Thursday, June 3, 2021
Think Coffee's brand-new curbside dining space catches fire on 4th Avenue
Stickett Inn bringing its cider to 1st Avenue
Per its website, real-life husbands Johnny Pizzolato and Roswell Hamrick opened the Stickett Inn on Route 92 in Barryville, N.Y. (Sullivan County!) back in 2012.
As Out previously reported: "In 2017 the brand expanded with Stickett Inn Cider, the dry and mildly tart signature beverage of the property's Bang Bang Bar." (An aside: the Bang Bang Bar serves Pinks Tacos, whose flagship location is right around the corner from the new cider spot on 10th Street.)
The opening of the Stickett Inn Cider EV outpost looks imminent ... as there has been a lot of activity in the space of late.
Thanks to Steven for the photo!
Tony's Pizza debuts on 2nd Avenue
This is the first of two Tony's for the East Village. Signage is up now for a Tony's Pizza at 231 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street — the former Vinny Vincenz, which closed in April.
H/T Steven and Upper West Sider!
Rockwood Music Hall returns with live music starting tonight
Per their announcement on Instagram: "For the time being, all upcoming shows will be 100% COVID-19 vaccinated crowds (including artists and staff)."
For more details and guidelines, check out their link here. You can find a list of shows at this link.
This is the first time that Rockwood Music Hall has been open since the PAUSE of March 2020. The venue was to celebrate its 15th-anniversary last year.
Nearby on Stanton Street, Arlene's Grocery has been hosting some in-person events (calendar here). Also nearby: Live music returns to the Mercury Lounge starting on June 26.
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
'It's ok to cry'
HUGO GYRL created this in honor of Sophie Xeon, the Grammy-nominated experimental pop artist, producer and trans-rights activist who died in a fall at age 34 in January.
Per @hugogyrl's post on Instagram:
Happy pride Sophie; wish you were here to make your futuristic, post-Queer, post-body, post-music, music for us. Your work really touched me and it fucked me up when you died — I was always so excited to hear whatever you put out in the world.And...
While I was painting this, so many people stopped and expressed how much you meant to them. I'm not so great at portraits, but tons of people recognized you. Anyway, thanks for helping us envision a future, if that makes sense? You were/are a true creative icon, and a Queer and Trans Legend.Photo by @hugogyrl
RIP Penny Rand
Her friends recall her as a talented photographer and clothing designer as well as a loyal community member and housing activist.
With city budget cuts preventing the usual maintenance of Tompkins Square Park this past year, Rand helped organized volunteer days to pick up trash and weed and rake parts of the gardens.
In March 2015, she started the Sidewalks of New York Facebook group, which attracted nearly 4,600 members who shared "memories of New York, past and present."
Her decades-long residency dating to the early 1970s here included a friendship with Allen Ginsberg ... and allowed her to document the early days of punk. (Her photo of Harley Flanagan graces the cover of the Stimulators' first single from 1980, "Loud Fast Rules!")
Rand was an animal lover and adored her dog Leeluu and cat Annie.
She will be interred at a private graveside service this afternoon at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn. Rand's friends are planning a celebration of her life in the Tompkins Square Park dog run on June 10 from 4-7 p.m.
Thank you to Steven for the reporting on this post.
787 Coffee is opening a new location (and office) on 10th Street at 2nd Avenue
A tipster told us about this pending arrival, and 787 Coffee confirmed the news.
The space that was previously Third Rail Coffee (on the right in the above photo) will serve as 787's retail space, while the former dry cleaners next door will be an office for the company.
With this opening, 787 will have four East Village locations, joining 131 E. Seventh St., 101 Second Ave. and 319. E. 14th St. (The company currently has eight coffee shops citywide.)
The Seventh Street store, which opened in October 2018, was the first for co-owners Brandon Pena and Sam Sepulveda, who wanted to bring Puerto Rican coffee to NYC. Their coffee is grown and roasted from a mountain-top farm in Maricao. (And 787 takes its names from Puerto Rico's area code.)
Third Rail Coffee did not reopen here following the PAUSE of March 2020. Next door, Danny's Cleaners merged their business with Lois Cleaners on the southeast corner of 10th Street and Third Avenue.
Thanks to Steven for the photo!
Spiegel said to be returning to 1st Avenue
Several readers say they have seen owner Shmulik Avital at the space in recent days. (He apparently confirmed the news of the return to one reader.)
There isn't any notice of a reopening on the Spiegel Instagram account, and no one responded to a message about the comeback.
The corner cafe that first opened in 2014 was serving takeout and delivery for part of last summer before going dark in early August. While there wasn't an official notice about a closure on any fronts, workers removed the signage on Sept. 9. The storefront has remained vacant since then.
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Tenants: Pigeons have made empty apartment a health hazard in this Steve Croman-owned building on 7th Street
According to the residents, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation by the landlord, four rent-regulated apartments remain vacant (since 2019) in the 12-unit building.
One of the residences, apartment 4A, is said to be in deplorable shape.
Tenants say that someone left a window open inside the apartment. As the photos below show, the apartment is now home to several pigeons... as well as several dead pigeons. The apartment is also "filled with feces, flies and maggots on the dead animals," per the tenants, who have dubbed this space "Croman's Poison Pigeon Coop."
Croman's management company and the New York State Attorney General's office were made aware of these conditions on May 8. However, neither side responded to the conditions, the tenants said. (The tenants also said they were disappointed with the lack of action by the AG's Tenant Monitor, established as part of Croman's settlement with the State.)
Meanwhile, at least one city agency is investigating the conditions in the apartment... which you can see for yourself ... 
Croman was released from jail in June 2018 after serving eight months for mortgage and tax fraud. In a separate civil case with the AG's office, Croman agreed to pay $8 million to the tenants he was accused of bullying out of their rent-regulated apartments.
Croman agreed to relinquish direct control of his 100-plus rental buildings — including 47 with 617 units in the East Village — for the next five years as part of a settlement agreement. NYC Management — a division of the Besen Group — serves as the property manager for the portfolio.
According to a published report at The Real Deal in October 2019, "The notorious landlord is back in action and hasn't changed his ways" since his release from behind bars.
Department of Buildings: 202 Avenue A does not have a 'valid certificate of occupancy'
According to published reports, Tyler Thorpe was heading to the roof of the 5-story building to hang out with friends around 1 a.m.
Media outlets were quick to note that this was the second fatal fall from a Manhattan building in less than a week.
On May 22, Cameron Perrelli reportedly slipped and fell while climbing up from 202 Avenue A to the roof next door at 200 Avenue A.
"These accidents will not stop till something is done," her father, Louis Perrelli, told the Daily News on Saturday. "It is so heartbreaking for my family, and now another has to endure this tragedy."
In one development involving 202 Avenue A, the Department of Buildings inspected the address on May 26 regarding a "report of recreational use of the rooftop, contrary to the C of O."
The inspector found the following, per public records:
OBSERVED ROOF CONVERTED TO RECREATION SPACE PER DRAWING #A-106.01 ON ALT 1 APPLICATION #121188231 (PERMIT VALID THRU 10/17/2021) WITH SEATING FOR APPROX. 20 PERSONS, TABLES, BARBECUE AND SINK. BUILDING IS FULLY OCCUPIED WITH TENANTS OBSERVED ON MULTIPLE FLOORS. BUILDING ALTERED UNDER ALT 1 APPLICATION AND OCCUPIED WITHOUT A VALID CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY.
The DOB subsequently issued a Class 1 Environmental Control Board (OATH) violation.
There are three classes of OATH violations:
Class 1 (Immediately Hazardous)
Class 2 (Major)
Class 3 (Lesser)
According to public documents, the DOB imposed a $2,500 fine and scheduled a hearing for July 15.
The DOB states that Immediately Hazardous violations must be quickly rectified. If an acceptable Certificate of Correction is not received, then additional civil penalties may apply.
Highpoint Property Group owns 202 Avenue A, which goes by The Topanga, having purchased the building in late 2017 for $6.75 million. Workers later added a horizontal and vertical enlargement to the existing 4-floor structure, doubling the total square footage from 5,334 to 10,920.
The penthouses, which include outdoor spaces, rent for $12,000 a month, listings at Streeteasy reveal. According to 311 records, there have been nearly 75 noise complaints at the address going back to December, when occupancy began at the renovated building.
Media outlets reported that Perrelli, 24, who worked as a project manager for a global research firm, was attending a birthday party at 202 Avenue A when she fell into an airshaft around 3 a.m.
Perrelli's death, coupled with reports of other disruptive rooftop parties in the neighborhood, prompted local elected officials to introduce new legislation to demand accountability from property owners.
"This tragedy shows just how dangerous overcrowded or mismanaged rooftop parties have become and how often they have little to no safety protections or monitoring," local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera said following Perrelli's death.
Rivera is working on two bills to address this issue. She has already introduced Intro 1292, which would require tenants to sign and acknowledge their understanding of the city's noise codes. She's planning on introducing a second bill that would ensure enforcement agencies have easier access to phone numbers of overnight building supers or contacts and require better oversight of rooftop use and capacity.
Gaia Italian Cafe teases a return
Last July, Gaia Bagnasacco closed her Gaia's Italian Café at 251 E. Houston St. between Norfolk and Suffolk after nine years in business.
At the time, Bagnasacco recommended following her social media accounts for possible updates on an encore for Gaia's.
And anyone who did so was rewarded the other day on Instagram with this news of a Gaia's return ... there's a to-go spot in the works at an unnamed location ...
Previously on EV Grieve:
Something to sing about: Planet Rose is reopening on Avenue A
Not sure what their hours will be for now.
Meanwhile, no word of a return date just yet for Sing Sing at 81 Avenue A.
Gia signage arrives on the Bowery
Gia's Instagram account describes it as a "rustic and fun Italian restaurant." No word on an opening date. (As you can see on the storefront pic above, they are still hiring for all positions.) You can sign up for updates on the Gia website.
Actually, there were a lot of places here for a brief time between November 2014 and June 2015 ... this is when the storefront was divided into two spaces, and Forcella, Espoleta, Gia Trattoria, Slice of Naples, SRO and Bowery Pizza came and went over a six-month period.
Most recently this space was Gino Sorbillo, the first U.S. pizzeria from "the Neapolitan celebrity super-chef" of the same name. The "temporarily closed for renovation" sign arrived here in early January ... after a November 2017 opening.
Marinara Pizza makes this corner of 10th Street and 2nd Avenue their own
This past Friday, workers decked out the red exterior in white Marinara signage and awnings.
This will be the fifth outpost for Marinara, which has locations on the UES, UWS, Midtown East and Park Avenue South.
An EVG reader told us that their most popular slice is the MVP, which features stripes of marinara sauce, vodka sauce and pesto on a square pie (the pic is from the Marinara social media) ...
Two hyped pizza joints have been at this address (160 Second Ave.) in recent years. Lions & Tigers & Squares — the Detroit-style pizzeria from the Artichoke team — debuted in October 2019 before closing during the pandemic last summer. And before this, Nicoletta spent six-plus years in business here until the end of 2018.
Previously on EV Grieve:
• Cafe Centosette closes on Second Avenue
• Cafe Centosette closes on Second Avenue
New alt.coffee concept vying for former Meatball Shop space on Stanton
East Village resident Nick Bodor recently told us about his plans to revive several of his former businesses under one roof, including alt.coffee (1995-2007 on Avenue A) and Cake Shop (2005-2016 on Ludlow Street).
It looks like he has found a potential new home for the business that will include an all-day cafe service, small bar, several weekly live music performances (ending by 10 p.m.) and a t-shirt emporium.
Bodor is applying for a liquor license for alt.cafe at 84 Stanton St. between Allen and Orchard — the former Meatball Shop, which shut down in February 2020.
He's on this month's CB3-SLA committee docket for the address. (The meeting is on June 14.) You can find the questionnaire online here.
Read more about his plans at this link.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Monday, May 31, 2021
Monday's parting shots
6 posts from May
• Honoring the memories of Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locón on 2nd Avenue (May 27)
• Woman dies after falling from Avenue A rooftop; Rivera demands review of building enforcement procedures (May 23)
• St. Mark’s Comics is reopening this summer (in Brooklyn) (May 20)
• The remains of the Gem Spa can now be found in homes (and a barn) across the U.S. (May 18)
• This East Village Easter footage from 1966 includes a crucifixion in Tompkins Square Park (May 14)
• Cinema Paradiso looks to bring foreign and independent films to Avenue A (May 10)
Tompkins Square Library hosting an online discussion with Grant Shaffer
Per the invite, Grant "will show and talk to us about his work. He will discuss his process and inspirations, including the work he has created inspired by life in NYC during the COVID pandemic."
Grant's illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times and Interview.
The discussion is from 6-7 p.m. Sign up at this link.
And coming up on Saturday: Longtime East Village resident Sarah Schulman will discuss her upcoming book "Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993." Details here.
Food Emporium has closed on Union Square
As we first reported back in March, this 14th Street location was to close on May 30, according to a WARN notice filed on Feb. 25 with the New York State Department of Labor.
The WARN filing says that the Food Emporium lease is expiring. The closure will impact 50 employees, per the notice.
In February 2020, Lois Weiss at the Post reported that Target signed a lease for the 32,579 square feet here in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers. At the time, the Food Emporium was said to stay here through the end of April 2023. Perhaps now Target will push forward their opening date.
And we'll walk off with a passage from Rachel Sugar's March 11 essay at Grub Street titled "New York Grocery Stores Are Uniquely Weird. That’s Why They’re Important" ...
In itself, the Union Square Food Emporium was not special. It was — and is! (until May 30) — what one might call "serviceable," which is to say that it does indeed sell groceries and has two stars on Yelp. But it is emblematic of its kind. It is, like Key Food and Foodtown and C-Town and Gristedes and Associated and Bravo and D’Agostino, a quintessential New York City chain. Are these stores largely mediocre? Of course, but they are distinctly mediocre. And while there are recognizable differences between them, such as quality and ownership and location, spiritually, they are the all same.
Previously on EV Grieve:
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