EV Grieve

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Looking at where the Crocodile Lounge once roamed on 14th Street

Workers recently removed the plywood from the retail space at the under-renovation 325 E. 14th St., located between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

You won't recognize where the former home of the Crocodile Lounge once stood. There's now a glassy double entryway into the retail space that looks as if it belongs on another building (unless the whole façade is getting a makeover).

Work permits indicate wiring for the basement retail space (designated as "white box") and the walk-in cooler. We have not heard anything about a new retail tenant for the storefront, which now has a UES vibe.

As previously reported, in a transaction posted in October, an LLC affiliated with The Sabet Group purchased the four-story building for $3.3 million, down from its initial asking price of $5.5 million. For generations, a family has owned the building known as The James McCreery House.

The retail space has been home to restaurants for many years, including Il Faro and, in the 1990s, Manila Garden. The place was the Crocodile Lounge in recent years, but it never reopened after the COVID shutdown in March 2020.

We never went to the Crocodile, but it had fans with its free pizza, skee ball and photo booth.

Above photo from April 2023 by Steven

Signage alert: 5s on Avenue B

Photo by Stacie Joy

Signage is up for 5s at 179 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street.

The establishment is reportedly centered on the concept of the number five. According to a piece in The New York Business Journal in February, "There will be five food items, five specialty cocktails, five draft beers, five canned beers in the refrigerator and five wines on the menu."

The space will feature a kitchen counter and bar... as well as a pool table.

According to its space-holder website:

"Here at 5s we're dedicated to providing a comfortable place for locals to come gather and relax. A real 'good times place.'"

5s is expected to open later this summer. You can follow them on Instagram for updates.

The storefront has been vacant for the past six years following the closure of Guac.

H/T Brian!

Monday, June 30, 2025

Monday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg

Wheatpaste poster getaway on Second Avenue...

6 posts from June

A mini month in review (with a photo from 2nd and C by Stacie Joy)...

• People of the block: Small business snapshots from the East Village (June 21)

• Wrong-way chase ends in crash, arrest on 3rd Street (June 19)

• Meeting brings East Village and LES bar owners together to talk noise, nightlife issues (June 17)

• East Village tenants call for nonprofit ownership amid years of housing instability (June 9)

• The hidden charms of a soon-to-sell loft building and the former home of Sixth Street Specials (June 5)

• Cleanup planned for E-bike hub on 11th Street following spike in complaints (June 3)

Residents baffled by new CityBench outside their door on 3rd Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

A new CityBench appeared late Thursday night, midblock on Third Street — directly in front of 176 E. Third St. between Avenue A and B — and it has left residents scratching their heads.

Lorna Lentini, who lives directly in front of the newly installed bench, said she and her neighbor, Matthew Shipp, were surprised to see it appear suddenly.

The placement is especially odd, they noted, since it's not near a bus line or park. Unlike other CityBench installations in the area — such as the leaning bar by the M9 stop on Avenue C and Sixth Street, or the backless benches on 10th Street near Avenue C — this bench features full back support, placed near a doorstep and facing an apartment.

The DOT website has a link to "invite the public to suggest seating locations on the sidewalk or in plazas."

According to the DOT website, priority seating locations include bus stops without shelters, subway stops and transit stations, senior centers, shopping districts, libraries, schools, and hospitals.

This spot is near none of the above.

"We weren’t made aware of this, nor did we get a say in it," said Lentini.

After calling 311, Lentini learned the bench was installed by the Department of Transportation as part of its CityBench program, but was told they couldn't explain why it was placed there or how it could be removed.

The new bench has sparked concern among the longtime neighbors, both of whom have lived on the block since the 1980s. Lentini worried it would become a magnet for loitering.

"Junkies have another place to sit. It's very dark here, there's no street light," she said. "They vomit here, they urinate here. We really do not want to attract more people to this dark spot."

To discourage people from gathering at night, Lentini and Shipp wrapped caution tape around the bench.

“No butts!” Lentini added.

H/T EVG reader Newman!

The all-new 88 E. 2nd St. is rising

The first floors of the new seven-story apartment building are now visible above the plywood on the NW corner of First Avenue and Second Street.

And the consensus from the EVG readers who pointed out the above-the-sidewalk reveal: It already seems like a development much too large for the size of the lot.

The incoming residential building — officially located at 88 E. Second St. — will feature ground-floor retail and 22 rental units upon completion later next year.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• A visit to First Avenue Laundry Center

• 37 1st Ave., once home to some East Village music history, is now rubble

• Goodbye for now to HaveAHeart Studio, the rehearsal space below New Double Dragon

Signage alert: Nishaan on 1st Avenue

Photo by Steven

Signage is up for Nishaan at 160 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

This will be the first storefront for the quick-serve business specializing in Pakistani chopped cheese (spiced beef patties with chopped onions and bell peppers, American cheese, tomatoes, mayo, tamarind chutney, and lime cilantro sauce).

They debuted locally at Smorgasburg Williamsburg last summer, and based on various social media posts, people seemed to like their take on Pakistani American street food.

Learn more via Nishaan's active Instagram and TikTok accounts.

Sabor A Mexico closed here in this space in March after 15 years.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Pride Weekend parting shots

Photos by Stacie Joy

This weekend, the Parkside Lounge on Houston at Attorney hosted two Pride-related after-parties.

Here's a look.

Friday night featured Silicone, an after-party for Trans Day of Action and the Drag March ... including a Glam Booth by Dusty Shoulders, performances by Dexter the Angel, Lena Horne, and dancers Cara Cooper, Theo Michaela, and Kacey Afrodite ... and a DJ set by Nath Ann Carrera. Hosted by Wet Spot, BasketDolls and Girl Party.

Saturday night

The New York City Dyke March afterparty at DeepLES, co-hosted by Queer Aperitivo (below) with food by Dear Henry, and sounds by Boston Chery and Dreamer.

A very sweaty good time.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo by Stacie Joy of a newish mural titled "Copperhead" on 6th and C by steel wool run161 ren162)...

You can also receive this recap via email every week. Find out how.

• The heat dome is upon us (Monday, June 23)

• RIP Marcia Resnick (Wednesday, June 25)

• Pride Weekend 2025 (Friday, June 27)

• Scenes from Primary Election Night 2025 (Wednesday, June 25)

• New shop from Scarr’s and L’Industrie alum to bring old-school NYC slices to the East Village (Tuesday, June 24)

• Activity returns to vacant lot on 3rd Avenue after 6 months (Monday, June 23)

• Hawkward teen phase: Young red-tailed hawks settle into Tompkins Square Park (Thursday, June 26)

• Gnocco celebrates 25 years on 10th Street (Thursday, June 26)

• Wet hot East Village summer (Sunday, June 29)

• The rose murderer of 6th Street (Friday, June 27)

• Demoliton awaits the longtime sidewalk vendor space on St. Mark’s Place (Friday, June 27)

• Elizabeth Street Garden lives on (Tuesday, June 24)

• 1st look at the parking-garage-replacing condoplex on 9th Street (Wednesday, June 25)

• Taqueria Diana has apparently closed on 2nd Avenue (Thursday, June 26)

• Too hot to handle: Fire truck sinks into this Lower East Side street (Wednesday, June 25)

• Gametime for the former Superiority Burger space on 9th Street (Wednesday, June 25)

• Signage alert: Time Out Market on 14th Street (Tuesday, June 24)

• Openings: Empire Gourmet Deli on Avenue C (Thursday, June 26) ... Maza on 7th Street (Monday, June 23)

• Bad vibrations: Former Babeland space for lease on the Lower East Side (Monday, June 23)

... and on Ninth Street, this outdoor dining spot is for the birds (or squirrels?) ... photo by William Klayer...

Superiority Burger turns 10

Photos by Stacie Joy

Superiority Burger marked its 10th anniversary in the East Village this past week with frozen raspberry semifreddo pie, DJs Amy and Kirk, and a crowd of devoted fans packing the restaurant's Avenue A space.

Owner Brooks Headley (second from the left) was joined by managing partner Sheryl Heefner, head chef Nico Pryor, and GM Fowzy Butt for the celebration.

The team has come a long way since opening in a tiny shop around the corner on Ninth Street in 2015 (first as a pop-up), before expanding to their current, larger home at 119 Avenue A in 2023.

The quirky "theoretical vegetable restaurant" is still drawing crowds — and odds are we'll be writing about its 20th anniversary, too.

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Wet hot East Village summer

Photos by Stacie Joy

It's Wednesday, and even after sunset, the heat and humidity remain oppressive.

On Avenue A, between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place along Tompkins Square Park, an open hydrant gushes into the street — though it's unclear who uncapped it.

Residents and passersby seize the chance to cool off, shedding layers to stand in the powerful spray...