Another barber shop for Avenue A?

A tipster tells us that a barber shop is opening at 115 Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

Work permits on file with the city show a business name of Bonefade Barbers.

If true, then this will be a competitive area for barbers. There is Ben's Barbers at 217 Avenue A between 13th Street and 14th Street and Three Seat Espresso & Barber at 137 Avenue A between St. Mark's and Ninth Street. There are three barbers/salons on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, Ace of Cuts on Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, and Neighborhood Barbers at 439 E. Ninth St between Avenue A and First Avenue. Probably among others.

The space was last home to a sales office for Blink Fitness. The last full-time tenant at No. 115, the gift shop Alphabets, closed here in February 2014, merging with their newly opened location at 64 Avenue A between Fifth Street and Fourth Street.

Also on the topic of new barbers... Best Barber has opened at 228 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street...



They also have a location on 10th Avenue.

Base camp: Looking at the Bowlmor Lanes-replacing 22-story condoplex

While walking on University Place the other day, we had time to take in the nearly block-long base and first three levels of developer Billy Macklowe's 22-floor retail-residential complex here between 12th Street and 13th Street. (This is the former Bowlmor Lanes parcel.)

In case you haven't seen what's on its way up...


[Rendering via Selldorf.com]

Bloomberg had an update yesterday (H/T to the EVG commenter for the link) on what Macklowe is calling 21E12. For starters, about 65 percent of the condoplex's 52 units reportedly have buyers, including the sale of two duplexes to a single buyer listed for a combined $23.5 million.

And apparently this won't be a place for the foreign super-rich to buy under the guise of shell companies with anonymous assets.

Macklowe told Bloomberg that most of the buyers to date are native New Yorkers.

"It is a New York building, for New Yorkers, and the people buying are going to live here.”

So far, the lowest-priced deal here was for $2.43 million. The building is expected to be ready for occupancy at the end of 2018.

In November 2015, local elected officials, preservation groups and even actor Ed Norton rallied to have this area rezoned to put height limits on new construction along this corridor. Mayor de Blasio wasn't apparently too interested in the proposal.

Bowlmor Lanes closed in July 2014 after 76 years in business.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Building that houses Bowlmor Lanes will convert to condos, like everywhere else around here

76-year-old Bowlmor Lanes closes for good today

Bowlmor says goodbye

Bowlmor Lanes replacement: 23-floor residential building

Major changes coming to University Place and East 13th Street

How about some more condos for University Place

Here's what's left of the block of University Place that once housed Bowlmor Lanes

Oh hi: The 22-floor Bowlmor Lanes-replacing luxury building

Poop Bag PSA

New on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C... an empty milk jug poop-bag holder if the need arises.

Thanks to @RatedRuwan!

Meanwhile, at the Tompkins Square Station...

Third Street between Avenue B and Avenue C... it doesn't always look this way...

Photo via @artisanmatters

Ciao for Now screening 1993 East Village indie 'What About Me' on Thursday night

On Thursday night, Ciao For Now on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is hosting a screening of "What About Me," a film shot around the neighborhood in the early 1990s and released in 1993.

Here's more info via Ciao For Now:

The film follows a young woman (played by Amodeo, herself) who wanders homeless in the East Village. “I took a walk around Tompkins Square Park to come up with an idea”, says Amodeo, “it was during the homeless encampment, where there were a lot of shanty houses at the time. I struck up a conversation with a few of the residents there and came to find out that a lot of people there had a series of breaks through uncontrollable circumstances. My idea was to make a story about a homeless couple who get swept up into the drama of living on the streets.”

The screening will be followed by a Q-&-A with Amodeo and her partner Henry Jones, an animator and artist who collaborated on it with her, and both of whom remain part of the nucleus of the old East Village art scene. The film stars Amodeo, Richard Edson, Nick Zedd, Rockets Redglare, Judy Carne, Richard Hell, Johnny Thunders, Dee Dee Ramone, and Gregory Corso; with cameo appearances by Jerry Nolan, Patti Palladin, Mariann Bracken, amongst others.

The cafe's doors open at 6:30 p.m. before the screening at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $5 per person, which includes complimentary popcorn and the Q-&-A after the film. Wine, beer, coffee and a light menu of items will be available for purchase throughout the night. Seating is limited so please call the cafe to make reservations in advance at 212-677-2616.

You can read more about the film in this old EVG post from 2008.

Hear the latest on the L train shutdown tonight

[EVG photo from April]

Apologies for the short notice — I only received this info. late last night. Via the EVG inbox...

The MTA and the Department of Transportation are deep in the process of planning for the L train shutdown in 2019, and community board meetings are going on right now in which representatives from both agencies are sharing their latest plans and listening to community members' concerns and ideas.

The MTA and the DOT will be in the East Village tonight at a meeting of CB3's Transportation & Public Safety/Environment Committee, presenting their latest update on the planning they're doing:

• Fixing the L Line's Canarsie Tunnel (click here for MTA/DOT PowerPoint slides)

The meeting is open to the public, and people can ask questions and offer comments. Tuesday, June 13, 6:45-8 p.m. Downtown Art, 70 E. Fourth St. between the Bowery and Second Avenue

As previously reported, Transportation Alternatives is advocating for something they're calling the 14th Street PeopleWay. Read more about that plan here. This am New York piece has more facts, figures and proposals related to the L train.

The L train shutdown between Bedford Avenue and Eighth Avenue to repair the Sandy-damaged Canarsie Tunnel is expected to last 15 months with a start date of April 2019.

Mancora has apparently closed on 1st Avenue

[Photo Friday by Vinny & O]

The gates have been down at Mancora, the Peruvian restaurant on First Avenue at Sixth Street, for the past 10 days or so. Several EVG readers noted that workers have gutted the interior, leaving some speculation of a temporary closure for renovations.

There isn't any note to patrons about the closure, temporary or otherwise. The phone kicks into an automated message about the customer not haven't set up a voicemail box.

The Mancora space was expected to yield to a "fast casual" concept called Ummburger. No update on that venture at the moment.

A sample menu for Ummburger posted on the CB3 website this spring showed a variety of burgers, including a vegetarian option ... and a fried chicken sandwich called the Southern Ummfort.

Mancora first opened in March 2003.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ummburger vying for the Mancora space on 1st Avenue

Union Square Duane Reade available for sublease

An EVG tipster shared the marketing materials with info on subleasing the Duane Reade on Union Square.

There aren't many details about leasing the 12,790 square-foot-space. The rental rate is negotiable. The possession date is this month. Find a PDF with the flyer here.

Several Duane Reades have been closing around the city, including three on the Upper West Side and one on Canal and Broadway.

Parent company Walgreens has an expanded location right there at 14th Street and Fourth Avenue, and there's a Duane Reade on 14th Street and Third Avenue and 10th Street and Third Avenue.

The Union Square Duane Reade opened in the summer of 2010 in the former Virgin Megastore.

Bali Kitchen bringing Indonesian cuisine to 4th Street

The coming soon sign is up for Bali Kitchen, which will serve Indonesian cuisine here at 128 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue...



The space, which shares an address with Lui's Thai Food, was last home to the Fantastic Tea Shop for less than a year.

Sweetgreen opening in former University Diner space

Stepping away from the neighborhood for a moment... signage is up on the corner of University Place and 12th Street for another NYC location of Sweetgreen, the healthy quick-serve restaurant that offers various custom salads and grain bowls, etc.

This corner was home for 60 years to the University Diner, which closed in 2012 over a reported hefty rent increase. Gunz Fine European Food — an upscale chocolate shop and market — arrived in 2013 and left a few years later.

'Sesame Street' and Chrysler team up in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by Steven]

Crews were in Tompkins Square Park today to film a Chrysler commercial featuring characters from "Sesame Street" ... and it looked like the whole squad was on hand...


[Photo by Daniel Root]

Derek Berg shared these photos...





Despite being filmed in the middle of a public park with iconic TV characters on a beautiful June day, we heard that crew members didn't always appreciate people taking photos...



Steven shared this photo of Count von Count in the passenger side...



... and more shots of the characters via Christopher J. Ryan...





The filming apparently will continue tomorrow.

[Updated] Tagging the Bowery mural wall

This past weekend, someone defaced David Choe's week-old canvas on the Bowery Mural Wall.

BoweryBoogie reported that the vandalism was due "to past comments made on [Choe's] podcast bragging about an alleged sexual encounter with a masseuse in 2014." Choe later claimed that his confession was simply "bad storytelling in the style of douche." Regardless, as BoweryBoogie put it, "Critics have been accusing him of rape ever since."

Hyperallergic published an op-ed last week titled "How the New Bowery Wall Commission Puts Rape Culture on Display."

The "BTM" tag on the wall is apparently the work of Big Time Mafia. It's unclear if their message is related to Choe's past or general disdain for the wall, owned by Goldman Properties, and/or Choe's work.

Another tag on the wall last week was more explicit...

Someone spray painted "rapist" on David Choe's new mural earlier today! pic.twitter.com/Td3qNH9QMc

— Bucky Turco (@buckyturco) June 6, 2017

---

Updated 6/14



---

And this wasn't the first time that someone has tagged/bombed/defaced the work up on the Bowery Mural Wall in recent years. A sampling includes:

Logan Hicks last September...



Swoon in January in January 2014...



Maya Hayuk's criss-cross mural in February 2014...



Kenny Scharf multiple times in early 2011...



Shepard Fairey in July 2010...





...and Fairey in May 2010...



The bottom part of the mural was eventually ripped to shreds...

10th Street road restoration continues this week

The 10th Street (accelerated) water main replacement project work is continuing this week between Avenue A and First Avenue... as these photos from EVG (Accelerated) Water Main Replacement Project correspondent Daniel show...







According to the Weekly Construction Bulletin (PDF here), this week marks the "final restoration of the roadway."

Starbucks confirmed for Avenue A

It looks like those Starbucks-to-Avenue A rumors are true.

Recently issued work permits for 129-131 Avenue A show ...


[Click to go big]

Per the ALL-CAP DOB paperwork on another work permit for the address: "FILING FOR GENERAL CONSTRUCTION RELATED TO STARBUCKS BUILD-OUT."

It's not exactly clear where the Starbucks will go... there are multiple addresses — 125-131 St Mark's Place and 125-131 Avenue A — associated with the building on the northwest corner, and there are several empty storefronts within these addresses... including the former Nino's and Hop Devil Grill...



The original rumors had the Starbucks going into this prime corner space. (That makes sense.) Paper also just went up in the window of the former Yoshi Sushi...



None of the work permits posted on these storefronts list the Starbucks info. That's only online as of now.

It's also not clear what kind of Starbucks this will be. Last fall, the company announced plans to open up to 1,000 Starbucks stores "with a Reserve coffee bar experience" by the end of 2017. There are four newish locations in NYC of a Starbucks Reserve Roastery, including at 10 Waverly Place.

The architect of record for the Avenue A work was also behind the new Starbucks on Waverly Place as well as several others in the city.

In any event, this will be the first Starbucks to open in the East Village east of First Avenue, where there are locations at Third Street and at 13th Street.

As for the previous tenants here, to the usual recap: Nino's closed in October 2015. As previously reported, owner Nino Camaj accepted a low six-figure amount to walk away from his remaining 10-year lease and surrender the pizza shop that he opened in 1989. He had been in a dispute with the landlord over back rent and a closure due to a gas leak in the building. Hop Devil Grill and its sister bar next door, The Belgian Room, were seized by the state in April 2015 for nonpayment of taxes.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A look at the retail listing for the northwest corner of A and St. Mark's Place

The former spaces for Nino's and Hop Devil Grill have been combined

Those Starbucks rumors continue to percolate on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

And that's pretty much it for the former 112-120 E. 11th St.

[Photo from May 2016]

Plywood signage along 112-120 E. 11th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue pointed to a summer completion for the demolition of this row of circa-1890 tenement buildings...



Workers are right on schedule. The five buildings are gone...





...just some bricks and assorted rubble need to be carted out...





... until work can start on the 13-story hotel for Marriott’s Moxy brand. The Moxy website shows that the 11th Street hotel is expected to open in late 2018.

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

Tenant advocacy group names the city's worst landlords; Icon and Steve Croman in top 10

[Image from Thursday via @ANHDNYC]

Some familiar names to East Village residents made the list of Stabilizing NYC's "10 worst predatory equity landlords" in NYC, which the housing group announced Thursday on the steps of City Hall:

1) All Year Management
2) Coney Realty Group
3) David David
4) Icon Realty Management
5) INK Property Group
6) Madison Realty Capital/Silverstone Property Group
7) Steven Croman
8) R.A. Cohen & Associates
9) Ved Parkash
10) ZARA Realty Holding Corp

Per a news release:

"All the landlords on the list reportedly force tenants to live in horrendous and, often, dangerous conditions. Their unscrupulous and often illegal practices impact the entire city.

“We will be targeting these landlords to help tenants fight back against the predatory practices that put their homes at risk,” said Keriann Pauls, a staff attorney with the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center. “Predatory equity landlords are jeopardizing tenant safety and housing stability throughout the city.”

And...

Recently, the New York City Council has introduced legislation useful to lawyers and organizers in this struggle against predatory equity, including the Predatory Equity Watch List. With additional resources, Stabilizing NYC is working with the city council to enforce these new laws against predatory equity landlords.

"Landlords who act in bad faith in order to kick out tenants to make a profit and flip buildings should pay attention: we’re developing tools that will protect tenants and their homes, and disallow landlords from beefing up their pockets through illegal actions,” said Councilmember Ritchie Torres. “I’m proud to be working with CAPE and Stabilizing NYC on legislation to confront the problem of predatory equity that seeks to destroy affordable housing and communities."

Residents, tenant-rights organizations and local elected officials have accused Icon Realty, who owns multiple East Village buildings, of displacing rent-regulated tenants with frivolous lawsuits and exposing them to hazardous health and safety threats.

Madison Realty Capital/Silverstone Property Group is now managing Raphael Toledano's East Village portfolio.

Last Tuesday, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the guilty plea of Croman. Under the terms of his plea, Croman would serve one year of jail time on Rikers and pay a $5 million tax settlement. Croman's real-estate empire includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village — more than any other than any other landlord in this neighborhood.

Stabilizing NYC — a coalition of 15 grassroots, neighborhood-based organizations, a citywide legal service provider and a citywide housing advocacy organization — formed in 2014. According to their website, the collation "works to combat tenant harassment and preserve affordable housing for the New Yorkers who need it most."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tenants and local elected officials speak out against Icon Realty

Cork 'n Fork is now Gomi on Avenue A

The awning for Gomi's arrived on Saturday here at 186 Avenue A, though the restaurant officially opened on June 1.

As we understand it, the principal owner of the wine-tapas bar Cork 'n Fork remains as a shareholder, but is resigning as an officer and director of the company ... with a new partner coming aboard, hence the name/concept change...(this PDF at the CB3 website has the background).





Gomi's Facebook page describes it as an "Asian-fusion restaurant." Here's a look at part of their menu...





Cork 'n Fork opened here between 11th Street and 12th Street in the fall of 2013.