Friday, April 29, 2016

At Thirstea Café tea shop



Interview and photos by Stacie Joy

Winn O’Donnell and business partner Helen He have owned and run Thirstea Café tea shop since July of 2009 on East 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

It was one of those places that I always passed by but didn't know anything about the business. So I stopped by to meet Winn, learn a bit more about the shop and teas in general.



What prompted you to open a tea shop and cafe here?

We have always loved the East Village. We were happy to find a storefront here. We wanted to open up a cafe as tea lovers and wanted to share our sense of taste and style. We have always loved how the East Village has a lot of mom-and-pop shops. We love the vibe of all the specialty stores and wanted to create one of our own.

How have things changed on your block and in the neighborhood during that time? How do you feel about the changes?

People come and go. Last time I counted, 16 stores have changed on our block since we opened. We get a little sad when regulars move away, but many of them still come by when they visit.

There are always a lot of changes in the neighborhood. After seven years, we’re pretty used to it, and we’re happy to see how the neighborhood evolves. We know many of our customers very well, and have seen them change jobs, get married, or have kids in these past years. It’s really nice to be able to see so many familiar faces grow together with us.

And sometimes we hear unfortunate news: Several weeks ago, we lost one of our most frequent customers who lived across the street. He would come in several times a day. I didn’t see him for a day and had a weird feeling. I texted him to check up on him and didn't get a response, which wasn’t normal. I knew something was wrong, then I found out he died. That day, I cried for an hour.

Who is the typical Thirstea customer?

There isn’t one, which is what makes them all so interesting. We could write a book of stories about how many different kinds of people have been in and talked to us over the years: 90 percent of people are awesome, 8 person are tolerable and 2 percent are in a special category. Some people drink tea purely for health benefits, and others drink it just for taste. There are a lot of dimensions to tea.

We have customers of all ages and professions who have been coming here for years. We’ve had reiki practitioners, drug dealers, secret service, a lie-detection expert, a television director, a liquids mathematician, undercover police, a priest, a porn star, corporate executives, a shoe designer, an origami expert and morticians, among others.

Natasha Lyonne from “Orange Is the New Black” used to come in a lot. She’s a total New Yorker with a dry sense of humor. She would order drinks with, “Give me one of those matcha situations,” and it always cracks me up. My favorite comedy director Dave McCary used to come in also but moved away. I get most excited to meet comedians because I used to do standup and improv. We were thrilled to meet Amy Sedaris, Fred Armisen and Todd Barry in our shop.



You have a large selection of teas; how do you guide tea newbies toward selecting the appropriate one? Do you teach your customers how to prepare tea?

I try to be as helpful as I can. I show them what we have. It’s very casual ... We don’t try to be snobby and pretend we know everything about tea. We like to chit chat and find out what our customers need and match them with something they’ll enjoy. I have had tens of thousands of conversations with customers about tea; I teach and also learn from them. People have even brought me stuff from foreign countries. I love selling teas to people if I think they’ll enjoy them at home.

What is the shop’s best-selling tea/drink?

Our best-selling drink is Taro bubble tea. Another specialty at our store is that we carry lots of teas by the cup, so we sometimes make off-menu bubble teas for regulars who are into quality teas with their tapioca. With these folks, I use my old bartending skills to create one-of-a-kind bubble teas, a service that people can only get at Thirstea.

What’s next for Thirstea?

We hope to continue to do what we do best, which is to satisfy all the tea drinkers out there, one cup at a time, and to make more friends along the way. We want to make more connections with the people we serve and share more stories with each other, and ultimately build a bigger and better Thirstea community.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Matcha Cafe Wabi now open on East 4th Street

Bright ideas: A lighting shop for East 7th Street

Exploring 2 like-minded small shops on East 6th Street

Celebrating 25 years at Paul's Da Burger Joint

Backyard, Avenue C style

A new listing arrived this week for a "true" four bedroom apartment at 19 Avenue C between Second Street and Third Street.

Kind of a starter apartment. Get four friends (or more!) and split up the $4,400 monthly fee.

There are plenty of selling points, such as the "tons of closets" and "tons of light." And more! Per the listing at Streeteasy:

I have a beautiful TRUE 4 bedroom (doesn't need to be converted) DUPLEX apartment on the edge of the LES and East Village. There's a LARGE PRIVATE BACKYARD for the apt. The apt has 1 AND A HALF BATHS, hard wood floors, tons of closets, and gets tons of light/ numerous windows. There is a BACKYARD for laying out/ grilling etc.

Behold the backyard...



From this photo supplied to Streeteasy, it looks more like a concrete pit than a backyard. Wonder if you can plug any drains and fill it with water for a pool?

Updated: 6-building complex on East 10th Street and East 11th Street sells for $127 million


[No. 85 via Streeteasy]

Last fall, we heard from a resident who lives at 85 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. Rumors were circulating that No. 85 along with adjacent buildings at 112-120 E. 11th St. were in the process of being sold.

Tenants were also suspicious when they only received offers of a one-year lease renewal instead of the usual two years, per the resident.

On Wednesday, the resident came home to find the following letter shoved under the door... confirmation of the sale...



According to public records, Pan Am Equities sold the properties to an LLC for $56 $127 million. The LLC (US-DEV Associates II) in public records is traced to Lightstone, "one of the largest and most diversified privately held real estate companies in the United States."

What the transactions means for current resident is unclear... other than that they will likely be receiving further correspondence containing words like "hereto."

112-120 E. 11th St. is a row of five low-rise buildings with 76 rentals. 85 E. 10th St. features five floors with 75 units.

Updated 5/4
Oh! The deal was actually for $127 million, per the Commercial Observer.

Report: Trash & Vaudeville-less 4 St. Mark's Place sells for $10 million


[Photo from March]

4 St. Mark's Place, the landmarked building whose first owner in 1833 was Alexander Hamilton’s son, has a new owner.

The building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue arrived on the market last fall for $11.9 million.

Since then, the longtime commercial tenant here, Trash & Vaudeville, moved to 96 E. Seventh St. in March. The four free-market apartments on the floors above are apparently tenant-free now as well. (Which might explain this.)

The Commercial Observer (H/T Curbed!) had the news of the deal:

Since it has no tenants, “it is in effect a blank canvas, offering the buyer a unique opportunity to renovate the building and realize a tremendous amount of upside,” Eastern Consolidated’s Ron Solarz...

No word just yet on who the buyer is. (The deal hasn't hit public records yet.) Trash & Vaudeville owner Ray Goodman was a minority partner in the ownership of the building.

Also known as the Hamilton-Holly House, 4 St. Mark’s Place was built in 1831 and designated a New York City landmark in 2004. Col. Alexander Hamilton Jr. bought the townhouse in 1833 and shared it with his wife, Eliza, his widowed mother, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, her daughter Eliza Hamilton Holly, and son-in-law Sidney. Sidney and Eliza went on to open the first bong shop (just for minced tobacco) on the block.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: After 40 years, punk rock mainstay Trash and Vaudeville is leaving St. Mark's Place

4 St. Mark's Place is for sale

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Noted



An EVG reader had a WTF moment this afternoon while taking in this rickety-looking scaffolding that was constructed on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...





There are work permits on file for interior work here at 346 E. Ninth St. ... but nothing outdoors. Probably just a quickie job. Maybe just walk on the other side of the street.

Report: No Fun on Ludlow Street sues the LES Dwellers for defamation


No Fun, a bar-restaurant at 161 Ludlow St., has filed a $2 million defamation lawsuit against community group LES Dwellers, the Post reports today.

The bar says the group ran afoul of the law when it papered the neighborhood with fliers falsely claiming that it didn’t have a certificate of occupancy and was running a rowdy nightclub. The move was part of an unsuccessful bid to torpedo No Fun’s liquor-license renewal application, documents state.

“Defendants narrow-minded intolerance and disdain for people who do not share their values and worldview (yet patronize their local businesses) is the driving force behind their quest to destroy any neighborhood establishments that they believe are patronized by the ‘bridge and tunnel’ crowd,” the bar’s owner, John Pierce, seethes in the suit.

LES Dwellers founder Diem Boyd told the Post that "this complaint is meritless legal harassment."

No Fun was raided last fall in a coordinated NYPD multiagency sting on Ludlow Street, as BoweryBoogie reported.

Per the Post, the bar between Houston and Stanton has been fined almost $20,000 by the State Liquor Authority in the last years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
'11 Minutes of Hell' on the Lower East Side (56 comments)

Tim Burton-themed bar Beetle House now in sneak previews on East 6th Street



Beetle House is in soft-open mode now at 308 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The signage that arrived this week is surprisingly pedestrian for a bar-restaurant "with an atmosphere and menu inspired by the works of Tim Burton."

In fact, the sign looks a little similar to the previous tenant, Confessional, which closed in March...



Anyway, people won't be coming for the signage... but the drinks... Such as!


Bar previews began last night. The official Grand Opening is May 6. (It's cash only until then. And by reservation only?)

Just look for the guy dressed as Beetlejuice out front and you found the place...


[Photo by Vinny & O]

And looking more lively here...


Beetle House is operated by the proprietors behind Stay Classy, the Will Ferrell-themed bar that opened last October on Rivington Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tim Burton-themed bar opening in former Confessional space on East 6th Street

Celebrating the life of John Farris

John Farris, a writer, poet and longtime resident of the Lower East Side, died in his East Third Street apartment of an apparent heart attack on Jan. 22. He was 75.

Tomorrow (Friday) night, his friends will be celebrating his life and work at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square S., from 6-9 p.m.

You may find more details on the flyer below...

A new lease for Jane's Exchange on East 3rd Street


[Photo from last September by James Maher]

Last September, we featured Eva Dorsey, co-owner of Jane’s Exchange, the children’s resale and consignment shop, in our weekly feature Out and About in the East Village.

The post ended this way:

Unfortunately, our current lease is up as of June 2016. We’re just announcing it now to our customers. This is our third location. We keep losing our leases. That’s the story. These stores can’t maintain anymore. Stores like this, it’s the end, period. Everyone asks why aren’t there more. There aren’t more because of real estate.I don’t know what’s going to happen, like everyone else, but it is highly unlikely that we can move again should our lease go up beyond our means. Like many small businesses, we simply may not make it.

Well, good news for fans of the 22-year-old store at 191 East Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B: They have a new two-year lease. They'll also be offering haircuts for kids with Maria, who worked next door at the now-closed eNe saloon.

For now, they need folks to start bringing in stuff for consigning. You can find a list of things they need (and don't need) at their website here.

A sidewalk bridge arrives outside Peter Brant's incoming gallery space on East 6th Street



The sidewalk bridge arrived this week here outside 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

As previously reported, the building is expected to be a gallery space to display new owner Peter Brant's personal art collection. The intention is to have two shows per year. The first one was said to be scheduled for this fall. Not sure if that's still on track. We haven't heard much, if anything, about plans for the building since Brant's reps filed permits for renovations last summer.

There has been some signs of work in the vacant space to the west of the building that's part of No. 421's property...



According to previous plans for the place, the empty side lot will feature a garden space...



A new work permit was filed yesterday for the open space, though the job is in hub self-service at the DOB website and can't be viewed until it's accepted.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. The artist Walter De Maria, who died in July 2013 at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Here's Johnny! on St. Mark's Place



The Stanley Kubrick-themed bar door has arrived here... A pretty good discarded door scene here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Beats a photo of a stupid discarded toilet any day!)

Photo by Derek Berg.

Now, back to the picture show...

Flashbacks: An afternoon sitting at the Mars Bar listening to David Bowie



Last week, we posted a new video short by East Village-based filmmaker Jenny Woodward titled "Last Days of the Mars Bar."

In the entertaining 8-minute video, Hank Penza, the owner of the Mars Bar who died last November, shared some history of the corner space on Second Avenue and East First Street.

Now our friend Alex found a 90-second clip on YouTube ... a rather serene slice-of-Mars-Bar life showing a few people quietly sitting while David Bowie's "China Girl" plays on the jukebox.

The video isn't dated ... it was uploaded in April 2012 — about nine months after the Mars Bar closed for good. It's aptly titled in part "Sweet Memories."

Out and About in the East Village, Part 2

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: Alan Good
Occupation: Owner, HENGE Outdoor Ping Pong Tables, Dancer, Choreographer
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: 2 p.m. on Friday, April 15

Last week, Alan, who moved here in 1977, talked about his early career as a dancer with Merce Cunningham. After an injury, he started thinking about his future. He pitched some goofy ideas... and one of them caught the interest of a worker with the city's Small Business Administration.

My advisers were kind of bored, but one day there was this one guy, 75 years old, who was in the fashion industry. He had Coke-bottle glasses and eyebrows out to here, and I said to him, I’m kind of thinking of concrete ping-pong tables. I know them in China and Europe because I lived and taught over there, but I don’t see any here and I can’t find any on the web.

And he stopped what he was doing and looked into the distance and said, ‘Ping pong, I remember ping pong.’ And the complexion in his face changed and his eyes watered a little bit. This was a sincere response, even a physical one.

So I [created] Henge in 2009. After six years you make so many mistakes and just keeping going. I wasted so much time — I almost caused my company to fail. We used to have this word in Merce Cunningham, ‘wrong.’ Wrong actually meant right. It was so wrong it was right.

In 2011, [the table in the center of the Park] became the eighth table we ever made and the second in Manhattan. I whipped up a suggestion for Tompkins Square Park of two tables over in [the northeast section].

When we came along finally to donate, at the last second another angel named Marc Schulz said, ‘Well that’s cool, but why don’t we put it here?’ [near the center of the Park]. I just wasn’t ballsy enough to suggest this. And in one fell swoop he probably determined the success of my company. Suddenly it was in the heart of the classical arching network of paths in the Park, right by the staff center and flagpole, and the intersection, most important, had 4-foot paths.

This became a performance area. The table gradually became this gathering spot, like a pub. One thing I like is that teenagers... sometimes I see them just draped over [the table]. They’re using the net as a pillow, and there are like 17 of them on it. It’s so sculptural.

This allowed me to reach so much further the aim of my company, which is not really about a cool object, it’s about the negative space — the space around and what people do with it. That’s reflected in the sculptural idea, not just in the base. The emptiness around here is what people flow through.

There’s a concept in the base of that table, which we call the T40, which is a well-known volume from the branch of mathematics known as topology. This is called Steinmetz solids, and as a positive, as an actual mass that exists, are two cylinders that intersect, often at right angles.

Can you imagine if you have two straws, perfectly joined? Now Steinmetz solids as a negative, meaning if you pressed them into clay and removed them, and you look at the imprint that they leave, they leave a very interesting and not predictable shape. Negative space is exactly what you’re looking at. You’re also looking at another more commonly known simpler form, also known in mathematics as the ogee. The ogee is also something in 3-dimensions, but it happens to be an S-curve. Once you take a step back and look at all the variations, you see it in fluid dynamics, the human cheekbone, the feet in furniture, and in water and rivers.

You see these strange clearly etched lines that you’ve never really seen before. They’re symmetrical and they’re curved, but they’re unusual, and they have kind of a rational to them. People should be destabilized. People should be knocked a little bit goofy when they see things. That’s the kind of thing that healthy societies do, something to pry you off balance. The concept was that you just throw two things together, like a fairly large-scale public event with paddles and balls and onlookers, and then a tiny little living ecosystem that people ... can enjoy and watch.

Upon visiting Portland, Ore., there was a series of plazas that link like a necklace through the city. The city had dictated to two architects that they were to include and not quarantine away or ticket skateboarders, on the risky notion that skateboarders are not evil people. They mix with courtesy with any other kind of person, people going to and from school and work, and that they can coexist. They’re not so wild that they can hurt you.

So I came away from that experience saying the least I can do coming out with this new public amenity for parks is invite and not repel skateboarders. So we made a triangular net that skateboarders can [ride].

Now we’re in 35 to 40 cities and we [put another table in the Park in 2015]. The mailing list for the weekly tourneys that we do is probably 200. We’re hoping to get other neighborhoods going, because there are 20 Henge tables in all and this summer there will be 42 in the New York City area. Jones Beach State Park is getting 12. What we want is the folks who come around here to come regularly. They bring that out of each other — the idea that you can by chance kind of expect a buddy to show up, even without the aid of text.

The whole company is about trying to get strangers to meet, and because negative space is so important, that the base is an early expression of the power of the negative space. The object is cool, but what’s around it is even better.

Read Part 1 here.

Desi Shack is no longer open on 4th Avenue

I can't say for sure when this happened (recently though!) ... Desi Shack, the quick-serve Indian-Pakistani restaurant on Fourth Avenue between East 13th Street and East 14th Street, has apparently closed... the signage is down, and the phone has been disconnected. There isn't any message about a closure on their social media properties (not that they were up-to-date) .... there's not even a mention of this on Yelp...

Anyway, the Desi Shack is gone... and the storefront now sports Pakistani Kitchen letters...



Perhaps the owners are retooling their concept. The original Desi Shack on Lexington Avenue has also closed. This location opened in July 2014.

Pretty good food, but this is a competitive stretch for quick-serve restaurants with neighbors Liquiteria, Dos Toros, Glaze Teriyaki and Fresh.

Albert Trummer's hospital-themed cocktail lounge Sanatorium now open on Avenue C

The cocktail lounge opened this past weekend on the northeast corner of Avenue C and Second Street.

In a preview of mixologist Albert Trummer's latest establishment, The New York Times notes Sanatorium's clinical theme.

The walls are the kind of green you’d expect in a hospital; there are surgical lights (and crystal chandeliers) and lots of stainless steel, and the drinks incorporate herbal elixirs that Mr. Trummer concocts.

And as Eater noted, "shots are also served in syringes."

Last July, Trummer told Bedford + Bowery that the new place will be "reasonable and cool for the neighborhood." Trummer also told B+B that he "won’t set any drinks, or his bar, on fire with again. At least, not without the proper permits."

According to published reports, FDNY investigators arrested Trummer in 2010 after setting alcohol aflame on the bartop at Apothéke on Doyers Street. He was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal nuisance, both misdemeanors. After the arrest, he told the Times: "My intention was not to hurt anybody. I'm an artist. I'm a mixologoist. I'm a cook. But I'm not a pyrotechnic maniac." He reportedly pleaded not guilty and served two days of community service.

A photo on Sanatorium's Facebook page does show some pyrotechnics... (though it's unclear if this is actually at Sanatorium...)



14 Avenue C was previously home to Adinah's Farm, the market that closed in June 2014.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Mixologoist Albert Trummer looking to bring a cocktail bar to Avenue C

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

7th Street returns to 1981 for filming of young Barack Obama movie ‘Barry’ [Updated]



Crews were out today along Avenue B and Seventh Street for "Barry," the story of a college-aged Barack Obama "trying to find his way in 1981 New York City."





Per the Hollywood trades, newcomer Devon Terrell has the lead. The independent drama is being directed by Vikram Gandhi, a Vice correspondent who made the documentary "Kumare."

Photos today by Derek Berg

Updated 4/27

EVG reader Charlie Chen shares a few more photo of the police cruiser when it was parked on East 10th Street waiting for filming...





Capturing 2 lightning strikes early this morning at One World Trade Center

EVG reader Gregory Patrick had been wanting a shot of lightning striking the steel spire atop One World Trade Center.

He got his wish early this morning around 4 — twice.





"I go out for storms, and I’ve been watching radar looking for a storm to head downtown," said Patrick, who usually photographs circus performers for his entertainment company. "I've gotten shots of lightning hitting the tower from my roof in the East Village, but I wanted a shot from looking straight up."

Several photographers captured a lightning strike here last month. (The lightning rod atop the building reportedly measures 16 feet.)

While there isn't any documentation on the number of strikes at One World Trade Center, the Empire State Building is reportedly struck about 25 times per year.

Anyway...this seems necessary now...

Do you need that open summons for, say, public urination, cleared from your record?


[NOT LinkNYC but rather the World Famous Pee Phone™]

Then do we have an event for you.

Via the EVG inbox...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., the New York Police Department, the Office of Court Administration, the Legal Aid Society, and Grand Street Settlement announced the second “Clean Slate” event, an upcoming warrant forgiveness opportunity where New Yorkers with open summons warrants for qualifying crimes can have them cleared from their record, without fear of arrest.

The types of summons warrants that can be cleared at this event include:

· Disorderly Conduct

· Public Consumption of Alcohol

· Public Urination

· Littering

· Unlawful Possession of Marijuana

· Others, including some subway offenses

In addition to the outstanding warrant, the underlying summons can also be resolved at this event without fines or other penalties. The presiding judge will issue Adjournments in Contemplation of Dismissal, or ACDs, which require the recipient to avoid new arrests for six months, before the dismissal and sealing of his or her case. Warrants for felony or misdemeanor charges cannot be resolved at Clean Slate, but Legal Aid attorneys will be present to offer free legal advice in an effort to help individuals resolve such cases.

Despite the minor nature of the offenses, people with outstanding warrants can be arrested and placed in jail for 24 hours while they are they are processed through the system.

More than 700 New Yorkers came to the first Clean Slate event in November 2015 in Harlem, at which 409 summons warrants dating back almost 20 years were vacated.

Clean Slate will take place this Saturday, April 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Grand Street Settlement on 80 Pitt St., near Rivington Street.

Find a PDF with the Clean Slate FAQs here.

Hawklet watch is on now in Tompkins Square Park


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Goggla reports that feedings were witnessed at Christo and Dora's nest in Tompkins Square Park this past weekend... meaning at least one of the hawk eggs in the bi-level nest near Avenue B and Eighth Street has hatched.

The red-tailed hawk parents started the nest-building activities back in early February, as Goggla documented.

The nest watch is decidedly different this year... Christo and Dora built their nests on air conditioners the past two years... on the Christodora House in 2014... and the Ageloff Towers in 2015.

Without windows or roof access, it will be more challenging for the hawkarazzi to keep tabs on the action.

Meanwhile, expect to see more food deliveries from Christo, who was busy hunting in the Park yesterday...


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Red-tailed hawks nest on the Christodora House

The hawks of Tompkins Square Park have laid an egg at the Christodora House

More eggsciting hawk news from the Christodora House

Breaking (heh) news: The hawks of Tompkins Square Park are officially parents

Hawk (and egg) watch continues on Avenue A, now with the help of a live webcam

Christo and Dora are parents! (Again!)

Welcome home, you have a new landlord


[Image via Streeteasy]

Residents of 615 E. Sixth St. returned home last week to discover notices on the front door of the building between Avenue B and Avenue C... noting that there's a new landlord...

There are two letters. One — addressed to Dear Sir or Madam — is from the now-former owner, E&H Members LLC ...


[Click to go big]

The other letter is from the new landlord, A.D. Real Estate Investors, a company that we don't know too much about...though they do have an email address for residents to use in case of an emergency...



This transaction has yet to hit public records. Any residents of this building have more details on the transition (via the EV Grieve email)?

H/T Dave on 7th!