A Shake Shack is coming to the Death Star

That empty retail space at 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star has a tenant: Shake Shack.

The Post has the scoop:

Danny Meyer’s fast-growing burger chain has signed a lease on Astor Place that will open this fall...

The new location, which will span nearly 3,000 square feet on the northeast side of the building at 51 Astor Pl., “will feature some unique design and customer experience elements,” a Shake Shack spokeswoman confirmed, declining to elaborate.

Until earlier last month, this corner slot on Third Avenue at Ninth Street housed the sales office for hotelier-developer Ian Schrager's hotel-condo tower at 215 Chrystie just below East Houston.

The Shack joins the building's other retail tenants — CVS, Flywheel Sports, Orangetheory Fitness, Bluestone Lane Coffee and Chopt.

According to Lois Weiss at the Post, the Shake Shake team signed a 15-year lease.

The lease memo, reviewed by the Post, provides the Danny Meyer fast-casual joint with the ability to exclusively sell “hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries and frozen custard.”

As such, it banishes direct competitors such as Smashburger and Johnny Rockets from the building.

This will be the second Danny Meyer venture to open on Third Avenue in the coming months. His Union Square Hospitality Group is behind Martina, a pizzeria, in progress on 11th Street at Third Avenue.

Chi Ken signage arrives on St. Mark's Place

The sign is up for Chi Ken, the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Store, at 58 St. Mark's Place...

As we noted back in February, Chi Ken sells a variety of quick-serve items, including milk tea, popcorn chicken and Crazy Jumbo Squid "that's bigger than your face."

A Chi Ken location opened in Sunset Park last summer. You can find the Chi Ken website here.

The adjacent space at the address here between First Avenue and Second Avenue will be home to Clay Pot, serving "traditional Hong Kong style open-flame cooked clay pot rice."

The Marshal seizes Palà on Allen Street

An EVG reader shares these photos... the landlord now has legal possession of Palà, the pizzeria at 198 Allen St. just south of Houston...



The Palà website is also no longer active.

Here's what New York had to say about the place a few years back:

The dough, which consists of nine organic flours, is allowed to rise naturally over three days, and the result is a marvelously light and crispy crust. Italian owner Gigio Palazzo says he set out to “change the game of pizza in New York.” And indeed he has. Delectable combos include the zucca, pumpkin purée layered with marbled pancetta. Palazzo’s savvy gamble on unlikely toppings pays off: Of the veggie options, the bufala cruda easily tops the list, heavy with misshapen hunks of mozzarella and roasted cherry tomatoes with splitting peels.

Palà opened in 2006 ... and underwent a major renovation in 2012.

Given the location and build-out with those roll-up garage doors, this promises to be a sought-after space...

AG Schneiderman introduces new bill — the Tenant Protection Act of 2017

Via the EVG inbox...

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today introduced the Tenant Protection Act of 2017, a new bill aimed at holding New York’s most unscrupulous landlords criminally accountable for tenant harassment.

Current state law requires that prosecutors reach an inexplicably high evidentiary bar in order to criminally convict a landlord of Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant — which is why, in the twenty years since its initial enactment by the NYS Legislature, not a single landlord has ever been convicted of that crime. The Attorney General’s Tenant Protection Act would change that, setting a more reasonable standard that eliminates the need to prove physical injury to a tenant, and opening the door to prosecutions arising out of more commonplace and insidious tactics — such as turning off heat and hot water, exposing tenants to hazardous materials, and making rent-stabilized buildings deliberately uninhabitable for current tenants and their families.

The Tenant Protection Act of 2017 was introduced today by Attorney General Schneiderman as a program bill, and will be sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Joseph Lentol.

“The laws should protect tenants, not greedy landlords who make their buildings uninhabitable in an effort to force families out of their homes,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “It’s clear that our existing criminal laws are simply inadequate when it comes to protecting tenants from these dangerous tactics by landlords. We must give prosecutors the tools necessary to protect tenants — and stem the rising tide of tenant harassment that is undermining affordability around New York.”

Read the full release on the bill here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Festival of the Arts this weekend; Porchetta pop up extended

[Photo at Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

The potential impact of President Trump's budget proposal on the NYCHA (Daily News)

New Chinatown-themed hotel on the Bowery apologizes for its "opium den-themed" lounge (DNAinfo)

Details on the annual Festival of the Arts this weekend at the Theater for the New City (Patch)

Stuy Town resident petitions to get rid of playground (Town & Village)

Avenue C wine bar Lois now selling its snacks retail (The Daily Meal)

About Voided, an exhibit featuring Benjamin Armas and Ori Carino, up through Saturday at Howl! Happening (Forbes)

Resident of 344 E. 13th St. and family friend of the Dawsons has been living in an RV down the block (New York Post)

Porchetta pop up extended at Porsena (The Village Voice)

Some great pics from the Dance Parade (Laura Goggin Photography)

Williamsburg Bridge HOV lane proposed for the L train shutdown (Daily News)

More about the early Saturday morning attack on Forsyth and Stanton near Sara D. Roosevelt Park (The Lo-Down)

On the market: 12th Street duplex with "outdoor sanctuary" (Curbed)

Hedda Lettuce presents "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" Thursday night (Village East Cinema)

Remembering Mary Help of Christians on 12th Street and Avenue A (Off the Grid)

In honor of Sir Roger Moore's death, the FDR chase scene from "Live and Let Die" (BoweryBoogie)

Revisiting a gruesome murder from 1903; body found in barrel on Avenue D and 11th Street (Ephemeral New York)

Standard High Line for sale; Standard East Village not on the block (The Real Deal)

... and the Midnight Movies are set for the next few months at the Sunshine Cinema on East Houston... more details here...



...and several readers asked about the work on Astor Place...



I asked William Kelley, executive director of the Village Alliance, what the workers were doing. "They are trying to fix some plaza drainage issues. Should be just a few days depending on weather," he said via an email.

Updated 2:30

And the workers have made some progress...


[Photo by Vinny & O]

May 24

Hi, and welcome. Just wishing you all an early Merry Memorial Day Christmas.

Photo on Seventh Street at Cooper Square by EVG reader Meredith Rendall.

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: Jerry Shea
Occupation: Photographer and Art Director
Location: 10th Street between 1st And A
Date: Tuesday, May 23 at 2:30 p.m.

My first visit to the neighborhood was in the late 1950s. I was living upstate, where I was raised, and it was my habit as a kid just to roam the streets of New York. I would come down here on the Third Avenue El, which was a real treat. That was a lucky day when I discovered the El.

And as soon as I was old enough, I got down here and settled in. I lived on 10th Street between Second Avenue and Third for a long time. The East Village and the West Village back then were the favorite places of mine. I liked being here because it was more relaxed. It wasn’t pretentious, and I loved the mix of people.

It drew me, and I kept coming back. And of course there were clubs that were fun. Then I had a girlfriend who lived here, and together we really explored the neighborhood, all parts about it, and we read about the history of it. When you read the history of a neighborhood, it gets you closer to the neighborhood — you care for it more. And especially the history here — it’s extraordinary.

Then in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was really kind of grim here. You could easily walk across the East Village and pick up a couple hundred vials that were used for crack ... but when it changed, that was the period of time where I was working and I was in Midtown and uptown, and it was only later that I came back down here. I’m retired, but I’m a photographer and art director. I was the art director for Sears, Roebuck & Company, and my photography today is street photography. And I got involved in the community. I was involved with the 9th Precinct Community Council for a lot of years, which meant a lot to me.

Veselka is definitely a favorite, favorite place. I’m there for breakfast and lunch just about every day. I just had lunch from there, and I shared notes with Tom, the owner. I was at Veselka before he was, back in the late 1950s.

I love the skyscrapers of New York, but I love the sky more, and being down here there is more sky. I love downtown. I love the Villages. What makes this place special was the mix of people. It was artists, writers, immigrants. It was so beautiful to walk on a warm Sunday morning across the East Village, and you would pick up three or four different strands of music coming from the buildings. I remember one of the mornings, I counted four or five, but you would certainly pick up Latin music, and there was a building over here I deliberately walked passed because there was always jazz on. It was really sweet.

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

[Updated] Morton Williams will take over the Associated space on 14th Street

[EVG file photo]

It appears that Blackstone, Stuy Town's new ownership, will keep an affordable grocery store on 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue — it just won't be an Associated, though.

Town & Village reports that a Morton Williams will be taking over the space.

While no one at Blackstone would confirm the news, employees at the Associated, which has been here the past 25 years, received letters informing them that Morton Williams is coming here later this year.

Per T&V:

According to one employee, the letter says workers, who are unionized, will get to keep their jobs for at least three months and at that point will be evaluated.

"They have a big company and room to grow," the worker said the letter from Morton Williams informed them.

The family-run Morton Williams, which started in 1946, has 15 locations in the city, including two not far from Stuy Town — one on Park Avenue South and 22nd Street and another on 23rd Street in the East Midtown Plaza.

This marks the third of four grocery stores that principal owner Joseph Falzon and his team will have had to vacate. The Associated at 255 W. 14th St. between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue closed last May after landlord Pan Am Equities reportedly increased the rent by $168,000 — a month. Their Met Foods on Third Avenue between 16th Street and 17th Street closed in April 2015. They also run the Associated on Avenue C at Eighth Street, though Falzon said that store "is very low volume."

Falzon wanted a lease renewal on 14th Street in order to renovate the store. However, Stuy Town management wasn't offering a lease, which is up toward the end of 2017. Associated is currently paying $60,000 a month here, per T&V.

Said Falzon: "I'm very sorry we couldn’t reach a deal and we want to thank our customers for supporting us all these years. Everything’s coming to an end. Rents in New York right now are not very favorable to small business owners."

Updated 5/31

Morton Williams will reportedly not sign a lease now with the arrival of a Trader Joe's across the street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Associated owners not having any luck shopping for a lease renewal on East 14th Street (34 comments)

Petition drive underway to help save the Stuy Town Associated on East 14th Street

Report: New Stuy Town owner pledges to keep a grocery story on East 14th Street, but it may not be Associated

Commercial co-op on 10th Street, guarded by Rex, is for sale

An EVG reader shares this info about 432 E. 10th St. between Avenue C and Avenue D, where Chico's mural of Rex, the German Shepherd mix, guards the entry. The current tenant, Expert Finest Company, a carpentry shop, will be closing its doors.

Said the reader: "This ground-floor unit (which includes a basement and a spacious backyard) is uniquely suited for light manufacturing and it is now available. With small buildings constantly being demolished, it's a chance to anchor your business and to build equity instead of paying rent — doggone it."

Here's the listing at Rutenberg Realty NY:

This bi-level commercial co-op is approximately 3,000 square feet and has sprinklers throughout. The ground floor is steel reinforced and column-free. Also, includes private backyard of 500 SF. Currently home to a workshop, the space is ideal for office and all creative uses. No food or bar! Commercial parking is permitted in front of the building.

Price: $1.8 million. (And Rex was adopted by the owners of the space when they moved in during the 1970s.)

Home is where the art is: A discussion on 'Your House Is Mine' at MoRUS

Via the EVG inbox...this event is tomorrow (May 25) at 7 p.m.

Artist and Bullet Space co-founder Andrew Castrucci discusses the creation of the book "Your House Is Mine."

From the introduction: "This project is a collection of images and texts, defining and expressing the broad and essential issue of housing on the Lower East Side, and is a statement of the underlying force of 'art as a means of resistance.' It is both a documentation and expression of social/political issues in our neighborhood, and on a larger scale to symbolize similar conflicts in other parts of the world."

"Your House Is Mine" included work by Anton Van Dalen, Eric Drooker, Lee Quinones, David Wojnarowicz, Martin Wong ... and writing by Miguel Algarin, Chris Burden, Allen Ginsberg, Eduardo Galleano and Public Enemy, among others.

This event is part of the exhibition "Taking it to the Streets!" ABC No Rio in Exile at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS). Check out the recent review of the show from The New York Times here.

Find more details about Castrucci's talk at the Facebook events page here. The discussion starts tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

MoRUS is at 155 Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

Baby on board

EVG contributor Steven shares these photos from this morning in Tompkins Square Park ... showing Christo and Dora's latest red-tailed offspring, roughly five weeks old and getting larger by the day...



...and still in the Benjamin Button phase...



As Goggla noted, this is Christo and Dora's only hawklette this time around... soon enough he/she will be ready to fledge...

Catch a wave on Astor Place

We noted the #rednose installation on Astor Place yesterday for the upcoming Red Nose Day.

You may have noticed two other installations on Astor Place... these arrived back on Friday, and are part of the NYC Wave Trail. These were designed and installed for the UN's World Oceans Day on June 8.

This one one the north plaza is titled "Rise" by Suki Waterhouse...



... and the one outside Cooper Union is "The Birth of Venus" by Margaret Zhang...



There are 54 sculptures total in the city.

New broker for former home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property

There's a new broker for the potential development sites at 24 First Ave. (the onetime home of Lucky Cheng's) and 99-101 E. Second St. The adjacent properties now feature the Eastern Consolidated broker signage...



Landlord Carmar Development, LLC, had put the two-buidling parcel up for sale back in February. (We wrote about that here.)

Here's the new listing (PDF is here) via Eastern Consolidated:

The Property consists of two existing mixed-use buildings with frontage on both First Avenue and E. 2nd Street in the extremely desirable East Village. Both buildings will be delivered vacant.

The offering presents multiple options going forward including becoming components of a larger assemblage for a new construction development project, with up to ±30,000 buildable SF, redeveloping the Property by renovating and enlarging the existing structures or repositioning for a national retailer or user purchaser seeking to control a location for ±10,000 SF of multi-level retail and a mix of other uses.

Pricing upon request. The L-shaped properties were seeking $26 million back in February. (The properties were also available for net lease. That deal is no longer apparently an option.)

The sales materials include a variety of diagrams showing the development potential here...



... and the aerial view...



Hayne Suthon, who owned and and operated Lucky Cheng's, the cross-dressing cabaret, also lived in the building. She died of cancer at age 57 in June 2014.

Suthon had owned the properties since 1986, paying $800,000, city documents show. According to public records, the address changed hands to Carmar Development in February 2015 for a little more than $9.6 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Myron Mixon's Pride & Joy BBQ now in the works for the former Lucky Cheng's space

Fire reported at incoming Pride and Joy BBQ on East Second Street

Myron Mixon lawsuit puts opening of Pride and Joy BBQ in question at former Lucky Cheng's space

More alterations for the Pride and Joy space

Report: Pride and Joy BBQ partners suing landlord Hayne Suthon for $22 million

Onetime home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property on the development market for $26 million

Films on the Green return to Tompkins Square Park this July

Films on the Green, a free French film festival in NYC parks, returns for another season beginning on June 2.

This year, for the 10th anniversary of the series, Films on the Green is featuring 10 guest curators, including Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, Isabella Rossellini and Laurie Anderson.

Two of the films will be in Tompkins Square Park:

• Friday, July 7, 8:30 p.m.
"La Cérémonie"
By Claude Chabrol, 1995, starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Bonnaire
Film selected by the creator of the series "Mad Men," Matthew Weiner

• Friday, July 14, 8:30 p.m.
"Port of Shadows (Quai des brumes)"
By Marcel Carné, 1938, starring Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan
Film selected by writer, director and visual artist Laurie Anderson

Find the full schedule here.

Blink Fitness on Avenue A extends hours

Dispatch from the Blink Fitness at 100 Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

Blink East Village is now open (effective May 22):

Monday-Friday: 5 a.m. to midnight
Saturday-Sunday: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The gym opened this past Oct. 25.

Company for the cube on Astor Place

[Photo by Lola Sáenz]

This #rednose installation is now on Astor Place... ahead of Red Nose Day — a mission to end child poverty — on Thursday.

So why here for this? Walgreens is the exclusive retailer of the Red Noses... and there's a Walgreens across from here on Lafayette at Astor Place...

Red Nose Day is a fundraising campaign run by the nonprofit Comic Relief Inc.

Noted

Spotted on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C... thanks to EVG reader Noah Shannon for the photo.

One more soon and we'll have a trends piece.

Speculation about Webster Hall's closing date

As the Post reported back in April, Webster Hall was changing hands in a deal worth some $35 million.

Per the Post:

Barclays Center’s corporate parent, Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, is teaming with AEG-backed The Bowery Presents to take over operations at the iconic music venue, whose stage has been graced by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Tina Turner.

Brett Yormark, chief executive of Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, told the Post: “We’re going to preserve what Webster Hall means to the consumers and artists, but we will contemporize it.” Expect food and beverage upgrades, with possible bathroom enhancements.

Jay Marciano, chairman of AEG Live, told Billboard they will spend about $10 million renovating Webster Hall's Grand Ballroom, The Studio and The Marlin Room spaces "to bring them up to contemporary standards and add a few more customer features."

So when will the current iteration of Webster Hall close? There hasn't been any announcement just yet. An EVG tipster said that it will close starting Aug. 9. The last club event is listed online on Aug. 5. The last concert date is listed on Aug. 8 (Michelle Branch: The Hopeless Romantic Tour). Fall shows have been moved to other venues...



As for renovations, to date, there's nothing on file with the Department of Buildings for renovations on the landmarked building.

As for food and beverage, reps for Spectrum Catering and Concessions were on this month's CB3-SLA docket for a new liquor license. The 25-year-old company provides concessions for a variety of venues and festivals nationwide. In NYC, they manage Terminal 5, the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Rough Trade and Brooklyn Steel.

Meanwhile, another tipster wondered what might happen to Webster Hall's 250-plus employees, who are not represented by a union. Will they have opportunities to work at the new Webster Hall?

The Ballinger family has owned and operated Webster Hall since 1989. Some history of the building via Billboard:

First built in 1886 by architect Charles Rentz, the venue served as a social hall for the Lower East Side’s working-class and immigrant population throughout the Great Depression before becoming an internationally-recognized music hall. It was purchased by RCA Records and operated as a recording studio and acoustically treated ballroom in the 1950s and '60s and then became a full-time concert venue known as The Ritz beginning in 1980.

New East Houston condos 'effortlessly embody the sophistication of Lower East Side living'

Some seven months after the "condos coming soon" banner was unveiled at 265 E. Houston St., developer Central Construction Management has put a few of the condoplex units on the market. (H/T Curbed and BuzzBuzzHome!)



There are three two-bedroom, two-bathroom units available, ranging from $2.45 million to $2.55 million. (There are seven units total in this 10-floor building.)

Here's the pitch, via Streeteasy:

Ideally located in Lower East Side Manhattan, this spectacular collection of apartments are finished to the highest standard with exquisite Italian Carrara marble and white oak flooring throughout. Private keyed elevators lead directly into each residence, where refined design, spacious floor plans, and a modern neutral color palette perfectly meld minimalist style with contemporary luxury.

With oversized windows, sleek living areas, private outdoor spaces, and expansive common roof top terraces boasting dramatic views of the city, these stylish homes effortlessly embody the sophistication of Lower East Side living.

A tranquil escape from the city, the elegant master bathrooms offer a peaceful space to luxuriate. Smooth Carrara marble walls and floors are complemented by pure white Robern cabinetry, bespoke recessed medicine cabinets, and jet black rainshowers with attached shower heads. The ergonomic double-sinks and marble-enclosed Kohler tubs are fitted with black faucets crafted by local manufacturers Watermark Designs. Secondary baths are finished with glossy white Nemo tile and Restoration Hardware cabinetry.

The corner was home to the Iglesia Pentecostal Arca de Salvacion (below). In 2008, developer 265 East Houston LLC purchased the plot for $500,000, public records show.


[Via]

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

Speaking of next door... Not much construction action here just yet...



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



But for now...

Babu Ji going and coming

Workers have removed almost all the remnants of Babu Ji from outside the former Indian restaurant on Avenue B and 11th Street...



As we first reported on May 4, Sushil Malhotra, founder of Curry in a Hurry, Akbar Dawat and Café Spice, among others, is opening a new Indian restaurant in this space. We recently spoke by phone, and Malhotra said he was still finalizing details on the Avenue B space. He did promise it will be a fun restaurant.

Babu Ji had been closed here since early March following the disclosure of a second wage-theft and overtime lawsuit against owners Jessi and Jennifer Singh.

However, it appears Babu Ji will live on not too far away. An Eater tipster spotted Babu Ji signage at 22 E. 13th St. between Fifth Avenue and University Place a few weeks ago.