Birthday celebration at Mee Noodle Shop on First Avenue via EVG regular Dan Efram (read about his new book here) ...
Friday, January 11, 2019
Friday's parting shot
Birthday celebration at Mee Noodle Shop on First Avenue via EVG regular Dan Efram (read about his new book here) ...
On the road
Highway Hypnosis, the latest album from Sneaks (aka Eva Moolchan), is out on Jan. 25 on Merge Records. The video here is for "Hong Kong to Amsterdam."
The now-closed Chelsea Thai on 1st Avenue is selling all its equipment
After five months at 192 First Ave., Chelsea Thai closed following the holidays. Founder-chef Saruj Nimkarn said that there wasn't enough business here between 11th Street and 12th Street to keep the quick-serve restaurant open.
Nimkarn and his family members are selling off the contents from inside the space... thanks to EVG regular Lola Sáenz for the tip and photos...
The restaurant debuted here in August after 21 years in the Chelsea Market. (A rent increase there forced Nimkarn to look elsewhere.)
Nimkarn will be holding the sale until 8 tonight, then again tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The space is now also for rent... Steven took this photo earlier today...
EVG Etc.: City office for bad landlords; Secrets of the St. Mark’s Historic District
[Photo on 4th Street via Derek Berg]
City launching office to protect tenants from terrible landlords (Curbed)
Speaking of bad landlords, Mr. Mayor! This podcast explores NYC's public housing crisis (City Journal)
Mayor seeks vacancy tax on empty storefronts (Daily News)
And the deB says that bus speeds will increase 25 percent by 2020 (amNY)
The struggle to own and operate a restaurant in NYC (Eater)
Indictment for lawyer accused of sexually assaulting several women, including in the East Village (Post ... previously)
Secrets of the St. Mark’s Historic District (6sqft)
Check out the free activities at the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street this month (Official site)
The need for an NYC Bike Mayor (Gothamist)
RIP Highline Ballroom (Brooklyn Vegan)
The Merce Cunningham Centennial continues (Anthology Film Archives)
The Academy at Metrograph series features "The African Queen" and "Eve's Bayou" this weekend (Official Site)
... this past summer, for rent signs arrived at Julie's Vintage, the eclectic vintage/thrift shop at 84 E. Second St. at First Avenue. A tipster tells us that a deal was struck with the landlord and the shop is staying put...
I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant
East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She will share some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.
Photos and text by Susan Schiffman
Tenants: Alex, since 2001
How did you find your apartment?
I was living in Atlanta. I moved here in 2000. I spent the first year in Midtown. I was right in Times Square. My parents were living in Jersey. They were here first. The Midtown apartment was a sublet. I found the apartment through the gay roommate service. After that ended, I lived with my parents for six months to save money.
I grew up in Virginia. My dad has a second career as a Presbyterian minister. He was an associate pastor in his first church. It was on the Upper East Side. They had an amazing apartment. It was owned by the church. It was an old pre-war building. Then they moved to New Jersey and I moved to Atlanta. I don’t know why. I didn’t love it. I always wanted to live in New York City. I was just nervous about it. My parents lived in NYC in the 90s. I went to school in Connecticut. I would come down to visit. I always wanted to live here, I just had some detours.
I was working at an internet company in Soho. A co-worker sent and email that said, “I’m giving up my apartment on Avenue C if anyone is interested.” I answered the email and he showed me the apartment. I asked myself if I wanted to live that far East. And did I want to live that far from a train? Then I saw the apartment and thought, this is going to be it.
That was in June 2001. When I talked to the landlord he gave me an amount for the rent that was higher than the previous tenant. Then Sept. 11 happened. I had just moved into the apartment in June. I heard that people were leaving and that landlords were nervous. I called my landlord and he lowered the rent.
I have a preferential rent. Which means that the landlord is charging me significantly less than the legal rent-stabilized rent. I can only assume he is offering preferential rent because he would not be able to get the legal rent-stabilized rent for this apartment. I signed a paper that says “I acknowledge that I have a preferential rent and that this preferential rent can be revoked at the end of the lease term.”
[According to ProPublica, “the number of leases offering preferential rents is increasing: more than 250,000 of the city’s approximately 610,000 rent stabilized units in 2015 were offered at a preferential rent. Landlords are allowed to hike preferential rents to the legal maximum upon lease renewal.”]
The rent laws are up for renewal in June. One of the platforms is that if you have a preferential rent that it will become the new legal rent-stabilized rent. I am hoping that with the new democratic State Senate, my preferential rent will become the new legal rent.
I am nervous when it is time for lease renewal. A few years ago, there was a knock at the door. Someone from the management company introduced the person he was with as someone from the bank. And that they just want to walk around and look at the building. I was nervous about the visit and was concerned they would be selling the building. It is stressful always wondering if the rent will remain the same or increase to the legal rent. And if the building were to be sold how would that affect my rent?
What do you love about your apartment?
I love that the kitchen is separate and that there is a passthrough. The passthrough makes it feel open. I like the light.
The trade off of facing the street is the noise. There is a lot of noise with the construction. They are always digging up the intersection. I would definitely choose facing the street though because of the light that comes in. I like that it is on the 3rd floor and not too far of a climb.
The guy in the apartment below mine is a jewelry designer. We’re good neighbors. I opened the door recently and a woman across the hall opened her door and she turned out to be someone I knew from graduate school. She moved in with the guy across the hall who is her boyfriend.
I could not account for every apartment, so there are definitely people who I absolutely never see. There is a guy who lives here — he is a much older man who looks very gruff and never looks at or talks to anybody. I’m kind of an introvert but now I’ll say hello to him, “how are you?” and he’ll say “I’m fine how are you?” He talks back to me. He’s a little bit of a grump, which makes the interactions even more endearing.
I value the neighborhood and the apartment more now than when I first moved here. It still feels like a neighborhood.
If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email.
Reminders: MulchFest (aka Chip-a-thon) is this weekend in Tompkins Square Park
[Photos by Steven]
The trees are piled highish in the middle of Tompkins Square Park ahead of this weekend's MulchFest (now a 2-day extravaganza, though surprisingly without any corporate sponsors — The Official Amber Lager of the 2019 MulchFest, say).
Anyway!
The Chip-a-thon (aka Chipping Weekend) happens in the Park tomorrow and Sunday. Per the Parks Department website: "We'll chip your tree and give you your very own bag of mulch to use in your backyard or to make a winter bed for a street tree."
The chipping hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We'll have all eight hours available later as a prime-time PPV event and for purchase as a DVD with bonus content. Look for coverage this weekend as well as red-carpet interviews from the mysterious sinkhole by the holiday tree.
Meanwhile, the drop-off site on Ninth Street and Avenue A isn't catching on as expected...
The Starbucks on Broadway and 9th Street has closed
Last June, Starbucks reported that it would close 150 poorly performing company-operated stores in 2019, mostly in urban areas that are densely populated with other locations, per CNN.
Apparently the Starbucks on the northwest corner of Broadway and Ninth Street was on that hit list ... this location is now closed... the sign on the door directs would-be Starbuckers to nearby outposts...
The Starbucks took over for the Starbucks-owned Teavana in 2016.
This corner space previously housed Silver Spurs, the diner that closed in December 2013 after 34 years in business. After the rent hike, several EVG readers lamented that a Starbucks would likely take over the space.
Milk Hops, the beer-cheese store next to the Starbucks, closed this past Nov. 30.
Previously on EV Grieve:
After 34 years, Silver Spurs is closing on Broadway
Teary letters to landlord show that local children are devastated over closure of Silver Spurs
Starbucks-owned Teavana coming to the former Silver Spurs space on Broadway
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Thursday's parting shot
Taking the monitor for a walk today on Seventh Street. Usually this time of year the salt used to melt ice on the streets irritates the CPU.
Photo by Derek Berg...
JR's 'Gun Chronicles' is no longer on the Bowery Mural Wall
Workers today removed the remaining sections of JR's "Gun Chronicles" at the Bowery Mural Wall, as this photo via EVG regular Lola Sāenz shows.
JR's mural featured images of 245 Americans who represent various viewpoints on the gun debate. The artist collaborated with Time magazine back in late October for this interactive special report on gun violence in America.
Someone added an 11 — representing the number of victims in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre on Oct. 27 — in red paint... the 11 became a XII after 12 people were gunned down in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on Nov. 8.
In recent weeks JR's mural was started to peel, and the wall had been tagged multiple times. No one from the wall's landlord, Goldman Properties, decided to clean up the piece. As one EVG reader commented: "It is a shame of the condition this mural has fallen to. This was an important mural with an important message that should have been maintained and protected. Instead of being marked up with graffiti that has covered up important parts of the mural."
No word at the moment on what might be next for the wall.
Morning visitors
EVG reader Sara shares these photos from this morning along Ninth Street...when a juvenile Cooper's hawk stopped by bearing a bloody hunk of something in its talons...
Meanwhile, Paul W. had a Cooper's sighting from Seventh Street...
Thanks to Goggla for helping ID the hawk(s) ... at least one Cooper's hawk was recently trying to start some shit with Christo and Amelia, the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park.
As Goggla recently noted:
Cooper's hawks are also in the area. I've counted at least one adult and two immature Cooper's hawks around the park, but there could be more. In the past, the red-tails have mostly tolerated the Cooper's hawks, but as nesting season approaches, Christo and Amelia are getting more aggressive about chasing them out of the area.
Report: Upright Citizens Brigade closing East Village outpost next month
Amid financial difficulties, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater is closing its East Village outpost, UCBeast, on Feb. 9, Vulture reports.
This tip comes to Vulture via an attendee of an all-theater meeting last night. (There hasn't been any official notice from UCB on the closure.)
Last month, UCB announced staff layoffs to help streamline their operation, as the Times reported at the time.
Pat Baer, the theater’s longtime technical director, is also leaving UCB as of Feb. 9.
After Feb 9th, I will no longer be a UCB employee. April would have been 15 years. I’m heartbroken and a bit numb. I will accept condolences, high fives, and job offers.
— Pat Baer 2019 (@patbaer) January 9, 2019
Baer also made a suggestion last night on Twitter to help save UCBeast...
Should we ask Lin Manuel Miranda to buy UCB East?
— Pat Baer 2019 (@patbaer) January 10, 2019
The venue on Avenue A and Third Street opened in September 2011 ... after so much drama (Hot Chicks Room! New Jack Cornballs!) for a comedy club. More later on all this.
Updated 10:30 a.m.
The Times reports:
U.C.B. will be partnering with SubCulture, a 130-seat Bleecker Street venue where U.C.B. will host shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights — for three evenings of programming as opposed to the full seven at the East Village U.C.B., where the last show will be on Feb. 9. Shows at SubCulture, a venue that opened five years ago, will begin on Feb. 15.
Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Your 'Hot Chicks Room' sign update
[Updated] Resident starting a petition to have the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign removed at the Upright Citizens Brigade
Breaking: UCB will remove the 'Hot Chicks Room' sign!
'Hot Chicks Room' sign will now bring ruin to compost
Find the history of every neighborhood building with East Village Building Blocks
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) has created a new tool
Here's more about East Village Building Blocks, via a GVSHP email yesterday:
This online resource, which took 10 years to complete, used primary source research on every building in the East Village to determine (when possible) date of construction, original architect, original use, alterations over time, and any significant figures, events, businesses, or institutions connected to the existing building or prior buildings on the site.
Buildings can be searched by address, location, architect, building type or style, or significant figures, cultural groups, or types of activities associated with it. Present day and historic photos are also provided for each building, along with historic documents establishing dates of construction, owners, architects, uses, and alterations. Buildings include scores of houses of worship, theaters, schools, libraries, the country’s first public housing development, and one of the largest collections of intact tenements from the early 19th to the early 20th centuries.
Pack a bag and head into East Village Building Blocks at this link.
The arrival of the new tool coincides with the publication of "A History of the East Village and Its Architecture" by Francis Morrone.
Per GVSHP:
This report by the noted architectural historian documents the East Village’s history from Dutch settlement in the 17th century, to its development in the 19th century as a prosperous merchant burg and then immigrant gateway, to its evolution in the 20th century as an epicenter of abandonment and blight to a mecca for cultural innovation and rebirth, and its struggle in the 21st century to maintain its identity in the face of renewed popularity and success.
Read the report at this link. And you can find more about GVSHP's ongoing preservation efforts here.
Brodo opening a bone-broth outpost on Astor Place
The Brodo kiosk has arrived on Astor Place near the uptown 6 stop (thanks to Vinny & O for the photos)...
Marco Canora opened a Brodo to-go window on the First Avenue side of Hearth back in 2014... and bone broth became a thing, with the arrival of three more Brodo outposts (four with Astor Place), as well as a nationwide delivery service.
In an email, Canora told me that the Astor Place outpost is expected to open the last week of January.
Brodo is taking the place of the La Newyorkina kiosk on the north plaza for the winter season. La Newyorkina, which sells Mexican palettas and ices, returns this summer.
Ellis looking to bring comfort food to 6th Street
Updated Jan. 14: This item was withdrawn ahead of tonight's meeting.
A bar-restaurant called Ellis serving American comfort food is in the works for 503 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
A group of applicants are on this month's CB3-SLA agenda for a new liquor license for the address.
According to the questionnaire on file for public viewing at the CB3 website (PDF here), the establishment has proposed hours of 2 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday, with opening hours of 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The configuration shows 11 tables seating 48 guests and a bar with 15 stools.
The sample menu for Ellis on the questionnaire features a variety of salads and sandwiches, categorized under Smaller Plates and Larger Plates...
The applicants have operated a handful of bars, including the Trading Post on John Street in the Financial District and the Globe on 23rd Street. Closer to home, the applicants also own Solas on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, which regularly serves as a main stop during SantaCon.
Cholo Noir, the Chicano-inspired bar-restaurant, went out of business here last August, first with handwritten notes indicating the trusty "closed for renovations." They never reopened after 13 months at the address.
The CB3 committee is Monday night at 6:30. Location: the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
A solo show for PhoebeNewYork at 212 Arts
[Image via Instagram]
A solo show featuring PhoebeNewYork, the alter ego of local artist Libby Schoettle, will be on display starting tomorrow night at 212 Arts Gallery, 523 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Per 212:
Her new exhibit titled “Wall to Wall” will celebrate the always vulnerable, yet strong PhoebeNewYork, while laying bare how imperfect the life of a woman and an artist can be.
In this show, PhoebeNewYork is clearly conjured from an alchemy of the artist’s intimate introspections and public persona. Through her distinctively raw, cut-out forms PhoebeNewYork reveals so much about identity, woman-power, and rebellion.
The opening tomorrow night is from 6-9:30. The exhibit will be up through Jan. 29.
Some more of her work recently arrived outside the Bean on 3rd Street at Second Avenue...
Report: Andy Byford talks L-train changes and next steps at CB3 committee meeting
Andy Byford, CEO of the New York City Transit Authority, attended CB3's Transportation, Public Safety, & Environment Committee meeting last night for an L-train update.
As transportation reporter Aaron Gordon noted at Gothamist:
Byford only attends higher profile events like town halls and dispatches underlings to small community board meetings. But he told the roughly three dozen residents of CB3, which encompasses the Lower East Side from 14th Street to the Brooklyn Bridge, that he came in person because “I owe it to the community to come out and explain to you as best I can what we know about what has changed and to go through what hasn't changed.”
He outlined what Gov. Cuomo's new plan is... then went on to other topics, such as:
On the safety front, Byford is convening an engineering team, which he promises will be independent not just of the MTA but of New York politics, to review the new plan and ensure it does not jeopardize anyone’s safety. But he has not yet determined who will be the independent reviewers or when their report — which he promises to publicly release — will be done.
At the same time, his team at Transit will review how often the MTA can run L trains on nights and weekends when one of the two tubes is closed, what alternate service should be provided, and how best to communicate those changes to riders.
He reiterating throughout his talk that he will "not be steamrolled" by Cuomo's L-train desires.
About three dozen people were in attendance (there were rumors of Byford's appearance in the hours leading up the meeting). A few people asked questions:
Most of the questions focused on what would happen to the new bike lanes and 14th Street busway that had planned to ease commutes during a full L train shutdown. The bike lanes are entirely up to the Department of Transportation, said Byford, while the future of the 14th Street Select Bus Service will be a joint decision.
Read Gordon's full post at Gothamist via this link.
Mayor's new East River Park flood plan faces City Council scrutiny
On Jan. 23, City Council is holding a hearing with de Blasio administration officials about the updated East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. (Find the agenda item at this link.)
As you know, the Mayor's office announced a new vision for the long-delayed revamp to stormproof East River Park back in the fall. The updated plan is radically different than what had been discussed, and its expected cost will increase from $760 million to $1.45 billion, while closing and gutting the current East River Park for up to three and a half years. (The city's new design renderings are at this link.)
City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, whose district is most impacted by the new plans, announced the joint hearing of the City Council’s Committees on Parks and Environmental Protection yesterday.
Here's part of her statement:
"This hearing will finally give the Council and our community the chance to hear directly from the Mayor’s team and relevant agency commissioners regarding the recent changes to this monumental coastal protection project. Even with multiple community briefings and meetings with elected officials, we still do not have important details about this project, and I expect the Mayor’s team to come well prepared and help us understand the need for these drastic changes.
This new plan represents a fundamental departure from anything the City has previously discussed and would reportedly bring the projected cost of the project to $1.45 billion. The Mayor’s Office has failed to provide detailed analyses for explaining why this $700 million increase is necessary.
In addition, this new plan would require the closure of East River Park, the only real green space for tens of thousands of NYCHA residents and community members on the Lower East Side, for three years. Officials have not explained in any way how they will provide alternate outdoor space for this community, which has one of the highest asthma rates in the city.
We want a resilient city, and we will use this hearing to ensure that this project and others like it throughout the city can actually accomplish our progressive environmental goals."
The previous stormproofing as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Plan would have required closing a lane of the FDR and working around Con Edison power lines. However, city officials have said that building out the flood protection and reconstructing the park would eliminate these FDR traffic issues as well as speed up the construction process by one hurricane season.
In addition, the most recent version of the plan would transform the East River Park into a "world-class park" with a variety of courts for tennis and basketball and (fields for soccer) — all protected from storms and sea-level rise.
Meanwhile, tomorrow night, CB3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee will hear updates on the East Side Coastal Resiliency project. The committee meeting starts at 6:30. Location: BRC Senior Services Center, 30 Delancey St. between Chrystie and Forsyth.
[Proposed schedule via the city. Click to go big.]
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: The reality of storm-proofing East River Park in 2020
Storm center: Questions linger over updated plans for the East Side Coastal Resiliency project
New Ukrainian restaurant at 136 2nd Ave. now in the hiring phase
It has been a slow-go over at 136 Second Ave., where workers have been completing extensive renovations on the space between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street for the past two-plus years.
On May 6, 2016, workers erected the plywood in front of the vacant storefront, last in use by Bar 82. (RIP March 2013.)
The restaurant, whose name hasn't been disclosed just yet (going as UKI Freedom LLC on CB3 materials), is now hiring...
The applicants, listed as Greg Lebedowicz and Jerry Lebedowicz, were previously licensed for Nitedreams in Greenpoint from 2003 to 2008.
Back in July, CB3 OK's a full liquor license for No. 136.
Here are a few items from the meeting's official minutes (PDF here):
• "The applicant has stated that this location will be a restaurant which will host Ukrainian events, meetings and dinners by organizations from the longstanding local Ukrainian community."
• "It will operate as a full-service French American Ukrainian restaurant, with a kitchen open and serving food during all hours of operation."
• "Its hours of operation will be 8 A.M. to 2 A.M. all days"
There is a basement space here fitted with a bar and dining room for those meetings and events.
No word on an opening date.
Thanks to Steven for the photos yesterday!
Spellbound: From Cake Shake to Potter-themed Steamy Hallows on 6th Street?
Brown paper now covers the front windows at Cake Shake USA, the extreme milkshake establishment at 514 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. (The place had been dark since late November, per nearby residents.)
The space was run by Zach Neil, the pop-up theme bar entrepreneur behind Beetle House on Sixth Street as well as the now-closed Will Ferrell bar Stay Classy on the LES and the short-lived 'Merica NYC on Sixth Street. Cake Shake debuted back in August.
The storefront is a good bet to become Neil's latest venture — a Harry Potter-inspired coffee shop called Steamy Hallows. The Wall Street Journal mentioned the coming-soon cafe for the East Village in a feature last week on themed restaurants in NYC.
No address has been mentioned yet for Steamy Hallows, described on Instagram this way: "This witchy goth coffee shop serves up delicious coffee and tea potions, huge homemade cookies, in an atmosphere inspired by Harry Potter & Halloween."
Previously on EV Grieve:
Beetle House founder brings ridiculous milkshakes to 6th Street with Cake Shake
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