The China Star will be back open tomorrow (or Thursday)

In case you were alarmed at the sight of the closed gate at the China Star during usual business hours... the solid, family-owned takeout-delivery spot at 145 First Ave. near Ninth Street was closed yesterday and today.

However, earlier today, EVG regular Lola Sáenz ran into China Star owner Jay Yang, who explained that they were doing some kitchen repairs, and will be open tomorrow (Thursday at the latest).

You can read our interview from October 2017 with Jay and learn the backstory of the China Star at this link.

Anyway, a reliable and affordable source of Chinese food right here.

The vintage bus stops here

Derek Berg spotted one of the MTA's vintage buses that have been in circulation this holiday season on Fourth Avenue near 14th Street.

Here's more about this ride via the MTA:

Bus Number 3100 (1956) was the first air-conditioned bus in the United States used for public transportation. The bus was designed and built as an experiment, with this single example was purchased by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company about a year after its manufacture.

It has other features first introduced in the 1950s: a push‑type rear exit door, wrap-around seating in the rear portion, soft seating, and fluorescent lighting. After two decades of passenger service, this vehicle was assigned to the Transit Police; it was retired from all service in the mid-1970s.

Sounds luxurious, though there's no WiFi or those soothing repeat "Caution bus is turning" messages.

The buses — 11 models in total — are scheduled to be here for boarding though Dec. 21.

And you can also ride the Nostalgia Train on Sundays starting at 10 a.m. through Dec. 30 at the Second Avenue F stop. This link has the schedule and more info.

Anyway, a feel-good moment for the MTA with a tumultuous budgeting process underway.

Plywood watch: 238 E. 3rd St.

The plywood recently arrived outside 238 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C...



...where there is a pending new building permit for a 7-floor residential complex.

As New York Yimby noted back in March:

The new structure will be designed by Vikatos Architect, and will comprise a total of 20,928 square feet of living area with a total built-up area of 27,657 square feet.

The building will rise seven floors above ground to 75 feet, with additional cellar living area and a basement. 20 rental units are planned, in total, putting the average unit at about 1,046 square feet.

But first, the existing structure needs to be demolished. (Those permits were filed at the DOB in July.) The arrival of the plywood is the first sign of the impending demolition here.

The current building, which the Blue Man Group owned at one point for use as a practice facility, also served as a movie theater. Public records from July 2017 list two of the founders of the Blue Man Group — Chris Wink and Philip Stanton — as the previous owners, who received $18.6 million for this and another LES property.

Vinbaytel Property Development is the new owner of No. 238. Vinbaytel has developed several East Village condos in recent years, including at 227 E. Seventh St., 67 Avenue C and 26 Avenue B.

Previously on EV Grieve:
7-story residential building planned for former Blue Man Group facilities on 3rd Street

On 1st Avenue, Paquito's is closed for renovations until Dec. 28

Paquito's, the dependable Mexican takeout spot on First Avenue between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, closed for renovations yesterday... (thanks to Lola Sáenz for the tip and photos!)



Their Instagram account puts the reopening at Dec. 28... with the promise of a new look...

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Paquitos is getting a new look! Stay tuned for updates. #paquitos #paquitosnyc #tacos #quesadilla #burritos #eastvillage

A post shared by Paquito's (@paquitosnyc) on Dec 9, 2018 at 7:05pm PST

Paquito's, which first opened in 1992, closed its bar-restaurant next door at the end of last year due to a reported rent increase.

Short Stories shapes up on the Bowery

New awning alert at 355 Bowery, where a new bar-restaurant called Short Stories will be opening soon here between Third Street and Fourth Street. (The Brett/Beer sign has been up since the height of the Kavanaugh hearings.)

CB3 OK'd a new liquor license back in June for the the applicants, including Danny "The Wolf of Wilson" Teran, who runs several businesses in Bushwick, including Wheelhouse out on Wilson Avenue, and Williamsburg Pizza investor Ashwin Deshmukh.

The questionnaire on file with the CB3 application noted that Short Stories will feature "a mix of American, Cuban and Mexican fare." (Teran, a Cuban-American, specializes in Cuban cuisine. He also previously ran Millie's Cuban Cafe on Wilson Avenue.)

No word on an opening date. You can see updates on the interior via the Short Stories Instagram account.

Wise Men closed here in November 2017 after five years in business. And previously, the space was Osaka Vibe/Orange Valve — aka, that kind of weird sushi place on the Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation of sorts: That kind of weird sushi place on the Bowery

Former kind of weird sushi place on the Bowery is now home to the Wise Men

Bushwick-based chef looking to bring Short Stories to the Bowery


[Photo from 2011]

Tea time for new cafe on 11th Street

[Reader-submitted photo]

JQK Floral Tea is now open at 330 E. 11th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

A reader shared the photo here from Saturday evening, and noted that the small shop sells a variety of green, black and oolong teas as well as coffee.

The JQK website isn't operational just yet (there's also an Instagram account without any posts). Yelp lists their hours as 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, with a 9 p.m. close on Friday and Saturday.

This space was previously home to Fair Folks & a Goat, the coffee shop and boutique, which left in August 2017.

Previously

At the 27th Tompkins Square Park holiday tree lightning

As promised, some more photos from yesterday's tree lighting ceremony in Tompkins Square Park.

All photos here are from EVG contributor Stacie Joy...







Carolers of Olde New York from Theater for the New City provided entertainment ...







...along with the Mandel & Lydon Trio...





And some of the residents and local business owners in attendance ...









































Albert Fabozzi started the event in 1992. He planted the tree in memory of Park advocate Glenn Barnett, "and each of our neighbors whom we have lost to AIDS.”

On this day in NYC history

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The beloved, legendary, and mourned CBGB opened on this day in 1973. The club was the birthplace of punk, a defining cultural movement of New York City in the 1970s, featuring bands like the Ramones (swipe 👉 to see them performing), Blondie, Talking Heads, and Joan Jett... and the list goes on and on. From its location on the Bowery, CBGB became a cultural destination and badge of honor for punk, rock, and new wave bands looking to make it big. 🎸The venue closed in 2006 with one final concert on October 15 by Patti Smith. . Discover more NYC punk history in #NYatItsCore, including Roberta Bayley’s Ramones photograph, on view starting Dec 11. __ 📷 CBGB, Bowery 1977; GODLIS; Roberta Bayley. Ramones CBGBs New York, 1976. @GODLIS #cbgb #punk #ramones #talkingheads #blondie #joanjett #rockandroll #pattismith #oldnewyork #vintagenewyork #vintagenyc #otd #onthisday

A post shared by Museum of the City of New York (@museumofcityny) on Dec 10, 2018 at 6:35am PST

Here's the new facility for Barrier Free Living on 2nd Street

Officials at Barrier Free Living (BFL) have announced their plans for a new state-of-the-art facility that will replace its current home on Second Street between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Here's a rendering of the building, designed by JCJ Architecture ...



And here's more from the news release about the new building for the nonprofit, which provides services and support for survivors of domestic violence with disabilities

The new 65,000-square foot facility will provide permanent housing specifically to meet the needs of this population and will include 74 apartments, administrative offices, a rear garden, an elevated outdoor recreation area, and community and support spaces.

The building will challenge assumptions about the aesthetics associated with supportive housing and create a more direct and engaged relationship for residents with the surrounding environment. The new facility is intended to efficiently serve the needs of BFL’s clients, to provide a sense of pride, place and home for residents, and to create a unique architectural presence in the rapidly changing neighborhood where the East Village and Lower East Side converge.

Inspired by the parameters of Mayor de Blasio’s Housing NYC Plan, this project will provide affordable housing and support services for a grossly underserved population. The project team will work alongside agencies and stakeholders including NY State Home and Community Renewal, ESSHI and NY City Board of Standards & Appeals. Funding for related services and rent support will come from the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative.

The $30 million project is anticipated to break ground in the fall of 2019 with completion planned for January 2021.

New owners set to take over the 33-year-old Sidewalk Bar & Restaurant on Avenue A

[EVG photo from November]

A new ownership team is on this month's CB3-SLA agenda for the Sidewalk, the 33-year-old bar-restaurant-live-music venue on Avenue A at Sixth Street.

The applicants are hospitality veterans Laura Saniuk-Heinig and Alyssa Sartor. (Saniuk-Heinig is the general manager at the Bar Room on East 60th Street; Sartor co-owned August Laura in Carroll Gardens.)



The questionnaire on file at the CB3 website (PDF here) describes the food/menu concept as "American bistro."

Live music, a longstanding tradition here, will apparently continue.

"We are looking forward to keeping the music aspect of the room still alive. Exactly what kinds of shows, we do not know yet," Saniuk-Heinig told me via email.

And will they keep the Sidewalk name? "We are in talks with the current owner, but no decision has been made," she wrote.

Sidewalk opened in the corner spot in 1985 ... eventually expanding to the space next door when Sophie's relocated to its current home on Fifth Street.

The biannual Antifolk Festival has been held here since 1993. The music venue has helped launch the careers of singer-songwriters like Regina Spektor, Adam Green, Kimya Dawson and Jeffrey Lewis. The Sidewalk still hosts live music, open mic nights (one of the longest-running ones in the city) and reading series seven days a week.

Sidewalk underwent a full renovation in 2011. Amnon Kehati, one of the Sidewalk partners, died in February 2015 at age 64.

The committee meeting starts tonight at 6:30. Location: The Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.


[Photo from 1997 by Dave Buchwald]

On 2nd Avenue, new owners for 12th Street Ale House, Durden

New ownership has taken over the 12th Street Ale House here on Second Avenue...


[Photo from Friday]

Rob Gelardi, the longtime manager of WXOU Radio Bar on Hudson Street who became the owner in 2008, is one of the principals here. (The place was previously owned by the folks behind Tile Bar on First Avenue and The Magician on Rivington.)

CB3 OK'd a new liquor license (sale of assets) back in September. It doesn't appear that much will change. The applicant's questionnaire posted on the CB3 website (PDF here) stated that:

• 12th Street Ale House will offer neighborhood residents a clean and comfortable place where they can enjoy good drinks and conversation. A casual and relaxing environment, catering to young and old alike.

• Cocktails will be well crafted and reasonably priced.

• 12th Street Ale House will provide a welcoming place for employees of the many neighboring businesses to unwind after work.

• The new owners of the 12th Street Ale House are longtime successful operators of similar bars in New York City. They understand the importance of quality, cleanliness and great customer service.

Gelardi recently opened Radio Amsterdam on the Upper West Side.

-----



Meanwhile, on Second Avenue at 13th Street, a new owner is set to take over Durden, the "Fight Club"-inspired sports bar.

Curt Huegel will appear before CB3's SLA committee tonight for a new liquor license at the corner space. (The questionnaire is here.) He runs a handful of bars-reaturants around the city, including Campagnola, Printers Alley, Galli and Bill's NYC.

The paperwork at the CB3 website lists this as a "sale of assets" ...



Durden opened in 2013... taking over the space from the ol' Nightengale Lounge.

The committee meeting starts tonight at 6:30 in the Perseverance House Community Room, 535 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Autre Kyo Ya has not been open lately

Autre Kyo Ya, the well-liked sibling of Kyo Ya, the Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant at 94 E. Seventh St., has apparently closed for good at 10 Stuyvesant St.

EVG reader Christopher Pelham says the French-Japanese restaurant, operated by Erina Yoshida and her father Tony, has been dark the past two weeks. (Open Table lists them as "permanently closed." The restaurant's website is offline and the phone goes unanswered.)

Word here is that Mr. Yoshida, who also owns Sunrise Mart and the cocktail bar Angel's Share, plans to (sub?)lease out the space. We're told that Mr. Yoshida's focus now is on Japan Village, the new food hall-grocery that recently opened in Industry City.

Autre Kyo Ya opened in December 2015.

The incoming Bubbleology Tea now with Bubbleology Tea signage

As noted (a few times) earlier this year, the London-based Bubbleology Tea chain is opening an outpost at 120 1/2 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

The Bubbleology signage is up now on the front window (H/T William Klayer!) promising "the Delicious Science of the Bubble Tea." In a real-estate transaction from May, the Times reported that the owners of this franchise signed a seven-year lease for the space, which "will feature milk- and fruit-based bubble tea blends including Oreo Crush, along with alcoholic brews including Raspberry Mar-Tea-Ni. "

The owners were seeking a full-liquor license for the address. However, CB3 denied their application in April, citing "insufficient public benefit ... for a business seeking to add tea-infused cocktails to its drink menu to sustain its business plan, in an area well-served with licensed businesses furnishing cocktails," per the minutes from that meeting. Not sure if the owners still plan on the alcohol portion of the drinks menu.

Here's a look inside from the other morning...



The latest iteration of the International Bar closed here in November 2017. (Non-renewal of lease, via landlord Steve Croman.) The bar merged with its sister saloon, the Coal Yard, one block to the south between Seventh Street and Sixth Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More about Bubbleology Tea, possibly coming soon to 1st Avenue