According to published reports, Robinson, whose roles included serving as art editor of the East Village Eye in the early 1980s, died of cancer. He was 74.
Tributes include:
• Artnet
Monday, February 10, 2025
RIP Walter Robinson
Church to condo conversion underway on 4th Street
Photos by EVG reader Kait
The gutting of the former Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel is underway at 256 E. Fourth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.
Workers arrived last week for a church-to-condo conversion. According to DOB permits, the four-story structure will receive two additional floors to accommodate six residences, presumably condos, based on the square footage.
The plywood includes a rendering of the all-new residences ... StudioSC is listed as the architect of record.
The church had been on the market for several years and changed hands last fall for $2.95 million.
The new owner is listed as an LLC, per public records.
As for history, there's plenty of it here...
According to Daytonian in Manhattan, the property, dating to 1859, was once part of the estate of Petrus Stuyvesant. It later became known as the Lemberger Shul.
In 1925, the Lemberger Congregation purchased the buildings and hired architect James J. Millman to design a shul, or synagogue, on the site. The congregation took its name from its native city, Lemberg, at the time the center of the Lwów Voivodeship of Poland. The city is known today as Lviv, Ukraine.The new building was faced in red brick and trimmed in stone. Millman's understated design relied mostly on Gothic arches over the openings. Projecting brickwork between the second and third floors, and on either side of the central rondel above the entrance provided interest. There were two entrances, one above a short, centered stoop, and another to the right for the women worshipers. It is unclear whether the rondel was always bricked in, or if it originally contained a rose window.In either case, it almost certainly displayed a Magen David, or Star of David. Set within the parapet is a stone Decalogue, representing the tablets of Moses.
In the early 1970s, the synagogue became home to the Spanish-language Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel.
As Daytonian noted (and the post is definitely worth a read):
Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel remains in the converted synagogue — the Christian cross in the rondel happily coexisting with the Jewish Decalogue above it.
Based on the rendering, neither of those elements will co-exist at the address any more.
A quick look at the February CB3 SLA agenda
New Liquor License Applications
• Andy's Burros LLC, 5 St Marks Pl, as seen above, (op)
The owners of Taqueria St. Marks Place (and several other similar restaurants) between First Avenue and Second Avenue are behind Andy's Burros one block to the west.
The application describes a Mexican restaurant selling burritos, burrito bowls, beer, and margaritas, with 11 tables for 34 guests, a few steps down from the sidewalk at 5 St. Mark's Place.
You can find a PDF of their questionnaire, which includes a sample menu, here.
• At Cave (At Cave LLC), 103 E 2nd St (op)
This is a holdover from last month... an Asian-fusion restaurant, At Cave, is looking to take over a vacant retail space at 103 E. Second St., between Avenue A and First Avenue.
A questionnaire can be found at this link.
• 5's (Dunne Hospitality LLC), 179 Ave B (op)
5's is the name of the proposed new restaurant for the long-empty retail space on the east side of Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street.
According to the questionnaire on the CB3 website, 5's will offer "a seasonal and produce-driven menu will be inspired by the flavors of Asia." Apparently, they will only serve five food items, five specialty cocktails, five draft beers, five canned beers, and five wines.
The layout will feature five communal bar tables seating up to 40 guests.
Guac was the last tenant at No. 179, closing in the fall of 2019.
Items not heard at Committee
• Conway Diner Inc, 80 2nd Ave (wb)
Conway Diner, which received conditional approval for a beer-wine license, is now in soft-open mode between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.
New owners have taken over the short-lived Sunday Dreamin, billing the business as an Asian American diner. Menu items include fish and chips, New York strip steak, fried calamari and spicy mussels.
Per an Instagram post, they are offering 15% off all menu items through Feb. 15.
• Twilight Lounge Corp, 110 1st Ave (wb)
Twilight Lounge will offer Asian cuisine, per its application for a beer-wine license for the former Sushi Dojo space between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.
Dining Out NYC - Not heard at Committee
Under the city's new Dining Out NYC program, enclosed, year-round roadway dining structures are no longer 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. (Sidewalk cafes are permitted year-round.) Restaurants had to apply for the license with the DOT, which apparently required a local community board sign-off.
These establishments within the confines of Community Board 3 are on the February agenda...
• Lil Frankie's Pizza (Just an Oven Corp), 19 1st Ave (Roadway Cafe)
• Lil Frankie's Pizza (Just an Oven Corp), 19 1st Ave (Sidewalk Cafe)
• A'more Caffe (Sumone Cafe Inc), 150 E 2nd St. (Roadway Cafe)
• Supper (Raguboy Corporation), 156 E 2nd St (Roadway Cafe)
• The Immigrant NYC (The Immigrant Wine Bar LLC), 341 E 9th St (Roadway Cafe)
• Penny Farthing Restaurant (East County Louth Inc), 103 3rd Ave (Roadway Cafe)
• Miss Lily's 7A (Seven A Cafe Inc), 109 Ave A (Roadway Cafe)
• Miss Lily's 7A (Seven A Cafe Inc), 109 Ave A (Sidewalk Cafe)
• Horus Cafe (Elsayed III Corp), 293 E 10th St (Roadway Cafe)
• Horus Cafe (Elsayed III Corp), 293 E 10th St (Sidewalk Cafe)
Tonight's meeting is at 6:30. The Zoom link is here. This is a hybrid meeting, and limited seating is available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St., between Second Avenue and the Bowery.
Openings: Hatsu Omakase on 4th Street
Anyway! Hatsu is open. Per Resy, they offer "an Omakase experience that doesn't break the bank. A meal here takes about 90 minutes and costs less than $100." And that is 13 courses.
Also this month, they are offering a 15% discount.
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 5:30-10 p.m., Friday-Sunday 5-11 p.m.
Make a reservation at the Omakase bar or "DYI table" here.
Game, set, match: Thirty Love arrives on 3rd and 13th
Photo Saturday by EVG reader Seth Treiman
The Memory Motel pop-up is now just a memory on the NW corner of Third Avenue and 13th Street.
Over the weekend, the two-story bar was transformed into Thirty Love Sports & Leisure, presumably another sports bar.
This outpost of Montauk's Memory Motel arrived in the fall of 2023 as a pop-up bar running from Halloween to New Year’s Eve... before extending that stay by another year via a collaboration with "East Hamptons' party hot spot Common Ground."
In an offer reminiscent of the old Continental a few blocks south on Third Avenue, MM offered five shots for $13 ("yes we're serious")...
The corner spot has been to various sports bars with animal names in the titles in previous years: the Brazen Fox, Ugly Duckling and blue bird.
Our previous post provided more background on Montauk's Memory Motel and the Rolling Stones' role in its lore.
Signage alert: Chocolate DIP for St. Mark's Place
This will be the brand's third Manhattan outpost. The company describes itself as "New York's ultimate Belgian Chocolate dessert destination."
The shop offers a variety of crêpes as well as waffles, pancakes and fruit sticks. Menu here.
Chocolate Dip takes over for the short-lived Mr. Kim, a tattoo and piercing studio. Previously, WAGA, which sold handmade goods primarily from West Africa, was here for 22 years.
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Sunday's parting shot
Photo by Peter Brownscombe
Post-snow snow day today in Tompkins Square Park...
Week in Grieview
• Neighbor steps up to care for dog injured in 2nd Avenue fire that claimed owner’s life (Monday ...
Bella’s passing marks another sad chapter in East Village fire tragedy (Sunday)
• Now Now NoHo set to debut its micro hotel rooms in April on the Bowery (Monday)
• Terra Thai is closing this month for a revamp with a March return (Monday)
• The return of The Chillmaster! (Friday)
• Checking in on 644 E. 14th St. (Wednesday)
• "Caught Stealing" slides into theaters this August (Tuesday)
• Long empty 6th Street storefront finally hits the market (Wednesday)
• Did the Tompkins Square Park opossum see his or her shadow? (Tuesday)
• Requiem for a Blue Man Group (Monday)
• The former Brick Lane Curry House space is for rent on 2nd Avenue (Monday)
• Signage alert: 'The Jonathan Larson Project' at the Orpheum Theatre (Tuesday)
• Double Zero and Bar Verde combine space on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)
• Signage alert: Kobano on the Bowery (Monday)
• A full reveal at the Five Guys, opening this week on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)
Bella’s passing marks another sad chapter in East Village fire tragedy
Bobby and Bella
Bella, the miniature pinscher of late East Village resident Robert "Bobby" Bartolomey, has passed away following complications from the apartment fire that claimed her owner's life last Sunday.
Bella succumbed Friday evening to an infection and neurological damage caused by smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, according to a post from Dean Mann, the East Village resident who took Bella in after the FDNY found her in the apartment at 65 Second Ave.
Here's more from Mann from the GoFundMe set up to help care for Bella:
While this is certainly not the outcome we had all hoped for and supported, it is a grim reality of the circumstances that Bella experienced. It was a miracle that Bella survived the fire, as she was in the apartment while the fire burned for more than 30 minutes. The support from the community, first responders and the many veterinary medical professionals who treated her gave Bella a fighting chance; however, after almost 5 days of fighting for her life, Friday evening she joined her owner in heaven. Their legacy in the neighborhood will forever be remembered.My sister was kind enough to set up this GoFundMe and at the time we felt like Bella would be released from the hospital within a day or two; however, she remained in critical care and the decision to give her a fighting chance was made entirely possible by the support of the community and everyone who donated to help Bella. Your generosity allowed Bella the ability to receive the amazing care up until the very end.While this story is extremely sad, it also is very heartwarming to me as so many of the local people from the neighborhood reached out, contributed and stepped up to keep this person's legacy and the dog alive. ... I was so moved by the support and had no idea so many people knew Bobby (a retired veteran and certainly a staple of the neighborhood who was never seen without Bella).This is truly a remarkable NYC and East Village story, I cannot express enough my gratitude for the people I have met through this experience. I had visited Bella in the hospital everyday this week and though I am terribly saddened at this outcome, I am at peace knowing that she is no longer suffering.
The FDNY found Bartolomey, 75, in his apartment last Sunday morning after the fire broke out. The FDNY has not yet released a cause for the blaze.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Saturday's parting shot
To paraphrase Special Agency Dale Cooper: "The weatherman said snow. If you could get paid that kind of money for being wrong sixty percent of the time, it'd beat working."
Saturday's opening shot
The NYC metropolitan area is under a Winter Weather Advisory for later this afternoon into the morning. According to the National Weather Service, the snow will start late this afternoon and intensify this evening into early Sunday morning. By morning, we could see 3-5 inches of snow, which could mix with or change to sleet and freezing rain.
And we will believe it when we post snow pics on our Instagram tomorrow!
Friday, February 7, 2025
Friday's parting shot
My 'Bloody' valentine
We continue to highlight indie acts performing at this year's New Colossus Festival, which will take place in East Village and LES venues from March 4 to 9.
Here's Miami-based surf-punk duo Camp Blu with "Bloody Kisses" and a real creeper of a video
Find Festival info here.
The return of The Chillmaster!
Photo and text by Stacie Joy
Renovations continue at First Houses, the city's first public housing complex along Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.
Many tenants were relocated to other city properties with the option to return.
One returning resident is none other than The Chillmaster, known for cranking classic R&B from his open window.
One recent day, I was walking along Third Street when I heard Doug E Fresh's "The Show" in the distance.
Could it be?
Sure enough, there was The Chillmaster, doing what he does best (chilling).
He happily agreed to a photo through the window, sharing that he's been home for about a month and couldn’t be happier to be back.
You can read more about The Chillmaster in this 2011 EVG post.
EVG Etc.: Long live St Mark's Place; this is radio Clash
Sky view from 2nd and A
Local stories of interest from other sources this past week include...
• 100 immigrants arrested in week 1 of ICE raids (The City)
• At St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, rallying against the new federal directive that strips longstanding protections from immigrant New Yorkers (amNY)
• AG James says NY hospitals — including NYU Langone Health and the Mount Sinai Hospital System — must continue offering gender-affirming care to minors (The Associated Press ... City & State ... CBS News)
• Cooper Union wins legal fight over the Chrysler Building (Gothamist)
• NYCHA residents can apply for grants to fund resident-led community projects that promote a healthy environment (City Limits)
• Mayor Adams does not feel the need, the need for speed for NYC bike lanes (Streetsblog)
• Various folks — Lucy Sante, Tish and Snooky, Danny Orlin, Ada Calhoun, Jason Diamond, Barbara Sibley, (and EVG!) — talk about the past and present of St. Mark's Place (Punch)
• Opening Saturday at the Hole on the Bowery: tinyvices archive 20th-anniversary exhibition (Official site)
• Thoughts on "Discrimi-NATION: Guerrilla Girls on Bias, Money, and Art," the mini-retrospective of posters by the Guerrilla Girls currently at Hannah Traore Gallery on Orchard Street (Hyperallergic)
• Tickets remain for the David Lynch series at Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue at 12th Street (Offical site)
• Checking out the Tex-Mex at Wayne & Sons on Second Avenue (Eater ... previously on EVG)
• Inside Bar Kabawa, a Caribbean spot in Extra Place via team Momofuku (Robb Report ... previously on EVG)
Today (Feb. 7!) is the annual International Clash Day 2025 on KEXP. Stream it online here.
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
We're in for a wintry mix (and we don't mean music)
Photo Sunday by Cecil Scheib
We are under a winter weather advisory ("we" as in NYC and the tri-state area).
According to the National Weather Service, we could see ("we as in ... forget it!) up to two inches of snow... plus a "glazing" of ice for fun.
Per the NWS on timing:
Snow develops from southwest to northeast after midnight, mixing with sleet and freezing rain by mid to late morning, before tapering as plain rain by afternoon. The coast and NYC metro will change to rain by late morning.
So there's a good chance of an ugly commute wherever you need to commute to.
The top photo shows the light snowfall in Tompkins Square Park from Sunday night.
Equal time
Photo by Jose Garcia
After yesterday's photos of the Tompkins Square opossum... here's Christo, the resident male red-tailed hawk in the park, looking as majestic as ever today.
Goggla recently had some updates on Christo and Amelia's nestorations in Tompkins Square Park. Check out the post here.
Checking in on 644 E. 14th St.
Workers are putting in the façade of terracotta panels and staggered floor-to-ceiling windows...
The 234-foot-tall building from Madison Realty Capital, called 14+C, will include 197 residential units, "a state-of-the-art fitness room," a yoga studio, and a rooftop deck. Information about the number of "affordable" units included in 14+C, one of the stipulations for being allowed to build a more extensive (by nine floors) building, has not been made public.
There will also be ground-floor retail.
Here's a look at the final rendering via Fischer + Makooi Architects ...
There have also been no updates on the status of the residents of the neighboring 5-story building at 642 E. 14th St., many of whom were in rent-stabilized units. The building was abruptly vacated in November 2023 after foundation work next door reportedly destabilized it.
The full demoliton order from 642's landlord remains on hold from last summer. (This Times feature has more info from November.)
Previously on EV Grieve:
Long empty 6th Street storefront finally hits the market
The last tenant here was Identity Bar and Lounge, which closed in the fall of 2013.
Fast-forward a short 11-plus years. The Tri State Commercial Realty listing notes that the 1,200-foot space is "ideal for a bar, restaurant, cocktail bar, comedy club, jazz bar, or omakase." And! "This space has the perfect bones for executing your food & beverage vision."
No word on the asking rent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)