[Updated] Report: Landlord makes eviction case against tenant with the Confederate flags

The drama continues over the flags on Eighth Street and Avenue D. DNAinfo reports that the landlord has filed a lawsuit against the tenant and is seeking to have him evicted.

Per DNAinfo:

William Green's glowing display of two Confederate battle flags in the windows of his top-floor apartment at 403 E. Eighth St. have posed a "clear and present danger" to the building and the surrounding community by sparking violence and mayhem, says the complaint filed Saturday by property owner 113 Avenue D, LLC in New York State Supreme Court.

Green, a rent-stabilized tenant with a lease dating back to 1996, is in violation of both the "Objectionable Conduct" clause of his lease and the Rent Stabilization Code because the flags are a nuisance burdening other tenants in the building and he should be evicted as a result, the lawsuit states.

Green has reportedly been out of town.

He said that he "found the sudden anger about the flags 'suspicious,'" according to emails included in the court papers.

Previous reports noted that Green was one of three non-market-rate tenants left in the building. According to Streeteasy, there are 23 units in the building. The previous listings show an average monthly rent of $2,395. Streeteasy does show any active rentals right now.

Per the listing:

This east village walk up building features beautifully renovated units and live-in super. The M14D bus stops right outside, and there is a citibike station across the street. Easy walking distance to the L, J, F, and M trains. There is a convenient dry cleaner downstairs as well as many bars and restaurants on Avenue C just a block away.

Public records show that No. 403 is managed by Yassky Properties. The building last changed hands for $865,000 in September 2000.

Updated 1:40 p.m.

Here's more from the Daily News:

Yassky’s attorney, Robert Gumenick, said he was not currently seeking Green’s eviction.

“Once the tenant realizes the extent of the problem, we’re hopeful the tenant will cooperate,” he said.

One longtime resident of the building, who did not wish to give her name, said the controversy was complicated by the fact that Green may be mentally ill.

“Obviously I don't want to live in a building with Confederate flags in the window,” the resident said. “(But) I don't know if he understands what that flag represents.”

Updated 8/22

The Post reports that the landlord has withdrawn the case.

“At this point, he feels it would be better to work it out with the tenant,” said Robert Gumenick, the lawyer for building owner Charles Yassky.

Gumenick declined to comment further except to say that Yassky no longer wanted to pursue the matter in court.

Updated 8/23

The Daily News has a short interview with Green.

“Absolutely not,” a defiant William Green told the Daily News on Tuesday when asked if he would classify himself as a racist.

The 43-year-old said the association of the rebel flag with secession and slavery is just a tale being told by select media outlets.

“That’s a fad, something that’s being created by MSNBC,” he told The News.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Anger over Confederate flags on 8th Street and Avenue D

[Updated] Workers place tarp over flags on 8th Street and Avenue D

[Updated] Flags — and tarp — have been removed from building at 8th Street and Avenue D

Asbestos abatement continues at 98 Avenue A, Ben Shaoul's latest East Village trophy

[Bobby Williams]

Developer Ben Shaoul is the new owner of 98 Avenue A, the former theater-turned market at 100 Avenue A. Public records show that an entity called Partners Vii/98 Avenue A Owner LLC purchased the property last month for $15.5 million.

While the name of Shaoul, president of Magnum Real Estate Group, isn't listed on the records... his name appears as the owner of the property on the asbestos abatement flyers that went up this past week.





East Village Farms at 100 Avenue A between East Seventh Street and East Sixth Street closed Feb. 7, 2012. Since then, not much of anything has happened inside the space, though the sidewalk does serve as a makeshift shelter.


[March 2013 via Bobby Williams]

Last year, the landlord — Suh, Yon, Pak Associates, Inc. — was proposing to keep the store on the first and second floor, and then add a third and fourth floor for residential use. For whatever reason, the landlord never got this plan approved. Subsequent plans on file with the DOB showed a proposed addition to the back of the building ... and increasing the size of the store at the first and second floors.

Nothing is on file yet with the DOB to indicate either a demolition or new building for the address. However, a listing for the retail spaces that we noted last month provides an idea of what Shaoul and company have in mind:

Size
9,767 sf - Ground Floor
5,850 sf - Basement
*Divisions Accepted

Asking Rent
Upon Request

Currently
Vacant (New Residential Development)

Frontage
127'5" on Avenue A

Notes & Highlights:
• Landlord will deliver vanilla box space and new storefront(s)
• New residential building will be above the retail (40 units)
• Unique large piece of retail space available in the East Village

Here's is the latest rendering... (apparently the Sidewalk doesn't exist in this future)...



For now, the interior looks like this...


[By Edward Arrocha]

Shaoul is currently putting the finishing touches on Bloom 62, the luxury building on Avenue B and East Fifth Street that previously provided end-of-life care for up to 240 low-income elderly residents in the East Village. As Crain's reported yesterday, "Magnum chose the name Bloom 62 to highlight the large amount of green space in the property, including a 5,000-square-foot courtyard, and a well-planted 10,000 square foot roof."

Previously on EV Grieve:
A little bit of Hollywood on Avenue A

East Village Farms is closing; renovations coming to 100 Avenue A

Inside the abandoned theater at East Village Farms on Avenue A

Reader reports: Village Farms closing Jan. 31; building will be demolished

Making the case to landmark this unique church on 4th Street

Village Preservation is making a case to landmark the San Isidoro y San Leandro Western Orthodox Church of Hispanic Mozarabic Rite at 345 E. Fourth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D.

Tonight, officials from Village Preservation will request support for the reconsideration of landmark designation for the church before Community Board 3's Landmarks Committee.

In response to information submitted by Village Preservation, the building was determined eligible for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places in 2017. The group then submitted a request to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to consider landmarking the church. The LPC declined.

This fall, Village Preservation provided an extensive history of the church, which was built in 1891-92, on its blog Off the Grid. Here are excerpts...

This remarkably intact Gothic Revival church’s form, design, details, and history reflect the kaleidoscope of immigrants and ethnic groups which called the Lower East Side home and shaped New York over the last century and a quarter — making it not just architecturally significant but an embodiment of New York City’s and the East Village’s immigrant history.

and...

This structure was originally built in 1891-92 and designed by Edward Wenz for the Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, serving the surrounding Slovak and Hungarian immigrant community. The church was the first national Slovak parish for the Slovak and Hungarian Catholics of New York and Brooklyn. Later the building was bought by the Russian Greek Orthodox National Association and became the Carpathian Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas.

It served the emerging Russian immigrant community in the early and mid-twentieth century, as evidenced by the royal seal of the Russian Czars located on the church’s front gates. After 1975, the church housed San Isidoro y San Leandro Western Orthodox Catholic Church of Hispanic Mozarabic Rite, a highly unusual Western Orthodox Catholic Church – seemingly one of the very few in America, and one of the few or perhaps only to practice the Mozarabic Rite.

And...

Churches and synagogues such as these, located on single lot sites filling the space of what was once a single home, were once found throughout the East Village and Lower East Side. They were reflective of the incredibly modest resources but bold ambitions of the immigrant communities they served. Increasingly few such structures survive today. The East Village remains woefully under-landmarked and therefore valuable historic resources such as these churches and synagogues are vulnerable to insensitive alteration and demolition.

The three-story building arrived on the sales market in the fall of 2017 with a $6 million price tag. Per the listing at the time: "A new development (of 9,232 SF) could be residential single family/multi-family or Community Facility." There were air rights too.

LoopNet shows that the listing was deactivated in April 2018.

According to public records, Patricio Cubillos Murillo (there are several variations of this name) is the building's owner, with a deed dating to September 1975. The document on file with the city shows that this building changed hands for $6,000 that year. I do not know when the church last held any type of mass here.

Here are two photos of the interior that I took in 2011 during one of the weekend rummage sales held in the space...





... and here's an interior shot via the Cushman & Wakefield marketing materials from 2017...



Tonight's Landmarks Committee meeting is at 6:30 in the JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Unique 4th Street church on the market for development

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village. James is traveling this week. East Village writer and photographer Joann Jovinelly compiled today's post.



By Joann Jovinelly

Name: Sally Young
Occupation: Mixed-Media Artist, Political Activist and
Preservationist, Photographer
Location: Sixth Street Community Garden
Time: 10:30 AM on Friday, Sept. 27

Part II (Read Part I here)

Beginning in 2005, we started to see a lot more redevelopment [in this neighborhood]. A huge glass hotel went up on the end of my street, the Cooper Square Hotel. We began to see the scaffolding go up around the buildings and then the buildings came down. That was when I started photographing like crazy, both on film and digitally. That was also around the same time the Cooper Union Hewitt building came down; I was photographing it every morning, photos that I eventually assembled in an accordion book.

I was looking at what was going on my block, East Fifth Street, and I noticed that there was a Federal house there, 35 Cooper Square, and it was still standing. I became very interested in Federal houses and the [older] architecture of New York.

In 2006, I set up a stand in front of my apartment building as part of the Art in Odd Places exhibit where I gave away my photo postcards. And I created a book with wooden pages that people could flip through to learn more about the architecture in the neighborhood. That is how I got my Deconstructing Bowery book together.

Eventually, I wrote a history of 35 Cooper Square from the time it was built in 1826, information that was used to help unsuccessfully landmark the structure, which was demolished in 2011. Even though there were major protests to save that building, the landmark proposal was rejected.

Another address I researched, 135 Bowery, which was built in 1817, had been slated for preservation and approved, but it was sold off to build “affordable” office space. In that case, just one council member had overturned the decision to preserve the building in order to provide the aforementioned offices, but the new owners lied, tore the building down, and immediately put the lot up for sale. In 2007, a group of other concerned citizens, myself included, formed the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors to preserve what’s left of the Bowery’s architecture.

I know that when artists come in, eventually gentrification follows, but today we’re talking hyper-gentrification. For instance, now there are areas on West Fourth Street that are so heavily congested with students that you can barely get through the block. I remember a few years ago before the big explosion of NYU, and there were signs up in the West Village that said, ‘Do you think this neighborhood is safe enough for NYU students?’ and I kind of wanted to flip that around and ask, ‘Do you think that the neighborhood is safe enough to withstand NYU development?’ I saw that question as a reversal, much before all of the redevelopment began happening.

The concerns of the newcomers today are far different from those waves of people who came to New York in past generations. We were involved with our community; most of today’s newcomers are not. We had rent strikes. We were committed. There were a lot of problems; there was a lot of crime. Most of those areas were just bombed out. We were under siege. All we could do then was work together. That’s around the time, in the early 1980s, when we stared creating the gardens like the Sixth and B Garden. While this is among the most protected of those green spaces in the neighborhood, others are still at risk.

In the 1980s, people bonded together, and that bond literally grew this neighborhood. Look at all these beautiful places that you can still enjoy. These days, newcomers moving to the neighborhood have slick, renovated apartments for which they pay a great deal. They’re often living with a bunch of people. But there are few among them who are actually fully invested in the East Village; instead they are in transition. They aren’t living here to put down roots. For years, I never saw a moving van on my block; now I see them all the time.

Read Part 1 of our interview with Sally Young here. Check out Sally's website here.

Joann Jovinelly is a freelance writer and photographer who still calls the East Village home.

Village Green opening its houses this weekend

Village Green, everyone's favorite "eco-indulgent" new condo on 11th Street, will be holding open houses this weekend. The $2 million penthouse is still up for grabs... According to the listings, at least nine of the 36 units are in contract.

Anyway, in case you can't make it, here's what it may or may not look like:







Upon seeing the open house ads, we thought the plywood on the ground level might be gone. As of last night, still no view of that gym.



Previously.

"Is this the new East Village?"

The Daily News checks in with an update on Village Green, the eco-friendly condo on 11th Street and its developer, Michael Namer.

What we learned from the article:

[A]ll but two of 36 units are sold in the building that has a green roof, uses Daikin HVAC systems instead of a boiler, has a wellness center, recaptures rainwater, and counts several buyers as bona fide supermodels.

Is this the new East Village? Maybe, maybe not, but Namer and company proved that good product marketed to the right audience will find buyers, even with prices averaging $1.1 million.

And a great headline for Joe Coscarelli's post on this at Runnin' Scared:

The East Village is Finally Safe For Yuppies, Parties and the Environment

(One item I didn't note on the Daily News piece: "[Namer] throws huge parties. One is so big they have to almost close the street.")



Previously.

Curtain call at Village Green Wellness Center

Faithful readers of this space know that we have been excitedly awaiting for the arrival of the new gym Wellness Center at Village Green on 11th Street... Based on the artistic renderings of the space, the groundlevel location seemingly would make this awfully public ....



Not so fast, pervs! You've been thwarted by a curtain!



Safe, then, perhaps, for the "bona fide supermodels" who are reportedly living here to work out without the paparazzi getting a clear view...?

Please meet the next corner of the Bowery primed for something luxurious

Yesterday, Eater broke the news that a new eatery is in the works at the former Sunshine Hotel Annex on the Bowery at Stanton Street...

Now... it looks as if yet another corner of the Bowery is ready to fall into the hands of luxury ... The space is available immediately at 348-352 Bowery, which is these three properties:



The killer here is the corner of Great Jones... home of the auto repair shop... this business has been doomed for years... just waiting for the day to be swallowed up in the wake of the Varvatos-DBGB-Bowery Hotel luxury invasion... the listing says this 800-square-feet of outdoor space is available... and that restaurants are welcome! But of course!



Some facts from the listing:

neighboring tenants
John Varvatos, Rogan Jeans, Whole Foods Market, DBGB, Gemma, Double Crown, Il Buco, Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria, and Five Points Restaurant

comments
- Nightlife corridor
- Unbeatable 24 hour/seven-day-a-week traffic
- In close proximity to The Bowery Hotel and The Cooper Square Hotel
- Located among some of downtown's best eateries
- Can be combined
- Restaurants welcome

Can we put this one into our McNally Effect folder too? And here's how it all might fit together...



Meanwhile, one of the properties for lease is the former sales office for Village Green, your favorite eco-indulgent condoplex on East 11th Street...Given the apparent success of Village Green... an off-site office may not be necessary...

Eco-indulgent gym not quite ready for action on 11th Street

Oh! The big Village Green ad came off the front windows at, uh, Village Green, 11th Street's very first eco-indulgent, harmony of mind and body, of time and place, of luxury and lifestyle condo.



Can we see that street-level gym Wellness Center yet?!



Well. Sort of.



Dude, where's the ab lounge?



Then! The paper went back up on the windows...




Until the Wellness Center is open, you Spandex-craving peepsters will have to keep trudging over to Dolphin on Fourth Street near Second Avenue....



Previously!

Village Green's project runway

On Sunday, I thought there was a big Open House or something at Village Green, 11th Street's very first "eco-indulgent" condo. Seemed as if management busted out the velvet ropes to make potential condogoers feel as if they were entering a self-important hookah bar or something. Just needed a few bouncers with clipboards and headsets...



Then yesterday, there were huge lines to get in! Is there really a demand to get those remaining units?





Seriously. What? I made my way up front... and... It's Fashion Week! Uh, at least Eco Fashion Week!...



Guess it makes sense to hold this show here, in a building billed as environmentally friendly with LEED-Gold certification ...

There was a guy with a clipboard and headset... and only letting in people on some list. I'm never on any lists. So, uh, I kind of snuck in...

Anyway, roughly where the gym will be on the ground floor to the west of the lobby ...



A runway was set up for designer Joann Berman...and away it went, with eco-friendly designs made with organic materials and recyclables and what not...










That's Berman in the sunglasses below after the show...



In the end, though, I was not as successful sneaking up to see the $2 million penthouse...

I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She shares some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.

Photos and text by Susan Schiffman

Tenant: Jenny, since 1978

Why did you come to the East Village. How did you find your apartment?

I was here in the summer and I lived on Bleecker Street with a bunch of hippies. They told me “don’t ever go past Third Avenue. There are speed junkies in railroad apartments.” I was scared.

I went back upstate to where I am from — North Tonawanda. I came back down to buy astrology books in the East Village. We didn’t have the internet then and I couldn’t find the astrology books anywhere else. The Astrology Center was on Sixth Street next to the Cauldron, the macrobiotic restaurant. I was checking out the neighborhood and thought “this place is groovy.” You had Pete’s Spice and Natural Food stores. I didn’t have any of that upstate. It was 1971.

I came back down to the East Village and I had my daughter with me. I am a single mom. I got a job working on this street. My father and my brother build sailboats. My grandmother and grandfather are pastry chefs. I had the culinary thing and the woodworking thing. The town where I grew up is where they created the first hand-carved carousels. My grandfather lived across the street and he would take me in there to go on all the rides.

I started a woodworking job. I needed a place to stay. My boss said go talk to Mr. Kuperberg. I went over there and said “Mr. Kuperberg, I have a kid, I have no money, I need a place to stay.” He gave me the keys. When I came in the apartment it was all chocolate brown and lime green. Two dancers from "Fiddler on the Roof" lived here. Before I moved in the apartment was two separate apartments with the bathroom in the hall.

I opened up a shop on Sixth Street and I built handmade wooden instruments. I was with the NYS Council on the Arts. I moved uptown and was working at a furniture store called Impressions in Wood. I made gift items for Macy’s and Gimbels. Then I came back down to the East Village.

By this time I had had a couple of close accidents with the table saw. I thought this is the time to give up the sawdust and I’m going to open a coffee house across the street. There were 12 restaurants in the neighborhood in 1978 — I counted.

When I opened my restaurant, I wanted to have a piano and a little cafe. Joel Forrester is a famous jazz pianist. He came over to play. People kept asking me to make food and at the time I didn’t really know how. Eventually it grew into a 70-seat restaurant. There were lines out the door. We made our own tofu and aduki steamed buns.

I had that big restaurant and then the 80s came. Pluto was just going into Scorpio: everybody was getting AIDS; people were going into rehab; self-help books filled the shelves at Barnes & Noble. All of the astrology books went out.

Pluto was in Leo when I was born, it was all about rock and roll then, Mick Jagger, etc. When Pluto was in Virgo everybody was eating natural foods and starting companies that reflected those interests, including macrobiotics. Then Pluto is in Libra, we have Studio 54, disco and then we go into rehab, Pluto went into Scorpio right after Libra.

An astrologer came here and he said you know “Pluto’s coming and he’s going to sweep everyone, just take them away." And it happened, everybody got AIDS, people disappeared. Keith Haring had been in my restaurant every day.

I was going to buy the building for $100,000 but I would have to kick everybody out to make it work. I just couldn’t do it, I’m a spiritual person.

Somebody came here, bought the building, chased all of the old ladies out and said “I’m going to raise your rent five times or I’ll make your life miserable." So he made my life miserable. Unbelievable. He stuffed rags down the sewage system so the sewage would back up in my restaurant. He was doing so much construction. There were rats running around. I decided I’m done.









What do you love about your apartment?

I’m still here. It’s been 41 years. An astrologer told me “your lights are fixed, you will never move.” I wonder how many more years can I climb the stairs? In astrology we can look at your 4th house and we can see what your home is going to be like. You come in here and you say “neat. She’s neat.” That’s Saturn in the 4th house, no messes. On a good day it’s sunny. That’s Leo in the 4th house.





I like the Southern exposure. I like the brick. I look over the buildings on Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti album cover. I was there too, when The Rolling Stones made their “Waiting on a Friend” video on this block.

This is a real creative vortex. I’ve seen a lot of people create around here. One friend told me the East Village is a fertile crescent — it’s the vortex, the center of the universe. It’s really true. You get the most amazing people.



If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email. And read about her in the new issue of The New Yorker!