An East Village inventory check

Yesterday (March 13) afternoon, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by a variety of East Village shops to check on their inventory of food and cleaning supplies as residents prepare for the coronavirus outbreak.

The bigger stores (Target, Trader Joe's) had longer lines and emptier shelves of in-demand items, as you might expect. Some of the smaller shops, especially along First Avenue, still had ample products, such as Clorox wipes and ingredients for making your own hand sanitizer.

The first few photos of at Key Food, 52 Avenue A at Fourth Street...







All photos were of these store shelves as they appeared yesterday afternoon.

• H Brickman & Sons, 55 First Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street









• Rite Aid, 81 First Ave. at Fifth Street (had very little inventory upon Stacie's visit)





• Saifee Hardware & Garden, 114 First Ave. at Seventh Street (They had a great supply, per Stacie)











• Commodities Health Food, 165 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street





• NYC Pharmacy 206 First Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street





• David Halladay Hill, aka the Fix-it Fairy, at H&W Hardware, 220 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street







• Trader Joe's, 436 E. 14th St. near Avenue A











• Target, 500 E. 14th St. at Avenue A







• CTown Supermarket, 188 Avenue C between 11th Street and 12th Street

Report of a fire yesterday at 138 1st Ave.

Early yesterday morning, the FDNY responded to a report of a fire at 138 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street...

MAN ALL HANDS 138 1 AVE, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 1ST FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) March 13, 2020

EVG reader Linda, who shared the top photo taken yesterday afternoon, noted that the FDNY arrived around 5:40 a.m.
"There were no flames and really no apparent smoke. But they spent 45 minutes on the roof via two hook & ladders," she said.

One building source said that it was an electrical fire, starting in the courtyard area in the rear of the building.

As of last night, East Village Wines, the retail tenant, was back open with some temporary lighting and a smokey aroma.


[Photo yesterday by Steven]

No word on the tenants. As you can see, windows on the upper floors have been boarded up...


[Photo today by Steven]

Keep an 'Eye' out

Habibi, the Brooklyn-based garage-rock band, has a new LP out titled Anywhere But Here. The video here is for "Angel Eyes."

Friday morning grocery store spot check

You all probably heard about, or experienced, long lines at neighborhood grocery stores yesterday — from mid-afternoon into the evening as news of the novel coronavirus grew more troubling.

David Caplan at 1010 WINS paid a visit to Key Food on Avenue A...

Here's the scene at Key Food on Avenue A in the East Village #coronavirus #1010WINS pic.twitter.com/qAek6JXc9b

— David Caplan (@DavidCaplanNYC) March 12, 2020

And Whole Foods on the Bowery...

Meanwhile, at Whole Foods on Houston St. #coronavirus #1010WINS pic.twitter.com/IfExd6BK2d

— David Caplan (@DavidCaplanNYC) March 12, 2020

And there was the zombie apocalypse at every Trader Joe's.

I went to Key Food on Avenue A this morning around 7:30 not sure what to expect...



It was pretty quiet. There were roughly 10 other shoppers there at the time: two people stocking up on pantry-type goods with the remainder buying items for the day — a half gallon of milk, a box of frozen waffles, etc.



At this hour, you could tell the supermarket had seen a lot of sales, though there were still plenty of items on the shelves ... except for: toilet paper. They were all out. Ditto for Clorox Wipes and other disinfectants. The paper towel supply was pretty low too. There weren't many Coca-Cola products left (at least in 12-pack-can form). However, there was a Coca-Cola truck out front making a delivery. The meat department was pretty picked over, though a worker was taking inventory to replenish the area. (There were also multiple packages of chicken feet left.)





Meanwhile, EVG contributor Steven did a spot check at Westside Market on Third Avenue at 12th Street... he notes that it was pretty well-stocked ... with workers putting out more groceries...



Some of the rice supply was hit and miss...



And we've received reports that the C-Town on Avenue C at 11th Street has an ample supply of toilet paper. For now.

Thursday's parting shot

As seen on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C... photo by Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.

Noted

Spotted in the curbside trash today on Second Avenue ... won't need this for awhile. Photo by Derek Berg...

Bronx Brewery opening an East Village outpost on 2nd Avenue this fall

The Bronx Brewery is headed to the East Village.

Yesterday, ownership announced its expansions plans with a two-level outpost opening this fall at 64 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street...


[Photo by Steven]

Some details about the new Bronx Brewery East Village via their announcement:

The Bronx Brewery East Village will combine limited-release brewing, the brewery’s signature events, art & music from rising stars across NYC, and a special guest in the kitchen.

The space will bring the brewery’s goal of building community through a diverse, creative and inclusive environment to an iconic neighborhood long known for its creative energy.

The Bronx Brewery East Village will be designed as a communal space, no matter the time of day. From brunch to a beer with friends to a night of live DJs, its multilevel layout – including immersive seating in the pilot brewhouse – will feature a variety of ways to engage with the space.

Murals and revolving street art will cover the walls and hi-fi sound will saturate the space, creating a showcase for New York City’s top up-and-coming artists, DJ’s and live acts.

The space will also give the brewery another vehicle to give back to the local community, with the limited-release brew series set to be used as a recurring fundraising platform for community organizations in the South Bronx and East Village. Earlier this year, the Brewery supported Puerto Rico relief efforts in collaboration with Bronx performer Richie ‘Crazy Legs’ Colon, while the Brewery will continue to open its doors as a venue for charitable causes.

They opened the Taproom, Brewery and Backyard in the South Bronx nine years ago.

The Bronx Brewery team is planning a Meet the Neighbors party in the space before construction begins this spring. No word on a date just yet.

No. 64's retail space has been vacant for nearly four years. NYC Velo moved next door to No. 66 in the spring of 2016.

The building sold to an LLC with a West 22nd Street address for $6.95 million in March 2018, per public records.

First hint of future development at the current home of B Bar & Grill

[EVG file photo]

On Tuesday, reps for the owners of 358 Bowery filed a work permit for this space on the southwest corner of the Bowery and Fourth Street.

The job description reads this way, in the all-caps style of the Department of Buildings:

REMOVE AND REPLACE ALL COMBUSTIBLE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS WITH NON COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS. CHANGE CONSTRUCTION CLASSIFICATION OF BUILDING FROM CLASS 3 NON-FIREPROOF (38 CODE) TO CLASS 1-E (1968 CODE).

Not the biggest breaking-news type of work order. What makes it interesting is the hint of future development on this corner that it offers: Prolific architect Morris Adjmi is listed as the applicant of record, per the DOB.



Adjmi's high-end residential projects in the neighborhood include 45 E. Seventh St., 363 Lafayette, 250 Bowery and 116 University Place. (He also designed the building that will eventually go up at 3 St. Mark's Place.)

As reported last fall, CB Developers paid $59.5 million for a stake in 358 Bowery — the current home of the B Bar & Grill. Hotelier Eric Goode, who owns B Bar, has been assembling air rights to build a larger project on this corner space.

This warehousing of parcels will likely also mean the end of B Bar & Grill, which opened in 1994. There aren't any announcements on the B Bar's website, though they are only taking reservations now through April 9.

Previously on EV Grieve:
CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

The former Hot Kitchen space is for rent

[Photo by Steven]

The for rent sign arrived back on Monday for 104 Second Ave., the former Hot Kitchen space at Sixth Street.

This officially brings a close to the revolving door of restaurants in the space spanning several months, from Hot Kitchen, the occupant since 2011 to, briefly, Sushi & Sake, to, also briefly, Jiang Diner, which returned to its original Fifth Street outpost.

Now a new tenant can give the space a go. The asking rent is $17,500 for the 1,500 square-foot main space (with another 600 square feet in the basement), per the listing.

Sexyflow moves on from Avenue A

After nearly five years at 205 Avenue A, the Sexyflow hair salon recently moved away... there's a note on the door for patrons interested in finding their undisclosed new location...



Sexyflow opened in July 2015 in the retail space of Icon Realty's expanded residential building here between 12th Street and 13th Street.

Thanks to Lola Sáenz for the photos last week!

The new-look 107 Avenue C

Workers recently painted over the Zum Schneider murals on the rolldown gates here on Avenue C and Seventh Street, as these photos by Steven show...



The Zum lettering came down on Feb. 27.

Local mural legend Chico created the gate art here back in August 2016...


[Photo from 2016 by Daniel Root]

The biergarten closed at the end of February after 20 years at 107 Avenue C. The co-op board here reportedly didn't offer the Zum team a lease renewal. Owner Sylvester Schneider has said he will reopen elsewhere in NYC.

No word on a new tenant for the space at No. 107, but someone always likes to say Starbucks.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Last Christmas for Zum Schneider on Avenue C: Biergarten on the move in 2020

• More details about Zum Schneider's February closing date on Avenue C