Activity at the long-vacant corner of 14th Street and Avenue C

An EVG reader noted that workers arrived yesterday at 644 E. 14th St., the long-empty lot on the southwest corner of Avenue C. Nothing too major to point out, other than some freshly churned dirt (from some soil testing?) and newly painted plywood.

In any event, it marks the first there has been much here to note in the way of construction activity.

Last month, The Real Deal reported that Brooklyn's Rabsky Group sold the property to Opal Holdings for $23 million. (Per their website: "Opal Holdings targets value-added or opportunistic properties in the office, retail, residential and hotel sectors, to be repositioned or redeveloped.")

Not sure at this point what might be repositioned or redeveloped. Maybe the R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009? (It was demolished in early 2015.)

There are approved permits for a 14-story building totaling 63,932 square feet, with 8,064 square feet for retail ... and 21,991 square feet for a community facility. However, it's unclear if these are the plans that Opal would stick with moving forward.

Whenever construction actually commences, crews will likely have to contend with some serious de-watering activity... the developers two blocks to the west at 438 E. 14th St. have said that they found unusually elevated groundwater levels and exceedingly soft and unstable soil owing to the presence of an underground stream.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Development back in play for East 14th Street and Avenue C

More details on the sale of 644 E. 14th St.

Here comes a 15-story retail-residential complex for East 14th Street and Avenue C

Prepping the former R&S Strauss auto parts store for demolition on East 14th Street and Avenue C

City OKs 15-story mixed-use retail-residential building on 14th and C

14th and C now waiting for the Karl Fischer-designed 15-story retail-residential complex

14th and C still waiting for its Karl Fischer-designed retail-residential complex

Report: New owners for the empty lot at 14th Street and Avenue C

Plywood arrives for 131 Avenue A; new Cajun restaurant on the way?

Workers yesterday erected plywood around 131 Avenue A, the former 10 Degrees Bistro and Flea Market Cafe between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.

Back in December, CB3 OK'd a beer-wine license for the owners of Shoolbred's and Kingston Hall (and formerly Ninth Ward) on Second Avenue. The CB3 meeting notes refer to the new establishment as "a New Orleans Cajun restaurant." (Per the meeting notes, the applicants were seeking a full-liquor license; they also faced opposition from several nearby block associations.)

The space has been sitting dormant in recent months. There had reportedly been gas issues in the building, which ultimately led to the eviction/closure of next-door neighbors Nino's and Yoshi Sushi. Perhaps landlord Citi Urban has those gas issues resolved.

H/T Lola Sáenz

Previously on EV Grieve:
New-look Flea Market Cafe shows itself on Avenue A; reopens March 11

Flea Market Cafe reopens today, and here's the menu

Was the fire at Flea Market yesterday suspicious?

On Avenue A, Flea Market Cafe is now Ten Degrees Bistro

The Marshal seizes 10 Degrees Bistro on Avenue A

10 Degrees Bistro won't be reopening on Avenue A

Team behind Shoolbred's and Ninth Ward vying for 10 Degrees Bistro space on Avenue A

Chi Snack Shop opening in the former Mamoun's space on St. Mark's Place

[EVG photo from December]

You may have noticed renovations in recent weeks at 22 St. Mark's Place, the former Mamoun's space between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (Mamoun's relocated to 30 St. Mark's Place in May.)

Per EVG correspondent Steven, signage went up yesterday at No. 22 for Chi Snack Shop...



...which is going to be an Asian snack shop serving a variety of candies, cakes and other desserts. Workers said the Snack Shop should be open in two weeks.

Rescheduled 'Romeo + Juliet' plays tonight in Tompkins Square Park

Last week's free film in Tompkins Square Park — the 1996 version of "Romeo + Juliet" with Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio — was rained out. So the organizers are doing a make-up screening tonight.

The evening includes a food fair/fest starting at 5 with vendors from the Eastville Restaurant Collective, which includes GG's, Boulton & Watt and Huerta's.

Check the Films in Tompkins Facebook page for any updates on tonight's screening.

And tonight's free film is also the last one of the six-week summer series. One rainout of out six. Not bad compared with previous summers.

Cab collision on 9th Street and 3rd Avenue

EVG reader Charlie Chen shared these photos from last night around 10 ... showing the aftermath of a cab collision on Ninth Street at Third Avenue...





There isn't any official word on cause or extent of injuries. Charlie saw one passenger in a neck brace at the scene and EMTs placing another passenger on a stretcher.

Logan Hicks back at work on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

Logan Hicks, known for his photorealistic stenciled paintings, was up early (out late?) at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall today... redoing the work — titled "Story of My Life" — that he began in late July that got wiped out by the heat and torrential rain. (Workers have refurbished the wall with weatherproof panels.)

And several readers have said there are security guards here 24/7 via landlord Goldman Properties to see that the wall isn't the victim of hijinks.

Workers take drastic action against unattended chairs in Tompkins Square Park

Chairs, you have been warned!



Photos today by Derek Berg

Feltman's of Coney Island now open on St. Mark's Place

[Joseph Quinn points to the to-go window at 80 St. Mark's Place.]

As a follow-up to yesterday's post... the Feltman's of Coney Island stand is now open for business at the William Barnacle Tavern at Theatre 80, 80 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

You can grab a hot dog to go from the sidewalk window or have one inside the Tavern. Feltman's toppings are sauerkraut, chopped onions, shredded cheddar, chili and their own Spicy Apple Cider Vinegar Mustard. (No ketchup or pump cheese, sorry!) They are also selling Coney Island Knishes.

The revived Feltman's brand is owned by brothers and Brooklyn natives Michael and Joseph Quinn.

The Feltman's hours are for now Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.; and 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Feltman's is named after Charles Feltman, purportedly the inventor of the hot dog as well as the restaurant that was located in Coney Island from 1870-1954.

Report: Police take action against heroin users in Tompkins Square Park

[A reported OD in the Park earlier this summer via Derek Berg]

The Post reports that the NYPD yesterday sent officers into Tompkins Square Park "to deal with junkies openly shooting up heroin." (The Post headline: 'Crusties' shooting up heroin in Tompkins Square Park finally get the boot.)

The action was apparently taken after an unnamed nearby business owner called 311 to complain. The Post reports that this 311 call was later returned by someone in Internal Affairs.

We'll let the Post tell the story:

The business owner said his partner recently asked a cop on patrol why nothing was being done to stem the scourge and was told: “Well, if we don’t catch them doing it red-handed, we can’t search them for drugs.”

The business owner, who asked not to be identified by name, got fed up and called 311, and received a call back the next day from a stunned Internal Affairs Bureau cop.

“He was flabbergasted,” recalled the source, who said the investigator called the situation “inexcusable” and vowed to “get to the bottom of it.”

And...

“It’s well known they have issues in the park at times, and they deal with it on an ongoing basis,” the spokesman said, adding that cops have made 63 drug-related busts there so far this year.

This was the fifth consecutive year that the rate of deaths from heroin-involved overdoses increased throughout New York City, according to Department of Health statistics.

Meanwhile, the 9th Precinct tweeted this from yesterday...

Our #NYPD Conditions Team spending the day in Tompkins Square Pk talking to visitors & listening to concerns pic.twitter.com/DAcNOFaVhI

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) August 16, 2016

Media reports about an influx of homeless people and drug users in Tompkins Square Park last July prompted the arrival of an NYPD patrol tower.

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing 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: John Von Hartz
Occupation: Writer
Location: 2nd Street between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue
Time: 11:15 on Tuesday, Aug 16

We moved to the East Village in 1965, and everybody thought we were crazy. We were, because it was really tough down here – a very heavy welfare, drug area, but it was all we could afford.

I was a writer, and once you’re a writer you’re always a writer. I worked for Time Life Books for years, the hard cover books about art, science, boating, anything. It was very interesting, and I got paid and paid fairly well for the time. It was like getting paid for a graduate program. Then I freelanced. Kathy, my wife, is an ace teacher. She teaches English as a second language. So we strung along somehow.

We discovered very quickly that you could buy brownstones for a reasonable amount of money, and the idea that you could own a brownstone in Manhattan seemed inconceivable for our socio-economic level, but we found one for what boiled down to $19,000 for three floors.

We lived in two of the floors and rented out the top one. We struggled with that for six or eight years, especially because we didn’t know that much, but we would hire people, we would watch what they did, and we would try to do it ourselves. We got pretty good at tiling and plumbing. We learned that if you can take care of a three-story brownstone, you can probably take care of the Empire State Building, because it’s all pretty much the same. There’s a plumbing core and an electrical core. It’s just segmented out. Just with the Empire State Building, there’s more of it, but the basics are the same.

So we grew confident that way, and then finally the area just got to be too noisy and too crazy for us, so we found a house. It was five stories, with ten apartments, a front and back apartment on each floor, and it was $64,000, which we couldn’t afford. But we figured we’d try it and see if it worked out. Turned out it did, but we went through very difficult times with it.

The main thing was that it was a working-class neighborhood, and so it had its ups and downs depending on what was happening on the street. Then in the 1980s, or late 1970s, the druggies started moving in. We would have to go out after dinner many nights. Somebody would come around, the word would go around, there would be a line formed behind him, the drugs would mysteriously appear from a runner on a bicycle, get handed out, and the users would disappear as quickly as they had formed, so it was very hard for the cops to catch them.

I would primarily go out, because we couldn’t get Kathy killed, and I’d just say, ‘Look we don’t want this. This is a family block here. We don’t want any trouble. Just stay away and we’ll all live happily ever after.’ They’d say, ‘We don’t want any trouble either.’ By god it worked. It took a long time and we worked with the police. We did a lot of things, but at that time the police, I won’t say they were in on it totally, but they were a lot more in on it then they were not in on it. The city was awash with drug money, and the whole area east of Avenue A was [filled with] abandoned buildings and drug-selling centers. Limousines were pulling up with UN plates on them with kids running out from the limousines to get the drugs for the diplomats. It was just a scene from a bad movie.

In time, [our street] settled down, and then we started seeing a terrific gentrification in the late 1990s maybe, which some of that was okay, but it just got… typical New York, there’s no middle ground. It’s all or nothing.

A lot of the characters on the streets have been forced out by the high rents. Our building was able to get higher rents, but that wasn’t really the point. We were surviving. We wanted artists and writers and other people to be able to live down here. Our interest wasn’t in real estate. We just happened to be people who had to live in New York and lucked into a building.

But I have to say this, and I say this every time I till this story – we didn’t know what would happen when we bought our building in 1973. The city was going broke, the middle class was abandoning it, the federal government and Ford had said drop dead to New York. We put everything we had into that building and we could have so easily been wiped out. I’m not talking about trying to make a fortune, I’m talking about just being destroyed, wiped out. We were very lucky. We rolled the dice and won that way. Nobody knew what would happen, or if they knew they weren’t willing to take the chance.

Now this is like a regular upper-middle-class neighborhood with fancy cars on the street. I couldn’t have imagined it. Cars were just fair game when we were first here. Tires were stolen or slashed, windows broken, radios stolen. It was a different ballgame.

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

91 E. 7th St. is for sale

[Top 3 photos from Feb. 23]

Back in late February, we spotted several small "building for sale" signs at 91 E. Seventh St. at First Avenue...





However, the listing never appeared online and no one ever got back to us with more info.

Now, though, the listing (the 12-unit building is also known as 118 First Ave.) arrived on Streeteasy this week.

Per the listing:

1. Deli $14,300 lease expire 8/31/2016
2. Store $4,300 lease expire 8/31/2016
3. 3 bedrooms R/R style VACANT(2,900)
4. 3 bedrooms R/R style VACANT (2,900)
5. 3 bedrooms R/R style R/C $140
6. 3 bedrooms R/R style R/C $147,97

One retail tenant is Golden Food Market... the other space must be the Caracas Arepa Bar To Go space, which shares the 91 E. Ninth St. address. (The People's Pops stand did not return to this corner this summer.)


[Photo from yesterday]

The asking price for the building: $6.9 million.

DOB records show a partial vacate order on the address for "illegal hotel rooms in residential buildings."

Report: Incoming condos for 13th Street and University Place will start at $6 million

Back in July we spotted the renderings for the new condoplex coming to University Place and 13th Street ... 6 residences above a retail space.

Curbed yesterday got the initial details on the pricing:

Prices on these apartments, which will each measure about 2,600 square feet, will start at a staggeringly high $6 million, though developers Ranger Properties and KD Sagamore Capital haven’t revealed more detailed pricing info beyond that or released info on the priciest pad in the building.

There's also a teaser site for the Morris Adjmi-designed building, which is officially 116 University Place.

The corner previously housed University Place Gourmet as well as several adjacent storefronts, including Bennie Louie Chinese Laundry.

Developer Ranger Properties paid $22 million for the lot, and closed down the businesses and moved out the residents

Previously on EV Grieve:
Major changes coming to University Place and East 13th Street

How about some more condos for University Place

Here's what's left of the block of University Place that once housed Bowlmor Lanes


[13th and University in June 2015]

The 4th annual MoRUS Film Fest starts tomorrow evening

Here's the rundown via the EVG inbox...



There's a suggested donation of $7 a film, or $20 for the whole festival. You can find more details on tickets and the films here. The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) is located at 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

Tuesday's parting shot

Photo from Second Avenue and Fourth Street by Derek Berg

[Updated] Not so sweet plumbing issue KOs Sugar Cafe on East Houston

EVG regular ‏@fnytv notes that 24/7 Sugar Cafe on the corner of East Houston and Allen Street is closed for now... signage on the door points to an undisclosed plumbing issue...



... and they won't reopen until the problem is resolved... there's no other info available at the moment. The phone goes unanswered. Workers have also emptied the cafe's display cases...



Updated Aug. 27

The cafe is back open

For 1-week only: Rev. Jen's Troll Museum returns

Back in June, longtime downtown performance artist Reverend Jen Miller was evicted from her longtime Orchard Street apartment, which also doubled as the Troll Museum.

Starting tonight, the Museum will make an encore presentation. (H/T Vanishing New York!)

Per the Facebook invite:

[T]he kind folk at Chinatown Soup, just a few blocks from where Rev. ran her museum are willing to host the museum for a week of art, fun and most importantly, TROLLS. Expect a killer opening, weird performances, drawings, paintings, plays, a troll hair-dressing station, a troll-coloring book station, shit that's for sale, a "Troll Parade" and informative monologues about the importance of Troll Commerce.

The show opens tonight at 7 ... and runs though Aug. 23. Chinatown Soup, a community art space, is at 16B Orchard St between Hester and Canal.

Feltman’s of Coney Island bringing its hot dogs to the William Barnacle Tavern on St. Mark's Place

The revived Feltman's of Coney Island brand will have its first full-time restaurant space starting tomorrow when owner Michael Quinn opens in the William Barnacle Tavern at Theatre 80, 80 St. Mark's Place.

This is the latest step for Quinn, a Brooklyn native and Coney Island historian, to bring Feltman's back. Last summer, Quinn launched several Feltman's pop-up shops, first at Ditmas Park bar Sycamore then later at Augers Well on St. Mark's Place as well as at the Parkside Lounge on East Houston.

Feltman's is named after Charles Feltman, purportedly the inventor of the hot dog as well as the restaurant that was located in Coney Island from 1870-1954. (Read more about Feltman at the Coney Island History Project here.)

Quinn thinks that he has found a good match with Theatre 80 operator Lorcan Otway.

"Lorcan and I are both native New Yorkers and historians who believe in the preservation of NY history and small businesses. It's not often in this hostile environment that you find a landlord who believes in what you are doing and actually wants you there," Quinn said. "We found out that some of the performers who played at Theatre 80 a century ago got their start as singing waiters at Feltman's in Coney Island like Eddie Cantor."

At Theatre 80, Feltman's takes over for the recently departed Crêpes Canaveral.

Quinn, who works on the project with his brother Joseph, also started selling the packaged hot dogs in several NYC retail outlets yesterday.



And there are still plans for opening a Feltman's restaurant in Coney Island ... though it won't be anywhere near as gargantuan as the original block-long endeavor, billed as the world's largest restaurant in the 1920s.

At Theatre 80 between First Avenue and Second Avenue, the Feltman's hours are for now Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.; and 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Said Quinn: "Lorcan told me that he loves that fact that Feltman's is going from what was the largest restaurant in the world at Coney Island to the smallest kitchen on St. Mark's Place."

Out East quietly announces itself on 6th Street

As previously reported, veteran restaurateur Peter Kane (Bowery Meat Company, Stanton Social, Essex & Beauty, etc.) is one of the applicants behind a new project in the works for 509 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The venture, serving "new American cuisine," is called Out East, which has been added to the front door here...



CB3 OK'd a liquor license for the space last month. The paperwork (PDF) filed at the CB3 website ahead of the meeting revealed a fairly large establishment — a two-level restaurant space with 38 tables for 104 diners plus two small bars seating 16 people total.

Here's what CB3 had to say about the applicant via the official July meeting notes:

Community Board 3 is approving this application for a full on-premises liquor license although this is a location in an area with numerous full on-premises liquor licenses because 1) this applicant has experience operating numerous licensed businesses without complaints within this community board district, 2) the applicant has demonstrated support for this application, in that it has furnished fifty-two (52) signatures from area residents in support of its application, and 3) there is an existing restaurant at this location with a full on-premises liquor license.

Well, there isn't an existing restaurant at this location. The space is empty. The last full-time tenant here was Kion Dining Lounge maybe about seven years ago. As far as we can recall, the last tenant here was a pop-up bar from the folks behind the Buenos Aires Restaurant during the 2014 World Cup.

Former Teavana still waiting to be converted into a Starbucks

Back in March, the Starbucks-owned Teavana closed on Broadway and East Ninth Street. This was one of those locations that was to become a regular old Starbucks by April.

A walk by the space the other day shows that it remains an empty storefront for now. (There are approved work permits for a renovation on file at the DOB.)

Meanwhile, on this block, the former Radio Shack is becoming ... a Wells Fargo bank branch next door to the Chase branch.



The Broadway-and-East-Ninth-Street space previously housed Silver Spurs, the diner that closed in December 2013 after 34 years in business.

Pop-Up Trash Trivia on Avenue A

Welcome to your life...