On Sunday morning, we came across this tractor-trailer rig-a-ma-jig parked in the middle of Cooper Square at Seventh Street. A police car sat behind it. We were thinking it was some kind of bust. (Though if this was the case, there would have been about 500 police cars, helicopters...)
Then we spotted three-four men with cameras up on the west side of Cooper Square... A police office was standing with them as the group took photos of the parked truck....The newish Cooper Square was serving as a backdrop for the truck....
We asked the officer on duty if this was a photo shoot for a truck ad. He said something rather sarcastic like "yeah, how did you ever guess?"
After more photos (trucks are so hard to work with! The demands!) The truck and the police car moved on...
First a Cadillac TV spot and now an 18-wheeler print ad ... And who says the Coop isn't a model building?
Xunta, the former Spanish tapas joint at 174 First Avenue near 11th Street, closed last October... Work on the space continues... and EV Grieve reader Eric learned that the new tenant will be a ... Spanish Tapas place called Nine. And the new owners are on the docket at next Monday's CB3/SLA meeting...(And the Girls That Spit graffiti on the gate has already been removed...)
We pointed out last week that illegal work was being done at the former Layaly space at 98 Avenue B.... On Saturday, we spotted the work continuing...
... and on Sunday, the city placed a "stop work order" on the property....
THE 2X 3 WOODEN MADE SCAFFOLDING IS UNSAFE IT IS SHAKY AND IN DANGER OF COLLAPSING. IT IS SHIFTING ERECTED 30FT HIGH WITH NO PEDESTRIAN PROTECTION. NO PERMITS POSSIBLE- CLR- CIVIL SERVANT CARPENTER
Last fall, we covered the saga of Mikey's Pet Shop on Seventh Street near Avenue A... the shop eventually closed...
At the time, some readers and Mikey's patrons passed along several tidbits....one reader said that she was told a nail salon is already in place to take over the store... and that Mikey's had to close because the landlord was reportedly raising the rent to $20,000 a month.
So no nail salon — yet. It will cost a bundle to turn this place into any kind of eatery...but that's my guess now...something to complement Butter Lane, Porchetta and The Bourgeois Pig on this stretch of Seventh Street between First Avenue and Avenue A....
Next door to the new Tallgrass Burger ... something is going into the former Cookout Grill... We haven't heard what just yet. But from the looks of things, there's a way to go...
Hope they hurry, though: We just can't take the sight of beheaded restaurant mascots much longer... of course, this was the worst restaurant mascot in restaurant mascot history...
It is impossible to know if the recent increase in violent crime in the city is legitimate cause for concern that the “bad old days” of crime may return, or if it simply represents a blip in a trend line continuing a descent of nearly two decades.
Homicides are up nearly 22 percent in 2010, compared with the same period last year. Shootings are up in the city, to 293 from 257, a 14 percent increase. And there are more victims of gunfire: 351 through April 4, up from 318 in the same period a year ago.
But it is not statistics, but rather the tenor and pace of 2010’s spasm of disorder that are suggestive of a bygone era, and have again raised questions about whether New York City is finally at the end of crime declines.
New York's cover story this week is on The Most Livable Neighborhoods in New York ... and it should provide plenty of discussion ... the editors have created this quantitative index (below) of the most satisfying places to live in... and the East Village finishes... No. 10! Here's there explanation:
The neighborhood with the highest concentration of bars in the city (if not the world) scores off the charts in all the expected areas: retail diversity, restaurant density, proximity to nightlife, and desirability to the creative classes, with only schools and affordability truly lacking. With a typical two-bedroom running at about $3,300 per month, it’s expensive. But thanks to nearby NYU, the East Village has more income and ethnic diversity than most of its neighbors.
So the East Village is No. 1 in bars/nightlife... and 49th out of 50 for housing cost? Surprised?
Overall, Park Slope is No. 1 while those LES upstarts (heh) are No. 2. Read the whole thing here.
Last Thursday we reported that Graceland, the corner deli on Avenue A and Second Street, is going to be forced to close because the landlord wants a substantial rent hike.
Several EV Grieve readers who shop at Graceland, which opened here in 1991 with a $4,000 monthly rent, got confirmation of the closing this past weekend.
Per EV Grieve reader Ryan:
Talked to people at Graceland last night and they confirmed the landlord was asking for a 35%+ raise on rent. I'll be really pissed ... there's a lot of fun characters that work there, and with the continued storefront wasteland of Avenue A, who knows what we'll get in there, if anything.
And EV Grieve frequent commenter BaHa, who also blogs at With Leftovers, was told by a worker on Friday that Graceland closes in 10 days. The Graceland employee said they clear about $800 a day... "so, with a rent increase to $20K, they didn't have much choice. We were both choking up a bit."
This New Yorkmagazine feature from 2005 has more about Graceland's owner, Grace Dancyger.
The long-empty Carne Vale space on Avenue B near Fourth Street finally has a new tenant...(and the Carne Vale Web site is still alive...)
... it appears to be Zerza, the Mediterranean/Moroccan Restaurant & Bar that's now at 308 E. Sixth St.
They're on the docket for the next CB3/SLA meeting next Monday. According to the Zerza Web site, they feature hookas after 10 p.m. ... and there is belly dancing on the weekend ... I know nothing about Zerza, but the mere idea of hookahs and belly dancing in an Avenue B bar/restaurant brings up unpleasant memories of Le Souk and Layaly... and the Horus Cafe... By the way, as you may know, Carne Vale was owned by the Jacob brothers, who also run Le Souk...
You may have noticed in recent weeks that streetwear boutique Classic Kicks on Elizabeth between Houston and Bleecker has closed...
People looking for high-end vintage sneakers can still shop online.
According to StreetRat: "Due to increasing rates of rent, Classic Kicks decided to temporarily close in order to find a more suitable retail space. No word on where they’re looking or how soon the move will be, but keep tight."
This sign in front of the old shop, which opened in 2003, doesn't seem so encouraging, though...
According to a Hollywood Lifeexclusive, Katy Perry, who is famous for some reason, and her beau Russell Brand, are house shopping around these parts...
An eyewitness tells us she ran into the wacky couple walking into an open house at an apartment building in the East Village on April 11, just as she was walking out.
Dressed like they hadn’t changed since going out the night before — our eyewitness says Russell was wearing skintight leather pants, while Katy was sporting a skin-tight mini skirt with lace print and platform shoes — the couple checked out the two bedroom apartment in the village’s Alphabet City neighborhood. And although we couldn’t get an asking price out of her, our eyewitness did tell us that she heard Russell ask if he could use the bathroom, which is apparently a big no-no at open houses.
Hmmm... the Copper Building had an open house today... Here are other open houses today that fit the bill...
An EV Grieve reader spoke with the owner... and the reader reported that the Mini Thai Cafe and Avenue A Sushi kitchens have been combined, though they were still serve separate menus... The owner also said Avenue A Sushi was just having a "soft opening" now...
Members of the local Polish community left candles and flags outside St. Stanislaus on Seventh Street during the weekend to pay tribute to Polish President Lech Kaczynski and other government leaders who were killed in a plane crash yesterday morning...
In all the incidents, police say the man fled the scene with assorted property.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers Web site or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
The NYPD is investigating a series of burglaries in the East Village. The brazen burglar has struck at least nine apartments from March 10 through April 3, police said.
He even hit one building twice in one day -- once in the morning and once at night, the NYPD said.
The nine apartments are in the East Village from East 13th Street to East 8th Street from Avenue C to 3rd Avenue.
He usually comes through a window or back door, but on March 17 he came through the roof of a building on East 9th Street to burglarize the top floor apartments, police said. The owner of that apartment believes there were at least two burglars.
NYPD BLOTTER
The New York City Police Department is asking for the Public's assistance identifying the male wanted for a series of Burglaries that occurred within the confines of the 9th Precinct, details are as follows:
1. 03/10/10 at 1600 suspect entered 410 East 13 St apt 3A through Roof/sliding door 2. 03/10/10 at 0730 suspect entered 410 East 13 St apt 6B through window 3. 03/12/10 at 1600 suspect entered 416 East 11 St through rear door 4. 03/14/10 at 1800 suspect entered 316 East 11 St Apt 4c through window 5. 03/14/10 at 2000 suspect entered 121 St. Marks Plc through window 6. 03/17/10 at 1900 suspect entered 339 East 9 St through window 7. 03/17/10 at 2300 suspect entered 343 East 9 St through roof 8. 03/20/10 at 0149 suspect entered 207 Ave B through window 9. 04/03/10 at 2210 suspect entered 153 Ave C through window
The Web site for Dirt Candy on East Ninth Street brings the news that its neighbor, Atomic Passion, has closed after 17 years.
They just couldn’t make the numbers work anymore. We all know that life isn’t fair, and anyone who expects the good guys to win is living in a dream world. But it’s a loss to the block for Atomic Passion to go, and losing my neighbor makes me feel like it’s not Atomic Passion that’s wrong here, it’s the world where their numbers aren’t the ones that work. Most people didn’t notice Atomic Passion close, but if you were on East Ninth Street last week you would have seen part of the city die. Because when Atomic Passion closed, New York City became just that much colder, just that much of a tougher place to live.
I learned of the news via Jeremiah. He has more on it here. Terry Richardson wrote about it here.
