Hi neighbor: Is this a new era for bar-resident relations in the East Village?

What happened with the Cabin Down Below management and the family next door is the latest example of East Village bar owners trying to be better neighbors...

1) David Schwartz, one of Lit's co-owners, recently outlined the steps his bar is taking to appease their unhappy neighbors. (Read that story here.)



2) The manager of the Elephant on First Street recently told me what she had done to help change perceptions neighbors may have of the Thai eatery. (Read that post here.)

3) In response to an exchange with EV Grieve readers, the GM of Aces & Eights made good on trying to dispel the bar’s Upper-East-Side, preppy reputation by hosting an art show by Curt Hoppe. (You can read that story here.)

4) Last summer, Destination's Mason Reese was the only owner who attended a meeting of residents on 12th and 13th Streets to address issues people were having with the proliferation of new bars on Avenue A. He agreed to close the bar's front windows by 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on the weekends. (And Reese recently chimed in on a comment thread to remind folks that he has kept his word.)

Maybe this is all for a good reason. Monday night's CB3/SLA meeting showed what can happen when neighbors get organized and work together... As Jill reported:

Tonight's Community Board 3 SLA Committee meeting was possibly historic. The Upper Avenue A residents had such a strong turnout ... The end result, which is often a testament to stamina more than brains, was that nobody got their license approvals tonight, and one of the three bars withdrew their application in the face of so much opposition.

I'm sure there are other bar owners who continue to be good neighbors... (and others who are anything but!) Still! Is this a New Era for Neighborly Love? Do bar owners realize that it might be a good idea to actually cater to people who walk a block or so to the establishment and not travel here on, say, the LIRR? I think back to those ugly, drag-out fights involving the people vs. Le Souk, Death & Company, among others.

As the Cabin Down Below neighbor said, it took a few phone calls, a little waiting... and one evening a bar owner is in the apartment to hear for herself what the noise is like while a contractor was outside on the stairs.

I just don't know if bar owners (and prospective bar owners) are just being smart... or they're scared.

EV Grieve Etc: Mourning Edition

Why you won't be able to see the July 4 fireworks very well this year on your EV rooftop (NewYorkology)

Le Souk is leaving Avenue B (Eater)

A makeshift first concert in TSP this spring (Little Stories and Maybe Poems From Now and Then)

Can the old Delphi space survive Bouleyville? (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

At the Worker and Immigrant Rights rally (Slum Goddess)

Horizonless Manhattan (Esquared)

Study break on Avenue A? (Neither More Nor Less)

L Train riders mock Stuy Town (Lux Living)

Jim Jarmusch likes to walk (Filmmaker)

Capturing a hidden part of Hudson Street (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Finding gold and silver on Stanton (BoweryBoogie)

Times Square terror courtesy of Nic Cage film (New York Post)

Le Souk: New Year's Eve party still on

Previously.

Where the empty storefronts are

[Photo from Jan. 8]

As we noted last week, Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street is awfully quiet at the moment. For now, just two of seven businesses are open on the block.

This situation will likely change soon enough. Lucy's will return. (The sign on the door says closed until further notice. She usually does take several breaks during the year, though those generally occur in late July-early August and late November-early December.)

The former 10 Degrees Bistro space will become a cajun-style restaurant via the team behind Shoolbred's and Ninth Ward. And the for rent signs have been removed from the former Sustainable NYC storefront. One EVG reader saw the folks from Top A Nails next door in here. (That could have just been a coincidence.)

Anyway, seems like a good time to look at a few other blocks with multiple empty storefronts... such as East 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue... Danny's Cycles closed this location (due to a rent increase, according to some longtime customers) ... next door, the space has been Vegtown Juice, Chubby Mary's and Led Zeppole in the past three-plus years...



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The west side of Third Avenue between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street has seen a lot of turnover in the past year, including the departures of East Village Cheese and Excel Art and Framing Store (both found new locations) and Organic Avenue. Five spaces are vacant (two of them are for rent).

There have been rumors that the Duane Reade at East 10th Street will eventually expand into at least two of the empty storefronts (and there are now approved work permits for the renovation on file with the city)...



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... and directly across Third Avenue — the retail strip in the base of NYU's Alumni Hall between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street has many vacancies: Four of six storefronts are empty ... Citi Habitats moved out in June 2014 ... Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery closed in July 2014 ... the Subway sandwich shop closed early last October ... followed by Saint's Alp Teahouse ...



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... the north side of St. Mark's Place has been hard hit... starting with the (temporary for now) closure of Nino's on the corner... then four of the next five storefronts are empty. The former Hop Devil Grill, Ton-Up Cafe, the Belgian Room and Luca Bar.



There is one incoming tenant — Sweethaus Cupcake Cafe is apparently opening at the old Luca Bar space at No. 119.

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Staying on St. Mark's Place... we've previously noted how long (since late 2011) 37 St. Mark's Place at Second Avenue has sat empty. Four retail spots are available...


[Photo from October]

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...and another long-empty block to note: Avenue B between East Fourth Street and East Third Street... these four storefronts have been unoccupied for years now, including the old Max restaurant at No. 51, now entering its fourth year of vacancy ... and No. 47, the former Le Souk, has been mostly barren for nearly seven years.

There have been a number of brokers trying to rent these spaces. For now, there aren't any for rent signs on the retail properties...



Previously on EV Grieve:
There are more than 20 empty storefronts along Avenue B (2008)

There are 21 empty storefronts along Avenue A (2010)

Week in Grieview

[E. 9th Street outside La Plaza Cultural]

About the rooftop parties at Icon Realty's 205 Avenue A (Tuesday, Thursday)

Deal for East Village treasure John's of 12th Street is off (Tuesday)

Tenants suing Steve Croman on East 8th Street (Friday)

Jim Power begins removing his mosaics from Astor Place ahead of reconstruction (Thursday)

Billionaire Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio (Tuesday)

Out and About with Gary Bell (Wednesday)

Remembering Robin Williams on East 13th Street (Friday)

The ancient ruins of 98-100 Avenue A (Thursday)

Laundromat replaces laundromat on Avenue B (Monday)

Hibachi Dumpling Express opens in former 2 Bros. space on First Avenue (Wednesday)

Shakespeare & Company closes for good at the end of the month (Friday)

Lovecraft Bar NYC now open at 50 Avenue B (Tuesday)

Check out the new mural by Paul Kostabi on East Second Street (Monday)

Korilla BBQ confirmed for Archie & Sons space (Monday)

More reports of ATM skimming (Thursday)

Heavenly Market coming to Third Avenue (Monday)

Prima closes on East First Street (Monday)

Aug. 25 is the last day for Kim's Video and Music (Tuesday)

Birthbath Bakery has apparently closed for good (Monday)

14 photos of the East Village from the 1980s (Friday)

So much for "Taxi Driver 2" (Sunday)

You can still rent the Le Souk space on Avenue B (Friday)

T.G.I. Friday's closing on Union Square (Monday)

… and one more look at the supermoon via EVG regular Grant Shaffer…

Noted

From Page Six:

IT'S casting time for "Sex and the City" extras. Producers of the sequel starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon are holding a "cattle call" Thursday at the soon-to-open restaurant Le Souk on LaGuardia Place. "They're looking for Middle Eastern people for a scene where the girls go to a club in a Middle Eastern neighborhood, so it's fitting they're holding it at a hookah lounge and restaurant," our spy said.

Finest Pizza and Deli on Avenue B has closed

Finest Pizza and Deli on Avenue B and Fourth Street is now officially closed.




Despite cutting back their hours in recent months, business was apparently OK. According to a source, the owner abruptly closed up the shop on Sunday...a source says the store may reopen as another (no beer) deli. Meanwhile, the source says Abdul, who many people liked in the neighborhood, is out of a job (no warning, no severance) and is looking for something in sanitation.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Finest Pizza and Deli not closing because Le Souk went away

Disarmed and dangerous on Avenue B: Pizza statue maimed

14-16 Avenue B back on the market

Twice now plans for 14-16 Avenue B were shot down by CB3 (and, perhaps, for good reasons — one venture called for a 3,000 square foot Italian restaurant, catering company and lounge "with an occasional D.J.") ... first in February ... and later in September.

Now, someone else has a chance to give the space a whirl... the storefronts are back on the market.




The entire corner is going for $18,000.

Folks at Tower may want to update the listing too...




Le Souk and EU?

Previously.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

The return of the Fedora (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

38 Delancey ready for action! — Except for the part about not having a Web site (BoweryBoogie)

Matt Harvey talks to Richard Hell about "Destiny Street Repaired (NYPress)

A new Figaro Cafe for Bleeker? (NY Barfly)

Fight turns deadly at Project Rescue shelter on the Bowery (Runnin' Scared)

OTB is broke; has a fleet of 87 cars (The New York Times)

Former police cadet robs Avenue A bank branch (Daily News)

Crooks posed as cops for ATM holdup on 13th Street and Avenue B (NY1)

The history of Wigstock (Ephemeral New York)

The Post rips off another blog (New York Shitty)

"Kiss Loves You" plays Friday at the Anthology Film Archives (Slum Goddess)

Save the date for the Lost New York conference (Patell and Waterman's History of New York)

Old Yankee Stadium continues to be torn down (Demolition of Yankee Stadium)

The lead to yesterday's TGI Friday's feature in the Post:

It's Friday night, and an unruly parade of tipsy, young New Yorkers spills out from a popular Manhattan bar and onto the sidewalk, blocking foot traffic and drawing complaints from irate neighbors.

But this isn't the East Village, and the bar in question isn't Le Souk.

The year is 1965, and the new hot spot is T.G.I. Friday's -- Friday's for short -- on the northeast corner of 63rd Street and First Avenue.

And now on newsstands...

Other CB3/SLA highlights:

Thanks to an EV Grieve reader, we got a nice rundown on what happened at the CB3/SLA meeting Monday night. Given that the reader had plans for Thanksgiving, he or she couldn't stay for the entire meeting. (OK -- terrible joke.)

Eater's Gabe Ulla was able to stay for the five-hour mini-series. Here are a few more highlights from the night:

-- Billa NYC (82 2nd Ave., in the former Mission space), Uncle Charlie’s (87 Ludlow), Spina (175 Ave B), Tenzin and Tenzin (306 E. 6th), Wo Hop (17 Mott), Agnes and Eva’s Tasty Goods (243 E. 13th) and St. Dymphna’s (118 St. Mark’s) were all approved in their respective categories. In almost all cases, the board stipulated that restaurants cut down their hours of operation.

-- Thailand Café and St. Mark’s Burger were denied sidewalk café licenses.

The Lo-Down was also at the meeting and captured the spirited debate over Le Souk.

CB3 says no to 3,000-square-foot bar/restaurant "with an occasional D.J." at 14-16 Avenue B

As we reported in late December... A bar was taking over both the vacant storefronts at 14 and 16 Avenue B at Second Street.... This place was one of the many up before the CB3/SLA last night....




Eater was at the meeting, and they report:

A yet-to-be-named group surfaced with a proposal to utilize the old Butterfly space, a stone's throw away from Sigmund, for a 3,000 square foot Italian restaurant, catering company and lounge "with an occasional D.J." This scenario sounds familiar - and the residents didn't hesitate to show their fresh battle scars from the throes of Le Souk, China 1 and Carnivale, all restaurants-gone-clubs that they say wrecked havoc on the peace and quiet in their 'hood. Needless to say, this was too much for CB3 and the community representatives to stomach, and after a lengthy dispute of pros and cons, the motion was denied.

The Lo-Down was also there... and we can't wait for the rest of their report. As they wrote: "This evening was a bizarre one even for CB3’s SLA Committee. Tomorrow we’ll have details of a series of tense confrontations between CB3’s David McWater and other members of the committee."

UPDATED: Here's their epic McWater report.

Tough times for Avenue B

[March 25 outside the former Life Cafe]

Well, it has been a difficult few months for some longtime businesses along Avenue B. Last night, the Lakeside Lounge wrapped up its 16-year run near East 10th Street.

Let's take a look at the recent carnage:

• Life Cafe closed last Sept. 11.
• Kate's Joint closed on April 17.
• The Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation at East Fifth Street will give way to residential usage this summer.
• Mainstay Max at 51 Avenue B will close this spring after it opens a new branch in Williamsburg, per Eater.
• The Hare Krishnas moved out of their home at 96 Avenue B last summer, as BoweryBoogie first reported.
• M&M Variety Hardware near Houston closed last fall. (One reader thought that a hardware store had been in the space since the 1950s.)

(I didn't include the liquor store on the corner of Houston... that closed in the fall of 2009...)

Meanwhile, expect more change on Avenue B.

Word is that Wafels & Dinges will open its first café on the southeast corner of Second Street ... based on the same concept as the food trucks in circulation around the city.

And big changes are rumored for the stretch of storefronts that once housed Le Souk. In the rumor stage at the moment. One tipster hears that a two-story addition is coming to the building. However, there aren't any permits on file with the DOB to support the rumor. (The "for lease" signs are off all the empty storefronts, though.)

[Photo from February via EVG reader Ron Z.]

Finally, permits are still pending for the long-empty 185-193 Avenue B at East 12th Street. There is a demolition application on file already with the city (dated Sept. 20). And, according to the DOB, plans for a mixed-use seven-story building with 44 units are in the making. (You can read a short history of what's happening with the space here.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
There are more than 20 empty storefronts along Avenue B

After failing to land a bar/restaurant, 46 Avenue B becoming a laundromat

Wow. Shockers. According to the DOB, this space is becoming a laundromat with 28 washers.... Previously, the home of Carne Vale.... and the space has sat empty for several years... Perbacco was going to give it a whirl, though CB3 said no to that ... then Zerza back in April...CB3 squashed that too...

So, a laundromat... good news for the long-suffereing Avenue B residents who suffered sleepless nights thanks Le Souk and Carne Vale along this stretch....

Remembering the Revolutionary

Streets around Tompkins Square Park were blocked off yesterday for the crew to shoot something for that ABC series Cupid. I tried not to pay attention. I usually don't. However, last summer, before I was doing this site, I shot some photos of what promised to be an enormous project in the neighborhood.


The ominous-looking fliers went up several days before the blessed event was taking place on June 8. As the flier showed, the movie would feature Kate Winslet (ohh!) and directed by her husband Sam Mendes. The movie is based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates. The flier failed to mention other co-stars, such as the leading man. You may have heard of him, an up-and-comer who I think has real potential -- Leonardo DiCaprio, who would be making a triumphant return to the East Village, where he shot parts of The Basketball Diaries in late 1993 and early 1994.

Anyway, as the week went on, more and more equipment was assembled around Tompkins Square Park. This thing promised to hog up most of Avenue B between 6th Street and 10th Street. Plus the north side of 7th Street between Avenue A and C. (Good lord, where would people heading to Le Souk this Friday night park!)

I chatted up some poor bastard who had to sit there in a folding chair and guard a truck. Turned out they were only filming interior shots at 295 E. 8th St. at Avenue B. That regal-looking building on the other side of the street from St. Brigid's was erected in 1887. It was known as Newsboys' and Bootblacks' Lodging House as well as Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys and Industrial School, Children's Aid Society. Parts of Jim Sheridan's movie In America were filmed there a few years back too.

Anyway, after all that, the filming wasn't as disruptive as I thought. (I'm open to horror stories, please.) In fact, it was pretty mellow, as least what I saw of it. No obnoxious PAs barring residents from their homes or sidewalks, etc. No screaming fans looking to mob Leo (guess that's why his name wasn't on the flier). It was a pleasant change of pace from some of the other obnoxious shoots around the Park. The movie comes out here on Dec. 26. 

Earlier on EV Grieve:

Why the East Village will be a mess tonight and tomorrow

UPDATED:
Bob Arihood shows how Cupid disrupted the neighborhood, particularly the business at Ray's. (Neither More Nor Less)