Bereket has closed

Several EVG readers passed along the news that Bereket closed for good early this morning after 19 years on East Houston and Orchard.

Jeremiah Moss first reported the impending closure yesterday.

EVG reader Bill Imprint stopped by around 1 a.m., and the quick-serve Turkish restaurant had already run out of falafels and doner kebab sandwiches with several hours to go.

As BoweryBoogie reported back in March, developer Ben Shaoul is apparently buying up the properties occupied by 196-198 Orchard and 187 East Houston for God knows what.

BB pointed out that Katz's is not part of the Shaoul land grab.



Jeremiah noted that Bereket hopes to reopen nearby on Allen Street.

[Updated] Tiger beat

EVG reader Andrew spotted this yesterday on Avenue A and East Second Street …

It looked familiar…


[EVG file photo]

We checked in with the now-former owner of the Cadillac with the Tiger in it.

This one is NOT the same tiger, though he certainly would make for a nice companion, says the now-former owner of the Cadillac with the Tiger in it.

Anyway, just so you know what you're dealing with here.

Updated 4:02 p.m.

This tiger is apparently on the prowl! Andrew just spotted it on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B…

Sounds on C tomorrow afternoon at La Plaza

Free music tomorrow afternoon at the La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez community garden on the southwest corner of Avenue C and East Ninth Street … bands start at 2:30. Find out more about them here.

At the 2014 New York City Drag March

Participants in the annual Drag March last night gathered in Tompkins Square Park for the walk on over to the Stonewall Inn … EVG contributor editrrix shared a few photos from the early evening with us...















Find more of her photos from the March here.

The Houston/Bowery Mural Wall has been boarded up

Workers yesterday erected a sidewalk bridge along the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall, mostly blocking the work of the current artist in the rotation — veteran Bronx graffiti artist Cope2.

The bridge joins the section that went up on Elizabeth Street at East Houston late last month at the former site of Billy's Antiques.

As BoweryBoogie first reported in April, there are approved plans for a two-story structure to rise from this empty lot.

Goldman Properties owns 76 E. Houston St. and the adjacent graffiti wall.





BoweryBoogie uncovered a feasibility study performed by Gary H. Silver Architects showing one possibility for this corner where the mural currently stands — a 12-story building. (This rendering is no longer on the Silver website.)


[Rendering by Gary H. Silver Architects via BoweryBoogie]

There's nothing on file with the DOB to suggest any new building of this size here.



So it's unclear at this point what the future holds for the wall. In the short term, it doesn't look so good.

Keith Haring put up the first mural here 30-plus years ago. Read this post at Complex for more history of the wall here at East Houston and the Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Deal off to bring Crif Dogs to the former Billy's Antiques space

Headless Duane Reade shopper slowly but surely getting a head

Last weekend at the Duane Reade on East Second Street and Avenue B!

Today!



Eventually!

[EVG file photo]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Headless Duane Reade shopper giving East 2nd Street the creeps

'Crane operation' to close off part of St. Mark's Place this weekend

As the signs show, St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue will be closed off for part of the weekend … "due to a crane operation at 119 St. Mark's Place."



I didn't even know that 119 St. Mark's place was a crane hospital! (Boooooooo.)

Updated 2:06 p.m.


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Anyone happen to know what the workers are dropping off on the roof?

Get on it

Been revisiting Dinosaur Jr. since learning they're headlining the 4Knots Music Festival at the South Street Seaport on July 12…

Here is "The Wagon" from 1991.

The Halal Guys finally opening their East Village restaurant tomorrow

We walked by the incoming Halal Guys space last evening on East 14th Street just east of Second Avenue ... and spotted about 10 workers inside stocking the refrigerated units with drinks, etc. When asked, one of the workers said they'd be open "soon."

Soon turns out to be tomorrow, as the Daily News reports that the first restaurant from the popular food-cart vendors opens at 7 a.m. 5 p.m.

And what can you expect?

In addition to the standard gyros and platters sold at the carts, the restaurant will boast new offerings, including a juice and smoothie bar, hummus, tabbouleh, baba ghanoush, Mediterranean salads and yogurt. And the falafels will be made fresh, instead of merely reheated at the carts.

While a rice-and-meat platter is $6 at Halal Guys’ carts, the East Village restaurant will offer two sizes: a regular for $6 and a large for $7.

Meanwhile, the owners are planning to go national (and eventually global) by working with Fransmart — the franchise company behind the rapidly expanding Five Guys Burgers brand — to open restaurants in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Houston.

So does this mean that we can't like them anymore?

We were first to report on the East Village expansion last Sept. 28.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Halal Guys are now open on East 14th Street and 2nd Avenue

The Halal Guys are apparently opening their first restaurant in the East Village

Summer in the city

East Village rooftops (and at least one hammock) via James and Karla Murray.

1 business left on this stretch of Avenue C

Adinah's Farm on Avenue C and East Second Street closed on Sunday night.

With the market's closure, there is one remaining business on the east side of Avenue C between East Second Street and East Third Street — the liquor store...



The storefronts to the north remain boarded up.


[EVG file photo]

As we've noted, there has been a full vacate order on 32 Avenue C at East Third Street since August 2012 ... the building is in disrepair, and will eventually be demolished ... along with everything to (and including) 26 Avenue C (the former Impulse Footwear).

Plans were filed with the city in July 2005 for a new 6-floor residential building here. The city disapproved the plans in May 2006, and nothing more happened with the project.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern for 32 Avenue C

Free tonight in Tompkins Square Park: the 'tough beauty' of 'La Haine'

Tonight at 8:30ish … it's another in the Films on the Green series with the 1995 release "La Haine."

Here's Criterion describing the film:

Mathieu Kassovitz took the film world by storm with La haine, a gritty, unsettling, and visually explosive look at the racial and cultural volatility in modern-day France, specifically the low-income banlieue districts on Paris’s outskirts. Aimlessly passing their days in the concrete environs of their dead-end suburbia, Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Hubert (Hubert Koundé), and Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) — a Jew, an African, and an Arab — give human faces to France’s immigrant populations, their bristling resentment at their marginalization slowly simmering until it reaches a climactic boiling point. A work of tough beauty, La haine is a landmark of contemporary French cinema and a gripping reflection of its country’s ongoing identity crisis.

Vacation time for Stage Restaurant

[Photo by Sean Ganann via nycgo.com]

The Stage closes for a summer break after service tomorrow ... and Roman and company will be back on July 9.

Just noting this because they don't always put up a sign on the gate at vacation time here at 128 Second Ave. near St. Mark's Place.

Didn't want to cause any panic in case you saw them closed during usual business hours ... especially given some of the troubling talk here of late. While the building was sold, the Stage has five-plus years left on their lease.

Wet hot NYC summer: City pools open today

[Hamilton Fish Pool via www.nycgovparks.org]

That means Hamilton Fish Pool on Pitt and East Houston ... the Dry Dock Pool on Avenue D and East 10th Street ... and the Tompkins Square Pool (mini pool for kids!) are opening ...


[Tompkins Square Pool yesterday via EVG]

The early and late lap swims (8-9 a.m. and 7-8 p.m.) at Hamilton Fish Pool will begin in a few weeks, the Lo-Down noted yesterday.

And no word just yet when you can swim in a floating pool in the East River.

The 2014 New York City Drag March is tonight

Leaves Tompkins Square Park at St. Mark's Place at 8ish.

Check out some photos from last year's march here.

[Updated] Olympic Restaurant closes on Monday

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

The Lo-Down has a thorough report on the longtime Lower East Side businesses that will be closing in the days ahead to make way for the new mega Essex Crossing development.

Of particular interest to us: The Olympic Restaurant at Delancey and Essex. The Lo-Down was told that the diner will close for good after service on Monday. (EVG contributor Stacie Joy previously reported on June 19 that the closing date was still up in the air.)

Perhaps we will run into you there this weekend.

Updated 11:51 a.m.

Lisha Arino at DNAinfo reports that Olympic owner Spiros Nakos "is offering everything on the menu for half price on" Monday.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Olympic Restaurant may close for good as soon as tomorrow

BoweryBoogie and and Jeremiah Moss have also made recent visits. Read BB's take here … and JM's here.

Last in the fledge class

[Photo today by Bobby Williams]

Just one of the (baby?!?!) hawks remains in the nest on the Christodora House ... his/her fledgling siblings have already taken off.

After a little drama Monday night, Shaft has seemingly found his, uh, wings. The second fledgling left Tuesday. He/she has been mostly hanging around East Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. Goggla has an update on the fledglings here.

Hawk watchers figure hawk No. 3 will leave the nest tomorrow.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Red-tailed hawks nest on the Christodora House

The hawks of Tompkins Square Park have laid an egg at the Christodora House

Breaking (heh) news: The hawks of Tompkins Square Park are officially parents

OMG baby hawks! (UPDATED WITH VIDEO!)

The baby hawks of Tompkins Square Park are ready to leave home (also, fledge party alert!)

Brooklyn shows off its mountains

Or so it looked like late this afternoon from East Seventh Street near Second Avenue...

Funky Town now has the brightest awning on St. Mark's Place

The new signage went up this afternoon...

Another sign that it may possibly be a long, hot summer

Spotted on St. Mark's Place by @SuriR

Previously on EV Grieve:
A brief history of humiliating Teddy bears in the East Village

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[Photo on East 4th Street by Jonathan Crane]

Fledgling update (Gog in NYC)

6 ways to celebrate Pride Week (DNAinfo)

About Green Fingers, a new garden shop on East First Street (A Continuous Lean)

Linda Simpson's photos of the NYC drag scene from 1987-1996 (The Cut/New York)

Clinton Street Baking Company looking to expand into the former Min's Market space (BoweryBoogie)

Manhattan renters still want to live in the EV, at least last week (The Real Deal)

About The Save LES Streets site (The Lo-Down)

The Bicycle Film Festival at the Anthology this weekend (Anthology Film Archives)

The Mysterious Time Machine has left 14th Street (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Photo: Brazilian models watch the World Cup at Miss Lily's 7A Cafe (Page Six)

NYC ranked as most "Stressed Out" city in America (CNN)

What the regional office of White Castle looks like in Queens (Scouting New York)

Bloomy's soda ban is officially dead, wrapped in plastic (Eater)

… and via The Laughing Squid, film enthusiast Tony Zhou examines Martin Scorsese's use of silence in movies ...

Slate of Thursday night films will return to Tompkins Square Park this summer

We originally heard that the Films in Tompkins series was not going to happen this summer in the Park.

However, we've just learned that there will be a slightly abbreviated series starting on July 10, and playing on consecutive Thursday nights until August. (A few August dates are expected as well.)

Only one film has been revealed so far: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which will include a Rocky Horror performance/costume contest. More info on the films as it becomes available.

Meanwhile, the Films on the Green series continues in Tompkins Square Park tomorrow night with a screening of "La Haine."

New closing and reopening dates set for St. Mark's Bookshop

[Photo of new storefront from Sunday]

St. Mark's Bookshop was originally set to close on Monday ahead of their move to 136 E. Third St.

However, workers were still finishing up the new storefront just west of Avenue A. So yesterday store officials released new dates for everything to happen...

Confirmed: We are moving to 136 East 3rd Street on July 1 and will remain open at 31 Third Ave through Sunday, June 29.

— St. Mark's Bookshop (@stmarksbookshop) June 25, 2014

The bookshop has been at 31 Third Ave. and Stuyvesant Street since 1992, and in the neighborhood a total of 37 years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: St. Mark's Bookshop prepping fundraiser ahead of possible move to Avenue A.

Is this the new home for the St. Mark's Bookshop?

Report: St. Mark's Bookshop signs lease for East 3rd Street space

Renovations at the future St. Mark's Bookshop on East 3rd Street

Report: Hearth hit with a 65% rent increase; plus, sidewalk cafe in the works

Meant to note this the other day... when the Times reported that Danny Meyer's 30-year-old Union Square Cafe will be looking for a new home next year after a rent increase.

The article noted a recent spate of high-profile closings and a continuing rise in rents downtown. Among the restaurants facing a huge rent hike: the well-regarded Hearth on East 12th Street at First Avenue. They were just hit with a 65 percent increase, according to the Times.

There aren't any plans to close the place, but ...

[T]he chef and owner, Marco Canora, said his entire business model may have to change.

“I’m trying to be a smart businessman,” Mr. Canora said. “But I can’t do that at the cost of turning my back on my entire belief system and serving commodity pork and Perdue chicken.”

Meanwhile, here's one way to help increase revenue: Hearth has applied for a sidewalk cafe. They are on the docket for the CB3/SLA committee meeting on July 14.

Peeling off the layers through the years of the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall

Over at the NYPL Labs blog, Brian Roos had some fun playing around with the Google Street View archive.

Roos, a New York Public Library developer, used the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall to experiment with ... gathering all of the murals that Google captured to 2007, then filling in any of the missing artwork. He created a brush tool that allowed him to "erase" each layer to reveal the one previous to it ... and in the above image, he cut holes on each layer of the murals for a rather disorienting effect.

For a better explanation of all this, head over to the NYPL Labs for more... and see what other ideas Roos has for the layering tool.

Thanks to @seancarlson for the tip.

Hey, that East Houston CVS opens on July 5

Yeah, the one coming to 42-56 E. Houston St. between Mott and Mulberry... signs on the door note a star-spangled bannerish July 5 opening date...



The space previously housed a Subway, a dry cleaners and Soho Billiards.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Retail space that included Soho Billiards is up for grabs on East Houston Street

The Doors return to 2nd Avenue

[Photo by William Klayer]

The scene on Second Avenue and East Seventh Street this morning ... workers were moving them into the building receiving the gut renovation next door...


[Photo by Derek Berg]

Speaking of the Doors (blame Derek Berg for that headline!) ... the band played the Fillmore East one block to the south on March 22-23, 1968 ...



See more photos from the shows at Off the Grid...