Hot night at Exit9

Tonight, local artist Steve Ellis was on-hand at Exit9, 51 Avenue A ... where he debuted his Ignited Lighter Project, a collection of lighters featuring an array of downtown personalities... in celebration of Lower East Side History Month.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was at the shop tonight between Third Street and Fourth Street...


[Steve Ellis, left, with Mistress Formika]


[Angel Eyedealism and Exit9 owner Charles Branstool]


[Sean Eden from Luna]

The lighters are $5, and will be for sale at the store until they run out...

Next Tuesday, Exit9 will host a month-long art show titled "LES History, More History." Find more details here.

In case you were wondering what the inside of 190 Bowery is looking like these days

[EVG photo from last week]

The last time we walked by 190 Bowery last week, there was all sorts of activity going on in and around the historic Germania Bank Building on the corner of Spring Street. Hard hats were coming and going from inside the building. Arrows were trying to knock over workers. And a few men were filming a rap video on the front steps.

So what's going inside? Aby Rosen's RFR Realty owns the building, and a company made up of agencies representing creative professionals had previously reported signing on for some of the office space.

Bucky Turco, the editor of the now-defunct Animal, recently got a look inside the under-renovation building ... and shared those images with Curbed.

A few observations from a look around the interior per Curbed:

• "Some of its historic elements, such as an original 19th-century elevator, are now preserved behind glass."

• "The basement is still in disarray, with the old bank vault still intact (though there's a crack in the glass)."

Check out the photos at Curbed.

The retail space is still on the market.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Take a last look inside the mysterious 190 Bowery

Report: ABC No Rio set to close next month ahead of demoliton for new building

ABC No Rio first unveiled plans for a new building on Rivington Street back in March 2008. Now, after delays "by red tape and rising costs," The New York Times reports that the cultural center here between Suffolk and Clinton will likely be cleared out by the end of June, with a demolition to come this fall.

The decision to act now, the Times notes, came after developers paid $30 million for the former Streit's matzo factory next door that will become condos.

Per the Times: "Given No Rio’s age and condition, the structure seemed unlikely to survive the demolition next door."



Here's more from the article:

No Rio plans to replace its fragile four-story home with an environmentally friendly new structure where artists will continue to present the same type of boundary-pushing material that has become the center’s hallmark.

And from ABC No Rio’s director, Steven Englander:

On a recent evening Mr. Englander reflected on No Rio’s future, including the question of how to maintain its oppositional ethos in an ever-gentrifying environment.

That animating spirit, Mr. Englander said, comes from the people inside the building rather than its surroundings. If anything, he suggested, the changes in the neighborhood may make No Rio’s willingness to explore the margins more vital.

“Nobody knows what New York City will be like when this hypergentrification catches its breath,” he said, adding: “I’m pretty confident that people in line with the mission and purpose here will always be around.”

ABC No Rio's impressive zine collection recently moved to the nearby Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center... while the Saturday matinee punk shows will move to various venues across the city.

You can read more about the new building and check out the renderings at the ABC No Rio website.

Previously

Will a car-free 14th Street make life more bearable during (and after) the L train renovations?

So someone has taken notice that the M14A isn't always very punctual ... which should likely only get worse, even with more buses, when the MTA shuts down the L train for repairs in 2019.

As you may recall, the MTA has pitched two scenarios for the work to repair the Sandy-damaged Canarsie tubes. The first plans sees service cut completely between Eighth Avenue and Bedford Avenue for 18 months. The other option is to close one tube at a time, with a three-year timeframe for the work

Meanwhile, in case you missed this: State Sen. Brad Hoylman has asked the MTA to explore the possibility of closing parts of 14th Street to vehicular traffic, with a dedicated bus and bike route to help ease the crosstown commute while the L is out, DNAinfo reported.

Hoylman is reportedly building on an idea floated earlier by the Regional Plan Association, a Manhattan-based think tank.

Per DNAinfo:

The report, released in April, suggested restricting 14th Street between Irving Place and Sixth Avenue in both directions to buses, bikes, and pedestrians. Trucks would have to make deliveries to 14th Street overnight, or use loading zones on nearby avenues that would take the place of parking spaces, according to the report.

The rest of traffic could travel east of Irving Place and west of Sixth Avenue, but only one-way towards each river, according to the report.

Hoylman has also suggested making this car ban permanent between Irving Place and Sixth Avenue — even after L service is restored in 2089.

Renovating the former Nevada Smiths on 3rd Avenue

Just noting the recent arrival of the scaffolding and sidewalk bridge at 100 Third Ave., the former Nevada Smiths space between East 12th Street and East 13th Street...



We don't know what kind of renovations are in store for the former three-level soccer bar for a new business called Vinyl. (The plans on file with the DOB only call for the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding.)

Bruce Caulfield, a former Nevada Smiths partner and veteran NYC bar and business owner, along with James Morrissey (The Late Late on East Houston) and Gerard McNamee (GM of Webster Hall) were OK'd by CB3 earlier this year to open a coffee house, vintage vinyl record store paying homage to Thin Lizzy and bar/restaurant all under one roof. (We wrote about it here.)

Nevada Smiths closed last September after nearly three-and-a-half years at this location. They were previously down the block at 74-76 Third Ave., which was razed to make way for The Nathaniel.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nevada Smiths is closed, and here's what's next

Those persistent rumors about 74-76 Third Avenue and the future of Nevada Smiths

The East Village will lose a parking lot and gain an apartment building

Here then, where Nevada Smiths once stood

The Marshal seizes Nevada Smiths on 3rd Avenue

[Updated] New life for the Nevada Smiths space on 3rd Avenue

New concept for Nevada Smiths includes record store paying homage to Thin Lizzy, plus a bar

Noted

The School for the Dogs at 155 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B is selling the Donald Trump poop bags for $2.50 a roll (good for 15 bags each). And always remember to curb your dog.

H/T EVG reader Jenny Langsram!

A new sign on Avenue A from Donald J. Trump, President of the United States

EVG reader Karts shared this photo from Avenue A near East Ninth Street... the sign arrived yesterday...

"Muslims Must Wear Identity Jackets At All Times."

The sign also lists Trump as President of the United States and Chris Christie as Secretary of the Interior.

No word at the moment whose responsible for creating and hanging the signs...

Updated 5/17

The city (or someone) removed the sign... it was gone by late Monday afternoon...



11:30 p.m.

Ah, we missed this. One of the signs turned up on Orchard Street as well, per The Lo-Down.

Updated 5/18

The fake signs, which also originally included Trump-branded jackets, were hung up around the city, per this BuzzFeed post.

Zoltar's 'wealth of wisdom' for Lily Tomlin at Gem Spa

[EVG file photo]

The New Yorker has a piece with Lily Tomlin, whose promoting Season 2 of the Netflix show "Grace and Frankie."

In the late 1960s, Tomlin lived on Fifth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery. For the interview, Tomlins stops by Gem Spa on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place, where she recalled:

“I’d come to Gem Spa on the weekends and I would rail against the rock culture, because it was so misogynistic. I would fight my way in, and I’d shout out from behind the throngs. I’d say, ‘I need a box of business envelopes!’ ”

Later, she gives her $2 to Zoltar out front:

“Zoltar’s been around a long time,” she said. She fed in the bills, and the machine spat out a yellow ticket.

“Is that it?” Tomlin said, rapping on the glass. “What a rip!”

“For a small fee, Zoltar will give you a wealth of wisdom,” Zoltar said in a booming voice.

The fortune was read aloud: “A happy reunion with a loved one will make life all that you ever wanted it or dreamed it to be. You have a very trusting nature and are easily taken in by so-called friends.”

“My God in Heaven!” Tomlin said.

A look at tonight's CB3-SLA docket

[Photo of 67 2nd Ave. from Saturday via Vinny & O]

CB3's SLA committee meets tonight at 6:30. For starters, there's a different location this month for the meeting: Thelma Burdick Community Room, 10 Stanton St. at the Bowery.

Now here's a look at some of the East Village items on the agenda...

Renewal with Complaint

• Royale (Jeflo & Co Ltd), 157 Ave C (op)

Applications within Saturated Areas

• Baker's Pizza (Baker's Pizza LLC), 201 Ave A (wb)

Sidewalk Cafe Application

• Mimi Cheng's Dumplings (Joyful Eats LLC), 179 2nd Ave

Alterations

• Saint Marks Karaoke (6 Saint Marks Inc), 6 St Marks Pl (wb/alt/extend hours of operation to 2 am Sun-Thurs; 4 am Fri, Sat)

New Liquor License Applications

• La Contrada (CJFM LLC), 67 2nd Ave (op)

A new group is looking to make the southwest corner of Second Avenue and Fourth Street work (formerly Contrada, Calliope and Belcourt).

According to the questionnaire (PDF) on file at the CB3 website, the restaurant will be going by the name La Contrada, serving Italian fare from 8 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Wednesday; until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

There's a sample menu with the materials online showing a long list of offerings, such as wraps, salads, smoothies and soups ... as well as pasta and chicken dishes.

The applicant on file is Francesco Marcello, who has 33 years of experience in restaurants, per the documents. There isn't any mention of where this experience took place.

La Contrada may also have non-amplified "jazz and Italian live background music once in awhile," per the CB3 questionnaire.

• San Marzano (Evir Corp), 117 2nd Ave (upgrade/op)

• Ichibantei (Ichibantei Pub Inc), 401 E 13th St (upgrade/op)

Items not heard at Committee

• Udon West (Kanae Inc), 11 St Marks Pl (op/corp change)

• Tai Thai Thailand Home Cooking (Tai Thai Thailand Home Cooking Inc), 78 E 1st St (wb/corp change)

• Tonkatsuya (Ira Asian Restaurant Inc), 328 E 6th St (wb)

The Japanese restaurant recently opened in the space that Banana Leaf vacated.

• To be Determined, 195-197 Ave B (wb)

Don't know much about this... looks as if this new venture, called Gloria in the CB3 questionnaire, will take the long-empty spaces on the northeast corner of Avenue B and 12th Street.


[195-197 Avenue B]

There isn't any mention of what type of food that Gloria well serve with its beer-wine license. The listed hours are noon to midnight on Sunday; 5 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Saturday. The space will accommodate 25 tables for 50 diners.

• WDI New York LLC, 85 4th Ave (wb)

Hong Kong-based chef Mak Kwai Pui is opening his first U.S. location of Tim Ho Wan, his Michelin-starred dim sum parlor, on East 10th Street and Fourth Avenue ... in the former Spice space.

• Kotobuki (BEY United LLC), 56 3rd Ave (wb)

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

1st look at the all-new 26 Avenue B

The scaffolding and construction netting came down at 26 Avenue B this past week... offering the first look at the new 7-unit, 6-floor residential building between Second Street and Third Street... (This space was once home to the Croxley Ales beer garden.)

We were curious what this would look like. The rendering on the plywood showed the building next door ...



Anyway, here it is...





Developer Natan Vinbaytel was also behind 227 E. Seventh St., which people seemed to like ... as well as 67 Avenue C, which is now sold out per a news release we received last week.

To date, we haven't seen any pricing for 26 Avenue B.

H/T Salim!

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] 6-story apartment building ready to rise from the former Croxley Ales beer garden

[Updated] Report: 28 Avenue B has been evacuated

Full-stop work order served at construction site adjacent to evacuated Avenue B building

Resident wants stuff back that workers took from not abandoned apartment

Is 26 Avenue B ready for its new building now?

Cava Grill coming soon to 4th Avenue

The signage has arrived here on Fourth Avenue between East 13th Street and East 14th Street. (In a storefront last occupied by a spa/nail salon.)

Here's more about Cava Grill via their website:

Started by three childhood friends Ike Grigoropoulos, Chef Dimitri Moshovitis, and Ted Xenohristos, Cava Grill celebrates the flavors of their families’ traditional Greek and Mediterranean cooking in a casual modern setting.

This will be the first NYC location for Cava Grill, whose restaurants are mainly located in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

You may be familiar with their products/spreads (try the eggplant and roasted red pepper dip!), which the sign says are available at Whole Foods Market Union Square®.



Meanwhile, a few doors to the south, Desi Shack remains closed... with the new Pakistani Kitchen letters...

Peter Brant's 421 E. 6th St. wrapped and ready for more renovations

Just noting that workers finished putting up the scaffolding and netting in front of 421 E. Sixth St., the new exhibition space for Peter Brant's art collection here between Avenue A and First Avenue...



And it looks as if workers are knocking holes in the west-facing wall to make way for the doors that will lead to the new garden space in the empty lot adjacent to the building...



Previously

Today in outdoor sales

The semi-annual tag sale took place today at Village View... EVG correspondent Stacie Joy arrived just as the winds were picking up, and some residents were packing up for the day...





...she notes that no one bought the Bill Cosby book...



...or the Darth Vader Mr. Potato Head...











... and on East Second Street outside the Le Petit Versailles Garden... Kembra Pfahler, the artist and musician, hosted a sidewalk sale...

Competitive doubles

Photo in Tompkins Square Park today by Goggla

Week in Grieview

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park yesterday by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Steve Croman hit with 20 felony charges; faces 25 years in prison (Monday ... Thursday)

Tenants and local elected officials speak out against Icon Realty (Tuesday)

Other Music closes for good on June 25 (Monday)

Health Department to inspect Raphael Toledano's East Village properties for toxic levels of lead dust (Monday)

The moment when a dog urinated on Donald Trump's portrait outside Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday)

In Vino closes for good on East Fourth Street after service tomorrow (Thursday)

Despite looming shutdown, MTA plans to start expanding the First Avenue L stop (Friday)

Without a liquor license, Dahlia's decides to close for now (Monday)

Trader Joe's a possibility for the Extell Development on 14th Street and Avenue A (Thursday)

Out and About with John Ellert (Wednesday)

Branded sidewalk bridge arrives at 347 Bowery along with prices for the million-dollar condos (Wednesday)

New street art for Prince and David Bowie (Thursday)

Mikey Likes It unveils a new ice cream truck (Tuesday)

Loose bricks drama on Third Avenue (Wednesday... Friday)

At the 2016 NYC Cannabis Parade (Sunday)

Jones LES is for sale on East Houston (Wednesday)

Cellar 58 closes for renovations (Tuesday)

Confectionery opens on East Ninth Street (Monday)

Nail salon coming to the former Twist space on Avenue A (Wednesday)

Construction enters awesome pile-driving phase at 438 E. 14th St. (Thursday)

Taking in Mercury's trip across the Sun from Second Avenue (Monday)

Eastville Gardens sells for $44 million on Eighth and Avenue C (Friday)

The Funkiberry space will become a pizzeria — again (Friday)

Vacancy Project bringing hair, art and coffee to East 10th Street (Monday)

The New Museum is expanding on the Bowery (Wednesday)

The new Mamoun's Falafel is now open on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)


[Photo by Steven]

...and as a parting thought, plus always be mindful when parking your semi on First Avenue...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

... and disposing of your ax...

Rats chased Chloë Sevigny from the East Village

Former East Village resident Chloë Sevigny stars in Whit Stillman's new film "Love & Friendship," which opened Friday at the Angelika.

The Guardian UK has a profile on her, in which she discusses a variety of topics... including!

Her former neighborhood:

“The East Village, it’s lost,” Sevigny says with a snort. “Have you seen Astor Place? Starbucks, Citibank, Kmart, and that’s about it. Some of the streets are still holding out – you can still find a few of the old mom-and-pop stores. The avenues? Forget it. They’re gone for good.” She is only 41, but speaks like an old-timer, casting her eyes back to a sepia-toned era.

Why she moved to Brooklyn:

“I got out, in all honesty, because of rats. After Hurricane Sandy, my street was overrun and I couldn’t handle it. The 10th Street Association are going to hate me for saying that. But yes, the rats are all over the East Village, they’re in Tompkins Square. And I lived on the ground floor with the garden, and I could hear them scratching outside the window and I just couldn’t cope.”

Her hometown of Darien, Conn.:

The actor visits regularly, although she doesn’t much like it; again, the place is not what it was. “Change freaks me out,” she says. “The town used to be really charming. Now it’s the whole post McMansion thing, and everybody cuts down the trees because they don’t want to deal with the leaves. And they floodlight everything, and knock down the colonial homes, and put up these big, ugly, boxy-looking things that are very on trend.” She sighs once again, like an aged pioneer. “Everything used to be wilder and more romantic.”

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chloë Sevigny on the East Village today: 'It’s like a frat house everywhere' (57 comments)

Image via the Love & Friendship website

Letters for Angel

Someone has set this up on the corner of Avenue B and 13th Street... soliciting letters for Angel... (the address is to a box at the 23rd Street post office)...





I don't know Angel, but based on all this I'm assuming he was a piraguero who sold flavored shaved ice here...



Anyone have more information about all this?

'The Devil's Veil' debuts tonight

Longtime East Village resident Anton van Dalen has a new exhibition debuting this evening titled "The Devil’s Veil."

The exhibit will be up through June 19 at Romeo, 90 Ludlow St. (between Delancey and Broome). The opening reception is tonight from 6 to 9. Find more details here.

See the new Jeff Buckley mini-documentary tonight at 2A

Mini-documentary on Jeff Buckley with some musical performances happening tonight upstairs at 2A courtesy of Tom Clark (OAAITEV alum!) ... Doors at 8:30. And there's very limited space.

Find out more about Sunday night events at the Treehouse at 2A here.

The semi-annual Village View tag sale is tomorrow (Sunday!)

The sale is in the playground just behind 60 Avenue A at the corner of East Fourth Street and Avenue A ... from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Take a look at some photos from last fall's sale here.