Turntable Retro Bar & Restaurant ready to play on 4th and B

[EVG photo from March 12]

On Saturday, EVG regular Salim noted that workers removed the plentiful plywood surrounding the under-renovation storefront at the northwest corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street … to reveal the new tenant at 58 Avenue B …



It's another Manhattan location of Turntable Retro Bar & Restaurant, a sibling of the Flushing-based Mad For Chicken operation.

Here's a little on the Koreatown location of Turntable via New York magazine:

Presentation is key: Tables come with little metal buckets for chicken bones, mojitos and margaritas are garnished with appetizing fresh fruit, the traditional Korean soju (which you can get in a variety of fruity flavors) comes in a special ice-filled bowl, and is bedecked with flowers and umbrella-speared garnishes. But, best of all is the beer dispenser for Killians – it bubbles and gurgles with different colors and allegedly keeps your beer from getting warm and flat.

And?

In short, this place is perfect for drunk people looking to lounge and eat Korean fried chicken.

Well, they do have pitchers of Jager bombs on the menu. (In case you were wondering, this item was on the November 2014 CB3/SLA docket, but it was not heard during the committee meeting for whatever reasons.)

The New Yorker recently had nice things to say about Turntable's fried chicken here.

The previous tenant at this address, Vella Market, lasted just six months here, closing in October 2013.

The 16-year-old vegetarian restaurant Kate's Joint closed here in April 2012.

Avenue A wants its sidewalk back

The New York Sports Club opened at 28 Avenue A back in early March... and the space outside here between East Second Street and East Third Street ...



... remains a work in progress... drawing the ire of at least one person (or more) asking for the release of the sidewalk...



H/T to @fnytv for alerting us to the signs on Saturday.

There goes the Mecca of Hair

Workers have gutted the former Lugo Hair Center at 209 First Ave. between East 12th Street and East 13th Street…



Not sure exactly when they closed (with that cinderblock storefront, they never looked all that open).

But the place had fans. The Village Voice named them "Best Place to Get Hair Extensions" in 2013, noting: "The East Village's Lugo's Hair Center, which specializes in extensions and wigs, provides beautiful … manes made specifically for you. The process is long and taxing, but well worth it (they don't call themselves the 'mecca of hair' for nothing)."

The business, which apparently opened in 1976, still has a Brooklyn outpost.

The Bar Akuda sign arrives on 1st Avenue

Oh, Bar Akuda (sung to the tune of Heart's "Barricuda").

The sports bar-restaurant at 16 First Ave. between East First Street and East Second Street is looking closer to opening.

Bar Akuda is the latest from the owners of Murray Hill's Mercury Bar and Tonic East, among others. No word yet on an opening date for the space, which will serve lunch, brunch and dinner.

The address was previously home to Sutra Lounge.

Week in Grieview

[Photo on 2nd Avenue and East 5th Street via Derek Berg]

RIP Patrick Salt Ryan (Friday)

Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31 on Avenue A (Wednesday)

Omakase-style restaurant in the works for former Lan Cafe on East Sixth Street (Friday)

A visit to St. Mark's Comics (Friday)

Tiengarden closes after 20 years on Allen Street (Monday)

Out and About with Philip Van Aver (Wednesday)

The Sunshine Cinema is on the market (Friday)

"Tompkins Square Park," now a breakup song by Mumford & Sons (Monday)

Check out the new mural of MCA on East Seventh Street (Tuesday)

Virginia's opens on East 11th Street (Monday)

Spotting the sorta elusive night heron in Tompkins Square Park (Wednesday)

Sidewalk bridge arrives at 515 E. 5th St., site of Ben Shaoul's illegal penthouse conversion (Tuesday)

Common Ground has closed on Avenue A (Monday)

Modern American in the works for former Back Forty space on Avenue B (Thursday)

Christo and Dora are parents! (Again!) (Wednesday)

When someone parks a motorcycle in your hallway (Wednesday)

Rumor: Vegetarian sandwich shop in the works for former Dirt Candy space (Tuesday)

The Quad Cinema has closed for renovations (Monday)

Veggie friendly Avant Garden in the works for former Gingersnap's space (Tuesday)

Fourth Street Central has closed (Monday)

A 4-building parcel on East Sixth Street has been sold (Thursday)

Report: Retail announcements likely coming this summer for the IBM Watson building

[EVG file photo]

While the office component of 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/the Death Star is now fully operational leased, the retail spaces have remained empty for nearly two years. (Well, there is the showroom for Ian Shrager's incoming hotel-condo tower at 215 Chrystie, but that's just temporary. The showroom/sales office, not 215 Chrystie.)

The Real Deal explored some of the reasons why in an article this past week.

Such as!

Listing broker Patrick Smith of SRS Real Estate Partners said that the angular building presented a “bit of a puzzle” in terms of space configuration and said that Astor Place represents an “emerging retail corridor” that is forced to fill the gap between more popular retail destinations such as Union Square and Soho.

But! According to the article, expect to see some activity in this emerging 51 Astor retail corridor soon.

Three of the five retail spaces currently have leases out and they are in active pursuit on the other two — seeking a specialty fitness and a food tenant that sells prepared meals, according to Smith. [Developer Edward] Minskoff claims that Smith’s assessment of the leasing situation is modest, and that they are in fact finalizing leases for 100 percent of the retail space, to be announced within 30 to 40 days.

Previously on EV Grieve:
3 retail spaces available at 51 Astor Place (22 comments)

You can finally shop at 51 Astor Place!

The 6th & B Garden plant and bake sale continues today

Day 2 of the garden's annual plant and bake sale continues today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. ... on the southwest corner of Avenue B and East Sixth Street...

As a garden rep told us, "It's our main fundraiser for the season and allows us to put on hundreds of free events throughout the season for the community."

The Cake Shop is celebrating their 10th anniversary on Ludlow; with plans for more years ahead

[Image via the Cake Shop website]

The Cake Shop turned 10 this month... to celebrate, the cafe/live music venue at 152 Ludlow St. between Stanton and Rivington celebrates with what co-owners Nick and Andy Bodor are calling a "house show"-themed lineup of shows, featuring the return of some favorite Cake Shop bands. (Find the schedule here.)

It hasn't always been easy here, with some financial troubles, which they were able to overcome with a crowdfunding campaign in 2012.

In an anniversary feature yesterday at DNAinfo, Lisha Arino reported that the Cake Shop's most recent call for investors in January yielded one unnamed person, who "stepped in and helped Cake Shop to pay back its debts and negotiate a new lease with their landlord, which they hope to sign next month."

Meanwhile, as for the anniversary ...

“We’re just really appreciative to the people who have walked in the door in the last 10 years. Every time somebody compliments us it’s such a rewarding thing,” Nick Bodor said. “It means a lot to us.”

Minding the 'STOP No Roof Access' sign

Spotted on East 11th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue… propped against a tree … and later discarded on the sidewalk…



H/T Shawn Chittle

At the Tompkins Square Park dog run today

Via the EVG inbox...

Today around noon, this guy came into the Tompkins Square Park dog run without a dog. Rather oddly dressed for the neighborhood. He went around talking loudly to dogs and owners alike with a dubious sounding speech impediment. “HEY, WHAT KINDA DOG IS THAT?!?!?” “HEY BUDDY, WHERE’S YOUR BALL!?!?!? WHERE’S YOUR BA-A-A-ALL!?!?!?” blah blah blah.

Harmless enough for sure, until we noticed 2 men with video cameras hidden behind bushes and trees on opposite sides of the run, both shooting him and the people he was interacting with. A few regulars informed him that he wasn’t allowed in the run without a dog and when the cameras were pointed out, they quietly stopped filming and turned away.

I asked one of them why they were filming and he replied "just for some YouTube stuff."

Creepy and annoying.

Ride on

From 1990-1991, it's Ride with "Vapour Trail."

The shoegazing Brits will be at Irving Plaza Sept. 21-22 during their 2015 reunion tour. Tickets went on sale today.

Report: The Sunshine Cinema being shopped as a development site

[Image via Facebook]

The Real Deal has the scoop this morning that the theater on East Houston between Eldridge and Forsythe has quietly been put on the market. Per The Real Deal:

For more than a decade, art-house movie buffs and devotees of late-night cult flicks have lined up outside the theater’s home at 139-143 East Houston Street. The property is now being quietly marketed to developers with an asking price north of $35 million, according to sources.

And...

The cinema has a triple-net lease that runs through 2018, for which it pays an annual rent of about $200,000.

To help offset expenses, ownership sought a full liquor license in 2012. However, CB3 wasn't having it, and would only approve a license for beer and wine.

Read more about the liquor license application in 2012 at The Lo-Down.

2nd Avenue Street Fair is tomorrow

The first of 1,876 area street festivals is tomorrow … on Second Avenue, from East 14th Street down to East Sixth Street (or, from East Sixth Street up to East 14th Street).

You'll likely find the usual packages of tube socks and paper plates with funnel cakes … host the Middle Collegiate Church will also be holding several activities during the Street Fair, including:

At 12:30 pm, the Middle Church Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir will perform. At 1:30 pm, our Village Chorus for Children and Youth will perform. There will also be "East Village Strong" and "Love.Period." T-shirts for sale to benefit East Village recovery.

EV Grieve Etc.: Preserving 190 Bowery; demolishing 136-140 Bowery

[Photo on East 4th Street by Derek Berg]

Mayor de Blasio’s plan for more affordable housing (The New York Times)

The Landmarks Preservation Commission likes the graffiti at 190 Bowery (Curbed)

Demo permits filed for 136-140 Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

East Village explosion victims eligible for low-interest loans (NY1)

More hawklet action (Gog in NYC)

No one apparently wants to rent the LES apartment with the shower in the kitchen (The New Yorker)

Fewer rats in NYC possible? (Runnin' Scared)

Q-&-A with Lydia Lunch (HuffPost), the subject of a new exhibit on East First Street (Howl! Happening)

More thoughts on "Tompkins Square Park" — the song (Flaming Pablum, previously)

144-150 Ludlow St. owners double their money in two years (The Lo-Down)

Is this is the best punk band in the United States? (Dangerous Minds)

Lower East Side History Month continues… find all the events here.

...and the 21st Annual Children's Workshop School Arts and Science Fair is tomorrow at the school on East 12th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C ...there will be glop...



... and there's an interesting series at the Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue and East Second Street this weekend titled Rain the Color of Blue With a Little Red in It, which includes screenings of "The Harder They Come," two Jean Rouch films, "Moi, Un Noir" and "Jaguar," and "Purple Rain" ...



Find screening times here.

… and click on the image below from Michael Sean Edwards for some Tompkins Square Park cycling action…

RIP Patrick Salt Ryan

[Photo via Facebook]

We were very sorry to hear that East Village resident Patrick Salt Ryan died suddenly on April 22. He was 45.

Ryan, a singer-songwriter, also tended bar at Fontana's down on Eldridge Street. He and his wife, Jessica Perez-Ryan, lived on Avenue A and East Ninth Street.

In September 2013, word circulated in Tompkins Square Park that someone had apparently stolen Giuseppi Logan's saxophone. Upon hearing this, Ryan gave Giuseppi a tenor sax that someone had left behind at the bar several years earlier.

There's a Patrick Salt Ryan Memorial Show next Friday at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn… all proceeds at the door will go to help out Jessica.

A visit to St. Mark's Comics

Text and photos by EVG contributor Stacie Joy

St. Mark’s Comics has been in its current building, 11 St. Mark’s Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, for more than 30 years. For the first few years, it was up a small flight of stairs, later on and in its current spot, on the ground floor, down a few steps.

The shop is a go-to location for old and new comics from small and large (as well as self) publishers. Owner Mitch Cutler says the shop carries a full breadth of products, not just comics. You can find all kinds of things at the shop, and indeed, as I walked deeper into the narrow space I found rooms upon rooms of toys, collectibles, tees, cards, comics, books, graphic novels, and comic-related merchandise.











Floor to ceiling, the shop is crammed with nifty stuff. During the time I visited, Louis, a second-generation St. Mark's Comics shopper (with intentions of creating a third!), was particularly enthused to find the new Harley Quinn. Shaun dropped by for a Jack Burton vinyl action figure.

As I was leaving, Cutler said that he was humbled by the fact that people continue to support the store, a long-standing small business in a place where small-business owners are getting priced out.

Omakase-style restaurant in the works for former Lan Cafe on East 6th Street

The Lan Cafe space apparently won't be sitting vacant for too long.

The Vietnamese vegan restaurant at 342 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue closed for good after service on April 29. The family who ran the place these past nine years said that high rents were to blame for the closure.

According to materials on file (PDF!) at the CB3 website ahead of this month's SLA committee meeting, an omakase-style restaurant is in the works from one of the owners of Kura, the upscale sushi bar at 130 St. Mark's Place.

The configuration for the new space shows 9 tables seating 18 people, plus eight counter stools. The proposed hours are noon to midnight, Sunday-Thursday; until 2 a.m. on Friday-Saturday. The applicants are seeking a full liquor license. (Lan Cafe did not have a liquor license.)

The SLA committee meeting is May 18 at the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Noted

[Photo by @edenbrower]

Somewhere on East Fifth Street…

@evgrieve How can I go indoors when there is a fucking turtle outside my window.

— EdenBrower (@edenbrower) May 7, 2015

About last night

A reader-submitted Urban Etiquette Sign spotted along Avenue A...

A 4-building parcel on East 6th Street has been sold

[320-326 E. 6th St.]

An EVG reader who lives in one of the four buildings that make up 320-326 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue shared the following with us…

I arrived home from work to find the attached letter stuffed into my apartment door.... my building plus three others have been sold to 320-326 Ro Village Realty. Our buildings were previously owned by AAG Mgmt. This Ro Village Realty LLC is brand new as of January and I can't find any more details about them or about how much the buildings went for or what they plan to do with it.

Considering what is going on in the neighborhood with companies like Icon, this makes me incredibly nervous.

The sale hasn't hit public records yet… and we're not familiar with 320-326 Ro Village Realty either… and their offices at 209 E. 14th St. don't match up to any of the usual suspects…

Modern American in the works for former Back Forty space on Avenue B

[EVG file photo]

A few more details have emerged about what's next for the former Back Forty space on Avenue B near East 12th Street.

According to materials on file (PDF!) at the CB3 website ahead of this month's SLA committee meeting, the address will house a still-unnamed restaurant serving "modern American" cuisine.

One of the applicants is Roxanne Spruance, who is also planning a new restaurant in Nolita called Kingsley. (According to her bio, she won "Chopped" on the Food Network in February 2013.)

The application shows 16-20 tables seating 48-52 people. The proposed hours are 11 a.m. to midnight Monday-Thursday; until 2 a.m. Friday-Saturday; and midnight on Sunday.

There are also plans to use the small garden area for dining similar to Back Forty.

Back Forty closed for good after service this past Dec. 21.

The SLA committee meeting is May 18 at the CB3 office (BYOB), 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Out with the former Yaffa backyard dining area, in with a new garden

Workers yesterday began demolishing the backyard dining area that previously belonged to Yaffa Cafe at 97 St. Mark's Place.

The owners of St. Dymphna's down the block are opening a Portuguese restaurant called Taberna here between Avenue A and First Avenue.

As previously reported, the new owners will be turning the back space into a garden…





Co-owner Eric Baker told DNAinfo in March that "windows will be built into the back of the restaurant so customers can look at the landscaped area."

Last fall, the DOB issued a partial vacate order on the backyard space because it didn't have the proper fire exits and because it was zoned for residential use … Yaffa Cafe later decided to close for good after 32 years in the location.

Thanks to the EVG reader for the photos!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Yaffa Cafe is officially gone; back garden dismantled

More about Yaffa Cafe closing

St. Dymphna's owners look to take over the former Yaffa Cafe space on St. Mark's Place

More about Taberna, the Portuguese restaurant opening in the former Yaffa Cafe space

Ben Shaoul's East Luxe is all sold out

[EVG file photo of the FRONT of the building]

A news release about Ben Shaoul's new 20-unit rental building at 31-33 Second Ave. between East First Street and East Second Street via the EVG inbox…

Platinum Properties, a New York-based full-service brokerage firm has announced today that it has now rented 100% of The East Luxe, a 20-unit East Village boutique rental building at 31-33 Second Avenue, in just 16 weeks on the market.

To note: Platinum Properties rented 11 of the 17 originally available units directly and six via co-broking with outside agents. It took approximately three months—most of which were rented during the winter, a traditionally slow time — to completely rent out the two and three-bedroom units and one month to rent out the four bedroom apartments.

“In the East Village/Bowery area there is a lack of new construction or rehab projects of this nature. Just having an elevator building with extremely highend finishes in such a central location has made the building a stand out,” says Khashy Eyn, CEO, Platinum Properties.

As previously noted, a Petco is taking the building's retail space.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ben Shaoul planning a 3-story addition at 31-33 Second Ave.

Bracing for 3 new floors at 31-33 Second Ave.

Checking in on the work in progress at 31-33 2nd Ave., where Ben Shaoul is adding 3 new floors

Ben Shaoul's bland new 2nd Avenue building is called The East Luxe

More about The East Luxe, Ben Shaoul's new 20-unit rental on 2nd Avenue

The night heron apparently comes out at night in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo last night by Guillermo Zubillaga]

For at least the past year there have been occasional sightings of a rather odd-looking bird (so to speak) lurking about the Park in the evening hours… now we've had two reader sightings these past few nights…

Any bird lovers experts in the house know what we're looking at here in the photos? Some kind of night heron????


[Photo from Monday night by Bayou]

Word is the bird stays in the abandoned Christodora House pool during the day.

Updated 5/7

EVG regular Grant Shaffer also spotted this elusive nighttime, uh, night bird last summer...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Rare bird

Reader report: Gunshots on Avenue D late last night; NYPD patrol tower today

[Photo via an EVG reader]

Several readers reported hearing gunshots last night …

Said one this morning: "Woke up to 5 loud gun shots last night outside my apartment on Ave D and 8th Street. Then a police siren about 5 minutes later."

Per another resident later today:

"Altercation around midnight on D between 8th Street and 9th Street among young males escalated and one party came back and fired shots. No one hit. Car on D took some shots and [the former] Joselito's took one in the window. Multiple 911 calls placed last night and half a dozen detectives plus a new surveillance tower van out there now."

Still life, with carbs

Early this evening on Avenue A via Michael Sean Edwards

1 way to respond when someone parks a motorcycle in the hallway

A reader shared this from a building on Avenue A.

And here's how a neighbor responded to this choice of parking spots with a straightforward, two-word Urban Etiquette Sign...

Free tomorrow night: A 30-year East Village photo tour with Daniel Root

[Images from 10th and B by Daniel Root]

From the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation ...as part of Lower East Side History Month...

In 1984, Dan Root took some photographs for a book that a friend of a friend was going to write about the changing East Village. For a couple of months he took pictures, when time and money allowed, of this changing neighborhood. The book was never written (of course?) and the photographs were put away.

Last year Dan revisited those locations and photographed them again. Most were vastly different than they were 30 years ago. He embarked upon a project of framing the original photos and placing them at these sites. Residents and visitors were able to see how much the East Village has changed, and a Tumbler page brought international attention to this photographic documentation.

East Village: 1984 and 2014
A photo journey with Daniel Root

Thursday, May 7
6:30 – 8:00 P.M.
Free; reservations required
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street, between Avenue B and Avenue C
[This venue is wheelchair accessible.]

To register, please call (212) 475-9585 ext. 35 or email.

Check out our post from last August on Root's photos here.

Just 5-plus months until Halloween

Today in Tompkins Square Park... photo by Derek Berg

Out and About in the East Village

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



By James Maher

Name: Philip Van Aver
Occupation: Artist
Location: 6th Street and Avenue B Community Garden
Time: 3 pm on Saturday, May 2

I first came to this neighborhood in 1966. I’m originally from Bellingham, Washington. I had been living in West Hollywood and I had an opportunity to come to New York for the summer in 1966 and I ended up staying.

I started coming to this neighborhood regularly, I think it was about 1968, and there was a bar called the Old Reliable. It was located on 3rd Street between B and C and it had plays in the back. It wasn’t strictly speaking a gay bar but a lot of gay people went there. I started going there and I met a lot of great people. Eventually one of my friends decided that he wanted to go to San Francisco and so he said, ‘Would you like to take over my apartment and keep my belongings for me?’ So that’s how I moved to East 6th Street. I moved in there February of 1969 and I’ve been living there ever since.

I was 29 years old and I was kind of ready to settle down. At the time, I was working at an art gallery where the IBM building now is on 57th Street. I wanted to live in a neighborhood, which wasn’t going to, as they say now, gentrify any time soon.

I started doing freelance illustration around 1970. I’ve had jobs and employment and freelance work, but I have been active as an artist in New York for many years. I do small works on paper. I work in a consistent style that’s hard for me to describe but it’s something that has sustained me all these years.

And I’ve been lucky to have a rent-regulated apartment. Those of us who stayed in our apartments were fortunate to make that decision. It could have been the wrong decision. Many of my friends going back to the 1970s and those who are still alive were able to sustain themselves and either have a small business or to be the artist because they had this stable housing situation. Rent-regulation is generally bashed by people but it is a good program. It’s a kind of a partnership with the tenant, the landlord and the city. All three of these entities have to work together to sustain this program.

What happened to this neighborhood, very, very suddenly in the early 1970s, was that it started to deteriorate. Places like the Old Reliable closed. This happened almost like somebody had flipped off a switch. There was a suddenness about it, but I stayed on. There were a lot of people leaving New York then. Most of my college friends left in the 1970s and went back to California.

I became politically active in the 1970s. There was a sense in the 1970s that nobody was really paying much attention positively to this part of the Lower East Side. I tend to avoid the term East Village. I’m the last of the dinosaurs. In 1975, it was the Abraham Beame administration and the New York Public Library wanted to close 18 branch libraries throughout the system. One of the ones they wanted to close was on 2nd Avenue, the Ottendorfer Library.

That was the beginning of it for me, because I signed a sheet – ‘Would you be willing to volunteer?’ I think I worked with them for seven years and we formed something called the Interbranch Library Association. We had meetings downtown with Deputy Mayor Zuccotti. Our neighborhood was politically savvy. The people whom I met, they weren’t like established leftists or anything like that; they didn’t have party affiliations, but they knew how to get things done.

I also worked with other groups like the Third Avenue Tenants Association, which was opposed to the zoning on 3rd Avenue. I eventually became a member of the executive committee of an organization called the Lower East Side Joint Planning Council, which was an umbrella organization for 36 independent groups. I was involved in the Friends of Tompkins Square Park, which succeeded in defeating the plan to create a policeable park in that area. So in addition to my personal life and my professional life, I was very involved in these activities.

I have been very lucky to have lived on the Lower East Side — the friendships, the atmosphere. I had a chance to be politically active, which probably wouldn’t haven’t happened if I had lived somewhere else, considering my politics and my point of view. I always found myself in sympathy with somebody. This neighborhood, as far as I’m concerned, there has been quite a lot of continuity. Of course people die, people move away, but I still have friends that go back to the 1970s. This neighborhood has a history of progressive politics and what that means, changes.

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

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

Staff has been telling patrons that Cafe Pick Me Up will close for good at the end of this month.

The 20-year-old cafe on Avenue A at East Ninth Street has been rumored to be closing now for months. However, in March, DNAinfo reported that the owners would vacate the corner space and move into its smaller storefront they use for a dining room next door. However, as we're told, that's no longer happening.

Cafe manager Rossella Palazzo told DNAinfo in March that a rent hike from landlord Icon Realty is the reason for the closure.

“I don’t know who can afford that much rent,” she said, declining to say how much the landlord charged. “I know it’s a nice location on the corner but it’s way too much for what they’re asking.”

Icon is currently listing the storefront… asking $15,000 a month for the space, which includes 600 square feet on the ground floor and 724 square feet in the basement.



One tipster told us that the staff wanted to buy the space from the cafe's owners, though that never materialized.

Icon Realty bought the building at 145 Avenue A for $10.1 million in April 2014, according to public records.

Updated 9:23 p.m.

Earlier today, Gothamist heard from a Cafe Pick Me Up assistant manager that:

… the cafe will live on in some form down the street at Gnocco, an Italian eatery [on East 10th Street near Avenue B] owned by the same people. "We're moving June 3rd," Kristen told us. "We're still going to have our breakfast and some of our staff moved. They're usually just doing dinner, but now we're going to be serving breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner, cocktails. We're going to expand a little as well."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)