Andre Balazs prepping to take over the Cooper Square Hotel

Last month, Hotel Chatter heard that hotelier Andre "Boom Boom" Balazs was taking over the troubled Cooper Square Hotel. As soon as now.

On Monday, the CB3/SLA committee holds its monthly funfest. And on the agenda: Cooper Square Hotel (CooperAB LLC) with a liquor license transfer.

According to CB3 documents (PDF):

There's Andre's name right there as the hotel's principal.

Anyway, as Curbed has noted the hotel has been on the block — with an asking price upwards of $80 million.

Brief Balazs background: Among other properties, he owns The Standard in the Meatpacking District. The hotel features the Boom Boom Room, or Top of the Standard, which likely has the toughest door policy in the city.

Anyway, what's all this mean for the Cooper and the neighborhood? Maybe nothing. Or, uh, full-frontal nudity.

But really. Per Guest of a Guest:

"Does this mean the east side is going to see the likes of the Boom Boom Room and Le Bain nightlife crowd? Le Bain was a prime and hot spot for Fashion Week parties last year and mostly this year's as well. After Balazs re-opened the Boom Boom room as a private club, Le Bain was positioned to pick up the pieces of the Boom Boom room's former existence. But it didn't quite fill the void.

"Will that happen with the Cooper Square Hotel? Certainly the top floor Cooper Square Hotel has the ability to be crafted as a replica of the Boom Boom room's fun palace. Could Balazs recreate the magic?"

Backsiders, get ready to give Andre a proper East Village welcome!

Diablo Royale aiming to license basement bar

Also on Monday night's CB3/SLA committee agenda...

Alterations/Upgrades
• Diablo Royale (East Village Café & Restaurant LLC), 167 Ave A (alt/op)

According to CB3 documents (PDF), Diablo Royale is hoping to: "license existing bar in basement; additional seating; relocate bathroom."

This could get interesting. The last time owner Jason Hennings came before the subcommittee, in November 2010, he blasted Avenue A residents for their "blasphemous lies." Hennings and his attorney were present to discuss a review of the stipulations that the bi-level Mexican eatery-saloonery agreed to prior to opening in May 2010.

Flashback to EVG coverage of that meeting:

Avenue A resident Andrew Coamey said that during the bar's Halloween party, Hennings allegedly approached him on the sidewalk ... that he would see him in 10 years and Coamey "would still be complaining about gentrification." At the time of the confrontation, Hennings was dressed as a gladiator.

After hearing a handful of residents speak out, Hennings called their claims "blasphemous lies." He apologized to the committee for being so upset, but that sitting there and hearing the residents was "angst provoking."

And here is the rest of the slate for the night. Right here.

Monday, Sept. 19 at 6:30 p.m. JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Diablo Royale Este owner blasts the 'blasphemous lies' of residents, invites the State Liquor Authority to investigate

Memorial for Nelson Perez on Avenue B

He died Saturday from injuries sustained during a motorcycle accident on the BQE. He was 48. DNAinfo has more here.

Back by popular demand! (sort of!): More posts that we never got around to posting

As stated last week: Well, I have nearly 1,050 half-started, half-finished, half-assed posts in the EVG hopper. They just weren't working for some reason. Or pointless. (Or more pointless than usual.) So now, in all their glory, here are some of those posts... with, perhaps, an explanation why I never posted them. And, because at least one person encouraged me to do more...

Oops! Deadline passed. Sorry!

I entered this short.



With all the glass and glitz on the Bowery these days, I was happy to see that the new letters at Project Renewal weren't quite aligned... It works.

The not-so-new now mural out back at the Coal Yard... forgot to post!

A little bit of Taradise on Avenue B... Glad that Tara Reid is still getting work.

Oh, right. Random LES streetscene.

A popular job...

May I use a lifeline?

[Bobby Williams]

Yes? No! God, I don't know!

Never did mention Heartbreak Cafe on Second Avenue at Second Street. Heard that people really like it.

Noted, for some reason.

I swear this was R. Crumb sitting under the sidewalk shed at St. Brigid's. Was gonna ask Slum Goddess. But I didn't because the photo was so blurry.

Classic sneaky blogger photo attempt. Pay no attention to the person lurking by the car wheel with a Panasonic Lumix!

My reaction to the story of the Hedge funder who left the ATM slip with a $100 million balance back in June in the Hamptons.

Of course.

Early Sunday morning outside the Flowerbox on Seventh Street... only one resident has the Times delivered?

Not one 2 Coop pool party story all summer.

Oh. Walking by Eastville Gardens on Avenue C, I notice a group of people staring in the gates here at the former community garden. I stop to see what was what. Pervy German tourists on the way to Zum Schenider were pointing and taking photos. I thought I heard the German word for bikini. Bikiniunterteil! People waiting for the M9 were staring too. I never posted because it would have been far more effective if I had a photo of the Germans taking photos. Plus, it seems pervy posting bikini shots.

At the 11th Street flea market.

Noted.

Of course.

What do you think of the Union Square elephant?

[Photo by EVG reader Lauren]

On Tuesday, workers plopped down Miquel Barceló's Gran Elefandret. It weighs 26 tons, roughly the same size as the Whole Foods salad bar. Would the statue look better with some colorful zip ties around its trunk?

WYNC has more on it here. It's up through May, so you have time to form an opinion...or of you want to weigh in now.

NY1 hilariously takes credit for helping reduce Tompkins Square Park rat population

[Photo by Bobby Williams taken Tuesday]

We like NY1! But! Really? Per their report:

East Village residents say the playground in Tompkins Square Park has a huge reduction in its rat population, thanks to NY1 For You. After parents contacted NY1, the station called the Parks Department about the rodents and a spokesman said while the agency is not placing rat poison in the park out of concern for the resident red-tailed hawk, the agency has removed groundcover, weeds and low growing shrubs in the park that had sheltered rats.

And the result? Fewer rats a few people say! For starters, every local TV news outlet covered this story and called the Parks Department. Second, it's very questionable if the rat population has thinned out at all. Have you noticed a difference?

Anyway, if any media outlet deserves credit for helping with the problem, it's The Villager. They were the first to report on this back on July 21.

P.S.
Hey NY1! The rats are eating the squirrels now!

Today in yarn-cart sightings

14th and Avenue B today ... via EV Grieve reader Jed M.

Previous tours.

Report: Altercation over East 14th Street parking spot heads to trial

As you may recall from this past February, a dispute over a parking spot on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B left a woman in a coma. According to published reports, the man charged with hitting the woman now has an Oct. 24 trial date. The man, 35-year-old Oscar Fuller, has said that he was defending himself. The woman, who is in her mid 20s, was reportedly standing in the space to save the spot for her boyfriend. (CBS New York)

[Updated] Report: St. Mark's Bookshop and Cooper Union to meet again next week

As you know, the owners of St. Mark's Bookshop were to meet yesterday with Theresa C. Westcott, Cooper Union's Vice President of Finance, Adminstration, and Treasury, to negotiate a rent reduction. According to NY1, Westcott will present the issue to Cooper Union's president and trustees. The two sides plan to meet again next week, NY1 reported. "[W]e're optimistic that we can work things out," co-owner Bob Contant said.

Previously.

Updated:

WNYC has a story on the battle too... I don't recall seeing this fact anywhere else:

Cooper Union doesn't actually own the building that holds the store, but leases it from a company called Casabella Holdings, and sublets it to St Mark's. Some of the people signing the petition have accused Cooper Union of being greedy and trying to force St. Marks out of the area.

But Cooper Union is hardly your typical college. It's one of the few in the country that offers all its students full scholarships, each valued at $38,500 a year. The income it generates from its real estate holdings, according to [spokesperson Jolene] Travis, makes up 55 percent of the college's revenue.

Also in the piece!

One real estate analyst, David Nouhian of the Metropolitan Property Group, argues that the most sensible solution would be for St. Mark's to move to a cheaper location, perhaps mid-block.

"That landlord could get a lot more than $20,000 a month in today's market," Nouhian said.

Find the whole report here.

First look inside Tompkins Square Bagels

Tompkins Square Bagels at 165 Avenue A is closer now to an opening date. The blue plywood is finally down...

EV Grieve contributor Shawn Chittle takes a look inside... and reports that owner Christopher Pugliese hopes to open by Oct. 1. Per Shawn: "It's looking real good. All sorts of real wood tables, accents, and lots of places for food that you can run in and grab and go or sit and relax. People waiting for M14 bus have a new place to sit and grab a coffee and bagel. Couldn't be better."

Previously.

Landmarks Preservation Commission rejects hearing for 316 E. Third St., paving way for 7-floor condo

Preservation groups had been working to try to protect 316 E. Third St., a circa-1835 house bound for the condo after life. Unfortunately, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has rejected a hearing on the matter, according to a post yesterday at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation website (GVSHP). As GVSHP noted, "in 2008, as part of their own evaluation of the structure for the Environmental Review for the East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning, the LPC called it 'eligible for landmark status.'"

Last week, though, the LPC "again responded by refusing to consider holding a hearing on potential landmark designation of the endangered structure." (Read the LPC letter here, PDF)

So, this will be the fourth pre-Civil War building in the East Village to be demolished of late. The others: 326 and 328 E. Fourth St. and 35 Cooper Square ...

And so, the historic townhouse between Avenue C and Avenue D will become a Karl Fischer-designed, 33-unit condo that will destroy the home and the bucolic adjacent garden space.

New mural in the works for the Russo's-Something Sweet wall

In late July, workers refurbished the building on the southwest corner of First Avenue and 11th Street... painting over the Russo's ribbon mural in the process...

But! A new mural is in the works, as you can see... no one was around ... so we don't know who the artist is yet...

Of course, we're hoping (and assuming) that this will be for Russo's (or Something Sweet) and not an ad for, say, vodka.

This Saturday: The 9th Street Block Party

From the EV Grieve inbox...

Please join our 9th Street A-1 Block Association Block Party!

9th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A
Saturday, September 17th, 11 am – 5 pm (no rain date)
Live Music (from noon - 4 pm) featuring:

• Cracked Latin – hybrid psychedelic latin salsa band
• Serena Jean Southam – country rock singer-songwriter
• Star '69 – Grateful Dead Tribute Band
• Primativa in Hi-Fi – (DJs) – Electrolounge, Bossa Nova, Nova Bossa and similarly sultry soundtracks
• Bird Love – Indie / Post Punk / Rock
with more bands to come!

Resident artists, crafts people, and photographers will be showing and selling their work, and residents will be selling a la "stoop sale" — antiques, bric-a-brac, clothing, accessories, music, jewelry, etc.

Raffles for gifts, discounts, or coupons from block businesses
Block businesses include:

• Autumn Skateboards, Bridal Veil Falls, Cloak & Dagger boutique, Dorian Grey Gallery, Dusty Buttons vintage boutique, Enchantments, Flower Power (herbs), M Sonii (boutique), Ollie's Place (cat adoption), Pink Olive (gifts), Polytima (jewelry), Pork Pie Hatterie, Puppy Love Kitty Kat (pet supplies), Tae with Jane (boutique), The Upper Rust (antiques)
• Restaurants: Dirt Candy, Good Beer, I Coppi, Itzocan, Kajitsu, Whitman's, Zucker Bakery
• Hair Salons/Barbers: Lovemore & Do, Maria Mok Salon, Neighborhood Barber, Ueno Salon

Last chance tomorrow for historic 135 Bowery

From the EV Grieve inbox via the East Village Community Coalition...

Dear neighbor,

135 Bowery, between Grand and Broome, needs your help. In June, this 1817 Federal-era rowhouse was designated an individual landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) but the future of the building is still uncertain. The next step in the process is tomorrow's City Council vote.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Call Councilmember Margaret Chin's office and tell her to support landmark designation. The community wants it and the City has deemed the building a landmark!

Councilmember Margaret Chin
212-587-3159

Please attend the hearing tomorrow, September 15, at 11 AM, 250 Broadway, Committee Room, 16th Floor. Be sure to bring valid ID.

If you're attending the meeting, please let me know. If you're unavailable, please pick up the phone and call Councilmember Chin's office right away.

Sincerely,

Kurt Cavanaugh
Managing Director
director.evccnyc@gmail.com

Read more background here ... and here...

East Fifth Street transformed into Bedford Avenue another era

Dave on 7th checks back in on the filming this afternoon of "Greetings From Tim Buckley" on East Fifth Street, where Sophie's is subbing for 1960s-era Night Owl Cafe

We'll now have the carcass of 51 Astor Place to enjoy a little longer

Developer Edward Minskoff told Real Estate Weekly that crews will demolish 51 Astor Place "by the end of the year." As we reported back on June 8, Minskoff's reps told residents that the actual demolition would start in mid-August. Should give them time to chop down any remaining trees.

Meanwhile, plans still call for the Fumihiko Maki-designed 430,000-square-foot Death Star here.

[Via Curbed]

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village — the new Midtown?

51 Astor Place demolition begins July 1; 17 months to build new black-glass tower

What kind of neighbor will Cooper Union be after today?

As you likely know, the owners of St. Mark's Bookshop will meet today with Theresa C. Westcott, Cooper Union's Vice President of Finance, Adminstration, and Treasury, to negotiate a rent reduction, as Runnin' Scared noted on Monday. Co-owner Bob Contant is aiming for a $5,000/month reduction, but says the new administration has not been "particularly sympathetic." They have struggled to pay the market rate that Cooper Union set at $20,000.

There's plenty of commentary on the matter. Jeremiah Moss writes an Open Letter to Cooper Union today at Vanishing New York. He outlines how Cooper Union has helped usher in "a tsunami of hyper-gentrification," from the Bowery Bar to the glassy hell of 1 Astor Place to the destruction of 35 Cooper Square.

Per Jeremiah:

If St. Mark's Books is forced to close due to unyielding rent, whatever business moves into their space at 31 Third Avenue will be boycotted and protested by the thousands of people who read this blog and all the blogs connected to it. Nothing will thrive there--no bank, no cupcake shop, no kitten adoption center.

Meanwhile, Rob at Save the Lower East Side has more pointed commentary.

Peter Cooper himself was all about giving back to the community. Peter must have long ago tired of spinning in his grave over what has become of his life's dream, free higher education for the working class. How many ways can Cooper Union spell "betrayal"?

He goes on to wonder if the neighborhood even deserves the bookshop.

The NYU students have their own bookstore, filled with all the books they need and more than they can handle. As for the rest of the neighborhood, this place is a youth destination for children of means, not an intellectual or countercultural destination anymore. It's heart is commerce now, not anarchy. Freedom must be purchased, and it exacts many prices.

And you know about the petition to save St. Mark's Bookshop. It's here.

Meanwhile, there was a robust discussion on the topic on the last EVG post here.

[Photo via John Roca the Daily News. Read their article here.]

Night Owl Cafe lives again at Sophie's — but just for today

Crews are on East Fifth Street today to film scenes for "Greetings from Tim Buckley." ("Gossip Girl" star Penn Badgley is Jeff Buckley in this film.)

The Jeff Buckley-Tim Buckley biopic is using Sophie's as a backdrop (both inside and outside the bar). Dave on 7th was on the scene this morning...

Sophie's is subbing for the Greenwich Village 1960s mainstay Night Owl Cafe, where Tim Buckley played his first NYC gig in 1966 (and the Lovin' Spoonful came to fame). Read more about the club here. This address on West Third Street has been home to Bleecker Bob's since 1983.

...and a new rival for the Pee Phone?

Today's sign of the apocalypse: Starbucks taking over The Bean's space on First Avenue and Third Street

[This morning at The Bean]

Well, a lot to absorb here... so.

Jim Dwyer at The New York Times reports that Starbucks will be taking over The Bean's flagship cafe at First Avenue and Third Street.

Once more for effect: Starbucks will be taking over The Bean's flagship cafe at First Avenue and Third Street.

Dwyer puts it into really fucking depressing perspective for us:

The city sheds its skin every day; Mom & Pop are always getting the boot. Manhattan now has 186 Starbucks, which is eight per square mile. There are more Starbuckses than subway stations. You might think that 186 stores on one small island is the functional equivalent of everywhere, but it turns out not to be, in Starbuckian terms, enough: outlet No. 187 is opening Friday in Times Square, and sometime early next year, No. 188 — or so — will be hanging its shingle on Third Street, right down the block from the world headquarters of the Hell’s Angels

Well, The Bean is showing them. Ike Escava, a Bean partner, now plans to open a location on First Avenue at the southeast corner of Second Street, where that pizza/hookah place was. (Or was supposed to be.)

Meanwhile, as you know, The Bean will open new locations on Third Street and Second Avenue and Ninth Street and First Avenue... Despite the expansion, the Bean people originally said that they would keep their flagship store. However, they have been on a month-to-month lease, and the landlord gave them a 30-day notice to leave late in August, the Times noted.

Back to Dwyer's article:

Starbucks has a public relations firm in New York City that issues statements on behalf of the company, but does so anonymously, a peculiarly disembodied form of human communication.

Asked about the plans for Third Street, the company issued this statement: "In many of the markets that we have entered, we found that the local coffee culture is greatly enriched and invigorated by our arrival."

For the time being, though, there won't be any coffee on this corner after this month...

Is this a large random pile of coffee grinds ... or art?

That's the question passersby were asking yesterday here on First Avenue at Fourth Street... One person told our Bobby Williams that a man has been creating these coffee piles for awhile now...

Which might explain why the rats are up all night at Village View. (Sorry — too easy.)