And now, the Tompkins Square Park holiday tree

After this afternoon's tree lighting ceremony…

Photo by peter radley

Week in Grieview

[Dr. Jones I presume? Yesterday on 2nd Avenue]

John's of 12th Street has a new owner (Thursday)

Visit the East Village of 1967 (Tuesday)

7-Eleven closes on St. Mark's Place (Sunday … Wednesday)

SantaCon will start on Dec. 14 in TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK (Thursday)

Out and About with Rew Starr (Wednesday)

Comet watching in the East Village (Monday)

AC plummets from the Christodora House (Friday)

Vicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches has closed (Wednesday)

10-story building in the works for this East Houston corner (Monday)

East Village gift ideas (Friday)

A decrease in the number of chain stores in zip 10009 (Wednesday)

Red Hook Lobster Pound coming to the East Village (Tuesday)

Saved by the Book underway at St. Mark's Bookshop (Tuesday)

Cafe Rakka closes; Rakka Cafe reopens (Monday)

Mudspot Café now open in First Park (Thursday)

A St. Mark's Place scene: A Mercedes, some pot and the Bieber on the stereo (Tuesday)

A new restaurant taking over the Toucan and the Lion space on East Sixth Street (Friday)

Just another Saturday night and ...

East Fifth Street Stretch Hummer Sweet Action.

Reminders: The 22nd annual Tree Lighting at Tompkins Square Park is today

From 4-5 … details are on the flyer below...


[Bobby Williams]

Previously

Peter Stuyvesant Post Office now also open to ruin your Sundays this month

The Sunday hours continue this month at the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office on East 14th Street. (And apparently not everyone could agree on the hours, as you can see that 2 p.m. got changed to 1 p.m.)



Regardless! We all know how much fun it is going here. (A reminder here and here.)

And people, as people do, have taken to Yelp to offer their opinions on this branch … the overall average rating: 1 star!



Here's one recent 1-star review:

This place is hell on earth. I'm writing this review whilst standing in line- it's now been over an hour waiting to pick up an express international courier package I never received a notice for (with everyone else that's been screwed over by usps in this area)

I feel like it's a Survivor TV show challenge- survival of the postal service fittest. I'm watching people concede the line after waiting TOO long, hungry babies crying, there are the elderly sitting on the floor due to body aches, there are loud fits and nervous breakdowns from customers at the service box when rude staff aren't helpful after they've been waiting a half life for a stamp.

2 hours later, I need to pee. And I'm still waiting.

In any event, this is likely the last holiday season here … as this branch is supposedly closing in the spring. The USPS will lease the former Duane Reade on East 14th Street near First Avenue for retail services, such as stamp sales and P.O. boxes.

Previously on EV Grieve:
UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?

Report: Closure of the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office is pretty much a done deal

Concern mounts for snowman on Second Avenue

Passersby are troubled by the snowman continuously nodding off on the job here on Second Avenue near East Houston…





How do you explain this to the children?

Tonight's sunset

Photo by Jason Hammonds

Today's (hungry) hawks

Above, on East 11th Street off First Avenue via Greg Matherly of Reciprocal Skateboards…

And in Tompkins Square Park via Goggla… (find more hawk highlights from today here)



… and Bobby Williams…

A SantaCon warm-up?

In Tompkins Square Park this afternoon… The fellows told EVG contributor Derek Berg that they had nothing to do with SantaCon, which is next Santarday … Gotta be careful to be a Santa around here apparently...

A SantaCon warm-up?

Strummer's Greetings

Looking festive here on East 7th and Avenue A…

'Pop-up art show' tonight at the former PS 64

We continue to wait to learn about the dorm fate of the former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street.

Meanwhile, Joselyn McDonald, a first-year MFA Design and Technology graduate student at Parsons the New School for Design, is hosting a video projection installation outside the building tonight at 6.

"I don't have a political agenda in doing this, rather, I wanted to do a video art installation for the community, and the fate/history of CHARAS was suggested to me time and time again by the members of many community organizations," said McDonald, an East Village resident. "It's really just a celebration of the rich history of the community. I think PS 64 is a strong focal point for letting that narrative unravel."

She plans to project "historic and contemporary images and video of PS 64 on the façade of the front of this esteemed school and community center. PS 64's role in the community, represents to [me] the way physical places can become essentially another integral member of the community."

And there will be snacks.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rebranded P.S. 64 up for grabs: Please welcome University House at Tompkins Square Park to the neighborhood

Deed for 'community facility use only' at the former P.S. 64 now on the market

Efforts continue to fight the dorm planned for the former PS 64 on East 9th Street

Testimony Of Councilmember Rosie Mendez regarding the former PS 64

[Updated] At the 'Save Our Community Center MARCH AND RALLY'

Landmarks Preservation Commission asks to see modified plans for former PS 64

The Landmarks Preservation Commission approves application for modifications at PS 64

Hold it now

On East Fourth Street yesterday afternoon… photos by EVG contributor Derek Berg… and we have no idea what the shoot was for...

Cab, East 14th Street, rain

Jesus Saves

The Jesus And Mary Chain with "Never Understand" from 1985.

This air conditioner fell from the Christodora House today

Dang. EVG regular Jose Garcia was on the scene on East Ninth Street just east of Avenue B around noon. "It came perilously close to hitting a pedestrian. Totally freaked everyone out."

According to Jose, it appears that the AC unit came from near the top of the building — roughly three floors down from the roof.

Previously

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

[East 9th Street at Second Avenue]

Sara D. Roosevelt Park is planning a "touch-and-scent" garden for the visually impaired (DNAinfo)

Q-and-A with St. Mark's Bookshop co-owner Terry McCoy (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Fighting back against the chain invasion (Off the Grid)

The future of one of the Bowery's oldest existing buildings (BoweryBoogie)

A lot of Lou Reed bootlegs (Dangerous Minds)

Trouble for Rev. Billy after his toad bank protest (The Villager)

Cashing in on a Grand Street building (The Lo-Down)

Reader mailbag: Do you have any suggestions for East Village-related holiday gifts?

Pretty straightforward question.

But there are many variables or something. Like! Who the gift is for. Do they live here now? Did they used to live here and are a little nostalgic? Blah blah. (In the reader's case, the gift is for his girlfriend who he shares an apartment with…)

I suggested buying a print from the Museum of the City of New York's archives. As an example. Here is the view to the northwest from the roof of the Christodora House on Avenue B and East Ninth Street circa Feb. 5, 1929.

[From the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York]

There are also a few cool things for sale (T-shirts, books, zines, etc.) at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) at 155 Avenue C between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

The reader was interested in hearing suggestions from other readers… which might be a really bad idea. Kidding! So does anyone have a suggestion that isn't related to Hoboken hoofs/hooves or isn't blatant Yelp-like shilling for a particular store? (It's OK to name a store, as long as you don't seem spammy or public relationsy about it.)

And sadly, because someone will ask, all the items from the 2010 EV Grieve Last-Minute Gift Guide are thankfully sold out…



-------------

We often get reader queries ... asking for help with, say, donating clothes or books ... or finding an East Village-based caterer... If you have a question for the masses, then try the EV Grieve email...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader mailbag: Places to eat that have that old East Village vibe (45 comments)

Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time? (52 comments)

Reader mailbag: Where is a good place to get a cup of coffee in the East Village before 6 a.m.? (25 comments)

The price to live in a 'stocky, brooding building' on Great Jones Street

[Photo via Goggla]

We've long been curious about 37 Great Jones St. between the Bowery and Lafayette… ditto for Goggla, who notes that the landmarked building is free of all its renovations gear this week… so you can see what all that work has been about in her photo above…

Pricing details were released back in September. The penthouse is asking $25,000 a month while commoners can enjoy the four units on the lower floors for between $10K and $12K. (Find the official 37 Jones site here.)


[EVG file photo from 2009]

Here's how the Times described the now 95-year-old building back in March 2008:

"An unusual addition to the street was the stocky, brooding building at 37 Great Jones, designed in 1917 by Lewis Patton and used as a warehouse in the 1930s by the Philco Radio and Television Corporation."

And here it is in 1936…



Oh, wait. This is better.

New venture in the works for The Toucan and the Lion space

We're continuing to check out the paperwork submitted ahead of Monday evening's CB3/SLA committee meeting. (We've looked so far at the Red Hook Lobster Pound and the new ownership for John's of 12th Street.)

A questionnaire (PDF) on file at the CB3 website shows that there are applicants looking to take over The Toucan and the Lion space (marked "sale of assets") at 342 E. Sixth St.

Jason Soloway, a partner in the recently opened Wallflower on West 12th Street, and Brendan McHale, a former chef at Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar on Second Avenue, are the principles of the new venture.

Their application shows a restaurant that will serve "New American, small and medium plates" with hours of 5 p.m.-1 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday; and until 2 a.m. Wednesday through Friday. The proposed hours for Saturday are 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. (until 1 a.m. on Sunday). No name yet for the new restaurant.

Prior to the Toucan and the Lion, which opened in January 2012, the address was home to Mara's Homemade.

Website launch party for the East Village Eye

From the EVG inbox...

The East Village Eye Archive holds its Website Launch Party this coming Monday, Dec. 9 at the Tammany Hall bar on 152 Orchard Street to celebrate our newly remade website featuring six PDFs of East Village Eye magazines with brand-new T shirts to match, so you can read the mag, rock the shirt.

All 72 issues of the East Village Eye, the legendary magazine published from 1979 to 1987 that covered and was actively engaged in the arts, politics and social currents of the time, are being scanned and preserved in searchable PDFs. This Spring we put up out Top Ten Issues for Fashion. Now we're showing our Six Most Wearable Eyes. So you can read the mags, then choose – if you can – between James White (our iconic Issue #1), Fashion, Drug Bust, Picasso Sucks, Sex, or Planet Rock.

The party stars Joey Arias and His Band, with Phoebe Legere plus Brenda Bergman & the Bodacious Ta Tas. Spoken word by Rene Ricard, Bob Holman, Glenn O'Brien, Max Blagg and Susana Sedgwick.

Plus: a special DJ set by Jaleel of TV on the Radio. More great DJing by Greg Poole, Brant Lee, Alix Brignol, Natasha Diggs, Huggy Bear, Rob Alioa and Sister From Another Planet. And: a special screening of "Wild Style" by Charlie Ahearn. And surprise guests! $15 cover charge. 21 and over (it's a bar, after all).

Keep looking for new developments at the East Village Eye website, where we will continue to add to the discourse with more issues and other materials about the Eye, the East Village and the era.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with Leonard Abrams, publisher of the East Village Eye

Here then, Alphabet Plaza

[Via Curbed]

When we last looked at Alphabet Plaza, the 12-floor building on Avenue D and East Houston was still covered in construction netting. (For the record: We took the photos on Nov. 29 and posted them on Tuesday. A neighbor said that the construction gear came down on Monday. All this will be on the midterm.)

Our friends at Curbed yesterday got a look at a fresh rendering (above!) … and more details on amenities… such as! "a doorman, gym, rooftop terrace, bike storage, and a tenant recreation room, plus a washer/dryer and 'built-in bluetooth speakers' in every unit."

Model units (there will be 135 units in total) should be ready in early 2014, per the broker. Apartments were previously reported to be in the $2,500 to $3,600 range.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: 12th-story 'Alphabet Plaza' in the works for Second Street and Avenue D

Holiday Craft Fair tomorrow at the Lower East Side Girls Club

Via the EVG inbox...

The 7B days of Christmas the holidays

7B/Vazac's/Horseshoe Bar at the corner of East Seventh Street and Avenue B is always looking festive in this season of being more festive than usual.

Mudspot Café now open in First Park

Mudspot Café is now open for coffee business in the kiosk off of East Houston and East First Street.

As we first reported on Oct. 10, the East Ninth Street-based café was taking over the food and beverage service from S'MAC, which left the space back in July.

EVG reader Jennifer Spero, who took the above photo, notes that they had muffins and other breakfast items as well as a full coffee/espresso menu.

Updated 12:30 pm

Sorry! Not First Park! But Mud Park!


[Photo via @shmnyc]

Previously on EV Grieve:
More about S'MAC's decision to leave First Park

Mudspot Café opening at the First Park kiosk next month

Mudspot Café prepping kiosk for service in First Park

About the new ownership for 105-year-old East Village institution John's of 12th Street

[EVG file photo]

John's of East 12th Street, the 105-year-old East Village treasure, is about to begin its fourth generation of ownership.

Public documents on file at the CB3 website ahead of next week's SLA committee meeting show that principals involved in the new Beatrice Inn on West 12th Street will be taking over John's, the venerable Italian restaurant between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

New ownership is led by Brett Rasinski, who reopened the revamped Beatrice Inn on West 12th Street along with Graydon Carter and Emil Varda in December 2012. (Carter's name is not involved with John's.)

So does this mean the end to John's of 12th Street, which seemingly hasn't changed all that much through the years (vegetarian menu aside)?

We reached out to Rasinski, a former GM of the Waverly Inn, for more on his plans for one of the last of the so-called red sauce joints around.

"I can't reveal too much at this point, but I will say that I am approaching this venture as a preservationist," he said via email. "As an East Village resident, and a longtime patron of John's, I understand the historical relevance of the space, as well as the importance of its position in our neighborhood. That is why I was so adamant about securing the property."

Since 1973, Mike Alpert and Nick Sitnycky have owned and operated John's; they bought it from the founding Pucciatti family. (Sitnysky, who grow up in the neighborhood, owns the building at 302 E. 12th St.) Alpert died this past July 13 at age 71. He and Sitnycky had together previously discussed selling the business, according to Alpert's widow Judy Anderson.

"Prior to Mike’s passing away in July, he and Nick had made the decision to retire after 40 years at John's, and they were both very happy to come to an agreement with Brett, who has been a regular customer for over six years and has frequently spoken of his appreciation for the history and authenticity of John’s," Anderson told us. "Brett has told our kitchen staff and servers directly that he comes to John’s as a preservationist, so the neighborhood can anticipate seeing familiar faces and essentially the same menu."

Rasinski recalled his first meal at John's, and the immediate impression the place had on him.

"When I first moved to New York City from Newport Beach, California nearly seven years ago, John's was one of the first restaurants that I visited. I came across it one evening while wandering the neighborhood by myself. It was a freezing night in December, and the place was packed. They didn't have any tables available. Big Mike, who I later learned was one of the owners, approached me and said that he would find a way to clear some space. He ended up sitting down with me at a table by the bar for over three hours. He bought me a bottle of Chianti and a Chicken Parmigiana. Given that I didn't know too many people in the city, his generosity and kindness meant more than I can possibly explain."

Since then, he became friends with the owners of John's, and even expressed an interested in buying the space if they ever decided to sell. Several months ago, Alpert called Rasinski and said that they were going to retire.

"Prior to his passing, we were able to agree to the terms of the deal, and I have ultimately been entrusted with the responsibility of preserving their legacy, a 105-year-old tradition that Big Mike and Nicky have kept up for the past 42 years," said Rasinski, 29, who is the same age as Alpert was when he bought John's from the Pucciatti family. "I love John's the way that it is, the way that it has been for over a century, and I will do my best to ensure that it stays around for years to come."


[Via the John's Facebook page]

For Anderson, she feels good that the restaurant will continue on the same as it ever has.

"It's been gratifying to continue to have longtime customers from as far back as the 'second generation' while making new friends as people discover this treasure. We’re sure that Brett will enjoy the wonderful mix of people that grace our door. And of course, Nick and I are happy to help with whatever assistance Brett needs during the transition," Anderson said. "As Mike and Nick were the third generation of John's, having purchased from John's son Danny Pucciatti, we view Brett as the fourth generation and wish him and his team all the best in carrying on the John’s tradition."

Good news & mostly bad news about SantaCon, which reportedly starts in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo of 7th and A from 2007 by Bob Arihood]

SantaCon is fast approaching this year… just nine days 'till Dec. 14. (And just a few more days to book your trip to Greenland!)

And the Daily News casually dropped this bit of info in a feature about this year's Con:

Sources said this year's SantaCon will kick off around Tompkins Square Park and wind its way through the East Village and the Lower East Side before jumping over to Brooklyn.

Oh. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Wait, was that a bad dream?

Sources said this year's SantaCon will kick off around Tompkins Square Park and wind its way through the East Village and the Lower East Side before jumping over to Brooklyn.

Start calling 311 in advance, kids!

And was there something about good news?

The organizers will reportedly share the route for the annual pub crawl with the NYPD and elected officials ahead of the event, according to the Daily News.

Uh-huh.

And?

SantaCon organizers confirmed that they also plan to have 80 helper elves along the route to coordinate traffic and make sure their Santas stay respectful to residents and local businesses.

Feel better?

And visit Neither More Nor Less for some of Bob Arihood's photos from when SantaCon visited Tompkins Square Park in 2007. Right here.

Updated high noon:

DNAinfo has an article this morning on SantaCon here.

Excerpt:

"They're going to be there until about noon, and then wind up in Brooklyn somewhere," a police source told DNAinfo New York. "Hopefully it will be a nice safe day, and hopefully things will be much better than last year."

The police source and Community Board 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer said a SantaCon organizer contacted their offices Tuesday.

Stetzer said that she spoke with a SantaCon representative through email, on the phone and in person, adding he was "very friendly and cooperative" in the "several" conversations they had.

"I am hoping management of Santas on sidewalks and streets will be improved," she said.

Jehangir Mehta's private dining spot looks like an ice cream shop

[October 2012]

As we first reported in September 2012, Graffiti chef Jehangir Mehta was taking over the former bridal shop next door to his well-regarded restaurant on East 10th Street. The concept: Graffiti Me, featuring one 14-seat table for customizable private dining.

And that was the last we heard of all that.

Until one recent day when we walked by… and saw that the orange had been painted over…



The colors kinda makes it look like, oh, an ice cream shop?



Then we walked by again… and saw that it really looks like an ice cream shop now…



Well, we're guessing that this is the evolution of Graffiti Me… now called Me and You.



Kate Gunning, one of the initiators of the project, told this last week to The Boulevardiers:

When you dine at Me and You, you dine in Chef Mehta’s private kitchen, and the whole evening is really about the experience as well as the food. Chef will present each course, telling stories about the ingredients, and on occasion, their connection to a memory from his childhood in India.

Chef’s kitchen is in a secret location in the East Village, because we want it to be special, and only seen by those who dine with him, almost like you’re entering the kitchen in his home. The space is really intimate, with 1 big communal table, and an open kitchen so you can really be with the Chef for the whole evening.

The first of these intimate dinners is tonight.

Manhattan's 1st Dairy Queen will be kinda close by

A little outside the usual EVG coverage zone. But! For those of you interested in/repelled by the suburbification of the city… or maybe you just like soft-serve ice cream.

According to the Post, "Manhattan city slickers will soon be able to embrace the beloved suburban Dairy Queen."

The new location will be at 54 W. 14th St. between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue... at the former site of Fabco Shoes.

A DQ opened earlier in the year at the St. George Terminal of the Staten Island Ferry. And more locations are planned.