[Updated] Final vote tonight for the Rent Guidelines Board

After multiple public meetings, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) makes its final vote tonight at Cooper Union on adjustments for the city’s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments for the coming year. (The public meeting starts at 7 in the Great Hall at 7 E. Seventh St.)

Curbed has an explainer with background and what residents might expect this evening.

As The Wall Street Journal reported today, the board’s five public members signed off on a resolution that would put a range of increases – from 0.75 percent to 2.75 percent – on the table for one-year leases and allow owners to add another 1 percent for two-year leases.

In June 2017, the RGB voted to allow rent increases, 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.

Updated 6/27

According to published reports, the RGB approved increases of 1.5 percent on one-year leases and 2.5 percent on two-year leases starting on Oct. 1.

In Tompkins Square Park, we lost a piano but gained, for now, a wicker vanity table

As expected, workers have removed the Sing for Hope piano from Tompkins Square Park, en route to a permanent home in a public school.

Meanwhile, that wicker vanity table is still there... and it makes for a nice addition to this area...



Photos by Steven!

9th Street's Zucker Bakery closing on Sunday after 7 years in business

Owner Zohar Zohar has announced that Zucker Bakery on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue is closing its doors on Sunday after nearly seven years in business.

Here's the message on the Zucker website:

Dear all, to continue our journey, explore and expand, we have decided to close our family bakery after seven amazing years. We are grateful for all the love, the support and the experiences that we shared with all of you.

The Mediterranean- and Eastern European-inspired bakery opened in September 2011, and quickly found a loyal following using ingredients such as dates, cardamom and cloves for its cookies and pastries.

The Times once noted that their cookies "make you feel like you have left New York, incorporating flavors and spices that hint of other lands: date cookies spiced with cinnamon, dulce de leche-filled alfajores with coconut..."

Zohar, an East Village resident, worked in high-end kitchens such as Daniel and Bouley before taking time off to raise her family. Zucker was her first business.

Cars to give way to a bus-only corridor most hours on 14th Street during the L-train shutdown

The fate of 14th Street during the L-train shutdown starting next April has apparently been decided.

As the Daily News first reported, the city will limit car traffic on 14th Street from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.

The changes affect 14th Street from Ninth Avenue to Third Avenue eastbound and Third Avenue to Eighth Avenue westbound.

A few other details:

The city Department of Transportation ... will also change its plans for a bike lane. There will now be two one-way bike paths on 12th and 13th Sts., instead of a single two-way path on 13th St., officials said, so fewer parking spots on 13th St. will be eliminated. A DOT official said that the new design with two bike lanes would handle the higher cyclist traffic better, with easier pick up and drop-offs on the south curbs.

And...

Manhattan residents will also be able to use 14th St. for pickups and dropoffs only.

You can read more about this at Gothamist.

On Wednesday afternoon, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez will co-host a public oversight hearing to evaluate the latest mitigation plans for L-mageddon.

The shutdown of the L — 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.

B&H Dairy has new-look menus

B&H debuted the new diner-appropriate menus yesterday here at 127 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place...







The menus feature illustrations by Alexandra Woolsey.

Menu photos via Facebook

The Neighbors move out early at First Street Green Art Park

The Neighbors exhibit along the southern perimeter of First Street Green Art Park along Houston between First Avenue and Second Avenue was expected to be up through July 7.

However, the 86, four-by-five portraits that lined the fence were removed this past weekend...



The Daily News reported last week that 52 out of 86 of the portraits had been tagged/vandalized since they arrived on April 28...



Neighbors, a traveling exhibit, featured Americans representing all 50 states taken by photographer John Raymond Mireles.

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

In case you missed it, here's a video of the portraits...

Monday's parting shot(s)

Accompaniment for the Sing for Hope piano in Tompkins Square Park today... photos by Derek Berg...



And I think today was the last scheduled day for the piano ... before it gets a new home in an NYC public school...

Christo and Amelia's kids are growing and growing...

A few nest shots via Steven from Tompkins Square Park early this evening ... where Christo and Amelia's two hawklets are looking ready to get our and start exploring...



... in this photo, it appears that Amelia is helping clean one of the chicks...

Oversight hearing on L train shutdown this Wednesday

Via the EVG inbox...

On Wednesday, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez will be co-hosting a public oversight hearing to evaluate the latest mitigation plans for the 2019 L train tunnel closure.

If you're one of the hundreds of thousands New Yorkers who will be impacted when the MTA shuts down the L train between Manhattan and Brooklyn for 15 months for repairs beginning in April 2019, we invite you to attend this important hearing.

The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. in the Jacob Burns Moot Court Room of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Brookdale Center, located at 55 Fifth Avenue (at 12th Street). We expect it to go into the early evening depending on the number of people who show up to testify.

If you plan on attending, we encourage you to RSVP [here] to help us know how many people we should anticipate.

Public testimony will begin immediately following the testimony of any invited experts and will generally be limited to two minutes per person to allow as many residents as possible to present their views.

For those planning to testify in person, please be sure to register with the sergeant-at-arms at the Center as soon as you arrive at the hearing.

If you can't make it to the hearing but would still like to make your voice heard, you can also submit written testimony to the City Council by emailing correspondence@council.nyc.gov with the subject line: L TRAIN SHUTDOWN TESTIMONY. Written testimony will be accepted until the close of business (6 p.m.) on Friday, June 29.

Moxy East Village opening date now set for late 2019 on 11th Street

The opening for the Moxy East Village here on 11th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue had been slated for late 2018... an unrealistic/optimistic date given how much work there was left on the 285-key hotel for Marriott's Moxy brand.

The Moxy website now shows a new opening date — late 2019...



Meantime, workers have reached the eighth floor... with five more to go...





And as a reminder about the finished product...


[Stonehill & Taylor Architects]

Previously on EV Grieve:
A few more details about the incoming Moxy East Village on 11th Street

Cheers Cut has not been open lately on St. Mark's Place

[Photo by Steven]

Cheers Cut, the "Taiwanese-inspired" fast-food mini-chain at 36 St. Mark's Place, has not been open lately during announced business hours. ... and the phone to the quick-serve restaurant is no longer in service.

Cheers Cut just opened last fall here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. They quickly made a name for themselves selling large fried slabs of chicken and squid. The place did have a temporary feel to it, with a entrance still marked by the previous business — Village Gifts ... as well as a "Grand Opening" banner nine months after actually opening.



In any event, this may just be an unannounced temporary closure. (The Cheers Cut Facebook account is still on robo mood and posting to tempt people to stop by.)

Still, the address has been a bit of a doomed location on this block. There was Friterie Belgian Fries, which closed in January 2017 after nearly 18 months in operation.

The previous tenant, Fasta ("Pasta Your Way"), lasted less than six weeks in business. Before that, it was the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza, which closed in February 2015.

Ippudo closed for renovations through July 17

Over on Fourth Avenue, paper covers the part of the front window of the popular ramen-and-pork-buns spot between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

The East Village location of Ippudo, which was the first U.S. outpost for the Japanese chain, closed last week for renovations, per the signage in the front window...



The Ippudo website notes that they'll be closed through July 17.

The 411 on 886

The incoming Taiwanese restaurant at 26 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue called 886 opens on July 11 (pushed back from a spring opening).

Eater posted a mini preview the other day:

From the co-founder of the Tang nearby, 886 ... has more playful takes on traditional Taiwanese dishes. Three-cup chicken becomes three-cup glazed chicken wings, and a traditional “small sausage in large sausage,” or sticky rice-wrapped pork sausage, is renamed to “sausage party” and served with peanuts, cilantro, and cured duck yolk. Drinks focus on beer, wine and sake, with Brooklyn sake brewery Brooklyn Kura on tap.

The restaurant is named after Taiwan’s country code.

Previously on EV Grieve:
886, next-level Taiwanese food, in the works for 26 St. Mark's Place

[Updated] Westside Market looking closer to opening on 3rd Avenue in Gramercy Park

The new Westside Market at 180 Third Ave. between 16th Street and 17th Street is shaping up...



Word is it will open by the end of July June. The space looks like a smaller version than the one just five blocks to the south at 84 Third Ave.

The Gramercy Park location is one of three new Westside outposts to open this year. In total, there will be seven in the city.

The retail space had been a Met Foods, which closed in the spring of 2015.

The East Village Westside opened in October 2014.

Updated 6/28

The store opens on June 28, 11:30 a.m.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Westside Market opening in the former Met Foods space on 3rd Avenue and 17th Street

Week in Grieview

[Photo of the NYPD "Pride Ride" outside the 9th Precinct via Goggla]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Boys' Club of New York selling East Village building; will remain open through June 2019 (Thursday)

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

The warm and fuzzies in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)

The EVG podcast: Red-tailed hawk talk with Laura Goggin (Friday)

At the start of the 2018 Drag March (Saturday)

The Swiss Institute debuts its inaugural exhibit at new East Village home (Friday) ... Printed Matter/St. Mark's opens today inside the Swiss Institute (Friday)

Grape and Grain returns under new ownership on 6th Street (Friday)

Little League playoff game delayed 45 minutes while a red-tailed hawk ate a pigeon (Saturday)

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

This week's NY See (Thursday)

Ben Shaoul owes Steve Croman some back rent on Avenue B (Monday)

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

The new P.S. 19 community playground is open (Saturday)


[Photo Tuesday on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg]

Incoming: Gala on 3rd Avenue, Nunoodle Noodle + Bar on 1st Avenue (Monday)

DHS flyers on 1st Street (Friday)

Flamingos selling clothing by the pound on Stanton Street (Thursday)

Tristan Eaton starts on the Bowery Mural Wall (Saturday)

Cherry Tavern cherry-free for now (Monday)

Another broker for 20 Avenue A? (Thursday)

The really for-real Target signage has arrived at EVGB (Tuesday)

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

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

Nai Tapas Bar moving from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue (Monday)

A Perfect spot for a dental office on 4th Street (Tuesday)

Bad 'Neighbors' at First Street Green Art Park? (Tuesday)

... and you may have seen these lost-dog flyers around this weekend... Linda has been found and returned to her grateful owners...



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June 24

Just 6.03 months until Dec. 25... this one definitely could have made it until then... unless it's new for this Dec. 25, and it fell off the back of a truck or the roof of a car or something and landed here on 13th Street and Second Avenue.

Anyway! Thanks to Hudson for the discovery.

Quintessence is not open this weekend

Several EVG readers have noted the renovations in progress this weekend at Quintessence, the 19-year-old raw-food cafe on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...



There's nothing on the cafe's website or social media properties noting the closure. (And their phone number is currently not in service.) However, a reader says that Quintessence will reopen early this coming week. Open Table indicates that reservations won't be available here until Tuesday.

Little League playoff game delayed 45 minutes while a red-tailed hawk ate a pigeon

EVG reader Maite Castillo shares this photo and story ...

My son plays in the Junior Division of Peter Stuyvesant Little League. Today was their 1st playoff game at Murry Bergtraum Softball Field (161 Cherry St.).

The game was delayed, for approximately 45 minutes, by a local red-tailed hawk who brought its prey (a pigeon) to clean on the field's backstop.

We all stood around watching pigeon feathers rain down onto home plate. The Ump said “Well, this is a first for me!”

The hawk was unflappable and maintained his perch as the game restarted.

In the end, the Metropolitans defeated the Empires.

As for the hawk, he or she eventually moved over to perch on a streetlamp across the street, behind the bleachers, for, as Maite put it, "a bird-seye view of the game."

Tristan Eaton starts on the Bowery Mural Wall

Tristan Eaton started work yesterday on the Bowery Mural Wall... the above photo is an in-progress look as of this morning here at East Houston...

On his Instagram account, Eaton said he'd be working on the large-scale mural for the coming week ... he's known for his meticulous, visual collages with pop-cultural imagery...

The P.S. 19 community playground is open

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

There were several comments on the post about whether this playground will actually be open to the community (as billed) ...

The playground was open this morning at 8 a.m. (you enter on the 12th Street side) ... and there were several people inside...



For now, the sign promises community hours of 6-9 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Those weekday hours will likely change after school ends for the summer next week...



Among other amenities, the playground features a synthetic turf field, a painted track, play equipment, a basketball court and an all-weather ping-pong table.

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