Flamingos will sell clothing by the pound starting Saturday on Stanton Street

Flamingos Vintage Pound, which as the name implies, sells vintage clothing by the pound, is opening an outpost at 57 Stanton St. on Saturday (the hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.).

The location between Eldridge and Forsythe on the LES is the latest to open in NYC ... following recent debuts of two stores in Bushwick.

A post shared by FLAMINGOS VINTAGE POUND (@flamingosthriftstore) on May 7, 2018 at 7:45am PDT

According to the Flamingos website, there are are also stores in Miami and Houston as well as in Madrid and Barcelona. And per their Instagram account, they have plans on more: "Grand opening of 3 stores in 3 different areas in this wonderful city. This will make us one of the most important vintage clothing companies in NYC. We want to warn you that this is just the beginning, our intention is to open more stores around the US."

No mention anywhere what they charge by the pound.

Another broker for 20 Avenue A?

Yesterday, a worker removed the Eastern Consolidated "for lease" banner from 20 Avenue A... the long-vacant storefront at the southeast corner of Second Street.

Perhaps there's a tenant for the space. Vigilant EVer, who shared the photo, noted: "I'm hoping for something that isn't a condo sales office!"

More likely there will be a new broker for the address (the sixth or seventh for the space in three years). Eastern Consolidated recently announced that its shutting down next month.

The Chase branch closed here in November 2015. Last October, EastVille Comedy Club looked at taking part of the storefront. However, CB3 denied the application, citing, among other reasons, that this address was never licensed before and that it exists in a saturated zone. EastVille since relocated to Brooklyn.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The retail-wine bar possibilities for the former Chase space on Avenue A and East 2nd Street

The retail space at 20 Avenue A no longer looks like a bank branch

Another broker for the former Chase branch on Avenue A

Celebrate the Summer Solstice with free concerts at these 2 East Village community gardens

[Albert's Garden]

To celebrate the summer solstice tomorrow (Thursday!), several community gardens across the city are hosting free concerts as part of Make Music New York.

Two East Village gardens are part of the official list (via the EVG inbox):

• Albert’s Garden, 16 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery

This year we welcome back Just (Jazz) Friends, a New York City-based ensemble playing vocal and instrumental jazz standards focused on the American Songbook, with occasional forays into Pop/R&B classics from the 1960s and 1970s.

Albert’s Garden, started in 1971, is one of the oldest community gardens in Manhattan ... it features a goldfish pond and a striking wall mural by the Belgian street artist Roa.

Time: 6-8:30 p.m.

• Le Petit Versailles Garden, 346 E. Houston St. near Avenue C

Listen to live, improvised music played in conversation with “Lost Notes From Home” — a superimposed video and 16mm filmed vignettes produced by Mark Street, whose work has appeared in the Tribeca and Sundance Film Festivals.

NYOBS is playing from 4:15 to 5:30. NYOBS is Michael Cacciatore, Peter Cramer, John Michael Swartz and Jack Waters. An alternative experimental free association "kitchen" band born at Punk Island 2014.

Time: 4-9 p.m.

This link has the full list, including some gardens on the LES.

Report of a fire at 110 2nd Ave.

There was a report of a fire early this evening at 110 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street... at the landmarked Isaac T. Hopper House, which serves the Women's Prison Association as a halfway house.

Despite a large FDNY response, there wasn't a mention of it on the Department's official Twitter feed.

Thanks to Duke Todd for the photo!

The warm and fuzzies in Tompkins Square Park

Christo and Amelia's two 2018 offspring are going on 3 weeks old now... Steven shared this photo, showing two fuzzy hawklets peering out from the nest...

Head over to Goggla's site for more photos, including some impressive hawklet wingspan shots.

Report: AG selects management firm to oversee Steve Croman's real-estate holdings

The State Attorney General has reportedly selected Michael Besen’s New York City Management to oversee Steve Croman's real-estate empire, which includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village.

As the Commercial Observer first reported yesterday, New York City Management, a division of Besen & Associates, will operate Croman’s Manhattan portfolio for five years.

Part of Croman's settlement agreement included identifying an independent property management company for his residential properties, overseen by 9300 Realty.

Per the Observer:

The AG selected NYC Management after rejecting two other companies that Croman proposed, [an AG] spokeswoman indicated. She didn’t know the date NYC Management was selected, but said tenants were notified of the decision in April.

During the period when NYC Management is running the buildings, Croman may only have “incidental interaction with tenants of the subject properties,” as per a December 2017 consent decree.

According to a media advisory from the AG's office last December:

The independent management company will oversee operations and institute new policies at the Croman properties to ensure full compliance with the law and correction of all past violations. It will also post a comprehensive set of Tenants Rights in every building it manages.

The monitor will provide quarterly reports to the Attorney General, which will include at minimum any complaints received from tenants and actions taken; the total number of rent-regulated apartments that became deregulated during the reporting period, the reason for deregulation, and all supporting documents; and the monitor’s assessment as to whether Croman has complied with the consent decree.

Croman recently spent eight months in jail for mortgage fraud. His civil case ended in December when he agreed to pay $8 million to the tenants he was accused of bullying out of their rent-regulated apartments.

Last month, residents in two LES buildings that Croman owns said that maintenance issues and neglect of the properties had gotten worse while he was in prison, as The Lo-Down reported.

Besen will take control of the Croman properties on July 1, per the Observer.

Perhaps Besen will collect the back rent that Ben Shaoul owes Croman on Avenue B.

E Smoke Shop will remain on St. Mark's Place

The E Smoke Shop will continue keeping you in lottery tickets, cheap cigars and water pipes on St. Mark's Place... signage is up on the shop on Third Avenue at St. Mark's Place announcing their upcoming move down the block toward Second Avenue ...



E Smoke Shop is vacating ahead of the demolition of this corner. As previously reported, a seven-story, 66,000-square-foot office building with ground-floor retail is slated for this property. Permits were filed on March 15 to remove the low-rise buildings at 3 St. Mark’s Place, 23 and 25-27 Third Avenue.

The E Smokers arrived in early 2014, taking over New Corner Magazine (or King's Magazine).

And a quick flashback (to before 2009) for a look at DJ Lenny M's Music World, the mix-tape emporium that had a kiosk on the Third Avenue side...



You can find DJ Lenny M on Facebook these days.

Previously on EV Grieve:
What happened to DJ Lenny M?

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

End is nearing for the businesses on the northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

ICYMI: Art bookstores are 'alive and well' here

The New York Times Style Magazine on Sunday took notice of the recent art bookstore additions in the neighborhood ... a piece titled "The New York Neighborhood Where the Art Bookstore Is Alive and Well" takes a look at Codex on Bleecker at the Bowery ... Karma on Third Street ... the relocated Mast on Avenue A ... and the incoming Printed Matter at the Swiss Institute on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

The lead...

The alternative art scene found a home in the East Village in the early 1980s. Artist-run collectives and unconventional exhibition spaces started to fill the empty storefronts; before long, however, the slept-on real estate became bank branches and chain coffee shops. But, as of late, the East Village has been reclaiming its reputation as a cultural haven with a series of new independent art bookstores.

This is the link.

And there is one baffling passage in the article ... in the section about Mast (h/t Dave on 7th)...

In 2010 [Brian Leitgeb] and his wife, James McKee, opened Mast Books in Alphabet City, built around a few large and extraordinary personal book collections he had purchased. And last week, Mast moved to a larger location just down the block, marking its official entrée into the East Village.

Blue Quarter debuts in the back of Local 92 on 2nd Avenue

A post shared by Blue Quarter (@bluequarternyc) on Jun 2, 2018 at 10:05am PDT

A rather hidden new 35-seat bar serving tea-infused cocktails opened last evening in the back (through the blue door) of Local 92, the Middle Eastern restaurant at 92 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.

Blue Quarter, which occupies previously unused space at Local 92, is run by Max Green and Sother Teague, who worked at Amor y Amargo on Sixth Street at Avenue A.

Here's part of Eater's preview:

At Blue Quarter, Green pivots from bitters to tea cocktails. One called Unfinished Story incorporates matcha, coconut, lime oil, and tequila, while a Soon to Ripen includes earl grey tea, coconut water, paprika, and scotch. Black tea and mint tea also make appearances, and one drink arrives in a vintage tea pot. All of the nine cocktails are $15, and a few wines and beers round out the drinks.

Blue Quarter is open Tuesday-Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight; until 1 a.m. on Friday-Saturday.

NYPD seeking info on this missing man, last seen on 10th Street

The 9th Precinct just released this info on a missing person...

The #NYPD is asking your help in locating this man reported missing by his family.
Eduardo Rivera
Male Hispanic 5’5” 72 years old
Last seen on Wednesday June 13 at 7:30PM on East 10 Street in the #EastVillage #NYC
If you have any information we ask you to call #800577TIPS pic.twitter.com/98STpAlXVk

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 19, 2018

Video: Father John Mistry's early-morning stroll through the East Village

The video for Father John Misty's song "God's Favorite Customer" came out today... it's the title track from his new album, out now on Sub Pop and Bella Union.

And the video is set entirely in the East Village, with a forlorn-looking Misty (aka Josh Tillman) slowly making his way from Seventh Street and Avenue A to Third Street and the Bowery.

If you want some analysis of the song and video, directed by his wife Emma Elizabeth Tillman, then you can head over to Stereogum.



H/T Jon!

This 3-story building on 6th Street is for sale (air rights included)

There's a new listing for 743 E. Sixth St., a three-story building between Avenue C and Avenue D.

According to the listing, the property is vacant ... and features a garage-studio on the ground level (the former Manny's Auto Repair) ... and a single-family residence on the second and third floors. (This PDF of the property includes some interior shots.)

Per Cushman & Wakefield: "This is a perfect opportunity for a user or developer. There are also 4,430 square feet of air rights available allowing for a buyer to build up and/or extend back."

Asking price: $4.5 million.

New playground at P.S. 19 now ready for action

The official opening of the revamped playground at P.S. 19 on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street took place yesterday morning.

As noted in the previous post on the renovation:

The playground will feature a synthetic turf field, a painted track, play equipment, trees, a garden area with an outdoor classroom, a green-roof gazebo, junior basketball, benches, game tables, student art and an outdoor ping-pong table.

It was designed as a green infrastructure playground, and will capture hundreds of thousands of gallons of stormwater each year.

The playground is open to the community until dusk, after school and on weekends and holidays — just not when in use by P.S. 19 or any of their after-school programs.



This all-new playground happened with funding by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and (now-former) City Council member Rosie Mendez in conjunction with the Trust for Public Land.


[Click on image for more detail]

Previously on EV Grieve:
More details on the all-new playground coming to P.S. 19

Bad 'Neighbors' at First Street Green Art Park?

The Daily News reports that 52 out of 86 of the four-by-five-feet portraits in the Neighbors exhibit along East Houston Street have been tagged in recent weeks.

Neighbors features Americans representing all 50 states taken by photographer John Raymond Mireles ... the portraits went up on April 28 from First Avenue to Second Avenue at First Street Green Art Park.

"I expected some vandalism though admittedly not on this scale," Mireles told the Daily News. He admitted that his "heart sinks" from the tagging.

"It’s not what I hoped for, but it’s part of this artistic experiment.

"I could have done this show in a gallery,” he added. "Being outside, the exhibit invites and allows engagement. As an artist, my goal is to provoke thought and jump-start conversations that lead to action. That my artwork is altered in service of stimulating dialogue is a small price to pay."

And of the 52 tagged portraits, only one of them features a red penis...

The really for-real Target signage has arrived at EVGB

There is it is... here on 14th Street and Avenue A ... in the corner space of Extell Development's EVGB — the "East Village's Greatest Building."

Vinny & O shared these photos...



This small-format Target opens on July 21.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The for-real Target signage has arrived at EVGB

A Perfect spot for a dental office on 4th Street

A dental center is coming soon to the medical offices at 97-101 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... here's the signage for Perfect Dental Care ...





No word on when Perfect may apply for a beer-wine license... just to pair with the sedation...



This office condo space has been on the sales market for $6.5 million.

Monday's parting shot

A moment at Lui's Thai Food, 128 E. Fourth St. Photo by Derek Berg.

The 9th Precinct's monthly Community Council Meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday!) night

The 9th Precinct's Community Council meetings take place on the third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. ... at the 9th Precinct, 321 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

A Small Business Breakfast for East Village merchants

Tomorrow morning, the Cooper Square Committee and the East Village Independent Merchants Association (EVIMA) are hosting a Small Business Breakfast ... details via the EVG inbox...

Join us for breakfast and learn about available services and resources useful to your business.

As part of their work, Cooper Square Committee has joined with EVIMA to offer support and protection to independent small businesses

• Advocate for commercial tenants' rights
• Connect small businesses to high-quality free legal services
• Sponsor the annual Taste of East Village Festival
• Innovate small business policy with a city wide coalition of partners

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Cooper Square Committee HQ, 61 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Find more details here. RSVP here.

Reminders tonight: CB3 presentation on the proposed condoplex for 119 2nd Ave.

Tonight, CB3's Landmarks Committee will review an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness for the new residential building proposed at 119-121 Second Ave. — the site of the deadly gas explosion site from March 2015.

You can read my previous post about the 7-story, 21-unit condoplex here.


[Rendering of 119-121 2nd Ave.]

Ahead of the meeting, amNew York asked Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), for his thoughts on the structure, which would rise in the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District.

"It looks a little bit more like a new building on Bond Street or in SoHo than something that would necessarily make sense in an East Village historical district."

And...

"The proposed design doesn’t do anything to mark or reflect that there was this terrible disruption on this site before."

Berman believes there's a way to make "a nod or gesture to the tragic event."

CB3's Landmarks Committee hears the proposal before it eventually heads to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. The CB3 meeting starts at 6:30 tonight at Grace Church School, 46 Cooper Square. There will be time for public comment on the project...


[Photo by Dave on 7th]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: 2nd Avenue explosion sites have a new owner

Dedicating Moises Locón Way and Nicholas Figueroa Way on 2nd Avenue at 7th Street

Soil testing underway at the 2nd Avenue explosion site

Here's the 1st look at the new building proposed for the 2nd Avenue explosion site