Repairs finally for the 'warped' intersection of 1st Avenue and 7th Street

Workers from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are back at the intersection of Seventh Street and First Avenue to replace portions of the water main...

As you may recall, there were back-to-back breaks here in late December ... the ruptures sent water rushing into businesses and residences along Seventh Street. 

It took a while for these more substantial repairs. The "fucked-up street surface," as one nearby resident called it, has been a topic of frustration in conversations on the East Village Neighbors Facebook group (and in the EVG inbox) this late winter and early spring.

In the weeks/months after the breaks, there was a patchwork of quick fixes on the wonky-looking intersection...

Said one resident: "Basically, the second water main break warped the avenue ... They come out to jackhammer constantly, make a hole, fill it with dirt, and then it caves in. "

Then another sinkhole would form.

And after residents file a complaint: "They come, throw some asphalt onto a sunken hole, leave and nothing is fixed."

The DEP contractors then started covering the holes with metal plates instead ... and the sound of cars, trucks and buses driving over the plates overnight has disrupted the sleep of some residents living nearby.

Said the previously quoted resident: "The trucks wake me up at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 a.m. and I've started getting migraines, which I've never had."

Hopefully, the repairs that started this week will prevent any future breaks and stabilize the roadway — and put an end to the various headaches.

Today at Temperance Fountain

A reader shared the above photo from Tompkins Square Park from earlier this afternoon... and this evening... East Village resident Tom Manco of Manco Studio set up his latest upcycled cardboard installation... this one in honor of Mother's Day... photo by Steven...

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's the latest NY See panel, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood and elsewhere...

Take part in this Jacob Riis Art Walk today

Local artists Lee Jiménez and Joalis Silva are giving a tour this afternoon of their artwork currently on display outside the Jacob Riis Houses...

The art walk starts at 1 p.m. in the roundabout on 10th Street between Avenue D and the FDR (Jiménez's photos taken during 2020 are hanging in this area). 

If you can't make it today, then take the time on another day (it should be up all summer) to check out their work inspired by the Riis community.

Photo of Joalis Silva via Instagram. The top pic in the post is part of the Lee Jiménez display.

Reconstruction of the McKinley Playground appears to be winding down

Here's a look at the reconstruction of the McKinley Playground on Fourth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue... where work started last September here adjacent to The Neighborhood School (PS 363) and Star Academy (PS 63). 

Workers have put in a new playground and spray shower as well as safety surfacing, benches, lighting, play equipment, etc.

And there's a new "comfort station"...

And a view through the fence...

And for more details on the final product...

The NYC Parks website states that the project is 84-percent complete. There's a September completion date, though the rendering onsite lists a summer finish.

Sly Fox is open for REAL now

Back on April 16 we were today that Sly Fox was reopening at 140 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street — first time serving since March 2020. 

Unfortunately, a bicycling mishap involving the bartender pushed back that opening. 

However, now... the bar in the Ukrainian National Home is up and running nightly at 6 (as of May 1).

Go say hi to Andrej behind the bar...

Thanks to Steven for the photos!

Hot dog!? Crif Dogs reopens on St. Mark's Place

Crif Dogs reopened yesterday — for the first time since the PAUSE of March 2020 — here at 113 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

The hot doggery is now in its 20th year, having debuted in 2001.

Hours: Wednesday-Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m. Find their Instagram here.

H/T Vinny & O. Old photo by EVG.

On University Place, Agata & Valentina has closed ahead of building demolition, condo construction

Agata & Valentina, the specialty grocery store at 64-66 University Place between 10th Street and 11th Street, has closed. April 26 was its last day here. 

The date was a few weeks earlier than some folks expected. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the New York State Department of Labor in February stated that the store would permanently shutter on May 12. (H/T Bayou for that tip earlier this year.)

Argo Real Estate paid $30 million for the building in 2019, city records show. There isn't any public record of what they have planned for this space a few blocks from Washington Square Park. In March, Village Preservation reported that a 12-story building is possible. 

Efforts to landmark No. 64-66 were not successful: Demolition permits were issued for this four-story building back in February, per the DOB. (The tenant on the upper floors, the Institute of Audio Research, closed in 2017.) 

Agata & Valentina, which opened here in 2012, will continue on from their original (1993) Upper East Side location.

Go Fish: Osakana sets up for sushi on St. Mark's Place

Signage/branding is up now for Osakana at 42 1/2 St. Mark's Place just east of Second Avenue...

This will be a second location for the Brooklyn-based (Graham Avenue!) Japanese-style fish market and education center, which offers a variety of cooking classes and demonstrations. 

Aside from a seafood market, they'll be offereing a variety of fresh-fish and ramen options for pick-up or delivery. (Details here.) 

Osakana, a spin-off operation from Japanese restaurant Okonomi//Yuji Ramen, first opened in Brooklyn in the summer of 2016.

This space was previously Zoku Sushi, a delivery-only service.

Photos by Steven

Wednesday's parting shot

A moment on First Avenue by Daniel Efram...

EVG Etc.: Celebrating Lower East Side History Month; Reopening restaurants to full capacity

• Woman punched in the head in a robbery while exiting the L train on 14th Street and First Avenue (PIX 11)

• A Q&A with Eric Sze, the co-owner of 886 on St. Mark's Place and founder of the grassroots initiative Enough Is Enough (Eater) 

• Events for Lower East Side History Month (Official site) 

• Asian American history in the neighborhood (Off the Grid) 

• The number of NYC pedestrian fatalities is up 65 percent in the first four months of this year (Gothamist) 

• Subways coming back to 24/7 schedule (Jalopnik) ... with restaurants hitting full capacity on May 19 (Eater NY) 

• Sheldon Silver returns to the LES after early release from prison (NY1) 

• Why Bagel Boss is expanding with locations on 14th Street and East Houston (Forbes... first on EVG)

• Amelia feeds her red-tailed offspring in Tompkins Square Park (Laura Goggin Photography) 

... and thanks to Nat Esten for letting us know that the Bean's new awnings arrived yesterday on Second Avenue and Third Street...

A look at local vaccination progress

This Gothamist headline yesterday read that "Most Of New York City Remains Undervaccinated." 

Vaccine hesitancy and barriers to access are cited as among the top reasons why more residents haven't received at least one dose of the vaccine. 

Per Gothamist:

About 44% of New York City residents have received at least one COVID-19 shot, and about 32% are fully vaccinated. But some neighborhoods are much further along than others. In wealthier and whiter zip codes, more than two-thirds of residents are at least partially vaccinated (one zip code in the Financial District is at 89%). Most neighborhoods in upper Manhattan, Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island are well below half their populations being fully vaccinated.

The article includes a map of vaccinations by zip code via statistics by the NYC Department of Health. 

Here's a look at zip codes in this area: 

10009 

Partially vaccinated: 58 percent 

Fully vaccinated: 42 percent 

10003 

Partially vaccinated: 62 percent 

Fully vaccinated: 45 percent 

10002 

Partially vaccinated: 60 percent 

Fully vaccinated: 43 percent

As of late April, appointments are no longer necessary at city- and state-run vaccination sites. The COVID vaccine finder is here. 

You can also schedule an appointment for certain vaccination sites by calling 877-VAX-4NYC (877-829-4692). Free transportation to vaccination appointments in NYC is available for city residents 65 and older and those with disabilities who have no other way to get to a vaccination site. To arrange for transportation, call 877-VAX-4NYC (877-829-4692).

Mayor de Blasio has set a goal of vaccinating 5 million New Yorkers by July 1.

Wine bar in the works for this former dry cleaners on 1st Avenue

Work continues at the former Exquisite Cleaners, where a wine bar is in the works here on the southwest corner of First Avenue and Third Street. 

Jorge Arias is on this month's CB3 SLA committee agenda Monday evening for the unnamed bar "specializing in small, handmade wines." (This item will not be heard in front of the committee.) 

The questionnaire (PDF here) on the CB3 website shows that the space will have five tables for 30 guests and a six-seat bar. The proposed hours are noon to midnight daily. 

Arias operates several like-minded businesses, including the Wine Hut on Sixth Avenue and, closer to home, Urban Wine & Spirits a few storefronts away. 

Exquisite Cleaners closed last summer ... one of 10 dry cleaners in the East Village to close during the pandemic.

Plywood for the former Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place

Workers put up this plywood yesterday at what was the entrance to the Grassroots Tavern at 20 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

We have no idea what's happening here. A DOB permit — filed in late April — simply lists the placement of a fence on the property.

We've seen some construction activity here off and on the past few years... though a look inside the door revealed a big empty space. (Once, we spotted a set of golf clubs and a grill.)

Hard to believe that the Grassroots has been gone this long already, closing after service on New Year’s Eve 2017... ending a 42-year run.

As noted many times before, No. 20, known as the Daniel LeRoy House, was built in 1832 here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. (It received landmark status in 1971 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.)

Past lives of this subterranean space — via Daytonian in Manhattan — include a theater-saloon called Paul Falk's Tivoli Garden in the 1870s... in the 1930s, the Hungarian Cafe and Restaurant resided here before becoming a temperance saloon called the Growler.

After the Grassroots closed, Bob Precious tried to open a bar-pub here, but those plans never materialized after 18 months. It remains empty three-and-a-half years later.

Applicants for Ichibantei had been on the CB3-SLA agenda multiple times dating to November 2018 for a liquor license for a new restaurant in the former Sounds storefront upstairs. There was speculation that they were also taking the GR space.

Next? Dunno, aside from a lot of tags on that fresh plywood tapestry.

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

• Last call at the Grassroots Tavern

• Behold these murals uncovered behind the bar at the former Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place

Tony's Pizza signage arrives on 2nd Avenue

The signage is up now for the new tenant at 128 Second Ave. — Tony's Pizza. 

We reported last month that a pizzeria is in the works for this space between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place that previously housed Nolita Pizza ... which left last June after a year for a newer outpost down on Kenmare Street.

Not sure at the moment if this Tony is related to any other Tony's Pizza places, like the one out on Graham Avenue in East Williamsburg. 

Previously here: Kati Roll Company bowed out in April 2019 after just under three years in business. The longtime previous tenant at the address, The Stage, the 35-year-old lunch counter, closed in March 2016 following an ongoing legal/eviction battle with Icon Realty, who had taken over as the landlord.

We're going to need larger solar-powered, rat-proof trash cans

A reader shared this photo today from 10th Street and Avenue A.

Updated:

And via Steven...

RIP Madelaine (Dee) Ferro

Via the EVG inbox...

Residents of Saint Mark's Place greatly miss their friend Madelaine (Dee) Ferro, who passed away this past week at NYU Langone from complications due to COVID-19. Dee leaves two children and many friends, who she always had time for. She was known for her great devotion to animal care. 

Her viewing is today from 4-9 p.m. (with a religious service at 6 p.m.) at Peter Jarema Funeral Home, 129 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. There will be a mass tomorrow morning at 9:30 at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church, 101 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, followed by burial in the Bronx.

 Thank you to Allen Semanco

Volunteers at East Village Loves NYC prepare meal for Ramadan; celebrate 1st anniversary

East Village Loves NYC — the local volunteer group that formed last spring to feed people in need during the pandemic — is continuing to make meals and celebrating the multiple religious holidays of New Yorkers

For Ramadan, the volunteers collaborated on an interfaith dinner. Per the group's website: "In Islam, there is a concept called Iftar. It occurs during Ramadan, and it's a time where Muslims all over the world serve free food so that people from all walks of life can eat together."

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the Sixth Street Community Center between Avenue B and Avenue C the other day as the volunteers prepped the meals that went to five mosques in the Bronx and one on Long Island...

East Village Loves NYC — which has attracted some 400 volunteers — recently celebrated its first anniversary.... and in that time, has cooked more than 100,000 meals for New Yorkers during the pandemic ... not to mention donated 325,000-plus pounds of groceries and 7,000-plus pantry bags.

As they noted on Instagram:

What started with our team of five or six friends doing a cooking session to help their neighborhood, turned into a massive family of hundreds of volunteers gathering every week to deliver thousands of meals to New York City.

Early on, Ali Sahin, the owner of C&B Cafe on Seventh Street near Avenue B, donated his space on Mondays for the group to cook its meals. By last June, they had outgrown the space and started assembling deliveries at the Sixth Street Community Center. By the end of the summer, East Village Loves Queens expanded operations and announced its new name — East Village Loves NYC. 

Find out more about the group and how to donate at this link. Follow them on Instagram here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• These East Village residents are helping feed families in Queens during the COVID-19 crisis

• East Village volunteers expand their outreach to feed more neighbors in need

• East Village Loves Queens expands: Meet East Village Loves NYC

Watching 21-23 Avenue B merge and grow

We've been keeping an eye on the gut renovation and vertical expansion at 21-23 Avenue B in recent months.

As we first reported back in October, workers are adding two new floors and combining the existing two four-story structures here between Second Street and Third Street ...

New York Yimby had some new details about the project the other day... such as!

The new building will now stand six stories above ground, each with a cellar level and a communal roof terrace. The neighboring properties will each house seven apartments and comprise 9,800 square feet.

And...

All combined, available apartments will include six five-bedroom homes and eight two-bedroom units, with select units offering private outdoor space. All residents will have access to a large open-air roof terrace and cellar-level bike storage. In addition to a residential lobby, two 800-square-foot commercial suites will occupy the ground floor of each building...

Icon Realty's Terrence Lowenberg is behind this project set to be complete later in 2022. 

Here's a look at the finished project via Gambino + LaPorta Architecture...

Intellectual property: Thirsty Scholar giving way to the Long Pour

Renovations continue at the former Thirsty Scholar, 155 Second Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street... the Thirsty Scholar signage has been removed. (Thank you to Melissa McIntyre for this photo from yesterday morning!)

As previously reported, new owners, David Harris and Cris Nastasi, will be opening a like-minded bar here called the Long Pour. Harris served as manager of Bull McCabe's on St. Mark's Place and previously worked as a bartender at now-closed block-mates the Telephone Bar & Grill and Ryan's Irish Pub. Nastasi was born and raised in the neighborhood and spent 15 years as the technical director of "Stomp" at the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue.

And Pete the bartender from the Thirsty Scholar will be working at the Long Pour as well.

H/T Steven