Up in the under-restoration belltower at Most Holy Redeemer

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

On Oct. 30, we reported on the restoration work underway on the bell and clock tower at Most Holy Redeemer/Nativity Parish on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

In recent weeks, you've likely noticed that the clocks are coming back into service after several decades, and there's an electronic carillon system playing seasonal hymns at certain hours. (Note: The top photo is a pre-restoration shot!)

Earlier in the fall, Father Seán took me on a tour into the 232-foot tower at the historic church, which was completed in October 1851... and it was one of the most exhilarating (aka, terrifying!) EV tours that I've taken!

Father Seán and church handyman Daniel Alvarado met me in front of the newly restored and painted gates and doors to Most Holy Redeemer ...

From there, we climbed!

And climbed!

We went up a steep spiral staircase to the staging grounds above the church's stained-glass windows, where I saw the old clock mechanisms and the about-to-be-installed new ones.

We marveled at the bone graveyard of the animals who have long since perished up in the tower and the beautiful exposed brick. The filtered light coming through the tall windows was awe-inspiring.

Father Seán explained that the church was lucky they didn't need to repair the clocks from outside, which would require cranes, street closures and scaffolding, and would be a much more expensive project. Workers have been transporting materials from within the stairs and ladders during this restoration. 

The church later shared these photos ... showing the spectacular view from the tower clocks...

You can read our previous post for more details on the restoration and history of Most Holy Redeemer. The church also accepts donations "to help alleviate this restoration's burden on our parish budget." You can find a link here.

Hey Bay: Con Ed preps for more transformer work at the Avenue A substation

Reporting by Stacie Joy

In recent weeks, workers have been doing some prep work at the Con Ed substation on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street... work that includes 24/7 security on the scene, moving cones and barriers here and there. 

As of yesterday, the first of the Bay Cranes arrived ... now the work is getting serious. (Emphasis ours.) 

As per workers on the scene, this is a two-week process. First, they will remove and disassemble the old transformer on the Fifth Street side — starting today. This will take a while. (Editorializing.) Then, slated for the weekend after Thanksgiving, the new transformer will go in and provide an Instagram-worthy photo extravaganza. (Try to get a window seat at Sophie's or Somtum Der!)

This is the second transformer replacement at the substation this year... the previous job was a five-month-long project.

Updated 7:37 a.m.

We have liftoff...

Con Ed ready to transform your weekend along Avenue A!

We're back on Bay watch along Avenue A. 

The Bay Crane team is out in force this morning for what we understand will be the installation of a new transformer at the Con Ed substation on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

Posted signage last weekend tipped us off to this event ... though with some cliffhanging — maybe it will happen March 4-5... or maybe March 11-12! ("We don't really know!" didn't fit on the sign.)

The sign leaves out some vital info... like Avenue A is closed through traffic from Fourth Street to Seventh Street. (Perhaps that was optional to include, given the 47 flatbed trucks and various cranes parked along A.)

The transformer work here, often 17 workers directing a beeping forklift, started as we welcomed 2023 ... 

Could this be the guest of honor?

Anyway! Pull up a chair and umbrella and enjoy.

Saturday's opening shots

Big rig city today on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street ... as an assortment of cranes and things are employed at the ConEd substation here... where workers have been replacing a transformer in recent weeks...

So this had nothing to do with bus stop construction 😬 ... and Avenue A is closed to through traffic (both lanes) from Fourth Street to Seventh Street through tomorrow night, per signage.

14th Street residents enduring construction hell while under stay-at-home orders

For the past two and a half years, residents along 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B have endured the ongoing L-train reconstruction. (Read about that here and here.)

Now more construction arrived at the end of March as the NYC Department of Environmental Protection decided to start a (non-emergency) old sewer line repair in the middle of 14th Street between A and B.



Residents of 542 E. 14th St. described the scenario:

The project involves jackhammers, chainsaws, a pipe cutter, several generators/pumps, as well as cranes. The sound is unbearably loud, at times shakes the building, goes on all day, including weekends, and is expected to continue for several weeks.

The result is that, while we are stuck inside our homes upon the order of the governor because of the pandemic, we are being forced to endure incredibly loud and disruptive non-emergency work on the part of the DEP. This is cruel and is completely outside the spirit of solidarity we need right now. Everyone is trying to do their part in staying sane and calm during this ongoing crisis, and yet we are being tortured by unnecessary repair work.

According to the residents, the "worst" of the work takes place between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., though it commences at 7 a.m. and lasts until 3 p.m.

Below is a three-second sampling of what goes on for hours...



Back to the residents: "This is a real 'screw you' to the community, especially after we've endured two and a half years of the ongoing MTA construction."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nightmare scenario for residents who learn that 14th Street and Avenue A will be the main staging area for the L-train reconstruction

Pigeon-proofing the Con Ed substation on Avenue A and 5th Street

You may have noticed the activity around the Fifth Street side of the Con Ed substation, a popular roosting spot for pigeons along Avenue A.

For the past 10 days or so, workers have coned off about a quarter of the block here between Avenue A and Avenue B to navigate the two cranes on the scene.

According to one of the workers, the crew is erecting an enclosure to prevent pigeon droppings from befouling the equipment below ...



Not sure exactly what this structure will look like... for now, the workers are still putting in steel supports...



Updated 8 a.m.

The graffiti scrub team was out early this morning power-washing the building... someone had tagged DBDBDBDBDBDBDB from Sixth Street all the way across Avenue A...

[Updated] Where will the Lenin statue's next reign be?

[The post-Lenin Red Square]

Now that workers have removed the 18-foot statue of Vladimir Lenin from the roof of Red Square on East Houston, there's a lot of speculation about where the former Communist leader might end up.

On Monday night, workers at the scene at 250 Houston between Avenue A and Avenue B told EVG contributor Stacie Joy that Lenin, who arrived at Red Square in 1994, was headed to Queens for cleaning and storage.

Meanwhile, a tipster told us that the rental building's original developer, Michael Rosen, has purchased the statue. The building is rumored to be in contract for $100 million.

The Village Voice had an entertaining phone call with someone who answered the phone at Red Square.

“It’s in the same place as Dick Cheney — an undisclosed location,” the man said, adding “I don’t even know how you got this number. I haven’t answered the phone in 14 years.”

The man confirmed that the statue was initially removed to Queens, but has already been returned to Manhattan. It needs to be cleaned and touched up a bit — Lenin’s got some tears, he said — but it will be brought back within a few months.

“It’s going to be cool. That’s all I can say."

DNAInfo reported that the statue was spotted yesterday morning in a truck bed outside the Angel Orensanz Center at 172 Norfolk St. (Was this thing just driving the city all night?) The truck driver said that the statue was going up in/on a nearby building.

And finally, one EVG regular speculated that the statue would end up atop the Christodora House, where Rosen lives on Avenue B. Sure, why not. [Updated 8:10 a.m. — Rosen writes in to say that he has been living in Hanoi these recent years, and they have a Lenin in one of their parks already.]

One other item from Monday night. Apparently several people called 911 to report that someone was stealing the statue. One of the officers on the scene from the 9th Precinct said that he was responding to a call about a "landmark statue being stolen from the building by men with cranes."


[Photo by Stacie Joy]

That would be quite a heist.


[Photo by Stacie Joy]

Updated 6 a.m.

A BoweryBoogie reader spotted a crane crew hoisting Lenin up to the roof of 178 Norfolk St. yesterday ... presumably the new home for the statue. Rosen and Michael Shaoul, co-owners/developers of the original Red Square, are the owners of this 6-story walk-up adjacent to the Angel Orensanz Center.

Updated 6/9

Lenin has returned. Photos here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rumors: Red Square has been sold

Report: Red Square has been sold for $100 million

The fall of Lenin: Iconic statue removed from Red Square on East Houston Street

Legally dump your old electronics today at Tompkins Square Park

The e-waste recycling event is underway on Avenue A between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street … until 4 p.m.


[Photo by EVG reader Robert F.]

The e-wasters are accepting: Computers, monitors, printers, TVs… and everything listed on the flyer…

It's your chance to properly dispose of this!


(And this isn't what the cranes are on Avenue A right now…

ConEd will be hogging up some parking spots ahead of another transformer replacement

Via the EVG inbox from your friends at ConEd…

Due to transformer replacement work at the Avenue A substation, pedestrian traffic and some parking spaces will be affected from November 17 to December 14, 2014.

There will be no parking on both sides of East 6th Street from corner of Avenue A to the end of the substation from Monday, November 17 until Sunday, December 14, 2014.

On the day of the transformer installation tentatively scheduled for March 1, 2015, East 6th Street will be closed to vehicular traffic and there will be parking restrictions on Avenue A between East 5th Street and East 6th Street on the weekend of February 28.

These disruptions are necessary to accommodate cranes, heavy equipment, and an oversized trailer needed to remove and replace the transformer. This work will help us continue to provide reliable electrical service in your community.

There will be no interruptions to your gas or electric services during this operation.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Hope that you have noted all this in your 2015 calendars.

Anyway, so you know what all this means?

Big crane and transformer photo opps galore!

[January 2012!]


[March 2014 photo by Allen Semanco]

Anyone know how many transformers are inside the substation… and how often they actually need to be replaced….?

H/T EVG reader Creature

RUMOR: Gas station going, boutique hotel coming on Second Avenue?

IF the rumors are accurate, then the BP station and MRM Auto Repair at 24 Second Ave. at East First Street will close this summer to eventually make way for something the area doesn't seem to need — a boutique hotel.



Again, this is only a rumor… traced to workers at the station. There's nothing on file yet with the DOB for this address.

Of course, news of BP's closing wouldn't be so shocking, after all.

On Tuesday, WYNC featured a story titled "Say Goodbye to Manhattan's Gas Stations."

Per the article:

In 2004, the borough had more than 60 places to fill up, but now there are just 39. Fuel prices and consolidation are driving the nationwide trend, but in Manhattan, it's all about real estate.

"It's kind of like the gas station has a red flag on it that says: 'Call me. I'm the next site,'" said Adelaide Polsinelli, a broker with the real estate investment firm Eastern Consolidated.

Thanks to skyrocketing real estate prices, Manhattan gas stations are worth much more than the money the owner can make selling gas. Last year, a Getty near the High Line sold for $23.5 million. A few months later, another station in the borough went for $25 million.

And IF this is true, this means the East Village will no longer have any gas stations in another year or so. In March, Hakimian Property filed plans to erect a 9-story mixed-use building on the site of the Mobil station on East Houston and Avenue C. (The station was expected to be open until next year.) Meanwhile, the BP station on East Houston and Lafayette will be home to this one day.

Said Eastern Consolidated's Polsinelli to WNYC: "You see everything that was once industrial — auto body shops, garages, gas stations — and now they're all holes in the ground with cranes in them."

Previously on EV Grieve:
How much longer will the East Village have gas stations?

The East Village will soon be down to 1 gas station

The Mobil on Avenue C is still going strong — for now

You have a little longer to get gas on Avenue C

Plans filed for new 9-story building at site of Mobil station on East Houston and Avenue C

High times: New clock appears above East 13th Street and 4th Avenue

So last Saturday we spotted our old friends from Bay Crane doing something or another on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street… we took the above photo (remember: you always take photos of cranes).

And that was that. Until blogger Andrew Fine pointed out to us the arrival of an old-timey clock …





Per A Fine Blog:

It appears to be part of the re-branding of Pan Am Equities' 4000 unit apartment portfolio by Mirador Properties, which is now in charge of marketing and leasing. Mirador is overseeing the upscaling the properties with Restoration Hardware fixtures, high end appliances, and sleek lobbies. It is being branded as "True North", dedicated to combining "Old New York design" with "modern technology and amenities". Ok, whatever.

Goodbye giant cranes on Avenue A, goodbye

March Craneness has come to end on Avenue A … the big cranes that were here to put in the new ice machine at Sophie's install the 200,000-pound transformer at the Con Ed substation have packed up and left…



… leaving us with many memories and blog posts …



Photos today by Bobby Williams

It was the kind of day where someone was randomly playing a tuba on Avenue A

Avenue A and East 10th Street via Anton van Dalen. Did this have anything to do with the cranes?

And now, 14 photos of the big-ass cranes on Avenue A

Well, what a day! The Spring Social Season began with not one but two cranes anchored on Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Fifth Street… there to lift (or whatevs) a new transformer into the Con Ed substation …

Here are 14 various views of all this…

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Via EVG regular peter radley…













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Via Tin Can On 5th…



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Via EVG regular Grant Shaffer…



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Via Senior EVG Crane Photographer Bobby Williams…








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Via EVG…