The former Tatyana Boutique space is for rent on the Bowery

The Las Vegas-based fashion brand that sells upscale retro dresses, shoes and accessories recently closed in the Avalon Bowery Place complex at East First Street. That space is now for lease.

The listing at SCG Retails doesn't include the asking rent for the 2,207 square-foot storefront between Blue & Cream and DBGB.

Our educated guess on the monthly rent is — a lot.


[Bowery bum, 2016]

The rent is due at DF Mavens

[Photo by Steven from Jan. 30]

As we first reported, DF Mavens, the vegan ice cream shop and cafe on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place, closed for good late last month.

Yesterday, the landlord attached a rent-due notice on the door...



Per the paperwork, the February rent is $23,765.10.

And it appears the lease goes back to August 2013.

The coming soon signage arrived in October 2013 ... but the storefront wasn't ready for business until Dec. 26, 2014, DFM's opening day. (And is the day after Christmas the best day to open a business?)

Several readers have been curious why the build-out took so long, especially since the space was previously home to another cafe, Eastside Bakery (.net?). So it wasn't as if workers had to renovate a gutted space or some far-flung business...

Reminders: Buy more glycerin and tincture of iodine

Spotted in the trash today on East Seventh Street ... an old-timey medicine cabinet with bottles of glycerin and tincture of iodine attached to the mirror...



Remember: For external use only!



Photos via Derek Berg

Report: Arrests made in East 9th Street stabbing

[Surveillance image from Dec. 5]

Early in the morning on Dec. 5, two men reportedly stabbed a 49-year-old man multiple times in the back as he entered the Skyline Spa on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

NBC 4 reports today that the NYPD has arrested two suspects, Phillip Daniel, 24, and Emmanuel Rodman, 23, who live on the same block on the Upper West Side. Police said the men were charged with attempted murder and assault.

NBC reports that it was not clear if they knew the victim, who was treated and released for his injuries at Bellevue.

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: Kevin Cloutier
Occupation: Director of Photography, Documentary Cameraman, Filmmaker
Location: Tompkins Square Park, SE
Time: 2:30 pm on Thursday, Feb. 4

I’m from Providence, Rhode Island. I went to art school in San Francisco for four years. After awhile, being from the East Coast you either become a Californian or you don’t. Basically my theory is that all the nuts shake loose from the East Coast, they go out West and they either stick or the don’t. After finishing art school, it was either LA or New York, and two weeks in LA certainly told me it was not LA.

I came to New York in November of 1978. New York’s never been easy, so even then to get an apartment was hard. I originally found a really boring place on 25th Street, but eventually I sort of lucked out and found a place on East Third Street. It was incredibly inexpensive. My first apartment here was $125 a month. I got it because a friend knew somebody who had made a bad deal with somebody else and had to leave town. What kind of deal that was I never knew, but he basically gave me his apartment for a few hundred bucks of key money. Of course that apartment had cold water, 15 amps of electricity, and more cockroaches than I’d ever seen before or since.

I drove a taxi for one year. That was intense. I was involved in three attempted hold-ups, but in each case I saw it coming and was able to diffuse the situations. Each one is a story onto itself. When I was an art school student I drove a cab at night in San Francisco, so I had plenty of experience with dicey situations, and I had survived a near-death encounter behind the wheel there. That was what helped me see it coming here, but one year of that was plenty. That was actually more the Scorsese "Taxi Driver" era of the experience. It was blatantly dangerous back then. It was tough.

My building on East 3rd Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue didn't have a front door. People slept under the stairs. Across the street were two completely gutted empty buildings. One day I came out and there was a car stripped of all its parts, upside down on the sidewalk. I don’t know how they did that. I stayed in that apartment for a couple of years and then I was able to get a better apartment in the same building and then that building was sold to the tenants. I’m still in the same building but now it’s a co-op.

The first several years I was here, there was very little activity. There weren’t a lot of bars and restaurants. There were just the old places, like the Ukrainian bars ... and not a lot of fine dining. There were Indian restaurants of course ... and the Kiev restaurant. The transformation to sushi bars and fancy coffee shops is pretty extreme, but I also don’t regret not having to look over my shoulder all of the time.

It was a neighborhood that had been gone through many transitions. New York was coming out of its near bankruptcy. I remember actually standing right around here, saying Wall Street is just a few miles away. This is not possible. This can’t stay the way it is. I raised two children in the East Village — Deniele born in 1988 and Ian born in 1994. I never thought of fleeing to the suburbs. I think that they benefited from the unique environment. They are both successful young people and that is a testament to the East Village.

[The neighborhood] allowed me the freedom to pursue my endeavors and not have to work to pay the rent the way unfortunately a lot of people have to do now. That is probably the biggest problem. I studied filmmaking and I was doing sort of experimental filmmaking. Then I became a documentary cameraman, which I still am. For a good 25 years, I’ve worked for the networks. I worked for "60 Minutes" and some of the ABC programs like "20/20," and I’ve done a lot of independent documentaries.

I have a feeling you’ve heard the same story dozens of time. I’m very torn about it because I think that what has happened with real estate is very troubling. Some people have lucked out. I personally have lucked out. I own a little piece of the rock. But a lot of people don’t or were not lucky and when I see my local shoe repair guy go out of business, that’s just like a symptom of what’s wrong. But it’s just unbridled capitalism when it comes to real estate. It works for some people but it doesn’t work for most people. Then again, we are in sort of the capital of the Western world, so I don’t know what you’d expect. You’ve got to accept change. If you don’t, you’ve hitched your wagon to the wrong car. Anywhere and everywhere, the world’s based on it. I run into that in my field all the time. It changes so rapidly, the technology. You’ve got to keep up with it.

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

Too many restaurants-cafes have closed in the East Village so far this year

[Photo outside Cafecito via EVG reader Holly]

• Bago, First Avenue between East 13th Street and East 14th Street. The quick-serve Filipino restaurant has been closed now for several weeks without any explanation. The restaurant just opened back in June.

• Ballaro, Second Avenue between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street. The Italian cafe closed after some seven years. Per the owners: "With rising cost of operating a small business in NYC and the changes in the neighborhood, we could no longer stay afloat."

• Blythe Ann's, East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. The former Lula’s Sweet Apothecary, which sold vegan ice cream and other dairy-free desserts, closed without any official explanation. Lula's opened in 2008.

• Cafecito, Avenue C between East 11th Street and East 12th Street. The 14-year-old Cuban restaurant closed, according to one insider, because business had been dwindling "and the Cafecito team didn't want to see it go out of business slowly and sadly."

• DF Mavens, Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place. The vegan ice cream shop and cafe abruptly shut down after 13 months. No reason given for the closure.

• Mumbles, Third Avenue at East 17th Street. Business had dropped off in recent years, and the family-owned restaurant decided to sell the restaurant a few blocks north here in Gramercy Park.

• Ninth Ward, Second Avenue between East 11th Street and East 12th Street. The New Orleans-themed bar with a small menu closes Sunday after six years in business. No reason given for the closure, though there's a rumor that the landlord is going to renovate the building.

• Nonna's Pizza, Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street. The pizzeria closed at the end of 2015. A new owner bought the place on New Year's Day, and Baker's Pizza will arrive very soon.

• Northern Spy, East 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. The early farm-to-table purveyor closes after service on Feb. 17. Per the owners: "We've had a great run and are very proud of what we accomplished in this space in the last six years, but 2015 was a tough year and we did not manage to pull the nose up to restore the flight altitude we once enjoyed. We're hanging it up while we still have the buttons on our pants."

• NY Macaroni, St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. The quick-serve mac-and-cheese spot shut down at the end of 2015, though the news about the 6-month-old restaurant's closure didn't start circulating until early January.

• Poppy's Gourmet Deli, Avenue A at East 12th Street. The inexpensive deli, which served a variety of sandwiches, closed because the owners said they couldn't afford to pay the new higher rent.

• PYT, the Bowery between Great Jones and Bond. The Philadelphia stunt burger joint closed after just three months. No reason given for the closure.

• Subway (sandwich shop), Fourth Avenue at East 12th Street. This marks the sixth Subway sandwich shop to close in the immediate area in the past three-plus years.

• Tut, East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. The landlord took legal possession of the short-lived hookah bar-restaurant at the end of January.

• Winebar, Second Ave. between East Third Street and East Fourth Street. The owners are teaming with chef Matthew Kenney to open a plant-based pizzeria and wine bar in the space.

Temporary closures:

• Empire Biscuit, Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street. Temporarily closed until March, per the paper-plate sign on the door.

• Pak Punjab Deli and Grocery, Second Avenue at East Third Street. The corner market that sells inexpensive homemade Pakistani-Punjabi food at the counter has been closed since early January. There aren't any signs about about a closure. Several EVG readers believe the space is just undergoing a renovation.

• Yakitori Taisho, St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. The popular subterranean space has been closed for several weeks. (The below photos are from Jan. 28)





--

Unfortunately, I don't think this is a complete list. Any other bars-restaurants-cafes close in 2016 from the neighborhood?

These charming East 6th Street studios still have the bathtub in the living space

An EVG reader on the hunt for a studio apartment shared this listing with us... for an apartment at 328 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... particularly notable was that the renovated studio kept its tenement roots with a claw foot bathtub in the living area/kitchen...





Here's the listing via MNS:

This East Village 1 bedroom/ Studio + office, offers a generous space and lots of light on a charming tree lined east village block, on the 4th floor of a well kept walk up building, this is the best deal for the dollar in this hood. The apartment has a Beautiful claw foot tub in the living space.

The monthly rent: $1,800.

Oh, and the ad mentions studio + office. Maybe it's in here...



And it turns out there's another studio apartment in the same building where the tub also sits in the kitchen... for $1,900 you can rent unit #12...





...which included another detail from decades past — a so-called "tuberculosis window" ...



Head to the Streeteasy blog for more on these units.

Photos via MNS

Report: Lawyer for suspect in East 6th Street slashing says his client is 'a good guy'

John Godfrey, the lawyer representing a man accused of two slashings, called his client "a good guy," according to published reports.

Per the Post:

“I feel really bad for him,” said John Godfrey of Francis Salud, 28, at Salud’s arraignment. “He’s a good guy.”

Salud, who remains in jail without bail, is accused of slashing Anthony Christopher Smith near Third Avenue and East Sixth Street on Jan. 16.

As previously reported, Smith underwent eight hours of surgery, and needed nearly 150 stitches for the wound from his right ear to his lips after the attack. Smith, who says the attack was unprovoked, has partial paralysis on the right side of his face because several nerves were severed.

Salud was previously arrested and charged for a slashing that happened Oct. 18 behind Bellevue. The victim needed 73 stitches on the left side of his body, per media accounts. Salud was out on a $30,000 bond at the time of the East Sixth Street attack.

Previously

[Updated] Someone stole this bike tonight on Astor Place

[This photo is not from tonight]

Was locked outside 1 Astor Place between Broadway and Lafayette... happened around 6:30... I have the owner's info...

Updated 2/10

An EVG reader spotted a similar-looking bike today (below) outside Au Bon Pain on Union Square East between 14th and 15th. Per the reader: "Seems pretty ballsy to steal it and park it in the neighborhood but it looks awfully similar so thought I'd let you know..."



We alerted the bike's owner... but the bike was gone by the time he got there... he also confirmed that the bike was his. The person who took it spray-painted the frame silver.

Annual Citi Bike membership will increase 4% in 2016

[Photo by Derek Berg]

Here's the official word from Citi Bike:

Beginning on March 1 2016, annual memberships will increase from $149 to $155 to keep up with the costs of administering a growing and improving system at the level of quality riders have come to expect from Citi Bike. Annual members will also have the option to pay in monthly installments of $14.95, with an annual commitment.

NYCHA residents will continue to receive discounted $60 annual memberships and, for the first time, will have the option of paying for their membership in $5 monthly installments.

They also note that the Citi Bike network is 40 percent larger today than it was at this time in 2015 ... with 100-plus more stations on the way in 2016.

The retail-wine bar possibilities for the former Chase space on Avenue A and East 2nd Street

As you probably know, the Chase branch on Avenue A at East Second Street closed last Nov. 12 (along with the Chase on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place).

While the space had been for rent going back to last summer, when we spotted a smallish sign above the storefront... there's now a new broker and rental signage along the storefront here at 20 Avenue A...



And there are some realistic scalies too...





The renderings on the Town Real Estate PDF show potential retail and wine bar usage... with two outdoor cafes (one on A and one behind the property...)


[Click to go big]


[Ditto]

Overall, the upscale presentation of the property is so much more glamorous than the charmless bank-branch corner... the cover of the marketing materials announces "Your corner. Your brand. Your town." ... with images of a woman who forgot to open her mouth for the meatball on a fork... and, oddly enough, a photo of a woman's calves...


[Definitely click to go big]

The rent is available upon request. You may visit the PDF here for the different layout possibilities for the space.

Also, someone has finally discarded the half of a roll, half of a bagel and dead pigeon that were in the former Chase lobby.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

Concern over the city's rezoning proposals, and 5 EV developments without affordable housing

[EVG file photo of The Nathaniel]

The de Blasio administration's rezoning proposals Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing have been making the rounds at the Community Board level.

The proposals have, to date, reportedly concerned some neighborhood politicians, housing activists and preservation groups.

Now the plans go before City Council tomorrow (Wednesday!) for final review.

Here's more on how these proposals could impact the East Village in the opinion of The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP):

Under the Mayor’s ZQA plan, in virtually the entire East Village, new market-rate developments would be allowed to grow five feet higher. While this seem like a modest amount, it’s a noticeable difference — in much of the East Village, existing buildings often average forty to fifty-five feet in height. A five foot difference is therefore significant.

The bigger change will come on East Village avenues and the blocks between 3rd and 4th Avenues. There new development will be able to grow by 25 feet or 31% over existing allowable height limits if they include 20% affordable housing – lifting height limits in these areas from 80 to 105 feet or 120 to 145 feet.

Some may say the height limit increase is worth it for the affordable housing produced. But all evidence points to the height limit increases not resulting in a single additional unit of affordable housing being built, and potentially only resulting in developments which would have been built anyway growing up to 25 feet or 31% taller.

Right now, East Village avenues and the blocks between 3rd and 4th Avenues have what is called “inclusionary zoning.” This means including 20% affordable housing in new developments is incentivized (but not required) by allowing developers to add additional market-rate square feet to help pay for the affordable housing they include. The new developments must currently abide by the existing height limits; currently about 50% of new developments in the East Village chose to include the affordable housing.

GVSHP investigated new developments in the East Village's affordable housing zones and found that at least five were approved by the city without requiring affordable housing, as DNAinfo reported.

The GVSHP identified these developments as: 84 Third Ave./138 E. 12th St. (The Nathaniel); 152-154 Second Ave.; 118 E. First St.; 438 E. 12th St.; and 67 Avenue C. (You can find a PDF of their letter revealing their findings to the city here.)

Andrew Berman, executive director of the GVSHP, told DNAinfo: "We are losing out on the affordable housing we should be getting. In return are buildings that are larger than they are supposed to be."

A Department of Buildings spokesperson told DNAinfo that they "will review each of the projects listed to ensure compliance with inclusionary housing requirements."

Reaching the top at 347 Bowery

Looks as if workers have reached the top at 347 Bowery. (We've been waiting for some kind of ceremonial flag atop the structure at East Third Street.)

By our count, that's 13 floors... (these photos are from Sunday...)





And the recap: Workers demolished the Salvation Army's former East Village Residence that was on this corner … to make way for a 13-story, 30,000 square-foot mixed-use residential development.

Per developer Urban Muse, the project will feature five 3-bedroom homes ranging from 2,100 to 4,000 square feet, two 2,000-square-foot commercial units and one 6,800-square-foot retail unit.

Annabelle Selldorf, who designed the nearby 10 Bond Street, is listed as the architect of record.

And this is the most recent building rendering that we've seen...



And a few years ago...

[EVG file photo]

Do you remember when Koi wanted to turn the space into an upscale sushi restaurant back in 2009?


Previously on EV Grieve:
The Salvation Army's former East Village Residence will be demolished on the Bowery

Looks like 347 Bowery will be home to a 13-floor mixed-use residential development

The future of 347 Bowery (sorta!) revealed

Let's take a look at 347 Bowery, now and in the future

Report: Ravi DeRossi is turning his empire meat-free, starting with Mother of Pearl on Avenue A

Ravi DeRossi has plans to make as many of his 15 bar-restaurants animal-free as possible, Eater reports.

Per Eater:

DeRossi feels strongly about the environmental impact of meat and restaurants, as well as the impact to animals, he says. Taking animal products out of his businesses is his way of helping. "If we're going to do something to help this planet, it needs to start," DeRossi tells Eater. "It needs to be me not just preaching, but me just doing it. I'm in the position to do it."

He'll start with Mother of Pearl, his tiki-Hawaiian-themed establishment on Avenue A and East Sixth Street. Starting on Sunday, MoP will unveil a new vegan menu featuring "Polynesian-inspired dishes, like coconut rolls with coconut miso butter and black lava salt; and green mango with tomato, jicama, crispy rice, and macadamia." The drink menu will also be revamped, eliminating any spirits that use animal products.

In other related news, DeRossi is expanding his vegan restaurant Avant Garden on East Seventh Street near Avenue A to Williamsburg. In addition, The Bourgeois Pig, which moved from East Seventh Street to the West Village early last year, will be converted into "a vegan wine and tapas bar called LadyBird," according to Eater.

Mother of Pearl image via

Today in pretty cool looking broken lamps on 2nd Avenue

Photo by Derek Berg...

The Honey Fitz in the works for St. Mark's Place and Avenue A

There are ambitious plans in the works to convert and combine the former Hop Devil Grill space on St. Mark's Place with the temporarily closed Nino's Pizza next door on Avenue A, according to public documents (PDF) on the CB3 website.



A team led by James Morrissey (The Late Late on East Houston) and Gerard McNamee (Webster Hall) are proposing an operation called The Honey Fitz that would offer quick-serve breakfast as well as lunch and dinner ... in addition to a bar with "upscale craft cocktails." During the week, The Honey Fitz would offer free Wi-Fi and printers for "all local creative entrepreneurs."




[Screenshots via the CB3 website]

According to the paperwork filed ahead of this month's CB3-SLA meeting on Feb. 16, The Honey Fitz is named for the yacht owned by the Kennedys.

The configuration shows two bars in the conjoined spaces ... with seating for up to 90 people. The proposal includes a plan for a sidewalk cafe with 5-7 tables for two along St. Mark's Place.


[Click to go big]

As mentioned, the plan calls for the conversion of longtime tenant Nino's pizzeria, which has been anchoring the corner of Avenue A and St. Mark's Place.

Nino's had to close on Oct. 21 due to a gas leak in the building, according to a sign on the door. On Nov. 17, the pizzeria was hit with an eviction notice. Owner Nino Camaj has said that the gas was shut off in the building without any notice to him.

In late November, Camaj's lawyers were reportedly in discussion with landlord Citi Urban Management to dispute the rent charged for the month during which they had to close due to the gas leak. As we understand it, Camaj still has a lease on the space, and is currently in court over the matter.

You can read the comprehensive questionnaire for The Honey Fitz at the CB3 website. (Here.) The questionnaire includes several letters of no objection from nearby neighbors who said they would welcome this concept to the block.

The SLA committee meeting is Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

A for rent sign at the former Sounds space on St. Mark's Place

As you know, Sounds closed in October at 20 St. Mark's Place after 36 years selling records, tapes and CDs. The second-floor retail space had been on the market since February 2014.

We never saw any for rent signs on the space... until now...



We didn't spot the listing at the Halstead site just yet. There is a listing, which was first posted in February 2014, for the space at LoopNet ... it was updated this past Jan. 21. The asking rent is $22,000...



There was a rumor that the former Sounds was going to be fitted for an Indian restaurant. (That seems like a really expensive proposition to convert/vent this landmarked space for a restaurant...)

The historic building between Third Avenue and Second Avenue was recently sold to Klosed Properties. The building's lone business tenant, the Grassroots Tavern, has a lease for the next five years... with an option after that for renewal.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The last record store on St. Mark's Place is closing

So long Sounds

RIP Brian Fair, owner of Sounds

20 St. Mark's Place, home of the Grassroots Tavern, has been sold

Boglioli brings its Italian tailoring to 10 Bond Street

And over at 10 Bond Street (Curbed recently asked if this was the prettiest new building in New York), the coming-soon signage is up for the first commercial tenant... a retail outlet for Boglioli, which is known for the light hand it applies to traditional Italian tailoring (I cut-and-paste that)...



This looks to be the fashion brand's first dedicated U.S. outpost... joining Milan, Seoul and Tokyo.

Anyway, what were you expecting to open here at the corner of Lafayette, where the $12.5 million penthouse sold in less than two weeks, a Dollar-Plus store? (Though that idea isn't too farfetched.)

Updated

Via Racked, we learned that the first U.S. outlet of activewear line Yogasmoga is also opening here at 10 Bond.