Construction watch: 211 E. 13th St., aka The Jefferson

[October 2012, via EVG reader Katja]

Hey, let's pay a visit to the North West East Village, where work continues on the Jefferson, the new condo building at 211 E. 13th St. (AKA the former Mystery Lot).

EV Grieve Former Mystery Lot Correspondent/Current Jefferson Watcher Katja passes along photos of how the place is shaping up...





Eventually:



According to Streeteasy, 12 units are currently in contract here. There are 83 units in total at The Jefferson, named for the theater that once sat on the site.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The last days of the Mystery Lot

Before it was the Mystery Lot

The Mystery Lot developers using famous dead comedians to sell condos at The Jefferson

The Jefferson reveals what '21st Century living in the heart of Olde New York' costs

Fowl play today

[Derek Berg]


[Bobby Williams]


[BW]

Late-afternoon 1936 break

Here we are looking south on First Avenue from the East 14th Street El Station circa 1936 ... via EVG Facebook friend Michael Paul

It was actually the IRT Second Avenue Line ... From Houston Street, the line went north on First Avenue, where it turned left on 23rd Street ... and ran north on Second Avenue to 129th Street, per Wikipedia.



Per Wikipedia Commons: "The Second Avenue El, looking south on First Avenue from 13th Street during its demolition in September 1942."

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Nico D Smith
Occupation: Artist, Painter
Location: 4th Street and Avenue A
Time: 4:20 on Monday, Nov. 4

I first moved here in 1961, but I only stayed then until ’71 and then I went away and I came back in ’84. I’ve been here ever since. I grew up in Westchester. I had an aunt who lived in Jackson Heights and I used to come to visit her quite often, but I grew up in Yorktown.

I’m a painter. I studied at the Art Students League and other things at the same time. I do abstract painting primarily, what some might call soft geometry. I generally don’t use hard edge. So I deal with rectangles in a field but they’re hand drawn.

I also did a bit of acting when I was young. For a year I was never unemployed with acting. I had a job on television every month for a year because I had the most powerful agent in the world at the time, called MCA. The reason I became an actor in the beginning — well, I did study acting — but I met a bigshot Broadway producer through a friend. He was the guy that put me in MCA.

All he had to do was pick up the phone, “I have this kid over here, I kind of like him, you want to talk to him?” Signed me right on. I didn’t even have to breath. And then the people from Hollywood would come and want to see me. I was up for a big movie called "All Fall Down" with Warren Beatty. I was going to play the lead opposite him, a kid, but it fell through. Brandon De Wilde, a child actor, got my part.

Then MCA was declared a monopoly by the government and they disbanded and I was out on my own. I had to choose another agent and I picked the wrong one. It didn’t work. It was a guy I personally knew from MCA but he wasn’t working for me. I found out 50 years later, my friend from college was with him too and he was getting my jobs.

At the time, 2nd Avenue was where I was hanging out mostly. I didn’t even go over to First because there was nothing over here. This was 1961. But over on 2nd Avenue was a place called Ratner’s. Ratner’s was this great big dairy restaurant and I used to called it the Downtown Sardi’s. Sardi’s was where the uptown theatre crowd went after the theatre. The nice people went there.

Anyway, there was still Yiddish theatre here — all these theaters. The theater crowd here would go to Ratner’s. It was all Jewish people, not so wealthy as the people at Sardi’s, but nice enough. The waiters padded around in those old shoes and they were old. They’d give you so much food for nothing.

I am a painter and I’ll probably be painting till the day I die. It’s so ingrained in me. I started off working in a studio painting on Broadway and 3rd. Then in 1964 I was living on 3rd Street between 1st and 2nd, 75, next door to what would be the Hells Angels. I had one of the first galleries in the East Village called Hard Knocks. I lived in the back in a loft and I showed art and had children’s workshop and things like that. We had some people but not many.

I used to cover the gallery scene. I have been going to openings and opening reception, ever since 1960. I went to the School of Visual Arts in ’60 and met friends and they would take me to the galleries that existed at that time. There was nothing in SoHo, nothing in Chelsea, nothing anywhere except on 57th Street and up on Madison Avenue.

But there was a gallery on 10th Street between 3rd and 4th. The director there was Ivan Karp, the same guy that started O K Harris. After that gallery he became the director of the Leo Castelli Gallery. He directed Leo Castelli before he opened his own. He had a falling out with Castelli because he didn’t really like Roy Lichtenstein. So he wasn’t really a pop guy and if you went to his gallery after that you’d notice that.

But I never had any success at all. No one’s ever liked my work. I mean, yes there have been people, but nobody who was somebody ever liked my work. Plenty of nobody’s like my work. I always say I’m the biggest nobody in the world. Although, I’m really quite well known in the art scene. But that doesn’t mean that I’ve advanced my cause, not in the least. The only thing that matters is if somebody loves you, then you are somebody.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Here's more about the renovations underway at HiFi on Avenue A

You may have noticed some work happening over at HiFi, one of our favorite bars around (long live EL DJ!).

Proprietor Mike Stuto explained all in a blog post yesterday at the HiFi website. For starters, workers will be renovating the interior and exterior of the bar at 169 Avenue A near East 11th Street... which means HiFi will be closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and maybe a few Wednesdays in the coming weeks.

"We’re going to do this long-awaited redesign in little pieces so we don’t have to close down on the weekends," Stuto wrote.

And what about the redesign?

[T]he idea is to NOT change the vibe, appeal, and personality of HiFi. We hope that will all stay pretty much the same as it has always been ... The short description is that we will be redesigning the entrance and storefront, changing the furniture and the colors, and adding in a 40-ish capacity room with its own separate bar that will have a myriad of uses; from private parties to trivia nights, comedy nights, readings, and even some live music. For those of you who still pine for the days when I ran a rock club in this space, this is NOT a return to the golden era of Brownies ... there will be no drum sets played inside HiFi."

You can see the transformation for yourself when the bar is open.

"So for the next few weeks please join us for a strangely-fun, sometimes-truncated, surely-temporary version of the bar while we jump through the hoops of framing, painting, bathroom-relocating, new-room-building, furniture acquiring and re-upholstering, and many other re-workings ..."

[Updated] After 18 years, Jill Anderson closing shop on East 9th Street

Several EVG readers passed along word that the Jill Anderson boutique at 331 E. Ninth St. is closing for good Sunday after 18 years in business. There isn't any reason given for the closure on the store's blog, which first announced the news.

So far, some 60 people have left comments about the closure on the Anderson store blog.

A little about Anderson via the store website:

Jill’s loyal clientele are hardworking, intelligent, and fashionable women who know they can rely on her clothes to feel their best no matter the season or occasion. They also believe in thinking globally by buying their finery locally, and supporting independent, woman-owned businesses!

Jill Anderson debuted her collection in 1989 in Athens, Greece, and six years later opened the Jill Anderson boutique at 331 E. Ninth Street in New York’s East Village. Her uniquely tailored designs have garnered praise from Elle, Marie Claire, Brazilian Vogue, The New York Times Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, and more. In addition to managing a thriving business, Jill has collaborated on costume design with dance companies such as the Wally Cardona Quartet and the Philippa Kaye Dance Group.

Most recently, Jill Anderson designed and created the dress for writer/director Debra Granik, whose film Winter’s Bone was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Updated 10:13 a.m.

Serena Solomon at DNAinfo spoke with Anderson about the closing.

Anderson said a combination of bad luck, high rent and the day-to-day difficulties of running a business recently made her decide to close the shop.

"This was like the heart here — this beautiful store," said Anderson, in between hugging a stream of well-wishing customers who came into the store as much to see the designer as to buy her wares. "I loved making people happy. I loved to sew."

Apartment listing photos of the day

There's a new listing for an apartment at 264 E. Second St. Per Streeteasy:

Newly gut renovated 3 bedroom apartment on East 2nd street, right off of Avenue C. Apartment features include hardwood floors, high ceilings, large bedrooms and separate kitchen.

The "high ceilings" part is accurate... Ceilings go any higher this might be a duplex...





Maybe the brokers will post new photos once workers finish the ceiling. Price: $3,400.

A quick word from the Dept. of Well Being

Shawn Chittle spotted this yesterday along St. Mark's Place near First Avenue... via the Dept. of Well Being.

... and on Second Avenue near East Ninth Street...

Tonight's sunset from First Avenue

At St. Mark's Place...

Why there were 20 women having fake orgasms at Katz's

For comedy, of course ... via Improv Everywhere:

For our latest mission we recreated the famous fake orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally with 20 women in Katz’s Deli. This was staged without the knowledge of the restaurant, though thankfully they all seemed to love it.

This project is part of our new series, Movies in Real Life. Every Tuesday, we’re releasing a new video that brings an iconic movie moment to life in the real world.

As you may recall, the so-called "prank collective" had some 100 people camp out in front of the 99-cent store on First Avenue next to the Rite Aid last Black Friday. Hijinks ensued, sort of.

H/T Gothamist

Typhoon Haiyan fundraiser tonight at Ugly Kitchen

In addition to the Typhoon Haiyan fundraiser tonight at Jeepney, there's a relief event at Ugly Kitchen at 103 First Ave from 5-11.

According to the Facebook event page, all profits from the bar-restaurant tonight will go to The Philippine Red Cross. There will also be Red Cross donation boxes in the restaurant, according to the organizers.

Mid-afternoon red-tailed hawk break

In Tompkins Square Park, where some pigeons got a good fright. Photo by EVG regular peter radley.

Typhoon Haiyan donations drive tonight at Jeepney on First Avenue

From the EVG inbox...

Join us tonight for our Typhoon Donations Drive w/ Jose Antonio Vargas, 6-9p! Sponsored by Tiger Beer, we'll be donating all beer sales to The Philippine Red Cross. Please come out and support the relief effort with canned food and monetary donations. Help heal our Philippine nation.

Jeepney, a self-described Filipino Gastropub, is at 201 First Ave. near East 12th Street.

A quick look at the first snowfall (well, sort of) of the season

Thanks to @TravisHuggett for this photo on East 14th Street near Avenue C... and how much longer before the 12 Days of Con Ed?

A bad sign at the Yippie Museum

A "for rent" sign now hangs above the 40-year-old home of the Yippie Museum at 9 Bleecker St. near the Bowery.

Tough times here of late at the headquarters of the counterculture group … Back on June 10, Colin Moynihan at The New York Times reported that Yippie leaders have been locked in an ongoing legal battle … fighting an attempt by a lender to foreclose on their home.

In addition, the Harmony Kitchen, the food vendor at the Yippie Museum Cafe, closed at the end of June. The space was closed during July for a "re-calculating" … eventually reopening at the end of the month.

This past Friday, the Yippie Museum Facebook page offered up the latest on the legal wrangling here:

The October court action fended off a summary eviction of Dana and Co. and Atty Noah Potter has arranged a court date for January where he will present documents in his possession that will help save #9. If justice may be had in today's courts...

Yippie leader and activist Dana Beal is currently serving a four-to-six year prison sentence after being caught hauling 150 pounds of pot in a van in Ashland, Neb., in 2009.

Back to Facebook:

Even a win there won't fully save #9, though. What is really needed is more people to come to #9 for meetings and events to raise funds and consciousness. This space is NOT a relic of the past but a living historical site for today's activist generation. USE IT OR LOSE IT has never had a better object lesson than at #9!!

For now, events continue to take place in the space…



Meanwhile, the building is on the market. According to the Corcoran listing:

Exceptional opportunity to rent an entire building in prime Greenwich Village / NoHo. The bottom two floors feature bars that are built out already. But these could also work well for retail. And the top two floors can be used for either residential or office space. Each of the 4 floors is approximately 1600 square feet.

This is truly an unbeatable Greenwich Village / NoHo location, on a block with high and brilliant visibility for business. Original details still in tact - including exposed brick, and a cast iron honey comb curved skylight which graces the ground floor, with 13' 6" ceilings. Old world charm ready for a new world establishment…

Asking price: $25,000

As the Yippie Museum Facebook page says: "time to save the yippie museum from the crapitalist wrecking ball..don't let 9 bleecker street turn into a gentrified yuppie boutique."

H/T @JonSpiegler

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Yippie Museum Cafe is in financial trouble

The Yippie Museum Cafe will reopen next Wednesday

With move to East 7th Street, Oaxaca Taqueria closes Extra Place location

With the new location at 125 E. Seventh St., Oaxaca Taqueria has closed its Extra Place location, as this photo via EVG reader xomars shows.

So until Momofuko Ko opens in its new home, Extra Place is currently restaurant free…

And the East Seventh Street space between Avenue A and First Avenue was previously home to the Butter Lane cupcakes classroom.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Oaxaca Taqueria opening a new location on East Seventh Street

Looking again at St. Mark's and 2nd Ave., and more photos of the former St. Marks Cinema

8-Bit and Up, the retro video shop, recently moved away from the second floor of 37 St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue. (Read about the new 8-Bit space on East Third Street here.)

This prime corner space is now mostly without tenants… (save for the newish Verizon Wireless store).



The building won't be empty too much longer. As we first noted back on Oct. 17, a retail outpost of DF Mavens ("The finest dairy-free ice cream in the world. Made in NYC.") is taking the former Eastside Bakery (.net?) location. Winick has the listing with the available retail slots here.

Anyway! All this is all just an excuse to trot out these new-to-us photos of the corner … when it was home to a single-screen movie theater… eventually called the St. Marks Cinema … a movie theatre was in operation here roughly from 1916 to 1985, according to Cinema Treasures...



… this shot is dated 1936 ...



We've written about the theater before here. Maybe you drank beer here and got high once. And there was that time you may have seen "Return of the Jedi" here in 1983.

People still missing the Mars Bar

Recently spotted on the former site of the bar… in a building now known as Jupiter 21. The space will soon yield a 4,300-square-foot TBD Bank branch.

Cafe Rakka's (Rakka Cafe's) new look

Cafe Rakka at 81 St. Mark's Place has been closed these past six or so weeks while undergoing a renovation... their new signage is up... and it shows a name switcheroo — from Cafe Rakka to Rakka Cafe...



Paperwork on file at the CB3 website points to a corporate name change, though there's not much else info... The Avenue B location remains open...

Report: The making of Empire Biscuit; plus, people drop biscuits on the floor but eat them anyway

The New York Post features Empire Biscuit co-founders Jonathan Price and Yonadav Tsuna in the paper's @work section this week ... in a piece titled "Birth of an Empire (Biscuit)."

The piece offers some background on the two, who opened the storefront on Avenue A on Oct. 30:

For the fledgling team taking their first foray into restaurant ownership, a single-product restaurant made sense. Price — who cut his teeth at the famous Magnolia Grill in Durham, N.C. — and Tsuna, a Memphis, Tenn., native, both knew the magic of the Southern biscuit and how well it would resonate with New York City’s consumers.

And what else was needed to launch the business?

So the pair surrounded themselves with a team of advisers to make up for the skills they lacked, including design and real estate. To raise funds, Price and Tsuna created a crowd funded Kickstarter campaign page with a video of the enigmatic pair describing the concept.

“Making the video required us to think really hard about articulating our core values — creating high quality food and being part of this great neighborhood,” Tsuna notes.

And?

To build buzz, Price and Tsuna hosted tastings out of Price’s apartment.

Once they secured their storefront, “People around us would come in to chat. We would spend hours everyday chatting with people. We love Avenue A because it’s so neighborly,” says Tsuna, who recently moved into an apartment down the block from the shop.

The piece also touches upon EB's apparent popularity, noting the need for a "biscuit bouncer" to help manage the lines waiting for their product, which people apparently really like.

After dropping a tiny piece of biscuit, Max Hatfield-Biondo, 28, an engineer from Soho, took a moment to think before declaring, “I’m going to eat that off the floor.”

Eating off the floor is apparently a trend. As noted earlier in the aticle:

At the front wooden counter, a lanky 20-something in a baseball cap is apologizing to his less-than-pleased girlfriend for dropping her biscuit on the floor. She pouts, taking the slightly bruised biscuit from his hands — and eats it anyway.

Meanwhile, via the EB Instagram account, an update on their hours ...

Shooting 'My Dead Boyfriend' on East 9th Street

Interior filming for "My Dead Boyfriend" returned to East Ninth Street today… crews were here just east of First Avenue for two days last week as well…



The film, based on the novel "Dogrun," stars Heather Graham and is set in the East Village in 1999. Actor Anthony Edwards is making his feature-film directorial review.

Previous filming locations in the neighborhood included Tompkins Square Park and C-Squat.

Photos by Bobby Williams

Local blogger probably looking forward to posting photos of snow flurries in the morning

Anyway, I'm already in line for supplies at Trader Joe's! Woot!

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Window shopping at Mast along Ave. A via Fenton Lawless]

The best places to get tacos in the East Village (Eater)

Man dies after shooting at the Smith Houses (The Daily News)

About the new Saturday flea market at East Side Community High School (DNAinfo)

About 'The Pop-Up Activist of the Lower East Side' (The New York Times)

They'll be more L trains some day (New York Post)

Former 'Eastern Dispensary' building back on the market on Essex Street (BoweryBoogie)

Renovations in store for the Pink Building on Grand and Orchard (The Lo-Down)

About the Tom's Restaurant documentary (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

...and now on the wall on East Houston and Avenue B...


[Via VH McKenzie]

Continuum Coffee has closed... for now

Flyers went up around the neighborhood last Tuesday asking for support for Continuum Cycles and Continuum Coffee on Avenue B... There was talk of a fundraiser Saturday, though that didn't happen. Per the Save Continuum page on Facebook Saturday:

Hi everyone. I wanted to say thank you for all of the support you have given us in the past few days. I regret to inform you that the coffee shop was shut down yesterday, by the fuckin' man. Needless to say there won't be an event tonight. I'm sorry for the last minute cancellation. We did all we could.

Continuum Cycles next door will close in the days ahead as well.

In a tweet from Friday, owner Jeff Underwood wrote:

I am sad to say that today was our last day; I am going to regroup over the winter and reopen at a new location. Continuum, a bicycle shop will also be closing shortly. I will stil take on some clients and work on their bikes. Continuum Cycles is still happening. Our team is growing strong. If you want a frame, they are still available. Aluminum frames are limited but we are fully stocked with our Italian hand built steel frames. A new site is in the works so you can purchase them online.

Continuum Coffee had the misfortune of opening a few weeks before Hurricane Sandy. They were never able to recover, especially in the following weeks without Internet or phone service. It was a cool spot, and we liked what they were doing there. Hopefully they can find a new home in the neighborhood.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Out and About in the East Village with Jeff Underwood

Fair Folks & a Goat opening East Village location

The owners of Fair Folks & a Goat announced on Facebook Friday that they will open a cafe-boutique-gallery on East 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The space is owned by the husband-wife team of Aurora and Anthony Mazzei. Here's a description of their concept via the FF&G website:

Fair Folks & a Goat is a creative company, specializing in filling spaces with stories through design, art, hospitality, and event programming.

They also have a cafe-boutique space on West Houston, which opened last fall.


[Via the FF&G website]

Per the Times on the opening:

A visitor surveyed the Houston Street space with an eye toward consumption: the Haynes mirror with brass wall mounts ($2,800) by the Brooklyn-based Egg Collective, a groovy set of white-ceramic speakers ($450) by Joey Roth, a carved blue bowling pin ($110) by Jason Boone.

For $25 a month, members get unlimited coffee and espresso, and discounts on the art and design, which will rotate every month or so. But you don’t have to be a member to buy what they sell.

Love, Veselka Style

[Via Craigslist]

A Missed Connection posted yesterday on Craigslist:

Veselka Romance - w4m - 23 (East Village)

One week ago I was sitting outside of Veselka, reading "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath.
(My favorite book)
I saw you from the table nearest to 2nd ave, on the side of the restaurant.
You had the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen.
Tall, thin, with a beard. We made eye contact for about fifteen seconds, and then you walked away, down 9th street.
I would love to meet you.
You are exactly my type.
You probably live in Williamsburg, and shop at local farmer's markets.
I would love to buy some vegetables with you.
I like to make omelettes with fresh asparagus and swiss cheese,
I could make you one.
I hope you don't have a girlfriend.

Why illustrations help Urban Etiquette Signs

Spotted on East Fifth Street.

Tree spared from death by cement on Avenue C

[Via EVG reader Ann]

Last week, we noted that someone filled up the above tree well with about 500 pounds of cement on Avenue C… as an update, by this past weekend, the cement was gone…



Now can the tree survive the Sunburnt Cow's all-you-can-drink brunch crowd?

New York City's 1st holistic vapor lounge opens in the East Village

At least according to the press release that landed in our inbox!

Here it is:

New York City's first holistic vapor lounge is opening in the East Village — Vape Lounge NYC, in the cellar of Barbiere at 246 East 5th Street. Unlike other so-called vapor lounges that sell artificial e-cigarettes, Vape Lounge NYC uses only natural herbs, each selection designed to give the customer varied, distinct and often medicinal experiences.

Currently, patrons can choose from three different herbs to vape — Chamomile, to aid in the relief of stress, digestive disorders, headaches, anxiety, and depression; Damiana, an aphrodisiac and excellent remedy for the nervous system, acting as a stimulant and tonic in cases of mild depression; and Green Tea, for headaches, digestion, immune enhancement, to detoxify, energize, and to prolong life.

Single and blended herb teas by the cup and pot are available, as well. All brews are caffeine free and certified kosher.

The brain child of Kimberly DeAzevedo (a trained herbalist) and Al Bonsignore, Vape Lounge NYC is designed to be an oasis away from the city, an indulgence meant to enhance quality of life, instead of being a vice. The space itself was hand mosaic-ed by DeAzevedo and Bonsignore, with themes like the secret garden and the dawn of time running throughout.

Prices to vaporize are $10/person in the "plenty lounge" or $12/person at the Volcano Bar. Teas run $4 single herb or $6 blended per cup, $10 or $12 per pot.

Vape Lounge NYC - located at 246 E 5th st. (Btwn 2nd ave and Cooper), NY, NY 10003 - is open Mon-Sat from 2pm-8pm.

Volcano Bar!

Night falls, Jesus Saves

…and a familiar site on East 11th Street...



Photos by Bobby Williams

May the best hawk win

This afternoon in Tompkins Square Park. Photo by Bobby Williams...

Week in Grieview

[First Avenue in the rain the other day via Grant Shaffer]

A well-deserved honor for The Source Unltd Copy Shop (Thursday)

Looking at the new development for East Eighth Street and Avenue D (Tuesday)

A Lou Reed memorial at Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)

The future of 100 Avenue A (Monday)

Identity closes on East Sixth Street (Monday)

Out and About with Melissa Hotchkiss (Wednesday)

Is this apartment sexy? (Thursday)

Video: East Village cab ride in 1971 (Friday)

RIP gnarly squirrel tree (Thursday)

Otto's Tacos opens on Second Avenue (Monday)

Banjara on the move (Tuesday)

What Blatt Billiards will become on Broadway (Wednesday)

Serendipity will remain longer in Tompkins Square Park (Friday)

A source for the Hoboken Hoof? (Thursday)

Details on Momofuku Ko moving to Extra Place (Tuesday)

Turkey-suffed donuts (Friday)

Bloom 62's "hip young crowd" (Friday)

Lease TGI Friday's on Union Square (Monday)

Empire Biscuit (Wednesday, 48 comments)

Christopher Walken Rex on the move to East 8th Street

The 16-foot Christopher Walken Rex creation is on the move from First Park.

The sculpture created by a group of LES teens is arriving today for a two-week stint at the DeColores Community Garden on East Eighth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C… Catch it when you can.