Ninth Street and First Avenue shocker: Motel ... Hello?

The other day Matt Rosen from Neighborhoodr was walking by the long-dormant building at First Avenue and Ninth Street as workers were finishing up and closing the gate. And the conversation went like this:

I asked if they knew what was going in.

Motel.

Uh, OK. Motel?

Hmm. Anyway, Curbed reported on April 30 that the city issued a permit for interior renovations on the four-story, 31-unit building. No word on what, exactly, the renovations were for. (As EV Grieve reader HippieChick has pointed out, the total cost of the renovations were estimated at $30,000 on the work permit. Which won't go very far...)

So here's my rendering for a motel here... Not real original, but...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Blockbuster: 147 First Ave. set for demolition

[Motel Hell image via. Bates Motel image via. Top photo via EV Grieve reader Steph.]

A little bit of country on East Fifth Street

Man, I can almost hear the rooster crow reading the newish listing for this one bedroom home on East Fifth Street just east of Cooper Square. As the listing says:

Nestled in the heart of the East Village is your own private oasis. Relax and enjoy a 680sf South facing private garden with shade provide by a beautiful Norway Maple tree and framed by gorgeous plantings. The indoor oasis is just as special creating a wonderful country in the city feel where you can relax, entertain and work. With North / South exposures and the birds chirping on the tree lined block it's easy to forget where you are. The country kitchen provides top of the line appliances and plenty of space to use them. Hardwood floors, HVAC and tons of storage including private basement storage room complete this fabulous home. The small scale condominium is conveniently located near all of the shops, restaurants, buses and trains that make life in the East Village so much fun to live in.

And then you hear a party coming from the Cooper Square Hotel!

Anyway! Here's what it looks like.

Looking at the new art outside the Mars Bar

10th Street Liquor expanding; end of world postponed

I'm glad that I was really wrong a few weeks ago when I expected yunnie calamity after Christine's Deli and Grocery on Avenue C at 10th Street closed... As I asked, is the corner of 10th and C ripe for something new and trendy?

Well, no.

As a reader noted:

I know the owner William. He also owns the liquor store next door on 10th Street. He is switching the two stores. The liquor store will move to Ave C and the Bodega will be on 10th. He said he was going to make it a high end Bodega with meats/cheeses. He said he makes more $$ off the liqour store and needed a bigger space.

And the new signage is up on the corner...

Spotted: The front of P.S. 64

The other day, I spotted workers putting up new plywood at the old P.S. 64 on Ninth Street east of Avenue B...



... I haven't seen the front of the school in eons. So I took a picture.



A worker saw me and said that "so many people" had also walked by and took pictures. I asked him if he was there to tear down the school. He laughed and said that he was only there to help put up the new plywood.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will old PS 64 get a theater for nonprofit groups?

Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

The remaining piece of urban archeology at 24 Avenue A

On Friday afternoon, EV Grieve reader Paul Dougherty (check out some of his NYC-centric films here) captured a little bit of urban archeology under the former sign of Graceland on Avenue A at Second Street... As he says, the sign shows some of the old neighborhood when Avenue A was the baby-nursery furniture district... (BaHa snapped some photos too earlier last week.)



However, by Sunday, all traces of the ghost signage had been removed by workers....





The space now just sits and awaits its fate.

Previously on EV Grieve:
"All uses considered" at former Graceland

More here.

How was your weekend Shepard Fairey mural?

Just a recap...

Before!


Saturday morning!


Plus!
Paul Richard puts up a larger sign on Shepard Fairey's mural

Is the Shepard Fairey mural snatching babies now?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Historic bombing on the Shepard Fairey mural

Who's the landlord for the strip of stores that caught fire last week?

After the three-alarm fire wiped out the businesses on 14th Street and Avenue A, some residents began speculating about what might happen to the prime block of East Village real estate... The area here also falls outside the East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning ...

A reader says that the same crew who was doing work at Pete's-A-Place, where the fire started, has also been working on renovating Apt. #12 at 542 E. 14th St. at Avenue B. However, there are no permits on file with the DOB for this address.

According to the reader, the DOB has tried to get access to Apt. 12 without success. The workers allegedly don't answer the buzzer or door. There have been six complaints filed with the city since April about this unit. Among other things, the complaints include that the construction in the unit is causing the entire building to shake.

The 542 E. 14th St. building has had problems in the past... In August 2007, Curbed noted that workers ripped out the entire kitchen and bathroom in one unit and left a 12' x 6' hole in the floor in which the tenant could see into the apartment below.

Empire Properties owns 542 E. 14th St. as well as most of the rest of the block, including the fire-stricken businesses. Empire's holding company is the infamous Solil Management, which is the estate of famed real-estate investor Sol Goldman.

[Photo by EV Grieve reader Sergey]

Missing the Stuyvesant Grocery; plus Permacut relocates

This weekend, the fire-ravaged buildings remained shuttered on 14th Street and Avenue A after the three-alarm fire last week ... I didn't see any activity...



...though a fan of the grocery left a note...



Meanwhile, the folks at Permacut quickly relocated...good news. (Jeremiah had a great post on the Permacut sign last Thursday.)





Also, well, I don't know much about gut renovations... but this looks rather hopeless to me... fueling more speculation that this block will be razed.




Again, this is only speculation made by a few longtime residents... We all hope the business owners are able to rebuild here.

All fire coverage here.

East Village eatery odds-n-ends: French Creperie coming to St. Mark's; Rico getting evicted; people standing in line at Pulino's

Absinthe wine bar closed on First Avenue near Seventh Street back in November... the place became Lautrec Bistro.... now that place has closed... a new cafe is hoping to transfer the license here tonight during the CB3/SLA meeting... the new owners want to operate the garden... which has caused problems in the past...



As BoweryBoogie noted Friday, Pulino's finally outed its sidewalk cafe... and there were lines (and bare feet!)...



Officials served Rico, the hookah joint on Avenue C between Ninth Street and 10th Street, with an eviction notice... (They closed once and reopened about two months later back in 2008.)




Signs for a French Creperie have gone up on St. Mark's Place next to the Hop Devil Grill... replacing the boitique that closed here...




Workers removed the plywood at the Pita Pan Sports Grill on Second Avenue and Sixth Street...



And, I have no idea when this happened, but the McDonald's on 14th Street near First Avenue has a walk-up window now...

More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated

Last week, Curbed noted the ongoing tenant meetings at the doomed White House (or Whitehouse) on the Bowery... The four-story building erected in 1916 now serves as a hostel as well as a permanent home for a handful of low-income residents... it's destined to become a hotel...

More meeting signs are up for the remaining tenants... and if the photos weren't so blurry, you'd be able to read that the meeting includes an update on preservation efforts ...



Plus, the tenants' attorney has gotten the landlord to OK exterminating for bed bugs. How humane of the landlord. They had to get an attorney to lobby for decent living conditions?



Meanwhile, I was thinking, what if this place shutters... and the sidewalk shed eventually is taken down... How will the Subway next door advertise?

Cosmic Cantina is closing

NYU fave Cosmic Cantina on Third Avenue near 13th Street...



is moving on in June, as the sign says...

(Updated) A Penny Farthing for your thoughts

[Apologies for that headline!] Next door to Cosmic Cantina we have Penny Farthing (named for an old-timey bicycle) in the former Cafe DeVille space looking very ready for action...





As Grub Street reported, it will have a "very industrial but comfortable atmosphere" courtesy of the folks behind Phebe's. How many times did someone proofread those signs to make sure that no one wrote Penny Farting?

The signs went up on Friday... and I spotted a bread delivery out front on Sunday morning... perhaps Opening Day is imminent.



Eater reports that Penny Farting opens tonight... and they'll be serving Appletinis and stuff.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's Penny-farthing on Third Avenue, not a sports bar

At the former Cafe DeVille, the black plastic goes up, the dead potted plants go out

Is the Shepard Fairey mural snatching babies now?

A new addition next to the Shepard Fairey mural

Noted

Previously on EV Grieve:
The challenges of making the Sex and the City sequel "recession-friendly"