EVG Etc.: NYPD arrests 56 in clearing NYU and New School protest encampments; Knickerbocker Village sells for $85 million

Sky view from St. Mark's Place 

• The NYPD clears protestors at NYU and The New School; 56 arrested (NBC News ... ABC News ... ABC 7 ... The Guardian) 

• Mayor Adams and top NYPD officials continued to blame "outside agitators" for the campus protests (The City) 

• The number of homeless New Yorkers moving into city public housing under the Adams administration has dropped to the lowest number in a decade (Gothamist) 

• Multiple NYCHA buildings going under renovation, part of the agency's PACT/RAD program, which converts Section 9 public housing into Section 8 housing operated by private landlords (Arch Paper)

• L+M buys Knickerbocker Village for $85 million (The Real Deal) 

• Assemblymember Harvey Epstein unveils pilot program legalizing basement apartments (NY1) 

• Cafe Mogador on St. Mark's Place — same as it ever was (Grub Street) 

• A new book celebrates Lee Quiñones, subway graffiti pioneer (Vanity Fair) 

• "NYC 2000-2005" at WHAMM! on Elizabeth Street features the photos of Alain Levitt (PAPER) 

• What your NYC tourist recommendations really say about you (McSweeney's) 

• Eva's Kitchen, an all-day cafe, debuts on Grand Street (The Lo-Down) 

• A collection of rarely seen work by Marguerite Duras (Anthology Film Archives) 

• Classics coming to Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue and 12th Street include "The Third Man" and "Metropolis" (Official site) 

• The new shop on Canal called Fugazi has nothing to do with the band (Brooklyn Vegan) 

• Diversions: About the new reality fashion series featuring (former EV resident) Julia Fox (Variety)

Reader report: Alphabet Grocery hasn't been open lately

The gates have been down at Alphabet Grocery on the NW corner of Avenue C and Sixth Street for the past week. 

An EVG reader noted that the corner market changed a few weeks back and "looked more like a grocery store." They also stopped selling lottery tickets. 

There isn't any signage about a kind of closure, temporary or otherwise.

The shop is in a building owned by the NYCHA.

Petopia reopens today (Tuesday!)

Photos by Stacie Joy

Petopia reopens today (11 a.m.!) at 29 Avenue A at Second Street ... 

The shop had been closed since late summer after work on the building caused a ceiling collapse.

Workers have been doing roofing and façade-repair work in the NYCHA-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.

Spiritualized: End of days for High Vibe on 3rd Street; 'I would like to stay open!'

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The end is near for High Vibe after 30 years at 138 E. Third St. Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Robert "Bobby" Dagger, owner of the health/natural foods and goods store, plans to close on Dec. 31 after a rent hike courtesy of the landlord, the NYCHA, and an underwhelming response to a crowdfunding campaign. 

Everything is marked to go inside the small, comfortable shop...

Dagger said that he owns $40,000 in rent to NYCHA. The lease was up in October, and the business has been running month-to-month. 

He tried local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's office, though that didn't lead to anything. "They were nice but didn’t provide any help," he said. 

So now what? 

"If I got $40,000, I can stay open. I would like to stay open! NYCHA raised my rent during COVID and only gave me three months of concession," Dagger said. "NYCHA doesn't care about small businesses. For 30 years, I paid taxes here. We're a link in the chain here, keeping America alive. I'm all for immigrants, but what about us? We're paying taxes for these people."

The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for now... and they may shut down before Dec. 31. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• A visit to High Vibe on 3rd Street

• High Vibe looking for some help to continue spreading the love

Residents ordered to vacate after excavation next door destabilized this 14th Street building

Photos from yesterday morning

The city has issued a Full Vacate Order for 642 E. 14th St. after ongoing excavation work on a 24-floor development next door at the NW corner of Avenue C destabilized the building, according to city records. 

From the Department of Buildings: 

Structural stability of building compromised due to construction operations taking place at 644 E. 14th Street. Heavy cracks in the exterior and interior in addition to separation noted at door frames and floor from wall...

The development, owned by Madison Reality Capital, is expected to yield 197 apartments — a percentage said to be affordable housing — plus retail space and a community facility. 

A few residents of 642 E. 14th St., said to be the property of Second Avenue Deli owner Jeremy Lebewohl, told EVG that city officials put in the directive to leave at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

 

"Some folks wanted to stay. By the end of the night, I believe it was mandatory that everyone be out of the building," said one resident who has lived there for more than two years. "We packed what we could in about 30 minutes and cleaned up just in case." 

The American Red Cross is housing the residents at a Chinatown hotel, though just through Sunday. After that, the residents don't know where they are supposed to live. 

"We were only able to bring what we could carry. We have no idea when we will be able to access our building or our belongings again, if ever," the resident said. 

A Partial Stop Work Order on the site allows crews to perform dewatering operations to prevent further destabilization. An emergency construction fence is expected to be erected outside No. 642, a 5-story building with 18 units, per Streeteasy. (One resident said there were 16 residences.) 

Meanwhile, per city documents, DOB engineers are monitoring the site daily.

There have been concerns about what excavation work on the lot might do to the adjacent buildings on 14th Street. This corner property last housed the single-level R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.

As previously reported, Madison Realty Capital paid Opal Holdings $31.3 million for the property in May 2020. Opal Holdings bought the parcel in June 2016 from Brooklyn's Rabsky Group for $23 million. 

There were approved plans here for a 15-floor mixed-use building, though there weren't any affordable units attached to this version. As revealed in the spring of 2021, several developers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby the city for NYCHA air rights to make this a larger structure with more housing.

In the spring of 2022, the NYCHA and Madison Realty Capital filed documents seeking a non-ULURP modification — known as an LSRD — to the development plan. 

One group of locals started a Facebook group in June 2022 to help notify residents of the ongoing plans at No. 644.

"While we are all for the development of that corner ... and the affordable housing element of the plans, we are not happy with the sheer size of the footprint and the excessive height that goes along with the proposal," one of the organizers told EVG at the time. "We believe it will have countless negative effects on the local community and is out of place in this neighborhood. One major, immediate concern is that they have done little outreach and have kept plans for the project very quiet, which seems to be an obvious strategy to avoid any scrutiny from the local public."

Before a presentation in May 2022 before Community Board 3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee, Tenants Taking Control, a group of 100-plus long-term tenants in 15 East Village buildings owned by Madison Realty Capital spoke out against the plans.

In a "warning letter" to CB3 members and other local elected officials, the group, which has had Madison Realty Capital as a landlord since 2017, alleged: "We believe from first-hand experience that they disregard East Village tenant and community needs for their own financial benefit."

In June 2022, Community Board 3 signed off on the plan, which was expected to generate $19.5 million for the NYCHA, to be exclusively used at the adjacent Campos Plaza II for capital repairs and other programmatic needs as determined by a community planning process involving NYCHA and the residents of Campos Plaza II.

The current plans for 644 show a 234-foot-tall building with 197 apartments known as 14+C, according to the Fischer + Makooi Architects website.  

In January 2019, the Commercial Observer reported that Jeremy Lebewohl filed a $10 million lawsuit against Opal Holdings alleging that No. 642 sustained damages by the foundation work next door at No. 644 during a previous iteration of the project.

The suit claimed that Opal tried to cut costs on the project by driving piles for the foundation too close to Lebewohl's building, which led to the damages. (It's not immediately known what happened to the suit.)

According to DOB records, complaints about work on the corner lot date back to June 2017, when someone reported, "The building is shaking when the construction workers at the site are pile driving." An April 2018 complaint noted a "cracked exterior" in the building.

And from a February 2023 complaint in public records:

What is compromising the building's integrity: There is construction planned to start next door at 644 E 14 Street, and it is suspected that this cracked the facade at 642. There is further construction planned and it is likely to cause further structural damage. The tenants are also very concerned about the damage that can't be seen: namely the structural integrity of the building. The location of the structural instability: Cracks are largely on the east side of the building. The location of the crack or gap and whether it is horizontal or vertical: There are diagonal cracks on the side of the building.

However, DOB records show that an inspector "observed no visible cracks or structural defect on exterior facade."

The resident of two years said, "We absolutely had concerns — the drywall in our buildings was significantly cracked, and walls were beginning to separate from the floor. We shared it with management but probably should've followed up more."

Another resident, who also lived in 642 for two-plus years, told us: "We would constantly feel our building shake. I know from a few other tenants that we were all very concerned. I submitted information to 311, and they came to our apartment three times from September to November. Finally, on Tuesday, they told us we had to vacate."

The residents we spoke with hadn't heard anything as of yesterday from 642's management company — aside from suggesting they contact the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for shelter services.

While the resident we talked with said they had access to resources, that wasn't likely the case for all of 642's tenants.

"It's shameful that so many families were put out for a 'luxury building' with what seems like very little empathy," the first resident said. 

Loisaida Fall Festival brings pumpkin-picking fun to East Village residents

Reporting and story by Stacie Joy

East Village residents are invited to the Loisaida Fall Festival on Saturday outside Mariana Bracetti Plaza at 251 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Kanielle Hernandez, the CEO/president of The Loisaida Foundry Inc., a lifelong resident here, talked about the inspiration behind the event.

"This is my third year serving the community through my foundation, and this year, I wanted to recreate a city version of a pumpkin-picking harvest festival," she said. "As a kid, I only saw this on TV and in movies, and I always wanted to experience it."

She continued: "When I became a mom, I was finally able to experience it and some wonderful small-town suburban life activities with my son. I'm blessed to have a vehicle, which allows me to do so, but it's not the case for most families in the community."

The Fall Festival will feature a pumpkin patch where each child will receive a ticket to pick out their own pumpkin for free and get a cup of apple cider. Via an art table from sponsor Loisaida Inc., the kids can carve and decorate their pumpkins.

The afternoon will also feature a reveal of the NYCHA beautification garden project in front of 251 E. Third St. For Hernandez, this is a significant development. She has been an outspoken advocate about the quality-of-life issues at the public housing complex (see links below).

"This is important to me because I was born and raised in this community. I'm a third-generation resident of the Lower East Side and a lifelong NYCHA tenant. I truly love my community, but when I started advocating for it, I was motivated by anger at the conditions we as a community faced with quality of life and public safety," she said. "I started off upset, but as I dived deeper into my mission to change things, I realized the issues surrounding us were deeper than I ever understood."

Saturday's Fall Festival is from 2-6 p.m. And despite some rain in the forecast, Hernandez said they will move forward with the event (city permits do not allow for rain dates).

"Bring your umbrellas and get your kids a free pumpkin, and support our awesome vendors who have worked hard to prepare for this event," she said.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza 

• Residents say dangerous safety conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza lead to illegal and hazardous activities 

• Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex

Work set to begin on 14+C, the 24-floor building coming to 14th Street and Avenue C

Work looks ready to commence inside the long-empty lot on the SW corner of 14th Street and Avenue C. 

In the past week, workers have boarded up the corner of what will be 644 E. 14th St. ...

... and brought in the heavy equipment...

Madison Realty Capital apparently has the green light (DOB approved the permits earlier in the year) for a 24-story residential building here (and apparently the city addressed the contamination reported on the site). 

The rendering for the all-new 644 E. 14th St. is up on the plywood...

Plans for a development this size were first unveiled in June 2022. The 234-foot-tall building will be known as 14+C, according to the Fischer + Makooi Architects website. 

Details: 

14+C is a luxury rental with a modern façade composed of terracotta panels and window wall. 

The building houses 197 apartments ranging from studio, 1 & 2 Bedroom.

No word on how many "affordable" units will be included in 14+C, one of the stipulations for being allowed to build a larger (by nine floors) building.

There were already approved plans for a 15-floor mixed-use building, though no affordable units were attached to that version. As revealed in the spring of 2021, several developers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby the city for NYCHA air rights to make this a larger structure with more housing.

In the spring of 2022, the NYCHA and Madison Realty Capital filed documents seeking a non-ULURP modification — known as an LSRD — to the development plan. (Madison Realty Capital paid Opal Holdings $31.3 million for the property in May 2020; Opal Holdings bought the parcel in June 2016 for $23 million.)

Here were some of the maneuverings necessary to expand the footprint of the building, as first reported by PincusCo:

The application seeks to modify the boundaries of the previously approved plans and zoning calculations by expanding the zoning lot to include 644 East 14th Street (Block 396, Lot 29). Through the zoning lot merger, the development rights from the existing LSRD comprised of Campos Plaza I and II, which are owned by a joint venture that includes NYCHA ... can be transferred to Block 396, Lot 29, a vacant property owned by Madison Realty Capital.

In June 2022, Community Board 3 signed off on the plan, which was expected to generate $19.5 million for the NYCHA, to be exclusively used at the adjacent Campos Plaza II for capital repairs and other programmatic needs as determined by a community planning process involving NYCHA and the residents of Campos Plaza II.

A previous post on the development has more background, including some opposition to the building. Per one resident: "While we are all for the development of that corner ... and the affordable housing element of the plans, we are not happy with the sheer size of the footprint and the excessive height that goes along with the proposal." There are also concerns about what the excavation work might do to the adjacent buildings on 14th Street.

The corner property has been in a stalled-development mode for years. This space last housed the single-level R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.

No. 644 has an August 2025 completion date, per the rendering.

H/T Delphine!

Mystery solved? Avenue A residents track down source of the incessant 'loud mechanical sound'

Updated 8:45 a.m.: The original resident who reached out about the noise last month said that this is "clearly not the issue we are dealing with." And: "We are fairly certain it's coming from mechanical equipment in the rear of the business at 171 Avenue A. We are in contact with them to hopefully get it resolved. Anyone else experiencing this can reach out at LongtimeLesRes@gmail.com.

Also: The sleuths do NOT live on Avenue A as previously reported.

------------

Late last month, a longtime East Village resident wrote in about "a loud mechanical sound" that has been driving residents along Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street a little bonkers. 

To recap the sound situation: 

Unlike most commercial AC units that cycle on and off, this sound is incessant, and it sounds like a cross between an AC unit and a refrigerator. Occasionally there is a mechanical grinding noise as well. The noise doesn't stop, is loud, and is making it impossible for us to have our windows open and is making it difficult to sleep. 

Over the weekend, some local residents who read the previous post believed that have tracked down the source of the noise — from atop 118 Avenue D in the Jacob Riis Houses at Ninth Street.

So the noise was coming from three avenues away? 

"Yes, it's crazy how this sound carries all the way over to Avenue A," one of the residents told us. 

Now to the sleuthing: 

We just kept circling around trying to find the source. We initially thought it could be coming from the East River Park construction area but when we went there, we heard it coming from inland and we just circled around, closer and closer until we found it. 

We were able to access the roof of 100 Avenue D thinking it came from there and that's where we saw the actual source — the rooftop of 118 Avenue D.

   

Now what?

"We're just not sure how to get the NYCHA to address the issue," the resident said. "We didn't contact anyone about it." (Yet!)

Given the distance from 118 Avenue D to Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street, certainly other residents must be experiencing sound issues as well — especially those who live near the Riis Houses.

EVG Etc.: The NYC luncheonette trend; a Beth B retrospective

• An arrest in the murders last May of friends Nikki Huang and Jesse Parilla, an East Village resident (NBC New York... previously on EVG) 

• Where is the NYCHA's Public Housing Preservation Trust? (The City) 

• Village Works looking for a new home (PIX11 ... previously on EVG) 

• A feature La Sala de Pepe, a social club and gallery on Avenue C (NACLA) 

• Starting next month, the New York Restoration Project is giving out 3,500 free trees to New Yorkers (Time Out) 

• Ghost signs along Avenue A (Untapped Cities ... previously on EVG) 

• The artists paying tribute to NYC storefronts (Gothamist) 

• NYC's luncheonette trend (Eater) 

• A long-overdue showcase for Beth B (Metrograph) 

• Highlighting the work of multimedia artist Friederike Pezold (Pezoldo) (Anthology Film Archives)

East Village Buyers moving from 3rd Street to Avenue A

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Thanks to a reader tip, we know the new tenant for the under-renovation retail space at 39 Avenue A. 

The East Village Buyers consignment shop will be moving from 150 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B to the previous Essex Card Shop storefront between Second Street and Third Street. 

Owner Gabriel Shaulov (second from left in the above photo) told me that he hopes to be in the new space in about a month and that he'd been waiting for more than two years to access the much-larger retail spot in the NYCHA-owned First Houses. 

The business model will be the same: a high-end consignment shop specializing in sneakers, jewelry and handbags, among other items.

Until 2020, No. 39 space was home to Essex Card Shop... which moved one block to the north.  

Site cleanup needed before development can begin on this long-empty corner on 14th and C

As reported last June, there are proposed plans to build a 24-story, 166-unit residential building — including 50 "affordable" units — on the long-vacant lot on the SW corner of 14th Street and Avenue C. 

Last year it was revealed that the site at 644 E. 14th St. — across the street from the Con Edison power plant — contains some contamination and city agencies are inviting public comment on the proposed remedy.

Per a fact sheet (PDF):

The public is invited to comment on a proposed remedy being reviewed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), in consultation with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), to address contamination related to the 644 East 14th Street Site ...

Based on the findings of the investigation, NYSDEC, in consultation with the NYSDOH, has determined that the site does not pose a significant threat to public health or the environment. The decision is based on the soil, groundwater and soil vapor analytical data collected at the site as presented in the Remedial Investigative Report (RIR).

Thursday is the deadline to comment. This link has information about how to do so. And more background and documents here.

The corner property has been in a stalled-development mode for years. This corner property last housed the single-level R&S Strauss auto parts store, which closed in April 2009.

There are already approved plans for a 15-floor mixed-use building, though no affordable units are attached to this version. As revealed in the spring of 2021, several developers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby the city for NYCHA air rights to make this a larger structure with more housing.

This past spring, the NYCHA and Madison Realty Capital filed documents seeking a non-ULURP modification — known as an LSRD — to the development plan. (Madison Realty Capital paid Opal Holdings $31.3 million for the property in May 2020, and Opal Holdings bought the parcel in June 2016 for $23 million.)

Here are some of the maneuverings necessary to expand the footprint of the building, as first reported by PincusCo:

The application seeks to modify the boundaries of the previously approved plans and zoning calculations by expanding the zoning lot to include 644 East 14th Street (Block 396, Lot 29). Through the zoning lot merger, the development rights from the existing LSRD comprised of Campos Plaza I and II, which are owned by a joint venture that includes NYCHA ... can be transferred to Block 396, Lot 29, a vacant property owned by Madison Realty Capital.

Last June, Community Board 3 signed off on the plan, which will generate $19.5 million for the NYCHA, to be exclusively used at the adjacent Campos Plaza II for capital repairs and other programmatic needs as determined by a community planning process involving NYCHA and the residents of Campos Plaza II.

Our last post on the development has more background, including renderings and some opposition to the building. Per one resident: "While we are all for the development of that corner ... and the affordable housing element of the plans, we are not happy with the sheer size of the footprint and the excessive height that goes along with the proposal." 

Aside from the pending site-contamination work, the DOB application for the new building was assigned to a plan examiner on Feb. 1, per public records.

Renovation activity at the previous home of the Essex Card Shop on Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated 2/22: Thanks to the reader comments, we now know who the new tenant is — East Village Buyers, relocating here from Third Street. Find the story here.

-------

Renovations are underway inside the vacant storefront at 39 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street...

Unfortunately, workers at the space said they didn't know who the new tenant would be...

Until 2020, the space was home to Essex Card Shop... which moved one block to the north.

Last summer, the Cooper Square Committee, Village Preservation and East Village Community Coalition released a report titled "Crisis and Adaptation: Storefront Trends in the East Village, 2019 – 2021," ...  which named these retail spaces in the NYCHA-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street as "vacancy hotspots." 

EVG Etc.: Protests over the killing of Tyre Nichols; reaction to the Mayor's state of the city address

• Local leaders react to Tyre Nichols video (NBC New York) ... Protestors rally in NYC (Gothamist) ... Justice Ride for Tyre Nichols today — meet up at Union Square 2:30 p.m. (@StreetRidersNYC)

• Highlighting the Mayor's state of the city address (The Times ... The City ... Streetsblog ... the Post)

• Chairman Gregory Russ is stepping down from his high-salaried job running the beleaguered NYCHA (The City) 

• Veselka named a James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Restuarant (PIX11)

• An early look at Foul Witch, now open on Avenue A (Eater ... first on EVG) 

• A feature on Lucie Franc de Ferriere, who just opened From Lucie on 10th Street (Vogue ... previously on EVG) 

• NYC bars are stocking up on opioid overdose rescue kits (CBS New York) 

• Councilmember Marte and several community groups file motion to intervene in NYU SoHo/NoHo rezoning expansion case (amNY ... Village Preservation) 

• A few local picks in this listicle on best NYC thrift stores for vintage and designer finds (Harper's Bazaar) 

• Tony Hawk is helping resurrect the legendary skate spot under the Brooklyn Bridge (The Times)

• Catch a screening of "Downtown 81" (Thursday, Feb. 2) at Metrograph on Ludlow Street (Official site)

• An interview with Amy Hill about her show on exhibit now at Fortnite Institute on Third Street (Whitehot Magazine) 

• The long history of a forgotten film that Paul Newman directed on the Lower East Side (The Forward) 

• Anna "Delvey" Sorokin, the fake heiress who now lives in the East Village, is to host a celebrity dinner club series (Deadline) 

• Elsewhere: City whitewashes famed Washington Heights graffiti tunnel (Hyperallergic)

EVG Etc.: NYCHA residents demand repair reforms; The Drunken Canal announces last issue

Some recent headlines (with a photo yesterday on Avenue A at 14th Street via EVG reader Doug)... 

 • NYCHA residents from the East Village and Lower East Side call on the mayor and NYCHA officials to improve its repair process and how it maintains the city's aging government housing (ABC 7 ... amNY) 

• The state's cannabis regulatory board approved 36 of potentially 175 pot-selling licenses Monday — with at least 13 of them to be based in NYC (The City) 

• To honor World AIDS Day, the Anthology Film Archives in Second Avenue and Second Street will present two programs as part of Day With(out) Art (Details here) 

• NYC theater on a budget with some EV options (Gothamist)

• Danny Fields is giving Iggy Pop history lessons (Page Six)

• Actress Spencer Grammer recalls trying to break up a fight in August 2020 outside Black Ant on Second Avenue (People... previously on EVG) 

• Recently opened Broome Street gallery champions women artists of color (Artsy) 

• Anna Sorokin self-promotion tour continues from her East Village apartment (Variety) 

• NYC's best wine bars are on the LES says this article (Condé Nast Traveler) ... The Times has its own list, with some EV picks, right here.

• LES history as seen through Seward Park (The Bowery Boys) 

• Christo, Amelia and raptor season (Laura Goggin Photography) 

... and the editors of The Drunken Canal, conceived in the East Village, announced its final issue...

THE FINAL ISSUE IS HERE, and its none other than Lucky Number 13. In a gesture to thank you for all the love, support, submissions, hate, kisses, hugs, free drinks, we are giving our farewell issue to YOU. Starting tomorrow @ NOON, you have 48 hours to send us whatever you want❤️ pic.twitter.com/cShQtvyiSu

— the drunken canal (@thedrunkencanal) November 21, 2022

Let there be sidewalk here on Avenue C!

We've received several messages from readers noting that workers have been removing the longstanding sidewalk bridge on the west side of Avenue C between Sixth Street and Seventh Street ...

The sidewalk bridge and construction equipment has been up along these NYCHA-owned buildings since at least 2015. The sidewalk was freed in October 2017, but it was short-lived as a heavier-duty bridge arrived a short time later. Hopefully, that doesn't happen again.

Report: Police arrest suspect in the murder of Jaden Stokes at Campos Plaza

Photo from Oct. 29 

Police have arrested a suspect in the deadly shooting on Oct. 27 inside Campos Plaza, 635 E. 12th St. at Avenue C. 

According to published reports, Lindell Cox, 31, was charged with murder in the death of 21-year-old Jaden Stokes. 

Surveillance footage shows a man, who police have said is Cox, wearing a mask and firing multiple shots inside the NYCHA's building lobby while Stokes and a 24-year-old man were waiting for the elevator. The other man was wounded by a gunshot in the leg. A motive for the shooting wasn't revealed.

A GoFundMe established to help the Stokes family pay for funeral expenses states that Jaden had just started a new job as a School Youth Mentor. He received his first check on the day he was killed.

Deadly shooting reported at Campos Plaza

Updated 11/7

Police have arrested a suspect in the deadly shooting.

Updated 8 a.m.

The shooting victim was identified as Jaden Stokes. His brother Dujon, one of Jaden's seven siblings, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the family pay for funeral expenses. You can find that link here.

----

A 21-year-old man was killed, and a 24-year-old man was wounded tonight in a shooting at Campos Plaza at 635 E. 12th St. at Avenue C. 

According to the Daily News, the two men were in an elevator around 7:30 p.m. When the elevator doors opened, a man waiting in the lobby fired several shots and took off. 

A worker making a delivery in the NYCHA building told the News: "The guy in the lobby started shooting the guys in the elevator. There were three, maybe four shots," he said. "It was crazy scary. I didn't want him to shoot me."

No other information was immediately available as the investigation got underway. 

Updated, more coverage: The Post ... CBS 2 ... ABC 7 ... NBC 4 ... 

Screengrab via Citizen

At long last, workers remove the sidewalk bridge from around Mariana Bracetti Plaza

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Last Tuesday, workers started removing the sidewalk bridge from around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza, the 7-story NYCHA-run housing complex on Third Street and Fourth Street along Avenue C.

The removal brought cheers from residents, as PIX11 noted. Residents who EVG contributor Stacie Joy talked with were thrilled it was gone, and that in the past eight years or so, the workers had only repaired a few bricks. 

Tenant advocates have blamed the longstanding sidewalk structures for the increase in illegal activities here in recent years — not to mention more rats and unsanitary conditions from use as a public restroom. 

According to DOB records, permits for a sidewalk shed date here to December 2000. (Reason: "loose brick.") There are records of permits for installing a sidewalk bridge in March 2003 ... April 2004 (for "remedial repairs") ... August 2015 ... and October 2017. (A Google Streetview shows a structure in place continuously back to 2016.) 

Hopefully, the sidewalks will remain free of other structures. There was a fake-out here in March 2021 after workers took down the sidewalk bridge before rebuilding it several days later. (They were replacing some rotting wooden planks.)

So the views for now...

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Local elected officials, NYCHA reps get firsthand look at the problems at Mariana Bracetti Plaza 

• Residents say dangerous safety conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza lead to illegal and hazardous activities 

• Another look at conditions in and around the Mariana Bracetti Plaza public housing complex

• PSA 4 providing increased security at Mariana Bracetti Plaza

NYCHA officials appear before City Council: The latest from the Riis Houses water scandal

NYCHA officials appeared before City Council yesterday in an emergency hearing to answer questions about the agency's "lethargic response" to complaints about cloudy water and positive arsenic test results at the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D (Previously on EVG)... 

• NYCHA admits knowing of "cloudy water" at Riis Houses months before arsenic scare (Daily News) 

• NYC wants answers after tainted water scare (ABC 7) 

• Lab behind botched water tests at Jacob Riis Houses not authorized to perform work in NY, public housing officials say (Gothamist) 

• NYCHA could have fast tracked 24-hour water tests. Instead, it decided to wait weeks for results. (The City) 

• Malfunctioning water tank now under scrutiny as root of NYCHA arsenic crisis (The City)

Today, @NYCCouncil is holding an emergency hearing to investigate NYCHA’s response to concerns over water safety at Jacob Riis Houses.

For weeks we have demanded accountability and full transparency from NYCHA. We expect that today.

My opening remarks ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/103nB89ZsK

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) September 23, 2022