Late afternoon on Avenue B via Vinny & O...
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Today in last-minute dessert-related needs
As on previous Thanksgiving days... Sweet Generation, 130 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place, is open today until about 4:30 p.m. (or while supplies last).
Owner Amy Chasan shared a list of available items, including pumpkin, pecan, traditional apple and apple crumble pies ... cupcake packs (Cranberry Black Sesame, Bourbon Chocolate Caramel, Caramel Apple Crumble, Pumpkin Spice) ...cookie platters ... pumpkin breads, etc.!
Sweet Generation, who turns 4 in January, partners with several nonprofit organizations and local high schools to create an internship program that teaches baking, food safety, customer service, work readiness, and entrepreneurship to teens and young adults from low-income communities.
Meanwhile, down First Avenue between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, the 59-79-99-cent shop is open for last-minute table-setting needs... probably find some Easter stuff in there too...
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Nov. 21
Today seems like a good day to toss the Christmas tree from last Christmas... as tree vendors are setting up around the neighborhood, with the chance to buy a new one just hours away...
Thanks to EVG reader Bill Spector for sharing this from 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
Report: NYCHA tenants on Avenue C have been without heat and hot water since Thursday
[Photo on 6th Street from October 2017]
The temporary boilers that arrived after Superstorm Sandy nearly became permanent sitting here for five years on Sixth Street at Avenue C outside the NYCHA-owned building officially known as Lower East Side Rehab Group 5. (The Daily News once reported that a temporary boiler costs $5,000 a month to rent.)
However, a new boiler arrived last fall, thanks to funding from FEMA. Still, by January, residents in the building said that they rarely have heat or hot water, according PIX 11, who noted that the work there was "serving as a model for 17 other projects."
Today, the Daily News reports that the residents have been without heat or hot water now since Thursday's snowfall.
“This is a harsh living condition,” said tenant Neicee Johnson, saying she has no heat and barely any hot water.
She wakes each morning at 5:45 a.m. to boil a pot of water on the oven and turn on two space heaters. Her family, which includes two teen children, sleeps with multiple layers of clothing and blankets.
“We barely hang out in the apartment,” she said. “We are hardly ever home. We go to the local library or community areas until it is time for us to come home.”
Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera is quoted in the article... she is also tweeting about the situation...
We aren’t going to solve @NYCHA’s fiscal crisis overnight. But with the temperature expected to drop to dangerously cold levels over the next 24 hours, the city must treat this crisis like the emergency it is and bring in resources to fix heating problems immediately.
— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) November 21, 2018
The residents of LES V, the members of my own staff who live in local public housing, and all the other residents suffering deserve to know if they will be able spend Thanksgiving in their homes without risking their lives.
— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) November 21, 2018
Back to the Daily News:
Resident Clara Rivera, 91, has also been shivering in her apartment since the snowstorm last Thursday.
“The house is really cold. They give nothing here in the morning or night,” said Rivera, who has asthma and arthritis. "We're dealing with this every day. I'm not going to die from this cold!"
There were an estimated 6,366 NYCHA tenants throughout NYC with the same problem, according to an online “service interruption” tracker, as the News pointed out.
A tradition almost as traditional as Thanksgiving itself
The familiar Thanksgiving signage arrived just a little bit later this year than usual over at the Odessa, 119 Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place ...
The complete dinner price remains the same as in recent years — $18.95. (Management bumped it from $15.95 to $18.95 for Thanksgiving 2014.)
Neither here nor there but this link takes you to Veselka's Thanksgiving menu.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Odessa breaks out the Thanksgiving Special signage
It now seems like Thanksgiving with the Thanksgiving Special at the Odessa
Odessa unveils Thanksgiving Special; complete dinner still $18.95
Thanksgiving at Odessa
Still the best Thanksgiving deal around
1 idea for a last-minute Thanksgiving meal
No Romaine holiday
Key Food on Avenue A appears to be romaine-lettuce free after yesterday's urgent CDC safety alert...
CDC is advising that U.S. consumers not eat any romaine lettuce, and retailers and restaurants not serve or sell any, until we learn more about the outbreak. This investigation is ongoing and the advice will be updated as more information is available.
• Consumers who have any type of romaine lettuce in their home should not eat it and should throw it away, even if some of it was eaten and no one has gotten sick.
• This advice includes all types or uses of romaine lettuce, such as whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, and bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes that contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad.
• If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine or whether a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it and throw it away.
• Wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators where romaine was stored. Follow these five steps to clean your refrigerator.
• Restaurants and retailers should not serve or sell any romaine lettuce, including salads and salad mixes containing romaine.
CDC officials believe that it may be contaminated with E. coli. To date, 32 people, including 13 who have been hospitalized, have been infected with the outbreak strain in 11 states, according to the CDC.
Meanwhile, Key's sale on the Urban Meadow handle roasters continues... two varieties going for $2.99.
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Scenes from a (re)marriage: Comedy classics at the Anthology Film Archives
This holiday weekend (and through Nov. 29), the Anthology Film Archives on Second Street at Second Avenue is screening a classic series titled "Stanley Cavell & the Comedies of Remarriage."
Cavell, a writer, philosopher and scholar, published several books on pop culture during his lifetime (he died in June at age 91), including "Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage" in 1981.
Per the Anthology: "Cavell astutely identified and brilliantly analyzed the hidden micro-genre that he called the 'comedies of remarriage,' a group of classic Hollywood romantic comedies whose unassuming wit belied their capacity for sustained, penetrating analysis."
Here's a look at the classic romantic comedies screening in the days ahead (find more details here) ...
Frank Capra
"It Happened One Night"
Nov. 23 at 6:45 PM
Nov. 25 at 6:15 PM
Leo McCarey
"The Awful Truth"
Nov. 23 at 9:15 PM
Nov. 25 at 8:45 PM
Howard Hawks
"Bringing Up Baby"
Nov. 24 at 2 PM
Nov. 28 at 6:45 PM
George Cukor
"The Philadelphia Story"
Nov. 24 at 4:15 PM
Nov. 26 at 9 PM
Nov. 29 at 6:30 PM
Howard Hawks
"His Girl Friday"
Nov. 24 at 6:45 PM
Nov.r 26 at 6:45 PM
Preston Sturges
"The Lady Eve"
Nov. 24 at 9:15 PM
Nov. 27 at 6:45 PM
Nov. 28 at 9 PM
George Cukor
"Adam's Rib"
Nov. 25 at 4 PM
Nov. 27 at 9 PM
Nov. 29 at 9 PM
RIP Jimi Zhivago
[Image by James Lanning via Facebook]
Jimi Zhivago, a musician, producer and composer who lived in the East Village since the early 1980s, died on Nov. 8 after a short illness*. He was 67.
Born James Daley on Aug. 1, 1951, in Brooklyn, Zhivago "had been a musical legend and force around NYC and beyond," his friend and collaborator Chris Riffle said.
Zhivago moved to Chelsea in the mid-1970s and later to the East Village where he lived on Fifth Street since 1982. He was a regular on many scenes, including at Max’s Kansas City where he performed with Klaus Nomi and Wayne County, then later at Sin-é on St. Mark's Place.
He had many varied credits to his name. He played with Rufus and Martha Wainwright, and Glen Hansard, among many others. He had a major label solo record released in the late 1970s and was a founding member of Ollabelle. Zhivago played electric sitar on the Neptunes' remix of "Sympathy for the Devil" in 2015 and produced the SiriusXM show "Live at the Living Room" for 10 years, broadcasting performers like Norah Jones, Jason Isbell and Madeleine Peyroux.
"He was an integral part of so many careers," said Riffle, a singer-songwriter who recently toured with Zhivago. "From producing albums to playing live, Jimi was a huge part of the East Village and will be sorely missed by many."
There will be a musical remembrance and celebration of his life on Dec. 3 at Drom, 85 Avenue A, from 6 p.m. to midnight.
* Updated
Zhivago died from liver failure from a reaction to a drug taken for prostate cancer.
Dua Kafe, serving Albanian-American cuisine, now open on 14th Street
Dua Kafe is now up and running at 520 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B ... bringing a little homespun warmth to a block dominated by the impersonal chill of the EVGB retail-residential complex on either side of the address...
The menu, per the cafe's Instagram account, features Albanian-American cuisine with a variety of egg dishes and paninis ...
The hours don't appear to be set as the cafe remains in soft-open mode ... though regardless of the time, breakfast is served all day.
Despite its mediocre food, Panna II is a line-waiting smash thanks to Instagram and those twinkling lights
[EVG file photo]
Rachel Pelz files a long read at Thrillist on the growing appeal of Panna II Garden, the parlor-floor Indian restaurant at 93 First Ave. near Sixth Street, in a piece titled "One of NYC’s Worst-Reviewed Restaurants Is Also the Hottest Table in Town."
The place has been around for 30-plus years, and is mostly known for BYOB and a room full of twinkling lights that New York magazine once likened to eating inside a Christmas tree ... not to mention its competitive stair greeters battling neighbors Milon, Spice Wala and Royal Bangladesh.
However reasonably priced the menu items, the food is wholly mediocre at Panna II, as New York notes.
There are so many better places to eat. Still, of late, the lines seems to be getting longer outside.
To the article...
So why are tourists and New Yorkers beating down the door to get into a spot with middling food and coarse service? Because its luminous, rainbow-hued interior looks incredible on Instagram. The decor doesn’t just make up for the food; it justifies its existence.
Apparently singer-actress Vanessa Hudgens helped start the Instagram craze with a four-photo post to her 30.4 million followers last December.
Soon, Instagram exploded with #pannaii pictures of influencers and wannabe-influencers lit red and gold and green. The hashtag, which now has more than 2,000 posts, is an endless scroll of colorful lights with hardly a samosa in sight.
The owner's take...
"A lot of people are coming in and taking pictures. In '17, it got popular on Instagram, and it still is today. It’s still famous. You get all these international people who come because of Instagram," says Boshir Khan, Panna II Garden’s 44-year-old current owner.
And a discerning patron...
Alexandra Lacorne, who’s been waiting an hour to celebrate her 27th birthday with a group of girlfriends ... can’t wait to get inside. “It’s my first time at Panna,” she says. “I don’t care about the food. I’m in it for the lights and the drinks and that’s it.”
Oh, and how's that food?
Panna II’s late in life, juggernaut success makes it vulnerable to the internet’s seemingly unending supply of armchair reviewers. A search of its 902 Yelp reviews offers 66 results for “terrible,” 37 results for “horrible,” 110 results for “bad,” 76 for “worst,” and, blessedly, only one result for “diarrhea.”
Monday, November 19, 2018
What lies beneath 9th Street and 3rd Avenue?
An EVG reader shared these photos of some type of underground brick vaults that a construction crew unearthed earlier today while doing road work... taken on the northeast corner of Ninth Street and Third Avenue.
Per the reader: "Would imagine they have something to do with structures originally along Stuyvesant Street, which means they could be very old. Not an expert on dating cellar construction."
EVG Underground Brick Vault correspondent Steven took these pics...
Perhaps we can find out what this was part of... maybe something to do with the elevated train that ran north-south along Third Avenue ... or the trolley system near here.
Anyway! Here are some photos of the area via the NYPL Digital Collections ... this is described as "Third Avenue, looking North from the 9th Street station of the Third Avenue L" from October 1927...
... a similar view, but from 1880 (
... and "27-29 Third Avenue, at and adjoining the S.E. corner of Stuyvesant Street. May 18, 1934." (Basically where the Bean is today...)
Updated 11/20
See the comments for more possible explanations of what these bricks might be part of... ———>
Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Workers dig up streetcar tracks on 3rd Avenue
New building permits pre-filed for the (slightly larger) tech hub on Union Square
The first permit was filed last Thursday for the new building that will house the Union Square Tech Training Center (aka the tech hub and 14th @ Irving).
Renderings for the tech hub arrived at the former P.C. Richard & Son property on 14th Street at Irving Place earlier this month. Previous reports on the building, including the city's own news release, listed the 258,000 square-foot project at 21 floors.
However, the permit on file with the DOB lists 22 floors and 309,000 square feet...
Not sure what accounts for the discrepancy. The Schedule A on the permit shows that the 22nd floor is for elevator machinery rooms, the boiler room and the generator switchboard room.
Meanwhile, there's nothing on file yet with the DOB about demolishing the existing building.
As previously reported, the project is being developed jointly by the city’s Economic Development Corp. and developer RAL Development Service. The building includes Civic Hall, which will offer tech training for low-income residents, as well as market-rate retail, office space and a food hall.
[Image via Davis Brody Bond]
The hub, initially announced in early 2017, passed through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) earlier this year, capped off by a unanimous City Council vote in August. A rezoning was required to build the the
For months, some residents, activists, small-business owners and community groups expressed concern that the rezoning necessary for the project would spur out-of-scale development on surrounding blocks. (You can read more about what transpired in the links below.)
The 14th @ Irving website states that construction will start in the first quarter of 2019, with the building opening in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Construction on an already-congested thoroughfare will coincide with the L-train closure starting in April 2019, when 14th Street is expected to serve as a (mostly) car free busway for displaced subway commuters.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Behold Civic Hall, the high-tech future of Union Square — and NYC
Speaking out against a 'Silicon Alley' in this neighborhood
P.C. Richard puts up the moving signs on 14th Street; more Tech Hub debate to come
Preservationists: City schedules next public hearing on tech hub without any public notice
City Council's lone public hearing on the 14th Street tech hub is tomorrow
City Council unanimously approves tech hub; some disappointment in lack of zoning protections
The conversation continues on the now-approved tech hub for 14th Street
1st signs for the future tech hub arrive on 14th Street; more details emerge about 14th @ Irving
A concept revamp for the Cienfuegos space on Avenue A
Ravi DeRossi is changing concepts at Cienfuegos, his Cuban-inspired rum bar-restaurant upstairs that opened nine-plus years ago at 95 Avenue A and Sixth Street.
The new space will be Honeybee's, specializing in plant-based Texas BBQ and bourbon and rye.
"It's been almost 10 years since I opened Cienfuegos," DeRossi said in an email. "It's still one of my favorite places, but it's time for a revamp. I was either going to update the decor, menu, etc., or completely change the concept. In the end I decided it would be a lot more fun to change the concept."
Like his other restaurants — LadyBird and Avant Garden, among them — the menu will be all vegan. He's still finalizing the food-and-drinks lineup and design.
Honeybee's is named after his dog, whom DeRossi said was a big influence on him removing the meat and dairy items from the menus in his establishments. (DeRossi started going meat free in early 2016 and launched BEAST Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to ending animal cruelty.)
The change from Cienfuegos to Honeybee's is on the agenda at tonight's CB3-SLA meeting. You can find a PDF of the application at the CB3 website.
The corner space on Avenue A and Sixth Street also houses two other DeRossi operations — Mother of Pearl and Amor y Amargo.
Ichibantei vying for 20 St. Mark's Place, and an update on the former Grassroots Tavern space
Applicants for Ichibantei are on tonight's CB3-SLA agenda for a liquor license for a new restaurant in the former Sounds space at 20 St Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.
The questionnaire (find the PDF at this link) for the Japanese restaurant shows 28 tables seating 56 guests as well as a bar for eight. The proposed hours are 11:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, with a 2 a.m. closure on Friday and Saturday.
[Click on image for more detail]
An application for the space from the same principal(s) has been on the CB3-SLA agenda several times dating to 2017, though it has been withdrawn in each instance for unspecified reasons. The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website does not mention if this would be a second outpost for Ichibantei, the eight-year-old Japanese comfort-food spot on 13th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, or a spin-off location.
Sounds closed in October 2015 after 36 years in business selling records, tapes and CDs.
Tonight's CB3-SLA committee meeting starts at 6:30 in the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.
------
While on the topic of 20 St. Mark's Place... in August, I exchanged emails with Bob Precious, who's planning on opening a bar in this semi-subterranean space with a working title of Subterranean. (Precious operates the mini chain of Irish-style pubs called the Ginger Man, including the one on 36th Street. CB3 OK'd his new liquor license back in December.)
In August, he hoped to be up and running this fall. He noted at the time that the bar space was in bad shape — including structural damage — when he received the keys. The newish landlord needed to get the approvals for the renovations in this landmarked building. This process has proven to be slow going.
I asked Precious for an update last week. He said that the landlord claims to be starting their structural work "soon."
"If so, we'll finally be able to start our work ... and could have an early spring opening," he said in an email. "That would be about 15 months since we took over; ridiculous and frustrating, since we're not really doing that much."
For comparison, the 36th Street outpost of the Ginger Man, which is 2.5 times as big as the No. 20 space, was built from scratch in six months before it opened early 1996, he said.
The Grassroots Tavern closed after service on New Year's Eve after 42 years here.
Jim Stratton, the longtime principal owner, decided to sell the business last year. In January 2016, Stratton sold the building to Klosed Properties for a reported $5.6 million.
20 St. Mark's Place, known as the Daniel LeRoy House, was built in 1832. It received landmark status in 1971, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Previously on EV Grieve:
New owner lined up for the Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place
20 St. Mark's Place, home of the Grassroots Tavern, has been sold
Your chance to live in this historic home above the Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place
Last call at the Grassroots Tavern
This is what's happening with the former Grassroots Tavern space on St. Mark's Place
New ventures proposed for 85 Avenue A, 50 Avenue B
[EVG file photo of the downstairs space at 85 Avenue A]
In August, applicants who are family members of the previous Webster Hall ownership were to appear before CB3's SLA committee for a new liquor license for 50 Avenue B and 238 E. Fourth St., the former spaces of Lovecraft and Johnny Favorite's pizzeria.
However, the applicants, including Stephen and Adam Ballinger, ended up not leasing the space. Now, the same group is eyeing the downstairs storefront at 85 Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street, which last housed Elvis Guesthouse.
The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website doesn't have a lot of details, such as the proposed name of the establishment. The paperwork shows that the unnamed restaurant will be serving "American comfort tapas" with daily hours of 4 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Elvis Guesthouse opened in early 2015 with a slate of bands and DJs ... and by November 2015 had drawn complaints from neighbors who say the owners didn't do enough to mitigate the noise from the space. At that time they were said to cut back on the number of shows in the space. Elvis left the building at the end of 2016.
[EVG file photo of 50 Avenue B]
Meanwhile, the space that the Ballingers passed on at 50 Avenue B and 238 E. Fourth St. has a new suitor. The applicants of the unnamed operation are seeking to open a bar-lounge serving "American fare and pizza," with proposed hours of 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends.
The questionnaire (PDF at this link) also notes that "there will be monthly performances, such as music, art, poetry."
Lovecraft, which was inspired by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, closed in early 2018 after three-and-a-half years in business. Johnny Favorite's shuttered in August 2017 after debuting in April 2015.
CB3's SLA committee meeting starts at 6:30 tonight at the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Elvis Guesthouse officially ready for occupancy tonight
Report: Live music ends for now at Elvis Underground
Elvis Guesthouse space for rent at 85 Avenue A
Webster Hall alum proposing new venture for former Lovecraft space on Avenue B
Space Mabi closes 1 year in on 1st Avenue
That's apparently it for Space Mabi on First Avenue at Fourth Street... the Korean cafe-restaurant quietly closed earlier this month. There isn't any message on their social media properties about a closure, though Google and Yelp both list it as permanently closed. The signs have been removed and paper covers the windows.
Space Mabi opened on Nov. 3, 2017, with a shifting focus depending on the time of day. Per their Facebook description:
Space Mabi is a new gastropub with cozy atmosphere in East Village that specializes in New Korean cuisine, plus creative Korean alcoholic beverages.
Under the sun, we operate as ‘Cafe Space Mabi,’ under the moon, we serve as ‘Restaurant Space Mabi’, and under the stars, we turn into ‘Bar Space Mabi’.
They eventually discontinued the daytime service, opening then at 5:30 p.m.
The space was previously Guayoyo, the low-key, family-owned Venezuelan restaurant, which never reopened after a basement fire in the Icon Realty-owned building in January 2015.
This marks the second self-described gastropub to close within two blocks this month on First Avenue.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Guayoyo has been closed now for 1 year
Gastropub — 'Your new playground' — slated for former Guayoyo space on 1st Avenue
Biga NYC debuts on Clinton and Houston
Several EVG readers passed along word that a new pizzeria/Italian restaurant called Biga NYC opened last week on the southwest corner of Clinton and Houston. (H/T Stacie Joy and Nick!)
I don't recall seeing this address (293 E. Houston St.) on any recent CB3-SLA committee dockets for a new liquor license ... and the sidewalk signage currently notes BYOB...
Don't know too much about the operators at the moment ... they have an Instagram account, where you can see their style of pies...
Until early this year the space was home — since 2014 — to Ariel’s Latin Bistro.
Three Seat Espresso increases the seats for espresso on Avenue A
After two-plus years of life as a cafe-barber combo at 137 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, Three Seat Espresso [and previously & Barber] has expanded its seating for food and drinks and discontinued the hair cuts.
This is their message via Instagram:
Three Seat Espresso is expanding the cafe in place of the barber. Thank you to those who have come in for a chop over the last two years. Please bare with us through the brief refurb. We are super excited to offer more cafe seating, plus more, starting Monday Nov. 19.
The barber shop was in the back in a separate area away from the food and beverage operation. Aside from Australian-style coffee drinks and tea, Three Seat serves several varieties and bagels and light breakfast fare.
Ummburger has closed on 1st Avenue
After a little more than a year in business at 99 First Ave. at Sixth Street, Ummburger has closed... the gates had been down of late during announced business hours... then a for rent sign arrived late last week...
Ummburger seemed doomed from the get-go, to be honest, with cutesy names for their burgers (the Good Morning Vietnam, for instance) ... and, well, the name for the restaurant. The drinks menu included the "Ummazing Chalices," 38-ounce fish bowl cocktails on dry ice for $25.
NYU's Washington Square News featured Ummburger in an article from February on restaurants suffering from a drop in business after the New Year.
[Co-owner Salil Mathew] put out a 40 percent discount coupon for students in Campus Clipper magazine after the holidays, aiming to attract local college students in the hope they would return later, paying full price.
Because of the dip, Mathew has been forced to lay off employees, and by his estimation, has had to cut work hours by as much as 50 percent. Balancing a new restaurant, a second job as a nurse manager and a family, Mathew hopes his steep discounts will bring him a much-needed break.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Ummburger makes it official on 1st Avenue
Ummburger vying for the Mancora space on 1st Avenue
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)