This block of East 14th Street is about half of what it used to be (for now)

[Click image to enlarge]

The demolition of the one-level row of buildings along East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is complete.


[From Friday]

From east to west, workers took out the former ABC Animal Hospital, Petland, Bargain Express, Rite Aid, Blarney Cove, Rainbow, the beauty shop, Jackson Hewitt, Pete's-a-Place and Stuyvesant Grocery.



No. 520 is all that remains between the pits. (The Dunkin Donuts is moving down the street, though.)



Speaking of the pits…


[From Friday]





Anyway, you can go take a look yourself through a blogger portal. Don't cost nothing.



Many of the businesses here either relocated or closed to make way for two, 7-floor retail-residential buildings. Gary Barnett of Extell Development grabbed up eight parcels in a 99-year lease worth $35.14 million.

The building plans are still awaiting the city's approval.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New 7-floor buildings for East 14th Street include 150 residential units

Unless marked, the photos are from Saturday

Prepping for the arrival of DF Mavens on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

[Saturday morning]

On Friday, workers plywooded part of the storefront on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place… where a retail outpost of DF Mavens has been in the works, as we reported back in October.

This was from the official news release on the opening:

“We’re very excited to open our first dedicated storefront and plant our flag in the vibrant East Village food scene,” states Malcolm Stogo, a world-renowned ice cream consultant and founder of DF Mavens. “Our new retail outpost will allow us to bring delicious, dairy-free ice cream to a greater segment of New Yorkers who want vegan-friendly dessert options … ”

And here are renderings of the space via Edelman Sultan Knox Wood / Architects LLP:

Working closely with fixture suppliers and lighting designers, we created a unified presentation of DF Mavens’ offerings that are visible and engaging from the street. Storefront elements form a social buffer between the street and the sales counters. A wood canopy projects out to provide shade, and continues into the store to define intimate seating areas against both facades. Passers-by will notice the bright and energetic sales area through the minimalist wood and glass storefront, where custom light fixtures and displays create a sculptural product presentation. The store experience combines classic, natural materials with a modernist sensibility, complimenting DF Mavens’ approach to quality and craft in their forward-thinking desserts.

No word on an official opening date yet. (They originally said Spring 2014.)

Eastside Bakery (.net?) closed down here in April 2013. And once upon a time, the space was home to the Gap in the late 1980s into the early 1990s.

Report: 20 Avenue A sells for $26.5 million

The 62-unit, rent-regulated building at the southeast corner of Second Street recently changed hands for the first time in three decades, The Real Deal reported.

Said broker Joseph Koicim:

“Given the fact the building was fully-rent regulated, many prospective purchasers had a rough time wrapping their arms around this asset, but we were able to procure a buyer who paid within ten percent of our asking price and plans to hold this long-term.”

The buyer was identified only as a Manhattan-based investor, per The Real Deal.

One building resident said that the new management company has been pretty responsive so far. And there's new laundry room coming soon.

"We will see how the honeymoon period goes," the resident said.

Meanwhile, we wonder if the new landlord plans to hold the Tats Cru wall long-term as well…





As far as we can remember, this wall has seen at least two marriage proposals. Here and here.

East 10th Street building new to the market; triplex unit in the future?

This listing arrived late last week at Massey Knakal:

A 5 story, walk up apartment building located on the south side of East Tenth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. The building consists of 7 residential units of which 6 are free market and 1 is rent stabilized. The average in-place rent is $65/SF while rents in the area have achieved more than $80/SF.

The ground floor can be converted to retail as-of right in order to take advantage of a block that has seen retail rents reach over $130/SF. The property also benefits from approximately 3,724 square feet of air rights.

This represents an excellent opportunity for an investor who is looking for stable cash flow and tremendous future upside in the highly sought after East Village neighborhood. Alternatively, it could serve as an ideal user opportunity to create a triplex unit.

Price: $6.3 million

Elsa has closed

Elsa, the cocktail lounge modeled after a fashion designer's workroom, has now closed on East Third Street.

Not sure exactly when the doors closed for good. (There's a Yelp review from July 17.)

This had been an expected development, as Eater noted back on June 30.

Elsa's website says that they "will be moving to a new location at the end of July! Details on the new space will be coming soon."

However, per Eater:

Elsa's bartenders are apparently telling patrons that the bar is not relocating at all and will simply be shutting its doors. An employee at the bar tells Eater that the landlord refused to renew the lease, because he wants to "open his own place," although its not clear what that will be.

In June, CB3 OK'd an applicant taking over the space. Per the minutes (PDF!) from the CB3 meeting:

[T]he applicant managed a previous tavern business at this location from 1997 through 2004 and it furnished one hundred five (105) signatures from area residents in support of its application …

The working name for the new venture is Canvas Bar.

Elsa, named for fashion designer Elsa Schiaperalli, began in November 2008 in the former Hanger Bar (and before that Plant Bar) space here between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Elsa's owners opened Ramona in Greenpoint earlier this year.

Today in possibly bad ideas

Film shoot signs are so common we barely stop to look at them (Oh, Flesh & Bone again!)

This notice on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue might give you pause.

TAXI DRIVER 2!

While the idea of a sequel to the DeNiro- Scorsese classic has been floated, this isn't it.

Actually we have no idea what this is for at the moment. A gag project name likely. Maybe we will call Chad the location manager.

H/T EVG reader Steven!

Week in Grieview

[10th and B last evening via Bobby Williams]

Remembering Michael Brody (Tuesday, 35 comments)

A letter from a 21-year-old NYU student (Thursday, 55 comments)

The Burger-Klein sign is gone from Avenue A (Wednesday)

A visit to Ben's Deli on Avenue B (Tuesday)

The Mudtruck leaves Astor Place for now (Friday)

The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space's Women of the Lower East Side Film Fest continues (Thursday)

Snow Cream coming to East 10th Street (Monday, 24 comments)

Out and About with Melissa Elledge (Wednesday)

David Schwimmer wants to be a good neighbor (Thursday)

The East Fifth Street cookout (Monday, 28 comments)

Structural issues force three East Fifth Street businesses to temporarily close (Thursday)

Dr. Dave avoids eviction (Wednesday)

Ben Shaoul's latest architectural wonder (Monday)

The 99-Cent Discount Center has closed (Monday)

The Paul's Boutique mural (Sunday)

Kim's Laundromat & Cleaners has closed (Wednesday)

San Marzano brings inexpensive pasta to Second Avenue (Wednesday)

"Obnoxious drunk girl" leaves a note (Monday)

10,000 Steps A Hungarian Bookstore has closed (Friday)

New owner for Butter Lane Cupcakes (Wednesday)

NYC politicos speak out against Steve Croman (Friday)

New jewelry shop on East Ninth Street (Monday)

Verizon breaks out the brown paint again (Monday)

Dog nappers! (Friday)

What Kim's closing really means (Monday)

CB3/SLA August highlights (Friday)

… and this is going pretty well…

Looking at Centre-fuge Cycle 14

Just checking out the now-complete Centre-fuge Cycle 14, the rotating outdoor gallery/construction trailer here along East First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Artists represented in Cycle 14 are Adam Kidder, Alexander Prosser, J. David McKenney, Jeromy Velasco, Master Moody Mutz, Nether and Raquel Echanique. For more information on each artist, go here.













Find more info about Centre-fuge here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

Former cop acquitted of raping an East Village resident files $175 million lawsuit against his accuser and the city (Daily News)

Rivington House, the city’s only nursing home for AIDS patients, is closing in November (The Lo-Down)

Watch this video of a woman stealing an iPad from Dempsey's (DNAInfo)

"Now that the East Village is filled with artisanal restaurants and upscale boutiques, HiFi is no longer just another dive but a tether to this neighborhood’s faded bohemia." (The New York Times)

Chat 'N Chew closes on Union Square (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York) … and will relaunch in two weeks as Little Sal's (DNAinfo)

DAMEHT embarks on an August residency at the Pyramid Club (BoweryBoogie)

"Solar Tower" planned for Chrystie and Broome (Curbed)

The kestrel family on the Lower East Side (Gog in NYC)

NYC through the eyes of Woody Guthrie (Dangerous Minds)

In Midtown, "The Hardest Working Man… In Shoe Business." (The New York Observer)

An appreciation of The Modern Lovers (Nooga.com)

And tonight as part of the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space's Women of the Lower East Side Film Fest …

Orchard Alley Community Garden
350-54 East 4th Street (between C and D)
Lynne Sachs (the director will be in attendance to introduce the film and for Q & A)
YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT
2013, 64 minutes
8 p.m.

Immigrant residents of a “shift-bed” apartment in the heart of New York City’s Chinatown share their stories of personal and political upheaval. As the bed transforms into a stage, the film reveals the collective history of the Chinese in the United States through conversations, autobiographical monologues, and theatrical movement pieces. Shot in the kitchens, bedrooms, wedding halls, cafés, and mahjong parlors of Chinatown, this provocative hybrid documentary addresses issues of privacy, intimacy, and urban life.

In honor of Summertime on Avenue A

Once again just noting the new roll-down gate art at Mikey Likes It, the newish ice cream shop at 199 Avenue A near East 12th Street.

The Will Smith mural is in honor of this month's Flavor of the Month: "Summertime (tropical lemonade) dedicated to The Fresh Prince and possibly the greatest summer song ever, Summertime."



Previously!

July and George Michael…



June and Prince…



September will be dedicated to Mr. Mister. KIDDING. But that would be strangely funny. Kind of.

The light, light show

Photo from last night by James and Karla Murray. Anyone happen to know what was happening here beyond the Williamsburg Bridge?

It was probably something top secret like this, but I could be wrong.

Parking report

EVG reader Charlie Chen shared this parking hierarchy from last night. A McLaren parked behind a Maserati parked behind a BMW on Second Avenue at East 12th Street.

Cool confusion

The Clash with "Overpowered by Funk" ... the song is from 1982's "Combat Rock" ... the compilation video (not the official one for the song) is from the 1981 shows at Bond's and includes Mick and Paul at Coney Island...

Large sneaker cutout provides photo ops on East 4th Street

Between Second Avenue and the Bowery via EVG contributor Derek Berg...

Where the streets have no cars driving on them for a few hours tomorrow

[Spotted at Astor Place]

As the Times notes today:

This Saturday will feature the first of three Summer Streets events this month, when Lafayette Street downtown and a long stretch of Park Avenue will be closed to traffic and open instead to bikers, in-line skaters, walkers and wanderers.

And here is the official map from the City about all this:



Previously on EV Grieve:
Takin' it to the streets like the Doobie Brothers

Summer loving had me a blast, Summer loving happened so fast

No more corny Summer Streets headlines until next summer, probably

Aug. 1

Wow. The summer seems to be going by so quickly! So much left to do on your to-do list! Like, take the Christmas tree down to the curb.

East 10th Street and Second Avenue this morning via EVG reader Olivia.

Manhattan politicos respond to the Attorney General's investigation of Steve Croman

[State Sen. Brad Hoylman speaking out against Steve Croman at rally in Tompkins Square Park in May]

Via the EVG inbox...

State Senators Daniel Squadron and Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, Borough President Gale Brewer, and Councilmembers Rosie Mendez and Margaret Chin released the following statement regarding landlord Steve Croman:

"Steven Croman’s pattern of tenant harassment must come to an end. Tenants from his buildings have contacted us with accounts of chronic harassment and intimidation – including disruptive building maintenance, frivolous lawsuits, and most egregiously, the dispatching of a ‘private investigator’ to apartments to intimidate tenants.

“We’ve worked closely with a coalition of tenants and advocacy groups like Good Old Lower East Side, Cooper Square Committee, and the Urban Justice Center to address Croman’s tactics of driving tenants, many of whom are rent regulated, out of their homes. We applaud the Attorney General’s investigation into Croman, and we will continue to support tenants’ efforts as it unfolds."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Watch a lot of people speak out against Steve Croman and 9300 Realty

Despite plea, landlord doubling rent on East Village family with cancer-stricken 2 year old

Report: State Attorney General launches Steve Croman investigation

The Mudtruck hits the road ahead of renovations at Astor Place

[File photo from February via @sammers133]

The Mudtruck has temporarily ended its long tenure parked on Astor Place. Yesterday marked the last day for the truck as the reconstruction of Astor Place and Cooper Square continues.

"It's a good time to take a summer break and ride out the Astor Place construction," Mudspot General Manager Yasmina Palumbo told us. "Will keep on truckin' at the Mudspot and Mudpark."

Palumbo said that the Mudtruck will definitely return at an undetermined date in the future.

The blog Asshole At The Center Of The Universe first reported this development yesterday. (H/T Gothamist!)

A warning about (or for?) dog nappers

EVG reader Melissa Elledge spotted this warning sign on East Eighth Street and Avenue B.

Has there been an outbreak of dog thefts of late?

Specialty Hungarian bookshop closes on East 12th Street

An EVG reader passed along word that workers were clearing out 10,000 Steps A Hungarian Bookstore at 545 E. 12th St. on Wednesday.

We stopped by here between Avenue A and Avenue B to find an empty shop yesterday … and there was a notice from the Marshal posted to the door…



The store opened in April 2008 "to serve the Hungarian community, those with Hungarian roots in North America and all others from our base in the New York Metropolitan area." The store sold an array of books, magazines, CDs and DVDs.

The store's website still appears to be active.

The new Max Fish reopens tomorrow

Per the Max Fish Facebook page:

Not really much else to say besides...The Fish is back in the L.E.S. Thanks for all the love since we've been closed, see you this weekend!

Max Fish closed last July after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St.

Owner Ulli Rimkus told DNAinfo that "people will see a bunch of the same things they saw on Ludlow Street. They just have to come and look for it."

The bar's former pool table will also return, though not until after a back wall is knocked down. (There will be pinball machines too.)

While the new version of the bar will retain familiar elements, Rimkus said she also plans to make space to show work by new artists.

"I don't want it to be a Max Fish museum," she told DNAinfo, who also has photos of the new interior.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

A few more details (hard-boiled eggs!) about Max Fish, which hopes to return to the LES

Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

This weekend in Tompkins Square Park

Here are the bands set to play …

Saturday: Iconicide, Nihilistics, Ruckus Interruptus, Transgendered Jesus and Urban Waste

Sunday: Hammerbrain, David Peel, Bowery Boys, Sewage, Penguin, Rosabelle Selavy and The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black

Today's move-out haul

[Random trash photo — NOT the trash mentioned below]

An EVG reader shared this email with the subject line "Left items from transitional suburban students"

"I go out back to put my recycling in the bin, and there are mounds of crap this month's brats have left behind. Feeling badly for our super, I attempt to sort everything into glass, paper, trash, etc.

Among other items I found: 1 $20 Starbucks card, 1 $18 MasterCard gift card, a Metro Card, several travel toiletries, 1 French nail kit, etc.

My point — we could make a list of places these kids could be giving this stuff to.

The reader sent a follow-up note:

"I found out the Metro Card had $7.50 left on it during my trip to work!"

Reader report: Hit-and-run on East 7th Street and Avenue B

EVG reader Mayra Diaz passed along this photo and info just after 9 this evening:

Yellow cab hit an elderly man on a bike and left speeding away. Police and ambulance were called. Bicyclist can walk and is in ambulance.

However, Mayra noted that the cab driver returned to the scene 15 minutes later and gave a statement to the NYPD. No word if any charges were filed ...

The NYPD installed a surveillance camera at East Seventh Street and Avenue B back on June 26.

Last sunset of July...

And look for our post tomorrow — The 31 Best Things That Happened This July. No. 12 Will Blow Your Mind.

Photo by Bobby Williams

Laundry day

Outside Keepers Self Storage on East 10th Street near Avenue D...

Photo by EVG contributor Michael Sean Edwards

Cash in the shade on East 5th Street

[EVG photo from yesterday]

Earlier today we mentioned that the liquor store, check-cashing shop and Today's Cut hair salon at 300 E. Fifth St. just east of Second Avenue have been closed this week due to some structural issues in the building.

Word is some unlicensed work in one of the apartments led to a tenant putting his or her foot through the floor. So the city hit several apartments and the ground-floor businesses with a vacate order.

Not good for business, obviously. Bourad at Today's Cut is cutting hair five doors to the east at 304 E. Fifth St. in the meantime.

And Jaime (aka "The Tall Guy"), the longtime proprietor of the checking-cashing shop, is operating out of this armored van in front of his storefront. He tells EVG contributor Derek Berg that he will go out of business soon if he has to continue to run his business this way...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

And here is a storefront shot from last January via Goggla ...

A letter from a 21-year-old NYU student: 'We are not all the same'

[Rather random photo of 2nd Avenue by EVG the other morning]

From the EVG inbox...

I am a dedicated reader and appreciator of your blog. I am also 21, have lived in the neighborhood for less than two years, and am, in the eyes of many, part of the East Village's central problem. I have always wanted to voice my opinion on this matter, as it is one on which I feel very strongly, and such a feeling is only ever heightened after I read the many user comments on Grieve.

I recognize fully how the influx of young, yuppie college students and 20-somethings has dramatically altered the neighborhood, but I want to defend myself and say that while I can easily be grouped into this category (and I'm not arguing it — 21-year-old NYU student living in an over-priced apartment that still happens to be cheaper than living in an NYU dorm), I have found myself resenting this more and more.

Before I moved into an apartment (versus a dorm) in the East Village, I did my research. I investigated the shady and unlawful landlords, corrupt management companies to avoid, the best small businesses around the apartments I was considering, and the like.

As an 11th Street resident, I protested 7-Eleven when it arrived, I devote all my business to the local deli beneath my apartment, and I agree that many things happening in this neighborhood regarding rent, landlords, what have you, are truly absurd.

However rambling this may seem, I just want to give a voice to those younger residents who consider themselves to be on the same page. We are not all the same — I don't get belligerently drunk and hang off of fire escapes, I don't scoff at the rent-stabilized tenants in my building, I don't ignore my super and the other supers on the block. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I recognized immediately upon moving here that in order to make the most of the two years I'd be spending on this street, I would have to earn some respect by developing relationships with the people who've been here the longest and are truly residents of this neighborhood.

I also recognized that this is, in many ways, just how the growth of a city unfolds. My entire family grew up in a building on Christopher Street beginning in the 1940s, and they were priced out far before gentrification was a term being thrown around. While I did not live through the gentrification of this neighborhood, I can appreciate the good and bad it has done.

All I am trying to say in the end is that I want to enjoy and appreciate the East Village's quirks and unique charm as much as those who have resided here for decades, not drunkenly puke all over them in the early hours of a Saturday morning.

Sincerely,
Olivia
11th Street Resident

We asked Olivia why she finally decided to write this. The post Monday about the "obnoxious drunk girl" who threw up in her lobby and left a note and the post from July 20 about the game of truth or dare that ended with a fall helped inspire her.

The Women of the Lower East Side Film Fest from MoRUS starts tomorrow night

We looked at the initial offerings of the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space's (MoRUS) Women of the Lower East Side Film Fest last month. Here's a closer look at some of the lineup for the nine-day festival that begins tomorrow night. Find the complete schedule here. (There are screenings every night.) From the EVG inbox ...

Stories by and about women of the Lower East Side will appear on movie screens throughout the East Village in locations ranging from community gardens, The Anthology Film Archives and the recently opened Loisaida, Inc.

Friday, Aug. 1, 8 p.m.

WHAT ABOUT ME, dir. Rachel Amodeo @ Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue off Second Street. (87 minutes)

Here's a scene filmed in Tompkins Square Park featuring Dee Dee Ramone ...



The Voice this week called the 1993 film "an essential, seedily romantic snapshot of Tompkins Square Park's pre-gentrified, tent-city wilderness."

Saturday, Aug. 2, 8 p.m.

YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT, dir. Lynne Sachs @ Orchard Alley, 350 East 4th Street between Aves C and D. (filmmaker in attendance, 64 minutes)



Sunday, Aug. 3, 8 p.m.

SWEATSHOP CINDERELLA, dir. Suzanne Wasserman @ Orchard Alley, 350 East 4th Street between Aves. C and D. (filmmaker in attendance, 27 minutes)

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 8 p.m.

HUNGRY HEARTS, dir. E. Mason Hopper, La Plaza Cultural, Southwest Corner of 9th Street and Avenue C. (80 minutes)



Thursday, Aug. 7, 8 p.m.

LES Biography Project, by Steve Zehentner and Penny Arcade (feat. Sarah Schulman and Carmen Pabon) La Plaza Cultural, Southwest Corner of 9th Street and Avenue C. (56 minutes)

Friday, Aug. 8, 8 p.m.

VIA GEANME, dir. Sebastian Gutierrez and UMBRELLA HOUSE, dir. Catalina Santamaria @ El Jardin Paraiso, 5th Street between Avenues C and D. (26 minutes)

Saturday Aug. 9, 8 p.m.

BORN IN FLAMES, dir. Lizzie Borden, El Jardin Paraiso, 5th Street between Avenues C and D. (filmmaker in attendance, 80 minutes)

Admission to each individual screening is a suggested donation of $5, with the exception of the opening night screening of "What About Me," which is $10; $8 for students, seniors, & children (12 & under); $6 AFA member.

Find more info here at the MoRUS website.