At Cacio e Vino on 2nd Avenue

Words and photos by EVG contributor Stacie Joy

I stopped by neighborhood restaurant/wine bar Cacio e Vino, 80 Second Ave. between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street, before service the other night. I met owner Giusto Priola and manager Christine Ehlers and checked out the newly redesigned space.




[Priola and Ehlert]

The restaurant has undergone a few changes since it opened in 2006. Originally a pizzeria, they changed the menu to focus on fresh fish and plated seafood dishes, then heeding neighborhood suggestions, reverted back to being a mainly Sicilian-style pizza restaurant. Cacio e Vino also refocused on what the locals and fans of the place wanted — a concentration on the famed Italian oak-wood-burning oven pizza (cooked at a strict temperature of 700 degrees) and regional dishes from Sicily, where the owner grew up and where his family still resides.

Regarding Ballaro, their now-former sister space across Second Avenue, Priola and Ehlert said that it wasn’t a landlord issue that made them shutter the space. In fact, their landlord extended the amount of time for payment and was lenient in terms of the rent. So what happened? It was the ever-increasing costs of payroll, purveyors, some staffing issues, and that the space “wasn’t the best fit for the neighborhood.” Ballard was within 500 feet of a church, as is Cacio e Vino, and therefore not eligible for a full liquor license. They were able to sell beer and wine, but the people who frequented the space in the evening hours wanted liquor and spirits.

Ehlers also mentioned the students who flock to the area for the nightlife. She told of a recent visit in which 12 students wanted to split their bill onto 12 separate credit cards, which prompted a change to the language on the menu regarding the check.

Back at Cacio e Vino, where old timers from Little Italy still come for supper, including a 102-year-old regular who demands dishes in the Palermo style of her youth, they source ingredients from Italy as much as possible, and offer house favorites like the spinach arancina rice balls ($8), the pizze quattro formaggi ($16), and the anelletti alla Palermitana ($15), which is baked under a dough dome and offers an amazing presentation.




[The anelletti all Palermitana]


[Making the spinach arancina rice balls]

The restaurant/wine bar offers delivery and catering. You can also visit their original neighboring spot, Cacio e Pepe, at 182 Second Ave. between East 11th Street and East 12th Street, which has a full liquor license and traditional Roman cuisine.

When I asked Giusto, an East Village resident, what he wanted to tell people about the space, he said, “Just come and eat!”

You likely had a feeling of what is opening in this storefront on East 6th Street

There is a new tenant for the former (short-lived) organic dry cleaners-cafe storefront on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...



h/t @lauracgurf

Suffolks Arms opens tonight on East Houston

[EVG photo from Jan. 28]

We first heard about Suffolk Arms back in September 2014 via The New York Times ... in a "bars opening soon" feature...

After some delays, the cocktail bar via Giuseppe Gonzalez, whose bartending credits include Golden Cadillac, PKNY and Dutch Kills, officially opens tonight at 269 E. Houston St. and Suffolk Street.

Here's part of a preview via Gothamist:

Like its roundtable approach to the drinking, which celebrates González's inspirations, the food and decor follow suit with a who's who and what's what of New York City and Lower East Side lore. Sixty hand-drawn portraits of Keith Haring, Jam Master Jay and other notable New Yorkers like the New York Public Library lions line the wood-paneled walls and windows.

And from Time Out:

An annotated menu touts 11 original cocktails ($14) like the Tough Room, which fuses a Guinness with a whiskey sour stout, as well as a selection of 13 "Something Like Classics" quaffs ($13), which play on time-honored libations from the likes of PDT's Jeff Bell and Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Pepe Le Moko in Portland, Oregon. A third section of the menu gives spirited proof to vodka's bonafides with drinks crafted by New York bar pioneers, like a Flatiron Martini from Julie Reiner and a Grapefruit Cooler from Audrey Saunders.

The 63-seat space features a food menu, including a Russ & Daughters Smoked Fish Platter ($22) and a matzo ball soup ($8).

As previously noted, nearly three and a half years have passed since there was a tenant here. The Local 269 never reopened after a flood wiped out the live music venue's equipment in the fall of 2012. The Local 269 space was previously home to Meow Mix and Vasmay Lounge.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Plywood wraps itself around the incoming Suffolk Arms

First look at the new public toilets in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo today by Derek Berg]

The toilets are currently in beta testing.

Eventually, each toilet will include free one-gigabyte WiFi, though individual toilet-users are more likely to see upload and download speeds closer to 300 megabits per second. This is still much faster than most cellular or landline Internet connections in the United States. Range can theoretically extend up to 400 feet, as long as there are no obstacles in the way, such as NYPD Patrol Towers. (Also, toilet-goers worried about security can get a key for an encrypted connection, although this requires additional steps.)

Other features include free VoIP calls through Vonage, and a dedicated button for calling 911. Maintenance costs should be offset by two 5-inch displays showing ads and public service announcements.

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: Rafael Hines
Occupation: Sales Director, Morningstar, Writer
Location: Café Mogador, St. Mark's Place
Time: 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9

I moved here with my mom in 1961, to 3rd and D. My mom is Irish Catholic from North Carolina. Her grandfather was born on a ship coming over from Ireland with my great grandfather. Back then, 3rd and D was kind of a no-fly zone, but she was like, ‘Hey, we’re here.’ We had a big apartment. It was great and there were a lot of kids coming in and out all the time.

We were there until 1968. Our upstairs neighbor was trying to date my mom. She said no, so he set our apartment on fire. Everything we had was up in flames. We were coming back from Delancey Street and we saw the fire trucks outside our house and everything was gone. I was 6 years old at the time. The whole neighborhood kind of galvanized. They got us toys, clothes, and someone actually found us this apartment on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Avenue A, where she lived until she passed away last year.

My mom and my stepfather were part of that hippie generation. They had a VW painted, and she made jewelry and clothes. He painted and made furniture. They had a hand in that whole hippie community. My father is a first generation immigrant from Panama and was raised in Jamaica. For my mom and her friends, they were always self-employed. I remember my mom would make necklaces and beads and sell them in Washington Square Park, and then she was making dresses. My stepfather was a painter and a cabinet maker, so he was always painting canvases and all these things. It was amazing to see all this life.

My experience was a little different. The cops would beat you up all the time and slap you around. You didn’t think anything of it. You would play hide and go seek and if they saw you hiding behind something, they would just smack you and say, ‘What are you doing,’ or hit you with the night stick. I think about my childhood and there was violence and a lot of other things like that, but now we go to Tompkins Square Park and it’s full of rats. It’s crazy. If you’re in playground past 5:30, it’s full of rats.

When we first moved to St. Mark's Place in 1968, there were the Ukrainian families that had been there. One of the guys had been born in the building in 1910. They’d tell me these stories about when the bathrooms were in the backyard. There was a Ukrainian deli on the block. We had no money back then. My mother would get less than a quarter-pound of liverwurst, because we couldn’t get a full quarter. You’d get just a couple slices and they’d give me the rest on credit. You always had a running tab with the local deli.

It was just such a community and everyone knew everybody. I feel blessed that I’ve been on this block and in this neighborhood for so long. Even though it was always rough, and still is in some areas, for me it was fantastic. The economy was rough, so my best friends’ families, they were all involved in those businesses. This was not cookie-cutter bad guys and good guys. People are complex and they have a lot of motivations. That’s just how life is.

So many of my memories were tied to… the groups that I really knew were the gangsters, the cops, and the combat veterans coming back from Vietnam. They all went to the same bar. The bar on the corner was Naja's and everyone would go there, shoot pool, and they had dice games in the back. It was just this congregation where they went, ‘All right, time out, we’re going to have drinks now. We’ll chase you later,’ and us kids would go in and they would have us running errands. Gamblers would come from different cities and different states to play dice and shoot pool there. I remember when I was 8, 9 years old, counting $75,000 in cash in 5, 10s, and 1s. They put it out on this huge craps table and all of us kids were like, ‘I’ll count this stack, you count that stack.’ The world was incredible for us as spectators.

For us it was normal, but for me, those guys they always said, ‘Listen, this is not for you.’ They would always tell me that, and they would look out for me. ‘Have fun, do your thing, but this is not your life.’ It was like a mentoring thing.

This block was also not like the low-level dealer's block. It was the guys who were running things. When I was a kid, you would see a green Rolls-Royce with the guy’s name in foam in the back window. The best way to describe it was that everyone was such great a storyteller. There were all these characters who were crazy on one side, but they were just so colorful and so full of life. You walked down the street and you’d be talking to someone for 10 minutes here. There was always something happening — action.

Then over the years, the sad and the dark side of that is that they were all destroyed, either by prison or by getting high on their own supply. They all became dope fiends and just destroyed themselves. There were really no survivors. It decimated an entire generation. A lot of friends I grew up with have been incarcerated their whole lives. There’s that heroin tattoo. It marks you.

In the 1970s, heroin hit full blast and I just remember the abandoned buildings were where we would play hide and go seek. We always had a joke, running around with 50-pound junkies and 100-pound rats. But you never felt in danger, at least for us, even though there were always people nodding out and there were so many killings on this block in the 1970s.

Then in the 1980s, crack hit, but I think gentrification had started. There was a little bit of a change just in the dynamic of the neighborhood. Even though crack was prevalent, and there was a lot of stuff still going on. I don’t know if it was because I was a little bit older, or I wasn’t so much in that circle, but I didn’t see the level of violence that I saw in the 1970s. That’s my experience. The 1980s were no joke, but the 1970s from my experience was the roughest stretch of road.

James will have more from Rafael Hines in the next Out and About in the East Village...

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

Report: The Honey Fitz on hold; and RIP Nino's

[EVG photo from November]

As previously reported, a cocktail bar-restaurant-co-working freelance/Wifi space called The Honey Fitz is in the works for the former Hop Devil Grill and the temporarily closed Nino's Pizza storefront on St. Mark's Place and Avenue A.

The proprietors, James Morrissey (The Late Late on East Houston) and Gerard McNamee (GM of Webster Hall), pitched the concept before CB3's SLA committee last night.

For starters, a quick recap about Nino's, the longtime pizzeria on the corner.

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. Camaj still has 10 years left on his lease, and had been in court with the landlords.

However, before last night's CB3-SLA meeting, a tipster told us that Camaj had accepted a low six-figure amount to walk away from his lease and surrender the space. We'll have more about this development later.

As for The Honey Fitz. BoweryBoogie was at the meeting, and reports that in the face of a CB3 committee denial, The Honey Fitz team withdrew their proposal for another month.

Here are two passages from BoweryBoogie's coverage:

District Manager Susan Stetzer made sure the room understood her position that removing Nino’s for a business locals unanimously reject is unacceptable. The decades-old pizzeria has been shuttered for months because landlord Citi-Urban Management shut gas to the whole building (i.e. purported leak), and even residents are without the utility.

And!

The panel quickly filed behind Stetzer on this one, and was collectively incensed that Nino’s Pizza was not only being forced out, but that these operators were content to side with a landlord who acts in such wanton manner. Seeing the imminent denial at hand, the applicant team employed the strategy of withdrawing. Keeping the board and the opposition on ice for another month to reassess “given the situation with Nino.”

Read BoweryBoogie's full coverage here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Honey Fitz in the works for St. Mark's Place and Avenue A (54 comments)

Gas leak closes Nino's for now

Nino's and Yoshi Sushi served with eviction notices on Avenue A

Encouraging signs at Nino's

Saving$ Paradise lost on East 14th Street?

An EVG reader on East 14th Street shared this photo... showing that a "for rent" sign has arrived on the Saving$ Paradise marquee here at 250 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The inexpensive (and cluttered) shop sells a little bit of everything — housewares, school supplies, greeting cards...







...St. Patrick's Day flair...



Not sure if they have "over 10,000 items" like the sign promises, but it seems like it...

Anyway! They are not closing, according to the store's proprietor. In the weeks ahead, Saving$ Paradise will be moving a few storefronts to the west ... to No. 242... to the current home of I.Q. Decor (RIP) ...



It's a smaller space, which might mean more like "over 7,000 items" for the new Saving$ Paradise.

Monthly Movies @ MoRUS series kicks off tomorrow night

Via the EVG inbox...

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) will bring cinema to the people every third Thursday of the month with Movies @ MoRUS, a series of films highlighting such themes as social justice, political reform, environmental activism and Lower East Side history.

Each screening will be followed by a talk back and discussion. The first of the Movies @ MoRUS series will be held on Feb. 18. In observance of Black History Month, the first film screened will be "Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal" directed by Stephen Vittoria. The film is an in-depth examination of the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a journalist on death-row whose conviction in the case of the 1981 murder of a policeman in Philadelphia continues to raise questions about the death penalty, the judicial system and race in America.

Upcoming Movies @ MoRUS include:

• Thursday, March 17 — "1971," dir. Johanna Hamilton, 2014, 80 min.
The second film is "1971," a documentary exploring the infamous activist burglary of a FBI office. The heist in 1971 led to the exposure of unlawful measures the Bureau had underwent in surveillancing anti-war activists, and continues to provoke thought on the ethics of our government’s intentions.

• Thursday, April 21 — "Garbage Warrior," dir. Oliver Hodge, 2007, 86 min.
In honor of Earth Day, our third film is "Garbage Warrior," about U.S. architect Michael Reynolds and his mission to introduce radical sustainable housing to the masses.

• Thursday, May 19 — "Food Inc.," dir. Robert Kenner, 2008, 94 min.
The documentary examines how big corporations heavily influence all aspects of food production in the U.S.

Movies @ Morus is free to the public but a suggested donation of $5 is always appreciated. Showtime is 7 PM at MoRUS, 155 Avenue C between 9th and 10th Streets.

Dry cleaners: 1 up, 1 down

The laundromat-dry cleaners combo is now open at 200 Second Ave. between between East 12th Street and East 13th Street ... at the site of the former Little Pakistan deli...

And in other dry cleaning news... there has been a "for rent" sign up in recent months at Discount Cleaners at 230 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... and eventually a moving sign arrived... according to the sign, they are moving into (merging with?) the Metro Cleaners around the corner on Third Avenue between East 15th Street and East 16th Street...



...as of yesterday, the East 14th Street space has been dismantled... with a few items that haven't been claimed left behind for now...

Night shift

A view downtown early this evening via Bobby Williams...

Report: Judge says plumber allegedly involved in 2nd Ave. blast should have his license revoked

Andrew Trombettas, the master plumber who allegedly supplied his license to an unqualified worker involved in the deadly March 26 gas explosion on Second Avenue, signed off on 19 other jobs that violated regulations, the Post reports.

According to the article:

Trombettas “was negligent, incompetent, or lacked knowledge of or disregarded relevant laws; made material false or misleading statements on documents [and] endangered public safety and welfare,” Administrative Law Judge Astrid Gloade wrote in calling for his license to be yanked.

Many of the violations went undetected by city inspectors because the law allows “master plumbers” to “self-certify” certain jobs.

The Buildings Department audited about 400 jobs where Trombettas obtained permits and issued 82 violations — including multiple violations in many cases. The judge upheld most of the violations and concluded that Trombettas’ license should be revoked.

Last Thursday, the D.A. charged Trombettas with two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony.

The D.A. charged four other people with second-degree manslaughter: Dilber Kukic, the contractor; Athanasios Ioannidis, an unlicensed plumber; Maria Hrynenko, the landlord of 121 Second Ave. and other nearby properties; and her son, Michael Hrynenko Jr.

Reader report: Pak Punjab Deli and Grocery back open

After being closed for nearly a month for some undisclosed renovations, Pak Punjab Deli and Grocery is back in business today on Second Avenue and East Third Street.

The storefront closed without any warning... or note indicating a temporary closure. Several readers noted, however, that the proprietors of the deli, which sells homemade Pakistani-Punjabi food, were just freshening up the interior.

H/T to Marjorie Ingall for the photo!

Property at 253 E. 7th St. now for sale; perfect for a 'dream custom mansion townhouse'

[Photo from November by Daniel Root]

At last look in November, the former four-story residence at 253 E. Seventh St. between Avenue C and Avenue D had been reduced to a pile of bricks.

An LLC with a Grand Street address bought the building in August 2014 for $4.3 million. The new owners had plans to put up a 6-story building with six residences on the property. However, the city has yet to approve those plans.

Now this empty property is for sale. It arrived on Streeteasy yesterday. Per the listing at the E Property Group:

Subject property is currently vacant land, & ready to go development site. Perfect for a:
• Boutique condo building
• Rental building,
• Your dream custom mansion townhouse

Prime Location:

Located on one of the east village’s most beautiful & serene tree-lined historic blocks. Preserved gardens to the west & north create a grand opportunity for lot-line & rear country like views. 1.5 blocks from Tomkins sq. park & just a few doors down from the magnificent flowerbox condos.

Pre-approved plans available for a high-end 6-unit condo building, EPA, & boring sample

The asking price is $6.25 million.

And here's a rendering of sorts that accompanies the listing...



Again, despite what the listing says, these plans haven't been approved by the city...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Options for this lovely East 7th Street townhouse include demolition

New building in the works for 253 E. 7th St.

The disappearing 253 E. 7th St.

253 E. 7th St. is now a pile of bricks


[Image from 2014 via Massey Knakal]

You can't park at the former Mobil station any longer

[Back in December]

As we noted back in the December, people were using the former Mobil station on East Houston and Avenue C as a parking lot.

No more though! As of last Thursday, workers erected a (rather flimsy TBH) fence around the property... and posted a "private property" sign...





The station closed in September 2014, and there are plans in the works for a 9 (or 10!) story retail-residential building here. However, the project appears to be in limbo. Nothing recent has happened with the application, which the DOB rejected in April 2014 for incomplete drawings, per city records. And there haven't been any demolition permits filed yet either to remove the structure left on the property.

Previously on EV Grieve:
You have a little longer to get gas on Avenue C

Plans filed for new 9-story building at site of Mobil station on East Houston and Avenue C

State seizes Mobil station on Avenue C and Houston for nonpayment of taxes

New residential building for former Mobil station lot will be 10 floors with 0 zero affordable units

A look inside the last East Village gas station

Check out the Bagel Belly on 3rd Avenue

Workers removed the plywood around the storefront at 114 Third Ave. near East 14th Street ... the incoming deli/cafe will go by Bagel Belly...



The proprietors, who also own Namu Deli & Grocery at 252 Third Ave. between 20th Street and 21st Street, were on CB3's SLA committee docket back in December for a beer-wine license. (This item was not heard during the committee meeting.)

The space was, until the fall, home to Robin Raj/Delicacity. The address was formerly the Grace and Hope Mission.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated: Bagel Belly coming to 3rd Avenue

A quick look inside the new Mamoun's on St. Mark's Place

[This photo is from January]

As previously noted, the 45-year-old Mamoun's is moving a few storefronts to the east (No. 22 to No. 30) on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

EVG contributor Derek Berg took a look inside the space the other day to see how the renovations were going... as workers are de-Red & Gold Boil-ing the interior...



The larger space for the falafel restaurant is expected to open this spring.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Mamoun's Falafel is moving on St. Mark's Place

More about the Mamoun's Falafel move on St. Mark's Place

The storefronts for rent on the Bowery

Environment Furniture, which "creates timeless contemporary collections for the home that respect the planet," has been holding a going-out-of-business sale at its showroom on the Bowery between Great Jones and East Fourth Street. Now the storefront is for rent. (The listing isn't online at Ozymandius Realty.)

Meanwhile, there are plenty of other storefronts available nearby (in the few blocks between East Fourth and East Houston) on the Bowery ... such as the former Subway sandwich shop...



... and the spaces where PYT and SRO Pizza were...



...and Patricia Field's storefront... (Field is retiring from the boutique business after 50 years... the store's last day is Feb. 28.)



...and the now-closed Tatyana Boutique...



Also, just as an FYI...


[Photo by Margarita on Jan. 31]

Rock is either no longer dead... or it died... as the Rock is Dead? banner has been removed at the John Varvatos store...



Also, just as an FYI Part 2...

The newish Kenneth Cole shop on the Bowery at Bond was closed over the weekend after a pipe broke/burst...





...and the 7-Eleven at 351 Bowery between East Third Street and East Fourth Street was randomly closed yesterday for unspecified reasons...

The McSorley's Militia continue to adapt to our changing times

In honor of the 162nd (or 154th!) anniversary of McSorley's... members of its militia were present to perform a musket salute... just as soon as everyone figured how to pay for parking...



Photos by EVG Musket and Powder Horn correspondent Derek Berg

Today in clearance sales

EVG regular William Klayer spotted this in the window at the KHL check-cashing/loan shop on First Avenue between East 10th Street and East 11th Street...

Perhaps this spelling of hoverboard is to throw off the NYC hoverboard police... or this is some kind of Herbert Hoover-related Presidents Day sale.

Happy No. 162 McSorley's!

[EVG photo of McSorley's from the other night]

In one of our very first gazette dispatches here at EVG, we noted a new "old ale house" opening at 15 E. Seventh St. near Cooper Square.

At the time, it was not clear if founder John McSorley had appeared before CB3 or bothered collecting signatures of support or had proper permits for the big belly stove.

A few readers expressed displeasure. For example:

"I wish they'd keep their doors closed. I can hear the barkeep dropping nickels into the soup bowl from a block away."

And!

"Don't we already have enough establishments around here in which to drink ale and eat raw onions?"

And!

"Oh great, another place catering to the tanners, bricklayers and slaughter-house butchers."

And!

"I give it 6 months."

And!

"There goes the neighborhood."

Anyway, (I kid because I love), 162 years later, give or take eight years, McSorley's is celebrating today...



And as always when mentioning McSorley's and anniversaries... There are some doubters ("doubters gonna doubt!") about when McSorley's actually opened. Per New York: "Though McSorley’s claims it opened its doors in 1854, NYC historian Richard McDermott used public records to prove it really opened in 1862." Which means Lincoln never set foot in the place.

Still, Lincoln will likely make an appearance here today as in previous years...


[Photo from 2015 by TheDustyRebel via Facebook]

Maybe this year it will be the actor who starred in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

Updated 2/16

A few photos from the day via Derek Berg... featuring the McSorley's militia...









Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: Minnie McSorley's first interview