About the Alamo spinning again without barricades on Astor Place

Today is the 1-week anniversary of the refurbished Alamo's return to Astor Place.

The fencing has remained up around the cube, prompting some questions, like, What's up with that barricade?

Sandwich board signage arrived yesterday with an explanation...



The sign notes that "there remains a final phase of onsite restoration needed." Then! "Once complete, the barricades will be removed."

This will also allow city officials more time to find the REAL cube.

Porchetta has closed on 7th Street; owners searching for new location

[Photo by the Bride of 7th]

Porchetta has not been open of late on Seventh Street... a note on the door points to repairs here between Avenue A and First Avenue. A tipster told us that business has been slow.

I reached out to co-owners Sara Jenkins and Matt Lindemulder to see what was happening.

Lindemulder confirmed that the Seventh Street location of Porchetta has now officially closed.

"We are not permanently shut just moving. We have not yet found the right location yet but we are exploring a couple of options and are looking forward to getting up and running as soon as possible," he said via email. "One of those options is in the East Village but nothing concrete has materialized."

The quick-serve restaurant, which specializes in Italian-style roast pork sandwiches and platters, opened in 2008. There are plenty of fans. New York magazine called Porchetta’s porchetta "drop-dead delicious, abundantly juicy, aggressively seasoned."

Jenkins also runs Porsena and Extra Bar on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

A look at the 12-floor retail-residential building coming to 79 Avenue D

The foundation work continues at 79 Avenue D, where a 12-story retail-residential building will rise here between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...



Last week, Real Estate Weekly offered a few more details on the project from L + M Development Partners.

The building ... is expected to have 110 apartment units, 22 of which will be permanently affordable. It will also have amenities such as a fitness center, landscaped roof deck, an outdoor terrace and a function room. The retail space on the ground floor has been pre-leased to drug store Rite Aid.

This past summer, workers demolished several one-level storefronts, including Rite Aid and Shady's pizza. In January, the Rite Aid relocated one block north to the vacant retail space in the Arabella 101 building. So it will be returning.

To date, we hadn't seen any renderings for the new building. GF55 Partners, whose area work includes Jupiter 21 and 48 Bond, are the architects of record.

In case you're curious, this is what No. 79 looks like via the rendering on the plywood...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Space that houses Rite Aid on Avenue D hits market for $22.5 million

Report: New 12-story, mixed-use building in the works for Avenue D

Permit pre-filed for new 12-floor building at 79-89 Avenue D

Election Day, and Night

[On the plywood on 2nd Street at Avenue C]

As you may have heard, today is Election Day.

DNAinfo put together a voter's guide featuring a list of the local candidates and races on the ballot. You can find that here.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Go here to find your polling location. (Curbed assembled a few other helpful things to know about Election Day here.)

Grub Street listed a few bars (not East Village specific) around the city to watch the election results. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to call around and ask about Election Day specials at bars here. (One I know of: Iggy's Keltic Lounge on Ludlow between Stanton and Rivington is having an Election Evening party with some free food. Tips from the evening are going to First Descents, an organization that works with young adults impacted by cancer.)

Also, here's another way to spend part of the day...

Luxury rental building sells for $10 million on 5th Street

The newish luxury rental at 532 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B arrived on the sales market in July 2015 with an asking pricing of $12.5 million.

The Real Deal reports that Forest City Ratner Companies is the new owner, buying the six-story, 10-unit building for $10.4 million. Rents range from $3,950 for a one-bedroom apartment to $8,900 for a three bedroom.

The Cushman & Wakefield listing mentioned that No. 532 was "an excellent opportunity for an investor to purchase a high cash flowing, low maintenance asset, or an immediate condo conversion project."

Forest City Ratner has not revealed their plans for the building yet.

Now! A return trip to the EVG archives to when the demolition started on the previous building here in November 2008…



Previously on EV Grieve:
Beaming up on Fifth Street

Demolition on East Fifth Street

On the way: A five-story apartment building for Fifth Street

532 E. Fifth St. ready for renting

Why yes — you can rent an apartment on East Fifth Street between A and B for $13,500 a month now

A look inside the Kati Roll Company on 2nd Avenue

The plywood came down yesterday at 128 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Seventh Street... providing a look at the new Kati Roll Company... EVG correspondent Derek Berg looked inside, where some workers were celebrating the near-completion of the space...









Kati Roll Company is expected to be open next week. This will be the fourth location in the city.


[EVG photo]

The Stage, the 35-year-old lunch counter, closed here on March 30, 2015. Stage owner Roman Diakun had been involved in an ongoing legal/eviction battle with landlord Icon Realty. (You can read that background here.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
A few more details about the Kati Roll Company coming to 2nd Avenue

Cat found on 3rd and B

An EVG reader writes in:

We found this sweet cat on 3rd Street near Avenue B tonight at around 7. Took her to the vet to see if she has a microchip — doesn't have one. She definitely seems like someone's pet because she is clean and so friendly (loves belly rubs). I hope we can find her owner.

Let us know if you know her owner ... via the EV Grieve email

Reported: Man sentenced to 14 years for 3 sexual assaults in the East Village

Estranged cousin of actress Rosario Dawson gets 14 years in prison for East Village sexual assaults https://t.co/Rjar8ioB8c pic.twitter.com/iMqjObDWhY

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) November 8, 2016

Juan Scott was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for three assaults that took place in 2014, the Daily News reported.

In October 2014, police arrested Scott for the attempted rape of a 20-year-old woman in an elevator at 600 E. 14th St. in Stuy Town. Scott was later linked to two other attacks, one on East 11th Street and one on East 13th Street.

One of the victims was a woman Scott had been dating. He reportedly held the woman captive for five hours in her apartment.

At his sentencing today, the victim recalled the attack, "and also blasted the NYPD, specifically disgraced Manhattan Special Victims Division Lukasz Skorzewski who was accused of groping a woman whose alleged rape he was investigating."

She said Skorzewski belittled the heinous crime she reported and told her Scott was "not going to jail for this."

It was previously reported that Scott is an estranged cousin of Rosario Dawson. Her mother and father and other relatives lived at the now under-renovation 544 E. 13th St., where police arrested Scott.

CB3 will hear HPD presentation on HDFC regulatory agreement this Wednesday night

An EVG reader notes that the city is pushing a new regulatory agreement for HDFC buildings under the guise of helping the approximately 25 percent of those buildings that are in financial trouble.

This Wednesday evening, CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee hosts a presentation on proposed HDFC regulatory agreements.

The meeting is Nov. 9 at 6:30 in the Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 E. Seventh St. at Cooper Square.

Find more background at the CB3 website here and at the the HDFC Coalition website here.

The Redhead closes for good in January

The staff at the Redhead is telling patrons that the unassuming, Southern-flavored restaurant on 13th Street is closing for good in January.

For starters, the 10-year lease at the Redhead between First Avenue and Second Avenue is up (and there is a rent increase)... plus, the partners have apparently been living out of state. (Chef/founding partner Meg Grace Larcom is now in Colorado.)

In August 2009, Frank Bruni, in his last review for the Times, gave the place high marks:

"[The Redhead] sharply reflects a few of the most prominent and rewarding developments in Manhattan dining over the years during which I’ve had the privilege of serving as The Times’s restaurant critic.

Now more than ever, diners find principled, distinctive cooking in places where they wouldn’t have expected it before: dessert trucks, baseball stadiums, postage-stamp storefronts, wine bars, taverns and cocktail lounges. In fact the Redhead...exemplified the possibility of terrific eating with untraditional trappings and captured the sense of gastronomic serendipity that defines this culinary moment.

There isn't a set closing date just yet. The Redhead will be open for a New Year's Eve service/celebration.

Wowfulls bringing Hong Kong egg waffles to East Houston Street

A coming soon sign has arrived in the now-closed East Houston location of Gem Pawnbrokers (27 locations in NYC/Long Island!).

The space here between Clinton and Attorney will be the first permanent storefront for Wowfulls...



Here's more about them via the Wowfulls website:

We serve 1950’s-style Hong Kong egg waffles also known as Gai Dàn Jai. The taste and texture of our Gai Dàn Jai — crispy on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside, was once only found in the streets of Hong Kong.

The proprietors of Wowfulls have been vending at the various Smorgasburgs this past year.

A photo posted by W O W F U L L S (@wowfulls) on Oct 14, 2016 at 11:17am PDT

It takes a Poke Village

Signage is up at 250 E. 14th St. ... where, under the sidewalk bridge, Poke Village is opening soon between Second Avenue and Third Avenue (if this helps, this storefront is right next to the Colonel...)



PV was OK'd for a beer-wine license in September. According to their application posted at the CB3 website, the hours are 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. There are five tables accommodating 15 guests. So perhaps this is more of a poke-to-go operation.

This is the second new poke place to open in the neighborhood this year, joining PokéSpot, which debuted on Fourth Avenue and 12th Street on Aug. 12.

No 250 was previously home to Saving$ Paradise, which merged with I.Q. Decor back in the spring.

Here's your Tim Ho Wan full reveal on 10th Street and 4th Avenue

Late last week, as an EVG reader noted in these shared photos, the plywood came down at the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue and 10th Street ... providing a full reveal of Tim Ho Wan, the first U.S. location for Hong Kong-based chef Mak Kwai Pui's Michelin-starred dim sum parlor Tim Ho Wan...



A restaurant rep told me that an opening date has not been set just yet.

In 2009, the original 24-seat dim sum eatery in Mongkok, Hong Kong's Kowloon, was reportedly branded the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world.

The address previously housed Spice, which closed in December 2014.

Previously

Storefronts and signage: Kati Roll awning is here; more legal papers for Empire Biscuit

The sign for the incoming Kati Roll Company went up back on Thursday at 128 Second Ave. near St. Mark's Place. This will be the fourth Manhattan location for the kati roll specialists (there's one in London too). There hasn't been an opening date announced yet. Find more background on all this here.

-----



A sign for Odd Eye NYC recently arrived at 524 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... a nearby resident said that it will be a multimedia studio...



The previous tenant here, the designers Heights + Kenchi, moved to Ninth Street.

-----


[Photo from Friday]

Several EVG readers shared the latest stack of legalese affixed to the Empire Biscuit front door of the storefront at 198 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street... a final judgement of eviction...







According to the legal documents (the most recent batch to arrive here), the owner is in arrears on rent and back taxes to the sum of $106,000.

Empire Biscuit, which opened in the fall of 2013, was only open a few days this year back in January.

Sunday's parting shot

View of the Christodora House early this evening by Bobby Williams...

Week in Grieview

[Photo on 7th Street by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group planning Martina for 55 Third Ave. (Thursday)

At Sugar Sketch, a new bakery on Second Street (Friday)

Grand Sichuan has closed on St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

East Village zip codes in the top-5 citywide for illegal Airbnb listings (Tuesday)

Halloween night on Avenue A and Avenue B (Tuesday)

Out and About with Candice Brewer (Wednesday)

The cube/Alamo returns to Astor Place (Tuesday)

Water Witch Mercantile opening in the Box Kite space on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

Video: An in-progress look at Tompkins Square Bagels, opening this month on Second Avenue (Friday)

402 E. 12th St. is for sale (Monday)

N'eat now serving Nordic fare on Second Avenue (Thursday)

A look at the retail listing for the northwest corner of A and St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)

Spice on First Avenue is now The Sabieng Thai (Tuesday)

'Merica dream fades as Zerza returns to Sixth Street (Friday)

Screaming Mimi's has left Lafayette Street (Wednesday)

Soft opening weekend for Three Seat Espresso & Barber on Avenue A (Monday)

Citibank keeps telling people about their impending closure on Avenue A (Wednesday)

More about the sale of 123 Second Ave. (Thursday)

Work in progress at 14th and Avenue C (Tuesday)


[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

A Drybar opens on Ludlow Street (Thursday)

Attorney General files lawsuit against local landlord Marolda Properties; accused of intimidating rent-stabilized tenants (Wednesday)

A few more details on the East Houston condoplosion (Monday)

Sushi part of plan for former Iron Sushi on 10th Street (Wednesday)

New things on Astor Place (not the Alamo, which isn't technically new)

[Photo Tuesday by @unitof]

As you probably noticed, the Alamo returned to the revamped Astor Place on Tuesday.

Several readers asked if the fencing will remain around the cube.


[Photo Wednesday by @evgrieve]

I don't know. I doubt it. The barricades look pretty temporary, and will likely be removed when the glue dries. Or when people people realize the this Alamo is made of cardboard because the original one was lost. I've heard from several people who think the cube looks smaller ... and from several who believe it's now larger.

Meanwhile! The Alamo's return overshadowed another arrival this past week: A second zipper bench. This one is located outside the uptown 6 entrance.



Thanks to @edenbrower and @unitof for pointing this out!

Peak

Photos from this weekend in Tompkins Square Park...

Sunset wow

Photo looking downtown this evening by Bobby Williams...

More Links for LinkNYC arriving on 2nd Avenue

A crew is out this morning with a truck full of @LinkNYC crates ... installing more kiosks Links along Second Avenue... such as on the northeast corner of Ninth Street...



...next up will be in front of the former 123 Second Ave. ...



I haven't counted kiosks on every block... but I do know this will make the fourth LinkNYC kiosk for Second Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Seventh Street.

As a reminder, here is what people can do at each Link (via LinkNYC):

• Use your personal device to connect to LinkNYC’s super fast, free Wi-Fi
• Access city services, maps and directions from the tablet
• Make free phone calls to anywhere in the U.S. using the Vonage app on the tablet or the tactile keypad and microphone. Plug in your personal headphones for more privacy.
• Use the dedicated red 911 button in the event of an emergency
• Charge your device in a power-only USB port
• Enjoy more room on the sidewalk with Link’s sleek, ADA-compliant design by Antenna
• View public service announcements and more relevant advertising on two 55” HD displays


[Relevant ad pic on 14th and 3rd from Oct. 22]

Back in September, because of a few bad apples, LinkNYC removed the web-browsing capabilities.