Gemma's fake history

Earlier this week, Brooks at Lost City noted the "Est. 1886" underneath the sign for Standings, the sports bar on Seventh Street that has been there for, what, five years? He writes, "They even put up letters for 'Standings' that rather matched the font of the 'Est. 1886.' False advertising, I say, designed to snare rubes." (This formerly housed Brewsky's, a bar that likely wasn't around in 1886 either.)

I have the same feelings about Gemma at the Bowery Hotel.

Workers started tearing down John's Garage (below) here on the corner in the fall of 2003... which is now home to the Taavo Somer-designed Italian eatery ...

[Photo by rollingrck via Flickr]

... which is notable for introducing fine china to the sidewalks of the Bowery...



Anyway, I've never understood one thing about Gemma... up there in the corner...

...the 1954 date. The placed opened in 2007. The previous building here was demolished...

Last August, BoweryBoogie unearthed real-estate marketing materials for the Dry Dock Savings Bank, which called this corner home since the late 1870s... Dry Dock moved in the fall of 1954...

[Image courtesy of rollingrck via Flickr]

So it's possible that Gemma is paying homage to the year when the bank moved... or maybe they're just trying to give the impression to tourists that there's a lot more history behind Gemma than there really is...

Is 35 Cooper Square really worth saving?

The fight to save 35 Cooper Square continues. As we noted the other day, both Community Board 2 and 3 will discuss stopping demolition of 35 Cooper Square and preserving other Federal houses on the Bowery. Both boards will also discuss nomination of the Bowery to the State and National Register of Historic District. (CB3 passed a resolution on it last night. BoweryBoogie has more here.)

Meanwhile, in an opinion piece published yesterday afternoon, a writer for the Local East Village (the NYU-Times collaboration) wonders why we're fighting it. He admits that he is 22 years old and a resident here for only eight months — and "more privy to this neighborhood’s prolific bar scene than its historic past."

So, from his perspective:

The days of Diane di Prima living upstairs have long since passed. Over time, 35 Cooper Square evolved, from a residential haven for poets and writers, to – like it or not – a cheap watering hole. Over time, 35 Cooper Square’s become little more than an eyesore next to its surroundings. And somewhere over that time, 35 Cooper Square lost its history.

And, moving forward:

The East Village skyline will shift, and shift again. It always has. Who’s to say this is a bad thing, or that tomorrow’s residents won’t include the next di Prima, Hendrix, or Madonna? As East Villagers, it’s our duty to remember the past. But when we reflexively cling to our past, when we use 35 Cooper Square as a scapegoat for fear and uncertainty of an unseen future, we become something altogether different.

You can read the whole post here.

[Updated] A taste of the East Village while you're at SXSW!

Something called the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference is getting under way in Austin, Texas, today. And after all these years, I thought South by Southwest was part of the menu at Chili's. (Booooooooo!)

Just kidding about SXSW, now in its 25th year.

Anyway, a reader on the way to SXSW mentioned that there is an East Village in Austin.

Indeed! Here's a description of it:

The East Village isn't your average mixed-use building on the Eastside. It's a striking piece of art designed and built by renowned architects Bercy Chen Studio, nestled proudly within a historic, thriving, vibrant, rapidly growing community, harmoniously mixing the awesome old with the bold new, all within a few blocks of Downtown. The vibe in the 11th Street East End District is as unique as it is to live at The East Village.

I'm not sure what the point of this is other than to say it all hits a little too close to home ... namely the stupid, rampant development...

UPDATED:

Per Jeremiah's comment... Yes, thought this all looked a little familiar... here's the future 347 Bowery.

Apparently missing New School Housing cart found

On Eighth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D. Hope there's a reward! It's now taking up a lot of space in my hallway.

Someone finally buys the famed Cedar Tavern space

Well, here's some news that may (or may not!) cause our blogging friend Alex at Flaming Pablum to punch a few walls.

The Real Deal's Amy Tennery reports that the 2,295-square-foot retail condo unit and former home of the Cedar Tavern (RIP, 2006) has sold for $1.5 million.

Per the article:

The unit, located on the bottom floor of 82 University Place, a seven-unit condominium on the corner of 11th Street, was sold by Michael Diliberto, the building's developer and former owner of Cedar Tavern, which counted Jackson Pollock and Jack Kerouac among its patrons during its roughly 40-year tenure.

The sale came under major duress from lender Flushing Savings Bank, according to Kevin Salmon, a partner at the firm who helped broker the deal. After almost five months on the market, the unit sold to property owner Ascot Properties for $1 million less than its original asking price.

And a sale doesn't mean a Cedar Tavern revival. According to the article, there are restrictions specifically blocking a bar or restaurant from opening here.

As Alex wrote last month: "The fact that it's still an ugly, empty shell of a yanwsomely utilitarian workspace in the wake of it replacing a beloved neighborhood institution is still an untrammeled insult."

Oh, and here's another Austin, Texas/SXSW connection for you. As Grub Street reported, the owner sold the Cedar Tavern's bar to some nightlife types in Austin.

A close call on Second Avenue

Yikes. We don't know all of the particulars... EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams was on the scene in the aftermath this afternoon of a cab-pickup truck mishap on Second Avenue at Seventh Street. Witnesses said there weren't any injuries.

No one seemingly knows when Tompkins Square Park closes

When does Tompkins Square Park close? That's a question a reader asked after this experience Tuesday evening.

So tonight around 11:40 we're walking through Tompkins Square Park ... when we find the Ninth Street/Avenue A gate locked and the police telling us to go back.

We ask what's up and they tell us it's *always* been this way and the Park is closed before midnight. Continuing to practically ram us out the north-facing gate.

So, the reader decides to call 311 for more information.

They don't know the hours for the Park and send us to the Parks Department, who first claim it's "7 am till dusk" and then "7 am till 1 am," inviting us to get into some deep shit with the 9th Precinct to find out why they locked the Park up. Nobody is saying it's supposed to be closed before midnight, because nobody's an idiot.

Well, all you need to do is look at the official signs around the Park... like these two that EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams randomly photographed a little earlier this winter ...




Oh.

I've been run out of the Park myself at random hours. 11:10 p.m.! 11:45 p.m.! I've also found myself in the crazy TSP Game where the NYPD is closing one side... and you get to the other side only to discover the gates have been locked. And the officers there tell you to go back where you came. "But the other gates are also locked." Uh-oh! Now you've done it! Talking back to an officer!

Anyway, we all should have access to our public places ... Perhaps all involved officials may want to create consistent set hours before someone is arrested for walking through the Park at 11:40 trying to get home.

First apartments for 189 Avenue C hit the market

[Photo from February 2009]

Work on the new apartment building at 189 Avenue C at 12th Street has been creeping along... we noted that workers removed a lot of the plywood on the ground level about 13 months ago.

Now, though, five of the rentals have appeared on Streeteasy. They're available starting Tuesday, apparently. A two-bedroom apartment is priced at $3,400; a studio is listed at $2,400.

Here are the building details:

1 FREE MONTH
Brand New 35 Unit Luxury Building
2 Elevators
Pet Friendly
Fitness Center
Spectacular Roof Deck with River and Bridge Views
Virtual Doorman Services
Washer/Dryer in the Apartment
Dishwasher
Stainless Steel Kitchen
Huge Eat in Kitchen Counter
Tremendous Closets
Toto Bath FIxtures with Rain Showers
Independently Controlled Heating and AC
High Speed Time Warner and Verizon Fios Ready

Here's a view of the 12th Street entrance, just next door to the Social Security Administration Building....



We don't know much else about the building. The 189 Avenue C site that I linked to last year doesn't exist anymore. There slogan was "Come see what's new on Avenue C."

Previously on EV Grieve:
"Come see what's new on Avenue C"

As the Bao turns

To be honest, I've lost track of the comings and goings here at Barbao on St. Mark's Place... It seems as if Michael "Bao" Huynh will have three eateries on St. Mark's Place soon enough, as Eater reported last Friday. (Including one with a former Playmate! Woo!)

Anyway, the one that is open, Barbao, which used to be Bao 111, certainly looked closed for some renovations last night...

So I gave them a call...

Barbao: Hello? [Suspiciously]

EVG: [A little surprised, expecting to hear a greeting like "Good evening. Barbao."] Hi. Are you open tonight?

Barbao: No. Tomorrow night!

EVG: So you'll be open tomorrow night?

Barbao: Yes! [Click]

Art of scales

From the EV Grieve inbox ...

Starting tonight, the Michael Mut Gallery will be hauling out the industrial scales, hoisting them up and blowing open the doors to his paintings, artifacts and signature oil textured works. His art market will price works by pound – first weigh it then pay for it.

Michael Mut Gallery
97 Avenue C between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.
Through April 23.

Merry Ash Wednesday!

Speaking of the holidays, people around here don't seem to care much about this tree-tossing in March stuff. Our friends from One More Folded Sunset note this today in Park Slope:



And it includes the ICTTS-sanctioned front page as proof of its authenticity.

Bring out yer dead

The owners of the Bowery Hotel bought the land underneath the hotel for $13.5 million. (Curbed)

290 Mulberry is 90 percent complete — and for sale

Every so often we check in on 290 Mulberry at the corner of Houston, where the 12-story development seems to get wavier with each drink at Milano's.




Anyway, an EV Grieve reader passes along word that you can now own the whole shebang for $25 million. Here's the new listing at Massey Knakal:

NoLIta Development: 90% complete, 290 Mulberry Street is a newly developed 12 story building with ground floor retail and 9 lavish full floor apartments above. The building contains a dramatic 2,613SF Penthouse Triplex with 1,650SF of private terraces. This breathtaking building was designed by award winning SHOP Architects.

There is approx. 2,000 SF of GRFL retail. The 9 apartments total approx. 18,000 SF, with approx. 2,600SF of terraces. Recent retail comparables have achieved over $150 SF. Condo sales in the area have commanded a range of $1300-$2300 PSF for 2010.

The exterior is unique patterned brick panels. Amenities include radiant heat walnut flooring, Italian Schiffini kitchens, oversized sound insulated tilt and turn windows, and stone countertops. Floors 4 thru 12 have Empire State Building views. The plans call for private key locked elevators, concierge, doorman, and private storage units.

This project is perfect for a developer or end user. Estimated cost to complete is $2,000,000. 421 A in place. 290 Mulberry is directly across the street from the world famous Puck Building in the heart of NoLIta, one of Manhattan’s hottest neighborhoods

.

There's a complicated history... Curbed provides a nice summation here. And perhaps the new owner can slap on a coat of paint.

Step 3: walk it to the curb

EV Grieve reader James Taylor sends along a photo of this discarded iMac (circa 1998, with its "no step three ad" campaign) and asks...

"How long will it be before we see gently used iPads on the street?"

Sidewalk shed comes down at 147 First Ave. — now what?

Several readers noted yesterday that workers removed the sidewalk shed from 147 First Ave. at Ninth Street... Not much has seemingly been going on here since we reported that the space would be demolished... or become a motel.

Anyway!

The "for rent" signs went up in August...





Icon Realty has the listing for the ground-floor space ... which states "perfect for retail store, restaurant." (We sent an e-mail to Icon asking for details.)

We're not sure what's next for the rest of the building. The DOB issued new permits last week for work on "apartment houses."

Last year, Curbed reported that developer Terrence Lowenberg was the owner .. and he hired the notorious Issac & Stern firm as the architects. (New York magazine called Ramy Issac "the controversial penthouse king of the East Village.")

Here's what the space looks like as of last evening.

There's also no word yet where the panhandlers have relocated... In any event, keep an eye on this space.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ninth Street and First Avenue shocker: Motel ... Hello?

Blockbuster: 147 First Ave. set for demolition

The photography of Steven Hirsch

When we last checked in with Steven Hirsch, the East Village-based photographer was busy posting photos and essays for his Tompkins Square Park-based Crustypunks site.

These days, Hirsch has been uploading more shots on his photoblog.

Here are a few of them, from the East Village and locations around the city...

He is currently teaching at Pratt Institute. You can find more of his photos here.

[Reposted with permission]

'Legal' Miele washer dryer is the 'crown jewel' of this East Ninth Street condo

Here's your almost everyday listing (from Halstead) for a $1.85 million condo on East Ninth Street:

This is a high-end, recently renovated, 3 bedroom/2.5 bath (with office) quiet, corner apartment, surrounded by treetops. Unit 5/KL is the product of a seamless combination with fabulous flow and utilization of space. The large dining area is right off the open kitchen, distinct from the substantial living room. There is a separate home office, with built-in desks. Eight huge closets, including a double-wide food pantry adjacent to the dining area, boast custom-fit, adjustable shelving. The renovated kitchen features a widowed sink, custom built cabinetry, and top of the line appliances, such as a Subzero refrigerator and a Bosch dishwasher. The doors, moldings and light fixtures are all new and the electrical wiring upgraded. The crown jewel is the legal Miele washer dryer. 115 East 9th Street is one of the few full-service, doorman buildings in the East Village with its hallways currently undergoing a beautiful, modern renovation. It is near both Union Square and Washington Square parks, and multiple subway lines. It has a garage, rentable storage space, bike room, meeting/playroom and a laundry room, (not that you will need it). You will pay a very low maintenance, because the building has no underlying mortgage, making the apartment a great value. Pets are permitted with board approval. Pied-a-Terre and guarantors are not allowed.

And of all the photos of this home on the Halstead, there's not one of the crown jewel feature!

Tenant wanted who can leverage the death of the Bowery

Oh, missed this item yesterday in Steve Cuozzo's column in the Post (thanks Racked!) ... 313 Bowery, that one-time home to the CBGB Gallery that now houses the Morrison Hotel gallery is looking for a new tenant ...

(Confused by this — I spotted the "for lease" signs back in August 2009. Not sure what is different about the leasing now. Maybe to whip up some interest?)

So, Cuozzo reports:

The 3300-square foot space at 313 Bowery now occupied by the Morrison Hotel music-photo gallery — named for the famous Doors album and a spiritual successor to the CBGB gallery that was adjacent to the club — has been put on the market by Elliott Azrak's The Max's Kansas City Co., which netleases the property's retail space from the Bowery Residence Committee.

"The netlease holders are looking for not just any tenant, but one who can leverage the history of the block and the unique Bowery demographic," one source said.

That could mean a restaurant/lounge — or another store similar to John Varvatos.

The secret club Extra Place by Max's Kansas City is also part of the deal.


[Photo from September 2009]

Because you want to know more about the plans for 34 Avenue A

Rebecca Marx talked with Todd P. at Fork in the Road last evening... and he shared more about plans for 34 Avenue A:

Patrick says that he and his co-partners (who also include Mo's/Two Boots owner Phil Hartman and Mike House, an architect whose projects include work on Santos Party House) all want to create a venue that "reflects and serves the surrounding community. No one wants this neighborhood to be this gauntlet of bars where you can get Jell-O shots. We are very happy to remove that stain [of Aces & Eights], but at the same time, no one wants more overpriced boutique restaurants."

The new space will have a ground-floor restaurant which, Patrick says, "will be the main revenue source and the main face of the business." Its menu will be seafood-based "Pacific Coast-style Mexican cuisine" (Pacific as in Jalisco, not California) and its atmosphere "casual yet fairly sophisticated as well. We envision high-quality and not bargain-base priced cuisine, but also not prices that price out the average individual."

And!

As for the performance part of the equation, Patrick stresses that "this is not an indie club, not a rock club, and certainly not a dance club." Instead, it will be purely avant-garde. "Our feeling is that it's a genre that really needs to be represented in the city," he says. "Both the Stone and Issue Project Room are great, but they're maybe more of a museum setting than we would like to be. I have a great respect for those things, but you're seeing kind of a presentation of something rather than it being a little more free form."

(DNAinfo also has more on the space here.)

The comment box is awaiting.

As EV Grieve first reported last Friday:
Phil Hartman bringing a 'performance venue' back to former Mo Pitkin's space

And Monday:
[Updated] Bringing 'the tradition of the old Knitting Factory and Tonic' to 34 Avenue A

Landlord: Gas has been restored at 97 E. Seventh St.

Anthony Zachariadis at management company TZM Realty just sent along this message to us. Management had promised to have the gas service restored today. I followed-up and asked Zachariadis if the residents will receive any kind of credit for the days in which they didn't have gas for cooking. (17 days total.) "I have been calling tenants all day to discuss that matter."

Previously.

Community Boards to discuss fate of 35 Cooper Square and the Bowery

Here's more information on the flyer we posted last night...

A rep from the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors sent us an update to upcoming community board meetings that now include agenda items on preserving 35 Cooper Square and the Bowery.

Community Board 3's agenda for Thursday night now includes:

Parks, Recreation, Cultural Affairs, Landmarks, & Waterfront Committee
Thursday at 6:30 pm — BRC Senior Services Center - 30 Delancey St. (between Chrystie and Forsyth Streets)

1. Review of 2010 goals and accomplishments/committee goals for 2011
2. Peter Cooper Park—potential RFPs for food carts in park
3. Request for support by BAN to stop demolition of 35 Cooper Square and for preservation of other Federal houses on Bowery

And at Community Board 2:

LANDMARKS & PUBLIC AESTHETICS 1st APRIL MEETING Sean Sweeney, Chair

March 28 at 6:30 p.m. — Church of Our Lady of Pompei, 25 Carmine St. Father Demo Hall

*Nomination of the Bowery to the State and National Register of Historic District.

[Photo courtesy of EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams]

Residents of 97 E. Seventh St. haven't had gas for cooking since Feb. 19

Residents of 97 E. Seventh St. near First Avenue have joined forces after being without gas for cooking since Feb. 19. (They've also launched a Facebook page to make it easier to share information.)

In addition, one resident said that they were without gas, heat and hot water for three days starting on Feb. 19.

According to another resident:

"Management has been leaving 'updates' posted in the hallway, but everyone has been scribbling notes all over them, encouraging each other to fight back against the management. It's gotten pretty heated lately as it's become more clear that the fault lies with the management."

(The super apparently removed the older flyers in the building that contained all the comments from residents.)

In hearing about the situation from two residents, it seems as if the management company and ConEd are pointing fingers at each other over who's to blame for the 17 days without gas for cooking. One resident has said the use of unlicensed contractors led to five gas leaks in the building.

Anthony Zachariadis at management company TZM Realty didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Meanwhile, one resident said that management promised that ConEd will have all the gas hooked back up today. Despite all this, the resident said that the management has refused to discuss rent abatement. Said another resident: "Landlord hasn't mentioned any reimbursement for food expenses or rent...I'm wondering if we will all have to go to court."