"Record," the new record by Tracey Thorn, is out this past week via Merge... here's the video for "Sister" ...
And for old-time's sake... back to 1984 leading Everything But the Girl...
Friday, March 9, 2018
'Sister' act
"Record," the new record by Tracey Thorn, is out this past week via Merge... here's the video for "Sister" ...
And for old-time's sake... back to 1984 leading Everything But the Girl...
EVG Etc.: NYC housing woes; red-tailed hawk radio drama
[Zoltar makes for a fine fashion backdrop ... via Derek Berg]
Cuomo will issue emergency declaration to fix NYCHA (The Post)
Elected officials ask city to stop Rivington House condo conversion (The Lo-Down)
Amid housing crisis, NYC must rethink how land is owned (CityLimits)
The city’s crackdown on electric bikes is destroying the livelihood of people who make deliveries for a living (Fast Company)
Claims of increasing affordability in NYC aren’t quite right (Curbed)
Here’s what a landlord typically makes on a stabilized apartment (The Real Deal)
Feminist Film Week continues through Sunday at the Anthology Film Archives (Official site)
50th anniversary of the Fillmore East opening (Off the Grid)
Dora — storm trooper! (Laura Goggin Photography)
A Christo-Dora-Nora/Not-Dora radio drama! (WNYC)
City all in with dry ice to kill rats (Daily News)
An interview with EV resident Alan Cumming on "Instinct," the first hourlong network drama with a gay lead (The New York Times)
New Beer Distributors on Chrystie Street is closing (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
Nom Wah Tu shutters 6 months in (Eater)
History of the German Dispensary building at 137 Second Ave. — now the Ottendorfer library (Ephemeral New York)
Podcast: Catching up with Hector Monsegur aka Sabu (Bloomberg)
Making art from old prom dresses at the Lower Eastside Girls Club (The Cut)
Strand owner Fred Bass leaves $25 million to heirs (The Post)
Two chances to see "Blue Velvet" Sunday (The Metrograph)
Sake's popularity grows (amNY)
EV-based Black Iron Burger opening a spot near the Barclays Center (The Post)
When John Cale and Lester Bangs appeared on stage together at CBGB in 1978 (Dangerous Minds)
... and Peter Brownscombe shares the latest from the Ray's Candy Store lab — the Chocolate Banana Dip (chilled banana dipped in chocolate)...
At Three Jewels, there's coffee out front, and ancient Tibetan wisdom in the back
Three Jewels recently opened a cafe-yoga studio combo (a spiritual speakeasy!) at 5 E. Third St. just off the Bowery...
Three Jewels, the nonprofit that has been around for 21 years, moved into the storefront in Janaury; the cafe space opened in late February.
Stehen McManus, the managing director of Three Jewels, shared more info with me.
Here's part of a news release:
Three Jewels is coming out on the Bowery scene after 21 years hidden in an East Village walk-up. The non-profit community space looks to be a modest whitewashed café from the street, but walk through their rose-mirrored wall, and you’ll enter a glowing temple room where spiritual seekers practice inner and outer methods ...
Their model of spiritual education is tripartite (and most of it is free): a comprehensive meditation programme with a colorful Tibetan backbone, thoughtful yoga classes, and deep scriptural education from seasoned practitioners. The centerpiece offering, an eighteen-course spiritual training in Buddhism, contains texts that were translated to English from Sanskrit and Tibetan for the first time in the early 90s. Comprehensive meditation and yoga trainings are curated to provide students with the root of an authentic personal practice.
The spiritually curious can choose from the themed meditation program and relax on Samaya cushions in the temple space or bear witness to the flow of artists, business-types, dancers, social activists and yogis whom migrate to the café, curated by the Bushwick coffee heroes Little Skips.
You can find their cafe menu here. You can find more about their classes and events here.
Rent freeze fight underway for 2018
[Image yesterday via]
Members of the Rent Justice Coalition along with several elected officials held a rally downtown yesterday outside the Rent Guidelines Board’s first meeting of the year.
The Coaltion was out to demand that the RGB freeze rents for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments. In addition, the group wants to ensure that tenants have a voice at the RGB's upcoming hearings across the city.
Last June, the RGB voted to allow rent increases on the city’s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, with one-year leases subject to 1.25 percent raises, and two-year leases subject to 2 percent hikes — this after two consecutive years of rent freezes.
Per a release from the Coalition:
While the coalition counts past rent freezes as successes, data show landlords have been overcompensated for decades with high rent increases, including an 8.5 percent increase at the height of the recession in 2009. In fact, rent stabilized tenants are rent burdened, with half of them paying about a third of their income for rent. At the same time, many low-income families pay as much as 60-70 percent of their income in rent.
While tenants face rising cost, landlords are making more money and paying less for expenses. Property resale prices are up; rent revenue is up; and foreclosures are low. The Rent Justice Coalition is demanding another from the Rent Guidelines Board to allow rent-stabilized tenants to keep their homes.
Here are quotes from local-elected officials:
Council Member Margaret S. Chin: "While our city has made progress in the movement for affordability, we need to keep the protections currently in place that provide relief to millions of rent-stabilized tenants across New York City. At the Rent Guidelines Board public meeting, tenants and rent justice advocates will make their voices heard on the importance of not only a rent freeze, but a rent rollback, and I urge the Board to make sure their feedback is taken into account at every step of the process."
Council Member and Progressive Caucus Member Carlina Rivera: "After a difficult rent increase in 2017, we must fight to make this the year of the rent freeze for our rent-stabilized residents.I continue to hear from people across my district that any increase could put them seconds away from losing their homes. Many of the rent-regulated tenants in my district have lived here for decades. To see them forced out by unnecessary rent increases would destroy the heart of our neighborhood identity."
The next RGB meeting is April 5. Their preliminary vote is April 26 at Cooper Union. Find the full upcoming schedule here.
'Give me back my package you bastard'
[Click on image for more detail]
Package thefts remain an ongoing issue in neighborhood buildings... the resident of this Second Street building has had enough, as evidenced by the sign he-she left in the entryway...
Stop stealing packages you thieves, I am getting the cops involved in this enough is enough. This is not the first time a package is stolen from the lobby of this building. Keep your hands to yourself and stop taking what's not yours. If you didn't pay for it don't touch it. I hope the cops find you because I am pressing charges.
Give me back my package you bastard.
Thanks to @chang0blanco for the photo!
Mahalo New York Bakery debuts on 9th Street
Mahalo New York Bakery is now open (as of this past weekend) at 443 E. Ninth St. at Avenue A.
The bakery, which serves Hawaiian-inspired desserts, has two outposts in Queens.
Mahalo's grand opening is this weekend...
Thanks to Steven for the photos!
Previously on EV Grieve:
Queens-based bakery bringing Hawaiian-inspired desserts to 9th Street
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Noted
EVG regular Lola Sāenz points us to these decorative dog poop signs handmade with glitter (and TLC!) on Third Street at First Avenue...
Time to rent at EVGB, where studios ('lofts') start at $3,695
Extell Development's EVGB — the "East Village's Greatest Building" — is now renting at 510 E. 14th St. and Avenue A.
The listings went live on Monday, as Curbed first noted.
In total, there are 110 market-rate rentals here. And "market rate" is apparently $3,695 for a large studio (called "lofts" at the EVGB website). The largest units, with three bedrooms, are asking $12,425.
Here's the description of a two-bedroom unit ($7,455) via Streeteasy:
Make yourself at home in this north facing split two bedroom, two bathroom residence. 412 features generous living space, multiple walk-in closets, and an in-unit Bosch washer/dryer. for entertaining and relaxing. The huge open kitchen is outfitted with Miele and Bosch appliances, Cosentino Silestone Quartz countertops and backsplash, and unique wood and glass cabinets with gunmetal pulls. The four-fixture master bathroom includes a walk-in shower with blackened steel and fluted glass door and double vanity. Both bathrooms feature Porcelanosa tile and Kohler and Wetstyle fixtures. This apartment is finished with hardwood white oak flooring.
Each unit also includes an Alexa home interface for easy Alexa-ing. ("Alexa, how much is $12,425 divided by eight?")
Here's a view of the back of the building, showing the various balconies and the garden units...
Building amenities include an indoor saltwater pool, a bi-level fitness center, a children’s playroom, and a 19,000-square-foot roof deck with bocce, a putting green, a yoga lawn, a wet bar, fire pits and more things to perhaps inspire 13th Street residents who live behind here to call 311.
As you can see, the EVGB site is working hard to appeal to would-be renters... (The "Mmm ... carbs" cartoon cupcake, like)...
EVGB has an Instragram account too... the first one is a puzzler: "East Village will have you Going Back for more again, and again, and again...donuts are just the beginning of what the vibrant neighborhood has to offer."
Anyway!
Move ins at EVGB start in April.
And as previously reported, part of the retail space in this building will house the small-format Target store. Which someone already tagged.
[Photo from Tuesday]
Extell's other new building on the block toward Avenue B is currently accepting applications for middle-income units.
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
Extell's new development at 524 E. 14th St. launches lottery for 50 affordable units
[Updated] Bar taking over former HiFi space on Avenue A is called Coney Island Baby
[Photo from Jan. 20]
Work continues at the former HiFi space on Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street.
Not a lot is known publicly about the new venture just yet. However, the place does have a name — Coney Island Baby... not to mention an Instragram account, which I discovered last evening...
Per Instagram: "Coney Island Baby NYC. Newly unearthed East Village bar and performance venue, overlooking the denizens of Tompkins Square Park."
HiFi, which also hosted the occasional book readings, comedy shows and acoustic bands, closed last October after 15 years at the address.
In his closing announcement, HiFi co-owner Mike Stuto wrote that business had been off, noting that the weekend bar crowd was "mostly indifferent to the place." He also stressed that the closure had nothing to do with the landlord, a management company that he said has been "ideal ... in pretty much every sense of the word."
Stayed tuned for more on Coney Island Baby, which presumably is named after (or for!) this. Or this! No word on an opening date just yet.
Updated March 25
The bar's website is live now. Coney Island Baby describes itself as "a new 200 capacity live music venue and bar in the heart of the musically historic East Village in NYC. Booking now."
Alejandro Escovedo is headlining the first show on May 2.
End of days at the St. Denis
[Image via Wikipedia Commons]
The new-ish owners of the St. Denis at 797-799 Broadway at 11th Street have plans for the building that don't include its current small business owners (mostly psychotherapists, apparently).
Vanishing New York's Jeremiah Moss, himself a soon-to-be-former-tenant, wrote a feature titled "The Death and Life of a Great American Building" for The New York Review of Books.
Per Moss:
[In the summer of 2016], tenants received a letter from the new owners, announcing the purchase and assuring, “We look forward to continuing the strong, positive relationships enjoyed by tenants in the building.” But as leases expired, they were not renewed, except as short-term extensions rigged with sixty-day termination clauses. Some tenants saw the writing on the wall and moved out. Those who remained hoped that [Normandy Real Estate Partners'] plans — whatever they were — would fall through. Rumors circulated about the future of the St. Denis. It would be gutted, glossed, and given to a single corporation. It would be flipped and turned into condos. And the unimaginable? It would be demolished.
In the summer of 2017, tenants discovered architectural renderings on the Internet proposing to replace the St. Denis with a seventeen-story glass tower sheathed in white glass, as sterile as an operating table. On their website, the CetraRuddy firm claimed that their design will create “an office environment that addresses mental and physical well-being.”
Here's a look at CetraRuddy Architect's concept for the St. Denis (via CityRealty)...
Normandy Real Estate Partners have yet to publicly announce their plans for the property just yet. (Normandy has said that this idea was just allegedly conceptual.)
The 165-year-old building is noteworthy for many reasons. It opened in 1853 as the St. Denis Hotel, which is where Ulysses S. Grant wrote his post-Civil War memoirs and Alexander Graham Bell provided the first demonstration of the telephone to New Yorkers.
However, the building is not landmarked... and it is not in a Historic District.
Back to the article:
Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, is advocating for a zoning to protect the area and its architectural jewels. “The Tech Hub is accelerating the changes,” he told me. What’s coming, he says, are more “high-end high-rise developments — condos, hotels, and tech office buildings.” And there is no limit to how high they can go, thanks to a current zoning that Berman says is “very generous to developers.”
Read the full article by Moss here.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Former St. Denis Hotel selling for $100 million
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Oh Mother! (and there are many free things to do at the Tompkins Square Library branch)
Due to the weather, this evening's free screening of "Mother!" was cancelled at the Tompkins Square Library branch... rescheduled for April 11 at 5 p.m. ...
Really interesting choice for a free library screening ... the film with Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem by Darren Aronofsky (does he still live in the East Village?) is either the best or absolute worst film ever. Not sure what I think, though Kristen Wiig! (Spoiler here.)
And the Tompkins Square Park branch has a lot of free activities daily... poetry readings... jewelry making... film screenings (Tony Richardson's "A Taste of Honey" is an afternoon matinee on March 19 and Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" is at 5 p.m. on March 21)... find their schedule of events here.
Really interesting choice for a free library screening ... the film with Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem by Darren Aronofsky (does he still live in the East Village?) is either the best or absolute worst film ever. Not sure what I think, though Kristen Wiig! (Spoiler here.)
And the Tompkins Square Park branch has a lot of free activities daily... poetry readings... jewelry making... film screenings (Tony Richardson's "A Taste of Honey" is an afternoon matinee on March 19 and Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" is at 5 p.m. on March 21)... find their schedule of events here.
Storm brings down this tree on 6th Street
[Photo via @jeremyblock]
This tree took a fall — roots and all — early this evening during the storm on the north side of Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Thankfully no one was injured, and the car looks to have suffered just minor damage all things considered...
[Photo via @edwardzick]
EVG reader Danny shared these photos... showing the NYPD helping clear the tree from the street...
One witness said that the tree's roots were rotted.
Updated 8:16 p.m.
Word from the NYPD...
We are unsure what caused the tree to come down but our Emergency Services Unit came & cut up the tree, placing it on the sidewalk. The owner of the 🚗 has been notified and most importantly nobody was injured @NYPDSpecialops
— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) March 8, 2018
Report: Ariel Palitz named NYC's first Night Mayor
The newly established NYC Office of Nightlife has named its first director (aka Night Mayor) — Ariel Palitz.
Palitz is well-known in the East Village/Lower East Side as a bar owner (the former Sutra Lounge on First Avenue) and as a member of Community Board 3's Liquor Authority & Department of Consumer Affairs Licensing committee.
As The Lo-Down noted: "Her clashes with local residents fighting new liquor licenses were fairly legendary."
In recently years she has helmed Venue Advisors, "a full-service hospitality consulting company with integrated licensed real estate services."
Mayor de Blasio is to officially make her announcement official later today. Her official title is senior executive director of the Office of Nightlife.
Meanwhile, the Times has a very Times-ian feature with the news.
Since September, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he was forming an Office of Nightlife to promote the industry and soothe the strained relations between the city’s night spots and the neighborhoods that complain about their merriment, the local demimonde has been wondering who might nab the glamorous position. Would Mr. de Blasio appoint a modern-day Tex Guinan, someone who would quaff champagne in the small hours of the morning under the trapezes of the erotic circus scene?
In her first interview since accepting the post, Ms. Palitz suggested that her stint as the Nightlife Mayor would be slightly more sober and focus less on carousing than on conflict mediation. In today’s New York, gentrification has pitted partygoers against the settled residents of neighborhoods like the Lower East Side of Manhattan and Williamsburg in Brooklyn. In her first official act, Ms. Palitz promised to hold a series of listening tours and entertain the gripes of those who are bothered by the vomit on their streets or the noise at 3 a.m.
The article notes that Palitz is a fifth-generation New Yorker who has lived in the East Village since 1996.
And more from the Times...
Now in charge of a mayoral office with a 12-person advisory board, a $300,000 budget and a salary of $130,000 a year, Ms. Palitz seems to have realized that even a doyenne of New York night life must make a few concessions when joining city government. On her Tuesday evening drink, she was accompanied, for instance, by a minder from City Hall. While she admits that there were times in her career when she personified “what the no-bar movement rejected,” she also claimed that she has always tried “to find solutions that work for everyone.”
Previously on EV Grieve:
Ariel Palitz responds to Daily News article, 'ripe for picking' comment
ICYMI — Mayor forms Office of Nightlife
The Mighty Quinn
The view this afternoon from 10th Street and Avenue C (via Bobby Williams) showing Winter Storm Quinn... forecasts are calling for more thundersnow...
Impressive satellite imagery of the rapidly developing winter storm. The bubbling clouds are indication of intense upward motions increasing snow growth and potential for lightning. pic.twitter.com/JeSK4aOUkZ
— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) March 7, 2018
Historic Bathhouse Studios for sale on 11th Street
[Cushman & Wakefield]
The landmarked Bathhouse Studios on 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is now on the market.
Tell them what you get...
Cushman & Wakefield has been retained on an exclusive basis to arrange for the sale of Bathhouse Studios, a one-of-a-kind multilevel studio and event space topped by a magnificent residence...
Built between 1904 and 1905 and designed in the Neo-Italian Renaissance style, the former public bathhouse was converted into a high-end studio in 1995 by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Eddie Adams. Designed by esteemed architect Gene Kaufman, the studio was used to house Adams’ work for Parade Magazine and Associated Press, in addition to some of his other major achievements. He also worked and conducted shoots in the studio.
The ground floor features 20 foot ceilings, oak floors, exposed brick, antique frosted windows, blue glass tile, and glass block skylights with electric black screen shades. There are two curb cuts on the ground floor, one of which leads to the English basement. The 11 foot high English basement consists of marble black & white tile and cement floors along with antique glass framed doors. The residence possesses 16 foot ceilings, oak floors throughout, antique ceiling light fixtures, a kitchen with granite and stainless steel countertops, and two grand bathrooms.
Furthermore, both the kitchen and bathrooms are tiled and enjoy top of the line appliances. The residence walks out to a sun drenched 2,200 square foot outdoor deck that can serve home to remarkable gatherings.
Asking price: $19.5 million.
The listing also notes that there are roughly — gulp — 10,000 square feet of air rights available.
The Bathhouse Studios website has a lot more on the history of the building ... including some photos of what it looked liked before it was restored in 1995...
[Undated photo]
The building also served as a backdrop for the 1981 film "Ragtime." Find even more history here. The Bathhouse Studios was landmarked by the city in 2008.
The Swiss Institute announces June 21 opening on St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue
[Photo of St. Mark's and 2nd Avenue from Monday]
The Swiss Institute has announced a June 21 opening date in its new home on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place.
Here's more about what to expect from the nonprofit cultural center when it opens via artforum, who first reported the news yesterday:
This summer, the institute will launch several education programs developed by artists in collaboration with local schools and community organizations, including School of the Future, Little Missionary’s Day Nursery & Sara Curry Preschool, GO Project, and Sirovich Center for Balanced Living. Commenting on the new initiatives, director Simon Castets said, “A space for artists, 38 St. Marks Place is also a space by artists, who are actively contributing through both the ‘SI ONSITE’ commissions and our new artist-led education programs. Moving into a new neighborhood and building goes hand in hand with expanding upon our mission, with education as a new cornerstone of our activities.”
The organization has had several locations since its founding in 1986, most recently on Franklin Street.
Renovations continue at the Institute's new EV home — the former Chase branch.
[Photo on St. Mark's Place from Feb. 16]
Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
The Chelsea Thai signage is up on 1st Avenue
As you can see, the sign has arrived at the incoming Chelsea Thai, set to debut this spring at 192-194 First Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street.
In January, the quick-serve restaurant closed its small space of nearly 20 years in the Chelsea Market ahead of a move here. No opening date announced yet for First Avenue.
This Instagram post from January 2017 has more about the Chelsea Thai owner, Saruj Nimkarn...
Previously on EV Grieve:
Chelsea Thai coming to former Neptune space on 1st Avenue; Filipino fare for Avenue A
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