On Second Avenue at East Sixth Street this morning… photo by Derek Berg
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Avenue A, now with fewer trees
Multiple EVG readers came across this scene this morning just before 9 on Avenue A between East Second Street and East Third Street… where workers were mulching up a fallen tree…
Unfortunately, no one (yet!) has passed along what happened to the tree on the west side of the street… How did it fall? Did it crack? Was it struck? Pushed? Bitten? Karate chopped?
Thanks to the EVG reader for the photos!
Updated:
Per the comments, three trees on this block had to be removed...
Q-and-A with filmmaker Tom DiCillo
[Tom DiCillo, left, and Steve Buscemi from 2006 by Jeff Vespa, © WireImage.com]
Tom DiCillo came to New York City to study film at NYU in 1976.
Like other new residents, he was taken by the NYC subway system. "From the moment I arrived in the city, particularly when I'd get on the train, I noticed these tiny daily dramas," said DiCillo in a phone conversation last week. It provided potential dramatic fodder for a filmmaker, "but it wasn't feasible to carry a big camera and canisters of film" to attempt a subway shoot. It wasn't until some 30 years later when DiCillo bought a digital camera did he decide to make a movie capturing a slice-of-life look at the subway experience.
The results of his nearly six years of work can be seen tonight in the 69-minute "Down in Shadowland," his latest work, which is playing at the Anthology Film Archives as part of a two-night Tom DiCillo retrospective.
The other featured works are the 20-year-anniversary of his best-known film, the darkly satirical "Living in Oblivion," and the 2006 offbeat dramedy "Delirious," in which Steve Buscemi — also the star of "Living in Oblivion" — plays a small-time paparazzo. DiCillo and Buscemi will both be on-hand tomorrow night for a Q-and-A following the screening of each film.
After serving as cinematographer to classmate Jim Jarmusch's "Permanent Vacation" in 1980 and "Stranger Than Paradise" in 1984, DiCillo dabbled as an actor before striking out on his own as a director.
His first film was the absurdist fable "Johnny Suede" from 1991 and featuring Brad Pitt in his first leading role. (The Johnny Suede character's punk-rockabilly look and style came from some of the musicians DiCillo saw around the East Village in the 1980s.)
DiCillo's subsequent films included casts with Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Matthew Modine, Sam Rockwell, Peter Dinklage and Denis Leary, among others. The films found a limited but devoted audience. His subsequent challenges, from failed financing to lackluster distribution, have been well-documented (here and here, for example).
I spoke with an upbeat and talkative DiCillo on the phone from his Upper West Side apartment for nearly 40 minutes. What follows are some highlights from the conversation edited for length and clarity.
On making "Down in the Shadowland" over a six-year period:
In late 2007, I got my first small digital movie camera that I could carry around with me. I found taking this little camera and shooting whenever I wanted was so liberating that it actually took me back to the most basic impulses that I ever had wanting to be a filmmaker. Seeing something on the street and going Oh my God if I can only put that in a movie.
I thought the idea of capturing these ephemeral moments that exist underground would make for a great project. I started carrying the camera with me every day. After shooting for about four years, I said it was time to come up with a structure for it. [Laughs]
I think it's done. You could probably keep shooting this for 20 years. The whole purpose of it was to see if I could translate what my eyes were seeing to something other people would appreciate. It's kind of an individual journey. It's not a mass thing. The film works the best when you start to feel like it's a surreal and mysterious journey that's going on inside each of these individuals' minds.
I don't feel as if the film is strictly a documentary. There are many different kinds of films that are vérité. Every frame in it is real. But it's not a film that explains or illustrates the experience of the subway. It's less about the subway than it is about us as human beings. Twenty years from now this film is going to seem like a really bizarre time capsule.
On the filmmaking scene in the Lower East Side upon his arrival in 1976:
In that period, the late 1970s through the late 1980s, the city was really falling to pieces. There was a desperate element that fueled a great artistic movement… the punk scene, the independent film scene all were generated by the fact that things were falling apart.
None of my classmates I found interesting ever thought about going to Hollywood. The idea was to take this opportunity to make a film and do something that was completely different than Hollywood. Steve Buscemi was writing and performing plays with Mark Boone Junior. The only thing they really wanted to do was write and perform. They weren't worried about where they did it.
The film scene was that way too. Eric Mitchell, Amos Poe… these guys were making films on Super 8 and screening them in bars. Anybody could make a movie. You didn't have to have this enormous financial machine. New York was that way. It was a fantastic time. There was a feeling that something fresh and new was happening.
On making "Living in Oblivion":
When I got the idea for "Living in Oblivion," the first person to put up money was Dermot Mulroney. He was married to Catherine Keener at the time. She was the first person who I had shown the script to. She sent it to Dermot. He immediately put up $5,000. He said that he wanted to play the director. I said "I'll take your $5,000, but I think you'd be better suited to playing the cameraman." He said, "OK great. How about Steve as the director?" That was the beginning of my relationship with Steve. He said yes without even reading the script.
Steve is one of the most warmhearted and genuine people I've ever met. He is a fascinating actor. I'm thrilled that he is going to be [at the Anthology] with me.
When "Oblivion" was released here, it got a very nice notice from The New York Times, which helped it. A lot of critics panned the film, saying that it was just a movie for filmmakers. It crippled the film in some other markets. It always bothered me because it's like saying, "You can't make a film about astronauts, because only astronauts will want to see it." It's crazy.
On New York City today:
I'm definitely not the kind of person who's going to say that Times Square used to be better before it was cleaned up. I was a visitor there during that period when there were hookers and drugs. You wouldn't really want to go there. But to say that was a better time for the city is bullshit. There is a certain corporate bullshit that has happened to New York. I despise the fact that every single gritty, realistic aspect of the city has been bought by merchandising. A place that used to be a real meat market [has been turned] into something to make you feel like you are in a hip part of Manhattan.
The thing I love about the city … on the street level, it's a very democratic city. You engage with people of every level, shoulder to shoulder every day. New York still has this feeling that it is unique in America. There are people here from all over the world. I'm all for the quiet, small-town idea. But small-town thoughts are what is destroying this country. At least in New York there is a willingness to have different points of view.
On never giving up as a filmmaker:
Part of me believes that this is what I do best, that I have a skill at it. I've never had anything just given to me in life. Everything has been a struggle. Certainly the filmmaking part of my career has been a struggle as well.
There's nothing worse than being two years into raising money for a film, and you think it's going to be a go — everyone says that it's going to be a go — and you get the phone call: "We don't know why, but they just pulled out." It has happened so many times. And you go Ahhhhh! And you start again. I guess it was a belief that what I had written and what I knew what I could do was worth fighting for. The main thing that keeps me going is the thought that I will be making another film one day.
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Here's the schedule at the Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue at East Second Street:
DOWN IN SHADOWLAND
Nov. 10 at 8 PM
LIVING IN OBLIVION — Tom DiCillo & Steve Buscemi in person
Nov. 11 at 6:45 PM
DELIRIOUS — Tom DiCillo & Steve Buscemi in person
Nov. 11 at 9:15 PM
Petition drive underway to help save the Stuy Town Associated on East 14th Street
As previously noted, owners of the Associated on East 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue in Stuy Town would like to have their supermarket's lease renewed.
However, the current Stuy Town management has refused to commit to a renewal and then tried to buy out the lease. (Find more background at the Town & Village blog, who was the first to report on this.)
And no one knows what the new owners, Blackstone, intend to do. While the lease isn't up for two years, Joseph Falzon, the principal owner of the Associated, has been asking because he wants to renovate the store, per Town & Village.
Now members of the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association have launched a campaign at Change.org to help save the Associated.
Per the petition:
Tell Blackstone we need to save our Associated Supermarket
Stuyvesant Town needs to keep its local supermarket. It is especially important for our seniors who can't walk five or six long blocks to get to the next nearest food market. Since 2005, 4 local supermarkets have closed because of rising rents or because chain drug stores could pay much more. NYC is losing too many of its small stores because of rising rents and because landlords have no real connection or concern for the needs of working class New Yorkers.
Associated is willing to pay more rent if the landlord Blackstone is reasonable. The city is bending over backwards to give all kinds of lucrative incentives away so Blackstone can be reasonable. Having an affordable supermarket is just as essential in maintaining the middle class lifestyle in this unique neighborhood.
You can access the petition here.
As a rep of the tenants association told us, "This all-purpose supermarket is essential not only to many Stuyvesant Town residents but also to those who live south of 14th Street."
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Associated owners not having any luck shopping for a lease renewal on East 14th Street (34 comments)
[Updated] Lion Beerstore opens today
[Photo by Vinny & O]
The sign on the door here at 104 Second Ave. at East Sixth Street announces that the Lion Beerstore will be opening today.
Per their Facebook page, "Lions Beerstore is a beautiful bar, a restaurant, beer consultancy, and retail store under one roof."
A father-son team, who hail from Greece, are behind the operation, and they will reportedly offer more than 300 types of beer in the retail section as well as a food menu offering American and European pub food at the bar.
According to their CB3 application (PDF!), the store hours are 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday; until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The space was previously home to Spice, which closed in June, consolidating its operations with a move to First Avenue between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street.
Updated 6:59 p.m.
Despite the Opening Tuesday signage, the Lion folks needed one more day to have the place ready for company… EVG contributor Derek Berg says that the store will be open tomorrow…
Previously on EV Grieve:
A new mural and beer store on 2nd Avenue and East 6th Street
Construction watch: 327 E. 9th St.
[Photo from March 2013 by Jeff Day]
Work started on the new residential building at 327 E. Ninth St., a former parking lot between First Avenue and Second Avenue, back in February 2013.
As we first reported in August 2012, a six-story, two-unit residential building via Icon Realty will eventually rise here.
Here's a look at the progress a few months short of its three-year construction anniversary...
Eventually, No. 327 will look like ...
Construction workers told an EVG reader who lives nearby that construction wouldn't be complete for another year. The reader found that hard to believe ("how long does it take to build a six-story residence?"), but that's what he was told.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The big dig begins for 6-story, 2-unit condo on East 9th Street
East Ninth Street parking lot will yield to 6-floor residential building
Monday, November 9, 2015
Noted
[Photo today by Bobby Williams]
Part of the fence along East Seventh Street near Avenue A is missing from Tompkins Square Park. Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone around to ask what's going on... so. Maybe to make it easier to move the Samuel S. Cox statue to the top of 100 Avenue A as a way to compete with Red Square? Other less-stupid theories are welcome, probably.
Let's take a look at 347 Bowery, now and in the future
At last look in early September, the first floor was just visible at 347 Bowery, where a view-blocking (if you live right next door at 52E4), 13-story, 30,000 square-foot mixed-use residential development is rising.
Now it looks to be past the halfway mark at 7 (or 8?) floors here at East Third Street ...
Developer Urban Muse has designs on five 3-bedroom homes ranging from 2,100 to 4,000 square feet, two 2,000-square-foot commercial units and one 6,800-square-foot retail unit.
Annabelle Selldorf, who designed the swanko 10 Bond Street, is listed as the architect of record. Here's a rendering for the building that we spotted on her firm's website (when you click on the image for more info there, you get a "page not found" message)...
Oh, balconies! Anyway, thoughts on the new building?
Expect something else new right here some day. As previously noted, the lot adjacent to 347 Bowery at 1-3 E. Third St. is also for sale as a development site.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The Salvation Army's former East Village Residence will be demolished on the Bowery
Looks like 347 Bowery will be home to a 13-floor mixed-use residential development
The future of 347 Bowery (sorta!) revealed
Reader report: The northeast corner of Avenue A and 12th Street changes hands
An EVG reader writes in:
Just received a tenant notice letter that 194-196 Avenue A and 503-505 East 12th Street have been sold to Avenue A Corner Owner LLC c/o Dalan Management Associates. Marolda Properties was pretty terrible to deal with these last few years, wonder if Dalan Management will be better or worse.
I have a feeling that chances of us getting priced out next year are high. Womp.
Terms of the deal haven't apparently made public record just yet. (The LLC has an address in Nassau County.) And we don't know much about Dalan. Here's their bio:
"We are a real estate owner and manager focused on improving and adding value to multifamily and commercial properties. Our portfolio includes residential properties in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Washington DC, and Phoenix, Arizona. We also have commercial holdings in Manhattan."
As some of you may recall, a fire tore through the building in March 2006. The corner retail space housed the Raven from July 1998 through the time of the fire.
The building was, of course, rebuilt, though not without causing some suspicion among neighbors.
The storefront at No. 196 is currently for lease with an asking rent of $10,500 a month. Avenue A Wine & Liquor closed here back in August.
Now at Ray's Candy Store — popcorn shrimp
EVG regular Peter Brownscombe notes that Ray has introduced the latest menu item here at Ray's Candy Store, 113 Avenue A near East Seventh Street...
Popcorn shrimp...
Served without — or with! — fries...
34 1/2 St. Mark's Place is for sale
The 6-floor building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue recently arrived on the market.
Here's the listing via LoopNet:
Fully occupied 6 floor apartment building with 11 residential units and 1 retail store. There is an additional courtyard unit which is not registered and currently vacant.
St. Marks Place is the cultural hub of the East Village and close to New York University and Cooper Union.
• 6, three-bedroom apartments with Fair Market Rent
• 5, two-bedroom Rent-Stabilized apartments
• 1 Retail Store and basement with Fair Market Rent
• 1 studio courtyard apartment, unregistered and vacant
Price: $9.35 million
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Week in Grieview
[Wednesday morning on St. Mark's Place]
RIP Hank Penza (Thursday)
At East Village Meat Market's Pierogi Tasting Day (Monday)
MTA's 2015–2019 Capital Plan includes another entrance for the L stop on First Avenue (Tuesday)
Demo permits filed to raze southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and 10th Street (Tuesday)
Ho no: SantaCon announces Dec. 12 date for SantaCon (Tuesday)
Down comes the former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office (Monday)
The retail space at Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A is available for $24.5 million; plus, naked model marketing clarification! (Friday)
The Barrel has closed on Stuyvesant Street (Tuesday)
Tumor time for the Provident Loan Society Building on East Houston? (Monday)
Out and About with Jose Ilarraza (Wednesday)
City booting P.C. Richard (and his sons!) on East 14th Street (Friday)
Lit Lounge returning to face CB3's SLA committee (Thursday)
Snickers Bar Squirrel (Tuesday)
Le Petit Parisien opens on East Seventh Street (Thursday)
Southern California-based Pressed Juicery opens first NYC storefront on Lafayette Street (Tuesday)
Tac N Roll slated for East Fourth Street (Monday)
179 E. Third St. is for sale (Tuesday)
Workers have to remove the last willow on the St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery property (Tuesday)
Please treat Whole Foods Market® Bowery like your own living room (Monday)
On the CB3-SLA docket: A new applicant for the former Bodhi Tree space (Wednesday)
The Fantastic Tea Shop is for sale (and for rent) (Friday)
Christo in front of the Christodora (Monday)
... and who has the next match?
[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Bobby Williams]
A pre-dawn planetary show over East 3rd Street
Local astronomy buff Felton Davis writes in this morning ...
Fantastic pre-dawn lineup of planets in the east over 3rd Street: Jupiter in Leo, Mars and Venus in Virgo, and last but not least the waning crescent Moon coming up just before the Sun.
Meanwhile, you can check out some photos of the 2nd Avenue Star Watchers right here.
Noted
EVG reader Trevor Ristow spotted this on Avenue A and East Sixth Street last evening ... a friendly invitation to hang out for the evening. The arrow points to a drawing of someone holding a burning cigarette of some sort. (Above the "provide good" is an assurance for the NYPD that this is a cigarette.)
Also, groups welcome! Not sure if this was a one-night-only event or if the sign leaver will be back for a return engagement.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
[Updated] Report: Missing teen with autism may be in the East Village
A 16-year-old New Jersey resident with autism has been missing since yesterday. According to the Daily News this afternoon, Adam Rogers may be in the East Village. (The article doesn't offer any explanation as to why.)
According to a report at New Jersey station 101.5, Rogers' family found his bicycle at the Point Pleasant station, and found that he’d taken a credit card, which had been used to purchase a one-way ticket to Penn Station.
His mother said there hasn't been any difficulty at home. "This is just something he must have gotten in his head to do, and he did it," she said.
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Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call (800) THE-LOST or the Point Pleasant Borough Police Department at (732) 892-0060.
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Updated 11 p.m.
The boy was found safe in Penn Station, according to reports.
About the Stuy Town affordable units deal with the city
"None of the Affordable Units will be used by Purchaser on a transient basis or as a hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home, sanitarium, rest home or trailer park."
And one point to reiterate, as The Real Deal summarizes:
Under the agreement, Blackstone can likely reduce the number of affordable units from 5,000 to almost zero between 2035 and 2040.
Blackstone signed a contract last month to buy the 11,000-apartment complex for $5.3 billion in partnership with Canadian pension fund manager Ivanhoe Cambridge.
You can find the PDF of the term sheet here.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Local politicos seek answers from the Blackstone Group on the Stuy Town air rights deal
ConEd safety alert at the shuttered Organic Avenue on 3rd Avenue
The flyer lists some numbers to call for the storeowner to set up an account. The entire OA chainlet shut down for good after business on Oct. 15.
Report: Preservationists speak out against making Union Square Park a city scenic landmark
[Photo from Oct. 30 via Bobby Williams]
Interesting story here via New York Yimby yesterday.
On Thursday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing about designating Union Square Park a city scenic landmark. (While it is already a National Historic Landmark, that designation doesn't protect it from changes within the park.)
Per NYY:
Jack Taylor, speaking for the Union Square Community Coalition, said that designating the park as it is today “would be a historical travesty.” “And it pains me personally, as a committed preservationist, to take a position that seemingly dismisses landmark protection for a fabled but now flawed part of New York City history,” he added.
For starters, there is about one block of actual park ... and that has been altered already through the years. In short, it lacks "historical integrity," as a rep from the Historic Districts Council put it.
Head on over to Yimby for the full story and an archival photo.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Stage 'Driver'
Perfect Pussy (along with Wild Moth) will be playing Nov. 16 at Elvis Guesthouse on Avenue A.
For a sample of them live… here's "Driver" via footage from a show in September 2014.
EV Grieve Etc.: Sheldon Silver on trial; the Beastie Boys on 'Soul Train'
[2nd Avenue & East 6th Street assist via Derek Berg]
Sheldon Silver on trial (The Lo-Down … The New York Times)
Checking out the menu items at Arepa Factory on Avenue A (Gothamist)
The $12.5 million penthouse at 10 Bond sells after 2 weeks (Curbed)
Hunting and eating (well, swallowing) rats with Christo in Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)
Sally Davies on photographing the East Village (The Phoblographer)
"3 by Tom DiCillo" next week at the Anthology Film Archives ... includes 20th-anniversary screening of "Living in Oblivion." DiCillo and Steve Buscemi will be doing a Q-and-A on Nov. 11 (Anthology Film Archives)
Family heirs battle over movie chain, which could prompt a sale or break-up. The company owns several theaters in New York City, including the Angelika and Village East Cinema on Second Avenue and East 12th Street (The Deal ... H/T The Real Deal)
Squeezing the juice out of Organic Avenue (The New York Times)
The Beastie Boys on "Soul Train" in 1990 (Dangerous Minds)
The Ludlow House grows (BoweryBoogie)
Positive thoughts for Dr. Know of Bad Brains (Flaming Pablum)
Four female probationary firefighters will graduate from the FDNY Fire Academy, bringing the number of women firefighters to a total of 49 — a landmark high in the FDNY’s 150-year history (The Village Voice)
In defense of gentrification (The Atlantic)
An East 10th Street townhouse inspired by India (Ephemeral New York)
Artie's hardware store on West 14th Street has closed (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)
Details of the murder case of a well-known dentist on Bond Street in 1857 (Off the Grid)
21 great NYC diners (Eater)
The retail space at Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A is available for $24.5 million; plus, naked model marketing clarification!
[Photo Tuesday by Peter Brownscombe]
The retail space at developer Ben Shaoul's in-progress new building is now on the market.
Cushman & Wakefield has the listing:
A retail interest at the base of a newly developed eight-story, luxury condo building designed by Issac & Stern located on the east side of Avenue A between East 6th and East 7th Streets. The retail is long term leased to Blink Fitness for 15 years with two (2) five (5) year options. Blink Fitness has over 38 locations in the NYC Metro area and is an affiliate of Equinox Holdings, who’s long term debt is rated B2 by Moody’s. The retail unit will consist of 6,717 SF of ground floor space with 11’ 8” ceilings and a 5,177 SF lower level with 9’ 2” ceiling heights.
Additionally, the space will feature a glass facade and over 76’ of frontage on Avenue A. It is located just south of Tompkins Square Park and within walking distance to the F, 6, N, R and L train stops. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a long term leased, low maintenance asset in the heart of one of the fastest growing neighborhoods of Manhattan.
Price: $24.5 million.
The listing also includes some new renderings of the building, which looks even bigger than the recently disclosed 8 stories…
In other 100 Avenue A news, broker Ryan Serhant, star of "Million Dollar Listing New York," offered some clarification (sort of!) via Instagram about the naked women (and one man?) …
…that are at the center of the building's marketing campaign that we wrote about last Friday…
Per Curbed, who noted the Instagram on Wednesday:
What does a naked, painted woman have to do with multimillion dollar condos? How does this, the image or the condo, speak for "everyone who has been bullied, talked about, made fun of, and pointed at," as Serhant's text suggests? Reminder: this is a development bringing expensive apartments to a neighborhood its developer has had a hand (an arm, really) in bringing into its current state.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Trying to figure out what is going on at 98-100 Avenue A
Last holiday for P.C. Richard on East 14th Street
The city has plans for 124 E. 14th St. at Irving Place that don't include TVs and home appliances.
As Crain's first reported, the city's Economic Development Corp. is now accepting proposals to redevelop the city-owned site that P.C. Richard (and Son!) has leased the past 19 years.
To Crain's!
The EDC is encouraging developers to pitch projects that include new office space for booming industries in the neighborhood, such as technology and creative businesses. According to the city's guidelines, the development could provide fledgling companies with the space to get started and also a location for young but established firms to transition from incubator and co-working spaces that have sprouted around the city into their own digs.
Oh, incubators! (Doesn't P.C. Richard already sell those?)
And!
"The current site of the PC Richard store will serve as a new tech hub in Union Square, capitalizing on the academic and transit advantages offered by the neighborhood and its proximity to the Flatiron district," said Maria Torres-Springer, president of the EDC, in a statement.
The lease for P.C. Richards is up in February. Expect some bigger than the normally big sales!
Maybe this will be priced to move...
The Fantastic Tea Shop is for sale (and for rent)
An EVG reader noted the arrival of a for rent sign in the window at the Fantastic Tea Shop at 128 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue…
There is also a smaller sign in the window, noting that the business is for sale. (Call Anita: 917-291-4811.) So maybe you could buy the business and renegotiate the lease with the landlord (no mention of rent in the listing) … or move it elsewhere.
The cafe opened here back in January.
The Village Veterinarian is moving on East 11th Street
Just noting the recent arrival of the coming soon signage at 318 E. 11th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... announcing the new (larger) home for The Village Veterinarian, who is currently down the street closer to First Avenue.
The sign points to an opening in early 2016.
The previous tenant here, Soon Beauty Lab (who consolidated their operations), closed back in January.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Repost: The Ninth Street Bread N Cake Bakery was great until they applied for a liquor license
Digging into the archives here with this post from Nov. 5, 2010...
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Thanks to Goggla's comment the other day, we've all been spending far too much time looking at photos from the New York Public Library archives ... EV Grieve reader Pinhead came across this shot..
It's taken from the old Cooper Union building, looking at Stuyvesant Street to the east toward St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, 1856.
As Pinhead says: "Be sure to zoom the amazing detail, like the Ninth Street Bread N Cake Bakery at 172 E 9th (an address that doesn't exist anymore because of the NYU dorm)."
RIP Hank Penza
[Photo by Goggla]
Word is circulating that Hank Penza, who owned the Mars Bar, died on Oct. 29.
There isn't much information about his passing at the moment. A member of the Facebook group "Mars Bar was a riot in the Nineties" confirmed his death with a Penza family member. He was believed to be 81 or 82.
His bar ownership began in 1957 on the Bowery Among them: Hank’s Crystal Palace, Willie’s, the Penthouse and Bowery East.
Penza opened the Mars Bar in 1982 (or 1984 depending on the source) on Second Avenue and East First Street, where it continued until its demise in July 2011.
In 2005, the Observer published a colorful feature on Penza. To some excerpts:
His father came to New York from Italy as a boy and worked on the Brooklyn Bridge before serving in World War I. He was, said Mr. Penza, a “great provider” and a “stark-raving-mad right-winger” who hated Franklin Roosevelt and the smell of perfume.
Young Hank started working early. He and his pals in Corona, Queens, would go “junking”: loading up a horse and wagon with milk bottles and stuff to sell.
Soon he was helping out at crap games, doing what were called “mopey pinches”: Whenever the bookmakers got busted, they’d pay Hank $50 to go to court, and he’d be back on the street in hours.
And!
At 19, he got a $200-a-week job at the “21” Club. He wore a tux, took reservations and ran errands. If a man dining with his wife needed to make contact with his mistress at the Stork Club, he’d deliver the message.
He joined a crew called the 40 Thieves and started making money by “cleaning up” bars (i.e., getting rid of undesirables). Once they spent two weeks getting rid of some ruffians from a bar by sending them to another one across the street. A month later, they paid the ruffians $3 each to return to the first bar so the 40 Thieves could get the job back.
But he said he declined offers to join the Mafia.
“Nobody can make me, man,” he said. “I’m a made man. My name is Penza-we’re made, period. We don’t need that shit. That’s all movie stuff.”
His reputation grew. Two British guys gave him $1,500 to clean up their bar on lower Fifth Avenue, which had been overrun by pimps.
In 1957, he bought a bar at 12 Bowery and renamed it Henry’s.
After the Mars Bar closed, rumors circulated that Penza would open a new bar nearby. Thiose plans never materialized, though he was reportedly a partner in the business that eventually opened in the Jupiter 21 building on Second Avenue and East First Street.
Back to the Observer profile…
Still, he said, even now, New York is the only place to be. “I love it,” he said. “It’s the greatest place in the fucking world. There’s no place like this, man, and I’ve been all over the world. I love this city because they make me somebody. When I go somewhere else, they don’t treat me as well as they do. Here, they treat me with elegance. In Florida, I’m a little fucking scumbag.”
[Photo by Goggla]
Updated 11/10
The New York Times published a feature obit today.
Per the article:
In addition to his son William, he is survived by another son, Mark; a daughter, Kim; and three grandchildren.
William and Mark Penza own Billymark’s West, a bar of the Mars Bar stripe, on Ninth Avenue at 29th Street.
Lit Lounge is back for a return engagement in front of CB3's SLA committee
[EVG photo from September]
A familiar name is on CB3's SLA committee docket this month.
Lit Lounge actually appears twice on the agenda… for an alteration and corporate change…
According to the paperwork (PDF!) filed online ahead of the Nov. 16 meeting, Lit is reducing its size from two floors to one, cutting the occupancy of the bar at 93 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street to 157 in the process.
Meanwhile! As DNAinfo reported, as of Sept. 29, Cock owner Allan Mannarelli is now the majority owner/managing member of Lit. Hence the corporate change… (and if anyone can explain the 40 percent…)
In August, the SLA committee voted against Mannarelli's application to move the Cock from its current Second Avenue home several blocks north to the Lit space.
Per DNAinfo:
Mannarelli said the owners were considering a move to split the space and possibly add a new bar on the ground floor. “LIT [is] still alive,” he added, although plans to move Lit Lounge to Brooklyn were not completely off the table.
And so the maneuvering continues.
Lit first closed at the end of July after 13 years. There was talk of a relocation to Brooklyn, but those plans haven't been realized. Lit did briefly reopen on the weekend in late September.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Confirmed: Lit Lounge is closing on 2nd Avenue
New, confusing signs up at the former Lit Lounge space
Le Petit Parisien opens today on East 7th Street
[Photo from Oct. 29 by Derek Berg]
A follow-up to our post from Friday about Le Petit Parisien … the French-style sandwich shop is scheduled to open for business today at 32 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.
You can find their menu here. The sandwiches start at $9. And if you are so inclined, there's one called the Louis XIV — with foie gras and fig confit — going for $25.
For now, the listed hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. (They may want to consider staying open a little later for the coming-home-from-day-job crowd…)
You can find more info at the Le Petit website here.
Photos via Le Petit Parisien
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