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.

Mr. Peanut and his Nutmobile to christen new peanut-shaped city park today

From the EV Grieve inbox...

*** UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL OCTOBER 3rd ***

MEDIA ALERT

Mr. Peanut to Open Planters Grove Urban Park in New York City!

WHAT: First look at a vibrant, unique urban park – the Planters Grove - as it opens to the public on Manhattan’s Lower East Side on the grounds of the New York City Housing Authority’s Lillian Wald Houses community.

WHO: Mr. Peanut and his new biodiesel Nutmobile
Margarita Lopez, Commissioner of New York City Housing Authority
Scott Marcus, Senior Brand Manager for Planters
Sally Prouty, CEO/President of The Corps Network
Lisbeth Shepherd, CEO of New York’s Green City Force
Ken Smith, Landscape Architect

WHEN: Monday, October 3

9:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Short remarks: 10:00AM
Community planting to immediately follow

WHERE: Lillian Wald Houses, Avenue D between East 4th and 5th Streets (near Houston St.)

WHY: Planters, America’s leading snack nut brand, and the iconic Mr. Peanut will commemorate the opening of a new green urban park – a Planters Grove – at the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) Lillian Wald Houses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Residents of NYCHA will be joined by local officials, NYCHA representatives, community volunteers and youth service corps members for a day of planting and celebration.

With the goal of promoting healthy lifestyles and sustainable living, Kraft Foods’ Planters brand has partnered with The Corps Network – the nation’s Service and Conservation Corps – to transform underutilized land into unique, peanut-shaped parks across America. The building of Planters Groves and their ongoing programming encourages outdoor activity and community interaction, as well as provides the health, environmental, social and economic benefits that engaging green spaces provide a neighborhood and its residents.

In New York City, the Planters Grove is being built with the help of youth service corps members (also NYCHA residents) from Green City Force, an organization recently recognized by President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative for its outstanding contribution to enriching young lives. Designed by New York City landscape architect Ken Smith, the New York City Planters Grove is inspired with Lower East Side influences, as well as locally-sourced reclaimed materials and native plants and flowers.

Report: NYCHA tenants on Avenue C have been without heat and hot water since Thursday

[Photo on 6th Street from October 2017]

The temporary boilers that arrived after Superstorm Sandy nearly became permanent sitting here for five years on Sixth Street at Avenue C outside the NYCHA-owned building officially known as Lower East Side Rehab Group 5. (The Daily News once reported that a temporary boiler costs $5,000 a month to rent.)

However, a new boiler arrived last fall, thanks to funding from FEMA. Still, by January, residents in the building said that they rarely have heat or hot water, according PIX 11, who noted that the work there was "serving as a model for 17 other projects."

Today, the Daily News reports that the residents have been without heat or hot water now since Thursday's snowfall.

“This is a harsh living condition,” said tenant Neicee Johnson, saying she has no heat and barely any hot water.

She wakes each morning at 5:45 a.m. to boil a pot of water on the oven and turn on two space heaters. Her family, which includes two teen children, sleeps with multiple layers of clothing and blankets.

“We barely hang out in the apartment,” she said. “We are hardly ever home. We go to the local library or community areas until it is time for us to come home.”

Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera is quoted in the article... she is also tweeting about the situation...

We aren’t going to solve @NYCHA’s fiscal crisis overnight. But with the temperature expected to drop to dangerously cold levels over the next 24 hours, the city must treat this crisis like the emergency it is and bring in resources to fix heating problems immediately.

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) November 21, 2018

The residents of LES V, the members of my own staff who live in local public housing, and all the other residents suffering deserve to know if they will be able spend Thanksgiving in their homes without risking their lives.

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) November 21, 2018

Back to the Daily News:

Resident Clara Rivera, 91, has also been shivering in her apartment since the snowstorm last Thursday.

“The house is really cold. They give nothing here in the morning or night,” said Rivera, who has asthma and arthritis. "We're dealing with this every day. I'm not going to die from this cold!"

There were an estimated 6,366 NYCHA tenants throughout NYC with the same problem, according to an online “service interruption” tracker, as the News pointed out.

The latest headlines from the Riis Houses water scandal

Photo via @THECITYNY 

 • NYCHA CEO steps down in wake of the arsenic crisis at the Riis Houses on Avenue D (1010 WINS) ... hefty pay left intact (The City) 

• Arsenic alarm still a drain on Riis residents' routines and resources (City Limits)

• Residents file lawsuit against NYCHA over arsenic water scare (NBC New York) 

 • City officials to testify under oath on NYCHA arsenic readings (The City) 

• City Council to launch two investigations into NYCHA water quality (NY1) 

In other headlines...

 • A suspect has been arrested for fatally shooting a gang rival outside Haven Plaza (Daily News ... previously on EVG) 

• City Hall says major crimes up, but NYPD response times slower (Gothamist) 

• Some thoughts on the Bowery (Flaming Pablum) 

• Take the M14a for these downtown dining spots (Eater) 

• History of the Sixth Street Industrial School (Ephemeral New York)

• Model Ivy Getty provides this "Cool Girl’s Guide to the East Village" (Elle) 

• On Henry Street, several galleries have enjoyed low rent from multi-year leases signed in 2020. What happens when those expire? (Artnet News) 

• The owners of LES party venue the Bowery Savings Bank filed for Chapter 11 protection to stave off a forced sale after defaulting on their $12 million loan (Commercial Observer)

• The possibility of a 23% taxi fare hike, base fare increase (The Post) 

• Dimes Square, post-shark-jump (The New Yorker) 

• Halloween with some early David Cronenberg (Film Anthology Archives)

Officials now say water tested at the Riis Houses never had arsenic in it; lab says results were 'incorrect'

An update from the Mayor’s Press Secretary @Fabien_Levy on the water situation at Jacob Riis Houses in Manhattan:https://t.co/j1foCteceU pic.twitter.com/xUs2uLTRV0

— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) September 9, 2022

Officials made a stunning announcement yesterday about the week-long water crisis at the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D. 

Here's part of the statement from the city: 

Today, Environmental Monitoring and Technologies — the original lab that provided the initial test results claiming there was arsenic in the water at Riis Houses issued a full retraction and released revised results, calling their initial results 'incorrect.' Worse yet, the company has now admitted to being the ones that introduced arsenic into the samples, leading to the false results. 

The revelation was made last night during a tenant meeting P.S. 34 on 12th Street and Avenue D. 

Per The City: 

The audience erupted, with tenants shouting that they don't know what to believe after being whipsawed back and forth over eight days, beginning on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend, that left them furious and exhausted. 

"This one week has felt like an eternity," said Riis tenant Dianna Fernandez. "Water is essential. NYCHA needs to do better. Mayor Adams: Where are you?"

Adams was in Washington, D.C. trying to woo the Democratic Committee to hold its convention in New York, but NYCHA Chairman Gregory Russ was present, facing the angry crowd and quickly becoming the target of much of the room’s explosive anger.

Angry residents of the Jacob Riis houses at a public meeting tonight demanding answers from officials about the complex’s water. @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/mBDygvJdFi

— Thalia Perez (@ThaliaPerezTV) September 10, 2022

And as NBC New York reported: "City leaders plan to explore all legal avenues while guaranteeing the end to all work with Environmental Monitoring and Technologies." 

Regardless of the revelation last evening, officials are still asking NYCHA residents at the complex between Sixth Street and 13th Street — home to more than 2,600 residents — to continue to avoid using the water as they await additional test results. 

Meanwhile, everyone seems to be demanding answers...

NEW: I, along with many of my colleagues, want answers from @NYCMayor and @NYCHA Chair Russ. Residents at Riis Houses have been through a lot. They deserve answers, transparency, accountability and compensation. We look forward to the response. pic.twitter.com/sJ7Rb0CKPH

— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) September 9, 2022

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

The latest headlines on the water crisis at the Jacob Riis Houses

Image via @PIX11News 

Here are the latest headlines on the water crisis at the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D. 

As previously reported, residents were told Friday night not to drink or cook with tap water after tests revealed traces of arsenic. The City said that NYCHA officials learned about the contamination two weeks earlier and did not notify residents. NYCHA officials have vehemently denied that claim. NYC has distributed bottled water to the nearly 2,600 residents in the complex between Sixth Street and 13th Street. 

• NYCHA Water Mess Stretches Into 5th Day as Arsenic Test Results Pend (NBC New York) 

• Mayor Adams Promises ‘Thorough’ Look at How His Team Handled Riis Arsenic Discovery (The City)

• East Village Public Housing Residents Want Answers After Arsenic Found in Water (Gothamist) 

• Carlina Rivera Discusses Jacob Riis Houses Water Issues (NY1) 

• NYCHA Must Rebuild Trust After Arsenic Found in Water: Jumaane Williams (PIX11)

Mayor Adams gives the all clear to the water at the Jacob Riis Houses

Image via @nycgov 

The city announced yesterday that residents of the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D can safely use the water at the complex between Sixth Street and 13th Street. 

In making the announcement, Mayor Adams and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan stopped by a Riis House residence to drink from a kitchen sink. 

 Before chugging a glass, Adams declared: "Nothing's better than New York City water."

This morning, @nycHealthy reviewed the final test results for contaminants and we can confidently say the water at @NYCHA Jacob Riis Houses meets EPA standards. I wouldn’t ask residents to do anything I wouldn’t do, which is why I stopped by Riis Houses to drink the water myself. pic.twitter.com/0eTnIBDyaZ

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) September 10, 2022

This comes after the news Friday in which Environmental Monitoring and Technologies Inc. admitted that its earlier findings of arsenic in the water were incorrect. 

The water saga started on Sept. 2 when the NYCHA said it found traces of arsenic in the tap water at the Riis Houses ... and warned residents not to drink the water or use it for cooking indefinitely. According to posted notices, the levels of arsenic are above levels considered safe by EPA standards. 

Here's part of the statement released from Mayor Adams yesterday: 

I know the last eight days have been unbearable for the residents of Jacob Riis Houses, but, this morning, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reviewed the final test results for contaminants and found the water to be well within EPA drinking water quality standards. We can confidently say the water at Riis Houses is and has been free of any discernible amount of arsenic since the initial tests were initiated in August and meets EPA standards. I would not ask the residents of Riis Houses to do anything I wouldn’t do, which is why I have already stopped by Riis Houses and drank the water myself. 

As we stated yesterday, NYCHA nor any other city agency will test water through Environmental Monitoring and Technologies any longer, and the city intends to pursue all available legal options on behalf of the residents of Riis Houses and will look for how we can reimburse residents for costs incurred over the last week. In regard to the Legionella bacteria reported earlier this week, we suspect these results are inaccurate. 

As public health experts have noted, Legionnaires Disease cannot be contracted by drinking water. Additionally, we are actively reviewing our Legionella surveillance data, and have found no reported or confirmed cases of Legionnaires Disease at Riis Houses over the last 12 months.

Other reactions...

After being on the ground hearing directly from residents this week and laying out questions + demands below, we heard little from the City at tonight’s mtg with Riis families.

Blaming an outside vendor for NYCHA’s mistakes is not accountability. These families deserve better. https://t.co/rcSWQMA1Wg

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) September 10, 2022

Sept. 9: The latest headlines on the water crisis at the Jacob Riis Houses

Photo by @decolorescommunityyard

Local media continues with solid coverage of the water crisis at the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D ... led by Greg B. Smith at The City and Gwynne Hogan at WNYC/Gothamist.

As previously reported, residents were told last Friday night not to drink or cook with tap water after tests revealed traces of arsenic. The City said that NYCHA officials learned about the contamination two weeks earlier and did not notify the nearly 2,600 residents in the complex between Sixth Street and 13th Street. NYCHA officials have denied that claim. 

 

• Arsenic-Free NYCHA water test results came after taps flushed for hours (The City) 

• East Village public housing tenants mystified as city claims no arsenic in water — but maybe Legionella (Gothamist) 

• Test results come back negative for arsenic at Jacob Riis Houses, but positive for traces of Legionnaires' disease bacteria (CBS New York)

Out here at Riis Houses, w/ @CarlinaRivera & @HarveyforNY, helping w/ hot meal distribution for tenants who are enduring yet another day without useable water.

We need this crisis resolved once and for all. And we need accountability for what residents here have endured. pic.twitter.com/FsgxLs0Tzx

— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) September 8, 2022

... and here's a flashback to a piece via PIX 11 about the water at Riis Houses from Aug. 12 titled, "Cloudy tap water has East Village NYCHA residents worried." 

Previously 

Updated 3 p.m. 

The Jacob Riis Tenant Association is hosting this meeting tonight at 6 at P.S. 34 on 12th Street and Avenue D...

An idea for this 'vacancy hotspot' on Avenue A

Per our lead post from Monday, there's a new report titled "Crisis and Adaptation: Storefront Trends in the East Village, 2019 – 2021." 

As noted, there are many takeaways from the 20-page report, including a section titled "vacancy hotspots."

Among those: The retail spaces in the NYCHA-owned First Houses on Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street. Three of the seven Avenue A-facing storefronts remain vacant and have been for years.

The report offers this recommendation:

Urge the NYCHA to make their vacant spaces on Avenue A available for vendor markets, micro-entrepreneurs living in NYCHA developments, and local businesses more generally.

We don't know why the city/NYCHA hasn't made more of an effort to lease these high-profile spaces.

The other two vacancy hotspots are the retail spaces at Steiner East Village on Avenue A between 11th Street and 12th Street (for lease signs have been posted for the past four years) and the renovated storefronts at 250 E. Houston St. 

The report, released by the Cooper Square Committee, Village Preservation and East Village Community Coalition, provides a deep dive into the neighborhood's commercial landscape that builds off of the 2019 "East Village Commercial District Needs Assessment" to give a 2021 snapshot of the EV commercial district.   

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. 

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

Report: City taking different approach to leasing space on public housing property

City officials have apparently rethought plans to lease space on public housing property for luxury development, the Times reports today.

In February, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) revealed plans to lease playground and community center space for luxury high-rises ... an announcement that brought about immediate criticism from residents and politicos alike.

Yesterday, NYCHA officials announced that "instead of requesting formal proposals to build on the grounds of eight housing projects in Manhattan, as previously envisioned, they would first solicit ideas from private developers — so-called expressions of interest — before choosing any construction projects."

Also!

"Officials are now encouraging proposals that would incorporate retail stores, community facilities and other uses on the ground floors, which many public housing residents favor."

The NYCHA originally said that the new development would generate $31 million to $46 million in annual lease payments, "all of which will go toward fixing up deteriorating buildings. The agency currently has a backlog of 420,000 repair orders and faces a $60 million budget gap annually," the Daily News reported in February.

Perhaps those trees adjacent to the Max Meltzer Tower will be safe after all.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Outrage over proposal to turn the green space at the Meltzer Tower into private development (35 comments)

EV Grieve Etc.: A 'crisis point' for the NYCHA; stand-out dishes at Mama Fina on Avenue A

[Flashback Friday to Monday morning, 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's]

A "crisis point" for the NYCHA (Curbed) ... Cuomo says no state budget unless NYCHA improvements approved (ABC-7)

NYPD rejects request for records on hit-and-run killing of East Village resident Neftaly Ramirez last year (Streetsblog ... previously)

De Blasio donor testifies the mayor told him "do what you’ve got to do" with illegal contributions (Daily News)

The changing landscape of small businesses in the East Village, and what it means to the community (Thirteen/MetroFocus)

On Avenue A, Mama Fina serves Filipino food with "exquisite results" (Eater ... previously)

Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire this weekend (The Lo-Down)

A visit to the KGB Bar on Fourth Street (amNewYork)

Club Cumming on Sixth Street looking to change their method of operation to allow for live music/DJs (Page Six)

NYC population reaches a record high (Curbed)

If you're interested in speaking out against Albany seeking to repeal Residential FAR Caps (The Municipal Arts Society of New York)

Eggs in Dora's future? (Laura Goggin Photography)

About the East Village subbing for Hell's Kitchen in "Jessica Jones" (Variety)

Madonna pics from the early 1980s (Dazed ... previously)

U.S. theatrical premiere of "12 Days," a well-regarded documentary filmed inside a psychiatric ward in France (Anthology Film Archives)

Priced at $16 and sold 3,044 times, the Outlaw Country drink at Death and co. generated $53,218 in gross revenue, or $48,024 before taxes and comps, in 180 days last year (Forbes)

A walk from the East Village to the West Village in 1986 with Nelson Sullivan (Flaming Pablum)

A Live Skull reunion (Dangerous Minds)

History of the Allen Street baths (Ephemeral New York)

Shakespeare & Co. is opening two new bookstores in NYC (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York ... previously)

And Trinity Grace Church on 11th Street is hosting an Easter Egg Hunt in Tompkins Square Park on March 31 at 10:30 a.m. ...



Details here.

PSA 4 providing increased security at Mariana Bracetti Plaza

This year, EVG contributor Stacie Joy has been reporting on the dangerous living conditions at Mariana Bracetti Plaza, the public housing complex on Third Street and Fourth Street along Avenue C. 

In early February, local elected officials and NYCHA deputies met with tenant activists Kanielle Hernandez and Yvette Maria for a firsthand look at the issues here, a list that includes flooding, leaks, sewage and infrastructure issues, broken door locks, trespassing, nonfunctioning elevators,  police response and drug use and sales. 

Stacie now reports that officers from Police Service Area 4 (PSA 4), the Avenue C-based station that serves 25 NYCHA developments in the 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th precincts in Manhattan, are working to provide increased security at Mariana Bracetti Plaza.

Stacie took the top photo on Saturday when PSA 4 officers were joined by members of the NYPD's Law Enforcement Explorers program, which is for young men and women ages 14 to 20, at Mariana Bracetti Plaza.

Security aside, there's also an emphasis now on providing educational materials related to COVID-19 testing and vaccinations for the residents... these materials were spotted in the lobby...

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

5 years of portable boilers on 6th Street

[Photo from yesterday]

The temporary boilers that arrived shortly after Superstorm Sandy remain rather permanently on Sixth Street at Avenue C outside the NYCHA-owned building.

In September 2014, Sen. Schumer and Mayor de Blasio announced that $108 million in federal funding would be used to replace temporary boilers in NYCHA buildings damaged by Sandy. Apparently they haven't been able to get over here these past three years. (The Daily News once reported that a temporary boiler costs $5,000 a month to rent.)

Anyway, a look back at the boilers that have roughly cost the NYCHA $600,000 to rent these past five years.

October 2014...



October 2013...



April 2013...



Early 2013...

Sidewalk bridge fakeout at the beleaguered Mariana Bracetti Plaza

Word spread yesterday that workers were removing the sidewalk bridge from around Mariana Bracetti Plaza, the 7-story NYCHA-run housing complex on Third Street and Fourth Street along Avenue C.

There were momentary cheers, as tenant advocates have blamed the longstanding sidewalk structures for the increase in illegal activities here in recent years.

As resident Kanielle Hernandez told EVG contributor Stacie Joy in January:

Landlords put up these dark ugly scaffolds as a resolution instead of actual repairs. Then they stay up for years without any actual work being done. But someone is getting paid to have these sidewalk bridges just up with no real purpose. It creates dark hidden places for illegal activity. 

With the sidewalk bridges came more and more and more homeless, drug addicts and alcoholics. The money being spent to have these useless sidewalk bridges up should be used to actually improve the building conditions.

Upon arriving at the complex yesterday, Stacie learned that the sidewalk bridge will be rebuilt, with workers replacing the rotting wooden planks...

While the pieces did need to be replaced, workers also said that the sidewalk bridge would remain up for another three years.

According to DOB records, permits for a sidewalk shed date here to December 2000. (Reason: "loose brick.") There are records of permits for the installation of 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.)

And some scenes from yesterday's work... 

Tonight, Community Board 3's NYCHA & Section 8 Housing Subcommittee will discuss the conditions at the Mariana Bracetti Plaza housing complex.

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

EVG Etc.: NYCHA's staggering repair bill; CitiBike's new owner

[Sunset and shadows on St. Mark's Place]

The NYCHA needs $32 BILLION for repairs over the next five years (Curbed) More than 800 kids tainted by lead in NYCHA buildings, city says (Daily News)

Why Gabrielle Hamilton, chef/owner of Prune on First Street, would want to team up with an accused sex harasser (The Post)

Lyft buys CitiBike (Gothamist)

Should you worry about falling window A/C units? (Curbed)

Q-and-A with writer/DJ/goth scholar Andi Harriman (Flaming Pablum)

Grand/Clinton Street gridlock update (The Lo-Down)

Opening a fire hydrant is a long city summer tradition (Ephemeral New York)

The business success of Luke's Lobster, which got its start on 7th Street in 2009 (CNBC)

1986 Tonya Harding doc "Sharp Edges" gets a 1-week run starting Friday (City Cinemas Village East ... and background here)

U.S. premiere of the documentary "A Skin So Soft" begins on Friday (Anthology Film Archives)

About that cartoon video for Richard Hell's "The Kid With the Replaceable Head" (Dangerous Minds)

NYC’s first bike counter is at the base of the Manhattan Bridge (Streetsblog)

There's a special breakfast-taco menu tomorrow from 6:30-11 a.m. at Superiority Burger on Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...

Official announcement flyer from @doodoodillon for July 4th. STARTS AT 6:30am. AM. IN THE MORNING. We are closed for normal business hours on July 4th. Ok!

A post shared by @ superiorityburger on Jun 25, 2018 at 9:14pm PDT

An EVG reader shared this photo ... showing that GoLocker has set up shop at 508 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B in a building owned by the Kushner Companies.



The Brooklyn-based company, which launched in 2014, delivers parcels to lockers stored in neighborhood businesses. There was a set of GoLockers in the back of the Gentle Wash Laundromat on Avenue A, though those were recently removed.

... and EVG reader Andy Reynolds reports that an equipment truck for "The Deuce" shoot on Seventh Street this week took out a nice-sized branch near Second Avenue...