There was this great couple called George and Tilly who were on Fifth Street between Second and Third and they would come in on Friday and Saturday from their farm in New Jersey. They would bring truckloads of fabulous produce and apple cider. You’d see everybody there from John McEnroe to the people who lived down the street. Everybody in town who ate clean knew about George and Tilly. I would be running back and forth with a hand truck with cases and cases of kale and collards and turnips and apples.
After Frank died, I moved over to Seventh Street between B and C. The great thing about the East Village is always the people, and I really felt deeper into the heart of the neighborhood. In those days it was so convivial and neighborly. It was very community driven. I loved it. There is a reason the East Village has the reputation that it does, historically, because it was a wild and crazy place, and yes it was sometimes scary. I had amazing things happen, including people stealing from me. It had kind of an outlaw feeling. In the moment it was frustrating, but you just kept going.
Before the city made recycling law, I was already doing it, and not only recycling with recyclable goods, but also of compost, which of course made the weight on our garbage go down because we weren’t putting all of the refuse in the garbage bags. We were saving it in five gallon buckets to be used in a composting operation that Christina had set up on my block on 7th Street.
You know who didn’t like that? The garbage carters. You know who ran the garbage carters? It was an organized group called The Family. Things started happening to Christina. I think her truck got blown up. I’m pretty sure that’s the right story. I’m not sure if it was those people, but it was some kind of a competition issue.
Then one day right after I had opened on 12th Street, a group of shall we say gentlemen — four rather stocky men in suits — came to the front door to talk to me. So I called this guy, Carl Hultberg, who was handling the recycling for NYU, to come over and sit with us. These guys had come to intimidate me to stop my composting and recycling. They were at that time charging by the weight, and the weight wasn’t what it should have been according to them. So Carl, who was a strong activist and informed recycling man, started laying out information for them. They were claiming that they were recycling, these four men, and Carl said, "We would like to see your recycling operation. Can we go there?"
You could just see them think, "Who do these kids think they are?" But Carl was asking them very pointed questions to prove they weren’t recycling. It was a funny meeting. They walked out and they got nothing from us. We were cheering and high fiving. That was a great moment for not only Angelica Kitchen, but also a big moment in the changes that were coming. I don’t know if it influenced those four men or not, but now that recycling is a law and composting is encouraged, it’s kind of interesting to look at the progress we made.
Now things have changed drastically. From being, I guess they say farm-to-table, long before it had a terminology. Now a lot of people say that’s what they do, but there’s no way to verify. So I feel for the consumers because people who are really looking to support that movement are just kind of up to the whim of the people who are doing the branding of any particular location.
Some people are doing a very good job and some people are taking advantage of the trend — local, regional, artisan. That’s always just been how we do things here. But I don’t want it to be negative — I want it to be positive. We’re the real deal. We’re doing what other people say they’re doing. You can always count on Angelica to be completely plant-based and organic. We’re here seven days a week, lunch and dinner.
James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.