Photo this evening by Bobby Williams
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition
[East 2nd Street]
Video: Celebrating 160 years of McSorley's (Grub Street)
Memorial info about MTA bus driver William Pena, the LES native killed last week on the job (The Lo-Down)
The hawks continue to build a nest around Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)
Ludlow Hotel now booking for the spring (BoweryBoogie)
About the weirdest building in Midtown (Scouting New York)
Concern for this UES block (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
New building life for former Second Avenue funeral parlor
Workers have removed the construction netting and scaffolding from 154 Second Ave., the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel now with three extra floors. The building will house luxury rentals and ground-floor retail here between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.
For a little contrast… here's how the building looked in the summer of 2011…
Here's what the address looked like in the 1940s, via Vanishing New York...
And here is the rendering …
Thoughts on the look of the new building?
No word yet on pricing for the units. It's from Icon Realty, who's currently peddling 6-bedroom frat houses on Avenue A.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Former funeral home looks to double in size with help from 'the controversial penthouse king of the East Village'
Redeveloped funeral home looking for a few live retail tenants
The walls come tumbling down at 154 Second Avenue
Arcane transforms into Cafe Cambodge on Avenue C
Laat month, Benjamin Alter, the owner of Arcane, announced that the French-Caribbean restaurant on Avenue C near East Seventh Street would close… and reopen with a new concept...
After a fairly quick turnover, the space is now Cafe Cambodge, which features a French-Cambodian menu… there was a friends and family preview this past Saturday… no word just yet on an official opening date…
[Via Facebook]
Report: Pride and Joy BBQ partners suing landlord Hayne Suthon for $22 million
[East 2nd Street side of the dormant Pride and Joy BBQ site]
There's yet another legal battle involving the yet-to-open Pride and Joy BBQ on First Avenue.
Celebrity BBQ chef Myron Mixon was going to open a restaurant/saloon in the former Lucky Cheng's space. (Read that post here.) But a subsequent lawsuit between Mixon and his partners put the debut in doubt.
However, his remaining partners decided to move forward with a 220-seat "draft house" and "honky tonk" featuring three bars and about 20 TV screens, per DNAinfo. (The SLA approved a liquor license for the space with a 4 a.m. closing time in October.)
Now, as Serena Solomon first reported last week at DNAinfo, the owners of Pride and Joy BBQ are suing building landlord Hayne Suthon for allegedly lying about the building's condition and then attempting to evict them from the location for demanding repairs. The BBQ group is seeking $22 million in damages.
Per DNAinfo:
Pride and Joy BBQ, which has an operating location in Miami, ... has so far invested $3.1 million in the space, including renovations, repairs and $600,000 in rent, according to court documents.
When fitting out the space, Pride and Joy BBQ discovered "almost too many structural deficiencies to count, and the extent of the problem was vast," according to legal documents.
The lawsuit lists issues such as termite infestation, deteriorating structural frames and a leaking roof and walls.
Pride and Joy BBQ recently stopped paying its rent while attempting to broker a deal on the repair costs with Suthon, which prompted Suthon to threaten to evict the restaurant, according to documents.
Suthon, who has lived at the address, 24 First Ave. since 1989, denied the allegations. She moved Lucky Cheng's to West 52nd Street in the fall of 2012.
The lawsuit seems a little … weird.
As we wrote before, the space was seemingly ready for BBQ action, after crews previously gut-renovated away the former Bento Burger and Lucky Cheng's. There was even a preview event here with Mixon back in May… which prompted the one Yelp review, a four-star affair in which the author stated: "The pork belly mac and cheese was equally exquisite. I can imaging filling a large, clean tub with this delightful concoction and then diving in and eating my way out."
And what about the giant rotisserie that workers installed in early 2013? There was even a press event for it… (No one noticed "deteriorating structural frames" then?)
Despite the opening preview party, workers gutted the space down to nothing in the fall. If the restaurant was good to go last May, then why did the remaining partners decide to rip everything down to the bare walls and floor?
Previously on EV Grieve:
Myron Mixon's Pride & Joy BBQ now in the works for the former Lucky Cheng's space
Fire reported at incoming Pride and Joy BBQ on East Second Street
Myron Mixon lawsuit puts opening of Pride and Joy BBQ in question at former Lucky Cheng's space
More alterations for the Pride and Joy space
Former laundromat for rent now on Avenue B
The laundromat at 44 Avenue B has moved down to 47 Clinton St. … and the space is on on the market … and it's the third vacant storefront now on the western side of Avenue B between East Third Street and East Fourth Street… joining Cafe Rakka and Coyi Cafe …
[Inside the former Cafe Rakka]
All three businesses
Monday, February 17, 2014
Silent night: Holiday tree lights are OFF now in Tompkins Square Park
Just a little more than two months removed from the 22nd annual Tree Lighting at Tompkins Square Park … and the lights have been officially extinguished for another year…
[Pausing to regain composure]
We noticed the lights were off last Wednesday or Thursday night… but thought that it may have just been a
Perhaps now we can hope for a St. Patrick's Day miracle …
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition
[East 2nd Street at Avenue A]
Fashion designer Michele Savoia, who owned a shop on East 7th St., found dead (The Daily Beast)
Dog electrocuted by frayed wiring from a scaffolding light on Clinton Street (The Lo-Down)
The Stone on Avenue C is "a pinnacle of what such a music space should be" (The New York Times)
The East Village and Coney Island are among filmmaker Stephanie Gray's subjects in these short films playing tonight at the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn (Mono No Aware)
Who is guarding the front door outside 73 St. Mark's Place? (Ephemeral New York)
Are the hawks squatting at the Christodora? (Gog in NYC)
An urban etiquette don't slip sign at Prohibition Bakery on Clinton Street (BoweryBoogie)
A look at the under-renovation Jarmulowsky Bank Building on Canal Street (Curbed)
Montauk is home to the highest-grossing 7-Eleven in the United States (The Real Deal)
Here's the trailer for the Slint documentary (Dangerous Minds)
… and some moon shots … last night on East 10th Street …
… and a closer look at 6:25 a.m. today via Bobby Williams…
RIP Marty Thau
[Thau, right, with David Johansen and Muddy Waters in the early '80s. Photo via Facebook]
Legendary music producer-manager-entrepreneur Marty Thau died last Thursday at age 75. While there hasn't been any official announcement about his passing, his many friends are paying their respects on Facebook.
Updated 4:45: Billboard has his obituary here.
He told Vice a few years back that he had been in poor health starting in 2010. "I had inner bleeding in my abdomen and I had an operation [where] I died on the operating table but they revived me. ... And then I lost the use of my kidneys. Now I have to go to dialysis three times a week."
Thau, the founder of Red Star Records, worked with everyone from John Cale to the Ramones (he recorded the band's first demos) … Blondie… Richard Hell and the Voidoids … the Fleshtones … Suicide… and the New York Dolls, who he served as manager.
Here's an excerpt from an interview in Vice from June 2012 where he talks about working with Suicide:
I came across [them] when I was doing shows with the Dolls and bands who were part of that Mercer scene in '72. I put them on a St. Valentine's Day show and I thought, “These guys are incredible!” They weren't for everyone but they were really stunning as far as I was concerned. But I was so immersed with the Dolls — they were sort of my financial albatross — that I couldn't do anything with [Suicide] as much as I enjoyed what they were doing. Then I didn't run back into them for a few years. '76 is when I came across them again.
It was down in the East Village one afternoon. I happened to bump into Marty Rev and he said, “Ah, how ya doin'?” and all. “We're playing at Max's Kansas City in a couple of weeks. Would you like to come to the show?” And I said, “Sure, I'd love to.” So I went to the show and I couldn't believe how great I thought they were. Even better than they were earlier. Certainly more unusual. I never thought they were really commercial but I enjoyed what they were doing and I respected what they were doing.
He had reportedly been working on a memoir titled "Rockin' the Bowery: From the New York Dolls to Suicide." Rocker had an excerpt of the memoir a few years back.
Leaving with Suicide and "Dream Baby Dream" …
Happy 160th anniversary McSorley's
Hey, the bar on East Seventh Street is celebrating its 160th (or 152st!) anniversary… (There are some doubters about when McSorley's actually opened. Per New York: "Though McSorley’s claims it opened its doors in 1854, NYC historian Richard McDermott used public records to prove it really opened in 1862." Which means Lincoln never set foot in the place.)
Anyway!
Per the McSorley's Facebook page the other day:
February 17th is our 160th Anniversary. So c'mon in and help celebrate. We'll have a fine cut of a man on the squeezebox, another singing song and our civil war era sword behind the bar will slice everyone a fat piece of cake. Are you ready?
Squeezebox!
Updated:
A photo from this afternoon via Bobby Williams… looks orderly enough outside…
Previously on EV Grieve:
Happy 155th birthday, McSorley's (or not)
Exclusive: Minnie McSorley's first interview
[Photo circa 1970 by JP Laffont/Sygma/CORBIS]
San Loco on Avenue A has closed after 15 years
The sign here between East 9th Street and East 10th Street is pretty self-explanatory… the Second Avenue location remains open… Meanwhile, what will become of San Loco's full liquor license?
H/T Andrew Coamey
Burkina renews lease for First Avenue
[Photo by Yenta Laureate]
Last month, hip-hop clothing shop Burkina NYC began a going-out-of-business sale at their store on First Avenue near East Fourth Street. We heard that they were set to close after Saturday….
However, EVG correspondent Stacie Joy stopped by on Saturday and talked with owner Ahmed Sankara …
[Photo by Stacie Joy]
… and learned that their closing/$5 fire sale was so successful, the landlord has asked Burkina to stay … Sankara has agreed to another several years on a lease at an "affordable" price. He also said that he was overwhelmed by the support of the neighborhood … and credits the outreach and support with helping change the landlord's mind about a lease.
Burkina moved here in the fall of 2011 after 16 years on East Houston.
[Photo by Yenta Laureate]
Report: Ben Shaoul's parents are suing him for $50 million
“The people he is stealing from are his own parents – the same parents who worked hard all their lives and saved their money, the same parents that bailed him out of jail, took him back into their home when he dropped out of school, the same parents who paid for him to learn the real estate business and the same parents who provided the millions in seed money to begin the family real estate business,” the complaint states.
Jail? Do tell!
And!
Abraham and Minoo Shaoul are accusing their son of treating Magnum, a major Manhattan real estate investment company co-founded by Shaoul and his parents, like his “own personal piggy bank,” using clever legal maneuvers to derive payouts from buildings purchased by the company without their permission.
For his part, Ben told The Real Deal in a statement that he "categorically" denied "all of the allegations contained in the complaint." He said that it was a private matter, and blamed it on "the deterioration of my relationship with my mother."
Meanwhile, in reporting on the matter. Curbed is the clear winner in the Paragraphs of the Year Awards:
Developer/80s breakdance movie villain, Ben "The Sledgehammer" Shaoul is well known for his hated developments in the East Village/LES. But when he isn't tearing down nursing homes and shrieking with maniacal laughter, he's also getting into ugly legal entanglements with his own parents.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Week in Grieview
[Abandoned hornet's nest over Avenue A via Grant Shaffer]
RIP Maggie Estep (Wednesday)
Surprise! Surprise! is closing (Tuesday, 41 comments)
Someone finally builds a decent looking new building in the East Village (Monday)
An appreciation: the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen (Friday)
Recreating "tent city" in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)
Sounds to close on St. Mark's Place (Friday)
176 E. Third St. hits the market for $38.5 million (Thursday)
Out and About with Dawn of Juicy Lucy (Wednesday)
Deth Killers of Bushwick pop up on the Bowery (Tuesday)
INA opening a designer consignment shop on East 13th Street (Monday)
Looking at Centre-fuge Cycle 12 on East 1st Street (Tuesday)
Down one Joey Pepperoni's now (Wednesday)
Former Shima space asking $25k (Friday)
Should we start worrying about the Subway Inn? (Wednesday)
Coyote Ugly is hiring (Wednesday)
Slush! (Friday)
It snowed again. Again. (Thursday)
[Photo of East 6th Street Thursday by Vinny and O … click image to enlarge]
Makeshift altar arrives at former Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church
[Photo by EVG reader Matteo]
Last summer, workers demolished the church, school and rectory on the Mary Help of Christians lot on Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 11th Street. Developer Douglas Steiner awaits city approval for his retail-residential complex at the now-empty lot.
In the meantime, someone has created a makeshift altar on the East 12th Street plywood… which includes a frame around the plywood portal…
[Photo by EVG reader Matteo]
..and EVG reader Alta Tseng shared these photos…
Despite the demolition, former church regulars continued to hold their daily sidewalk prayer service on East 12th Street through August.
Previously on EV Grieve:
New residential complex at former Mary Help of Christians lot may include rooftop swimming pool
Meet your new neighbor on Avenue A
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory
Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site
Scaffolding arrives for demolition of Mary Help of Christians
The 'senseless shocking self-destruction' of Mary Help of Christians
Saturday, February 15, 2014
E Smoke Shop now anchoring St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue
We spotted workers putting up the new sign yesterday afternoon at the newsstand/deli on St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue… and a reader sent us a shot from this morning showing how it's looking… say hello to E Smoke Shop…
A new operator took over the now former New Corner Magazine (or King's Magazine) last month … the fellows who work here couldn't be any nicer … as for the sign … rather schlocky, though maybe the use of S-shapted pipes might seem kind of quaint in about, oh, 50 years. And awesome display of
Previously on EV Grieve:
New Corner Magazine closed for renovations; new operator to take over
What happened to DJ Lenny M?
[Updated] A new look for the magazine shop on Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place
Bombed again at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall
Maya Hayuk's nearly two-week-old criss-cross mural up on the wall at East Houston and the Bowery was hit for the second time…
Her mural was tagged just two days after completion, as BoweryBoogie noted.
Apparently all this happened during Thursday night's snowstorm, per AnimalNY.
You can get into The New Museum for free by donating a winter coat
[A work by Paweł Althamer via The New Museum]
From the EVG inbox...
Beginning in February, the New Museum will present the first US museum exhibition devoted to the work of Paweł Althamer. Since the early 1990s, Althamer (b. 1967 Warsaw, Poland) has established a unique artistic practice and is admired for his expanded approach to sculptural representation and his experimental models of social collaboration. Althamer is predominantly known for figurative sculptures of himself, his family, and various other individuals within his community. Beyond simple portraiture, these sculptures, along with the artist’s other activities, highlight the complex social, political, and psychological networks in which he operates. “Paweł Althamer: The Neighbors” will be on view on the Fourth, Third, and Second Floor galleries from February 12–April 13, 2014.
And about admission…
For his exhibition, Althamer has initiated a coat drive for the Bowery Mission, the Museum's neighbor, which has been serving the homeless and hungry since 1879. For the duration of the exhibition, visitors bringing new or gently used men's coats to the New Museum will receive free entry. All the coats will be donated to the Bowery Mission.
The New Museum is at 235 Bowery.
Friday, February 14, 2014
So I meet you at the cemetry gates
A little Valentine's Day mood music for you… "Found Love In a Graveyard" by Veronica Falls circa 2010...
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Looking at a Missed Connection on Craigslist today...
dude who looks like Robert Smith - w4m (East Village)
I used to see you all over the East Village. The first time I saw you was at a Karen Finley reading at Barnes and Noble 3 or 4 summers ago. Then you were everywhere. On the L train. At some other feminist performance event I can't remember the name of now. Once I was at the Bean on 2nd ave and you came in to put up your event poster. It seemed like you were a regular. I went away for the summer and haven't seen you since. Are you still alive?
Not sure what era of Robert Smith this Robert Smith looks like (80s? 90s? 2000s?) Regardless! Hope that it works out for you kids!
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition
[On Avenue A, photo by Grant Shaffer]
Landmarks Preservation Commission still not pleased with plans for 9-story hotel adjacent to the Merchant's House Museum on East 4th Street (Curbed)
Early photos of the Merchant's House Museum (Off the Grid)
Mayor de Blasio nixes 'infill' plan for NYCHA properties (The Villager)
The paintings of East Village artist and activist Sally Young are up at the Ottendorfer Library (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
East Village photographer Sally Davies has a show at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery (The Jewish Week)
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Video interlude... Casey Neistat snowboarding yesterday on the streets of the East Village and LES...
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Join Citi Bike's email list and get a free 24-hour Citi Bike pass (Citi Bike Facebook page)
Playing bocce on First Avenue (Ephemeral New York)
Talking 2 years of Centre-fuge art on East First Street (BoweryBoogie)
A look at new restaurants opening on the Bowery (Eater)
An interview with LES resident Michael Kelly, who stars on "House of Cards" (The Lo-Down)
The last 5 standalone diners in Manhattan (Scouting NY)
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And this week marked the annual wreath-laying on Founder's Day at Cooper Union ... EVG reader Beth Sopko (Cooper Union class of '87) shared these photos (find more here) ... some students turned out on Wednesday, on Peter Cooper's 233rd birthday, wearing all black clothes and carrying black balloons — a statement regarding the board's decision to begin charging undergraduate tuition at the school starting this fall ...
Scenes from the Great East Village Slushathon
[First Avenue and East 13th Street]
As you may have noticed, it's really slushy and mushy out there ... East Village-based photographer Gudrun Georges captured some of the messy leftovers from yesterday's storm...
[Avenue A, we're gonna need a bigger boat]
Find more of her work here. And consider buying some waist waders.
Soon, there won't be any record stores on St. Mark's Place, and that sucks
[EVG file photo]
Here's a bit of depressing (but not really surprising) news buried in a Wall Street Journal piece today about St. Mark's Place:
Sounds, the last of once-many record shops on the strip, recently limited its business days to Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, said Felicia De Chabris, an associate broker with Halstead Property. She said Sounds' space went on the rental market this month, with its first showings this week.
Among the CD/record shops that have closed on (or near) St. Mark's Place in recent years ... Joe's CDs, 13 CDs, Venus Records, Mondo Kim's, Smash, Norman's, Rockit Scientist Records...
From an EVG post on the topic from January 2012:
Didn't seem like too long ago where you could have spent an afternoon on St. Mark's Place rooting through the bins of the record stores here ... then reading the liner notes/CD sleeves of your purchases at the Grassroots or wherever over a beer ... Ah, how old-fashioned
Meanwhile, all the more reason to support the record stores that remain here ... places such as...Kim's ... Good Records NYC ... Turntable Lab ... A-1 Records ... Other Music ... Academy Records ... Rainbow Music...
Updated 3:34 p.m.
Alex weighs in on all this over at Flaming Pablum.
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