Paying the Chillmaster a visit on East Third Street

On April 5, we reprinted an item about some ongoing maintenance issues at First Houses, the first public housing complex in the United States on East Third Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.

And the whole comments thread turned into a discussion on the fellow who lives in a ground-floor apartment here who seems to enjoy his music (classic R&B and soul) and his drinking. We followed that up with another post on the apartment. Turns out the fellow has many fans. Not to mention a nickname — the Chillmaster.

Per a reader in the comments: "I pass this guy all the time ... I would love to hear his story."

Well, thanks to EV Grieve regular Marty Wombacher, now we do know more of this story. For his Marty After Dark blog, Marty paid the Chillmaster a visit on Friday night. (This had been pre-arranged.)

You can read the whole thing at Marty After Dark. But a few highlights. He has a "Chillmaster Chill Easy Chair" that vibrates and has a heat control.

He grew up in Harlem... he's retired... and he has lived in this apartment for eight years.

And he likes Hennessey.

Marty even printed out the EV Grieve post with all the Chillmaster comments...

By the way, Marty paid a visit to the Chillmaster with Kate from One Folded Sunset. You can read her post on the night here.

Marty's reaction via email: "Classic fucking New York night!"

[All photos via Marty After Dark. Reposted with permission]

Coming to 14 Avenue B: East Village Brewery and Beer Shop

14 Avenue B is on tonight's CB3/SLA docket. (Read the CB3/SLA history of this space here.)

And the proprietors have outlined their very specific plans for 14 Avenue B with a letter and menu posted on the front door of the building. (By the way, as you may recall, Discovery Wines is moving next door to 16 Avenue B in the coming weeks.)

Here's the letter — not sure how well you can read it here...

"Our goal is to produce an in-house, award-winning craft beer to be consumed and sold on premises, complimented by a fine cocktail and wine selection paired with a foodie restaurant with a steak-based menu.

"We additionally plan to create a retail space similar to the Beer Room component of Whole Foods in order to offer craft beers and beer-related dry goods to neighborhood enthusiasts."

And here is their proposed menu...

Verizon preps wall for more tagging

The ongoing brown-paint war at the Verizon building along 13th Street (at Second Avenue) continues... here's how it looked earlier last week...

And after a paint job on Friday...

To be continued....

Previously.

[Thanks to Woodland Creature for the tip.]

Mind your bench manners at Momofuku Milk Bar

Momofuku Milk Bar moved across 13th Street and opened up a new shop at the end of April.

Given the popularity of anything with "Momofuku" in the title... Milk Bar management reminds patrons to use the benches in front of their store...

... and not congregate on the residential steps elsewhere on the street...

We'll have to wait longer to find out about plans for 34 Avenue A

34 Avenue A was one of the most intriguing items on tonight's CB3/SLA docket. In March, the committee rejected the proposal to turn the former Aces and Eights space back into a performance venue.

No name was on the appliacation for the space in May, simply: "To Be Determined, 34 Ave A (op)"

In any event, we'll have to wait longer to find out about the plans for the space: 34 Avenue A is a scratch for tonight.

Meanwhile, one other item of interest: 200 Avenue A, the art gallery with a full liquor license. In previous posts on this the gallery, several readers claimed that they were misled when it came to sign a petition of approval for the plans.

For instance, per Cat Sitter in the City:

I wish I could take my signature off that Superdive/now we're an art gallery petition I signed. It really bugs me that the girls were telling me they were creating an art gallery. I had no idea it was an art gallery with a liquor license, and I wonder if they duped others in the same way.

And!

Anonymous said...
Oh, great. I signed their petition. They said it was going to be an art gallery. They were two nice girls who didn't say anything about booze. I feel like I was hoodwinked.

This weekend in big parties on Avenue B

Late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, a reader noted a large, uh, gathering on Avenue B... bringing back nightmares memories of Le Souk...

While they were in front of the former hookah hotspot, partygoers were actually going in the door next to the space for a party in an apartment above the old Le Souk ...

Barbao closed again this past weekend

Barbao on St. Mark's Place remained closed Friday and Saturday nights. Michael "Bao" Huynh's eatery was not open the previous weekend due to an "electricity problem."

Friday!

Saturday!

Verso opens today

After weeks of extensive renovations, Verso, the former Caffe Pepe Rosso/Caffe Cotto, opens today on Avenue C at Eighth Street, Dave on 7th notes...

And it appears that the to-go window isn't really happening...

Missing

These flyers went up in Tompkins Square Park today.

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Asleep on the stoop

Taken outside the now-defuct Jazz on the Town Hostel on 14th Street near Second Avenue by James and Karla Murray.

Noted at the Mars Bar

Today at 35 Cooper Square

Previously.

Third Avenue, 9:47 a.m., May 15

Bike lane patrol

EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams noted yesterday that police officers were on Second Avenue at Fifth Street waiting for cyclists to run the red light... the fellow pictured apparently didn't stop, and was let off with a warning.

Let's not mention this to samo, OK? Previously.

At the Ukrainian Festival today

[Photos by Bobby Williams]

On the plywood and beyond at 14th Street and Avenue A

[Photo by Crazy Eddie]

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Previously.

School-crossing sign continues East Village tour

Yesterday!

Today!

Landlords enter bed bugs battle

Several readers noted the arrival of these letters from their landlords this past week...

So, basically, to avoid the spread of bed bugs, you have to wrap your mattress and box springs in plastic before dumping it on the curb — whether or not you even have bed bugs. There is a fine of up to $100 if your bed isn't wrapped. Landlords such as Brownstone Building Mgmt here will fine you the tenant then. If they can figure out who the mattress belonged to, that is.

Today in front-page news

Giving the edge to the Post today.

An espresso to go?

On the Bowery.

Punk rock girl

The Stranglers (again, yeah) from 1982.

When surveyors make us nervous

We can't help but be nervous when we see things like surveyors at work outside Billy's Antiques on Houston... What are they surveying? What godawful thing is coming/happening next to this region near the Bowery?

And why do we hear rumors about something Starbucksy coming to the vacant storefront behind Pulino's?

This weekend: The Ukrainian Festival

It's an EV Grieve favorite... and workers are setting up now...

What happens to fallen road signs

Crazy Eddie sent me this fallen "Bump" sign on the East River greenway by the ConEd plant awhile ago...

Now looked what happened to it! Red Hook isn't enough for them?

Life after the Amato Opera

In January 2009, Anthony Amato announced that he was closing the Amato Opera after more than 60 years. Amato also said that he was selling the building at 319 Bowery that he had called home since 1962.

As he told the Times, "I'm 88 years old, and I'm a little tired," he said. "I have a few years left."

However shocking the news may have been to the public, the announcement wasn't a complete surprise to some company members.

"There were some rumors swirling among the cast in the late fall of 2009," Melissa Gerstein, an East Village resident and an Amato member since 2004, told me on the phone. "We noted his health. He was just tired. He still had a lot of live. He wanted to do some other things to do with his time."

And then the cast began to talk about the future.

"There were a lot of people who had been involved with the company for 30-40 years. There were really sad about not being able to go to the Amato every week to perform," Gerstein said.

So a small group of cast members continued talking about launching Amore Opera to fill that void in producing homespun, inexpensive productions and keeping the Amato spirit alive.

Once the members had everything in order — a board and budget, for starters — they approached Amato with their idea.

He gave them an enthusiastic endorsement.

Tonight, the Amore Opera finishes up their second season with a production of "Carmen," which runs through May 29 at the Connelly Theatre at 220 E. Fourth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

For Amato, Gerstein said that he was extremely pleased that people who he loved and cared about were going to be continuing his legacy.

And what does Anthony Amato mean to her?

"He is a very warm and giving person. He’s just in it for the music, and no other purpose. For a young person like myself coming in — I was a year out of graduate school, which was tough and rigorous — jumping into a company like Amato, with a fun, unstructured way of doing things… He molded each performer into the person that he knew they could become up on stage."



For further reading:
Amato Opera (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Find more information on the Amore Opera here.

'Soon the entire length of Avenue B will be lined with shit holes like this'

And in case you didn't see this yet at the Voice... Robert Sietsema checks in with an epic rant on the state of Avenue B dining and nightlife these days ... starring Billy Hurriance's.

To the post!

You look up at the street sign and realize you're in the hippest nabe in the world, the old E.V. And it dawns on you that soon the entire length of Avenue B will be lined with shit holes like this, crass dining and drinking establishments that might have been invented by Guy Fieri. Yes, now we're in the Fieri-verse, a realm of ostentatiousness overconsumption so abject, that nori rolls may come wrapped in bacon so as not to frighten the regulars with seaweed. Any self-respecting blogger would turn and run from such an apparition, yet this appears to be the future of the streets where Allen Ginsberg and Charlie Parker once strolled.

It had to be said.

Photo via