The moon at the moment

The view tonight from the East Village via Grant Shaffer

Chairman of the Bored

Hey, it's Iggy Pop from 1979 with "I'm Bored."

At the Village East Cinema

[EVG photo from last week]

I've been meaning to write something about the historic theater — my favorite in the neighborhood — on Second Avenue at East 12th Street.

Oh, for starters, something that I was unaware of: Screenings before noon every day are $8, $6 off the usual price. (They also have $1 films for kids and parents in the mornings. "The Wizard of Oz" was playing this week.)

Anyway, that great analog marquee has been carrying the "historic auditorium reopens" message for weeks now. But most of the movies I see here, though, tend to be in the small theaters on the lower level.

I finally sucked it up to see whatever might be playing in the big room upstairs. So, the other morning, I was one of the four people who paid his or her $8 to see — eep! — "Terminator: Genysis" in the historic auditorium…







The renovated auditorium reopened on May 22. Here's more about the refurbishment via the Evergreene Architectural Arts website:

Built in 1925 as the Yiddish Art Theatre, the City Cinema Village East is one of a handful of Moorish Revival-style buildings in New York City. Intended to house Maurice Schwartz’s Theatre Company, the property ultimately becoming a multiplex in 1992.

In early 2015, EverGreene conservators conducted a historic finishes investigation, analyzing and documenting the condition of the ornamental plaster ceiling. Craftsmen removed 75 large plaster elements from the ceiling from which they cast new ornament in our New York City studio. The design decision was made to stabilize the extant ornament and craft and decoratively finish new ornament to be compatible not to restore the ceiling. This lends a “conservation” aesthetic to the Village East Cinema.

Using both traditional and mechanical methods, craftsmen installed new plaster elements into the ceiling and consolidated extant ornament to reinforce the support structure. Decorative artists removed and cleaned flaking paint from the ceiling and inpainted the newly-installed ornament to match the existing palette, seamlessly integrating new with old.

Here's a shot of the restored ceiling via the Evergreene website (they have more photos here).



You can read more about the theater's history at Vanishing New York.

And now you do you want to discuss "Terminator: Genysis"?

How does rent in the East Village stack up against other neighborhoods?

[Click to go big]

The folks at real-estate startup Zumper released a report on the most and least affordable neighborhoods to rent in (specifically one-bedroom apartments)...

In the infographic above, you can see how the East Village stacks up vs. other neighborhoods. For rents lower than the East Village's $2,725 in Manhattan, you could go south to the Lower East Side ($2,550) or head up to Central Harlem and West Harlem, both with a median of $2,100 for a one bedroom, and Washington Heights at $1,750.

Meanwhile, Zumper provided data on how the East Village rates against the city as a whole...

The new lights on the Con Ed substation

Several residents who live on East Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B have told us about a group of people — anywhere from three to 12 at times – who have been sleeping on the sidewalk along the Con Ed substation this summer… according to residents, they pack up and leave early in the mornings.

One resident said that they have worn out their welcome, though declining to go into details on what this meant exactly. (The reader did say the EMTs have had to pay several visits in the morning.)

So perhaps this is why workers earlier this week installed new lighting on the substation (new lights actually went in all around the structure on A and East Sixth Street)…





There are three new lights in total (only two in the reader-submitted photo below) on the East Fifth Street side …



However, as of Thursday night, only one of the three lights seemed to work on East Fifth Street …



If the lights were put up to deter anyone from sleeping here, then they didn't work. Several people still spent the night under the new light in the middle the past few evenings.

The B-Movie King at the Anthology Film Archives this weekend

B-movie titan Roger Corman will be appearing tonight and tomorrow at the Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue to introduce a few of his classics — "X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes," "A Bucket of Blood" and "The Tomb of Ligeia."

The Wall Street Journal had an interview with the 89-year-old Corman yesterday. You can read that here. An excerpt as way of an introduction:

Among the 400-plus movies Roger Corman has produced or directed, there are titles more memorable than the films, such as “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and “Teenage Cave Man.”

But there also are early efforts from a string of famous directors and actors whose careers he helped to launch. They include Francis Ford Coppola (“Dementia 13”), Martin Scorsese (“Boxcar Bertha”), Peter Bogdanovich (“Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women”) and Jack Nicholson, whom Mr. Corman first met in a method-acting class.

Mr. Corman ... could have single-handedly invented drive-in movies in the 1950s, when a postwar eruption of teenage culture created a new audience for entertainment at its most sensational. The B-movie impresario kept apace with the times, however, tapping into social trends—and wildly profitable and influential movie concepts—for a career that spans seven decades.

The Anthology is on Second Avenue at East Second Street. Find out more about the screenings here.

And to get you in the mood…

Take a photo vacation in 1980 New York City

[Houston and 2nd Avenue from April 1980 by Ed Sijmons]

Earlier this month, a reader sent me a 1980 NYC photo essay from the Tribeca Citizen.

Here's the premise. In the spring of 1980, Ed Sijmons and LouiseLH of Amsterdam visited New York City and took hundreds of photos ... and Sijmons recently posted them on Flickr... and passed the links on to the Citizen.

While the above photo of East Houston and the Bowery is the closest they came to the East Village, there are plentiful shots from all over the city, from the Lower East Side, Chinatown, the Financial District, Midtown... even some in Coney Island.

If you have some time to browse, then you can head over to Sijmons’s Flickr page. Look for the albums marked "NYC 1980 part1" (as well as parts 2, 3, and 4).

Vinyl reissues for Liquid Liquid

Thanks to BoingBoing, we learned that the influential Downtown NYC post-punk dance band Liquid Liquid is getting the re-release treatment this week via the Superior Viaduct label.

Here's more from Superior Viaduct:

Liquid Liquid emerged from New York City's vibrant Downtown scene in 1981. Their three EPs, all originally released on the legendary 99 Records, would heavily influence dance-oriented indie rock of the early aughts (LCD Soundsystem, DFA Records, et al.)

Superior Viaduct is honored to present these first-time vinyl reissues of Liquid Liquid's classic records (self-titled, Successive Reflexes, and Optimo) in their original 12-inch format as well as an archival LP of rare recordings by the pre-LL bands, Liquid Idiot and Idiot Orchestra.

Other Music looks to have them in stock ... Not sure about our friends at Academy Records on East 12th Street just yet...

In the meantime, you can watch the video above for "Cavern" from 1983 ... with that baseline that went on to do "White Lines."

Your dreams of living in a penthouse cottage above Kiehl's are dashed for now

Back in June we noted that those cottage-style penthouses atop the building that houses Kiehl's on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and 13th Street were on the market with an asking price of $4.4 million.

Well, the place is now in contract, Curbed reported today:

When reached for comment, Corcoran listing broker Tamir Shemesh couldn't give up what the three-bedroom pad is selling for, only that it's "going for a very good price" and that "both the seller and buyer are very happy." We'd be happy, too, if those were our new digs.

Well, maybe this cabin will return to market.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Live in tranquil cottages overlooking … 3rd Avenue (but still)

10 Degrees Bistro now 'renegotiating terms with the landlord' on Avenue A

On Monday, the Marshal paid a visit to 10 Degrees Bistro at 131 Avenue A … noting that the landlord has taken legal possession of the restaurant between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

While that sign remains up on the closed-for-now bistro's front …



… there's a new sign explaining that 10 Degrees is closed for maintenance…



10 Degrees also took to Facebook yesterday to explain the situation…



So perhaps all this will be worked out soon enough… and they'll be one less vacant space along Avenue A.

Meanwhile, their sister property, 10 Degrees Bar, remains open around the corner on St. Mark's Place.

The former Le Jardin space is for rent on Avenue C

While there isn't a sign up yet, the former Le Jardin space at 115 Avenue C is now for rent.

According to the listing at Eastern Consolidated, the asking rent is $11,576 a month. However, there is also an undisclosed sum for key money for the 2,200-square-foot space between East Seventh Street and East Eighth Street. The location includes outdoor seating on the ground floor and a terrace upstairs.

The low-key French bistro lasted 10 months here, closing in June. The previous tenant, the restaurant Apartment 13, made it one year.

The Málà Project coming soon to 1st Avenue

Been meaning to take a look at what's coming to 122 First Ave. between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place… the paper has been up in the windows noting a venture called the Málà Project …



There's not much info on their Facebook page, except for: "An upbeat and energetic Chinese food shop, featuring traditional and exotic Chinese street foods in a playful setting."

The owners were on July's CB3 SLA committee docket for a beer-wine license. (No vote was necessary on this application.) Per their questionnaire (PDF!) on file at the CB3 website, they will offer "Chinese appetizers and entrees served family style."

Their listed hours are 11 a.m to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday; until midnight Thursday-Sunday.

The previous tenant, South Brooklyn Pizza, closed in April 2014. Last fall, the owners of the International explored moving into the space, though those plans never materialized.

H/T EVG correspondent Steven

What is this?

At the site of the incoming condos on Avenue A between East 11th Street and East 12th Street… some people see a pile driver … while some people see a bird's head.

Photo via Goggla

Free Shakespeare in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by EVG contributor Steven]

The Hip to Hip Theatre Company is putting on a free production of William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" in Tompkins Square Park tonight and tomorrow evening at 5:30 ... as well as Wednesday, Aug. 26... it's part of the New York International Fringe Festival.

Tomorrow is the last day for Zibalee on East 13th Street

[Image via]

After five years, first as Jellyfish then Zibalee, the clothing store for kids closes for good after the business day tomorrow at 244 E. 13th St.

Owner Adam Kirszner told us a little more about the situation at his shop between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

"It wasn't exactly the usual story of an impossible rent hike, although rent was no picnic and the real-estate taxes were particularly onerous. More like the growing realization that there was only so much growth that a business like mine could possibly have, especially considering my non-retail-y mid-block location and my low-margin wares," he told us via email. "And so many little annoying things that would add up to take a toll — SantaCon/St. Pat's/Halloween foolishness hurts most EV businesses that aren't bars. As you know, it's pretty much over for independent bricks-and-mortar retail around here, with increasingly rare exceptions."

Meanwhile, through tomorrow, there are some big sales on kids' clothing. (Find more details at Zibalee's Facebook page.)

And what might be next at the address?

"Brace yourself for another salon — nails, I think — coming soon," he said.

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Earlier this summer, we reported that the retail spaces housing both the Chase branch on Avenue A at East Second Street and the location on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place were for rent.

Now, in letters that Chase customers received yesterday, bank officials announced that both branches will close after the business day on Nov. 12...





According to the letters, the branch at 130 Second Ave. will consolidate with the location two blocks to the north at No. 156 while the Avenue A outlet will merge with the branch at 106 Delancey.

The asking rent on the Second Avenue Chase space is $72,000 a month, per the listing. The rent is available upon request for the Avenue A storefront.

Thanks to Vinny & O for the photos of the letters!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

The retail space at 20 Avenue A is on the market

10-story building now in the works for 255 E. Houston St.

[EVG photo of No. 155 from 2012]

Permits are now on file for a 10-story residential complex at 255 E. Houston St. between Norfolk and Suffolk.

The new building joins the 10-story, almost-complete 179 Suffolk St. next door ... in the ever-changing East Houston Street skyline.


[EVG photo from June]

No. 255 E. Houston St. previously housed the day-care center Action For Progress. They were displaced in the spring of 2010 when construction next door at 179 Suffolk St. destabilized the building. (BoweryBoogie has more on that situation here.)

Here are more details about the new building via New York Yimby, which first reported on the filing yesterday:

Whenever the building bites the dust, it’ll be replaced by 53 apartments and community space. Those apartments will be divided across 47,020 square feet of residential space, and the average unit will clock in around 887 square feet.

The first floor will include 4,600 square feet of community facilities and indoor and outdoor recreation space. There are fewer, larger units on the higher floors, starting with eight units on the second floor and finishing with four units a piece on the eighth through tenth floors. The building will rise 112 feet into the air and encompass 51,623 square feet of interior space.

The property's owner is Samy Mahfar, who's up for multiple Landlord of the Year Awards. (See here and here and here.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Next for 255 E. Houston St.: Community facility/school/medical building?

Is a Beer Factory in store for the former Spice space on 2nd Avenue?

[EVG photo from June]

The Spice location on Second Avenue and East Sixth Street closed at the beginning of June.

Now Goggla spotted a sign from the new tenant — Beer Factory LLC...



So the sign does say "store," so perhaps it's a retail-first operation (like Good Beer on East Ninth Street or ABC Co. on Avenue C) ... The LLC is registered to an attorney's office in Astoria.

Or maybe it's a wacky fake sign like Robot Daycare or a laundrobar (oh, wait that was real!) to throw off the neighbors and assorted bloggers to what is really coming next.

Glasgow Vintage Co. has apparently closed on East 9th Street

The Glasgow Vintage Co. has cleared out of its retail space at 331 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue… one source on the block believes they left on Monday…



There isn't any mention of a closure on the vintage clothing store's social media properties.

The store, which has a 21-year-old flagship location in Glasgow, just opened last September.

In reporting on the lease deal last year, the Commercial Observer noted that the rent here was $6,500. The broker told the Commercial Observer that the deal is significant "because it’s the 'highest price per square foot on the block,' and it's a 'new international operator reconfirming the growth of East Village boutique retail.'"

Photos via EVG contributor Steven

Zum Schneider celebrates 15 years on Avenue C tonight

Per the Facebook invite:

Come celebrate 15 years of Zum Schneider with us!

Moesl Franzi and the JaJaJa's
Sidewalk Pig Roast ("Spanferkel")
DJ Volka Racho
Keg tapping at 5pm

Zum Schneider is at 107 Avenue C at East Seventh Street.

Report: CB3 denies the Cock's move up 2nd Avenue

[EVG file photo]

CB3's SLA committee last night voted against Allan Mannarelli's application to move the Cock from its current Second Avenue home several blocks north to the former Lit Lounge space.

However, according to a report by Lisha Arino at DNAinfo, Mannarelli plans to appeal directly to the State Liquor Authority.

Per DNAinfo:

“I have full intention of moving the bar there and we’ll try every avenue to do it,” he said after the meeting, adding that he was not surprised at the pushback from residents and the community board.

And…

Mannarelli said his intended move to Lit Lounge’s former digs was a strategic one. The space is larger, he said, and would allow the bar to host drag shows and gay karaoke. His current lease also has a demolition clause that allows the landlord to buy him out and give him eight months to vacate the space, he said.

Residents who were opposed to the move to the Lit space between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street said that the block was already oversaturated with bars, with 61 licensed operators in the immediate vicinity, among other reasons.

BoweryBoogie has details on a few other applicants here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Confirmed: Lit Lounge is closing on 2nd Avenue

Aug. 18

An EVG reader spotted this beaut in a trash can on East Seventh Street at Cooper Square… as for the strict authentication requirement, the reader points to the time stamp and date (today!) on his or her phone… (and the arrow in case you are wondering what we are looking at here…)

A found collection of photos from the 1980s East Village

The Wall Street Journal today has a short feature on Tony Mangia, a photographer who found a long-lost collection of his photos from the 1980s East Village. (He believed the photos were destroyed during a fire.)

His work, he said, is from the Other Paper, a twice-a-month community newspaper that covered the neighborhood from 1980-1982.

The collection ranges from quiet images of dilapidated buildings to the Ninth Precinct narcotics squad (a crew usually donning Yankees caps known on the street as the “Baseball Team,” according to Mr. Mangia) making a drug bust. The images are reminiscent of a time when the city was “dirty, dangerous and way more interesting than today,” Mr. Mangia said.

You can find the article and a selection of the photos here.

There have been 3 big dog attacks in the East Village this month

[Reader photo from Aug. 1]

On Aug. 1, Roberta Bailey was taking her pug, Sidney, to Washington Square Park. Outside her apartment on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, a pit bull with a crusty/traveler who was asleep, lunged at Sidney.

Here's The Villager with the narrative:

“People were bashing the dog on his head with a stick,” she said. “Someone screamed to me, ‘Grab the balls!’ and I squeezed that dog’s balls as hard as I could. He didn’t let go. I tried to pick up his legs, which I was told you’re supposed to do.

Sidney, who was 14, did not survive the attack. You can read the full story here at The Villager, who first reported on the incident. (An EVG reader came across the aftermath of the attack on Aug. 1 and shared the above photo. At the time, the reader was unsure of what happened except for that it was a dog attack.)

In the early morning hours of Aug. 5, Michael Puzzo says he was walking his girlfriend's dog Bobito, a 10-year-old, 9-pound Havanese-Maltese mix, on East Sixth Street near Second Avenue. He spotted a man and his brindle-brown pit bull asleep in the middle of the sidewalk, as Gothamist reported yesterday.

Puzzo says that he started to walk around the "situation" as slowly as possible, but that the dog opened its eyes as soon as Puzzo and his dog came close ("like when you come across a sleeping vampire," Puzzo analogized). "I yanked my dog's harness up like a fuzzy yo-yo and blocked the pit's mouth with my arm," Puzzo said. "It … was pretty fucking bloody and painful. To be bitten by a dog is a very strange feeling. It felt like someone had lit my arm on fire."

Puzzo told Gothamist that he wasn't sure how long the dog had his right arm. The pit bull's owner immediately woke up and eventually got the dog away from Puzzo. Read the whole article here.

Later on Aug. 5, Ed Vassilev was taking Misha, his Vizsla — a Hungarian midsize-breed dog — for a walk on Second Avenue between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street "when a male pit bull down the block — next to two crusties slumped on the sidewalk, possibly nodding out — set its sights on the smaller dog. The black-and-white pit suddenly took off on a dead run down the empty pavement. It didn’t bark or growl — it just came silently speeding like a missile straight toward them."

As The Villager reported last Thursday:

“It was like from 50 feet away,” Vassilev told The Villager. “That dog saw my dog. He wasn’t on a leash. I picked up my dog. When he jumped up and bit me, it was like it was in slow motion. He got a chunk of my arm. It was brutal. It wasn’t a nip — he bit through my arm,” Vassilev said.

Vassilev, who had to spend several nights at Beth Israel, likely has permanent nerve damage in his left arm.

Read the full article here.

Four days after The Villager reported on this attack, the Post had a story on it yesterday… even stamping the article as an exclusive.



In this version of the story:

All of it could have been avoided if de Blasio were addressing the city’s rising homeless problem, he said.

“A couple of years back, there were homeless people, but I would see the same faces,” Vassilev said.

There wasn't any mention of the mayor in The Villager's version.

As for a dog biting a person, The Villager reports that it is not considered a criminal offense — it's a civil offense.

Updated the headline after multiple readers questioned whether these were actually pit bulls involved in the attacks. The Villager, Gothamist and the Post all identified the dogs as pit bulls.

The Marshal seizes 10 Degrees Bistro on Avenue A

A reader sent along this photo from last night, showing that the landlord has taken legal possession of 10 Degrees Bistro at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

There isn't any information available about the closure at the moment. This doesn't necessarily mean the end for the restaurant… but it's not a great sign either.

The proprietors of Ten Degrees Bar around the corner on St. Mark's took over operations of the Flea Market Cafe in March 2013 ... changing the name to 10 Degrees Bistro in December 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New-look Flea Market Cafe shows itself on Avenue A; reopens March 11

Flea Market Cafe reopens today, and here's the menu

Was the fire at Flea Market yesterday suspicious?

On Avenue A, Flea Market Cafe is now Ten Degrees Bistro

The Organic Grill closed for the rest of the month on 1st Avenue

Don't be alarmed by the plywood surrounding Organic Grill at 123 First Ave.

Per the sign outside, the 14-year-old vegan-oriented restaurant between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place will be closed for two weeks due to sidewalk repairs that landlord is making...



The OG will be providing updates on their social media properties (Facebook and Twitter) about their reopening.

The B&H Dairy Reopening Party is Friday evening

A photo posted by EV Grieve (@evgrieve) on Aug 14, 2015 at 3:45pm PDT

B&H Dairy opened its doors last Friday for the first time since the since the deadly Second Avenue gas explosion on March 26.

Now here are details via the EVG inbox on B&H's grand reopening bash on Friday…

B&H Dairy Restaurant Reopening Party
Friday, Aug. 21
6-8 pm
Free

Come celebrate the reopening of B&H Dairy ... Cakes, coffee, and challah! Standing room only (putting the chairs and tables in the basement for the event).

Joining us will be guest of honor, Florence Bergson Goldberg, daughter of the original owners, Mr. & Mrs. Abie Bergson Goldberg!

Thanks to the big B&H Family, crowd-funding donors, and SaveNYC for their support! Without you, B&H would not have made it!

FYI: The YouCaring crowd-funding campaign ends today. Almost there...

B&H is located at 127 Second Ave. between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

1st sign of 2 new floors to come on 3rd Avenue and 10th Street

The conversion from SVA dorm to upscale rentals continues at the northeast corner of Third Avenue and 10th Street.

The beams have arrived for the two new floors in the works.



Cutting and pasting from The Real Deal last November ... "Slate – a Midtown-based development firm – and RWN Real Estate Partners want to reposition the building as a high-end rental property. The group was apparently able to obtain the 8,000 square feet in unused air rights to add the new floors above the existing structure."

The building will house 41 units with an "outdoor tenant recreation area" on the second floor, per DOB documents.

SVA students moved out after the spring 2014 term .. with the students now using a newish residence on East 24th Street at First Avenue.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village now down a dorm

High-end rentals and additional floors coming to the former SVA dorm on 3rd Avenue

Love locks and weeds at the long-empty 89 1st Ave.

[Photo from March by Michael Hirsch]

We heard a rumor last fall that there were preliminary plans in place to build a 7-floor residential building in the long-emtpy lot at 89 First Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street.

The rumor gained strength in March when workers cut down 10 trees and cleared the brush from the lot.

There still aren't any permits on file with the DOB noting impending construction ... and the lot is pretty much overgrown again...





Meanwhile, EVG reader Michael Hirsch yesterday noted the arrival of what appear to be two love locks on the fence...



Perhaps this might become a new tourist destination for couples to show their affection... they can throw the keys into the lot before a romantic stroll through the great Dual Specialty Store next door.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Will this long-empty lot on 1st Avenue yield to affordable housing?