DOH temporarily closes Sushi Dojo on 1st Avenue

Sushi Dojo, chef David Bouhadana's well-regarded restaurant at 110 First Ave., had to sit out this past weekend after a DOH-mandated closure.

Several EVG readers noted the arrival of the telltale yellow sticker last Wednesday here between East Seventh Street and East Sixth Street. A look at the DOH report notes just 21 violation points from a visit on Oct. 21. The two "critical" sanitary violations:

• Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.
• Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.

Given the horror show of violations (flesh flies!) that we've seen at some places, this seems like pretty ticky-tacky stuff in comparison, especially to shut down a restaurant for five-plus days over…

Updated noon

Eater has more on the story here.

Per Bouhadana:

We were closed for one thing and one thing only, not wearing gloves. Sushi chefs are not supposed to wear gloves. 17 employees lost their job because the DOH has been harassing me for four months and threatening me for this issue. I have 20+ of the best sushi chefs behind me and many more ready to bat for me. We will solve this BS rule, a rule I don't stand by. Sushi is being ruined my gloves, freezing fish and more issues...

Some Citi Bike docking station details for the week

[File photo by Derek Berg]

An FYI gleaned via the Citi Bike Tumblr:

We will have some temporary challenges in the East Village due to construction projects. This will affect our normal valet schedule.

East Seventh Street and Avenue A:
• Docking station will be removed Monday 10/26 through Friday 10/30
• PM valet cancelled at this station and moved to East 10th Street and Avenue A (M-F from 7-10:30 PM)
• East 14th St and Avenue B will continue to operate valet service M-F from 7-11 PM through the winter

East Ninth Street and Avenue C:
• Removed Monday 10/26 for private construction
• Station should return in two weeks, but exact install date TBD

Updated 8:50 a.m.

Mike H. on East 9th Street shares this photo of workers loading up the docking station on Ninth and C...

Week in Grieview

[Headed to the opera house via Derek Berg]

Report: 25 to life for man who beat grandfather to death on East Sixth Street (Wednesday)

Ess-A-Bagel has a new home on First Avenue (Friday, 51 comments)

How tall will 98-100 Avenue A get? (Thursday)

Carol Lipnik, live at Pangea on Second Avenue Sunday evenings (Thursday)

Understanding a landlord's harassment tactics (Tuesday)

If you are in the market for a life-sized replica of GG Allin (Thursday)

About the #helloicp installation at the future home of the International Center of Photography (Tuesday)

Stuy Town sells (Monday)

Gas leak closes Nino's for now (Thursday)

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants "to make the East Village a better place" (Friday)

Out and About with Gina (Wednesday)

A look at Kingsley, opening this fall on Avenue B (Wednesday)

People are complaining about rats (Monday)

David's Cafe opens on St. Mark's Place (Monday)

"The whole thing finally was shut down when someone hosed the party down" (Tuesday)

New cafe in the works for 42 Avenue B (Monday)

Thanksgiving dining deal season underway (Wednesday)

Past rent due at the former Organic Avenue (Thursday)

Chipotle announces itself in Stuy Town (Monday)

Familiar names on the list of the city's most demo-happy developers (Thursday)

East First Street Juice Press expansion looks official (Monday)

You and your family can be buried close to your East Village home for $350,000 (Friday)

New residential buildings come into full view on Lafayette Street (Thursday)

… and the Harmoney Korine mural in First Street Green Art Park got a nose job…

At the 25th annual Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade

Nearly 300 canines and maybe 1 rooster took part in the 25th annual Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade yesterday … there were at least two pizza rat costumes … as well as costumes based on Donald Trump, "House of Cards," "Back to the Future" and Joe Namath… Here's a sampling of the costumes via EVG contributor Stacie Joy…





































… and um…



… and Best in Show… this Day of the Dead-themed ensemble featuring two Chihuahuas and a Yorkshire terrier. The owners are apparently from Dallas.



EVG contributor Derek Berg shared these photos…













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You can check out more photos via Goggla … and editrrix …

Christo to Dora: Silly dogs think they need to dress up to be photographed

Yesterday afternoon from atop St. Brigid's on Avenue B… photo by Bobby Williams.

Dan and John's Wings now open on 1st Avenue

[Photo last evening by EVG contributor Steven]

Dan and John's Wings opened their doors last night for business at 135 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

The two have been selling their wings at Smorgasburg, the outdoor food festival on weekends in Williamsburg and now in Coney Island.

Per their website:

When two friends from Buffalo found themselves in Brooklyn without authentic Buffalo wings, they decided to make their own. Using recipes they learned working in Buffalo bars and pizzerias, Dan and John bring Buffalo's legendary flavor to Brooklyn, New York.

You can find their menu.

The storefront previously housed sandwich specialist JoeDough, which closed in February 2014 after two-plus years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dan and John's Wings opening a storefront on 1st Avenue

Apartment fire at 630 E. 9th St.

[Photo via @mobirmingham]

There was a report of a fire last evening after 10 p.m. at 630 E. Ninth St. … in the building adjacent to La Plaza Cultural on Avenue C …

MAN ALL HANDS 630 E 9 ST, FIRE ON TOP FLR REAR,

— FDNY (@FDNY) October 24, 2015

The FDNY quickly had the situation under control… as a reader told us, a candle burning by the curtain and bed in a fifth-floor apartment in the rear of the building was to blame. No reports of injuries, though there is water damage down to the second floor in the rear apartments.

Come rummage at the Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish today

The Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish on East Ninth Street at Avenue B is having a rummage sale today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

As a Trinity rep tells us: "We'll have clothes, kitchen and other household items, books, and some furniture."

And what does the money go to?

"Everything we raise this year will be split between our soup kitchen/food pantry program (Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless) and Lutheran World Relief, specifically to help with relocation and assistance for Syrian Refugees. Last year we were able to raise over $1,000 through sales and donations."

And as the flyer notes, dogs are welcome … in case anyone is coming or going from the annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade today.

Start making Sense

In honor of maybe Hüsker Dü reuniting. Well, the trio has a new website anyway.

From 1985 above, "Makes No Sense At All."

EV Grieve Etc.: the Peace Pentagon sells; the Vanishing New York book

[Photo on East 6th Street by Derek Berg]

Blackstone Group's $5.3 billion deal to buy the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complex contains an inducement: Blackstone has New York City's backing to sell the property’s unused development (air) rights. (The Wall Street Journal)

Partial demolition in the works for former Matzos Factory Building (DNAinfo)

Peace Pentagon on Lafayette Street sells (The Commercial Observer ... BoweryBoogie)

New building rising at 138 Bowery will house 46 hotel rooms and 21 residential units (The Real Deal)

Meet the family who runs Fresco Gelateria on Second Avenue (Off the Grid)

Landlords throughout the city are cutting asking prices to make their properties more palatable to tenants (Commercial Observer)

Congrats to Jeremiah Moss on the forthcoming Vanishing New York book (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Mathieu Amalric retrospective starts next Thursday (Anthology Film Archives)

"Full House! The Musical!" extended at Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place (Theatre 80 ... official site)

...bathroom break...


[Photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg]

Nest making with Christo and Dora in Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)

Reviews of Timna on St. Marks Place (The New York Times ... The New Yorker)

Worth a look: The dark, compelling "Meadowland," in which a married couple unravels following the disappearance of their young son, is held over for a second week (Village East Cinema)

Through March 20, the Museum of the City of New York is presenting "Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half," photos from the Lower East Side (The New York Times)

Video: Nomadic youth discuss life on the street (The New Yorker)

5 books about how gentrification works (The Nation)

Not many people buying the Sexy Pizza Rat costume (Bloomberg)

Cat cafe debuts next week on Clinton Street (BoweryBoogie)

A 169 Bar appreciation on East Broadway (The Lo-Down)

NYC's first luxury hotel (Ephemeral New York)

Catching up with 92-year-old Jonas Mekas, a founder of the Anthology Film Archives (The New York Times)

...and at 240 E. Fourth St. near Avenue B, the VolaVida Gallery has decamped to a larger space at 319 Grand St. However, former VolaVida partner Laura K. Reich is keeping the storefront... last night she re-launched the space with a new partner as 212 Arts... its inaugural exhibit will be up through Nov. 12 ... details here.

[Updated] Ess-A-Bagel announces its new location on 1st Avenue

[Photo by @wemakesomething]

The folks at Ess-A-Bagel have put up the coming soon sign on their new home — 324-326 First Ave. at East 19th Street… on the east side of the Avenue in the Shoppes of Stuy Town (in the former GameStop storefront).

No word yet on an opening date. The banner just arrived yesterday.

A quick recap: The bagel shop shut down its home of nearly 40 years on First Avenue at East 21st Street back in March… depending on who's telling the story, there was some sort of disagreement between the landlord and Ess-A-Bagel’s owners. At the time, the Ess-A-Folks vowed that they would open in a new storefront nearby.

As for the former Ess-A-Bagel space at No. 359 … today marks the one-month anniversary of Upper East Side favorite (uh, right?) Tal Bagels …



Tal replaced the former Rose Restaurant and part of Ess-A-Bagel. A Bank of America ATM center is supposedly taking the rest of the square footage and going in on the corner at East 21st Street.

Oh, and because multiple people pointed this out in the comments recently…



… the Moe's Southwest Grill has closed at 367 First Ave. …



Many thanks to @wemakesomething for the tip!

Updated 10/24

Here's more info on this location via the Town & Village blog… One of the owners, Muriel Frost, said that "the new location will be bigger, which will allow the bagel shop to do things that couldn’t be done at the old shop.

"We will do catering and also delivery, which we were not physically equipped to do before," she said.

No word about toasting.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Report: Landlord forcing Ess-a-Bagel from its longtime home (46 comments)

1 week left for Ess-A-Bagel at its current 1st Avenue location

[Updated] Ess-A-Bagel has closed for now on 1st Avenue

[Updated] You and your family can be buried close to your East Village home for $350,000

[EVG photo from Sunday]

So it turns out that the New York Marble Cemetery on Second Avenue between East Second Street and East Third Street has the last two inground burial plots openly available in Manhattan.

And they are for sale — $350,000 each.

New York magazine has the story in its current issue.

The cemetery's monthly Open Days provide one way for cemetery officials to make the pitch to potential vault owners.

Caroline DuBois, president of the board and future occupant of vault No. 54, sat on a bench under two multicolored umbrellas. Brochures and a donation jar sat on a table in front of her. “I think it would be the perfect gift for a hedge-fund billionaire to give his sweetheart,” she said.

And how did they come up with that price?

“When you only have two, why give them away?” asked Robert Breck Denny, a trustee and a likely resident of No. 38, who was sitting near DuBois. To come up with their price, the trustees researched the cost of comparable grave sites — “in San Francisco, in Hong Kong, in Paris” — and “basically, did a market analysis.”

Like nickel beer, the vaults were much less expensive back in the day — $250 when the cemetery opened in 1830.

The cemetery's website has much info on the vaults:

NYMC is offering its two reclaimed and empty family-sized 80 square foot marble vaults for sale for $350,000 each. The requirement for bio-degradable materials ensures that a purchaser’s family can use the space for many generations to come. Interested buyers should contact info@marblecemetery.org for details.

Updated 9:30 a.m.

Gothamist first reported on the two plots at New York Marble Cemetery back in June. Read that piece here.

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

In an article published last week, The Villager reported that the residents living in East Fifth Street buildings newly aquired by Raphael Toledano's Brook Hill Properties had "documented more than 140 interactions, altercations and outright threats by Toledano and his camp during the two-month period from this July 8 through Sept. 8."

In a Talking Point column in this week's paper, The Villager lets the 25-year-old Toledano outline his plans for the neighborhood:

The reason I chose to grow my business in this beautiful neighborhood is simple: I believe in the East Village. I am not here to transform this community, rather I am determined to become a part of the fabric of the neighborhood that so many wonderful New Yorkers call home.

And!

My plans for these buildings are simple. We want to renovate the apartments and common areas, improve the outward appearance and take suggestions from tenants for how to make the East Village the ultimate live / work / play community.

Beyond that, we are committed to making meaningful contributions to improve the welfare of the community. I have been engaged with a number of organizations to find out what we can do to help, and I look forward to announcing new partnerships in the next few weeks. But in the meantime, what you need to know is that my company is here to make the East Village a better place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Some Halloween-related things to do tomorrow (Saturday!)

There is the 25th annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade from noon to 3 p.m. …

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The Ruff Club at 34 Avenue A is hosting an after Halloween Parade party from 2-5 p.m. …

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The El Sol Brillante Community Garden Party Benefit is noon to the moon here at 530 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B…

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The El Sol Brilliante Jr. Community Garden tag sale is noon-4 p.m. at 537 E. 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B…

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La Plaza Cultural on the southwest corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street is hosting some pumpkin carving from noon-4 p.m. … (While it's free, there are a limited number of pumpkins, per the planners.)