Now the Basics Plus on University Place is closing

Store closing signs are now in the windows at the Basics Plus on University Place at 13th Street. (Thanks to EVG reader Doug for the above photo!)

The signage directs future patrons to visit the East Village BP on Third Avenue at 12th Street (seen below)...


[Photo from this past weekend]

As you'll recall, back in March, the Basics Plus on Third Avenue announced that they were closing. At that time, customers were directed to shop at the University Place outpost...


[Photo from March by Steven]

However, closer to their announced April 29 closing date, the housewares store changed plans, and downsized their square footage at the Third Avenue location.

Who knows what might happen next with Basics Plus, which opened in the East Village in August 2014.

The Basics Plus website lists eight NYC locations.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Basics Plus apparently not closing on 3rd Avenue after all

The Alley now in soft-open bubble tea mode on Cooper Square

The Alley debuted on Sunday at 68 Cooper Square (across from Cooper Union). As previously noted, this is the first NYC location for the growing Taiwanese bubble tea chain.

After a few days of a soft opening, the Alley will be full time starting on Saturday.



As Eater previously reported on the Alley:

With the aid of social media, Alley’s Instagrammable sweet drinks and decor have attracted fervent milk tea lovers to line up for hours for a sip of tea whenever a new store opens. Chinese people coin tea shops like the Alley as the “internet celebrity tea,” meaning the tea goes viral overnight on social media, like internet celebrities.

In the upcoming New York Alley, customers can pick a drink from a menu of two dozens teas that range from bubble tea to fruit tea. “Brown sugar deerioca” — the brand’s logo is a deer head — is a signature milk-based sweet drink with no tea in it. Alley’s other popular drinks are made of fresh milk and local black or green tea. The tapioca pearls, or what the Alley calls deerioca, are made by the restaurant.

Speaking of lines, EVG reader Sheila shared this photo from Sunday... she counted about 40 people waiting to enter...

Report: Man arrested for attempting to kidnap 5-year-old boy outside Katz's

The Post is reporting that a man was arrested after allegedly grabbing a 5-year-old boy on the sidewalk outside Katz's early yesterday morning.

There aren't many details at the moment. Per the Post:

Eric Visa, 46, approached the child as he was walking outside the famous Lower East Side eatery with his family shortly after midnight, according to law enforcement sources.

The creep, who was wearing a top hat, grabbed the boy and walked away before the mother noticed and chased him down, the sources said.

Visa was tracked down by police and arrested at about 3 a.m. He was charged with attempted kidnapping.

The Citizen app listed the address as 164 Ludlow St., which is near Stanton Street...

Feast your eyes on this

That time of year already... the Feast of San Gennaro signage arrived back on Friday on Houston at Mulberry... the Feast takes place Sept. 12-22 this year.

New for the 2019 edition: a zeppole-eating contest. Per The Wall Street Journal (my go-to source for competitive-eating articles!):

The stuff-your-face affair, which is set for Sept. 18 at the midway point of the 11-day festival, is a natural fit for San Gennaro, said Danny Fratta, a longtime zeppole vendor who is organizing the event. In fact, the zeppole contest joins meatball and cannoli eating competitions already established at the festival.

A warning about sitting on these tree guard railings on 5th Street

An update on the ongoing campaign to keep people and squirrels from upsetting the eco-system of this planter on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The Urban Tree Guard Etiquette Sign asks that people refrain from sitting on the tree guard railings ... because the tree guards are coated with grease to keep squirrels from digging in the planters.

In response, someone placed a "More Humanity Towards [sic] Animals" sticker on the sign...



It's not immediately clear if the sticker is in direct response to the sign... or perhaps just randomly placed. (A "More Humanity Toward Pants" sticker might be appropriate. Grease stains are tough, though not impossible, to remove.)

As previously reported, this tree guard is within the East Fifth St. Tree Committee boundaries.

Week in Grieview

[A view of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place]

Posts this past week included...

Welcoming baby Luna (Thursday)

No winners yet in Tompkins Square Park synthetic turf battle (Tuesday)

Book Club makes it official on 3rd Street (Monday)

Another driver wedges car on the bike lane adjacent to the FDR (Thursday)

This week's NY See (Saturday)

The Marshal has seized Savor Por Favor on 2nd Avenue (Monday)

The McDonald's on 1st Avenue is back in McAction (Monday)

The former DeRobertis building on 1st Avenue is now the Slater, where the penthouse is $15k (Thursday)

Niconeco Zakkaya debuts on 10th Street (Thursday)

Check in: Moxy East Village closer to opening (Monday)

Brasserie Saint Marc — still coming soon to 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

The disappearing northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

Brooklyn's the Modern Chemist opening an outpost on East Houston (Wednesday)

The former Bruno Pizza space is for rent on 13th Street (Tuesday)

Boticarios has apparently closed on 1st Street (Monday)

The totem of Broadway (Tuesday)

Broadway Apothecary coming to the old Milk and Hops spot on Broadway (Monday)

First Lamb Shabu is (finally) open on 14th Street (Monday)

Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea signage arrives on St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

An LES coffee casualty (Wednesday)

... early Monday morning, someone spray painted DB (a David Berman tribute?) along the Con Ed substation on Avenue A from Sixth Street to Fifth Street...





Also on Avenue A: the cowboy is back (again) here between Third Street and Fourth Street...



Last weekend, the artist removed her "Call Me By Your Name" Braille mural that went up for Pride Month...


[Photo by Vinny & O]

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Sunday outside the former Sidewalk

Here's a look today at part of the former Sidewalk space on Avenue A at Sixth Street.

Interior work continues for a new bar-restaurant, as we've been reporting.

The Sidewalk, with a long-standing open-mic night, closed in February after 32-plus years in business. The owner was ready to retire and move on.

A live music element was expected to continue when the next place opens, but most details haven't been made public. Laura Saniuk-Heinig, one of the restaurant space's new co-owners, did not respond to our previous email seeking more information about the new venture.

Meanwhile, as the top photo shows, the corner space continues to attract a variety of tags and wheatpaste art ... including one of Sally Long Dog...

View this post on Instagram

A new Sally and Harry mural by @earlyrisernyc is up! Check it out, just don’t pee on it! #myblock #calledit #peerightsreserved Location: 6th Street and Avenue A

A post shared by Sally Long Dog 🐾 (@sallylongdog) on Aug 25, 2019 at 2:01pm PDT

Updated 9/2

Some company for Sally Long Dog (via @earlyrisernyc) ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The building housing the former Sidewalk sells on Avenue A

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

1-floor expansion planned for Avenue A building that housed the Sidewalk

Saturday's parting shot

Moving day on St. Mark's Place... photo by Vinny & O

6 posts from August

[A hug for the Hare Krishna tree via Steven]

A mini month in review...

Welcoming baby Luna (Aug. 29)

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Aug. 14)

Car making U-turn strikes woman on Avenue B sidewalk (Aug. 12)

Time capsules: The Gap of St. Mark's Place (Aug. 8)

The Sunshine is gone, and an empty lot awaits a 9-story office building (Aug. 7)

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black in Tompkins Square Park (Aug. 5)

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's the latest NY See panel, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood.

Today in Tompkins Square Park: the New Village Music Festival

The ninth annual New Village Music Festival (aka NVMF) takes place today (Aug. 31!) in Tompkins Square Park from 2-6 p.m.

The event, billed as "New York’s hottest multicultural fusion concert," presents a variety of musicians and artists spanning several genres. Find more details on the free show at the Facebook Events page.

Updated noon



Steven shares these photos... showing workers setting up for the event...

Street scenes

Good morning from 10th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. Looks like a good spot (X).

The Weird! revolution continues tomorrow night at Otto's Shrunken Head

The next monthly edition of Get Weird!, the rock-and-roll party at Otto's Shrunken Head, is tomorrow (Saturday night).

The free show includes the garage-psych of the Abyssmals and the surf-roxotica the Black Widows.

Otto's is at at 538 E. 14th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Orquesta Manoeuvres

A summer send-off with "Unpretentious Beauty" by the Japanese-based Clive Tanaka y su Orquesta.

The "Orquesta" has a new record out now called Pre​-​Sunrise Authority.

A climb up into the Hare Krishna tree

A tree crew showed up today in the center of Tompkins Square Park ... with the Hare Krishna tree the focus of their attention. (There were admittedly a few anxious moments while people wondered what they might be doing. You never know what the city has planned.)

However, the workers said they were there to test equipment... with one worker showing the other some tree-climbing tips, per EVG correspondent Steven ...











Thanks to Steven for the photos.

EVG summer storylines

[RIP East River Park via Dave on 7th]

Three stories that we've been following this summer and late spring...

The pending closure of East River Park

• Last week to comment on the city's plans to close East River Park (Aug. 27)

• An annual reunion in East River Park (Aug. 4)

• City Planning Commission will hold its hearing on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project tomorrow (July 30)

• Next steps in the plan to rebuild East River Park (July 19)

• This week's public meeting about stormproofing East River Park (July 16)

• A visit to East River Park (July 10)

• Here are the next meetings for you to learn more about stormproofing plans for East River Park (June 3)

The plan to put synthetic turf at Tompkins Square Park

• No winners yet in Tompkins Square Park synthetic turf battle (Aug. 27)

• Petition to 'Save Tompkins Square asphalt!' closing in on 19,000 signatures (July 8)

• Skateboarders upset over plan to add synthetic turf to the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park (July 2)

The ongoing challenges at Gem Spa

• Get your Gem Spa t-shirts or photos of Madonna — at Gem Spa! (Aug. 16)

• A July 4 moment at Gem Spa (July 4)

• Will you buy a Gem Spa T-shirt? (June 28)

• The Gem Spa Zoltar is alive and well and telling fortunes an L-train ride away in Bushwick (June 19)

• "Gem Spa is open!" (June 18)

• What is happening at Gem Spa? (June 11)

A visit to Gem Spa (May 10)

A Labor Day weekend book sale at Mast

Happening at Mast Books, Avenue A at Fifth Street, all Labor Day Weekend long...

View this post on Instagram

BOOK SALE! All weekend long. Hundreds of books, most in the $5 to $10 range! Starts this afternoon at 2pm through Labor Day.

A post shared by Mast Books (@mastbooks) on Aug 30, 2019 at 8:36am PDT

Another driver wedges car on the bike lane adjacent to the FDR

[Screengrab via PIX11]

Police are searching for the BMW driver who cruised along the bike-jogging path adjacent to the FDR, abandoning the vehicle after it became wedged between the highway's retaining wall and Con Ed at 15th Street early this morning.

Per PIX11:

Police said the driver of the car fled the scene and was nowhere to be found.

Authorities do not know where the car entered the sectioned-off path or how it got stuck there.

WATCH: Tow truck lifts car out of bike path where it had been previously wedged on the N/B side of the FDR Drive near 14th street. No reports on injuries. HEAVY delays beyond Brooklyn Bridge @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/qs2QuWZUfn

— MARISSA TORRES PIX11 (@MarissaTorresTV) August 29, 2019

In July 2018, a woman driving a Porsche Cayenne managed the same feat...

@NY1 @patkiernan How did the driver even manage this? Blocked the fdr path this morning. #Bailedthrough thesunroof @Porsche pic.twitter.com/wBLY4yLhsx

— michael feldstein (@majy10016) July 27, 2018

Thankfully no one was injured in either reckless driving incident.

Welcoming baby Luna

On Aug. 7 at 1:48 a.m., Luna Rivera, weighing 7.2 pounds, arrived in a water bath birth at her parent's home on Third Street.

She was greeted by her mother, Juana Rivera, 33, and father, Edward Rivera, 34. She joins siblings Edward Rivera, Jr., 6, and Rex Rivera, 3.

All three of the Rivera children were birthed at home under the guidance of East Village-based midwife Cara Muhlhahn. (You may have read about her here or here.)

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was at the Rivera house in the days after Luna's birth. Stacie shared these photos — with the Rivera's permission — of Baby Luna's first few days at home.








[With Juana]


[With Edward]


[With Edward Jr.]


[With Rex]


[The grandfather, Eduardo Rivera]


[Cara the midwife with Juana]

The former DeRobertis building on 1st Avenue is now the Slater, where the penthouse is $15k

As previously reported, there have been ongoing renovations at 174-176 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street.

The residential units above the storefronts (Black Seed bagels has been in the north space since October 2015) hit the rental market earlier this summer.

For starters, the building has a new name: the Slater.



And a few building blurbs via Streeteasy...

Each apartment in this newly gut renovated building is sprawling with natural light from both Eastern and Western exposures.

The state-of-the-art kitchen touts high-end stainless steel appliances consisting of a Whirlpool Microwave, Fisher and Paykel Stove and Oven, Liebherr Refrigerator, LG Dishwasher and a Summit Wine Cooler.

And...

Additional features guaranteed not to be found elsewhere include USB electrical outlets, HD video intercoms and Latch Keyless entry system on every apartment door.

The building’s expansive furnished communal roof deck will also have a pergola, bbq station and high top bar for entertaining with 360 degrees New York City skyline views.

Together, these renovations are one of a kind and guaranteed to be the envy of the neighborhood. At The Slater, you’ll find premium finishes and the best comforts.

The penthouse, featuring seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, has an asking price of $15,125. (The fine print: "The price advertised is the net effective rent with one month free on a 12 month lease.")

This building was owned for generations by the DeRobertis family. They closed DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe here after 110 years in business in December 2014. The economy, age and health reportedly compelled the four DeRobertis siblings to sell the building (for $9.9 million, per public records).

In May 2018, High Point Property Group reportedly bought the five-story walkup for $12.1 million. The seller was a joint venture between EBMG, LLC and AMJ Equities.

The current landlord has said they'll return a refurbished DeRobertis neon signage to the storefront above Black Seed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ugh: The 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe closes after Dec. 5

[Updated] 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe looks to be closing once the building is sold

174-176 First Ave., home of DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe, is for sale

Let's take a look at the DeRobertis in-house bakery

What happened to the DeRobertis neon sign on 1st Avenue?

Niconeco Zakkaya debuts on 10th Street

Niconeco Zakkaya is now open at 263 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The business, which started in 2015 as an online enterprise, sells original Japanese stationery and other handcrafted items.

You can check out their wares on Instagram...

View this post on Instagram

Lovely mailart on the wall from my dear friend @queenie_abelle❤️ Some new arrivals in the shop👋 Weekdays opening 11:00-19:00📝 See you!😊 #niconecozakkaya

A post shared by niconeco zakkaya (@niconeco_zakkaya) on Aug 28, 2019 at 10:00am PDT

Previously on EV Grieve:
Niconeco Zakkaya, seller of Japanese stationery and gifts, opening a shop on 10th Street