Out with the rum, in with the gin: Cuban-influenced Cienfuegos turning British

[Photo from March 2011 by Bobby Williams]

We're still sorting through the various media accounts and eyewitness recollections from Monday night's CB3/SLA committee meeting... Here's an item of interest via Eater's coverage yesterday.

Over on Avenue A at Sixth Street, the Cienfuegos team was on the docket to change their operation. The big transformation comes with the main space — El Cobre — on the ground floor, where they serve Cuban tapas and mojitos:

They want to keep the upstairs restaurant the same but downstairs they want to run an English fish and chips restaurant. They were approved and are keeping within the same method of operation and hours of use. It will now be called Gin Palace, focusing on gin cocktails and old style English pub fare featuring a selective fish 'n' chips menu.

So, if we have this straight ... the Cuban-influenced rum bar upstairs remains the same... ditto for the bitters tasting room called Amor y Amargo, which replaced the sandwich shop Carteles. And the main space, which opened in December, will now serve fish 'n' chips.

Suppose this means a change in the decor. El Cobre is named after the town where Cuba's patron saint is located... a duplicate statue is on display inside the restaurant ...

[Bobby Williams]

A little fall of rain

Earlier today in Tompkins Square Park. By Bobby Williams.

RIP Laura Kennedy

We're just hearing the news that Laura Kennedy, a founding member and bassist of the New York-based No Wave band the Bush Tetras, died on Monday after a lengthy battle with Hepatitis C. She had been living in Minneapolis the past 12 years.

She kept a blog about her ongoing health issues. You can find it here.

We've posted this Bush Tetras video several times through the years. One of my favorites — the song and the video, starring the Bowery circa early 1980s... From 1981.



Sources:
This Ain't the Summer of Love
Stupefaction
Flaming Pablum

New trees grow on East Sixth Street

In keeping with our positive theme here today...EV Grieve reader Creature notes the following: "We lament the destruction of trees, so I thought it would be nice to celebrate some new ones. There are four of them, planted yesterday ... on Sixth Street, south side, toward First Avenue."

[Updated] Check out the progress at St. Brigid's: bricks and glass, oh my

Wow. We're now getting a look at the Eighth Street side of St. Brigid's without the construction netting and plywood... this photo is from @dens .... as he notes: "new brick, new glass, looks amazing!"

Yes it does.

One more from @dens...

Dave on 7th sends along this shot:

Previously.

NYPD arrests Brooklyn man suspected of attempted East Village rape

As multiple TV news stations reported last night, police arrested a man in connection with the attempted rape of a First Avenue resident early Sunday morning.

Per the Daily News, police charged 35-year-old Imre Meszesan of Bed-Stuy with burglary and attempted rape. A cop reportedly recognized Meszesan from a prior arrest. (No word just yet on the nature of that previous arrest.)

'Public Assembly' for the former P.S. 64 on Friday

Oh boy it has been a long time since we've discussed the old P.S. 64/CHARAS/El Bohio community center behind the Christodora House.

First, though. We spotted these flyers on Avenues A, B and C in the past few days...

As you can see, it's advertising a meeting Friday night from 6-9 at Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place... dubbed as a "public assembly" to discuss the long-dormant space. However, there isn't any contact information or sponsor listed.

So we reached out to Kurt Cavanaugh at the East Village Community Coalition, a group that led the effort to successfully landmark the building. However, Cavanaugh told us that his group had nothing to do with the meeting. (We're waiting to hear back from Lorcan Otway at Theatre 80 to see if he can tell us who is behind the meeting.)



Anyway, there's a long, complicated history here. Briefly. Gregg Singer bought the formerly city-owned building in 1998 for $3.15 million. His plan: a 23-story megadorm. But, in the face of strong community opposition, he was never able to get those plans off the ground, and the building sits rotting (with help from the owner). The Villager has extensively covered this story through the years. Check out their archives here.

In August 2009, there was a rebranding campaign for the space...



According to marketing materials (PDF) that (the now defunct) HelmsleySpear circulated, the landmarked space at 350 East 10th Street (and an aside, the rebranding was not using the 605 E. Ninth St. address) was now known as University House at Tompkins Square Park.

A quick vision of Hell...



We go back to May 2010 for the last news on the space. The Villager reported that a man named Kim Barton wanted to transform the space into the Tower School, a 600-student, nonprofit, independent school.

There are still three active permits here. One for installing a fence ... one for installing a sidewalk shed ... and one for removing some plumbing fixtures.

So here we are. Anyone have any updates? Tips? Gossip? Please send them our way via the EV Grieve email

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

Of course, the old P.S. 64 would make a fine home

Obviously a mistake. But. Think of all the closet space. And the basketball court. And the cafeteria. The ConEd bill might be a little much though.

Does the East Village have enough places now to order hamburgers?

As we pointed out on Friday, Bad Burger (Breakfast All Day), the 24-hour diner, opens today at 171 Avenue A. A variety of burgers are on the comfort-food-heavy menu. Meanwhile, The Burger Shop at 115 St. Mark's Place will be serving hamburgers. (If they haven't done so already.) For something healthier, you can plunk down $15 for a cauliflower almond burger at the newly opened Gingersnap's Organic at 130 Seventh St.

Or, when the mood strikes, there are other choices nearby... like Black Market on Avenue A near Seventh... or Black Iron Burger on East Fifth Street close to Avenue B ... or Whitmans on Ninth Street near First Avenue... or maybe Mark Burger on St. Mark's Place... If you're that way, then you might as well go to Paul's, right? ... of course, I prefer the burgers at Stage. A few other people I know like Blue 9. And Royale. And Zaitzeff. And Bento Burger on Second Street. Which reminds me that I've never been to TallGrass on First Avenue. One person told me that the best burgers in the East Village are at the Hop Devil Grill on St. Mark's. Someone also left a comment once about how good the burgers are at DBGB. Not that I'd go there. Speaking of places that I've never been: The Village Pourhouse and Kool Bloo have burgers. So does Dempsey's on Second Avenue. I've been there. But never had a burger. And I can't forget Korzo Haus on Seventh Street by 7B. Interesting. I also always do things like order burgers at places like Odessa and 7A that aren't necessarily known for their burgers. And did you know that there is a burger place — That Burger — inside Idle Hands and Billy Hurricane's on Avenue B? Someone told me how me he liked them. Actually, I'm forgetting a lot of places. Which makes me think I'll just go to Ray's.

State seizes Sahara East on First Avenue

On First Avenue near 11th Street... for nonpayment of taxes, per the paperwork the state left behind on the gate...

123 Third Ave. lobby closed, but cellar is open

EV Grieve reader AC told us that the lobby at the fancy new 123 Third Avenue is closed for the time being... you need to come and go via the cellar, as the signs say...

Meanwhile, it looks as if the four priciest units are still on the market here... per Streeteasy, the four schmancy PH apartments are available...

A cellar is no way to enter a penthouse.

NYPD keeping a watchful eye on Tompkins Square Park

Multiple readers have pointed out a day- (and night-) long NYPD presence outside Tompkins Square Park...

We hear that they're keep an eye out for roving bands of displaced Occupiers... who were ousted from Zuccotti Park early this morning...

Photos by Bobby Williams.

The 24th New York Queer Experimental Film Festival starts tonight

The Theaters at 45 Bleecker Street, which abruptly closed last fall following a long-running dispute with the building's landlord, have a new, temporary tenant...

The space, on Bleecker at Lafayette, is playing home to the 24th New York Queer Experimental Film Festival... which runs tonight through Sunday. Find the full schedule here.

According to the Festival's Facebook page, the space features "the intimate and extraordinary MIX LOUNGE (an alien landscape, a queer cave, tentatively dubbed 'Faggle Rock').

The Theaters remain on the market for a long-term tenant.

East Village resident recalls attempted rape in First Avenue apartment building

The Post interviews the victim of the attempted rape that took place early Sunday morning inside the victim's First Avenue building. As reported, the 27-year-old woman had fought off the man.

“F--k you! Get the f--k out of here! I know what the f--k you look like!” screamed the feisty fashion-firm employee during the frightening attack that she repelled early Sunday, she recalled.

She told the Post that she unlocked the front door of her building, walked in through the vestibule, unlocked a second door and made her way up the stairs.

And here's what happened next, per the Post:

“It must not have slammed behind me,” she said of the doors.

“I didn’t notice him until I walked into my building and I was in the hallway and I started walking faster,” up to the first landing on the staircase, she said.

“Then I felt his hands on me, and I started screaming.”

“He lifted my skirt,” she said. “As soon as I felt that, I spun around kicking and screaming.

“I had lots of adrenaline, so I was pretty aggressive.”

The fiend immediately backed off in the face of her expletive-filled fury.

“He just started getting out of there. He did try to shush me,” the woman said.

Police describe the suspect as being between 25 and 30 years old, about 5-9 and 170 pounds.

Anyone with information about the case is being asked to contact Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS, by texting TIP577 to CRIMES, or by going to NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.

Will rent hike KO Quantum Leap on First Avenue?

Per EV Grieve reader dwg:

Found out from the staff at Quantum Leap on First Avenue that due to a large rent increase they could be closed as soon as this Sunday. I think this is a great veggie restaurant for the neighborhood and would hate to see it go.

Indeed. No word on the status of the original Thompson Street location.

[Photo by Stu_Jo via Flickr]

First residential driveway coming to Seventh Street

A few weeks ago, Dave on 7th told us about the big changes coming to 222 Seventh St. near Avenue C with the arrival of the Village Capri condos...

Anyway, Dave on 7th just took a closer look at the rendering (something that we didn't do...)

Lookee. That's a garage (a small one anyway — clown car size). And driveway.

A lot of work to be done here for this to dethrone the Novogratz-designed-penthouse-home-with-a-driveway on East Fourth Street as the It Driveway of the Neighborhood of the Moment.

Previously.

Speaking of driveways...

As we've written before... an EV Grieve reader/neighbor is convinced that workers will be putting in a garage at the Economakis Dream Mansion on East Third Street...

However, as the plywood peels away from the former apartment building, the driveway scenario is seeming less and less likely...

So enough please with the rumormongering and gossip.

Anyway, we hear that this space will be for a heliport.

Previously.

Your East Village demolition progress report!

First, 51 Astor Place... where we will soon be able to enjoy a Fumihiko Maki-designed 430,000-square-foot Death Star office building...

[Bobby Williams]

And then over at 9-17 Second Ave. ... doesn't appear as if the full-on demolition has started... workers seem to still be focusing on 9 Second Avenue (aka 7 1/2 Second Ave.) ... soon all to vanish to make way for a 12-story apartment building...

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

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

Despite Chipotle, (part of) Gonzalez y Gonzalez will live on

Back in January, the 22-year-old Gonzalez y Gonzalez on Broadway near Houston came to a dishonorable end. As reported, Chiptole was taking over the space.

And that new Chipotle — the city's 3,478th — opens tomorrow...

Meanwhile, as Eater reported in March, two former Gonzalez y Gonzalez bartenders were getting part of the space... and will reopen a smaller GyG with an entrance on Mercer, just north of the Angelika... But there were problems securing a liquor license ...

During the weekend, an anonymous source sent us the following missive:

Many people might already know, or soon will find out, that Chipotle is opening next week at the Broadway entrance of the old Gonzalez y Gonzalez.

What many people might also not know, is Chipotle only took half of the original space, and that 2 of the original bartenders from Gonzalez y Gonzalez were able to secure the name and the other half of the space, entrance on 192 Mercer Street, and will be reopening, with bands, liquor license, giant sombrero and all, by the end of the year.

Sounds pretty definite. So maybe you will be able to wolf down a margarita again before seeing a movie at the Angelika.

Our new favorite curb your dog sign

13th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Also noteworthy on 10th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A... Not very creative, but ruthlessly blunt...

7-Eleven is hiring now on the Bowery

Signs went up yesterday. Photo by Bobby Williams.

Previously.

The Ave. A Deli & Food awning

Oh, just meant to note this on Avenue A and Second Street...

In September, EV Grieve reader Josh talked to the fellow behind the now-closed Houston Deli & Grocery on Avenue A and Houston ... he said that he is taking over the corner space at the old Graceland. Anyway, the awning is up. It does not say 7-Eleven.

Cucina Di Pesce is back open

Our apologies — we meant to note this earlier... Italian standby Cucina Di Pesce on East Fourth Street near Second Avenue reopened last Thursday as expected... the DOH closed them on Nov. 3 with 51 violation points... the DOH returned on Thursday, and gave the eatery high marks — a measly 2 violation points.

A few readers noted that Cucina Di Pesce isn't what it used to be... haven't been in years. Will go back and see for ourselves ...

Previously.

The line about 10:30 for the Lady Gaga book signing

[Photo by @IrisBlasi]

Wraps around the block onto Stanton Street...

Find out here why they're waiting in line.

[Updated] CB3/SLA votes against renewal for Diablo Royale; the Bean wins one, loses one

That's the word from attendees at tonight's CB3/SLA committee meeting going on right now... the Mexican-style saloon on Avenue A was up in the "Renewal with Complaint History" category. The Board voted 5-1 to deny a renewal of the Diablo liquor license.

According to the State Liquor Authority, the Diablo Royale license is active through Nov. 30.

In any event, a vote against a renewal here isn't the final word as we've seen in the case of Heathers and TenEleven.

Also, according to those in attendance, the committee didn't approved a request for The Bean's new location at Second Avenue and Third Street (beer and wine only), but denied the Bean's request for a license at 147 First Ave. and Ninth Street.

Updated 11-16. Ike Escava at The Bean sent us a note with a few important clarifications. Here's his email:

We decided to withdraw our application to serve wine & beer at 147 1st Ave after seeing that there were people in opposition to it. If we have community support at a later time we may try again but if it is unwanted in the community we will not. We will not even address this matter again internally until we are open and operating at that location. It is our intention to maintain the feeling and vibe of the shop at 54 2nd Ave that we built at 49 1/2 1st Ave. We applied for the wine & beer as a way to add something but we will be very careful not to let that change what we really are about.

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

Dog-tired, so to speak

King Crimson naps on St. Mark's Place today. Photo by Bobby Williams.

Waiting for Gaga

Perhaps you saw this over at BoweryBoogie, The Lo-Down or Gothamist... Lady Gaga and Terry Richardson will be signing copies of their new photo book "LADY GAGA x TERRY RICHARDSON" at the New Museum on the Bowery. On Nov. 22 from 6-9 p.m.

But!

To be eligible for the Gagapalooza, you need to pre-order the $50 book in person starting tomorrow at the New Museum Store...

And despite the sign out front...

... a few fans/autograph collectors/curiosity seekers are already in something of a line...

There is already a 90 percent chance of a shitshow forecast here tomorrow morning.

Media arrive on First Avenue to cover attempted rape story

EV Grieve reader Joe notes the arrival of six media trucks this afternoon on First Avenue near 12th Street... the location of an attempted rape early yesterday morning.

According to multiple reports, police said the suspect followed a 27-year-old woman into her building at about 3 a.m., pushed her to the ground and attempted to rape her. The victim fought him off and he fled the scene.

Police describe the suspect as being between 25 and 30 years old, about 5-9 and 170 pounds.

Anyone with information about the case is being asked to contact Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS, by texting TIP577 to CRIMES, or by going to NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.

A moment ago on East Sixth Street

Between Avenue A and Avenue B. Photo by Dave on 7th.