Spotted today on 11th Street and Avenue B by @christinechampagnephoto...
Monday, June 4, 2018
Hecho en Dumbo is closing after 8 years on the Bowery
Here's part of their message:
Hecho en Dumbo will be closing its doors for good next Saturday night, June 9th, after over 8 years on the Bowery.
We are thrilled that since our humble start as a pop-up in DUMBO over a decade ago, Mexican cuisine continues to evolve and flourish in our city and it has been a privilege to be a part of it.
Hecho en Dumbo arrived here in March 2010, taking over the space that previously housed Marion's Continental.
No. 354 has been on the rental/sales market this past year via several different brokers.
H/T EVG reader Erin!
End is nearing for the businesses on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
On Friday, the E Smoke Shop on St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue announced their close-out sale ahead of shutting down at the end of this month...
As previously reported, a seven-story, 66,000-square-foot office building with ground-floor retail is slated for this corner. Permits were filed on March 15 to demolish the low-rise buildings here at 3 St. Mark’s Place, 23 and 25-27 Third Avenue.
The Continental
McDonald's and Papaya King have already shut down.
There haven't been any closing dates announced yet for Korilla BBQ or the smaller shops that line St. Mark's Place.
[Photo from April]
REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the properties for some $150 million, per The Real Deal last November. There still aren't any new building permits filed for the property, owned by the Gabay family.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The Shake Shack effect? McDonald's on 3rd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has closed after 20 years
Report: Northeast corner of St. Mark's Place and 3rd Ave. fetching $50 million for development site
Report: NE corner of St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue will yield to a 7-story office building
Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place
Demolition permits filed to bring down former Lucky Cheng's building on 1st Avenue
The demolition permits were filed with the city back on Friday to bring down 24 First Ave. ahead of construction of a new, 7-floor residential building.
Developer Sergey Rybak submitted plans for the 22-unit residential building on May 24. The work permits list the new building at 99-101 E. Second St., which is part of the L-shaped assemblage that once housed Lucky Cheng's. In total, the building will encompass 19,000 square feet.
Rybak, of the South Brooklyn-based Rybak Development, was the winning bidder for the property during an auction in February. The price: $12.25 million.
Presumably both structures — 24 First Ave. and 99-101 Second St. — will be demolished...
Before Lucky Cheng's, No. 24 was Club Baths, the first openly gay-owned bathhouse from 1971-1983. You can read more about the space's history at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Onetime home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property on the development market for $26 million
Building that housed Lucky Cheng's on 1st Avenue now on the auction block
Onetime home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property sell for $12 million
Emmy Squared signage arrives at the former Three of Cups
Renovations continue in the restaurant space at 83 First Ave. and Fifth Street...where two of the awnings for the new tenant — Emmy Squared — are now in place...
Emmy Squared, the Williamsburg-based restaurant serving burgers and Detroit-style pizza, is taking over this former home of Three of Cups, which shut down after service on April 1.
The Emmy Squared website doesn't have a specific opening date for the new East Village location, just "coming soon"
In announcing the closure, Three of Cups owner Anthony Barile wrote in part: "The reasons are many that we are at this moment, with all of them meaning that I can’t sustain it any longer." The pizzeria and Italian restaurant opened in December 1992.
Emmy Squared was originally thought to be taking over the GG's space on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. That space, however, has been dormant since GG's closed on Dec. 23.
[Photo from Saturday]
A rep for Emmy Squared told Eater in March that they are "considering ... the former GG’s space for a new restaurant concept."
Previously on EV Grieve:
After nearly 26 years, Three of Cups is closing on 1st Avenue; Emmy Squared arriving next?
Corner space on 7th Street and Avenue B for rent as Jillery wraps up its business
Late last week, Jillery, the jewelry and home accessories shop on Avenue B at Seventh Street, vacated the corner space. (The store closing signs arrived back in March.)
However, Jillery isn't done here just yet. The shop continues its going-out-of-business sale in the vacant space (RIP Paradiso) next door...
Artist Jill Fagin, who launched her business in 1987, moved to this corner from 10th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue in the summer of 2013.
The corner space, 107 Avenue B, is currently for rent. Perhaps a like-minded venture such as Jillery will be here in the future. The president of the board of directors of the co-op here told me this in 2013: "Our co-op is very proud to have rejected chain stores, banks, bars and loud food establishments. We are proud to have chosen a local business like Jillery who has been in the neighborhood for many years ..."
H/T Shawn Chittle!
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Week in Grieview
[Photo Wednesday from Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]
Stories posted on EVG this past week included...
Steve Croman is out of jail (Friday)
At the 2018 Loisaida Festival Community Parade (Sunday)
A new vegan café coming to 9th Street (Wednesday)
Bargoer dies after passing out at No Fun on Ludlow Street (Monday)
SLA says live music and DJs can return to Club Cumming (Thursday)
The sad state of the former Grassroots Tavern (Thursday)
A playground dedication on 12th Street (Tuesday)
The latest NY See panel (Thursday)
Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen going on summer hiatus after this weekend (Friday)
The new Mast Books space is shaping up (Tuesday)
Two new vendors for the Bowery Market (Wednesday)
Sauce Pizzeria coming to 12th Street (Tuesday)
Report: Uber driver collides with 3 parked cars on Avenue D (Sunday)
The incoming Dim Sum Palace has a large menu on 2nd Avenue (Friday)
Mr. Bing is not returning to St. Mark's Place (Thursday)
Full exposures at Thirteen East + West (Thursday)
Bubbleology Tea signs a lease on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)
Señor Pollo is now Punto Rojo on 1st Avenue (Tuesday)
Truth in listings: A co-op that needs some TLC (Wednesday)
Joli Beauty Bar leaves 1st Street (Tuesday)
... and this mural by Jeff Henriquez arrived this past week outside the F stop on Second Avenue...
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The Times explores the past, present and future of the former P.S. 64
The New York Times today takes a deep dive on the 20-year drama that has surrounded the former P.S 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.
Developer Gregg Singer bought the property from the city during an auction in 1998. He wants to turn the landmarked property into a dorm called University Square, which continues in a holding pattern while the DOB maintains a Stop Work Order on the building.
Community activists, preservationists and some local elected officials have long been opposed to Singer's plans, and want to see a return to use as a cultural and community center. The building became a community center after the school left in 1977. The group was evicted when Singer took over as the landlord.
To date, as the article notes, Singer has filed several lawsuits (all unsuccessful so far), claiming that the city has obstructed his legal right to develop the property.
Here are a few excepts from the article, written by Allegra Hobbs, who covered the neighborhood for DNAinfo. (She notes that Singer "remains insistently upbeat about the whole mess," and that during interviews with her, his tone remained "light and genial."
On the building's legacy:
Mr. Singer, director and president of his real estate firm, Singer Financial Corporation, does not buy into the displays of high emotion that follow the Charas legacy. Where others see “emotional attraction” to the building, he said, he sees “nonsense.” On the day he bought the building and the crickets were released, he did not recognize a desperate last-ditch effort to save a beloved community center, but a clever ploy by opportunists to keep their cheap, illegal sublets.
“When people talk about this emotional tie to the building, I don’t get caught up,” said Mr. Singer, who met for two interviews in his office, located on the first floor of the old P.S. 64 building. “What they’re emotionally tied to is making money off someone else’s back illegally.”
On the DOB's role:
The Department of Buildings has been a bit unpredictable in its dealings with Mr. Singer and its enforcement of the Dorm Rule, issuing building permits only to revoke them. Mr. Singer has, in stops and starts, made progress in smoothing over issues with the department, but to no avail — a stop-work order from 2015 remains in place, and Mr. Singer’s requests to meet with officials have been rejected. Adelphi University, the most recent institution to express interest in dormitory space, backed out. A spokesman for the university, Todd Wilson, said in an email that the school was “concerned about the delays and difficulties that had been encountered by the developers getting the project approved.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio, meanwhile, has gone further, claiming in October that his administration is interested in buying back P.S. 64 — but no movement has come from City Hall to that end since his announcement, and the mayor’s office has declined to discuss the plan further.
Mr. Singer detects a conspiracy, but the buildings department insists the developer is simply not following the rules.
“We denied the developer’s application twice last year because they failed to submit sufficient proof that the building would be used as a student dormitory,” said a buildings department spokesman, Joseph Soldevere. “We stand by our decision.”
[Screengrab from the Times]
On the building's protracted vacancy:
Mr. Singer visits P.S. 64 about once a week. The only part of the building not falling apart, abandoned, graffitied or coated with pigeon droppings seems to be his modest office on the first floor, decorated with pristine renderings of “University Square” — a “new college living experience,” as the brochures claim, where students would enjoy a theater, a game room, yoga studios and other amenities. It could be great for the community, he insists. Why wouldn’t the city want this? Why wouldn’t the community?
“The city, they should be knocking my door down, ‘Gregg, let’s renovate this building, let’s do something for the community,’” he said. “That’s what I’m surprised about. How government is so inept and so dysfunctional that they don’t care about the local community.”
You can find the full article, titled in the paper as "A Building Full of Empty Promise," right here.
Bonaparte's consignment opens today on 9th Street
This shop — specializing in high-end consignment for men — debuts today at 624 E. Ninth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C...
You can see some of their items for sale via the store's Instagram account ... and website.
Meanwhile, the building's newish owner (an LLC with a Brooklyn address) recently provided a full-on gut renovation of the property. (See this post for before-and-after photos.)
Saturday, June 2, 2018
[Updated] First baby red-tailed hawk pics from Tompkins Square Park
Goggla shared these photos from today... a first look at Christo and Amelia's 2018 offspring ... one hawklet visible from the nest...
And that's Amelia shooting the hawkarazzi a possible dirty look!
Make sure to check out Goggla's site for ongoing updates on the red-tailed hawks this summer...
Updated 6/3
Urban Hawks reports that there are two hawklets in the nest. Head there for photos and a video.
Red alert
EVG regular Pinch passes along this photo from outside O'Hanlon's on 14th Street near First Avenue ... where a worker is applying a fresh coat of red paint ... freshening up, perhaps, before the start of World Cup action on June 14.
Friday, June 1, 2018
Steve Croman released from prison today
Public records show that landlord Steve Croman was released from prison today, two days before originally scheduled. He ended up serving eight months of a one-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to various fraud charges.
In June 2017, Croman pleaded guilty to three felonies for fraudulently refinancing loans and committing tax fraud. He was expected to serve up to a year in prison and pay a $5 million tax settlement, per the Attorney General's office at the time.
Croman served his jail sentence at the Manhattan Detention Complex, aka the Tombs. Last October, the AG's office announced that Croman was "transferred to Rikers Island for one year jail sentence."
Public records at the time showed that Croman (in the system last October as Steven Crowman) was expected to be released on June 3 ...
[Screengrab from October]
One Croman watcher alleged that he was set free two days earlier than expected to avoid a media throng.
And as The Lo-Down recently reported, residents of a Croman-owned building on Ridge Street claim that he has been "playing the same games with tenants that he did before he was incarcerated." As a resident said, "The only thing that’s changed is that Croman is markedly more aggressive than before. We’re all shocked that nothing’s changed for the better in our case."
Croman's real-estate portfolio via 9300 Realty includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village.
Previously on EV Grieve:
AG's office: Steve Croman agrees to pay $8 million to the tenants he harassed
Now hear this
The Brooklyn-based Twin Guns released a new record, Imaginary World, earlier this year ... the band is playing at Coney Island Baby on Avenue A on June 14.
The above video is for "Now I Understand" from 2015.
June 1
The whole summer lies ahead of us... yet someone on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B thought it was a good time to toss the Christmas tree...
Thanks to Salim for the photo!
EVG Etc.: Monitoring the red-tailed hawk nest; remembering Stewart Lupton
[Prime corner at the former Golden Market]
NYCHA starting its crash maintenance program (The Post)
Hawk egg hatch confirmed in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography)
RIP Stewart Lupton, former frontman of Jonathan Fire*Eater (The Guardian)
Hotel Indigo on Ludlow Street selling for $160 million (The Real Deal ... previously)
Rooftop Films returning to the Lower East Side for several dates this summer (The Lo-Down)
"La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival" ends Sunday (Official site)
A look at NYC Pride Week events happening this month (Official site)
Now available at Brodo on First Avenue — sweet-and-savory "brothies" that "may be the next big thing in meat stock consumption" (Food and Wine)
The shrinking editorial staff at The Village Voice (The Post)
More about Con Ed's ongoing Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) remediation project in Stuy Town (Town & Village)
Reviewing the crawfish boil at Le Sia on Seventh Street (Eater)
A quick look at the old Freebeing Records at 129 Second Ave. (Flaming Pablum)
Long(er) reads: Anna Sorokin, "a con-artist who convinced New York that she was a high-rolling socialite trust-funder" (The Cut via Boing Boing)
Via the EVG inbox... Join Ukrainian Village Voices for an evening of Ukrainian and Georgian folk music on Sunday. They are celebrating the release of UVV's debut album at Saint George Academy, 215 E. Sixth St. Ticket info here.
... and this is happening Sunday evening at the Livery Gallery Outpost, 246 E. Fourth St. at Avenue B...
Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen going on summer hiatus after this weekend
Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen, the basement cafe that serves as a fundraising arm of the St George Ukrainian Catholic Church, is going on its usual summer hiatus after service on Sunday.
The proprietors made the announcement on Instagram:
June 3rd is the last day we are open this season. See you September! We'll keep you posted about the opening date. Hope all of you will have a wonderful summer!!☀️
So if you want to stock up on borscht or vareniki ... they are open until 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, and 9-5 tomorrow and Sunday in the basement space at 33 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.
Thanks to Alice Owen for the photo! Find more of her work here.
The incoming Dim Sum Palace has a large menu on 2nd Avenue
EVG reader Roxanne Schwartz shared these photos... showing the coming soon signage up on the sidewalk bridge at 59 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street.
As noted in March, the owners of the two locations of Dim Sum Palace in Midtown are planning to open a similar establishment in the East Village.
Their extensive (and large!) menu is now up on the front window for inspection as well...
The owners were seeking a beer-wine license, though they withdrew before CB3's SLA committee meetings in March and April.
We had heard that there's opposition to a liquor license for the location, which, until October 2015, was home to Allied Hardware. The owners of the hardware store lost their lease after Icon Realty bought the property in early 2015.
[Updated] Looks like a Clint Mario and ME pop-up gallery (mega sale!) on Avenue B
Signage has been up in the windows of this long-empty storefront on Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street for a "Going out of Clintness Super Sale!!!"
This appears to be another duo show featuring street-prank artists Clint Mario and ME. (The two did something like this a few years back at the Krause Gallery on Orchard Street.)
Their respective Instagram accounts say that the one-day sale happens tomorrow (Saturday!) Not sure what might be for sale. Maybe Valentine's Day cards?
Anyway, here's a nice explainer about Clint Mario and ME via Bucky Turco in a 2015 post:
For well over a year, the mostly-anonymous prankster-artists have been working together on an epic scale in their execution of a prolific branding campaign centered around the smiling mystery persona Clint Mario. Armed with keys to the ad kiosks at bus shelters and payphones, the two-person team is responsible for pulling off dozens of takeovers with the audacity of an outdoor advertising company, replacing paid ads with lowbrow parodies lampooning various brands, products, and movies.
Updated 6/2
The pop-up shop is on Orchard Street!
And a few of the hits...
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