Noted

Blue picket fence alert this evening on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place... outside the former Chase ... soon to be the Swiss Institute.

Photo by Lola Sáenz

Lines ahoy!: Trader Joe's coming to Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side

ICYMI: The announcement came this morning that Trader Joe's is coming to site 5 of the sprawling Essex Crossing complex on the Lower East Side. The TJ's is slated for a large retail space at 145 Clinton St. at Grand.

The 15-story building will include a 22,000-square-foot Planet Fitness on the second floor when construction wraps in 2018. You can head to The Lo-Down for more details on this development.

A TJ's recently opened in Kip's Bay. And maybe one will still open at 500 E. 14th St. That incoming CityTarget is only expected to take half of the retail space at 14th Street and Avenue A.

Welcoming Steiner East Village

Steiner East Village, Douglas Steiner's 82-unit condoplex rising on Avenue A at 12th Street, received welcome messages the other night.

EVG reader John shared this photo... a Cool and a SMELLS...

Report: Woman, 73, killed by M14D on East Houston

A woman died after being hit by an MTA bus as it passed Columbia Street and East Houston this morning around 9:45 a.m., according to published reports.

The victim, whose identity has not been released, was 73, according to ABC-7. None of the passengers on the M14D were apparently injured. The investigation continues.

Updated 5:30 p.m.

Streetsblog has more details on the deadly collision.

Anna Colon, 73, was crossing East Houston Street north to south at around 9:50 a.m. when the driver, who was also southbound, hit her while turning left from Avenue D onto East Houston, according to NYPD.

And...

East Houston at Avenue D is a wide two-way street with concrete medians in the crosswalks. Drivers injured 15 people walking at the intersection between 2009 and 2015, and had injured one other person there this year as of August, according to city crash data.

Residents told the Daily News that this intersection is dangerous.

“I feel afraid every time I cross that corner. I hold my breath and keep an eye out for a bus," said Rosalind Collazo, 49. “The buses go fast and don't stop. It's not the buses, the cars go fast too. They do U-turns when they are not supposed to.”

Colon had nine children, according to the Daily News.

The luxurious reveal of the future 253 E. 7th St.

[What's left of No. 253 as of Sept. 10]

As we first reported last month, the city signed off on permits for a new 6-story residential building at 253 E. Seventh St. between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Yesterday, New York Yimby got a look at the rendering via Issac & Stern Architects... incoming!



Per NYY:

The structure will span 10,466 square feet with six units averaging a spacious 1,498 square feet apiece. That is a strong indicator that this building will hold condos, and most units will have their own floors, including a penthouse on the sixth floor with its own private upper level.

Public records show that the property owner is an LLC going by DRK East 7th Street, who paid $5.7 million for the plot in a filing posted on Aug. 22.

This is the second new condo project to break ground on this block in the past few years ... joining Seven East Village, aka, 277 E. Seventh St. The Flowerbox condo building at No. 259 arrived in 2007.

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

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

New plans for a 6-story building at 253 E. 7th St.

New 6-story residential building OK'd for 7th Street


[Image from 2014 via Massey Knakal]

'Indie music hall and restaurant' in the works for Colonnade Row

The other day, the Times checked in with a roundup of fall bar openings.

Here's one intriguing new venue: The owners of Elvis Guesthouse on Avenue A and Baby's All Right in Williamsburg are reportedly opening "an indie music hall and restaurant" at 428 Lafayette St. (See photo above with helpful arrow.)

The preview didn't mention that this will be in Colonnade Row, the landmarked series of Greek revival buildings near Astor Place. No. 428 is next door to Indochine.

The unnamed, two-level venue will be similar to Baby's All Right, with a bar and restaurant. Said Co-owner Billy Jones: "If you have a space and the rent is so high, you have to come up with creative ways to activate it for longer periods of time." Said co-owner Zachary Mexico: "Pay your rent with brunch."

There wasn't any mention of a possible opening date.

If it's October, then it also must be Hitchcocktober

[Photo from last week]

This Halloween season, Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at East 12th Street is once again presenting Alfred Hitchcock films (Hitchcocktober!) on Thursday evenings.

The series begins this week with "The Birds" ...



And upcoming:

Oct. 13 — "Suspicion"

Oct. 20 — "Dial M for Murder" in 3D

Oct. 27 — "The Trouble With Harry"

Oct. 31 (Halloween night!) — "Psycho"

You may buy advance tickets here. The movies start at 8 p.m.

Reader report: The trash at PS 15

An East Fourth Street resident shares this via the EVG inbox...

This is the chronic garbage situation on East Fourth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D outside PS 15.

The top photo is the garbage that was put out on Friday afternoon and sat there all weekend until it was picked up yesterday. This is the norm. The bottom 2 photos are what was left AFTER the garbage pickup — a smaller, but still disgusting mess.





As you can see, the school puts out a slew of garbage bags and has created a dump site on the block. Apparently, they are held to a different standard and have a different garbage pickup schedule than residents on the block. This situation has created a major rat problem on the block and in the nearby community gardens. Rats can be seen swarming this mess at night and in the early morning. No amount of calls to 311 is bringing any improvement.

Report: Avenue B's Babu Ji settles wage lawsuit

The owners of Babu Ji, the popular Indian restaurant on Avenue B at 11th Street, have reportedly settled a wage lawsuit from employees for $95,000.

Eater has the story late this afternoon:

Notorious restaurant labor attorney Maimon Kirschenbaum sued Jessi and Jennifer Singh on behalf of two employees for pocketing tips and not paying overtime. Last week, the Singhs agreed to pay employees Warren Bayani and Mehmood Qureshi a total of $95,000, split almost evenly between the two of them and Kirschenbaum. The owners did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, according to public court records.

Read the full story at Eater.

Babu Ji opened in June 2015. The owners are planning to open a location in San Francisco.

Carrying the puppy vote in the Tompkins Square Park dog run

Pups for Hillary photos this morning by Derek Berg...

Village Style has left the East Village

Back in August, we reported that the Village Style Vintage Shop at 111 E. Seventh St. was moving to Bushwick this fall ... leaving behind its storefront here between Avenue A and First Avenue...

Workers cleared out the space late last week...



The space has been on the market ... with an asking rent of $9,750 per month.

The shop, part of the L Train Vintage family, also operates No Relation Vintage clothing on First Avenue between 12th Street and 13th Street.

Ownership did not offer a reason for the move.

Thanks to Steven for the photos; H/T EVG reader Marty E.

Soothsayer has been closed lately; owners seeking an upgrade to full liquor

[Photo Sunday by Steven]

Several readers passed along word that brown paper appeared in the windows of Soothsayer, the Vietnamese restaurant at 171 Avenue A, early last week. There wasn't any accompanying note on the door/windows or on social media about a temporary closure. (Soothsayer was closed last week and through the weekend.)

However, someone posted paperwork on the front door about CB3's SLA committee meeting this month, where reps for Soothsayer will appear to upgrade to a full liquor license as well as a license for the rear garden. (You can find their paperwork for the October meeting at the CB3 website.)

The restaurant between 10th Street and 11th Street, run by siblings Stephan and Kimxuan Brezinsky who grew up in Stuy Town, opened back in January.

In July 2015, Soothsayer upset a few neighbors after asking for support for a full liquor license and use of the back patio. Soothsayer reportedly withdrew its application at the July 2015 CB3/SLA meeting.

In September 2015, CB3 OK'd a beer-wine license without use of the outdoor space. The proprietors also agreed to hours of 5:30 p.m. to midnight during the week, with opening hours of noon on Saturday and Sunday.

The October SLA committee meeting is Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Location: The Thelma Burdick Community Room, 10 Stanton St. at the Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Incoming restaurant on Avenue A asking residents to rally for their liquor license and back patio (42 comments)

Big Blue returns to IHOP Way

The Big Blue awning has returned to the under-renovation IHOP on 14th Street.

This location between Second Avenue and Third Avenue closed for the renovations on Sept. 18. While the awning is back, the dining room still has a ways to go...

The rent for the former St. Mark's Bookshop

Two weeks ago we mentioned that the former St. Mark's Bookshop was for rent at 136 E. Third St.

At the time, there was only a mention on LoopNet. As a follow-up, the for rent sign arrived late last week at the storefront in the NYCHA-controlled First Houses between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The listing is now also live at the NYCHA website. The asking rent is $60 per square foot ... the entire 1,328-square-foot space (no basement access) is available for $6,640 per month.



After 38 years at four locations, St. Mark's Bookshop closed for good last Feb. 28.

Week in Grieview

[A Pulaski Day float outside St. Stanislaus today via Steven]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

A patient visit to the medical marijuana dispensary on 14th Street (Friday)

Lot that housed one of the buildings destroyed during the deadly Second Avenue explosion sells for $6 million (Tuesday)

Part of a community garden reappears 16 years after it was bulldozed (Monday)

More details on the 14-story building coming to the long-empty lot on 14th and C (Wednesday)

Out and About with Boris Ryback (Wednesday)

Three years later, school emerging from behind scaffolding and construction netting (Monday)

Maison Kayser now open on Broadway (Monday)

September opening for the Second Avenue Tompkins Square Bagels zapped by an electrical issue (Tuesday)

Reader report: Cafe Silan space will become a French bakery (Tuesday)

Verdigreen vintage furnishings boutique leaves the East Village (Thursday)

Sales launch for Ben Shaoul's Katz's-dwarfing new condos (Tuesday)

Carma East opens on Sixth Street (Friday)

Clearing out the Edge (Thursday)

USA today: 'Merica NYC signage arrives (Friday)

The Lenin statue, safe for now on a Norfolk Street rooftop (Tuesday)

Tonkatsuya has apparently closed on Sixth Street (Thursday)

The former Schnitz space is for rent (Friday)

Some love for the former Yaffa Cafe mural space

[Photo by Allen Semanco]

NYC street artist Hektad is creating one of his heart murals outside 97 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue...

The wall space was home to the Yaffa Cafe mural for nearly 23 years. A worker painted over that back in May. The cafe closed for good after 31 years in September 2014.

A new restaurant, Taberna 97, will be opening here soon.

Updated

And the finished mural...

A look at Shepard Fairey's mural Rise Above, now complete on 11th Street at 1st Avenue

Shepard Fairey's mural on 11th Street at First Avenue is complete. (He started work on Wednesday.)



The L.I.S.A. Project's Wayne Rada told DNAinfo:

[T]he goal of the undertaking is to supply some brightness and positivity for the locals wandering below — especially the children coming and going from neighboring elementary school.P.S. 19.

The mural features an image of Fairey's daughter when she was 3 years old. (She is now 11.)

Photos by Steven

The 26th annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is Oct. 22

[Photo yesterday by Steven]

The posters are up in Tompkins Square Park... the Dog Parade is Oct. 22 from noon to 3 p.m.

Giuliana Rancic, host of E!'s Live from the Red Carpet and co-host of Fashion Police, is the emcee.

Find more details here. Relive last year's costumes here.

Street fair! Street fair! Street fair!

Rocktober is kicking off in fine fashion ... with a street fair/festival on Third Avenue from Astor Place to 114th Street 14th Street.

EVG deputized Street Fair correspondent OlympiasEpiriot shared the above photo.

As noted last week, the de Blasio administration is proposing changes to the city’s street fairs to make them less tube socky and generic.

[Updated] 82-year-old woman found dead; great-grandson in custody for murder

An 82-year-old woman was found beaten to death and bound to a chair inside her apartment in the Lillian Wald Houses on East Fourth Street near the FDR, according to published reports. And now her great-grandson, identified as 23-year-old Gary Bias, is in custody facing second-degree murder and attempted murder charges.

The suspect’s 39-year-old mother was also tied up by her wrists and ankles, but she managed to free herself and call 911, the Daily News reports. When police arrived, they found the body of Ella Mae Bias. (Media reports have identified the family's last name as both Biaz and Bias. The updated reports use Bias.)

Police found Gary Bias in his car just over the Williamsburg Bridge.

amNewYork reports that a law enforcement source says it "appeared there was a family dispute that preceded the incident, however police are still investigating what the nature of the argument was."

Per the Daily News: "A neighbor said he would regularly hit up his great-grandmother for cash after her Social Security checks arrived on the first day of the month."

Updated Oct. 2

The Post reports that Gary Bias "told cops the women were conspiring to kill him." The Post also notes that he "is believed to be mentally ill."