(More) Condos coming soon on East Houston

The banner is up at the new 10-story building on East Houston at Suffolk... and sounding rather ominous: "Condos coming soon."



There is a teaser site where potential condo owners can sign up to receive more info. There aren't any further details, other than a tagline of sorts: "Floor-through condominiums in the heart of the Lower East Side."

In 2008, developer 265 East Houston LLC purchased the plot on Houston and Suffolk from Iglesia Pentecostal Arca de Salvacion (below) for $500,000, public records show.


[Via]

Work here on at 265 E. Houston St. (aka 179 Suffolk St.) dates to early 2010. As you may recall, construction in the pit destabilized the building next door at No. 255, which caused Action for Progress to vacate.

And as you can see, No. 255 is no more. Workers recently wrapped up that demolition...





Developer Samy Mahfar, the property's owner, has approved plans for a 10-story residential complex here.

And so the development gold rush continues along the East Houston corridor...

Mandolino Pizza coming soon to 13th Street

Signage is up for Mandolino Pizza here on East 13th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue...



We don't know a thing about the pizzeria just yet, like will it be more of a slice-to-go place ... or a sit-down-and-order-a-whole-pie establishment... (or both!)

Mandolino takes over the space from Sahara Citi, the hookah/hummus restaurant that closed this past summer after four years in business.

In any event, despite the nearby NYU dorm presence, it has to be a tough pizzeria market right in this area ... you have Joe's around the corner on 14th Street, which serves one of the city's best slices ... Gotham Pizza recently opened on 12th Street and Third Avenue (I finally tried a slice there and really liked it)... and for a sit-down meal, there's Bruno Pizza on 13th Street between Third Avenue and Second Avenue that reviewers really seem to like.

Dieci closes on 10th Street

Dieci closed at the end of September on East 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. EVG regular Blueglass notes that the space has been cleaned out.

The owners took to Facebook to post a brief goodbye message: "Unfortunately Dieci has closed its business. We hope to open again in the near future. Thank you for your patronage and we will keep you updated."

The owner and chef here are Japanese, but they served Italian fare that critics found interesting.

Dieci opened in this small, subterranean space in 2006.

East Village Burritos & Bar and Apna Masala haven't been open lately

It has been dark of late at East Village Burritos & Bar and its sister establishment next door, Apna Masala.



A sign on the restaurants here on First Avenue at Sixth Street mentions a closure for "construction work" — today.



Perhaps connecting the dots, the FDNY responded to a report of a fire at the building, 97 First Ave., on Sept. 25...roughly the last time we saw these places open...





There wasn't any word of damage to the building. (Witnesses said that they smelled smoke, but never saw any actual fire.)

Neither of these places haven't been setting any dining attendance records, save for nice evenings when a few patrons will take advantage of their sidewalk seating (under the sidewalk bridge for a good part of the summer).

After Banjara left the corner in 2013, Figaro Villaggio, an Italian bar-restaurant, opened in January 2014. They later changed the name to Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill and, by November 2014, gave up part of the space to an Apna Masala. (All from the same owners, as we understand it.)

Then in March 2015, Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill changed its names/concepts to La Esquina Bar & Grill ... then the name evolved to La Esquina Burritos and Bar ... and eventually East Village Burritos & Bar.

There's nothing on file with the DOB about renovations/construction on the space.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Banjara space yielding to Figaro Bistro Grill, 15 comments

Banjara moving soon to the Haveli space on Second Avenue

Indian cuisine returning to the corner of 1st Avenue and East 6th Street

Figaro Cafe Bistro Bar & Grill is now La Esquina (not that one) Bar & Grill

La Esquina Burritos & Bar signage up on 1st Avenue

6th Street switcharoos: Another name change for La Esquina Burritos and Bar; Spice Cove exits

Sunday's parting shots

At the Tompkins Square Park dog run (above) ... and outside Sidewalk on Avenue A and Sixth Street...



Photos by Derek Berg...

Taste Wine Co. celebrates first year in business

Taste Wine Co. is having a 1-year anniversary celebration from 4-8 p.m. today at 50 Third Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street. There will be giveaways, refreshments and, of course, wine tastings, per the Facebook invite.

"Most new businesses don't make it a year, but every month we've had has been better than the last so we'd love to celebrate that with our neighbors," Gary Landsman, founder of Taste Wine Co., told us via email.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More about Taste Wine, coming soon to 50 Third Ave.

[Updated] Noted

You've probably seen those stenciled ads for the new Green Day record (the band's 12th!) on sidewalks and plywood seemingly everywhere.

An EVG reader wondered if the marketing folks could have spared putting three of them on the fence outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery ...

Updated 5 p.m. 10/10

Several readers sent emails to the Green Day Fan Club ... and they responded:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, it is being removed immediately.
Thank You,
Green Day - Idiot Nation Team

As of 4:45 p.m... the stenciled ads were still on the church's fence...



Updated 5:45 p.m. 10/11



Updated 10/12



Updated 10/13

Noted

Real-time marketing on Avenue A with the We-Vibe van...

A video posted by EV Grieve (@evgrieve) on Oct 9, 2016 at 6:04am PDT

Saturday's parting shot

A downtown view tonight view Bobby Williams...

Today is Cassette Store Day

#CassetteStoreDay is back again. We won't have any of the new releases but we will have some interesting titles as usual.

A photo posted by A-1 Record Shop (@a1recordshop) on Oct 7, 2016 at 8:38pm PDT

Read all about it at the official Cassette Store Day site.

A-One Record Shop at 439 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue has some older titles for sale. They are open from 1-9 p.m.

Long live cassettes!

Noted

Photo on Avenue A this morning by Derek Berg... (and this ride was for a young girl's birthday party...)

InGardens celebration at First Park this weekend

Some weekend music (and dance) action at First Street Green Art Park... on First Street at East Houston and Second Avenue.

Jazz guitarist Bern Nix along with bassist François Grillot and drummer Reggie Sylvester start things off today at 2 p.m.

'Dead Man's' curve

EVG favorites Thee Oh Sees will be playing the Bowery Ballroom next month. The show on Nov. 11 is sold out. Tickets for the Nov. 12 concert went on sale today.

Here's the video — with a bit of a Harmony Korine vibe — for "Dead Man's Gun" from the band's new release, A Weird Exits on Castle Face Records.

In brief, the waxing crescent moon

Via local astronomy buff Felton Davis and the Second Avenue Star Watchers...

Thanks to all who stopped by for last night's brief showing of the waxing crescent moon ... Craters Theophilus, Cyrilus, Catharna, Polybius and Piccolomini stood out in their extraordinary jaggedness as they only do on the fifth day of the lunar cycle.

Sadly the moon is still below the celestial equator, and disappeared behind the buildings by 8:15 pm. If it's clear tonight, then I'll be back out on Second Avenue and East Third Street at around 8 to show the moon passing through the center of the galaxy and into the constellation Sagittarius.

EV Grieve Etc.: Ex-super sues Steve Croman; Black Flag gets the $265 T-shirt treatment

[Photo at the First Street Green Art Park by Derek Berg]

Pols: The de Blasio administration is completely mishandling the homeless crisis (Daily News)

Former Croman superintendent claims he’s owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime (The Real Deal)

How did Black Flag t-shirts end up at Barney’s for $265? (The Wall Street Journal)

Met Foodmarket for rent on Prince and Mulberry (BoweryBoogie)

The U.S. theatrical premiere of "Homeland," which captures everyday life in Iraq leading up to war in 2002 (Anthology Film Archives)

Booker & Dax closing Oct. 15 for an indefinite amount of time (Eater)

Video: The band Science live in Tompkins Square Park in 1981 (Flaming Pablum)

Queer 90s film series underway (Metrograph)

Christo and Dora on the hunt for dinner in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography)

Protesting the eviction of Beyond Martial Arts on the LES (The Lo-Down)

Best doughnuts in NYC listicle includes Dun-Well on St. Mark's Place (Gothamist ...previously)

Landmarks Preservation Commission launches the NYC Archaeological Repository (NY Yimby)

Ramones Way for Queens (Gothamist)

BBC documentary on NYC in 1971 featuring Patti Smith (Dangerous Minds)

...and tomorrow is the 31st annual Harvest Festival at the 6th & B Community Garden (rain date is Sunday)...

Chipping away 112-120 E. 11th St. to make way for a Moxy hotel

Sounds of demolition have been coming from inside 112-120 E. 11th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue... as you know, these five former residential buildings are coming down to make way for a 13-story hotel for Marriott’s Moxy brand.

From the street it's difficult to tell just what's going on inside here... But from above...an EVG tipster shared these photos ...




[Click to go big]

...our tipster said that this "roof stripping" has been going on all week...



To date, we haven't seen any renderings for this 300-room hotel aimed toward the Millennial set. Stonehill & Taylor are the architects of record. They designed the one going up in Chelsea.

For some idea of what we might be in for here... check out the rendering for the West 28th Street location...


[Rendering by Stonehill & Taylor]

Previously on EV Grieve:
At the rally outside 112-120 E. 11th St.

Protest reminder about 112-120 E. 11th St.; plus concerns over asbestos removal

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

Report: 300-room hotel planned for East 11th Street

Preservationists say city ignored pitch to designate part of 11th Street as a historic district

Permits filed to demolish 5 buildings on 11th Street to make way for new hotel (58 comments)

New building permits filed for 13-story Moxy Hotel on East 11th Street across from Webster Hall

There will be several eating-drinking choices at the incoming Moxy hotel on 11th Street

NYC's 'first playground' coming to 12th Street

There's been work going on inside the New York Central Art Supply's former warehouse space on 12th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

Yesterday, the signage went up for the new tenant: Switch, described as "New York's First Playground." (Also, "Forget the gym. Come play.")

There's a website where you can sign up to receive more info.

According to the Commercial Observer, Switch Playground is a South Africa-based group fitness concept. The company is opening a location in Soho too.

Its website says that Switch "combines carefully selected aspects of cardiovascular training, functional training, boxing, plyometric training, core stability and power-flow yoga to create a perfectly balanced playground for the body and soul." They have two locations in South Africa.

Here's a sneak preview of Switch life...



And we need to add this to the list of EV gym options...

That rather nondescript building on 12th Street houses an 'East Village beauty'

I've walked by the residential building at 407 E. 12th St. on my way to and from Academy Records between Avenue A and First Avenue so many times ... and I never thought much of it.

But apparently it's pretty nice on the inside, based on a new listing for this two-bedroom condo. Bond New York has the listing, which describes the home as an "East Village beauty":

Not–to-be-missed gorgeous two bedroom, two bath, condo beauty in the heart of the East Village. This home is a must-see embodying all that a hip, cool, understatedly elegant apartment has to offer, not to mention EXTREMELY LOW MONTHLY CHARGES!!

Leave the hustle bustle of the vibrant East Village behind as you enter this pin-drop quiet home. The unit boasts a comfortable and spacious living room with an open kitchen and gracious dining area perfect for entertaining or just cozy, quiet nights at home. The entire apartment is outfitted with remote controlled ceiling fans and air conditioners in every room for perfect room temperature preference.

The kitchen has been newly appointed with custom made touches that lend a homey country feel with built-in shelving for your favorite cookbooks and nick knacks. The butcher block counter is a wide planked, two toned, deconstructed Cherry wood kitchen island with extra deep, quiet-close drawers. A washer/dryer is included for convenience.

There's also shared space out back and on the roof...





Asking price: $1.75 million. There's an Open House Sunday from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Images via Bond New York

A debut exhibition for the Modern Love Club on 1st Avenue

[Image via Facebook]

In recent weeks the storefront at 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street has been transformed into the Modern Love Club.

The space is the work of Amy Van Doran, who has operated a longtime matchmaking service. (You can read an interview about all this here.)

During the day, Van Doran and her business partner, Emily Lesser, run the matchmaking company from the space. And on the weekends, it moonlights as the Love Museum.

And tomorrow (Saturday!), Van Doran is hosting the Love Museum's first exhibition, titled "Girls I Love." Per the Facebook invite:

It's a show featuring the work of some of my most favorite ladies, and we can't wait to share space and the love with you.

Offical opening Oct. 8 5-9 pm
Show ongoing until Nov. 5.

There will be paintings, performance art by Bode, tarot readings by Sarah Moran, Pornkus by: Margaret Meehan, champs, DJ's AndrewAndrew, Featuring the work by: Kirsten Bode, Jenna Gribbon, Loretta Mae Hirsch, Sarah Moran, Carly Silverman, and Sera Sloane
Curation by: Marina Press and Amy Van Doran

In an email, Van Doren said that the Modern Love Club "bridges my East Village dreams, love of durational performance art, community, weirdness, chaos, and the obsession for connection."

You can read more about the storefront here.

The address was previously home to a different club — the Deep End Club, which closed in July after a three-year run as a pop-up shop of sorts.

[Updated] Have a heart: A surprising find outside the Riis Houses

A man found what may be a human heart in the trash this morning outside the Riis Houses on the FDR Drive and Sixth Street, according to published reports.

As DNAinfo reported, the man reached into the trash to retrieve a discarded potted plant and found the organ inside a pink box.

Per the Daily News, who first reported on the discovery:

The heart appeared to be human, but police brought the item to the city Medical Examiner’s Office to confirm.

Updated 10/13

Likely a pig's heart, per DNAinfo.