A look at Wall 88's menu

As noted on Tuesday, Lions BeerStore has closed on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street.

Its replacement, Wall 88 Restaurant, is already open for business. Vinny & O shared this photo showing the menu... featuring a variety of pub-type fare...


[Click on image for a better view]

... including starters, salads, burgers. The entrees look reasonably priced (depending on the portions, etc.), with plates starting at $12 (for the "house special" pasta or fish & chips). The priciest item is $26 (beer can chicken!), and that serves two people.

Lions BeerStore — part retail shop, part restaurant — opened in November 2015. Apparently the Lions BeerStore owners are partners in the new venture, though someone else is involved in the day-to-day operations.

A new all-you-can-eat sushi option on 2nd Avenue

The signage is up for Oishi Village Sushi at 199 Second Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street...

The owner of this all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant also operates Oishi Bay Sushi Restaurant on 29th Street at Second Avenue. (If anyone has eaten there, then feel free to chime in here in the comments about the food.)

According to Oishi Village Sushi's application for a beer-wine license (they were OK'd last August), they plan to be open from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, and 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays.

The previous tenant here was Tease, the hair salon that moved around the corner to 13th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

It was windy today

Hold on, hold on tight pic.twitter.com/q68SinvJlb

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) March 22, 2017

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: Jennifer Brodsky
Occupation: Founder, perNYC
Location: 13th Street and Avenue B
Date: 8 pm on Monday, March 20

I moved to the neighborhood a few years ago. I lived on the Upper East Side for a bit. I lived by Union Square and in Bushwick too. I feel like what differentiates those neighborhoods to me are the stoops. By Union Square, there are no stoops. On the Upper East Side, there are stoops, but they don’t have the same feel. No one sits out there. It’s a lot of glitz and glamour. No one has the time of day for anyone.

In Bushwick, there weren’t really stoops, but you had these front porches. The area that I lived in had families who would barbecue and have a bunch of lawn chairs just sitting out there for them. Here you have the best kind of stoops. People are outside not just with family, but also alone, with friends and with strangers. It's where some of my favorite encounters happen. Like outside Raul's Candy Store, while he and his friends play dominos in the summer. We catch up and talk about how everyone is doing.

I love the architecture here. My building was built in 1910. I recently went to the map shop on Fourth Street [between 2nd Avenue and the Bowery]. I asked the lady if she had a map with what my block looked like. She pulled out one from 1876 and it was still divvied out the same way that it is now. With my apartment building, there is a tenement house in the front, but then you go through and there is a courtyard and a back building.

Other neighborhoods have square buildings. Here you have triangles, hexagons and circles. I keep an open mind, because you never know what you can find. For instance, what lies beneath the many layers of paint on my door — for now, I've found it’s a free upper-body workout to pull open that door.

Recently, on St. Patrick’s Day, I headed over to Casey Rubber Stamps, which is a great East Village staple. It’s a really small store full of rubber stamps. There’s something so fun about them. I remember when I babysat for a kid when I was younger — this little boy went crazy happy with his new stamp collection that he stamped all over the walls. So when I walked into the store, I had this flashback of that scene of stamps all over the wall.

I founded, host and produce a podcast called perNYC. Each podcast episode explores a unique NYC creation, such as a NYC event, music, production, business, store, restaurant, photography, videography, movement, merchandise, fitness, art, establishment, and more, as per the creator.

You get to hear first-hand all the details around each creation. You could think that it takes a certain type of personality, a certain type of person, or certain traits to be a creator, especially in New York, where there is so much going on and someone is trying to pound you down, while someone else is trying to keep you up. But everyone is so different.

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

Che Cafe bringing empanada pockets to 7th Street

[EVG photo from last fall]

Che Cafe expects to open on April 1 at 86 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

This venture comes via Mark Merker, who started Harry's and Benny's Burritos in 1987.

Now my interests are focusing on street foods. Every culture in the world has a similar item that is closely related to the Empanada. I came up with Chechenitas (empanada pouch). A small, easy to eat on the go item.

I love the many different tastes from all cultures around and thought to borrow from each the essence of flavor that I love. Only issue I had with them is that there wasn't enough food inside the bread. I felt it overpowered the ingredients.

Che Cafe launched last summer, and was a regular at the LIC Flea & Food (and later last year at the Rockaway Brewery).

A post shared by Che Cafe (@che_cafe_nyc) on Aug 29, 2016 at 9:43am PDT

The Che Cafe website notes an April 1 opening... for "an evening of a free tasting."

The small space was home until last fall to Abraço, who moved across Seventh Street.

Thanks to Vinny & O for the tip!

Mimi's Hummus closes on 14th Street

The outpost of Mimi's Hummus at 245 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue shut down on Monday.

A sign posted to the front door thanks patrons for their support...



Mimi's opened here in October 2015. The original Mimi's in Ditmas Park remains open ... as does the location in the Urbanspace Vanderbilt near Grand Central.

The quick-serve restaurant serves "some of the city's best hummus and shakshuka" (per Eater). Not sure why they couldn't make it in this spot.

The small space was previously home for eight months to the $1 pizza/BBQ combo of Wicked Wolfe BBQ.

H/T EVG reader Jimmy

Pizza-master Gino Sorbillo marks his arrival on the Bowery

As noted back in January, a pizzeria is coming to 334 Bowery between Bond and Great Jones... and the signage for Sorbillo arrived on Monday...



Acclaimed pizza-master and globe-trotting food personality Gino Sorbillo is the Sorbillo behind this venture. His shop, La Pizzeria Sorbillo, is considered by some to be best and most famous pizza hub in Naples, according to this feature on Vice.

You can see his Neapolitan pizzas via Instagram...

A post shared by Gino Sorbillo (@sorbillo) on Mar 2, 2017 at 9:12am PST

This has been a tough spot for restaurants. Perhaps Sorbillo can reverse the streak of quick openings and closings.

PYT — "Home of America's Craaaziest Burgers" — imploded here after just three months in business in early 2016.

The space was home to Forcella Bowery for nearly three years until November 2014 … only to be replaced in December 2014 by the tapas-friendly Espoleta, which closed six months later to make way for Gia Trattoria. They quickly closed. Then PYT arrived in October 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A step back in time on the Bowery

E.Vil is coming to the East Village

We are not like the others... #rockandroll #deathtodisco #newyorkcity

A post shared by EVIL NYC (@e_vilnyc) on Mar 18, 2017 at 3:20pm PDT

Earlier this month, I noticed a new account following me on Instagram ... for EVIL NYC, a "Rock & Roll Club Opening 4/17" in the East Village. (I sent them a DM asking for their address — no response. Just the "seen.")

Anyway, Page Six had more details yesterday about this E.Vil, which is reportedly inspired by CBGB and Max's Kansas City. Turns out it's a new venture from, among other partners, club owner Richie Akiva, whose credits include 1OAK, Butter and Up&Down

Per Page Six:

• Leo DiCaprio will have a new watering hole to meet models.

• Akiva’s partnered with Jue Lan Club’s Stratis Morfogen on E.Vil, “short for East Village and pronounced evil,” an insider said.

• The spot will open near 1970s-themed VNYL nightclub on Third Avenue in April.

• “It’s where you go to hear Aerosmith, the Clash, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, ’80s/’90s rock, the Cult,” the insider said.

Feel free to guess where E.Vil might live near VNYL, which is in the former Nevada Smiths space on Third Avenue between 12th Street and 13th Street.

'Twin Peaks' prequel 'Fire Walk With Me' playing tomorrow night at the Village East

David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" prequel (and epilogue) is getting another look in theaters (in 35mm) for its 25th anniversary. "Fire Walk With Me" plays tomorrow night at 7 at the Village East, Second Avenue and 12th Street. (Ticket info here.)

Lynch made the film to fill in the gaps and to answer questions that his ABC series didn't address. Aside from some of the original cast members, David Bowie, Chris Isaak, Harry Dean Stanton and Kiefer Sutherland, among many others, drop by.

Lynch has filmed new episodes of "Twin Peaks" that will debut on Showtime this May 21.

LinkNYC continues eastern march

[Reader photo from this morning]

A few EVG readers noted that the pay phones on Sixth Street at First Avenue have been removed... with the telltale LinkNYC placeholder now at the site.

The kiosks continue to make their way to the east, having colonized Third Avenue and Second Avenue...

I think this this the furthest east that I've seen a kiosk... and certainly not the last. The city is reportedly expected to have 7,500 kiosks in place, each replacing a pre-existing phone booth, over the next seven years.

4 St. Mark's Place prepped for renovations, expansion

[Photo yesterday by Steven]

Workers have put up scaffolding and construction netting outside the landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place.

As reported this past December, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) signed off on renovations and an expansion for the Hamilton-Holly House (aka 4 St. Mark's Place), built in 1831 and sold to Alexander Hamilton’s son two years later.

The LPC nixed the additional floor, and a few other items. As it looks now, the expansion in the rear of the building will double the number of residential units from three to six.

Here's more about what will be taking place via New York Yimby, reporting on the LPC meeting last December:

On the front of the structure, a largely new entryway would be installed, the gate at the stoop would be removed, new windows would be installed, and the grand curved balcony would be reconstructed at the first floor. The secondary stair from the ground to the first floor would be removed and a new small gate put in its place at ground level, an additional window would be added to the basement level, an existing basement door would be replaced with a window, an agree under the front steps would be reopened, and signage would be installed. The existing fire escapes would remain. The façade would also receive an overall restoration.

The building changed hands for $10 million last spring.

Eastern Consolidated is currently listing two retail spaces here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Until February 2016, 4 St. Mark's Place housed Trash & Vaudeville for 41 years. The store just celebrated its one-year anniversary at 96 E. Seventh St.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: After 40 years, punk rock mainstay Trash and Vaudeville is leaving St. Mark's Place

4 St. Mark's Place is for sale

More residential units and a 5th-floor addition in the works for landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place

Jason Wang's Biang! closes after 15 months on 2nd Avenue

[EVG photo from December 2015]

Biang! — the sit-down Chinese restaurant via Xi'an Famous Foods owner Jason Wang — has closed at 157 Second Ave.

EVG reader Brian P. shared this notice from yesterday at the restaurant between Ninth Street and 10th Street...



The well-regarded restaurant opened here in December 2015. (And it always seemed crowded.) The sign notes that most of the dishes are available at the original Biang! location in Flushing... as well as the Xi'an Famous Foods at 81 St. Mark's Place near First Avenue.

Wang and his father David Shi started the business in a small food stall in Flushing. There are now nearly a dozen locations of Xi’an Famous Foods in NYC. They also opened Dumpling Spot in Chinatown last month.

The previous tenant at 157 Second Ave., Wylie Dufresne's bistro Alder, closed after two-and-a-half years at the end of August 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Jason Wang bringing Xi'an Famous Foods offshoot Biang! to the former Alder space on 2nd Avenue

Lions BeerStore has closed; Wall 88 Restaurant up next

Lions BeerStore has closed on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street.

According to the Lions BeerStore Facebook page, the shop is "closing and moving locations."

Here's more via a Facebook message from yesterday:

"This exciting journey (and lease) have come to an end. We, wholeheartedly THANK YOU for your support, patronage and loyalty as we grew into one of the classiest beer bars in the city. It has been a pleasure to serve new and exotic beers to aficionados and neophytes alike. We hope you had a unique experience each time you came, and that your beer palate is even more distinguished than ever. Stay tuned for information about our new spot."

Operated by a father-son team who hail from Greece, Lions BeerStore was part retail shop, part restaurant. They opened in November 2015. (Not sure how their lease was up after 16 months in business.)

Meanwhile, not only did Lions BeerStore announce their closure yesterday ... a new restaurant also marked their arrival in the space ... here's Wall 88 Restaurant...



Vinny & O, who shared there photos, hears that the new restaurant (we don't know yet what they will be serving) will be open as soon as today...



As we understand it, the original owners, who want to spend more time in Greece, are partners in the new venture.

The randomly placed piano in Tompkins Square Park is no longer randomly there

After 10 days and one snowstorm, the abandoned piano that someone dragged into (or pushed into) Tompkins Square Park was wheeled away earlier today from where it was stationed by the Park entrance on Avenue B and Ninth Street...a reader shared the above photo ...

EVG Missing Piano Correspondent Steven followed up later... spotting some possible piano fragments in the Park...





Later, Steven spotted this piano rack by the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... where the trail went cold...

Please mind the pothole on 7th Street near 1st Avenue

Photos today by Derek Berg

There are pigeons trapped inside the former P.S. 64 on 9th Street

[Click image for larger size]

Someone put the above sign on the Ninth Street side of the former P.S 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center this past weekend.

The sign notes that there are pigeons now trapped inside the building after the windows were recently boarded up on the top floor.

They are smashing up against the windows to get free. Heard 3 broken windows in one hour. Injured birds may be found on the ground hurt by the broken glass.

There's a number for the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side.

As previously reported, developer Gregg Singer, who bought the property between Avenue B and Avenue C from the city in 1998, continues to push having the building converted into student housing.

Thanks to David Reyer for the photo!

1st sign of Fat Cat Kitchen on 14th Street

As previously reported, Björn Holm, a sous chef and the head of catering at Dean & Deluca’s store on Broadway and Prince, is opening a quick-serve restaurant called Fat Cat Kitchen on 14th Street ... and that signage arrived Friday at No. 223 between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Fat Cat will serve sandwiches, salads, soups and baked goods. They have an Instagram account showing some potential menu items...

More chef play. #recipetesting #breakfast #eggsandwich #cheese #ham #arugula #fatcatkitchen #nyc #eastvillagenyc #unionsquarenyc

A post shared by Fat Cat Kitchen (@fatcatkitchen) on Mar 18, 2017 at 9:42am PDT

Count on a variety of #breadpudding on the #fatcatkitchen #dessert #menu each day. Here's #cherry #almond #whitechocolate

A post shared by Fat Cat Kitchen (@fatcatkitchen) on Mar 1, 2017 at 6:23pm PST

Fat Cat is expected to open this spring.

The storefront was last home to a psychic.

Retail space in the former Amato Opera House seeking to the tune of $35k monthly

The condo conversion of the former Amato Opera House at 319 Bowery creeps along (the work permits arrived here in October 2014) ...



The gut rehab comes courtesy of landlord Steven Croman, who's facing suits in both civil and criminal court. While there isn't any word on the residential portion of the building just yet, the signs did arrive last week for the storefront...



Per the listing:

Retail space for rent in the historic Amato Opera House. 1, 500 sq. ft plus garden and basement with 19 foot ceilings. Food OK.

Conveniently located near B, D, F, M & 6 train lines as well as M103 and M21 bus lines. Steps from some of the city's best shopping, restaurants and nightlife, neighbors include Patagonia Surf, Saxon + Parole, and Momofuku Ko.

Asking monthly rent: $34,995.

That's an ambitious ask considering the revolving door of businesses along this corridor of late.

Here's a look at a rendering for the retail space from a different broker circa 2012...



In January 2009, Anthony Amato, the company's 88-year-old founder, announced that he had sold the building that the Opera had called home since 1964. The company closed in May 2009. Amato died in December 2011.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Life after the Amato Opera

Costume drama on the Bowery as the Amato Opera empties out

Ruin of the Bowery nearly complete: Last season for the Amato Opera

Amato Opera looks to be getting an encore as city OKs residential use

Work permits arrive at the former Amato Opera on the Bowery

Calling Sister Midnight on Avenue A

A quick follow-up about Black Market, which closed on March 12 after seven years of serving burgers and oysters at 110 Avenue A.

Ownership is apparently revamping the space near Seventh Street... and, based on the new awning that arrived on Thursday, the place will be called Sister Midnight...





Given ownership's affinity for music (both as musicians-producers and other ventures, such as the Bowery Electric and Niagara with the Joe Strummer mural) ... this is likely a nod to Iggy Pop ... (Sister Midnight is the first track, co-written by David Bowie, on The Idiot, Pop's debut solo record from 1977.)

The portion of the awning with Sister Midnight was taped up by the weekend...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Go on a tour of Iggy Pop's East Village in 1993

Make a bid on 64 2nd Ave.

The 5-story building at 64 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street recently arrived on the market.

Cushman & Wakefield has the listing:

The building has been owned and operated by current ownership for over 20 years. It consists of a retail space on the ground floor and lower level and three large residential units above. The 1,533 SF retail unit is vacant and features 11' ceilings and a 970 SF lower level with 9' ceilings and windows providing excellent light and air. If desired, the second floor can be used as commercial space as it is already connected to the ground floor through an existing marble staircase (now enclosed) creating a three-level retail space.

All three residential units are FM and currently leased at below market rents with summer expirations. Two units are expansive five-bedrooms, one of which is a triplex with exclusive interior access to a 700 SF rooftop entertainment area with World Trade Center and Empire State Building views.

The 3rd floor unit is a 900 SF floor-through space with a rear patio. The building hasn't been renovated in over 10-years and there is generous upside in the in-place residential rents (average in-place rents are $64/SF in a market commanding $85/SF).

Interested buyers may submit offers for the property. No. 64's retail tenant was Velo NY. The bike shop moved next door last year. (There was also the mysterious #notourpresident storefront signage for a brief time here after the election.)

In 2012, the building arrived on the market with a $7.3 million ask.

Here are the photos of the rooftop garden from the 2012 listing...