Reader report: Kotobuki has closed on 3rd Avenue

Kotobuki, the two-and-a-half-year-old sushi restaurant at 56 Third Ave. near East 10th Street, has closed.

Signs up in the window note the impending arrival of Saki, a sushi restaurant "produced by Sushi of Gari."


[Photo via@JaredDaniels]

The Michelin-starred Sushi of Gari from sushi chef Masatoshi Gari Sugio has four other restaurants around the city.

Kotobuki makes the second affordable Japanese option to close along here of late. Menkui-Tei at 63 Cooper Square is now closed for renovations. Word is they will reopen with new management and staff.

Noted

EVG reader Raquel Shapira spotted this handwritten sign on an ATM outside 117 First Ave.

"Dear ATM User:

You money will probably be stolen by someone in South America if you use this ATM."

Make it work: Frank Ape as a crop top on 'Project Runway'

Frank Ape, a familiar wheat-pasted character around the neighbor, is making his cable debut tonight at 9 … on an episode of Lifetime's "Project Runaway."

This info that arrived in our inbox explains:

"On the episode, the remaining designers must make outfits from the contents of provided storage lockers. A rainbow embellished Frank Ape canvas is one of the items found in the storage lockers. The found Frank Ape canvas ultimately becomes a crop top on the runway."

Frank Ape is the creation of artist Brandon Sines.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Planet of the Frank Ape: Q-and-A with artist Brandon Sines

Going Ape on Avenue C

Noted

Long story, but earlier today, we jokingly told EVG regular Pinhead via Twitter that we were going as a cupcake for Halloween.



Haha, blah blah.

The response.

@evgrieve Uh, cupcakes are little 2005, don't you think. I prefer my costumes to be a bit more topical. pic.twitter.com/TblptltpOC

— Pinhead (@evpinhead) October 1, 2014

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[High chair on 7th Street the other morning via Derek Berg]

The Bowery Bar protest sign (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

More about the last resident living at 338 E. Sixth St. (The Post)

The CBGB of David Godlis (Mashable)

The East 11th Street windmill from the 1970s (Gothamist)

Christo and Dora, together again! (Gog in NYC)

History of the Stuyvesant Polyclinic on Second Avenue (Off the Grid)

170 Suffolk primed for development (BoweryBoogie)

Pier 42 park designs coming soon (The Lo-Down)

Revisiting Rocks in Your Head (Flaming Pablum)

Citistrikes? Bike-rental company unionizes (The Post)

...and Blondie's 40th Anniversary Exhibition is now up through Oct. 6 at the Chelsea Hotel...

Out and About in the East Village, Part 2

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: Michael “Mikey” Cole, Pete Rosado
Occupation: Owner and Head Chef, Operations Manager and Sous Chef, Mikey Likes It Ice Cream
Location: 199 Avenue A (Between 12th and 13th)
Time: 1:30 pm on Wednesday, Sept. 17

I had a sneaker store a couple years ago with a kid who caught the Barry Bonds baseball. It was ahead of its time. It was called Soul Food NYC on the west side of Tribeca. It was a sneaker store that looked like a restaurant. People would come in the store and ask what time is lunch being served. So then I started serving food. I’d make cornbread and ice tea and people would come in and grab that during the summer. Then I made candied yams ice cream and people came in and were like, ‘Yo, my man, these sneakers are okay, but this damn ice cream you got right here, you need to put this in pints.’

When the store closed my mom was sick for like a year and I would take care of her every day. I started to realize that I wasn’t living the right life at the time. I used to sell weed as a kid, so I never had a full-time job. I was trying to figure things out. Let me just turn over a new leaf and do something right. So you know what, ice cream it is. My dad was like, ‘Ice cream?’ I was like, ‘Trust me dad, ice cream.’ So my father said, ‘If you really feel like that’s what it is and you promise you’re not going to get locked up, ice cream it is. Let’s do it.’

This was about two summers ago. I got my cart off of selling these buckets of ice creams on 14th and 1st. I’d be just like this with a pair of shorts on, all day. No one’s buying ice cream from a kid standing on the corner. It was crazy but I would not go home until it was gone. Then it came to the point where people would see me at the bus stop or I’d be going somewhere and people would be like, ‘There’s the kid that sells ice cream on 14th Street.’

I was also learning from somebody else at the time. That person owned their own ice cream company downtown and they told me they couldn’t help me anymore. So a friend of mine who owns a bakery in Brooklyn where I get all my stuff from said, ‘You’re going to learn to make ice cream yourself. You’re going to put your own spirit into it.’ He closed his bakery at 9 at night and I would come and watch him bake for like 2-3 hours and I’d make ice cream.

I was actually in a competition for writing business plans. [I won $100,000] but they didn’t give me the earnings. So that set me back. From that day on I got depressed for like two weeks and I ended up going to a training called Landmark Forum and that taught me to break through my fears. I got courage and I was connected to a guy who had a farm upstate through Landmark and he was like, ‘Mikey, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in your ability, people will help make it happen.’ I didn’t understand what the hell he was talking about, but from that day on, I decided to drop everything that I was doing as an extra-curricular activity, and I said I’m going to hone in on this ice cream until it gets somewhere.

Pete and I are buddies, so I called Pete to come to my house and I said, ‘You with me? It’s going to be hard but we’re going to break some barriers.’ So Pete came on board, and I started to teach him how to make ice cream. We’d be at my house for hours filling up the freezer with ice cream until my mom was like, ‘You gotta get that shit out of here.’ I had people coming to the apartment buying ice cream. It was crazy.

But Landmark was telling me to keep fighting no matter what. So when I thought I was getting money from the school I started talking to the landlord about the space here. It was originally a print shop called Milo’s Printing. When it was taking a long time, the landlord said he couldn’t wait any longer. I had some money saved up and I gave it to him to hold the space for two weeks and someone else donated the money to me to get the rent. The guy from the farm came in and gave me $2,000 to paint the place and do what I had to do.

Right now all the ice cream is made right here. Now what I decided was, through the farm we’re going to expand and take it for real. So I have a building on this 32-acre farm — this breathing space it’s called. They’re breathing life into my business. They gave me the building and the whole bottom of this building. We gutted it, we painted it, did everything to it, and now we’re putting a ‘Mikey Likes It’ sign on it. There are two one-bedroom apartments on the top, so I’m able to go up there and make ice cream for three or four days. Now I’m saving up to get a bigger machine.

What makes us different is that we use fresh [ingredients]. As a child we associated mint ice cream with green dye number 5, peppermint extract and chocolate chips. We didn’t want that, so we fresh pressed mint ourselves. Pete cooks as well and Pete having a Puerto Rican background, it gives me something different to land on. It’s good that we have two different palates. Pete tries to control me, he’s like, 'Stop doing that' [trying new flavors]. I’ve got like ADHD. Me, I just want to make everything.

Read Part 1 here.

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

Neighborhood's priciest rental now selling for $9.5 million

We've seen #3C at 38 E. First St. on the rental market on and off through the years. The asking price had been $35,000 monthly back in July, which we believe made it the most expensive rental in the East Village.

Now, the whole unit between First Avenue and Second Avenue can be yours for $9.995 million.

Here's a refresher on the place via Corcoran:

Approx 5000, this loft, once a school house with 16' ceilings, 33 windows across four exposure, immediately commands your attention. Grand entrance gallery leads to the double sized living room, paneled library, and festive dining room, are well served by sun-flooded and well appointed chef's eat-in-kitchen.

Generously-sized walk-in closets and a spa-like marble bath compliment a gracious master bedroom. The second and third bedrooms are equally well proportioned, each with en-suite baths. The thoughtful renovation includes such modern conveniences as central air-conditioning, a kick ass central sound system, and of course, the ever important W/D, and also enjoys a uniquely low maintenance. Your search for a truly magnificent loft located within epicenter of the art world is over.

There's an open house this afternoon. Bring your own music to test out how kick ass that central sound system is.

Hitchcocktober begins at Village East Cinema

All this month, Village East Cinema on Second Avenue and East 12th Street will be screening an Alfred Hitchcock classic on Thursday evenings.

Here's the schedule for Hitchcocktober:

• Oct. 2, "North by Northwest"

• Oct. 9, "Rope"

• Oct. 16 — "Psycho"

• Oct. 23 — "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

• Oct. 30 — "Strangers on a Train"

The films start at 8 p.m. Head to the Village East Cinema website for more info and tickets.

To get you in the mood for Hitchcocktober...

Menkui-Tei has closed for renovations

[Photo from 2012 via Facebook]

The reliable ramen joint at 63 Cooper Square between St. Mark's Place and East Seventh Street is now closed.

A message on Menkui-Tei's Facebook page states the following…



One EVG reader said that the restaurant will still serve Japanese fare upon reopening, but the place will be under new ownership.

Media relations, Lou Reed style

Dangerous Minds uncovered some uncut video footage of a 1975 interview between a cranky Lou Reed and trying-too-hard Australian journalist Stephen MacLean.

The interview does not go well.

LR: Don’t believe what you read.
I: No, I don’t.
LR: Don’t believe what you see.
I: Is it true that you wrote Sally Can’t Dance in the studio?
LR: If I say so, I guess….
I: But did you?
LR: I wasn’t there!
I: You were there.
LR: No I wasn’t. Dougie [Yule] did it.
I: Are you happier as a brunet?
LR: Ahh…. are you happier as a schmuck?
I: I’m no schmuck.
LR: I’m no brunet.

The Os Gêmeos mural returns to view on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

Late this afternoon, the protective covering on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall came down… to re-reveal the mural from 2009 by the twin brothers and street artists from Brazil.

The mural will stay in view for an undetermined amount of time while construction continues at the new two-floor building rising next door here on East Houston.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Houston/Bowery Mural Wall has been boarded up

The mural wall will remain on the Bowery and East Houston

Os Gêmeos: (Almost) day by day

5 years later, Os Gêmeos returning to the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

At the rally for PS 64 Sunday

[Photo by EVG reader Daniel]

On Sunday afternoon, nearly 200 residents along with a handful of elected officials gathered on East Ninth Street to discuss the future of the former PS 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center.

As reported last week, the Department of Buildings has put a stop, for now, to developer Gregg Singer's plans to convert the long-emtpy building between Avenue B and Avenue C into a dorm.

The DOB had approved Singer's application to have tenant Joffrey Ballet considered a not-for-profit with housing accommodations as opposed to a dormitory. However, Joffrey is not a nonprofit, meaning the lease did not meet the DOB's requirements for educational institutions.

Some residents want to see the building returned to community use.

Karen Loew has a rally recap at Off the Grid, the blog of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

Said Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer at the rally: "Every neighborhood needs a strong, vibrant community center. Every neighborhood does not need a dorm. If we don't have the art and culture that this community is known for, we do not have our mental health."

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

'Misinformation' cited as DOB issues Stop Work Order at the former PS 64; community meeting set for Sunday afternoon

Today's morning cloud coverage

[Avenue A and St. Mark's Place]

Thank goodness there's social media for people to know whether it was (or is!) cloudy outside. This morning's clouds were particularly photogenic ... and maybe a little creepy ... or menacing... threatening? Whatever! Probably just a metaphor for life anyway.

And here is a panoramic view via EVG Facebook friend Chris Protopapas...


[Click to enlarge, as they say]

Updated 12:14 p.m.

Apparently these clouds are "Very Cool Nimbo Cumulus, not seen very often," per WABC 7 meteorologist Bill Evans.

Lower Avenue B residents meeting tonight to discuss the Cock

The Cock is looking to move from Second Avenue to 25 Avenue B, in the current home of Idle Hands. This is one of the items on Monday night's CB3/SLA committee meeting.

Ahead of that, residents are meeting with reps from The Cock tonight to discuss what's in store for Avenue B. The following flyers went up yesterday…



According to the Block Association, Allan Mannarelli, a managing member of the one and only Superdive, is an owner of The Cock. He is expected at tonight's meeting.

Some residents fear a return to the bonkerish partygoing along here last seen in 2004-2006... a stretch that Eater dubbed "Hellmouth" back in 2006.

Monday's committee meeting is at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and The Bowery.

Reader mailbag: What's going on with the former Mary Help of Christians property?

An EVG reader asks, "Do you have an update on the Mary Help of Christians property?"



Not really! Developer Douglas Steiner still awaits city approval for his retail-residential complex at the now-empty lot. The city last disapproved plans here in June, according to DOB records.

During the summer of 2013, 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. As for the new 438 E. 12th St., there will be 158 residential units… and maybe a rooftop pool. Some day, probably.

Enjoy the lot. It will soon look like this.

Photos last week by Bobby Williams

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

Construction watch: 67 Avenue C

As previously reported, the two-story Kingdom Hall owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses at 67 Avenue C will soon yield a 7-story, 7-unit residential building.

Work started here between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street earlier this month ...



The city approved permits for 1,843 square feet of commercial space and 7,451 square feet of residential space on Aug. 1. The building will get five new levels, including "a penthouse vertical extension."

As we understand it, the Jehovah's Witnesses will continue to use the adjacent space at 63 and 65 Avenue C.

Korilla BBQ's interior will include an illustration by East Village artist Terry Galmitz

Korilla BBQ made a splash of sorts with the building-high, tiger-striped mural outside its first restaurant coming to 23 Third Ave. at St. Mark's Place.

A news release that crossed our (pretend) desk last week provided some more details on Korilla's interior, which will include an intricate illustration by East Village artist Terry Galmitz.

According to the release, "Korilla will present its street culture within the context of the illustrious history of the East Village. As a new establishment in the area, Korilla pays homage to the past, while embracing the present, and aiming to shape their surrounding landscape in a positive direction in the future."

Galmitz, 67, has lived in the East Village his entire life. And we've always really liked his work.


[Illustration by Terry Galmitz]

Korilla BBQ is expected to open in early October.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Terry Galmitz's East Village

Chop Chop Yow: CityMd signage arrives at The Jefferson

We pointed out a few weeks ago that The Jefferson's retail space at 216 E. 14th St. near Third Avenue would be home to a CityMD practice.

Anyway, just wanted to point out that the sign is up now for City MD ... "Chop Chop Yow?"

Rejected headlines:
Doctor, doctor, give me the news — I have a bad case of blogging you

Previously on EV Grieve:
Jefferson retail façade — revealed

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

CityMD Urgent Care center coming to The Jefferson's retail space on East 14th Street

Bricks and glass for the incoming Cooper Square dorm

Just noting the progress at 200 E. Sixth St., the 13-floor building that will one day house students from Marymount Manhattan College.



Look, bricks! Glass!





Meanwhile, the retail space here is for lease.

Previously on EV Grieve:
City OKs 13-floor dorm for Cooper Square

Updated: Here's what the newest East Village dorm will look like

Dig bottoms out on Cooper Square; here comes the dorm, here comes the dorm!

The Bowery Mission is short on donations

Per Lisha Arino at DNAinfo today:

The Bowery Mission’s food pantry is in “urgent need” of donations, as its food supply has dwindled and demand for meals has increased, officials said.

Entire shelves at the 227 Bowery soup kitchen are completely bare and essential items like pasta, canned goods and condiments are in short supply, according to Assistant Director Matt Krivich.

People can donate pasta, rice, condiments, pasta sauce, canned vegetables, beans and other food items at the Bowery Mission, 227 Bowery, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They also need clothing. Find more info here.

The truth is out there

EVG reader Brian Polay spotted yet another variation of the guy-looking-for-a-girlfriend flyer... this one featuring FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner from "The X-Files" looking for a Dana Scully. Must love science too?

These particular flyers were spotted on East Ninth Street and Second Avenue. Actually on the street.

No, 'NYC's first bar for pregnant women' isn't opening on Avenue A

As we first noted on Thursday, signage appeared for Gestations — "NYC's first bar for pregnant women" — on the long vacant corner of Avenue A and East Fifth Street.

Seemed pretty evident that it was some kind of gag (despite the appearance of an authentic State Liquor Authority notice) complete with a Facebook and Twitter account and outgoing phone message.

The sign attracted some attention in the media…



The Post even assigned three reporters to the story…



Per the Post:

The business hasn’t applied for a liquor license or other permits for the space, said Community Board 3 leader Susan Stetzer.
“They’re saying it’s a bar, but they haven’t applied for a liquor license.

At this point it’s nothing … Maybe it’s going to be a milk bar or a juice bar,” she said.

The fake bar also attracted attention in Times Square …


[Via Facebook]

The broker for the storefront told us on Friday that the building's landlord rented the space for the sign for a month. (It's for a bar-finding app called Bartendr.) So you have about three and a half more weeks left to be amused, shocked, annoyed, disgusted, whatever, etc.

East Village Pharmacy moved from here to 41 Avenue A in early 2011.

The storefront has remained empty since then…


[Photo from Wednesday]

According to another store owner on the block, a veterinary's office will open here.

Updated: Restaurant in the works for Top A Nails storefront on Avenue A

[Image via Goggle Street View]

As we mentioned last week, CB3 has released the SLA licensing committee docket for October.

One mystery item on the agenda (to be heard Oct. 6) is a new liquor license for 137 Avenue A — currently home to Top A Nails between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

So far, there aren't many details on the CB3 website about the applicant. The application (PDF!) notes that a restaurant with a full liquor license is in the works. There isn't any mention of the names behind the project. Attorney Ravi Ivan Sharma reps the applicant. (Sharma worked for Pride and Joy BBQ as they tried to open a restaurant in the former Lucky Cheng's space on First Avenue.)

This might prove to be a challenge for the applicant — a full liquor license within a so-called saturated area in a space that previously didn't house a bar-restaurant.

At this point, we're not sure what the deal is with Top A Nails. Based on the number of people we see waiting for manicures and pedicures, this place seems to do brisk business.

Updated 10:58 a.m.

It appears that there might be a mistake on the application with the address. The folks at the salon say they aren't moving. The application might then be for No. 135 — home now to Lucy's. Ugh.

Updated 4:56 p.m.

We're still waiting for clarification on this... the CB3 schedule shows 137 Avenue A ... the application on file at the CB3 website mentions 137 Avenue A on Page 1 ... and 137 Avenue C on Page 2... the owner listed is the same as 137 Avenue C's owner... so, this appears to be a mistake. The application is very likely for 137 Avenue C then — the former home of the Sunburnt Cow...



Updated 5:08 p.m.

There was a mistake on the application — it's for 137 Avenue C, not 137 Avenue A as posted at the CB3 website. Sorry for any moments of panic.

Full reveal at the all-new 200 E. 11th St.

The exterior work appears to be complete at 200 E. 11th St., home of the rebranded Eleventh and Third. The 12-floor building went through a top-to-bottom renovation, emerging looking less like a 1970s-era dorm …





Oh, and here is a photo from Saturday after workers removed the sidewalk bridge… (the other photos are from Friday) …



Benchmark Real Estate Group paid $57 million for the building late last year.

The building on East 11th Street and Third Avenue now includes a gym, yoga studio, rooftop terrace and lobby with espresso machines. Apparently people have been indulging — Streeteasy shows five active listings, with an average price of $4,887.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Someone actually paid $57 million for this East Village building

Reimagining this 12-story East Village building, now on the market

NY Copy & Printing forced out of longtime E. 11th St. home, opening second location on E. 7th St.

Eleventh and Third indulges in some nonsensical branding

Rebranded 'Eleventh and Third' will have rentals upwards of $10k

Retail space housing The Smith and M2M asking $25.5 million on 3rd Avenue

Urban Etiquette Sign, sidewalk chalk edition

Spotted this message outside an apartment building on East Second Street between Avenue B and Avenue C...

Kamakura Coffee Shop has closed on East 5th Street

We were really sorry to see that the little coffee shop here just west of Avenue B closed last week. It was a nice, unpretentious spot with good coffee and (mostly) vegan baked goods.

The shop was named for Tom the owner's hometown in Japan. He opened up here last Sept. 30.

Au Breve Espresso remains closed for renovations

On the topic of closed coffee shops… Au Breve Espresso closed back in early August… the sign on the door pointed to a renovation.

Meanwhile, a look inside reveals an empty space… making it appear that this is more of a "closed for renovation" ...





Au Breve's website is no longer active. Au Breve opened in November 2011.

A Davey Drill and a dream

Last Thursday, we noted the arrival of a Davey Drill outside the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch on East 14th Street.

As the above photo shows, the drill is now across the street … doing a little soil sampling in a new spot.

EVG reader stickmanpk, who took the photo, offered some wishful L train thinking.

"Could they actually be thinking about adding a second entrance for the subway at Avenue A in anticipation of the 2,000 new residents we’ll see with the coming developments? Hey, you’ve gotta have a dream…"

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

First sign of more development on East 14th Street?

Asbestos abatement to begin at former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office

New 7-floor buildings for East 14th Street include 150 residential units

Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail