[Updated, we were faked-out edition] Today in miracles on Houston and Avenue B

For the first time in eight-plus years, there won't be a sidewalk bridge on the NW corner of Houston and Avenue B. [OOPS — see the update below!]

Workers from the Department of Miracles were removing the long-standing structure today. (Thanks to EVG reader Miriam Abrahams for the photo!) 

In February, we reported on the long-vacant building's new owner, an LLC linked to Penn Capital South, whose portfolio includes multiple EV properties. A gut renovation is in the works.

The liquor store in the retail space has been closed since the owner passed away in the fall of 2009 at age 89. (See the shop's frozen-in-time interior here.)

This was one of the abandoned buildings owned by the estate of the mysterious team of Arthur and Abraham Blasof, both long deceased. However, No. 6 has been generating some income with the cell-phone towers on the roof. 

Updated 8 p.m. 

Well then! So much for that sidewalk being free of a sidewalk bridge... so workers removed the old one and have erected a new sidewalk bridge (thanks again to Miriam for keeping tabs on this!).

As you were!

Previously on EVG:

• Because you've always wanted to know what the inside of the long-empty 6 Avenue B looks like

• Let's take another look at the eerie remains of the long-abandoned 6 Avenue B 

Here are the official local Open Streets for 2023

This past Earth Day weekend, city officials unveiled the list of 2023 Open Streets, 160 locations that equal nearly 300 blocks in the five boroughs...

This year’s new Open Streets feature locations across the five boroughs, including in Bushwick & Brownsville, #Brooklyn; South Jamaica, #Queens; & Soundview, #theBronx. More Open Streets are being finalized, with anticipated launches on/after 7/1. Details: https://t.co/Cvz8Quf16F

— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) April 22, 2023

The Open Streets initiative launched in the spring of 2020 to give pandemic-weary residents more space to take in the outdoors. 

Only some people are enamored by the program. Per Gothamist: "Opponents of the program have complained about losing valuable parking spots, and argue that Open Streets inhibit emergency vehicles and hinder residents with limited mobility."

Here are the local Open Streets...

• Avenue B, Sixth Street to 14th Street (limited local access)

Hours: Daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Partner: The Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition

• Bleecker Street, Mott to the Bowery (full closure)

Hours: Wednesday-Friday, 5-11 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Partner: Von Design Ltd 

• Bond Street, Lafayette to the Bowery (full closure)

Hours: Monday-Friday, 4:30-11 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m.-11 p.m.

Partner: il Buco 

• Fourth Street, the Bowery to Second Avenue (full closure)

Hours: Thursdays, 4-9 p.m.

Partner: Fourth Arts Block (aka FABnyc) 

• Seventh Street, Avenue A to First Avenue (full closure)

Hours: Monday-Friday, 4-11 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon-11 p.m.

Partner: Overthrow Hospitality 

Top photo on Avenue B via @loisaida_oscc

Reminders: Tompkins Square Library branch now closed for renovations

Photos by Steven

The Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is now closed (as of yesterday) for renovations. (First mentioned here.)

According to an email to patrons, the closure, expected to last three months, will "facilitate improvements to the building, including preliminary work on a new Teen Center at the library, as well as replacing the branch's flooring and a fresh coat of paint." 

During this temporary closure, patrons are encouraged to use the following nearby branches: 

• Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Ave. 

• Hamilton Fish Park Library, 415 E. Houston St. 

• Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Ave. 

The branch opened here in 1904 and is expected to be back in service in early July.

Asbestos abatement for the vacant storefronts along Stuyvesant Street

Earlier this month, workers erected a sidewalk bridge along 29 Third Ave. (home of the Bean) and the empty storefronts at 8-14 Stuyvesant St.

Work permits at the DOB show a pending permit for "retail store white box interior renovation." (We have also yet to see any for-lease signs here.)

We're waiting to see what might be happening with these high-profile spaces.

In the interim, Asbestos Abatement Notices have arrived on the plywood... noting the removal of asbestos... with a projected completion date of Feb. 23, 2024.

This is the first activity we've seen here since the previous tenants moved out last spring.

As previously noted, it was nearly a year ago that news first surfaced — via a tweet by Alex Vadukul, a correspondent for The New York Times — that Tony Yoshida's four businesses along Stuyvesant Street between Ninth Street and Third Avenue were expected to close. Village Yokocho, Angel's Share, Panya and Sunrise Mart were all gone by the end of April. 

Cooper Union, which leased the buildings from their owners and had subleased them to the Yoshida Restaurant Group for more than 25 years, said it was the tenants' decision to move on. (This post has more background. Yoshida had not paid rent since 2020.)

There haven't been any public statements on what the landlord, believed to be 29 Third Ave Corporation c/o Casabella Holdings, LLC, has in store for the spaces. A Cooper Union rep told us previously that no new building is planned on this site. 

Signage alert: The restaurant-bar in the works at 309 E. Fifth St.

Signage is up for a new restaurant-bar at 309 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue... Eden shared these shots from the other day...

Last September, Community Board 3 approved a license for an applicant to open a Thai restaurant here under the trade name Ni Yom. (Application here.) Perhaps they decided on a different name for the establishment.

The previous tenant at No. 309, Jiang's Kitchen, closed after ownership opted to relocate to 65 St. Mark's Place and open Jiang's Kitchen in November 2021.

Monday's parting shot

Avenue A sky views...

Here's what's coming to the former Zum Schneider space on 7th Street and Avenue C

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Ayat, a Palestinian bistro with several Brooklyn outposts, including the original in Bay Ridge, is opening its first Manhattan outpost on the NW corner of Seventh Street and Avenue C later this year. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy met owners Akram Nassir (left) and Abdul Elenani outside the space, where interior renovations are underway...

Elenani and his team have been busy expanding in the five boroughs, with multiple new locations and concepts in the works, as Eater previously reported. 

The East Village location will offer Middle Eastern/Palestinian food — and no alcohol.

Zum Schneider, the popular biergarten and restaurant, closed here after 20 years in late February 2020. 

In November 2020, a jokester attached a fake sign to the storefront stating that a McDonald's was opening here. 

The skyward-bound 21-story office building at 360 Bowery reaches the halfway mark

Workers are up to the 11th floor now here on the SW corner of the Bowery and Fourth Street ... which means they've passed the halfway mark on the 21-story, 110,000-square-foot office building with full-floor office suites. (See the final product here.)

Importantly, you can still make out part of Kendall Jenner's elbow on the mostly-obscured Marc Jacobs billboard ad...

... and the view from six blocks to the north...

This development replaces the single-level B Bar & Grill (1994-2020) on property that was previously a gas station.

The developers of this project within the Soho/Noho rezoning area are reportedly a collaboration between SK Development, Ironstate and CB Development. 

The Braised Shop closes in the East Village

After nearly five years of serving a variety of Taiwanese street food, the Braised Shop has closed at 241 E. 10th St. at First Avenue. Last night was the last in service.

However, in making the announcement, ownership promises that "it's not the end." Sounds like they have plans for a new concept elsewhere. 

Here's their entire message via Instagram...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Braised Shop (@thebraisedshop)

Sunday's parting shots

At Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue and 12th Street... when you think the 2-hour and 59-minute "Beau Is Afraid" is almost over, but you realize there are still 85 minutes left...

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo by Steven of the LUNGS Spring Awakening Parade in Tompkins Square Park yesterday)... 

• Report: East Village gallery a no-show on opening night, leaving artists without their work (Wednesday) ... After group-show ghosting, the EVAC space is for lease on 1st Avenue (Thursday) 

• Help for A&C Kitchen, which remains closed after a late-February fire (Thursday) 

• A look at Poetica Coffee, opening soon on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• The farce awakens at the Orpheum Theatre (Saturday) 

• Downtown Bakery preparing to reopen after being sidelined with an expired license (Friday) 

• A visit to East Village Buyers, now in soft-open mode in new Avenue A home (Friday) 

• A new home on an avenue for East Village gallery-bookstore Ed. Varie (Tuesday) 

• A great new song and video from cumgirl8 (Friday) 

• Collapsed portion of sidewalk whole again on 7th Street (Monday) 

• Openings: Honey Crepes on 13th Street (Tuesday) 

• Aura Bar & Kitchen is back on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Sushi on Jones departs The Bowery Market, where several new concepts are on the way (Thursday) 

• Signage alert: Deli Convenience on 1st Avenue; Partea on 14th Street (Monday) 

• On the April CB3-SLA docket: A Pig & Butter sibling on Avenue B (Monday)

• Happy trails to the Shake Shack curbside dining structure on 3rd Avenue (Thursday) 

... and Bob's Bar has reopened for the season on 12th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue (photo by Stacie Joy) ...

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Follow EVG on Instagram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics.

EVG etc.: The fries at Ray's Candy Store; the martinis at Madeline's

Sunrise view of the Christodora House and Con Ed plant the other morning... 

• NYC libraries could end weekend service with the mayor's budget cuts (Gothamist) 

• Economic trouble signs emerge for NYC (THE CITY) 

• The Children's Workshop School on 12th Street is holding its annual Schoolapalooza 2023 online fundraiser this week (Official site) 

• The fries at Ray's Candy Store are some of the best around (Eater) 

• Tied vote stymies union effort at the Trader Joe's at Essex Crossing (NY1) 

• Owners of the Wayland open Madeline's Martini at 171 Avenue C (Time Out ... previously on EVG)

• Save the date May 31 for an unveiling of a plaque to honor jazz icon Charles Mingus on the building in which he lived and planned to launch a school on Great Jones (Village Preservation) 

• Thoughts on Adam Zhu's photography book "Nice Daze" (The New Yorker... previously on EVG) 

• The Old School Kung Fu Fest is back (Metrograph) 

• A model claims she was drugged and scammed at Little Sister Lounge in the Moxy Hotel on 11th Street (The Post) 

• Inside an East Village apartment redesign (Design Milk) 

• Podcast: How the Lower East Side's history shaped NYC (Travel + Leisure) 

• Iggy Pop covers "Walk On The Wild Side" for the first time as new tour commences (Stereogum)

The first street festival (street fair!) of the season

In recent days you likely noticed the "No Parking Sunday" signs along Second Avenue... today marks the first street festival of the season, listed online as the Second Avenue EV Festival... and happening from 14th Street to Fourth Street (haven't been over there this a.m. to confirm the southern endpoint) to St. Mark's Place (thanks Derek Berg!). 

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or sun. Middle Church is listed as the sponsor.

Earth Day activities in East Village community gardens and along the Open Street of Avenue B

Today. Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens (LUNGS) is hosting its annual Spring Awakening to celebrate the neighborhood's community gardens. 

The activities get underway with a parade at 11 a.m. at El Sol Brillante, 522 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. Hit this link for a list of garden events.

There are also activities along the Open Street of Avenue B between Seventh Street and Ninth Street from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Loisaida Open Streets (@loisaida_oscc)

The farce awakens at the Orpheum Theatre

A new era is beginning at the classic Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place... yesterday afternoon, the signage arrived for the venue's next production, "The Empire Strips Back" ...

This burlesque "Star Wars" parody begins a limited run at the venue on May 10.

This is the first time in 29 years that "Stomp" signage is not present on the theater. That show, which is on the road these days, ended here on Jan. 8 after 11,000-plus performances.

And this production continues the Orpheum's use as a theater. In the 1980s, the Orpheum was well-known for Off-Broadway productions such as "Little Shop of Horrors" in 1982, Sandra Bernhard's "Without You I'm Nothing" in 1988, Eric Bogosian's "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll" in 1990, John Leguizamo's "Mambo Mouth" in 1991, and David Mamet's "Oleanna" in 1992.

The Orpheum is reportedly owned by Liberty Theatres, a subsidiary of Reading International, which also runs Minetta Lane Theatre.

According to Cinema Treasures: "The site on which the Orpheum stands is alleged to have been a concert garden as early as the 1880s and, as such, to be one of the oldest continuously operating places of gathering for entertainment events in New York City." 

...and another view via Steven...

Friday's parting shot

Photo by Derek Berg 

A moment in Tompkins Square Park today (retrieving an errant ping-pong ball FYI)...

Made for dancin'

 

Local faves cumgirl8 released a single (via their new label 4AD) and video this week for "cicciolina."

The track is a tribute to Ilona Staller, aka Cicciolina, the Hungarian-born former porn star, politician and singer. The band explains the reasoning behind the song on Instagram. 

The band will be on the road soon, playing dates in North America (including opening a few nights for Le Tigre) and Europe. (This Brooklyn Vegan piece lists the dates.) 

Read our 2021 Q&A with cumgirl8 here.

A Prince for Houston

This mural of Prince by @dirtcobain arrived last weekend on the corner of Houston and Eldridge (on the Ridge Hotel). 

Prince died on this day in 2016.

Tomorrow is Record Store Day — long live record stores!

Record Store Day — the annual celebration of independent record shops — takes place tomorrow (Saturday).

As always, vinyl enthusiasts can look forward to limited-edition releases from artists across a variety of genres, as well as special reissues (and reissues of reissues) and previously unreleased recordings.

So far, we're not sure how (or if!) our local shops might be celebrating the day. 

Limited to One, 221 E. 10th St., has been teasing some merch — seven boxes of LPs! — on the shop's Instagram account. LtO opens at 10 a.m.

Here's a list of EV record stores to keep in mind tomorrow and the other days of the year ...

• A-1 Record Shop 

439 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue 

• Academy Records 

415 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue

• Ergot Records 

32 E. Second St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery 

• Limited to One Records 

221 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue 

• Manhattan45 

220 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue 

• Stranded Records 

218 E. Fifth St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square

Downtown Bakery preparing to reopen after being sidelined with an expired license

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Updated 5/11 here

Today marks two months that Downtown Bakery at 69 First Ave. has been dark. 

On Feb. 21, as we first reported, the DOH closed the delicious and affordable quick-serve Mexican restaurant for operating with an expired health permit. (Updated.)

Last evening, I ran into the management, who said the license had expired, and it was challenging to cut through red tape to get a new one. They want people to understand it was an expired license, not food- or hygiene-related issues.

The good news: They plan to reopen here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street in two to three weeks and have decided to use the downtime to renovate the small space, including installing a new floor...

And they say the menu, with some of the best breakfast burritos (not to mention tamales!) around, will remain the same...

A visit to East Village Buyers, now in soft-open mode in new Avenue A home

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

The team at East Village Buyers is settling into its new storefront at 39 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street. 

Owner Gabriel Shaulov (below) said that the high-end consignment shop specializing in sneakers, jewelry and other collectibles is still officially in a soft-open mode (hence the paper on the front windows)...

Shaulov and his co-workers welcomed me into the space the other day to look around...

With the new space on the avenue, the shop has a much larger retail footprint than their previous home at 150 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B ...

You can keep up with East Village buyers on Instagram here.

Thursday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

At the Key Food checkout tonight with Shirley and Cáit!

P.S. 

In the background... Key seems to have even more Keebler® Export Sodas in the recloseable can these days. (And why are they always by the checkout and exit?)

Happy trails to the Shake Shack curbside dining structure on 3rd Avenue

Today, Shake Shack had a crew via 1-800-GOT-JUNK? dismantle its lengthy curbside dining structure along Third Avenue between Ninth Street and Canal Street Eighth Street/Astor Place...

Help for A&C Kitchen, which remains closed after a late-February fire

Photo of Mr. Li from March by Stacie Joy 

On Feb. 27, a two-alarm fire broke out at 136 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. 

Initial reports blamed a "lit object" discarded from a residential window down to the courtyard in the rear of the building. Unfortunately, a groundfloor tenant, A&C Kitchen, the longtime quick-serve and affordable Chinese restaurant, remains closed. 

Sierra Zamarripa, who owns Lovewild Design next door, recently started a crowdfunding campaign to help Mr. Li, who has run A&C Kitchen for 30-plus years, with lost income over the past two months as well as other additional reopening expenses. 

You can find the link here.