Reminder: the Dance Parade (and DanceFest) is tomorrow (Saturday!)

As previously noted, tomorrow (May 20) is the 11th-annual Dance Parade ...



The parade ends in Tompkins Square Park, where DanceFest happens from 3 to 7 p.m. on four different stages...

Reminder: The Ukrainian Festival is this weekend on 7th Street

The 41st edition starts this evening and runs through Sunday on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. And it looks like there will be good weather throughout the weekend. You can find more updates at the Festival's Facebook event page.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with Andrew Stasiw, chairman of the St. George Ukrainian Festival

Report: Sunshine Cinema on East Houston to close in January

[EVG photo from December]

After months of speculation, the Post confirmed that the Sunshine Cinema on East Houston between Eldridge and Forsyth will close in January when its lease expires.

The 30,000-square-foot building at 139 E. Houston St. has been sold for $31.5 million to developers East End Capital and K Property Group, which will convert it to a mixed-use development with retail and upstairs office space. The site includes 20,000 square feet of air rights.

There has been speculation about the long-term health of the six-screen theater since it arrived on the market in May 2015.

Perhaps Community Board 3 set in motion this loss. Per the Post:

Landmark had a right of first refusal to buy the building and wanted to serve dinner with its flicks, but that idea was flushed after a full liquor license was rejected in 2012 by the community board.

CB3 would only approve a license for beer and wine. Here's coverage of that 2012 CB3 meeting via The Lo-Down:

Residents in attendance at last night’s meeting expressed serious concerns about the application in an area already teeming with nightlife activity. While most everyone treasures the Sunshine as a community resource, they said the idea of licensing a 700-person venue is more than a little scary. Both the Eldridge Street and East 1st Street block associations would prefer a wine-and-beer-only permit. Lori Greenberg, an Eldridge Street resident, asked what would happen if the Sunshine is sold to a new owner operating a mainstream theater showing action films and other blockbusters?

Given the air rights available here, the speculation is that the property will be developed into more luxury housing. Upon hearing the news, one EVG reader told me, "I find it hard to believe this will not become a huge apartment complex. I can't think of any large retail store that would thrive in this area."

Bill Thompson, senior vice president of theatrical sales at international arthouse distributor Cohen Media Group (who just reopened the Quad Cinema on 13th Street) told IndieWire last December: "I think everyone is expecting that the building itself is going to end up becoming a high rise."

I like the Sunshine Cinema and will be sorry to see it go. Of late, though, I've been going there less and less with the arrival of the Metrograph down on Ludlow and the recent reopening of the Quad Cinema on 13th Street... not to mention the standbys like the Anthology Film Archives on Second Street and Second Avenue plus, a little further away, the Film Forum and the IFC Center. And I always enjoy seeing movies at the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at 12th Street. (Added: And the Angelika Film Center and Cinema Village.)

As for the Sunshine, it opened in 2001 after Landmark spent $12 million gut renovating the building that dates to 1898 (and 1838 by some estimates).

Here's Cinema Treasures with more history:

The entertainment beginnings of this building came in 1909 when it opened as the Houston Hippodrome, a venue for Yiddish vaudeville acts and films.

In 1917, the theatre’s ownership changed and the 600-seat venue was renamed the Sunshine Theatre. In the late-1930’s it was renamed Chopin Theatre. The theatre closed in 1945 and had been used as a storage warehouse into the mid-1990s.

The building was never landmarked.

Empellón Cocina closes after service on Saturday

Alex Stupak announced this week that he is closing Empellón Cocina, his five-year-old restaurant at 105 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

Stupak, a wd-50 alum, explained his decision in a lengthy letter here. It reads in part:

I have made the decision to close Empellón Cocina.

Our last service will be on Saturday the 20th.

This has been been contemplated for a while now, but I did not announce it sooner because this is not an ending or “death” of the concept. When people hear about a closing they often become annoyingly sentimental and try to show up and “pour one out” as they say.

This is not the tale of a greedy landlord or a rent hike amidst new developments like the ones we sadly read about all too often these days. Our lease is in fact up with an option to renew but we would rather close up shop and begin looking for a new location.

Over the past 6 years, the agenda of Empellón has become increasingly transparent to me. We are dedicated to having a collection of 4 restaurants in our home town, each marked with a color, each with unique attributes that are apparent, differentiated and wanted. We are also dedicated to the continued progression and refinement throughout the lifespan of each concept.

Cocina was originally envisioned as a fine dining restaurant in the true sense of that term. Out of ego, the restaurant was executed in a very fast and cavalier way. (It was serving customers when our first restaurant in the West Village was only 11 months old). Taqueria was profitable in week 2 which is unheard of in this business. We took the money and doubled down fast and hard. There wasn't what I would call a solid plan in place retrospectively.

At the time, I was not thinking like a restauranteur. To give an example, we had bought these fancy custom white leather chairs. Once we received them and saw them set up in the actual dining room (which is on 1st avenue across the street from a McDonalds and a Dunkin Donuts) my heart sunk and I realized I was on the verge of a massive mistake. It all felt wildly incorrect.

We pivoted right before we opened and attempted to create a more casual place. (We lost a lot of money on those fancy chairs)

It's been five years of business for us now. The menu has gone through many iterations and so has the dining room. We have had some really awesome friends cook with us and we have certainly felt our fair share of love to date.

Frank Bruni wrote a profile about us and the opening of Cocina in 2012 which set it sailing right from the onset.

A couple years back we renovated with the intent of making the place a bit homier. We also took this opportunity to carve out a little place to launch a new tasting menu. With caution that time around, we wanted to see if anyone was willing to sit down to a long, expensive, tasting menu inspired by my personal impressions of another cuisine. The experiment has given us sufficient data to cue a segue.

Fine dining is still very much in my heart and I still very badly want to build the Empellón version of it one day. Tacos, tasting counters, etc. were never meant to be a departure but more of entry points into our own unique thing. Our newest place is by far the most polished but there is still another rung in the ladder that we must reach in order to span our own full gamut.

Now that we have opened Empellón I feel, with as much objectivity as I can muster, that the current a la carte dining room at 105 1st avenue has become irrelevant.

He reportedly will take the entire staff here to his Midtown location. Empellón al Pastor, his bar meets tortilleria, remains open on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place.

It sounds as if that Empellón Cocina relaxed a bit in recent years. It certainly oozed with arrogance at the outset. A help wanted sign on the front door in January 2012 noted: "This is going to be one of the most highly anticipated openings of 2012 and we have set high standards for ourselves."

Shortly after their opening, I walked by on an off-night and was surprised to see the place empty. Given all the positive notices of the place, I thought I'd try it. Seemed like a good time for it: The tables were mostly empty at this early hour. There were people at the bar. I asked for a table for two. Do I have a reservation? Oh, well no. The hostess consulted her iPad, then a co-worker with an iPad. The two stared at their iPads for an awkwardly long time and swiped and swiped before stating that, sorry, they didn't have room to accommodate my party, but we could sit at the bar.

We sat next to a man from Los Angeles who was talking loudly about the food scene in his hometown as well as Tulum. When the bartender arrived, my dining companion made the mistake of asking about their tacos. The bartender's eyes bulged, and he said "we don't serve tacos," and he walked away.

By this point I thought someone might be filming us as some kind of absurd goof/IFC pilot. Given our taco gaffe, the first bartender never returned to see how we were doing. (Eventually, the place embraced tacos. Hopefully the bartender didn't suffer some kind of seizure before then if other taco rubes made the same mistake.) Another bartender/server took our orders. She was nice.

Anyway, the food was quite good, and the restaurant was nearly half-empty by the time I left. I never returned, in part because there wasn't any part of the evening that was welcoming. Plus, there are a handful of other quick-serve restaurants in the neighborhood that also serve excellent tacos without the pretentiousness.

Image via

L'Apico ends its 5-year run tomorrow night

Empellón Cocina is not the only high-profile restaurant closing its doors after tomorrow.

As previously reported, the Italian restaurant on First Street in the Avalon Bowery Place complex was shutting down on May 20. The L'Apico team — chef Gabe Thompson and restaurateur Joe Campanale — did not offer a reason, other than thanking their patrons these past five years.

Back in March, Chef Sujan Sarkar applied for a new liquor license for the space for an unnamed restaurant that will serve "upscale modern Indian cuisine." CB3 approved the application, in part because this was a sale of assets and the method of operation will be similar here between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Sarkar is the chef partner at Ek Bar, "India's first Artisanal cocktail bar." He is also the chef of Rooh, a similar-sounding restaurant that recently opened in San Francisco.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chef Sujan Sarkar bringing 'upscale modern Indian cuisine' to the Bowery

Noted

Breaking News: Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting of a skull sold for $110.5 million at auctionhttps://t.co/JVJ6qKwB2L

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 19, 2017

Orlin

Orlin

I was recently in Orlin.
The food is still good.
Black tables now,
Modern red and black chairs.
Surprised that they had replaced,
Their wooden furniture.
Its many meals, laughter,
Conversations, still palpable in those
Chairs, and tables aging patina
Rocked, sat upon, pulled out, put back.
Elbows on old tables, stories told,
Despair withheld, dreams born,
A babies rattle dropped again, again.
Music too loud, a change has come,
As inevitable as a sunrising.
All not lost, just that familiar
Feeling of a home within a restaurant,
Just there, a degree remaining,
But shaken I feel.
Nevertheless,
the food is still good.

•

peter radley

Cafe Orlin is at 41 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue

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: Gustavo Roldan
Occupation: Designer
Date: 4 pm on Wednesday, May 10
Location: Avenue A and 3rd Street

I’m from Venezuela. I came here around 40 years ago – just vacation, and then I liked it and I stayed. I came to this neighborhood immediately. People who I knew were around here, and I thought it was pretty edgy. I liked it.

Maybe because I’m into fashion, but that’s what I liked about the neighborhood. It was so avant-garde. There was a lot of creativity around. That drove me to this neighborhood. A lot of artists, parties, excitement. All kind of things were around here. It was amazing. There were people filming all the time, in the 1980s. People were so cool – I mean they are still. I loved 7A. The Pyramid was cool and Save the Robots.

I was on the Hells Angels block. The block was safe, but the 4th of July parties were very annoying. It was packed with bikers. There were fireworks and people getting drunk and very loud, blasting music. The neighborhood was crazy, it was tough but I never had any problems.

I’m a designer. I make hats. That’s what I do now, but back then I used to do jewelry. I just bumped into it. It was great. I did mass production — I did shows and trade shows. That’s how I made a living. I worked with all different types of people.

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

Report: Body found in John V. Lindsay East River Park last evening

Body found in the bushes at John V. Lindsay East River Park in #NYC
Few yards off the jogging/biking path pic.twitter.com/j9FQB030kX

— Andy Mai (@MaiAndy) May 18, 2017

We heard from several readers last night about a large group of police and other emergency responders on the south end of John V. Lindsay East River Park.

Said one reader: "Biked by there around 7:30 p.m. — ambulances, law enforcement, etc. gathering around a spot in the tall grass right by the river. They cordoned off the area and shooed us onlookers away."

The Daily News reports that police found a body of a man in his 30s "in a desolate stretch of grass."

The body was discovered in an area of the park that is under construction, east of FDR Drive, near Jackson St.

Cops found an improvised gun fashioned from a metal pipe in the nearby shrubs, sources said.

Police believe that the man took his own life.

Your really last-minute notice about an HDFC working meeting tonight

Sorry for the short notice on this... however, this meeting invite was sent out via email at the last minute... and it doesn't appear to be publicized online anywhere.

Anyway, we've had a few posts on the proposed new regulations on nearly 1,200 privately owned co-ops, including a number in the East Village.

Here's a recap from an EVG reader and co-op resident about what's happening from an earlier post:

This new proposed Regulatory Agreement is overreaching and would result in a loss of autonomy and decision-making abilities that benefit HDFC buildings, as well as costing individual shareholders hard-earned equity.

The new rules include a 30 percent flip tax on all units when they sell; the requirement of hiring outside managers and monitors at our expense; a ban on owning other residential property within a 100-mile radius of New York City; and more draconian clauses. Community meetings to discuss the agreement have been contentious and hostile, and so far not one HDFC in the entire city has publicly supported the plan. Very few HDFCs in the city need financial help and we strongly oppose a "one size fits all" regulatory agreement that will cost us money, resources, and most important, value in our home equity.

And...

The problem was that HDP wrote the Regulatory Agreement without any input from HDFC shareholders. When we caught wind of what was happening, we were able to force a community meeting, with the help of Council Member Mendez's office. They have since held a handful of meetings but say they are moving forward within the next couple of months. They are also not giving a clear timeline, which of course has many of us panicked.

ICYMI: LES landlord hit with $1.2 million Airbnb lawsuit; 536 E. 14th St. among the properties

[Photo of 536 E. 14th St. last December by Michael Paul]

In case you didn't already see this story from earlier this week...the city slapped LES landlord Rose King with a $1.2 million lawsuit. City lawyers allege that she illegally rented multiple units in three buildings through Airbnb.

According to the Post:

King has been hiding behind a middle man and at least nine aliases to create a network of transient hotels at 536 E. 14th St., 123 Ludlow St., and 127 Rivington St., according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.

And one of the building’s permanent residents told city officials that King is trying to evict rent-stabilized tenants from her properties to convert even more units into cash-cow ­Airbnbs, sources said.

Last December, as we noted, the city booted the longtime psychic at 536 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. City documents said that the storefront was illegally converted without "means of egress." There were also complaints on file that the landlord was operating an illegal hotel here.

As for King's alleged operation, the Post quotes the Mayor: "It's outrageous, it’s illegal, and we will stop bad actors from hurting our neighborhoods. New Yorkers can’t afford to see affordable homes turned into hotels." (Maybe someone can tell the Mayor about this on 11th Street.)

The annual Essex Street Market block party is Saturday

Via the EVG inbox...

On Saturday, May 20, Essex Street Market is throwing its annual Block Party from 12-5 p.m. outside on Essex Street. This springtime affair features the latest and greatest food vendors from both the Essex Street Market and Lower East Side.

Find more details, including a list of vendors and musical guests, here.

Super-8 films and poetry Friday night at Le Petit Versailles

Via the EVG inbox...

Local poet-filmmaker Stephanie Gray will be showing her experimental super-8 films and reading poetry this Friday (May 19), at 8 in an evening titled "We Be We Know" at Le Petit Versailles, the community garden at 346 E. Houston St./247 E. Second St. near Avenue C. Evening starts with poetry, ends with film. Rain or shine.

Find a listing of the films here. The Facebook events page is here.

Sen. Hoylman calls for immediate stay on all Steve Croman-initiated tenant cases

Despite being charged with 20 felonies last May, Steve Croman's tenants have alleged that their landlord continues to harass them.

Per a December 2016 article in The Villager:

“He’s still not giving heat and hot water, still not backing off from the rotten things he would do, like jacking up rent and not returning leases to people,” said Cynthia Chaffee, a longtime Croman residential tenant. “He’s still doing it and nothing’s changed. He’s stillusing the courts to harass his tenants.”

Also last December, tenants of 159 Stanton St. sued Croman in housing court, saying he was subjecting them to unsafe conditions and harassment. In February, the Department of Buildings issued a partial vacate order on the building, with the residents of two apartments forced to relocate until unsafe conditions were rectified, as The Lo-Down reported.

Now Sen. Brad Hoylman is releasing the results of a review of eviction cases filed by Croman against tenants in the Senator's district and throughout Manhattan. Hoylman is calling for an immediate stay on all Croman-initiated tenant cases.

According to Hoylman’s review, at least eight active cases are proceeding against tenants.

"Croman’s M.O., as the Attorney General alleges in the criminal complaint, is to harass tenants by filing baseless lawsuits against them. The court should stay all of the cases where Croman is suing tenants until these serious allegations are addressed. Otherwise, these tenants, many of whom are not represented by legal counsel, risk irreparable harm, including losing their homes," Hoylman said in a statement. "The bottom line is that Croman is running a criminal enterprise. Justice demands his cases against tenants be stayed."

Two East Village buildings are in the list of cases proceeding: 229 First Ave. and 309 E. Eighth St.

Croman's real-estate empire includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village. As previously noted, Croman owns more buildings in the East Village than any other landlord.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the charges against Croman in May 2016, including multiple felonies for his role in an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain several multi-million dollar refinancing loans between 2012 and 2014.

The civil lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan and the product of an independent investigation, alleges that Croman used, among other things, the illegal tactic of pressuring tenants into surrendering their apartments by repeatedly filing baseless lawsuits against them.

His criminal case has been adjourned and bail continued five times now, according to the Croman Tenants Alliance. His civil court date is June 5.

The New York Post reported earlier this month that Croman was nearing a plea deal that would see him serve eight months of jail time and pay a fine up to $10 million.

Fire-damaged Caracas Arepa Bar now for rent

[Photo yesterday by Vinny & O]

Caracas Arepa Bar apparently will not be reopening at 93 1/2 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. A for rent sign arrived on the space this week.

A fire broke out here in the early morning hours last Sept. 21. While no one was injured, the damage was extensive.

Co-owner Maribel Araujovia was blunt about the damage: "The restaurant is pretty fucked up." She expounded on that to Grub Street last September:

“It’s not just a little thing we can fix quickly, put drywall up, and keep going,” Araujo says. Getting back to business will take some time: Leases and inventory need to be looked at, and conversations need to be had with lawyers and insurers. “Maybe we’ll relocate, maybe we’ll try to rebuild this one. At this point, I’m not sure.”

Workers had been refurbishing the space... with the thought/hope that it was being done for Caracas. Looks like the work is for the next tenant.

The smaller Caracas space at 91 E. Seventh St., which debuted in 2003, remains open with limited seating and to-go orders. They also have a location in Williamsburg as well as a seasonal spot in the Rockaways for the summer.

The 'commanding retail presence' of Extell's new 14th Street development

Here's how Extell's two, seven-story residential buildings going in on 14th Street from Avenue A to Avenue B look these days...



There's an updated retail listing now at RKF for the buildings noting "a commanding retail presence" here.


[RKF]

For starters, you probably know that Target is leasing 27,306 square feet in No. 500's corner space for a small-format store expected to open in the summer of 2018.

The other retail slot here features 14,500 square feet plus 1,500 square feet for a loading dock, which is on 13th Street. The price is not listed. The listing also says "Logical divisions considered" and "Space can be vented for cooking."

At No. 524, the retail space is 9,700 square feet with another 4,500 in the lower level.


[RKF]

Previously on EV Grieve:
New 7-floor buildings for East 14th Street include 150 residential units

Target offers details about its flexible-format store opening summer 2018 on 14th and A

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

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.