Le Souk now a supply closet

Given the long, tumultuous history surrounding Le Souk, it's understandable that some Avenue B residents remain uneasy about the now-shuttered hotspot... it doesn't help that Le Souk still looks like a functioning restaurant at a quick glance.



Though the menu is from the summer 2008... Still, there was that private party on New Year's Eve.



However, take a look inside...




Or maybe this is the latest in nightlife trends: Party as if you're in a supply closet!

Last night outside Le Souk

There was another nice party coming from the bowels of the former Le Souk space early this morning on Avenue B....




The evening also included a few fistfights. Per a resident, the bouncers at Le Souk kept yelling "Take it down the block, folks, just don't do it here." The door seemed to open at 1 am, and close around 4 or 5.





Meanwhile, the oddsmakers now say chances for a New Year's Eve party here are 3/1.

On the CB3-SLA docket tonight: Tiger Lily, Lamia's Fish Market, Little Rebel

The first of two April CB3 SLA committee meetings happens tonight via Zoom.

Here's a look at three new liquor license applications in the East Village:

• The Tiger Lily Kitchen (Elvis' Cafe LLC), 58 Third Ave. 

Hospitality veteran Michelle Morgan is looking to bring the Tiger Lily Kitchen to the former Boilery space here between 10th Street and 11th Street.

Morgan opened Tiger Lily, which serves "healthy Asian-inspired cooking with gluten-free and vegan options," late last year as a takeout and delivery operation at 293 Third Ave. between 22nd Street and 23rd Street. This space would allow for her to offer indoor dining.

For a look at their lunch and dinner options, you can check out the Tiger Lily Instagram here. The application for the address is on the CB3 website.

• Lamia's Fish Market (East Coast Fish Market Inc), 45 Avenue B 

Lamia's Fish Market is seeking an upgrade from beer-wine to a full liquor license here between Second Street and Third Street. 

Lamia Funti, the applicant, appeared before CB3's SLA committee meeting in April 2016. The application was reportedly denied based in part on the history of the space. (The Lo-Down reported on this here. And DNAinfo here.)

Media outlets previously identified Funti as the co-owner of Le Souk on La Guardia Place along with her husband Marcus Jacobs. He was reportedly an owner of Le Souk, a years-long thorn in the side of Avenue B neighbors, as reported and here ... and here.

In October 2009, the State Liquor Authority canceled Le Souk's liquor license. (Read the SLA release here.)

Despite the 2016 committee denial, Lamia's received the beer-wine license via the State Liquor Authority later that fall.

You can read Lamia's questionnaire on the CB3 website at this link.

• Little Rebel (K&L Hospitality LLC), 219 Second Ave.

A bar-gastropub called Little Rebel is in the works for the former Professor Thom's space on Second Avenue between 13th Street and 14th Street.

You can read more about the plans that owners Dermot Lynch and Jarek Krukow have for the space — as well as see a sample menu —via their questionnaire here.

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. You can find the Zoom info here. 

As the Le Souk New Year's Eve Party turns

The Lo-Down just got off the phone with Mike Jones, deputy CEO of the State Liquor Authority. He tells Ed that Le Souk’s planned New Year's Eve bash at its former Avenue B digs is not happening.

Per the Lo-Down:

Jones said the one-night permit had initially been approved because the address on the application was incorrect. He confirmed that permit has now been rescinded and there is no active liquor license at 47 Avenue B. The 9th Precinct has been advised of the situation, he said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Le Souk is 'exceptionally back to its former location'

Report: LeSouk to continue haunting the East Village

Down by the Hipster has the story: "Bad news for Avenue B residents — Le Souk's liquor license has been reinstated. In a shocking decision, the New York State Appellate Division, First Department overturned a decision that resulted in the cancellation of Le Souk's license, saying it was "not based upon substantial evidence because it relied on a 'guesstimate' in determining that Le Souk was overcrowded on the night of Jan. 13, 2007.'" (Via Eater)

We'll always have Le Souk

The last time I looked inside former Avenue B menace Le Souk, the place looked as if it had become a supply closet...



Meanwhile, a tipster notes that work appears to be happening inside and outside the space... though there are no permits on file with the DOB



And! The tipster asks, Why are people always coming out of Le Souk at 4, 5, 6 a.m.?

Just the like good ol' days...

Washed-up Carne Vale officially now a laundromat

Former Avenue B irritant Carne Vale between Forth Street and Third Street is now a laundromat...



Next door, China 1 is changing concepts... and across the street, Le Souk is gone (for the most part!)... Regardless, one longtime Avenue B resident told me that life along here is "100 percent" better since Le Souk shuttered in late October of 2009.

Seems like awhile since all the noise hoopla along here... As The Villager reported in December 2005:

Inundated by complaints about noise from raucous bargoers and taxi horn honking, police blitzed Avenue B with a full-scale “shock-and-awe” operation last Friday night.

Blanketing the avenue with 25 to 30 officers on foot, in patrol cars and vans — as well as on horseback to provide visual presence — police targeted quality-of-life and moving-vehicle violations from 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m., issuing a total of 99 summonses, making two arrests and towing seven cars.

And a few photos by Bob Arihood taken outside Le Souk accompanied the article...



[Photos by Bob Arihood/The Villager]

Last remnants of Le Souk have been removed from Avenue B

The former Le Souk space on Avenue B remains on the market for $25,000 a month. Still, the mere presence of all the menus and reviews and stuff on the window were enough to make some people think this place would magically reopen...



However, someone has recently removed all that (donated to the CB3/SLA Hall of Shame?) stuff from the front window...

All that remains: the menu from the summer of 2008...

Maybe just cleaning the space up for its New Year's Eve party?

Since Le Souk has closed...

So yeah, since nightlife hellhole Le Souk has moved on ... the doorways of the adjacent apartment buildings on Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street have been painted...

Now!




Then!



Previously.

Le Souk is 'exceptionally back to its former location'

Le Souk was open for something or another this past Thursday at its old Avenue B home ... noisy as ever... Meanwhile, here's more on their New Year's Eve bash...

"Finest Deli' for Avenue B

Finest Pizza and Deli on Avenue B and Fourth Street officially closed back in June....



...and now we know what's coming in the space...



Another late-night option for the underground party crowd at Le Souk!


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

Disarmed and dangerous on Avenue B: Pizza statue maimed

Zerza moving to Avenue B

The long-empty Carne Vale space on Avenue B near Fourth Street finally has a new tenant...(and the Carne Vale Web site is still alive...)



... it appears to be Zerza, the Mediterranean/Moroccan Restaurant & Bar that's now at 308 E. Sixth St.



They're on the docket for the next CB3/SLA meeting next Monday. According to the Zerza Web site, they feature hookas after 10 p.m. ... and there is belly dancing on the weekend ... I know nothing about Zerza, but the mere idea of hookahs and belly dancing in an Avenue B bar/restaurant brings up unpleasant memories of Le Souk and Layaly... and the Horus Cafe... By the way, as you may know, Carne Vale was owned by the Jacob brothers, who also run Le Souk...

Updated: Lower Avenue B residents concerned over proposed new bar-restaurant

A restaurant called Brownstone Bar & Grill is on this month's CB3/SLA docket to take over the space last held by Affaire, the French bistro and lounge, which closed at 50 Avenue B last August. (Brownstone, whose CB3 application lists a menu of "Caribbean/Southern food," was originally on last month's docket ... but was a scratch.)

And Brownstone's possible arrival has sparked concerned neighbors to join forces to possibly speak out against a liquor license for the address. There are now flyers hanging in buildings and along Avenue B.

According to the flyer:

Help Stop a New Rowdy Late-night Club from Opening in Our Neighborhood!

We’ve all worked together for several years to force the closure of several late-night clubs that severely degraded the quality of life in our neighborhood. It’s been a long, hard struggle. The last one, Affaire, closed at the end of this summer. Now someone new wants to re-open a boisterous club in that location (50 Avenue B, near East 4th Street.)

We can’t let that happen! All that we’ve worked hard for and accomplished is risk!

WHAT’S BEING PROPOSED:

• The new occupant wants to operate a club for up to 200 people that will stay open until 2 a.m. on Mon.-Wed. nights, and until 4 a.m. on Thurs.-Sun. nights.

• The place will be known as Brownstone Bar and Grill. It plans to feature 8 video screens, play recorded music both as background and as “entertainment”, and host special events.

WHAT DOES THIS SOUND LIKE TO YOU?

Le Souk and Carne vale all over again!

WHAT’S NEXT:

Community Board 3’s SLA and DCA Licensing Committee will be considering an application by the operator for a liquor license at their next meeting – that will be our time to show up and speak out! You can read the full application here.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Show up at the CB3 Committee meeting to express your opinion and stand up together with each other – Mon. Oct. 7th at 6:30 p.m., at CB3’s offices, 59 E. 4th St. (between 2nd Ave. and the Bowery.)

• Write a letter to CB3 to express your opinion on this matter. Be sure to personalize it, and to talk about your experiences with such places as a neighborhood resident. You can send it to the office, or email it to info@cb3manhattan.org

Neighbors are meeting with Brownstone reps on Thursday night. Here are details on that:

Thursday Oct. 3 @ 7:30 p.m.

535 E. 5th Street (bet. Aves. A & B) in the ground floor Community Room

Hosted by the East 4th St. Block Association

Come meet and ask questions of the operators

Some neighbors here between Fourth Street and Third Street still shudder at the mere mention of Le Souk, which finally closed in 2009 after a lengthy battle with the SLA. (Of course, there were those various mystery parties at the space in recent years.)

Some residents fear a return to the bonkerish partygoing along here last seen in 2004-2006... a stretch that Eater dubbed "Hellmouth" back in 2006.

Rent the former Le Souk space for $25,000 a month

Back in late May, we noted that part of the former Le Souk space on Avenue B was on the market. Or maybe it was the whole space. We couldn't tell!

In any event, there is a listing for the the space.

Here's the description:

Rent: $25,000 Per Month Size: 6,480 Sf On Two Levels / 3,240 Sf On Each Former Restaurant / Nightclub Space. 32 Feet Of Frontage. Prime East Village Happening Location. Loaded With Egresses And Bathrooms. One-Of-Kind Interior Designs And Layout. Tons Of Day & Night Foot Traffic. Huge Skylight Exposed Wood Ceilings And Large Wide Open Areas. Prime Residential Neighborhood. *Perfect For Restaurant, Spa, Warehouse, Liquor Store, Hardware Store, Any Use Considered

Warehouse? Hardware store? Excuse us for a moment. (Haha!)

However holds the lease must promise to continue holding mysterious late-night parties and after-prom bashes...

Le Souk owners offer new sign to explain what happened

A new sign adorns the door at the former bane of Avenue B, Le Souk... and how are they describing what went down there...?

Today in Le Souk resurrections

Despite a rather permanent closure, Avenue B's former hookah hotspot continues to put the fear in nearby residents.... from an advertised New Year's Eve bash ... to hosting loud parties... Now comes a listing on the Joonbug website....



"Come listen to the hottest Rock/Electro/Dance music from past and present. Party with all the beautiful people and enjoy the sweet tastes of HOOKAH!!"

Perhaps this listing is a mistake, and intended for Le Souk's LaGuardia Place location... or, well, I guess we'll see some beautiful people on Avenue B tomorrow night....

Here comes the fear again: “THEY’RE BAAAACCCCKKKK”

Eater and Grub Street have the news on the rebirth of LeSouk on Avenue B ... And here Grub Street's take:

We just received an e-mail with the subject line “THEY’RE BAAAACCCCKKKK,” and the content is indeed enough to strike fear into the hearts of East Villagers. On Monday, Le Souk will reopen its doors after six months on hiatus following the loss of its liquor license and a successful lawsuit against the SLA. But residents of Avenue B, take solace: A spokesperson tells us that while the operation will be more or less the same at first, it may become more of a restaurant once its second, clubbier location in the Horus space at 510 Laguardia, Le Souk Harem (which will serve French-Moroccan cuisine but with more of an emphasis on the French), opens around Fashion Week. Details are still up in the air (we’ll keep you posted), but this much is certain: The beast has arisen.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: LeSouk to continue haunting the East Village

This weekend in big parties on Avenue B

Late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, a reader noted a large, uh, gathering on Avenue B... bringing back nightmares memories of Le Souk...

While they were in front of the former hookah hotspot, partygoers were actually going in the door next to the space for a party in an apartment above the old Le Souk ...

Week in Grieview

[Photo by James Maher. See more of his work here]

RIP Dominic Philbert (Monday)

A Second Line march for Ray Deter (Monday)

A lot of photos of the double rainbow (Wednesday)

No sleepwalking in this loft for sale on the Bowery (Thursday)

Fu Sushi reopened (Tuesday)

Rent the old Le Souk space for 25K (Wednesday)

The willow tree of Eighth Street is looking good again (Wednesday)

Grabbing health by the nuts, and other ad slogans (Friday)

Changes in the works for Banjo Jim's (Thursday)

Santa Monica-based Euphoria Loves Rawvolution opening an outpost on East 12th Street (Monday)

And no one commented on this post about water interruption! (Tuesday)

3,000-square-foot bar/restaurant "with an occasional D.J." apparently moving forward on Avenue B

Last September, I noted that a new bar/eatery was coming into the dormant spaces at 14-16 Avenue B at Second Street...



Yesterday, work on the exterior began...






Back in January, Rebecca Marx at Fork in the Road reported that Beltrami Foods, an Italian restaurant, will open here. As she noted:

According to Cristiano Morroy, one of the restaurant's owners, Beltrami will be open from morning to night, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus. The chef will be Morroy's mother, a professional chef whose food reflects where she lived and worked in her native Italy. The restaurant's menu will have a strong southeastern accent, as Morroy's mother spent time in towns like Apulia and Otranto, both located in the heel of Italy's boot.

Although this is Morroy's first restaurant in New York, he already runs a catering company that does a lot of work in the fashion industry. His mother, he says, is quite well-known back in Italy, having cooked for both Mick Jagger's and Willem Dafoe's wedding party.

Two quick comments:

1) Jagger and Dafoe?!
2) Can Second Street between Avenue A and Avenue B possibly support another Italian restaurant? Especially with yet another one coming to Second Street and A? (And, more important, can this section of Avenue B support any more bars...?)

Back in February, the CB3/SLA folks denied Beltrami a license.... Here's how Eater reported it:

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.

As EV Grieve reader Mediainski commented back in February:

I love the claim of an "occasional DJ." In other words, this place is going to be blaring loud music every night!

Also! The denied transfer (from the former Butterfly at 14 Avenue B) led to an epic David McWater outburst at the meeting. The Lo-Down had all the details.

The current liquor license for this location is inactive...