Report: Parent company of New York Sports Clubs fit for Chapter 11 filing

NYC gyms were permitted to reopen yesterday with reduced capacity and COVID-19 restrictions in place.

There were lines reported at some gyms, such as at the Blink on Avenue A.

One notable exception to the reopenings: New York Sports Clubs. On Tuesday, the owner of the chain said it may need to file for bankruptcy "in the near future."

Per Bloomberg:

Town Sports International is in talks with its lenders to refinance a loan coming due this fall as its cash flow and liquidity continue to tighten, the company said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. The gym owner and operator said it doesn’t have enough cash on hand to repay the debt when it comes due in November.

The company missed a payment on its revolver last month, violating terms of the debt. Lenders could send the company a notice of default and demand immediate repayment of all obligations, but none has done so yet, Town Sports said in the filing.

So the NYSC outposts in the area, such as the one at 28-30 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street that looks like a bad prototype for an Iron Man helmet, will remain shuttered for the foreseeable future.

Updated 9:30 a.m.

HOLD ON. EVG reader MP reports that the Astor Place location — "Elite by NYSC" — is open...

Printed Matter's lobby shop is open again on St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue

Printed Matter recently reopened in the lobby space at the Swiss Institute on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place.

For now, three customers are allowed at a time inside the shop specializing in art books, zines, prints and posters.

The hours are currently 2-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, noon-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-6 p.m. on Sunday...



Printer Matter, founded in 1976, opened the EV outpost in June 2018. The Swiss Institute will reopen to the public with a new exhibit on Sept. 9.

Census working overtime

All photos by Stacie Joy

Local elected officials gathered today on Seventh Street and Avenue B at the start of a march to help bring awareness to the importance of filling out the 2020 Census.



GOLES - Good Old Lower East Side hosted the event that included Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, State Sen. Brian Kavanagh, Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick, City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera and District leader John Blasco ...



Per the press materials:

New York City is facing record low Census response rates, especially in low-income areas and communities of color. For every 1 percent of the population missed in the 2020 Census, New York City could lose nearly $7.3 million in federal funding for public education.

With the next Census 10 years away, that means more than $70 million dollars that our city’s public schools could be deprived of over the next decade, with more than $4 million dollars lost to NY-12 alone. A 1 percent undercount also means NYC could lose $3.7 million per year for critical jobs programs. That’s nearly $40 million lost over the next decade for services like career counseling, mentoring, and apprenticeship.

The march, which included a drum line, ended in Astor Place.



Officials urged residents to fill out the Census forms online.

'Red Alert' at the Bowery Ballroom

The Bowery Ballroom was one of the more than 1,000 music venues across the country to bathe their facilities in red light last night to encourage Congress to pass the Restart Act.

Per Billboard:

Spearheaded by the #WeMakeEvents coalition, the #RedAlertRESTART campaign seeks to bring awareness to the dire situation live music faces if Capitol Hill does not supply support for venues that have been shuttered since mid-March in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was at the Bowery Ballroom on Delancey ... and shared this video clip...



Find more info at the National Independent Venue Association here.

Ki Smith Gallery coming to the Gusto House on 4th Street

When we lasted checked in at the Gusto House at 197 E. Fourth St., Colin Huggins and Shaina Martinez were live streaming operas from here between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The space was then available again... and the other night, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by to see East Village resident Ki Smith working inside... prepping the interior to be the new home of Ki Smith Gallery, which most recently showcased emerging artists from West 125th Street...



Smith has worked for 10 years as an independent curator. His résumé includes launching the Bushwick-based gallery and performance space Apostrophe in 2012.

We'll have more on the new location of the gallery in an upcoming post...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Making beautiful music: The pandemic-era arias coming from 4th Street

Wild Son-Good Night Sonny team bringing plant-based burgers to St. Mark's with Pop's Eat-Rite

Signage is up now at 123 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue for Pop's Eat-Rite, a plant-based burger joint...



Here's more about the operation via the team behind Good Night Sonny, the Wild Son and the Wayland:

Pop’s Eat-Rite is a plant-based fast service burger joint, opening on St. Mark's Place in September 2020. We will serve a classic smashburger, made using Impossible Meat. Our meatless menu is our updated take on a classic burger stand, with fries, veggie sides, vegan donuts, soft-serve, smoothies and frozen lemonade and will be entirely free of animal products.

Pop’s was born from the idea that the landscape of the restaurant industry has changed suddenly and like never before. In these times we want to offer our neighborhood a convenient, responsible product at a fair price...

Earlier in 2019, the team — Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall — had plans for a steakhouse at No. 123 (most recently Mr. White). However, CB3's SLA committee nixed a full-liquor request for that spot in March 2019.

Sao Mai back in action on 1st Avenue

In some positive restaurant news... the always reliable Vietnamese restaurant Sao Mai recently returned for takeout, delivery and curbside dining here at 203 First Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street...



They're open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (212) 358-8880. Find their menu here.

Thanks to EVG reader @rodenv for the tip and photos!

[Updated] Struggling B&H Dairy now contending with a mountain of garbage next door

B&H Dairy, already struggling with a downturn in business since reopening back in May, now has another challenge: the mountain of trash stacked up next to its curbside seating...



"Looks like it's from an vacated apartment," a B&H rep said, noting the trash has been there now for four days...



B&H, depending mostly on takeout and delivery, has a small footprint outside, with only a needful of tables ... which currently aren't too appealing next to the trash.

We tweeted the photos last night, which caught the attention of local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who shared it with 311 and the Department of Sanitation.

Updated 11 a.m.

The city removed the pile of trash... (Thanks @polly for the pic!)

Mani in Pasta closes on 14th Street

[Photo via Pinch]

A for rent sign is now up in the window at 245 E. 14th St., marking the end of Mani in Pasta's tenure here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

There isn't an official word from ownership yet about a closure. In early June, they launched a crowdfunding campaign after their shop was looted while on the COVID-19 PAUSE.

On June 2, at approximately 1 a.m. our 14th Street location got broken into and robbed. After business being closed for almost 8 weeks due to the current pandemic this strains our financial situation even more.

This restaurant is our home away from home, our provider. Not only to us but to our Family and Friends who have been with us since the very beginning. Our hearts are shattered with the realization that we could potentially close down permanently.

Mani in Pasta had plenty of fans, such as Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld at New York magazine who were impressed by the restaurant's Roman-style pizza via Giuseppe Manco, the pizzaiolo-chef and co-owner.

The pan pizza "is terrific — the crust dark and crackly around the edges, the tender crumb boasting the kind of webby, widely inscribed holes that hint of long fermentation. Manco attributes its texture to high-hydration dough that lazes about developing flavor for a whopping 96 to 110 hours, and the blend of flours he uses: wheat, soy, rice, and semolina."

This was the second location for the Italian restaurant when it opened back in December 2017. They also had a spot on 37th Street between Fifth and Madison.

To the memory of...

Multiple readers have shared photos of this memorial for Breonna Taylor on the fountain outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on Second Avenue at 10th Street...

Cooper Square Committee offering free online workshop to stay lead safe at home

Via the EVG inbox...

As we start gearing up for the fall season and indoor months to come, Cooper Square Committee is hosting a workshop for tenants, especially parents of young children, on staying lead safe at home.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it seems likely that parents and young children will spend more time in their apartments in the coming months, potentially increasing their exposure to lead hazards in the home, like dust and chipping or peeling paint.

Join tenants, advocates, and organizers for a workshop on the ways in which tenants can fight back against lead exposure in their buildings!

The free online workshop is tomorrow (Sept. 2) night at 7. You can resister at this link.

On the move

The top photo is from last night on Sixth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Not to be alarming, but there are reports that this unidentified object is growing and moving.

From Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square today ... as seen via the camera of Derek Berg...

Another look at lower 2nd Avenue

Back on Friday, we reported that Gemini Rosemont Development will build an 11-story condoplex on three properties on the east side of Second Avenue between Second Street and Third Street.

Demolition permits were filed this past Thursday to take down the former La Salle annex at 38 Second Ave. at Second Street...



Gemini Rosemont paid more than $55 million for the three contiguous parcels, which include the former (as of July 2015) Church of the Nativity.

This project joins several others to sprout up along Second Avenue below Fourth Street in recent years...

... including 31-33 Second Ave., which received a gut renovation and three extra floors to become luxury rentals called Luxe East...



... and there's 32 E. First St. at the site of the former BP station... the condo units here include the still-available $8.7 million penthouse...



... and Jupiter 21 at First Street where Mars Bar used to be...



... and coming soon to 14 Second Ave., the 10-story residential building — still in the foundation stage — called Treetops...



The development rush on Second Avenue, First Street and the Bowery got underway in 1997 when workers demolished the existing buildings to make way for the current Avalon Bowery Place complex... these shots by Steve Carter are on Second Avenue at First Street...

Baked Cravings opens today on St. Mark's Place

[Photo from Aug. 17]

Baked Cravings opens today at 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.

This is the second location for the bakery that specializes in fresh-baked nut- and peanut-free cupcakes, cakes, brownies and cookies. A speciality here: Cupcakes in a jar... pictured here with founder Craig Watson ...



Baked Cravings opened in East Harlem on Lexington at 105th Street in 2017.

The East Village shop is open noon to 8 p.m. daily. Phone: (917) 482-3887.

The former Oddfellows space is for rent on 4th Street

A for rent sign has arrived at 75 E. Fourth St., marking the official end of OddFellows here between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

As we noted on Aug. 24, the ice cream shop, shuttered since the COVID-19 PAUSE in March, had been emptied out... and the phone disconnected.

This spot, along with the outpost on East Houston, are no longer on the OddFellows website. Other locations of the Brooklyn-based small-batch ice cream company, which launched in 2013, are open, including a new spot at Gotham West Market.

OddFellows opened on Fourth Street in the spring of 2014.

Mermaid Inn has closed on 2nd Avenue

[Photo from Aug. 22]

Several readers have noted activity at the currently closed Mermaid Inn on Second Avenue... workers were spotted removing equipment from the casual seafood restaurant here between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.

The interior is now empty...



The East Village location is no longer on the Mermaid Inn's website; the phone is not in service. Mermaid Inn reps did not respond to requests for information about the Second Avenue outpost. Three other Mermaid Inn locations are currently open.

The Mermaid Inn arrived in the East Village back in 2003.

Updated:

As we were writing this up yesterday Eater confirmed the closure.

Co-owner Daniel Abrams and partner Cindy Smith decided to close the restaurant in the wake of failed attempts to reach a workable rent deal with the location's landlord amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

"The situation is untenable," Abrams says in a phone interview. "The PPP has run out. There's no money to pay landlords. We go to landlords like beggars hoping they'll give us a handout."

Abrams also wrote an open farewell letter, which includes this passage:

We are sharing this information to illustrate what ONE SINGLE RESTAURANT adds to its community and to the city. Many restaurants have closed since COVID and many more will close as the pandemic continues. The ripple effect will be incalculable.

Over the years The Mermaid Inn on Second Ave has:
• Welcomed over 850,000 guests
• Paid over $15M in wages to our more than 3000 employees who have spent Ime with us
• Contributed more than $2.1M in taxes to the city, the state, Medicare, SS, UI, etc
• Sent in excess of 4M in Sales Tax to NYS
• Paid over 15M to our hundreds of hard working vendors
• Given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city and state for permits, licenses, etc

We are providing these numbers to show the effect the closing of a SINGLE restaurant has. Now mulIply that by THOUSANDS of NYC restaurants closing. The loss of opportunity for employees, the loss of income for city, state and local governments, the loss of sales to our fish companies, our vegetable company, the linen company, even the company that comes to take our used oyster shells or our discarded grease. If we don’t pay them, they do not pay their employees and so on and so on. The chain is never ending.

Noted

Thanks to Eden and Steven for this crime report via the Citizen app...

6 posts from August

[Outside the former Gem Spa via Steven]

A mini month in review...

• Friends and neighbors come together to help Chef Lek at Lui's Thai Food (Aug. 18)

• A visit to East Village Acupuncture & Massage (Aug. 14)

• Checking in with Chico (Aug. 10)

• East Village Loves Queens expands: Meet East Village Loves NYC (Aug. 10)

• New 5th Street coffee shop closes in less than 2 months; owner says the 9th Precinct's barricades 'greatly restricted' his foot traffic (Aug. 5)

• East Village bar owner petitioning against Cuomo’s COVID-19 menu mandate has liquor license suspended for not serving food (Aug. 5)

Support for Punjabi Grocery and Deli

Punjabi Grocery and Deli at 114 E. First St. between Avenue A and First Avenue enjoyed an uptick in business over the weekend... where some social media reports showed a line to enter the small shop (there currently is a two-person limit inside).

The inexpensive eats favorite reopened on July 10 after being closed for four months during the COVID-19 PAUSE.

As previously reported, there have been concerns through the years about Punjabi's future. The never-ending East Houston Reconstruction Project finally wrapped up at the end of 2018 — just six years behind schedule.

For nearly nine years, the construction zone eliminated parking spaces for cab drivers, who are a sizable share of Punjabi's business, making it nearly impossible for them to stop in for a meal or break. Those who did stop faced getting a ticket. Plus, there has been an overall decline of cab drivers in the Lyft-Uber era.

So Punjabi Grocery and Deli fan Jessica Morgulis launched a crowdfunding campaign back on Friday. Nicolas Heller, aka @NewYorkNico, helped amplify the campaign to his more than 400,000 Instagram followers.

As of this morning, the campaign had reached $38,000 of its $50,000 goal.

Meanwhile, cab drivers will still have challenges stopping by ... the taxi relief stand that finally arrived in July 2019 along Houston Street has been removed to accommodate the ongoing construction for a 9-story residential building next door...



This build has been a slow-go to date. The plywood arrived in May 2018, and workers are still in the foundation stages.

As for Punjabi's food, it's better than ever. Here's part of Scott Lynch's recap from two recent visits for Gothamist:

The trays holding everything from vegetable curries to fried samosas to sweet gulab jamun were all stocked full and fresh, the selection as extensive as ever, the prices still astonishingly low.

I ate way too much both times and everything was spectacular. This is all skillfully prepared food, loaded with flavor and much more spicy than I remembered. And, at $7, the combo platter of nicely chewy long grain rice topped with your choice of three vegetable curries—I went with the thick pureed spinach, the barely-sweet squash, and the lively "black chickpeas" — remains one of the best deals in town.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• How you can help Punjabi Grocery & Deli stay in business

• Never-ending construction continues to hurt Punjabi Grocery & Deli

• Taxi Relief Stand arrives on Avenue A; Punjabi Grocery & Deli relieved

• Concern again for Punjabi Grocery & Deli on 1st Street

• At long last a taxi relief stand for East Houston and 1st Street outside Punjabi Grocery & Deli

Sun's Laundry closes after more than 60 years on 14th Street

A for-real end of an era at 626 E. 14th St., where Sun's Laundry has closed... several EVG readers told us that family members gathered here on Saturday to officially say goodbye to the business that Robert Lee opened with his father in this storefront between Avenue B and Avenue C in 1959...



In recent years Mr. Lee had reduced the business hours to two to three days a week as he contemplated retirement. The shop closed at the start of the COVID-19 PAUSE, and only recently reopened so patrons could retrieve any remaining items.

A nephew, Robert Gee, told Gothamist that the decision to close was made for the family with the COVID-19 crisis.

For Lee, 84, and his wife, Wai Hing Lee, 76, who works alongside him, commuting to the shop from their home in Elmhurst, Queens, was too big of a risk during the pandemic.

"With stay-at-home, there's no need for work clothes," said Gee. "And even earlier than that, the rise of business-casual attire in the workplace has had an impact on the Chinese laundry business because there’s less dry cleaning and less pressed blouses needed for work."

Building resident (since 1981) Carol Kostik told Gothamist: "It does feel like the end of an era with times changing in New York, but Mr. Lee has earned his retirement many times over, so we all wish him well."

Thank you to @NycAuntie for the photos!