Vacant parking garage gets the plywood treatment on 9th Street

Photos by Steven 

Someone has boarded up the entrance to the Little Man Parking garage (also known as LaSalle Parking) on Ninth Street, located between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

This is obviously fresh plywood; otherwise, it would be filled with graffiti [😍] and wheat-paste ads for, say, Body by Victoria and Blueland detergent pods.

The garage has been closed since late April 2023 after the Department of Buildings issued a vacate order on the property following the deadly collapse on April 18 at the Little Man garage on Ann Street in the Financial District.

The address was offered as a "redevelopment project" last August, though that listing is no longer active.

However, nothing (yet) about a sale is in public records, and no recent work permits are on file with the DOB, suggesting a renovation or (more likely) a demolition. 

So, it will remain empty and inactive for now.

Budget Car Rental and Tori-Bien, a restaurant that specialized in Japanese fried chicken, were also forced to leave their retail spaces at this address due to the vacate order...

Previously on EV Grieve:

• After deadly collapse, city issues vacate order at the Little Man Parking garage on 9th Street

A now-and-then look at the former Provident Loan Society on Houston and Essex

Over the years, we've been posting about the former Provident Loan Society building at 225 E. Houston St., on the southwest corner of Essex. 

The circa-1912 building underwent a gut renovation in 2021 and became a broadcast production facility, which has been in business at the address in recent years. However, only the other day did a business sign finally appear above the front entrance for NMP Stages. (Read more about them here.) 

Before becoming an outpost of NMP Stages, the building had been on redevelopment/demolition watch in previous years.

Let's revisit that!

Longtime owners Elsa and Dunnie Lai unveiled plans several years ago — amid neighborhood opposition — to enlarge and convert the property into a 38-unit residential building with a 12-story addition atop the existing bank structure.

What could have been!

Those plans never materialized (the DOB did approve the building permits), but by July 2018, the building went on the market for $20 million as a "prime development opportunity." No. 225 never sold, however.

Before these development plans, a string of clubs and concepts came and went here (Element, the Bank, etc.). The space also served as a studio for Jasper Johns in the 1970s. 

Here are some pics from the NYPL Digital Gallery..... the first photo isn't dated (the Provident Loan Society building is on the right, mostly cut off) ...

And from the Great Depression-era 1935... you can see the unmarked truck parked near a hydrant, ready to clog the sidewalk with Amazon packages for locals killing off the area haberdashers ...

Signage alert: Bungalow from restaurateur Jimmy Rizvi on 1st Avenue

Signage arrived last week for Bungalow, a new Indian concept from restaurateur Jimmy Rizvi, whose portfolio includes GupShup in Gramercy Park. 

CB3 approved a liquor license for the space in May 2023. (Find the original questionnaire here.) 

Vikas Khanna is serving as chef and partner for Bungalow, which is expected to open on March 23. 

In an Instagram post, Khanna said March 23 would have been his sister Radhika's 50th birthday. "We open Bungalow on the auspicious day as a tribute to her life and also to honor millions of kitchens, chefs, cook book writers, street vendors, home cooks across India — and most importantly to our MOTHERS who have nurtured our souls forever." 

The signage's arrival coincided with a recent refresh of the First Avenue storefront just south of Second Street  ... in the retail portion of the 101 Condominium (the residential entrance is on Second Street).

Two addresses — 24 First Ave. and its property mate 99-101 E. Second St. — were demolished several years ago to make room for the new residential building.

No. 24 's previous occupants included the cabaret Lucky Cheng's (1993-2012) and Club Baths, the first openly gay-owned bathhouse (1971-1983)... and Cave Canem and La Nouvelle Justine in between.

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

Movie signage day on Seventh Street and First Avenue for "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire."

Go go Godzilla, yeah!

EVG readers have early access for tickets to see The Damned this May in NYC

Happy to see that one of EVG's all-time favorite bands, The Damned, will be in NYC this May. 

Details via the EVG inbox... 

Mammoth Northeast cordially invites you to punk pioneers' The Damned's Black Strawberry Ball with special guests Lenny Kaye & Friends Celebrating Nuggets and The Dictators at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC on Friday, May 31. 

This special concert extravaganza will bring their full 80's line-up back together in the U.S. for the first time since 1989 with the return of Rat Scabies. The legendary lineup will include David Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies and Paul Gray — together again after 35 years. The songs you want to hear, by the people you want to play them. 

Tickets are available for presale purchase via Ticketmaster today (Wednesday, March 6) at 10 a.m. ET through Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. 

EVG readers have access to buy tickets early with the password EVGRIEVE. Use this link for the tickets.

Restaurants can now apply to participate in NYC's new outdoor dining program

Workers removed the curbside dining structure outside the 

former Huertas space on 1st Avenue last week. Photo by adammash

A new era for the city's permanent outdoor dining program began yesterday.

And you may not noticed — yet. Yesterday marked the first day that food service establishments could start applying online to join the Dining Out NYC program. (Apply here.)

City officials released the new guidelines, "Dining Out NYC," early last month. As previously noted, the significant change is that enclosed, year-round roadway dining structures will no longer be permitted. The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle. Additionally, these establishments are restricted to operating only from April through November. 

According to city officials, if restaurants plan to offer diners open-air options, owners will have to remove their old outdoor dining setups and replace them by the summer. 

"We're getting outdoor dining right, getting sheds down, getting trash off our streets, and fundamentally changing what it feels like to be outside in New York City," Mayor Adams said in a statement yesterday announcing the new dining portal.

Per the city's release announcing "Dining Out NYC" ...

Final program rules include clear design requirements, siting criteria on where outdoor dining setups can be located in relation to other street features, like subway entrances, fire hydrants, and more, and the types of materials that can be used in outdoor setups. They also require that the setups preserve clear sidewalk paths and emergency roadway lanes — including water-filled, rat-resistant protective barriers for roadway setups — and use easily moveable furniture and coverings. Ultimately, the final rules will create a lighter-weight outdoor dining experience with lines of sight, as compared to the fully enclosed shacks of the temporary COVID-19-era program. 

This link has guidelines for roadway and sidewalk dining.

Meanwhile, last week, the city unveiled a prototype for a new style of outdoor dining structure. One of the test-pilot restaurants was Sunday to Sunday on Orchard Street.  

As for the existing structures that went up during the pandemic, per CBS 2: "Any restaurant participating in the temporary outdoor dining program that does not apply to join Dining Out NYC by the deadline will need to remove their structures after Aug. 3."

The New Colossus Festival gets underway today at East Village and Lower East Side music venues

The 2024 edition of the New Colossus Festival takes place TODAY through Sunday at East Village and Lower East Side music venues, including Arlene's Grocery, Berlin, Bowery Electric, Heaven Can Wait, Knitting Factory at Baker Falls, Mercury Lounge, Pianos, and the Rockwood Music Hall. 

This is a great (and budget-friendly) opportunity to catch many local bands as well as emerging artists from the U.S. and abroad. Check out the schedule and find tickets here. 

Signage alert: Nosh Up on St. Mark's Place

Photo by Steven 

Signage has arrived for a new deli and grill called Nosh Up at 24 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The business takes over for Jewels, the body jewelry and piercing parlor.

The address has a lot of recent history... Ben & Jerry's! Pinkberry! No. 24 was also the Ice Cream Connection in the early 1970s before the owners of Dojo opened the Japanese restaurant here in 1974 (RIP 2007).

Closures: Wild Rabbit Coffee on 7th Street

Photos by Steven 

A for-rent sign recently arrived in the front window at 110 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, marking the official end of Wild Rabbit Coffee here.

There's also a Marshal's notice dated last month on the front door stating the landlord is now in legal possession of the storefront...

Wild Rabitt, which opened in February 2023, featured coffee beans sourced from Bushwick's Sey Coffee ... and offered menu items like Hong Kong-style egg waffles. 

As EVG commenters will be quick to point out, there are a lot of coffee choices in the neighborhood.

Tuesday's parting shot

Photo by Steven 

The changing of the signage at the Orpheum on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place ... as previously noted, Eddie Izzard's solo performance of "Hamlet" is getting a four-week run from March 19 to April 14... tickets are now on sale here.

City unveils 3 refurbished East Village buildings with affording housing opportunities

Photo yesterday courtesy of the AAFE

Yesterday, city officials celebrated "affordable homeownership opportunities" in three refurbished East Village tenements at 406-8 E. 10th St., 533 E. 11th St., and 656 E. 12th St. 

The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place yesterday afternoon outside No. 656, the five-floor residential building on the SW corner of Avenue C.

Here's more about the program via the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) ...

The project was financed through HPD's Affordable Neighborhood Cooperative Program, which selects qualified developers to rehabilitate distressed city-owned multifamily buildings to create affordable co-ops for low and moderate-income households. 

Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) and city officials have worked closely with residents in planning for the $22.3 million renovation. A total of 23 households, longtime residents of the formerly dilapidated buildings, were temporarily relocated during the two-year construction project. An additional 21 apartments will be offered through a New York City affordable housing lottery, which is expected to launch in the coming weeks. 

There is also a retail space in each of the renovated buildings.  

El Rinconcito closed in the summer of 2021 at its home of 27 years at 408 E. 10th St. between Avenue C and Avenue D. Owner Pedro Rodriguez eventually reopened the restaurant at 75 Avenue C. He plans to open a second restaurant at 656 E. 12th St., where he lives with his family. 

For several years, the walls outside No. 656 housed the 12C Outdoor Art Gallery, which featured a rotating batch of murals curated by resident Robert Galinsky.

The Gil Scott-Heron tribute —  with "the Revolution Will Not Be Televised" line — that Chico created after the jazz poet, musician, and author died in 2011 was sandblasted during the gut renovations early last year.

The wall will now feature "Puerto Rican freedom fighter and spiritual luminary" Pedro Albizu Campos. Brooklyn-based artist Danielle Mastrion is creating this mural across the street from Campos Plaza, which is expected to be completed tomorrow (weather permitting).

The Joyce Theater has rehearsal space to rent to nonprofits and freelance dance artists

The Joyce Theater's New York Center for Creativity & Dance on 10th Street and Avenue A is now offering rehearsal space (at $10 per hour) to nonprofit dance companies and freelance dance artists from this month through December. 

Details: 

Renters must meet the following qualifications to reserve space under the subsidized space program:

• Must be an independent dance artist or company 

• Must use the space for dance rehearsal use ONLY (2 hour min) 

• Must be a non-profit/freelance entity 

Space in Studios 1, 2, and 3 will be available to qualified renters on a first-come, first-served basis.

Find rental info here.

The Chelsea-based Joyce Theater Foundation became the owner of the 7-story building, the former Harriman Clubhouse run by the Boys' Club of New York, back in December. This post has more history of this property.

Previously on EV Grieve:

Inside the new home of The Joyce, which aims to be a hub for the performing arts in the East Village 

Apollo Bagels now with signage on 10th Street

Photo by Steven

Signage went up yesterday outside 242 E. 10th St. at First Avenue for Apollo Bagels. 

The business started as a pop-up in 2020 at the Williamsburg pizzeria Leo and debuted this past weekend in the East Village. 

For now, Apollo will continue with the three-day schedule — Friday-Sunday, 8 a.m. until sold out.

Previously

Noted

A reader shared this photo today from Avenue A and 13th Street ... unsure if the remains leaning against the light pole can be counted as a discarded Christmas tree on this March 4. 

Lab testing will confirm...

Veselka looks to ease back into a 24/7 schedule starting with weekends first

Reporting by Stacie Joy

Veselka plans to resume its 24-hour service in the upcoming months, starting with weekends first, according to owner Jason Birchard.

We asked the third-generation owner of the Ukrainian restaurant about the hours during a visit last week. We were there to discuss the documentary "Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World" currently playing at the Village East by Angelika. 

"I think it'll be just a Friday and Saturday to start," Birchard said. "And then work into like we did initially back in 1990 just to get our feet wet again. So, yes! It is coming. I think we're aiming for June 1, but maybe sooner." 

Before the pandemic hit, Veselka served customers 24/7 for nearly 30 years on the SE corner of Second Avenue and Ninth Street. When the restaurant started returning to in-person dining, the hours were more limited. 

In June 2022, Birchard said he couldn't find enough workers to staff Veselka for the around-the-clock schedule, Insider first reported. 

As Restaurant Hospitality pointed out, eateries nationwide have cut back their weekly operating hours.

According to a recent 2022 report by menu and restaurant research firm Datassential, restaurants have cut back weekly operating hours by 7.5% or roughly 6.5 hours, compared to 2019. The overall 24-hour model in the United States has declined too: In 2022, there were 21,345 places open for 24 hours, compared to the 25,449 in 2020, according to Datassential. 

Veselka is open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight, with an 11 p.m. close on Sunday.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• A visit to Veselka, as the East Village institution celebrates 70 years and another week for its documentary at the Village East

Top photo by EVG; menu photo by Stacie Joy

Planned student protest gets the DOB to take action on closed-off school playground

Talk about an after-school special. 

Following classes on Friday, third graders at the Children's Workshop School on 12th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C planned to hold a protest to encourage the Department of Buildings to inspect an adjacent building that has forced the closure of the schoolyard since Jan. 9. 

As EVG first reported, part of the façade of a single-level building at 638 E. 12th St. next door crumbled, and pieces of concrete from the exterior landed in the playground, also used by students in the P94M program within District 75. 

The playground has been closed while the new-ish landlords of the 638 property made the necessary repairs, which were completed nearly four weeks ago. Despite all this, the DOB had yet to visit the site, forcing the students to stay inside and forego any outdoor activities in the schoolyard. (The playground is also open for neighborhood use on weekends.)

However, according to school sources, when the Department of Buildings heard about the planned protest (presumably from media inquiries), they suddenly built a fence on Thursday evening to protect the yard from the neighboring one-level building, then inspected the work on Friday morning. The schoolyard was deemed accessible to the students, albeit with a section closed off.

So, after school on Friday, the protest turned into a celebration as the students paraded from the building to the playground with the signs they had created...

As one school source told us: "This was an easy workaround that could have been done as soon as the repairs had been made, which, by the way, were done rather promptly after the complaint was reported to the DOB about façade condition, adding insult to the wait."

A parent with two children at the school told us last month that the closed outdoor space was "negatively impacting classroom behavior and depriving kids of much-needed fresh air, exercise, and time to socialize." 

As we understand, the fence is a temporary fix, and the building still needs to be inspected. 

The 8,900-square-foot structure, which has a long history (dating to 1989) of façade issues, had been on the sales market. Per the listing: "Ideal for a luxury residential condominium in a well-established Downtown Manhattan neighborhood" with "Four sides of light and air." (Campos Community Garden is on the building's east side.)

The structure behind 432 E. 11th St., sold last summer for $2.8 million. Public records show the buyer is affiliated with an LLC in Brooklyn that "provides development services for residential and commercial properties."

On Feb. 14, plans were filed for a 6-story residential building at the address. The plans show one residential unit per floor, likely meaning there will be condos as pitched in the sales sheet.

Demolition plans have yet to be filed, per DOB records.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Façade repairs next door have prevented kids at this East Village school from using the playground

To be: Eddie Izzard's 'Hamlet' coming to the Orpheum Theatre in the East Village

Photo from Saturday

Eddie Izzard's solo performance of "Hamlet" is getting a four-week window at the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.  (H/T Steven!)

The show, currently in production at the Greenwich House Theater, will be moving to the East Village for an extended run from March 19 to April 14... tickets are now on sale here.

The performance has drawn decent reviews, though some outlets, like the Times, were tough. ("One comes away with the sense that Eddie Izzard didn't perform “Hamlet” so much as become defeated by it.")

In any event, this continues the post-"Stomp" life of the Orpheum... Rachel Bloom's "Death, Let Me Do My Show" most recently held forth here. 

"Stomp" ended its 29-year reign at the Orpheum in January 2023. Now, with performers like Bloom and Izzard taking the stage, the Orpheum is returning to its roots in the 1980s and early 1990s when it hosted Off-Broadway productions like Sandra Bernhard's "Without You I'm Nothing," Eric Bogosian's "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll" and John Leguizamo's "Mambo Mouth."

Former Mad for Chicken spot for rent on 14th Street

This came up in the comments of the Koko Wings post from last week. The former Mad for Chicken outpost at 230 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue is now for rent (signage arrived last week). 

The quick-serve spot that served soy garlic fried chicken and Korean-inspired dishes closed last fall. There's an eviction notice dated from November 2023 posted on the front door. It first opened here in late 2021.

MFC, which started in Flushing in 2005, still has other locations in the NYC metropolitan area. 

Meanwhile, BRING BACK WALID MENSWEAR!

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo above Avenue A from Sixth Street)... 

• Reports: In a hit-and-run, man struck and killed on 10th and D by an MTA bus (Saturday) 

• A visit to Veselka, as the East Village institution celebrates 70 years and another week for its documentary at the Village East (Friday) 

• That's all for now for Gizmo (Friday) ... Longtime East Village sewing business Gizmo needs a new home (Monday)

• Playground reminders in Tompkins Square Park; city to update Community Board 3 on asylum seekers (Tuesday) ... You can watch the Community Board 3 meeting right here (Wednesday)

• Revel vehicle wipes out Frank's curbside dining structure after hours on 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

• This 'Job' has been extended for 3 weeks at the East Village's Connelly Theater (Thursday) 

• Signage alert: Ben's Deli gains a Grill on Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• The city's first public e-bike charging site for delivery workers was unveiled on Cooper Square (Friday) 

• A visit to the Unprofessional Variety Show (Thursday) 

• On 5th Street, Etérea announces a March 30 closing date (Monday)

• Construction watch: 280 E. Houston St. (Wednesday) 

• A campaign to commemorate Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl that captivated NYC the past year (Saturday) 

• Boris & Horton fans work like a dog to save cafe (Wednesday) 

• About the Every Woman Biennial 2024 at La MaMa Galleria (Saturday)

• Deli marks the end of the revolving door of bars on the corner of 4th Street and 2nd Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Koko Wings has apparently closed on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) 

• The Chippery has not been open lately (Tuesday)

• Signage alert: Sugar Mouse on 3rd Avenue (Monday) 

• An e-bike shop for 1st Street (Monday) 

• Openings: YGF Malatang on 3rd Avenue; Conor's Goat on Avenue A (Monday) ... Apollo Bagels too (Friday) 

... and starting off March with some early spring cleaning ... on Houston and Suffolk (thanks Newman!)

... and on Seventh Street near Tompkins (thanks N&Lon7th!) ...

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Follow EVG on Instagram or X for more frequent updates and pics.

Parks Department collecting concerns and compliments

Photos by Steven

These signs arrived this past week at Tompkins Square Park (and other public green spaces)...  asking, "How are we doing?"

Specifically: "Report a concern or share a compliment about cleanliness in this area."

Per the sign, you can call (212) NEW-YORK ... text 311-692 or visit this website.

Can't think of any concerns residents may have about Tompkins...