Merakia owners swap out the Wayside for Greekito on 12th Street

[Photo Saturday night by Christopher Pelham]

On 12th Street at Third Avenue, the Wayside has gone by the wayside... and the owners have turned the space into Greekito (Greek 'n'Roll), a cafe serving Greek tacos, beer and wine, and coffee...


[Photo Saturday by EVG reader Laura]

The sign notes that this is Greekito by Merakia... last fall, these owners opened Merakia: Greek MountainThief Spithouse + Steak on West 21st Street that Eater described as a "stone-cold-stunner of a space."

The Wayside, a coffee shop with a variety of pleasant cafe fare, opened in July 2013.

Full reveal at 287 E. Houston St. (aka 287/LES)

[Saturday]

Workers removed the scaffolding and construction netting from 287 E. Houston St. late last week... providing a full reveal of the 11-floor condoplex — called 287/LES — here between Clinton and Suffolk...


[Friday]

As previously reported, the 120-foot-tall luxury building features 27 residences ... with two to four units on each story, including two duplexes on the first and second floors and a penthouse duplex on the top two floors. The units start at $1.175 million.

Here's more about 287/LES via Corcoran:

287/LES is the most successful ground-up new development on Houston Street. An Italian-inspired presence resonates outside with an elegant façade comprised of blackened steel, black textured brick and oversized floor-to-ceiling windows.

Amenities include a part-time doorman complemented by virtual doorman technology, a full-time superintendent, a fitness center, bicycle storage, private storage for purchase, supplemental commercial-grade laundry room, and a landscaped common rooftop terrace with outdoor kitchen.

And the final product...


[AA Studio]

The lot here previously housed a tax-preparation business; a landscaping business also shared part of the property.


[Google Street View]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Quickly reaching the top of 287 E. Houston St.

11 stories of condos to join the growing East Houston residential corridor

[Updated] Lumos Kitchen now appears to be closed for good

As mentioned last Tuesday, Lumos Kitchen, 188 Second Ave. at 12th Street, hasn't been open in recent months. A sign on the door since early August notes a temporary closure and the words "gas meter."

On Saturday afternoon, EVG reader Harry Weiner spotted workers removing the contents of the restaurant, which is now mostly empty...



There is a Stop Work Order order for the address dating to late July for "gas work done without a permit" in the kitchen of the restaurant.

To date there isn't any mention of a closure on the Lumos website or social media properties.

The restaurant, serving a menu of French- and Chinese-influenced cuisine, opened in early April. An EVG reader who lives nearby estimates that Lumos has not been open since the end of July.

If this is permanent, then this marks the fourth restaurant — joining Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go — to close here since March 2015.

Updated 10/19

The Marshal came calling yesterday.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Lumos Kitchen remains closed

Coffee probably for St. Mark's and 2nd Avenue, and the rent is still due at the former DF Mavens

EVG DF Mavens correspondent Steven continues to monitor the former DF Mavens space on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place.

And in recent interior revelations ... we have the makings of coffee ...





The contractors here say they don't know who the new tenant is.

Meanwhile, as we've seen in recent years, another past-due rent notice arrived on the door late last week...





DF Mavens, the vegan ice cream shop, closed in January 2016 after opening in December 2014. (The coming soon signage arrived in October 2013.)

Before the Mavens, the prime corner space was the cafe Eastside Bakery (.net?). And there was Roastown Coffee before that. And how could we forget Pizzanini? Or the Gap?!

Another look at Village Square Pizza, coming soon to Avenue A

Here's a Day 2 look at the Village Square Pizza signage, which arrived back on Friday at 147 Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street...



The pizzeria's Instagram account says this: "New gourmet pizza shop opening in the East Village."

So "gourmet" probably doesn't mean $1 pizza. We'll see soon enough.

Anyway, Village Square Pizza makes five places for slices on Avenue A: Muzzarella, Baker's, 99-cent Pizza and Two Boots. (There's a pizza place coming to 20 Avenue A as well.)

Eggoo, which sold Hong Kong egg waffles and ice cream sandwiches, was at No. 147 for a year. Before that we had La Lucha for six years.

Sunday's parting shot

At the Open Day at the New York City Marble Cemetery on Second Street... photo by Derek Berg...

Week in Grieview

[Kramer on 6th at A]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

2nd Avenue gas explosion defendants due back in court on Monday (Thursday)

Preparing for Saturday's dinner at Il Posto Accanto on 2nd Street (Friday)

Owner of Tompkins Square Bagels wants to bring the old Liquiteria vibe back to the original space (Thursday)

The gutting of 180 2nd Avenue continues (Wednesday)

Dojo looks to have closed for good (Friday)

Tree Bistro's back garden badly damaged in last week's 1st Avenue fire (Monday) ... Report: 188 1st Ave. survives fire; back extension must be demolished (Monday)

Coffee is in your future at this new café on 7th Street (Thursday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

Heavy-duty fencing arrives as playground renovations continue in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)

Report: Arrest made in armed robbery of Mona's on Avenue B (Tuesday)

The Marshal seizes Papa John's on 1st Avenue (Monday)

The Vitamin Shoppe on 14th Street and 1st Avenue is closing (Tuesday)

It's possible to get the Impossible Burger at Sidewalk now (Friday)

80 stories of glass now at One Manhattan Square (Monday)

Name reveal: Emmy Squared's grilled-pizza sibling will be called Violet on 5th Street (Wednesday)

New cafe alert: JQK Floral Tea slated for 11th Street (Tuesday)

Grand Opening continues at the Dumpling Shop on 2nd Avenue (Thursday)

That Nutella Cafe is shaping up on University Place (Wednesday)

StuyFitness debuts on 14th Street (Monday)

Here's your Möge Tee signage on Cooper Square (Monday)

C Lounge debuts on Avenue C (Friday)

... and on Tuesday, we reported that Tony (aka Abdul), the longtime owner of the deli at 123 Avenue A (and apparently the owner of the building) died... photographer Thomas Anomalous shared this photo of Tony on Instagram from September 2005...



Anomalous had moved away from the East Village in the early 2000s and returned several years later. As he wrote, in part, on Instagram:

Virtually no one remembered me, except for Abdul. He shook my hand warmly and said he had wondered what had happened to me many times over the years. I asked where everyone from the old days had gone. He said “There is no one left but you and I, my friend.”

-----

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Report: It's 'Crusty vs. Postie' on 2nd Avenue

New York Post reporter Dean Balsamini reports that he was punched by a traveler/crusty while looking into the annual migration that has seen the group camped out on the corner of Second Avenue at Seventh Street at the site of the 2015 deadly gas explosion.

Balsamini described the alleged attacker, named Zeke, as having a "farm-animal musk" and "Charles Manson eyes." Wrote Balsamini: "Crusty vs. Postie."

A passage from the article published today:

One terrified 64-year-old retiree blamed the city’s decriminalization of quality-of-life offenses.

“The fish stinks from the head,” he fumed. “From de Blasio on down. He doesn’t care. He’s too busy at the gym.”

Jose Amigon, co-owner of Paul’s Da Burger Joint, was beaten with his own broom in June when he asked a sleeping crusty to move as he swept outside his store.

Not long after I was crusty-creamed, 9th Precinct Capt. John O’Connell called me to make sure I was OK, saying, “This is upsetting to me.”

[Enz's owner Mariann] Marlowe said my Wednesday-afternoon whipping prompted action. O’Connell has stopped by her store at least three times since, and a cop is now posted on the block.

The Post has a history of conflict with the travelers. In 2015, when the travelers camped outside the new Cooper Union academic building, a group of them threatened a reporter and photographer with taunts and cookies.



Per that article:

Nine of the drifters were splayed out on bits of cardboard Thursday morning, and began hurling insults, water and bits of cookie when approached by a reporter.

“I was going to chase him down and beat the s–t out of him,” one thin, bedraggled man spat in anger.

“If I ever see you or that photographer again, I’ll kick the s–t out of you,” he threatened.

Today is the last day to visit the Marble cemeteries for the year

[41 1/2 Second Ave.]

Both the Marble cemeteries in the neighborhood are open today to the public.

• The New York Marble Cemetery is at 41 1/2 Second Ave. between Second Street and Third Street (above). Their hours today: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• The New York City Marble Cemetery is on Second Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue (below). Their hours today: noon to 6 p.m.

Art project in the Park

The benches in the Central Plaza of Tompkins Square Park are marked with colored tape... an EVG reader reports that this is some kind of student art project about art and spatial relationships (or something to that effect) ... in case you were wondering... the students are apparently nearby monitoring this...

It's fall, and the bicycles are starting to fall from the trees in Tompkins Square Park

Photo today by Derek Berg...

'Tough Broads' take the screen this weekend at the Lower Eastside Girls Club

In case you haven't seen this...the Lower Eastside Girls Club is hosting its first Tough Broads Film Festival this weekend.

The festival started last night and continues today and tomorrow with "films featuring feminist icons — women of a ‘certain age’ who have led full lives starting with early forays into activism which only deepened over time."

Today's screenings: "The Rest I Make Up," "Dolores" and "BadddDDD Sonia Sanchez."
Sunday's screening: "What Happened Miss Simone?" and "Chavela."

Each screening opens with a documentary short, "Meet My Grandmother," produced by a Girls Club member.

Find the festival program with more info at this link. And ticket info is here.

The screenings are FREE and at the Lower Eastside Girls Club, 402 E. Eighth St. at Avenue D.

The 'Joyce' theater

Canada's Fucked Up released their fifth record — a double LP titled Dose Your Dreams — last Friday on Merge. The video here is for "Raise Your Voice Joyce" ... and "Two I’s Closed" to show off their art hardcore for good measure.

Breaking: Village Square Pizza signage arrives on Avenue A

The signage is going up for the new tenant at 147 Avenue A — Village Square Pizza.

This is at the former Eggloo spot between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

It's unknown at the moment what the "Square" stands for... possibilities include:

• An open (typically four-sided) area surrounded by buildings in a town, village or city.
• A play on Tompkins Square Park, which is directly across the Avenue
• The shape of the pizza
• A person who is conventional and old-fashioned.
• All the above (though likely not No. 4)
• None of the above.

To be continued.

Thanks to Steven for the photo!

Earth School's Annual Fall Fair is tomorrow, featuring slime-making and the Pocket Lady

Here's the info via the EVG inbox...

Join us on Saturday (tomorrow) from Noon-5 pm in Tompkins Square Park (corner of Avenue A and 10th Street) for the Earth School's Annual Fall Fair, without a doubt the best family event of the season!

This eclectic celebration of fall is open to all, featuring lots of fun activities for kids of all ages:

—The Amazing Maze
—Wacky photo booth
—Make your own trick-or-treat bags
—Gourd and cupcake decorating
—Meet the Pocket Lady with pockets full of mystery prizes
—Games including mini-golf, bean bag toss, and basketball
—Face painting & hair braiding
—Slime making, origami, and much much more

Adults get to taste international foods, both homemade and from East Village restaurants, buy unique gifts, and score a bargain at the extensive clothing and book sale.

Funds raised go to support vital enrichment programs at The Earth School, Sixth Street at Avenue B. Support public education and have a wonderful time! Activities start at $1.

More info at this Facebook link.

Preparing for Saturday's dinner at Il Posto Accanto on 2nd Street

On one recent Saturday, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by Il Posto Accanto, the rustic, 23-year-old Italian restaurant at 190 E. Second St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, to watch husband-wife owners Julio Pena and Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta prepare for that evening's dinner.

Words and photos by Stacie Joy

Saturday morning prep with Bea and Julio is a chaotic and boisterous affair, with lots of good-natured teasing, yelling, gesticulating and discussion about food and family, the pressures of running a small, family-owned business in the neighborhood, and local gossip and news.



Bea selects and picks up her vegetables, fruits and meats from the Union Square Greenmarket and comes back to the basement kitchen at Il Posto Accanto to start finalizing the day’s meals.



Meanwhile, Julio shops for flowers and today, smoke tree branches, in order to decorate the restaurant space upstairs, all of which he transports in his bright yellow old-school Caddy, a familiar presence on the block.





The ’65 Eldorado convertible (originally painted champagne gold) was purchased right after Julio and Bea met and fell in love in 1992.

Downstairs, Bea is making spicy pork belly ragu, pesto, tomato sauce, vegan lentil soup, and yellow heirloom tomato salad with burrata and prosciutto, among other things. There are a couple of whole octopus bubbling away on the stove with a wine cork to keep them tender, some onions caramelizing in a pan, and individual servings of blanched spinach are being rolled into balls.





Bea is constantly in motion, tasting, adjusting, issuing kitchen orders and making videos on her ipad to post to social media. The kitchen staff (including Geovanny, Armando and Gonzalez) all seem to speak or at least understand Italian, which is a plus as that is the default language spoken.


[Gonzalez]


[Armando]


[Geovanny]

As Saturday progresses, decisions are made upstairs. The day’s drink has been created: a concord grape juice and prosecco cocktail.



The TV near the bar is now Chromecasting a soccer match while most deliveries, including breads, have arrived.





Finally, Bea and Julio sit down to map out their evening plans. The moment of quiet is short-lived, as Julio has to run to the bank and Bea starts offering (well, insisting on) tastings off her plate to some locals who dropped by: some egg omelet strips cooked in tomato sauce, and sautéed garlic and spinach.



You can follow along with Julio and Bea and the team on Instagram.

Dojo looks to have closed for good

It looks like Dojo has called it quits here on West Fourth Street and Mercer.

As I reported last month, the Department of Health closed the restaurant following an inspection on Sept. 13. (You can read the previous post here.) The inspection turned up 62 violation points, which appeared to be correctable items before any follow-up visit.

However, Dojo has sat empty with the yellow DOH sticked affixed to the front door these past four weeks.

Now, workers have removed everything that wasn't bolted down in the dining room...



... and the bar is packed up...



Yelp and Google both list the restaurant as closed.

Attempts to reach anyone at Dojo (via email, Facebook Messenger and the phone) were unsuccessful.

Perhaps there is some renovation afoot. There were rumors in 2013 that this place had closed, though there were renovation signs for customers then.

Dojo began in the East Village... first with the Ice Cream Connection on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue in March 1970. Tony Yoshida's Japanese-inspired vegetarian cuisine came along in 1974. And via the Dojo website:

In 1982, Dojo took over the space next door and expanded even more. Then in 1991, Dojo in the West Village was created – both Dojo East and Dojo West were favorite local gems. Unfortunately in 2007, Dojo East was closed down due to high rent. BUT Dojo West is still going strong!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern for Dojo, which has now been closed for 2 weeks

It's possible to get the Impossible Burger at Sidewalk now

Just like the sign says here at Sidewalk on Avenue A and Sixth Street.

Well, you probably know the story about Impossible Foods, the company founded in 2011 that counts Google Ventures and Bill Gates among its investors. Basically it's the plant-based burger that "bleeds." The burgers are getting into the mainstream.

This video via Wired has the back story and the science behind (or inside) them...



The burgers aren't entirely impossible (sorry!) to find around here. This Impossible Foods map lists area restaurants that serve them, including Central Bar on Ninth Street and Saxon + Parole on the Bowery.

In any event, Sidewalk is happy about their arrival...

View this post on Instagram

NOW SERVING THE IMPOSSIBLE BURGER!!! #eastvillage #vegan #itbleeds #madefromplants #impossibleburger #impossiblefoods

A post shared by Sidewalk Cafe (@sidewalknyc) on Oct 9, 2018 at 2:35pm PDT

C Lounge debuts on Avenue C

[Photo Wednesday night by EVG reader Kelvin]

Several EVG readers were surprised to see the opening this week of C Lounge, which debuted Monday at 14 Avenue C at Second Street. (Surprised, because there wasn't any kind of Community Board notice about its pending arrival with opportunity for community input, according to several local residents.)

The sidewalk sign shows offers of 2-for-1 happy hour (until 9 p.m.), $25 buckets of beer and $20 hookah.

Sherif Beshir, a principal of the Cozy Cafe on First Street and a co-owner of Mazaar Lounge on Essex Street, is said to be an owner of C Lounge. (Mazaar Lounge has had a controversial history as you can read here. And here.)

Santatorum, the hospital-themed cocktail lounge via mixologist Albert Trummer, quietly closed in this space back in the spring.

The Santatorum awning remains up, though black tape covers the previous business name...



Thanks to Nat Esten and Kelvin!

Thursday's parting shot

A naked woman in a cowboy hat posing in front of the newish cowboy mural on Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street... thanks to @Sahu for the photo.