EVG reader 8E shares this photo of a Lotus parked on Astor Place near Broadway...
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Today in classic cars on Astor Place
EVG reader 8E shares this photo of a Lotus parked on Astor Place near Broadway...
AG announces details on how Croman tenants can receive restitution for harassment
Here’s what Croman tenants should know to apply for restitution: pic.twitter.com/Ic3rjMmoQN
— NY AG Underwood (@NewYorkStateAG) August 7, 2018
New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood yesterday announced that tenants who live or formerly lived in buildings owned by Steve Croman may now apply for restitution, as part of the $8 million settlement deal reached last December.
Here's part of the release from the AG's office:
The settlement arose out of an investigation and lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s office against Croman for engaging in illegal conduct — including harassment, coercion, and fraud — in order to force rent-regulated tenants out of their apartments and convert their apartments into highly profitable market-rate units.
“This office has zero tolerance for predatory landlords who seek to line their pockets at the expense of their tenants’ wellbeing,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Now, Croman tenants will finally get the restitution and protections they deserve as a result of this unprecedented settlement — the largest-ever with an individual landlord. We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure landlords play by the rules, and pursue them to the fullest extent of the law when they don’t.”
The consent decree requires Croman to pay $8 million into a Tenant Restitution Fund – the largest-ever monetary settlement with an individual landlord. Tenants are eligible for restitution if they are or were a tenant in a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartment owned by Croman between July 1, 2011 and the date of the agreement (December 20, 2017); they received a buyout of less than $20,000, not including any amount that purported to cover rent or arrears; and no other tenant in their apartment received money from the restitution fund. Several hundred current and former tenants are potentially eligible to apply for these restitution funds.
This week, JND Legal Administration, the claims administrator, mailed claim notices and forms to current and former rent-stabilized and rent-controlled tenants in Croman’s buildings. Those forms and additional information are also available at www.cromanrestitutionfund.com.
The $8 million will be divided equally among eligible claimants and distributed to tenants in installments over a period of 38 to 42 months, with the first installment coming as soon as the claims administrator processes all of the first-round claim forms.
In addition to this $8 million Tenant Restitution Fund, the settlement requires that a new, independent management company run Croman's residential properties for five years. In June, the AG's office selected Michael Besen’s New York City Management to oversee Croman's real-estate empire, which includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village.
Croman was released from the Manhattan Correctional Facility on June 1 after serving eight months of a one-year jail sentence and paid a $5 million tax settlement following separate criminal charges brought by the AG's office for fraudulent refinancing of loans and tax fraud.
Previously on EV Grieve:
AG's office: Steve Croman agrees to pay $8 million to the tenants he harassed
RIP Milton Ellison
You may have seen the small memorial that recently arrived on the northwest corner of Houston and Avenue B... it's for Milton Ellison, a familiar presence (very likely asking for change) at this spot through the years ...
A few more people added flowers to the site since EVG reader Romy Saplicki first shared this photo back on Friday...
On Saturday, another EVG reader met one of Milton's siblings who was paying his respects on the corner. He said that his brother had died from lung disease.
Ellison was the focal point of a Page 1 article from April 1992 in The New York Times titled "Gauging Threat of Recalcitrant TB Patients."
Ellison, then 34 and homeless, had tuberculosis, and he "repeatedly failed" to take the medicine that he needed.
So last month health officials took a step that they said was the only way to protect Mr. Ellison and the people around him: They detained him in Orange County and took him to a hospital where he was guarded by sheriff's deputies and shackled by wrist and ankle to his bed.
The article provided more background on Ellison.
Mr. Ellison said he grew up in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn with four sisters and three brothers. He attended public school and spent one year in Brooklyn College studying liberal arts. He said he did not know how he got TB.
Doctors in Orange County said in court records that Mr. Ellison apparently tested positive for TB as a child but did not complete a nine-month preventive treatment with isoniazid or INH, the most common anti-tuberculosis drug. As an adult, he was treated for the disease as recently as last year but told doctors that he stopped taking medication after a week.
Over the last decade, Mr. Ellison has been in and out of psychiatric institutions, shelters and residential hotels. His misfortunes seemed tied to two unrelated events: He developed schizophrenia and his mother, with whom he lived, died. His father, a truck driver, had died earlier.
Ellison's brother told the reader that Milton had a room in subsidized housing on Pitt Street, and that he always had a good heart.
Updated:
Checking in on the condoplex where 1st Street meets 2nd Avenue
A quickie look at 24 Second Ave. (aka 32 E. First St.), where the 10-story condoplex continues shaping up on the lot of the former BP station...
Newish signage notes that this intersection of Second Avenue and First Street is inexplicably where Chrystie meets Bond...
Chrystie is close enough... but Bond is a few blocks to the west, as the arrow points out...
What this area needs is a good nickname — ChryBo? BonTie?
Anyway, as previously noted, the building will house 30 condos, with homes ranging from $1.125 million to $10.5 million along with ground-floor retail.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The 2nd Avenue BP station has closed
Permits filed to demolish former 2nd Avenue BP station
More about the 10-story building taking the place of the former BP station at 24 2nd Ave.
Check out the new 10-story building for the former 2nd Avenue BP station
A ballerina for 2nd Avenue
2nd Avenue residential complex now complete with renderings on the plywood
Citi Bikes with larger baskets are now roaming the streets
Citi Bike yesterday unveiled more than 100 new bikes with larger, three-sided baskets, as seen here docked outside Cooper Union.
Motivate, Citi Bike's (now former) parent company, reportedly tested the baskets with riders and received a positive response. They'll be standard on new bikes now, per Streetsblog.
Unlike the old design (done this way to prevent people from dumping garbage in them, as Streetsblog noted)...
[Image via Citi Bike]
... the larger size will likely make it easier to transport pizzas and, maybe, mattresses...
[Photo on St. Mark's Place from 2013 by Julius Klein]
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Tuesday's parting shot
Thanks to James and Karla Murray for sharing this photo tonight... a lightning strike over the East Village...
Noted
Crews filming for season two of the HBO series "The Deuce" are learning about a common problem in the neighborhood ... an EVG reader spotted this sign on a trailer parked on Third Street and Avenue A...
It's a rather lyrical note ...
Please check your feet
Dog Poo !!!
All over the place
Thank you Timmy!!!
Dog Poo !!!
All over the place
Thank you Timmy!!!
(Also, register to vote.)
Where to enjoy your National Night Out with the NYPD today
The NYPD is celebrating the annual National Night Out today... which is:
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships to help make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. It seeks to strengthen the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement, fostering a true sense of community.
The National Night Out-ing around here includes:
9th Precinct
321 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue
Time: 2-7 p.m.
Activities: Face painting, music, entertainment, refreshments, games for children, giveaways, crime prevention information
PSA 4
East Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D
Time: 4-8 p.m.
Activities: Arts & crafts, games, petting zoo, bouncy house, refreshments, crime prevention information
And a Night Out flashback to 2013...
[Photo by Slum Goddess]
Signage arrives for East Village outpost of Sakagura
Over at 231 E. Ninth St., signage is up for Sakagura here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue ...
This former Robataya space will be the second outpost of Sakagura, which has been serving sake to New Yorkers since 1996 in Midtown.
Sakura Yagi, COO of the TIC Restaurant Group, confirmed the news in an email. "Customers will be able to enjoy selections from our renowned sake list as well as familiar, Sakagura-signature dishes as well as new dishes specific to our downtown location," she said.
Sakura and her father, Shuji Bon Yagi, operate a handful of nearby Japanese establishments, including Soba-ya, Curry-Ya, Rai Ken and Hi-Collar.
Expect a September opening date.
Robataya, which featured the robata technique of cooking proteins over a charcoal grill, closed at the end of 2017 after nine years in operation.
Lucky dog: Boris & Horton expanding on Avenue A
Workers are renovating the empty storefront at 195 Avenue A near 12th Street...
Boris & Horton, the dog friendly cafe next door, is taking over the space, which was Gabay's Outlet until the end of 2017.
The owners are on this month's CB3-SLA docket for the expansion. According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website, they are "expanding seating on dog side of cafe."
As previously noted, daughter-father co-owners Logan Mikhly and Coppy Holzman created three separate areas in the cafe, including an indoor seating area where dogs can go but food cannot be ordered (this appears to be the area to be expanded), and a cafe separated by plexiglass where dogs are forbidden per Department of Health rules.
Boris & Horton opened on Feb. 2.
The August CB3-SLA meeting is Aug 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.
Nai Tapas Bar closes on 1st Avenue ahead of move to 2nd Avenue
As we first reported back on June 18, Nai Tapas Bar was moving this summer from its spot of eight years at 174 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street to 85 Second Ave.
Nai closed after service on July 29 (H/T B+B). Signage for the previous occupant, Xunta, which decamped to Williamsburg in 2009, was revealed in the move out.
A letter to patrons on the Nai website points to a September reopening on Second Avenue...
The space on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and Fifth Street was previously home to Bareburger, which left for lower rents on Orchard Street in the spring.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Nai Tapas Bar moving from 1st Avenue to 2nd Avenue
Bareburger is leaving 2nd Avenue; new outpost slated for Orchard Street
Moving day for Bareburger
The Dessert Kitchen space is for rent on St. Mark's Place
A for rent banner recently arrived on the front window of The Dessert Kitchen at 94 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue.
The shop, which relocated here last fall, is still in business, serving its variety of "homemade Asian-fusion-styled desserts from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan."
The listing notes that possession can be arranged with notice of 30 to 60 days. Other listing comments include: "All uses considered" ... "Can be vented for cooking" ... and, obviously — "Motivated landlord."
The rent is available upon request.
Monday, August 6, 2018
Monday's parting shot
Just Christopher Meloni holding a chainsaw while filming a scene for the SYFY series "Happy!" on St. Mark's Place near Third Avenue... photo by Derek Berg.
The series is based on Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson's graphic novel. Meloni is Nick Sax, a former detective turned hired killer.
The red-tailed fledgling is having the most fun in Tompkins Square Park
The remaining red-tailed hawk fledgling continued to entertain Tompkins Square Parkgoers this past week... Steven shared these photos of Amelia and Christo's offspring at play the other day ... practicing his take offs and (crash) landings...
... and playing with a favorite toy — a piece of wood ...
... and Derek Berg caught the young hawk in flight...
Goggla has been documenting the fledgling here and here. She believes he hatched on or around June 1.
As she notes, "This fun time with the young hawk won't last long. As soon as he's able to fly and feed himself, he will venture off on his own to explore the world, so let's enjoy and admire him while we can."
EVG Etc.: More L-train shutdown talk; high praise for Bali Kitchen on 4th Street
[Photo in Tompkins Square Park yesterday by Derek Berg]
Tonight: MTA hosting public meeting on environmental impact of the L-train shutdown (WNYC)
A visit to Bali Kitchen on Fourth Street. "It’s a boon not only to the neighborhood, but to a city that, despite its wide-ranging dining options, only has about a dozen or so restaurants devoted to Indonesian cuisine." (The Village Voice)
CNN will air the remaining "Parts Unknown" episodes this fall, including the one Anthony Bourdain filmed in the East Village and Lower East Side (Los Angeles Times... previously)
Mighty Quinn's BBQ, which opened on 2nd Avenue and 6th Street in 2013, launching franchise opportunities to take brand nationwide (QSR — H/T Eater)
City cooling centers are open (NYC.gov)
Former East Village chef busted again for exposing himself to a subway rider (The Post)
Ghost signage on the Bowery (Ephemeral New York)
Screenings of Dennis Hopper's fever-dream "The Last Movie" from 1971 — also in a new digital restoration (Metrogaph ... "one of the great lost films of the 1970s")
...and tomorrow, East Village-based singer-songwriter Riley Pinkerton releases her debut full-length album, "Nothing Ever Is." She and her band are playing a record-release party at the Mercury Lounge tomorrow night with Mother Feather...
Chelsea Thai debuts on 1st Avenue
[Photo by Lola Sáenz]
Chelsea Thai, a longtime favorite in that neighborhood, opened in its new home at 192 First Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street back on Friday.
Founder-chef Saruj Nimkarn (pictured above) relocated here after 21 years in the Chelsea Market. (He closed that space in January.)
You can find the menu (PDF!) here.
This Instagram post from January 2017 has more about Nimkarn...
Previously on EV Grieve:
Chelsea Thai coming to former Neptune space on 1st Avenue; Filipino fare for Avenue A
Cleaning up the Relaxation Garden on Avenue B and 13th Street
Several Parks Department workers descended upon the dormant Relaxation Garden on 13th Street and Avenue B and removed trash and debris this past Thursday.
As the Post reported, the GreenThumb garden, part of the city’s urban gardening program, had been locked up the past two years during renovation work next door. During this time, the space had become infested with rats — thanks in part to the NYCHA-controlled trash compactor adjacent to the lot.
[Photo from yesterday]
Per the Post:
For about four hours, the workers hauled away trash and construction debris from the lot at Avenue B and East 13th Street, cut down a tree, pruned shrubs and hacked at weeds.
“It’s going to come back as a community garden. We can’t say when,” a Parks Department worker told The Post.
The workers also removed the GreenThumb-branded Relaxation Garden sign from the fence.
Meanwhile, the construction at the building next door, 207 Avenue B, remains at a standstill. The city issued a Stop Work Order in March 2017 because the contractor of record withdrew from the project. That Order is still in place as of Friday.
The Parks Department was reportedly working with 207's landlord to expedite the work so that the garden can reopen.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Rats running rampant in the Relaxation Garden on Avenue B and 13th Street
The Ottendorfer Library is now closed for renovations
As noted last week, the Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, closes starting today for upgrades that will keep the branch out of commission until early 2019.
According to a message to patrons from branch manager Kristin Kuehl, workers will be installing a new fire alarm and life-safety system. "Due to the building's age and landmark status, the project is expected to take six months," Kuehl wrote.
A little history of the building:
The Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library opened in 1884 as New York City's first free public library. Designed by German-born architect William Schickel, this landmark building combines Queen Anne and neo-Italian Renaissance styles with an exterior ornamented by innovative terracotta putti. The branch was a gift of Oswald Ottendorfer, owner of the New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung newspaper.
Ottendorfer patrons can head on over to the Tompkins Square branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B for all your library needs. Check out their free activities (link here) for August.
The Tompkins branch is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The Ottendorfer Library closing for 6 months to install new fire-suppression system
Paper Gutter brings books, mix tapes and art to Essex Flowers
This is happening today from 1-9 p.m. at Essex Flowers, 19 Monroe St. down in Two Bridges...
Paper Gutter
Vortexity Books and Book Row Present a day of Book Selling, Mix-Tape DJs, Live Performances, Art and Poetry Readings
• 3 p.m. Performances by: Carolyn Lockhart Schoerner, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
• 7 p.m. Readings by: Nicole Wallace, John Coletti, Peter BD, Alissa Bennett
Artwork by: Ryan Foerster, Mattie Goedecke, Adam Opet, Yusuke Okada, Caroline Schub, Yoni Zonszein, Sara Glick
Tape Mixes From: BOB, Jezenia, Adam Opet, Bene and Matt
Small Presses: Heinzfeller Nileisist, Ratstar Press, Bunny JR. Tapes, IMP, Dripper World, Papertown Company, Noa Danish, Discipline Press, Vortexity, Solution, Black Tower Editions, Adventures Ltd. Press, F Magazine, Matt Kenny and more.
Additional performances, readers and presses TBA!
Nobody Is Perfect has closed
Nobody Is Perfect closed its doors for good in late July here on Fourth Street near Avenue B.
"The gas in the entire building, including the apartments and the restaurant next to us, has been shut down for six months," proprietor Mario Carta explained in an email. "We were unable to provide a decent menu to our customers during that period of time and that affected our business knowing that we were open for less than a year trying to build a clientele in the neighborhood."
Carta, who also runs Pardon My French at 103 Avenue B and Chouchou at 215 E. Fourth St., opened the Italian restaurant in the spring of 2017.
He also noted that the Community Board 3 denied their sidewalk cafe application that "could have helped us stay open."
In issuing the denial in May for the 16-table sidewalk cafe, CB3 officials said that the restaurant received 45 311 calls since it opened, 18 of which required a visit from the NYPD, according to the official minutes of the meeting. (PDF here.) Five residents (as well as a rep from the East 4th Street/Lower Avenue B Block Association) also spoke at the CB3 meeting, stating that Nobody is Perfect "plays excessively loud music and allows cheering and chanting associated with its weekend boozy brunches," which was in violation of its license. (There were other complaints too, such as leaving the restaurant's front windows open past 10 p.m.)
Nobody Is Perfect was the fifth restaurant to try this address in the past 10 years. B4 closed in June 2016 after nearly three years in business ... and previously Piccola Positano, Tonda and E.U. gave the space a go.
H/T Alexis!
Previously on EV Grieve:
Team behind Avenue B's Pardon My French eyeing 2 spaces on 4th Street
Ben Shaoul's former Liberty Toye sales office is now for rent on Avenue B
The former sales office for Ben Shaoul's Liberty Toye condoplex is now for rent at 44 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.
According to the listing at Steve Croman's 9300 Realty, the asking rent on the 1,500-square-foot space is $9,995 per month. The listing notes that this is "one of the hottest areas in NYC" and "Food Use is okay."
Before Shaoul's Toye team took over the long-vacant space last fall... the address was a laundromat.
Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate reportedly sold the nursing home-turned-residential building at Fifth Street and Avenue B for $85 million. (There isn't isn't any sign of this transaction yet in public records.)
[Photo from November]
Legal documents arrived on No. 44's front door earlier this summer stating that Shaoul owed the $9,300 base rent for March through June ... for a total of $41,345.91.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Week in Grieview
[Eduardo Kobra's Michael Jackson mural on 11th Street at 1st Avenue]
Stories posted on EVG this past week included...
1 of the 2 red-tailed hawk fledglings in Tompkins Square Park dies from secondary poisoning (Monday)
Tompkins Square Parkgoers irate after finding notices for use of controversial weed killer (Friday)
The Ottendorfer Library closing for 6 months to install new fire-suppression system (Wednesday)
The 23-year-old Starbucks on Astor Place is now closed for 'a major renovation' (Tuesday)
The latest installment of I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Thursday)
About Fiona Silver's 'Thunder and Lightning' (Monday)
Foot Gear Plus wraps up 38 years on First Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Thursday)
This week's NY See (Thursday)
The Chipotle on St. Mark's Place has permanently closed (Wednesday)
July — August by peter radley (Friday)
Cinema of rock at the Anthology Film Archives this month (Thursday)
Pinks Cantina opening in the Bowery Market (Friday)
Activity in the former DF Mavens space (Tuesday)
Silky Kitchen in soft-open mode on 13th Street (Monday)
This block of 1st Street is trailer free for the time being after 6-plus years (Saturday)
Pado bringing 'Modern Japanese Cuisine' to 2nd Avenue (Monday)
Illegal hotel row mural defaced again in First Street Green Art Park (Wednesday)
Film Forum reopens after months-long revamp (Wednesday)
Pizza for 20 Avenue A (Monday)
Report: Rats running rampant in the Relaxation Garden on Avenue B and 13th Street (Monday)
407 E. 6th St. is for sale; one of the 'most sound-proofed properties in NY' (Tuesday)
Former Santander space for lease on Avenue A (Monday)
Beetle House founder brings ridiculous milkshakes to 6th Street with Cake Shake (Wednesday)
... and of interest from the LES ... the Lo-Down first reported this past week that the 186-year-old Federal row house on the corner of Grand and Ludlow is for sale...
The landmarked property is the longtime home of Ideal Hosiery, who plans on relocating to a yet-to-be-disclosed location.
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On Avenue B, East Village Fruit and Vegetable is gone, gutted
East Village Fruit and Vegetable closed at the end of the month on Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street.
As previously reported, the lease was up, and the owners couldn't make the increase in rent work. According to a longtime patron, the store owners also said that they wouldn't be able to compete with the new Target, which features a large grocery selection, on 14th Street at Avenue A.
In any event, workers have emptied out the space...
No word on a the space being for rent... or what might replace the previous longtime business...
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