[Updated] When will Veselka on the Bowery open?

After posting the coming-soon sign for Veselka Bowery on Saturday, we sent the folks there a note asking when they're expecting to open...

We didn't hear back from anyone at Veselka. We last heard that the location will open in mid-March, per the Feast.

[Updated 2:30]
From Fork in the Road:

"Our opening date will probably be in May. Maybe early June, but we're hoping to be faster than that," said Veselka owner Tom Birchard, who mentioned that this new location will be similar to the one on Second Avenue, but will have a full liquor license and be "a little less dinerish and a little more restauranty."

As for the menu, he notes that "Everything will still be inexpensive and casual but we'll have some really exciting items. We're looking for inexpensive caviar, and we're going to have lots of vodkas from Eastern Europe which will be great because the food goes great with it."

Community facility available on East Second Street

The plans for the new luxury homes at 229 E. Second St. between Avenue B and Avenue C included a community facility on the ground floor... we were curious if this would actually happen... Apparently yes, as the newish sign shows...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Million dollar condos hit the market on East Second Street

229 E. Second St. sprouts a roof deck

Cutting condo prices by 20 percent on East Second Street

East 10th Street, 8:31 p.m., March 6

In the rain

Earlier today ... by EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams.

Noted

Fourth Avenue and East 10th Street.

Broken flowers

Outside the Peter Jarema Funeral Home on East Seventh Street today.

Week in Grieview

[Outside McDonald's on First Avenue]

Seizure causes smash-up at St. Marks Place and Avenue A (Tuesday)

Sidewalk is closed for renovations (Wednesday)

Putting together the pieces of Grace Farrell's last days (Tuesday)

A transformer fire at ConEd (Wednesday)

Charlie Sheen was on TV for some reason (Monday)

A Playboy Playmate and Bao teaming up for fried chicken and waffles on St. Mark's Place (Friday)

No more Junk on St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

Another Juice Press coming soon? (Thursday)

Death & Co. had to close for a few days while waiting for its liquor license renewal (Thursday)

While we were suddenly quoting "Predator" (Friday)

ICTTS officials disqualify this tree from competition

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Rob D. for the above photo of this poor thing spotted during the weekend on Avenue A between First Street and Second Street.

However, since receiving this photo, officials at the International Coalition of Tree Tossing in the Spring (ICTTS) said that we cannot include this tree in this year's competition. An official said there is a little-known codicil in the ICTTS constitution that mandates trees must still have 75 percent of its branches intact to qualify.

13th Street, 9:47 a.m., March 6

Putting the Bowery to canvas

EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams took these shots yesterday afternoon in front of 35 Cooper Square...

A British immigrant on the LES

EV Grieve reader Samo notes a 53 MG on Forsyth and Houston that drew admiring stares yesterday...

Some FYI per Jalopnik:

The '53 MG TD came with a 54.4 horsepower pushrod four-cylinder engine (yes, that extra 4/10th of a horse was so important that MG included it in the power rating) and was priced at $1,945. That was about $1,500 less than The General's new sports car, the '53 Corvette, but 200 bucks cheaper (and orders of magnitude better-looking) than the Triumph Mayflower. Budget-minded car shoppers who wanted to go a little less sporty could buy the bargain-basement '53 Ford coupe- which probably outperformed the prewar-technology MG TD in just about every category save parallel parking ability — for just $1,734.

About HiFi (and long live El DJ!)

So yesterday afternoon, several readers noted the presence of some big yellow NYPD notices outside HiFi on Avenue A ... While we usually do call/e-mail for details on something like this, we did not yesterday. We quickly posted the photos. And we assumed the worst — as we've seen in other situations involving bars and the NYPD.

So while the bar did receive a summons from the NYPD, it did not have any impact on their business hours. HiFi was open as usual yesterday afternoon. We apologized to the folks at HiFi last evening. And we're sorry for causing any unnecessary hysteria among fans of the bar.

Meanwhile, onward!

Long live El DJ 2.0!

Here's a nice piece on El DJ by Chantal Martineau at Fork in the Road.

Signs of spring on Avenue C

The Church of Earthalujah starting 3-month residency at Theatre 80

Starting tomorrow night, The Church of Earthalujah begins a three-month-or-so residency at Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place...

I asked Rev. Billy what attendees can expect.

The Church of Earthalujah at Theatre 80 is not a political rally in a theatre, not a comedy in an improv club, and not a church service with great music — but if isn't all three, you get your money back.

Find out more about what Rev. Billy is up to right here. Find him on Twitter here.

The Church of Earthalujah
Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir
Theatre 80, every Sunday through June, 7:30 PM, 80 St Marks Place
$10, no one turned away

Here's your Veselka Bowery signage

Here we are at the coming-soon Bowery/First Street location of Veselka...

We last heard that the location will open in mid-March, per the Feast.

And here was a progress report from September.

March 5

On East Second Street. And for authenticity purposes. The Holiday Tree Street team placed a copy of today's Post of New York next to the little fellow.

Meanwhile, apparently some upstarts in Park Slope think they can horn in on this late tree tossing thing. EV Grieve reader Kate sent along this shot from March 1 on Eighth Avenue and 10th Street...

Go back to Brooklyn! Uh. Or something!

Eminence Front

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Duke for these photos of the EV Lambo v2.0 from last night on Avenue A... (credit for headline also goes to Duke...)

Today in celebrity endorsements of Clinton Street Baking Co.

[Via]

A mid-Friday-afternoon slice-of-Second-Avenue life

...via EV Grieve contributor Bobby Williams... who rounded the corner at Fourth Street to come across the aftermath of a cab-bicyclist mishap...

Despite the FDNY presence, everyone appeared to be OK...

Earlier

Repeat performance: 'Too Many Creeps'

I posted this Bush Tetras song about 18 months or so ago... One of my favorites — the song and the video, starring the Bowery circa early 1980s...

OK, then! HiFi is open

Well, that was fun. After learning that the NYPD put all those yellow stickers on HiFi earlier ... the bar is open ... a bartender says they did "get a ticket," but it's back to business as usual.

[From EV Grieve corespondent Shawn Chittle]

We removed the original headline ... the bar is open

Wow... here on 169 Avenue A...

To be continued... Photos courtesy of Shawn Chittle.

All sorts of crazy, Bao-related food shit happening on St. Mark's Place

Lordy! Eater has the details on ... on.... this:

Michael 'Bao' Huynh has a new concept up his sleeve. He's partnering with Nicole Van Croft (left!) a Playboy Bunny ... on a burger, fried chicken, and waffles concept on St. Mark's Place. Croft, who Bao says makes "the best southern style fried chicken and waffles" will be the culinary force behind the place, which will be located at 125 St. Mark's Pl. The tentative name is Bao & Buny.

And there's more... which you can read at Eater.

Here's '30 Rock' filming at Lucky Cheng's this morning

As mentioned earlier.

[Thanks to EV Grieve reader Lori E. Seid for the shot!]

'Another' DeNiro movie filming on East 12th Street

In addition to "30 Rock" filming around here today ... @jschauma points out that "Another Night" — starring Robert DeNiro and Paul Dano — set up shop this morning on East 12th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (P.S. — you're too late to pose as a crew member for a free breakfast from craft services) ... This is the adaptation of Nick Flynn's memoir "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City."

BoweryBoogie has more on "Another Night" filming around the LES...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Photo of the Mosaic Man by Bobby Williams]

Woman in coma after parking-space attack on East 14th Street (The Post)

About cell-phone use at registers (The Grumbler)

Check out this interview featuring Eden and John's East River String Band and Robert Crumb (Down Home Radio)

A shackled LES Jewels takes a spill in an ambulance (Nadie Se Conoce)

#AskMike (as in Bloomberg) on Twitter (Runnin' Scared)

A meal at Hinsch's in Brooklyn (Eater)

Another season of "Oddities" at Obscura Antiques on East 10th Street (BoweryBoogie)

Activists get primed for projects at ‘Land Use 101’ (The Villager)

The famous Macy's "holdout" building (Ephemeral New York)

Beware the MTA police on the M15 SBS (NYC the Blog)

Cute kitties! (New York Shitty)

And EV Grieve reader Samo notes a woman with a bloodied nose awaiting medical attention on Houston near the Bowery...

When people stop being polite... and start getting drunk

Outside Destination on Avenue A and 13th Street.

We have a feeling that we'll hear more from Flint-native Shawn Chittle on this matter. (And Shawn took the pic.)

'30 Rock' setting up to shoot inside Lucky Cheng's

That's the word from a reader just now on First Avenue... Photos anyone?

Phil Hartman bringing a 'performance venue' back to former Mo Pitkin's space

This (kind of!) confirms the rumors that we had been hearing... and mentioned back on Feb. 23: Phil Hartman is going to make another go at 34 Avenue A, which was most recently Aces and Eights.

Hartman and his brother Jesse opened Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction — the two-level restaurant/bar/performance space — in 2005.

It closed two years later. As New York put it: "[Mo Pitkin's] was the promised land for the busty neo-burlesque stars, pseudo-sane performance artists, and guitar-playing trapeze acrobats rendered homeless by the closing of Fez (and Surf Reality and Collective Unconscious and every other small, anything-goes downtown venue)."

The landlord sold the building a year later, Aces and Eights arrived in March 2009 ... So enough history...

Phil Hartman's name is listed as the contact on the just-posted CB3 flyer outside 34 Avenue A...

We reached out to Hartman last night to learn more about his plans. We haven't heard back yet.

Deal apparently in place for former Croxley Ales beer garden

Back in November 2009, we noted that the former beer garden at Croxley Ales was on the market...



A quick recap:

East Village Development Site/Retail Space opportunity. The subject property is currently a vacant lot with 24 feet of frontage on Avenue B. My client is looking to sell the property which has approximately 7,680 buildable square feet, or sign a long term triple net lease for a retail tenant. The retail space can be built out to approximately 3,840 square feet of commercial space not including the basement.

And now an EV Grieve tipster notes that someone has removed the sign ... (not to mention the tree) ...

...and it appears some work has started on the space...

We contacted David W. Seid, president of DSR New York, who had the listing for the space — known as 26 Avenue B. Via an e-mail, he said: "I can't officially comment yet on what's going on Avenue B until it's finalized. If you would like to check back in with me at the end of March I should be able to give you more details."

Meanwhile, there aren't any filings just yet with the DOB. (On Tuesday, one resident called the DOB to complain about "illegal demolition." The city didn't spot any at the time of its inspection.)

Until we know more, we might as well wildly speculate! Anyone?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Croxley Ales beer garden ready for development

Things that I didn't notice before: The beer garden at Croxley Ales has closed

The Boozerists

"Boozerists" (n) 1. A weekend non-resident visitor to the East Village or Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan who booze, e.g. drink heavily, binge drink; 2. Persons who yell "woo hoo!" during early hours of the morning; 3. Any person seeking an all you-can-drink brunch.

Definition courtesy of Shawn Chittle.

Predator spotted on Seventh Street

EV Grieve Technologically Advanced Form of Extraterrestrial Life Correspondent Bobby Williams spotted this outside Tokio 7 on Seventh Street... from the greatest film ever made, of course — "Predator."

And in the immortal words of Dutch: "We move. Five meter spread. No sound."

A mural grows on East Third Street

EV Grieve reader Aaron passes along these photos, noting the progress yesterday on the wall adjacent to the Project Renewal facility on Third Street east of the Bowery...

We stopped by ourselves to take a look ... a Project Renewal employee was unsure what the final mural will be ... and wouldn't let us onto the property to ask the man painting the mural...