Elite New York Sports Club now open on Astor Place

[Photo by @EdenBrower]

The new Elite brand of gym by New York Sports Clubs is up and running on Astor Place... this is the current pricing via this location's website... $120 a month without a commitment... $110 a month with a one-year commitment...



Press materials note that the new location at 4 Astor Place "will feature several new programs and will also boast Rogue rigs, Woodway treadmills, lifting platforms and expanded training zones."

This four-level spot was, until December, a David Barton Gym. This location as well as the three others in Manhattan abruptly closed last December.

EV Grieve Etc.: NYPD calls LES synagogue fire arson; Schiller's announces its closure

[Photo on 9th and A via Derek Berg]

NYPD calls LES synagogue fire arson (The Lo-Down ... previously)

CB3's SLA committee votes to deny Epstein's revival on Stanton and Allen (BoweryBoogie)

Keith McNally is closing Schiller's on the LES in August (Eater) An ode to the Loudest Brunch Spot on the LES (The Awl)

Two plays and dinner at the New York Theater Workshop on Fourth Street (The New York Times)

The fares are not what they seem: the "Twin Peaks" metro cards (Welcome to Twin Peaks)

Flashback: The start of the Summer of Love in the East Village (B+B)

Sad state of food affairs at Alta on Lafayette (Gothamist) ... though this reviews says they have the city's best guacamole (Grub Street)

WTF diversions: Psychic medium claims to be in contact with the late Jeff Buckley; says he sings Creed's "My Sacrifice" to himself (Dangerous Minds)

...East Village Hats on Seventh Street is now Sally's Wig Store for the filming of the Netflix series "Jessica Jones" ... the store reopens Thursday...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

Fat Cat Kitchen opens on 14th Street

Fat Cat Kitchen debuted this morning at 223 East 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, per EVG regular Pinch.

Björn Holm, a former sous chef and the head of catering at Dean & Deluca’s store on Broadway and Prince, is behind this quick-serve restaurant that serves a variety of sandwiches, salads, soups and baked goods. Let us know if you try Fat Cat.

You may find the Fat Cat website here.

Previously

The 41st annual Ukrainian Festival is this weekend on 7th Street

You can find more updates at the Festival's Facebook event page.

A look at the incoming Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth on 13th Street

Been awhile since we checked in on 222 E. 13th St., the future location of the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Here's how the gut renovation is shaping up outside...



Per some previous posts:

Bea Arthur, who died in April 2009, left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth, in her will. In 2012, City Council as well as then-Borough President Scott Stringer awarded the Ali Forney Center and the Cooper Square Committee $3.3 million for the residence.

And here's the rendering ...



Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center, told DNAinfo last month that renovations were expected to wrap up in June or July.

There are currently more than 200 young people on a waiting list for the facility, which has an 18-resident capacity.

Per DNAinfo:

The residence will provide on-site counseling and case management for gay and transgender youth, as well as help securing employment with the goal of eventual financial independence.

"What we really focus on with our program is helping them get jobs," said Siciliano.

"What we ask is they put a portion of their income in bank accounts so when they leave the program they have several thousand dollars saved up...a lot of what happens in the program is preparing people ot live independently, on their own."

Previously on EV Grieve:
A haunted house on 13th Street?

Abandoned 13th Street building becoming the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Here's what the Bea Arthur Residence will look like on East 13th Street

Groundbreaking today on East 13th Street for the Bea Arthur Residence for homeless LGBT youth

Report: Drama on 13th Street as family of actress Rosario Dawson looks to buy affordable housing

544 E. 13th St. near Avenue B is one of the 11 formerly abandoned East Village buildings that the city sold to tenants for a $1 via a deal brokered by the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) in 2002. Under the terms of the deal, the tenants were to bring the buildings up to code.

However, as The Villager reported in October 2015, the conversions of No. 544 as well as 377 E. 10th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C were stalled. The city reportedly chipped in $1.78 million for the renovation work.

Under the terms of the UHAB deal, the original homesteaders are given the chance to buy apartments at a low price, "but have to earn no more than $53,450 a year and the home must be a primary residence, according to the city," as the Post reported on Sunday.

No. 544 has reportedly been the site on an ongoing feud between two factions, "one of them led by Isabel Celeste Dawson, the mother of actress Rosario Dawson, who grew up in the building," per the 2015 Villager article. At the time, members of the Dawson family, Isabel, her brother Nicky Scott, Isabel’s ex-husband Greg Dawson, and son Clay were in line for four units in the renovated building. (The Dawsons arrived at the building in 1986.)

On Sunday, the Post reported that the four members of the Dawson family along with a longtime friend will be getting the homes, which doesn't sit well with some of the other original homesteaders who point out that Rosario Dawson has an estimated worth of $16 million.

Per the Post:

“She’s supportive of her parents. I don’t understand why she hasn’t acquired housing for them elsewhere so these units could be for New Yorkers in need,” said Annie Wilson, one of the building’s founding homesteaders.

Another resident chafed, “This is low-income housing. They’re not supposed to be profiting from anything to do with it.”

And...

Adam Leitman Bailey, a lawyer who represents the Dawsons and some of the other residents, said he had reviewed tax returns for all of the residents and they qualified to buy the apartments.

“I can guarantee you that none of them are wealthy,” he said.

The Post piece has a lot more of the accusations and sordid details. You can read the whole piece here. Ditto for the 2015 Villager article here.

'Zhe Zhe' is 'Back from the Dead' tomorrow night

Season two of the web series "Zhe Zhe" premieres tomorrow night at the Howl! Happening space on First Street.

The show follows ...:

"the glamorous misadventures of three fame-famished posers in a post-reality New York. Created by stars Ruby McCollister, Leah Hennessey, Emily Allan and director E.J. O’Hara, 'Zhe Zhe' offers an unflinching look at the dystopia that has become our reality."

Mickey Boardman had this to say about it at Paper: "The show reminds us of old school East Village performance mayhem from the likes of Dancenoise, Alien Comic and any other act that used to play at La Mama."

Allan was born and raised in the East Village.

"It's definitely inspired in part by my childhood memories of ye olde East Village aesthetics, while also poking fun at our present culture of hyperbolized downtown mythos and manufactured nostalgia," she told me via email.

Here's a trailer for season No. 2...



The screening of episode one, titled "Back From the Dead," is tomorrow night starting at 7. Howl! Happening is at 6 E. First St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. Find out more about "Zhe Zhe" here.

'Smithereens' returns to the Metrograph this week

"Smithereens," the dark comedy from 1982 filmed in part in the East Village, makes a return engagement this week to the Metrograph, 7 Ludlow St. between Hester and Canal.

The film, which marked Susan Seidelman's directorial debut, is set in the East Village (and other downtown locales). Wren (Susan Berman), a suburban New Jersey native, is eager for downtown fame, plastering "missing" posters of herself on the subway and elsewhere. She sees a meal ticket in Eric (Richard Hell), the hot guy with a short attention span in a band. And there's the too-nice Paul (Brad Rijn), who pursues the uninterested Wren. Love!



"Smithereens," made for $40,000, was the first American indie invited to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Last July, I spoke with Seidelman about "Smithereens" and her follow-up film, "Desperately Seeking Susan."

Here's what she had to say about the legacy of "Smithereens:"

I think I was trying to document what it felt like to live in that neighborhood in that part of the city at that time. I never really thought about it in terms of whether the film would pass the test of time or be a time capsule or anything.

But the fact that it ended up being pretty authentic to the environment, to the neighborhood, is maybe what enabled it to pass the test of time.

The film plays Wednesday at 2 p.m., Thursday at 5 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., and Sunday at 3:15 p.m. "Smithereens" is screening as part of Metrograph A to Z, a collection of films they think everybody should see.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-&-A with Susan Seidelman, director of 'Smithereens' and 'Desperately Seeking Susan'

Monday's parting shot

Feeding time in Tompkins Square Park with Dora and her latest red-tailed hawk offspring... photo by Bobby Williams

Flagpole Day in Tompkins Square Park

The flagpole in Tompkins Square Park was in need of refinishing and repainting ...



A crew was out today, as these photos via EVG Flagpole Correspondent Steven show... here's the final product...





Looking sharp for the upcoming summer season (Flag Day, July 4) ... and maybe a corporate sponsor? There's plenty of room for a message.

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The 9th Precinct Community Council meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday!) night

As a reminder, the 9th Precinct Community Council meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. So that would be tomorrow (May 16!).

The meetings take place at the 9th Precinct, 321 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

This is an opportunity for residents to address any concerns (noise complaints?) and ask 9th Precinct officials for their input on recent crime statistics.

If you're planning ahead, then note that the Community Council does not meet in July and August, per Neil Barsky, Council president.

Demolition watch: 112-120 E. 11th St., future home of a Moxy hotel

[Photo from May 2016]

Workers have been bringing down the five walk-up buildings at 112-120 E. 11th St. in recent months.

Here's where the demolition stands as of Saturday... hard to say what's left behind the construction netting. Maybe two floors?





Plywood signage points to a summer completion for the demolition...



And then! One day!


[Rendering via Flintlock Construction]

As previously reported, the buildings are coming down to make way for the 13-story hotel for Marriott’s Moxy brand here between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. The Moxy website shows that the 11th Street hotel is expected to open in late 2018.

Local residents, preservationists and local elected officials have all spoken out about the demolition of the "landmark-elegible" buildings and loss of housing.

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation posted this on Instagram Friday...

These historic ca. 1890 Beaux Arts tenements in which a young Pete Seeger and his brothers once lived are being demolished because Mayor de Blasio refused to honor a 2008 Landmarks Preservation Commission determination that they were "landmark eligible". Now they will be replaced by a 120-room 'Moxy' hotel geared towards party-hopping millennials, to be built by the Mayor's campaign donor and political ally. And the Mayor is opposing our rezoning proposal for the area which is widely supported by the community and elected officials to discourage this kind of hotel and office development and instead encourage residential development that includes affordable housing. Tell the Mayor this is unacceptable and to support the rezoning -- go to www.gvshp.org/mayor, and learn more at www.gvshp.org/savemyneighborhood. #eastvillage #eastvillagenyc #tenements #mayordeblasio #activism #affordablehousing #zoning #savemyneighborhood #savenyc #preservation #beauxarts #peteseeger

A post shared by GVSHP (@gvshp_nyc) on May 12, 2017 at 6:18am PDT

Previously on EV Grieve:
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)

At the Moxy hotel protest on 11th Street last evening

Post office-replacing residential building reaches ground level on 14th Street

The foundation appears to be set at the 8-story retail-residential building for 432-438 E. 14th St. This photo shows the workers at ground level now here between Avenue A and First Avenue...


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Reps for Benenson Capital Partners and Mack Real Estate had been lobbying to receive a zoning variance for a 12-story building — four more floors than the area's zoning allows — at the site of the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office.

Facing opposition from community groups and residents in previous meetings, the developers cut back their request by two-thirds. Their new proposal sought nine stories on the East 14th Street side of the building, one higher than the eight allowed under the current zoning.

The developers had claimed that the property "is burdened by a combination of unique conditions that result in practical difficulties in complying with the applicable zoning regulations."

Specifically: "Unusually elevated groundwater levels and exceedingly soft and unstable soil (owing to the presence of an underground stream) ... result in extraordinary construction costs, which make a complying development with affordable housing infeasible." (An analysis of the project put the extra construction costs due to the substandard soil at $8.8 million.)

However, in March, they withdrew their request for the extra floor.

The pile driving started here last May. Crews for the new developments at 500 and 538 E. 14th St. likely encountered similar "soft and unstable soil," as foundation work lasted lasted more than a year.

The original plans for 432-438 E. 14th St. called for 114 residential unit with 20 percent affordable housing.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room

A look at the new building coming to the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office property

Chinese restaurant in the works for former funeral parlor on 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

A Chinese restaurant is coming to 152 Second Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. (Ads for the businesses next door are currently in the window.)

The applicant, going by Chibaola Inc., is on tonight's CB3-SLA committee docket for a beer-wine license. However, this item will NOT be heard this evening.

According to the questionnaire (PDF) on file at the CB3 website, the restaurant will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The configuration shows 15 tables with a 45-person capacity.

The applicant, listed as Richard Lam, has also operated a restaurant on Main Street in Flushing.

The building at 152-154 Second Ave. is the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel, which Icon Realty bought, gutted, added three extra floors and opened as luxury rentals.

The other retail space at this address is occupied by the Greecologies-Pure Green combo. The spaces had been on the market since the new building was unveiled in early 2014.

Previously on EV Grieve:
152 2nd Ave. storefront to yield a combo Greek yogurt and smoothie shop

The Village Pourhouse still looks like the Village Pourhouse outside, but E.Vil is on the way

After 10-plus years in business, Village Pourhouse, the pub-crawling hosting hotspot on 11th Street and Third Avenue, closed its doors in early April.

From the outside, the place looks pretty much the same, though the Pourhouse neon has finally been extinguished. This video is from April 22...



Also, as this photo by EVG reader Arin Gilbert shows, someone tagged the Third Avenue side last Thursday night/Friday morning...



A rock club called E.Vil was reportedly expected to open in the space this spring.

To date, this item hasn't shown up on the CB3-SLA docket for a new liquor license. (And there aren't any work permits on file with the DOB for alterations, etc.) This new venture via, among other partners, club owner Richie Akiva, is "where you go to hear Aerosmith, the Clash, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, ’80s/’90s rock, the Cult," one source told Page Six back on March 20.

E.Vil's Instagram once noted an April 17 opening date. (The account, mostly iconic photos of everyone from David Bowie to Johnny Thunders to the Sex Pistols, has been quiet of late. No new posts in five weeks.) But the account does now show a June 1 opening date...



Previously on EV Grieve:
E.Vil is coming to the East Village

Tailors Atelier expanding next door on 9th Street

As previously reported, Satish Pate, the founder-owner of JuiceGo, died in early April following a short illness. His family decided not to continue with the business he opened at 333 E. Ninth St. in February.

EVG correspondent Steven reports that Nigel Ramsey (pictured on the left above), the proprietor of Tailors Atelier next door, is renting the space to open a bridal shop here between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

[Updated] Report of a fire this evening at historic Lower East Side synagogue

You likely saw or smelled the smoke earlier this evening... Bobby Williams shared these photos from 10th Street and Avenue C...



There was a three-alarm fire at Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, the landmarked synagogue at 60 Norfolk St. between Broome and Grand. The FDNY had it under control by 8 p.m. You can find more details at BoweryBoogie and the Lo-Down.

Updated 5/15

Per DNAinfo:

Surveillance footage shows three “kids” running from the area, the Deputy Inspector of the 7th Precinct Steve Hellman said, although it is still unknown whether they were fleeing the historic synagogue and it is too early to say whether criminality was involved in the massive blaze.

Updated 5/17

Per ABC 7:

A 14-year-old boy was taken into custody Tuesday night in connection with a fire at the Lower East Side synagogue Sunday night.

The boy was charged with third-degree arson as a juvenile. He will appear in family court Wednesday.

"We do think it's arson. We think it's a purposeful fire," said Robert Boyce, NYPD chief of detectives.

Week in Grieview

[Photo on East 1st Street from yesterday]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

The St. Mark’s Church Greenmarket will not be returning this year (Thursday)

David Chang's Momofuku Ko is expanding in Extra Place (Monday)

Nest watch in Tompkins Square Park (Friday ... Saturday)

New 7th Street rental named for artist Louise Nevelson; amenities include a backup generator (Tuesday)

Report: Crews working to clean up the Con Ed oil spill in the East River (Wednesday)

Demolition watch: 3 E. 3rd St. (Wednesday)

Celebrating Hummus Day (Friday)

About the cantilevering condos coming to 4th Avenue and 10th Street (Tuesday)

Report: East Village resident pays fine for renting out city-subsidized home on Airbnb (Tuesday)

A Sean Spicer lawn ornament for the bushes of Tompkins Square Park (Friday)

The 7th Street Village Farm is for rent (Thursday)

Behold the chicken fillet at Ray's (Monday)

Zabb City appears to have closed on 13th Street (Monday)

Looking at the BP-replacing condos coming to 32 E. 1st St. (Wednesday)

Jennifer's Way Bakery reduces store hours to service online orders (Friday)

A help wanted ad on St. Mark's Place (Thursday)

New dry cleaners coming to 6th Street between A and B (Monday)

More about Yuan Noodle, coming soon to 2nd Avenue (Monday)

Supporting 249 E. 2nd St. during the construction next door (Friday)

Details on the 17th annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash (Monday)

Taxi Parts Inc. departs the East Village (Wednesday)

Below 7th closes again on 7th Street (Thursday)

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EV Grieve Etc.

A few items to note from the past week and probably a few weeks before that...

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New broker bunting is up on the sidewalk bridge on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street... with a reminder of how fabulous Steiner East Village will be...







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Meant to share this much earlier... In Living Stereo is no longer selling records here on Great Jones between Lafayette and Broadway...



They had a small but well-curated collection...



In Living Stereo remains open.

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Kings Hairstyling on 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue closed for renovations on April 29... reopening this past week... the place is unrecognizable ... new name and signage... not sure if the same people are still running it...





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Work continues on the new retail space at 94 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue (next door to Fun City Tattoo)...


[Photo from Friday by Steven]

The workers were not aware if there is a tenant for the storefront. The asking rent was listed at $6,800.

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Here's the new-look Xe Máy Sandwich Shop sign at 96 St. Mark's Place...



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Midnight Oil sold out Webster Hall... they're a band that I lost track in recent years ...



From 1990...



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Addiction NYC closed up shop at 27 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue at the end of March ... with the tattoo parlor and smoke shop relocating across St. Mark's Place to No. 18...



On Thursday, workers started taking apart the previous storefront at No. 27...



...and painting over the skull...



No. 27 was one of the 20-some properties that landlord Rapahel Toledano used to own.

It rained a lot today

Second Avenue and Fourth Street late this afternoon... photo by Derek Berg...