Aces & Eights signage up at former Mo Pitkin's space

As I mentioned last Monday, a new bar has opened in the former Mo Pitkin's space at 34 Avenue A. I was told that the building was purchased by the folks behind the fratty Yorkville saloon Aces & Eights. Now, rather temporary-looking signage is up...




No indication yet how the performance space upstairs will be utilized. (Beer pong tourneys?) Something tells me that you won't be seeing, say, Kiki & Herb or Murray Hill headlining anytime soon...The 2-for-1 happy hour is in keeping with the four other bars on the next block -- Double Down, Kelly's, Nice Guy Eddie's and The Library -- that have the same deal.

Meanwhile, add futurist to the skills of former Mo's regular Ben Lerman. The ukulele-playing comedian had this to say to New York magazine in September 2007 upon hearing the news that Mo's was for sale:

“Like Brownies, Fez, Sin-é, Tonic, and many others before, Mo’s will be just another arts venue replaced by yet another bland, chic meat-market with delicious mojitos. The people moving into the town don’t want live entertainment. They just want to get hammered and drag someone home to their luxury condo. Which, when you put it that way, actually doesn’t sound so bad.”

That time again: May's CB3/SLA agenda includes 34 Avenue A (again); new home for Gruppo Pizza

[34 Avenue A]

Seriously, didn't we just do this? Well, CB3 released its meetings rundown for May, including the CB3/SLA docket...

SLA & DCA Licensing Committee
Monday, May 14 at 6:30 pm — JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at Bowery

As always at this point, we don't know a lot about some of the new applicants just yet... Have a tip about any of these? Please let us know via the EV Grieve email ... Here are a few of interest... the whole agenda is here.

Renewal with Complaint History
• Boiler Room (JB Max Inc), 86 E 4th St (op)

• Ninth Ward (Church & Louis Inc), 180 2nd Ave (op)

• Numero 28 (La Meridiana 2 Ltd), 176 2nd Ave (wb)

• The 13th Step (149 Second Ave Rest Inc), 149 2nd Ave (op)

Sidewalk Café Application
• Nicoletta (Letta #1 LLC), 160 2nd Ave

• Cornerstone Café (AO Café and Restaurant LLC), 17 Ave B

Applications within Resolution Areas
• To be Determined, 34 Ave A (wb)

A scratch from last month... Here we go again with this space, seemingly doomed to any applicant since Aces & Eights held the liquor license... As you probably know, CB3 has rejected all the recent plans for a bar-restaurant-performance space here. Will this be any different? The applicant is only vying for beer and wine...

[Ah the memories! 98 Avenue B a few years ago...]

• Pizza Grupo (Fat Dog Inc), 98 Ave B (wb/removal from 186 Ave B)

Layalay, the B&T hookah hotspot on Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh, got shutdown in October 2009. We've seen workers renovating the space... Pizza Grupo will be moving into here one of these days...

• Babel, 129 Ave C (op)

Alterations
• The Standard East Village (Cooper AB LLC), 25-33 Cooper Sq (op/close 2nd floor bar terrace/new outdoor space on north/alter hours/other alts)

Held over from last month. Read about the Hotel's plans here.

• To be Determined, 137 1st Ave (wb)

• Shervin's World Inc, 131 E 7th St (wb)

• Paulaner Brauhaus Restaurant LLC, 265-267 Bowery (op)

BoweryBoogie had the scoop on the German-based Paulaner Brewery aiming to open a beer hall just south of Houston.

Corporate Change (not heard at committee)
• Moonwalkers Restaurant Corp, 101 Ave A (op)

This is the Pyramid... continue to hear rumblings about its future...

b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations |up=upgrades

Flyer campaign targets CB3 district manager 'for assault on our civil liberties'

You may have seen these flyers around the neighborhood the past day or two... @bacondevil spotted this one on Second Avenue at East Fifth Street...

There was also one spotted on East 14th Street at Second Avenue... Per the flyer, someone is accusing Community Board 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer as being an "assassin of New York's creativity" who is "wanted for assault on our civil liberties."

The Lo-Down, who first reported on the flyers yesterday, spoke with Stetzer. She said that she doesn't know why anyone why would have done this ... "but she believes they could be related to liquor license applications."

Speaking as a resident during a CB3/SLA meeting last summer, Stetzer did publicly oppose the restaurant-bar-music venue project in the works for 34 Avenue A. CB3 ultimately rejected all the proposals for the former Aces & Eights space, and it will soon be home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."

Last December, Stetzer was one of the many city officials tweaked in the annual holiday invite from activist Allen Roskoff. According to Scoopy's Notebook, Stetzer was depicted "as a sexy pole dancer because ... she's a foe of bars and clubs."

(Some residents also criticized Stetzer in the fall of 2010 for her role to possibly limit the number of concerts in Tompkins Square Park. You can read that background here.)

As far as these types of flyers go, this one seems rather mild by comparison. Back in the spring, a few flyers appeared around the neighborhood about developer Ben Shaoul. As reported by The New York Times in July, they read, in part: "I pledge to rape the East Village of every last vestige of creativity," and concluded: "You gotta problem wit dat?"

What's left of Aces & Eights is now on the sidewalk along Avenue A

EVG reader Anna noted that workers are clearing out 34 Avenue A this morning... site most recently of Aces & Eights (and Mo Pitkin's previously) ...

As we first reported on June 29, the address will soon be home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."

Week in Grieview

[Early evening summer Saturday in Tompkins Square Park. By Shawn Chittle]

Q-n-A with Brian Rose on "Time and Space on the Lower East Side" (Wednesday)

Inside the DeRobertis in-house bakery (Thursday)

3 new floors for 31-33 Second Ave. via Ben Shaoul (Wednesday)

East Village Social opens (Tuesday)

Doggie daycare for former Aces & Eights space on Avenue A (Friday)

Your new 7-Eleven signage on IHOP Way (Tuesday)

Tyra Banks arrives on Avenue D (Thursday)

More details on the stairwell collapse at 86 E. Fourth St. (Monday)

Schmidty, lost and found (Friday)

Bakery becomes bar (Thursday)

Rays's now has $1 popcorn (Monday)

Crusty trouble (Tuesday)

Quick recap of the hearing for the proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District (Wednesday)

About the new restaurants opening on Extra Place (Monday)

Another new bar for Avenue A

Back on May 4 we noted that a new bar was coming to Avenue A near Third Street. Eater now has more details: The place will be called Mary O'Hallorans, and it opens Friday at the spot of the former sushi joint. Almost next door to Aces & Eights.

Week in Grieview

[Trying to to ride on the sidewalk again. Second Avenue at Seventh Street]

Q-and-A with Michael Dominic, the director of "Sunshine Hotel" (Thursday)

Coverage of the East Village Town Hall meeting (Wednesday)

Trash hoops in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)

The Bowery Poetry Club is now closed for renovations (Tuesday)

Cleaning out the former Aces & Eights/Mo Pitkin's (Tuesday)

David Schwimmer to have his very own Central Perk on East Sixth Street (Wednesday)

Electrical fire at Union Square (Friday)

Avenue D development lot now $4 million cheaper (Monday)

Short film on the Mosaic Man (Wednesday)

The new water cafe has opened (Monday)

The State seizes Fares Deli on Avenue A (Thursday)

34 Avenue A is for rent, again

There is a new "for rent" sign up in the window at 34 Avenue A, most recently home to Aces & Eights ...

Backing up for a minute. We first noted the building was for sale back in May for $4.65 million. The listing is no longer active at the Living Real Estate Group. Someone removed the listing at Streeteasy on July 16. Nothing in the city property records indicates that a sale was made... or is in the works.

So, we can assume the current owner is now trying to lease the space again. A rep for Coldwell Banker Commercial said that she was hired by the owner to lease the current retail, and said she knew nothing about the building sale. (So much for the rumor via a commenter that there was a lease on the table for a Subway sandwich shop here.) The rental listing wasn't online as of last evening at the Coldwell site.

Meanwhile, as you probably know, CB3 has rejected all the recent plans for a bar-restaurant-performance space here.

At this point, it's clear that the CB3 won't approve any nightlife-related operation here. How about a shoe store then?

Perhaps they spent all the money on the renovation and flat-screen TVs

The new sign is up at Aces & Eights on Avenue A.





Looks a little...? Small? Homemade? High school shop classy?

Bar with no name opens in former Mo Pitkin's space

We were surprised to find the former Mo Pitkin's space reopened as a bar this past weekend. We knew something was in the works for the place. In any event, there was a "soft opening" -- as they say -- this past Friday in which a reliable EV Grieve operative reported that the place looked "sketchy" in sort of an Upper East Side way. There's no indication outside what the place is called. In any event, it's apparently run by the folks behind Aces & Eights, the fratty Yorkville saloon on First Avenue and 87th Street.

The former Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction bar/restaurant/performance space at 34 Avenue A closed in October 2007. It was owned in part by Two Boots honcho Phil Hartman. According to the Observer last November, the building was sold for $4 million.

We stopped by ourselves last night...but the place was closed...no word yet on what will become of the performance space upstairs. There is a rather rumpled-looking banner advertising loft space for rent hanging from the second level, though it looks like it's for LiveinNYC.net. (They have no listings for spaces on Avenue A.) It would be a shame if this becomes just another bar...losing the performance part of the space in the process.

A look inside Sunday night...

Reminder tonight: "Photographs for Your Kitchen"

As the flier says, opening reception is from 8:30-10:30....

So why is Aces & Eights doing this?

And read more about Curt Hoppe here.

Even an empty 34 Avenue A is upsetting neighbors

34 Avenue A has been focal point for criticism since Aces & Eights opened in the spring of 2009... Then, of course, came the drama with the various restaurant-bar-performance space proposals... In August, "for rent" signs went up here.

On Saturday morning, Dave on 7th spotted the following Urban Etiquette Sign outside 34 Avenue A... (EV Grieve reader Matt also sent us photos ...)

So what's going on? Debra Stelnik, a broker for Coldwell Banker, told me this weekend via email that the space is still for lease.

If the noise came from the tenants upstairs, then you'd think the sign leaver would have placed the note to the left on their entrance... Theories? Ideas?

In any event, here is the rental info for the main floor and basement...