Only 178 shopping days left until the L-train shutdown

As you may have heard, read, seen, the MTA yesterday announced that the much-anticipated and long-dreaded (but necessary!) L-train shutdown will begin on Saturday, April 27, 2019.

If you missed this, then here are more details via the MTA news release, shared here...

MTA New York City Transit (MTA NYC Transit) and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) announced new details about what customers can expect ahead of April 2019 when the L train tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn is closed for 15 months for extensive repairs from Superstorm Sandy...

• The L tunnel will close for its 15-month reconstruction on Saturday, April 27, 2019. This means that the last day for L service between 8th Av and Bedford Av in Brooklyn will be Friday, April 26, 2019. L train service will continue throughout Brooklyn, between the Bedford Av station, which will remain open during the tunnel closure, and the Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway station.

• The alternative service options for customers, which includes five additional bus routes, a new M14 Select Bus Service on 14th Street and a ferry service, will begin on Sunday, April 21, 2019, to allow for customers to sample and become acclimated to new travel options. The additional subway service on other lines – more than 1,000 additional roundtrips – will begin on April 28, 2019, following the L tunnel closure. Read the full plan for temporary service options in support of the L tunnel reconstruction project.

• Customers will be able to meet in person with MTA NYC Transit and NYCDOT team members to plan their routes, through a series of open houses, pop-up events or one of the three mobile information centers – two vans and a bus – which will make stops to meet with customers. Official dates and times for open houses and schedules for events and the mobile information center locations will be posted on the L tunnel reconstruction website once announced.

• Numerous stations have received or are receiving capacity expansions, with newly reopened or expanded entrances, stairs and corridors. NYCDOT and MTA NYC Transit are coordinating with key City agencies – such as the NYPD, Department of Buildings and Citywide Events Coordination and Management – on aligning City operations with the needs of L train alternate transit services, including working to minimize disruption from construction projects and events.

• The construction for the project is on schedule. In Manhattan, the construction site footprint and hours of work both reduce between 1st Avenue and Avenue A in January 2019. In Brooklyn, most barricades will be removed along with permanent street and sidewalk restoration on Bedford Avenue by early November 2018, and throughout early 2019, work will continue to open and do permanent finishes on the additional stairs, three of four which have already opened for increased capacity.

• Officials are committing to monitor the air for particulates typically caused by diesel emissions, known as PM2.5, and making results publicly available. This is in addition to the air quality monitoring already in place for the project’s construction sites.

• Outreach continues with customers, local residents, local businesses, and elected officials.

“We’re continuing unprecedented efforts at public outreach, responding to local communities and giving as much notice as possible on key dates in this project,” said NYC Transit President Andy Byford. “With the l running as a Brooklyn-only service for 15 months starting after the weekend of April 27, we’ve been hard at work with our partners at NYCDOT and other City agencies to make sure that the alternate train, bus, ferry and bicycle networks work together to get people around successfully.”

“With DOT crews now putting down new street markings for bus lanes and bike lanes, we are deeply committed to having our streets ready for the l tunnel closure next April,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “From a ‘bus bridge’ over the Williamsburg Bridge to the 14th Street Busway, from more Citi Bikes to expanded pedestrian space for displaced l train commuters, we and our MTA partners are up for this enormous challenge.”

For a reminder about remaining L service changes in 2018, visit the L 2018 service notice page. To help customers plan ahead in 2019, new service information details about the L in 2019 include:

Overnight service closures and weekend closures during February, March and April 2019, from 8th Av in Manhattan to Broadway Junction in Brooklyn to prepare the tunnel ahead of the closure and to expedite maintenance on the l tracks remaining in service when the tunnel is closed. Weekend dates scheduled are:
- Feb 2-3
- Feb 9-10
- Feb 16-17
- Feb 23-24
- Mar 2-3
- Mar 9-10
- Mar 16-17
- April 27-28

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nightmare scenario for residents who learn that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main staging area for the L-train reconstruction

Prepping for the new protected bike lanes on 12th and 13th streets

Bike lane line work continues on 12th Street

A look at the new L-train renderings along 14th Street

The MTA recently plastered both sides of 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue — the main construction zone for the L-train rehab — with banners touting the new ADA-compliant entrances on the way at Avenue A and other scenes from the incoming stations ... many of these renderings were similar to the ones unveiled in the summer of 2017.



However, there are several new scenes, which EVG reader Hank's Pound of Spaghetti shared... Hank had a sensible question: Why are the scalies arguing?



Does this indicate that life with the all-new L train still mean signal and switch problems and track fires, leading to possibly tense exchanges between commuters? Or are these roomies at EVGB upset over that drunken bocce match that got out of hand on the roof?

Hank also spotted the same female scalie with different male straphangers...



... and do these two know the men arguing behind them? ...



Anyway, a little diversion from the nonstop work already taking place here that's making life for nearby residents fairly miserable.

This work started in July 2017 ahead of the L-train closure between Bedford Avenue and Eighth Avenue that starts on April 27, 2019.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Town Hall provides a few more details on the 24/7 construction at 14th and A

Renderings reveal the MTA's plans for the Avenue A L station; why does everyone look so happy?

Nightmare scenario for residents who learn that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main staging area for the L-train reconstruction

SSHH — 'a multi-purpose mutant space' — debuts tonight on 6th Street

[Image via Instagram]

SSHH opens its doors tonight at 516 East Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The venue, operated by Nick Schiarizzi and Bráulio Amado, describes itself as a "multi-purpose mutant space where you can come and learn, make, buy or share something."

Every day from 2 to 7 p.m., SSHH will operate as a store, selling art, T-shirts, random undeveloped film rolls. Monday through Thursday after 7 p.m., the space will host events, classes, talks, art happenings, etc.

The November calendar is on the SSHH Instagram account...

View this post on Instagram

Calendar for November. The website will be live soonnnn

A post shared by SSHH (@sshhnyc) on Oct 26, 2018 at 6:01am PDT

Many of the events are free, others have a $10 fee... (and the introduction to French classes are $150 for six, 2-hour sessions).

The SSHH literature states the owners are not some trust-funders trying to create an exclusive art gallery. "This is a storefront space that we are still defining, and we want people to be part of it. We think that people want to learn and create past age 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 and this space is for you to do that," per an SSHH pamphlet. (They note that the monthly rent is $2,500.)

You can check it out for yourself tonight during the grand opening. Per the Facebook invite:

Please join us for the opening of SSHH (Sixth Street Haunted House) on Halloween, October 31, from 7 pm to 10 pm. It'll be like a gallery opening - open, casual, a celebratory situation.

This isn't a haunted house in the traditional sense, but it's a place that you can haunt, visit, and check out as regularly as you like.

This new space will host talks, classes, participatory events and art openings, as well as a store that will sell interesting things.

We are looking forward to meeting our neighbors, seeing our friends, and kicking off all of the creative stuff we're gonna do with you in the years to come.

The small storefront was previously home to the no-frills USA Body Work massage place.

Long-vacant 115 Avenue C getting some attention

A dispatch from Dave on 7th from 115 Avenue C, where workers have started gutting and renovating the long-vacant space between Seventh Street and Eighth Street.

There are several approved permits on file with the DOB for alterations at the three-story building. (None of the permits appear to be posted on site.)

The building changed hands for $3.7 million in the fall of 2016. An LLC with the address of 115 Avenue C was listed as the buyer.

In any event, this is an address to keep an eye on. The retail space has been vacant since Le Jardin Bistro closed in June 2015. Previous ventures here include Apartment 13 and The Porch.

Tuesday's parting shot

Outside Search & Destroy on St. Mark's Place this morning...

Mid-afternoon red-bellied woodpecker break

Steven spotted this red-bellied woodpecker (not in costume) in Tompkins Square Park yesterday...

La Plaza hosting Haunted Adventure Garden and Rat Race Maze

This is happening tomorrow (Halloween!) from 2-8 p.m. at La Plaza Cultural on the southwest corner of Ninth Street and Avenue C.

Via the EVG inbox...

For 365 days a year, rats are the stuff nightmares are made of for New Yorkers. The theme at this year's spooky Halloween adventure garden is Rats, because whether they rule or horrify, they're a part of living in NYC.

At this costume party, bring your whole family, as there'll be mystic fortune telling, face painting and thrilling coffin rides. At 5:30 pm there will be live music by the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.

Oh! And try not to get trapped in the Rat Race Maze, where we are trying to teach people to stay away from the corporate rat race.

... and I hope they leave this up year-round...

These two buildings are now wrapped and apparently prepped for demolition

Workers spent part of last week putting up sidewalk bridges and scaffolding at the adjacent properties — 24 First Ave. and 99-101 E. Second St. ...



Per our previous posts, demolition permits are on file to bring down both buildings. Developer Sergey Rybak was the high bidder ($12 million and change) during an auction earlier this year ... he has submitted plans for a 7-story, 22-unit residential building on the property of the current 24 First Ave. and 99-101 E. Second St.

The Rybak website list that the residences are condos (building name for now — 101E2). The ground-floor space is designated for retail use.

And the open-air dumpster marked "asbestos" that alarmed a few nearby neighbors was removed as of Friday.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Onetime home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property sell for $12 million

Demolition permits filed to bring down former Lucky Cheng's building on 1st Avenue

Demolition permits filed for 99-101 E. 2nd St.; first look at the condoplex to come

Preliminary demolition work at 99-101 E. 2nd St. is — surprise — in the asbestos-removal phase

Hitchcocktober's grand finale: 'Psycho' on Halloween night

It's nearly time to say goodbye for another year to Hitchcocktober at the City Cinemas Village East, Second Avenue and 12th Street ... but not before Halloween-evening screenings of "Psycho." (The one with Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh from 1960, not the Gus Van Sant version from 1998 with Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche.)

Please note: The 8 and 9 p.m. screenings are SOLD OUT. The theater added one at 9:40 p.m. to accommodate the demand. Find advance ticket info here.

1st sign of First Lamb Shabu on 14th Street

The storefront at 218 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue is starting to shape into the first Manhattan outpost of First Lamb Shabu, a Beijing-based hot pot chain with more than 300 locations in China.

As the Commercial Observer reported back in April, the company, which has a location in Flushing, signed a 10-year lease for the space with a $20,000-per-month rent.

The storefront has been empty for several years, ever since Dunkin' Donuts (DD!) decamped for a smaller space on the block in August 2015.



Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street Dunkin' Donuts shuffle complete

The Dunkin' Donuts space on East 14th Street is for rent

Beijing-based hot pot chain taking over the former Dunkin' Donuts storefront on 14th Street

ICYMI: Westville Bakery is open

[Photo yesterday by Vinny & O]

In case you missed this post from Sunday morning... Westville Bakery had its soft opening that day at 433 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Avenue A.

This is the first dedicated bakery from Westville, the mini-chain of vegetable-friendly restaurants, whose outposts include one on Avenue A at 11th Street.

The bakery, serving a variety of cakes, pies, cookies and seasonal desserts as well as other cafe fare (quiche, for instance), is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.


[Image via @WestvilleBakery]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Baking news: Westville Bakery coming to 9th Street

188 2nd Ave. is for rent

Closing the loop on the Lumos Kitchen saga. The restaurant space at 188 Second Ave. at 12th Street is now for rent.

There isn't much info on the listing (rent is available upon request; term is 10 years).

The restaurant enjoyed a three-month-plus run here serving French- and Chinese-influenced cuisine before a late-July closure for something related to a gas meter. Lumos never reopened. (See the previous post here for more.)

As previously noted, Lumos marks the fourth restaurant — joining Hot Pot Central, DumplingGuo and Dumpling Go — to close here since March 2015.

Shima had a good go of it here until January 2014...


[EVG file photo]

Post-Shima, the asking rent was in the $25k ballpark.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Lumos Kitchen remains closed

Burkelman is now open on the Bowery

[Photo from Sunday]

Burkleman, a home and lifestyle brand based up in Cold Spring, opened its flagship store yesterday at 332 Bowery between Bond and Great Jones.

Kevin Burke and David Kimelman started the high-end home-design shop in 2014 as an online-only business, before opening an outpost in a Cold Spring storefront in 2015. You can read more about them here.

The retail space was previously Intermix, who left the Bowery last fall after four-plus years at No. 332.

Updated 10/31

A better photo via Lola Sáenz...



Previously on Ev Grieve:
Homeware brand Burkelman opening flagship store on the Bowery

Monday's parting shot

The former Landmark Sunshine Cinema on East Houston... still standing...

Today in late-afternoon rainbows

The view from 11th Street and Avenue B via Vinny & O...

At the Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade — East River amphitheater edition

The 28th annual Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade took place yesterday afternoon at a new venue — the East River Park amphitheater. (You can read this post for more about how the parade was nearly canceled.)

Hundreds of dogs and their owners turned out in the most spacious location featuring ESPN's Katie Nolan as the host...



EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there to capture the competition, featuring dogs dressed as dinosaurs, hot dogs, lottery winners, toast, the Pope .. well, see for yourself...








































... and, as always, there were non-canine interlopers...



... and the winners (there's a video here with more on them)...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is back on; new deal puts the pups in East River Park and on ESPN this Oct. 28

Report: The reality of storm-proofing East River Park in 2020

Details about what will happen during the construction phase of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) are becoming known... and people don't seem too thrilled about what will be happening.

The ESCR proposal has been in the works for several years post Sandy. It aims to protect against catastrophic flooding by building a "resilient park" along the East River from Montgomery Street on the Lower East Side to 13th Street, as Curbed reported last month.

The city plans to "lift" East River Park by up to 10 feet when work starts in March 2020. However, to do this, the city will need to close East River Park for up to three and a half years, bulldozing all the current amenities, including the just-unveiled new running track and soccer field.


[EVG photo from last month]

Per the Post yesterday:

The newly revised design will elevate the surface of the 40-acre park between the East River and FDR Drive by dumping tons of soil and fill between 13th and Cherry streets, raise and rebuild the esplanade along the river by boosting the height of the pilings underneath, and erect a flood wall at the river’s edge.

At the height of superstorm Sandy, Lower Manhattan was plunged into darkness and the Con Edison substation on East 13th Street was flooded, sparking a transformer explosion that knocked out part of the island’s grid.

The new plan would protect against such catastrophic flooding.

But the collateral damage is the park and its baseball, football, soccer, basketball, tennis and track facilities, which will be bulldozed and covered, with fill, said a Department of Design and Construction official.

The Post spoke with several Park-goers who were incredulous over the closures, especially having to essentially destroy the new $2.8 million running track and soccer field. (An EVG reader who shared the Post story via email wrote that "this is going to be a huge disruption, logistical nightmare" ... "but perhaps very neccessary.")

Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver told the Post that the agency is brainstorming ideas to bring recreational alternatives to East River Park users.

"We have from now until March 2020," he said. "We are looking at city-owned spaces, parks as options for recreation during construction."