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.

On the hunt for a dive bar with "interesting beers on draft, low-key/friendly crowd, passable pub grub"

Speaking of bars... Someone poses a question to the folks at T Magazine at the Times.

Dear Concierge,

I’m looking for a good dive bar. In Manhattan, dive bars are either too div-y (bikers, professional boozers) or too sporty (yellers, Buckhunters). I live downtown, but I’ll go anywhere a Metrocard can get me. Things I’d like: interesting beers on draft, low-key/friendly crowd, passable pub grub, not too crowded/discovered and a general feeling of authenticity. Thank you!

Among the input provided:

Eric Asimov, The Pour columnist for the Dining section and a connoisseur of spirits high and low, weighed in with his favorites: East Village Tavern on Avenue C — a year-old craft-beer place that updates its cask and tap lists daily on its Web site — and Rattle ‘N’ Hum, another new craft-beer spot a pint’s throw from Madison Square Garden that serves food like Rattle ‘N’ Hummus.

Anyway. The usual suspects are trotted out.

The Brooklyn Icehouse, 318 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn; (718) 222-1865.
The Brooklyn Inn, 148 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn; (718) 625-9741.
Daddy’s, 435 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn; (718) 609-6388.
East River Bar, 97 South 6th Street, Brooklyn; (718) 302-0511.
East Village Tavern, 158 Avenue C; (212) 253-8400.
Freddy’s Bar & Backroom, 485 Dean Street, Brooklyn; (718) 622-7035.
Hank’s Saloon, 46 Third Avenue, Brooklyn; (718) 625-8003.
Mars Bar, 25 East 1st Street; (212) 473-9842.
Mona’s, 224 Avenue B; (212) 353-3780.
Nancy Whiskey Pub, 1 Lispenard Street; (212) 226-9943.
Rattle n Hum, 14-16 East 33rd Street; (212) 481-1586.
Russian Vodka Room, 265 West 52nd Street; (212) 307-5835.
The Scratcher, 209 East 5th Street; (212) 477-0030.
Spuyten Duyvil, 359 Metropolitan Avenue, (718) 963-4140.
St. Dymphna’s, 118 St. Mark’s Place; (212) 254-6636.

CB3 didn't approve a liquor license for Superdive; "a nice neighborhood Internet café-bookstore" becomes a bar with keg service at tables

In previous posts about Superdive, I wondered how the SLA/CB3 could have approved such a boozy concept (mix your own drinks, keg service at tables, etc.) ... Well, it turns out they didn't. Check out the minutes from the May meeting. (Item 4 below from the May 11 SLA meeting.)



The owners of Superdive were denied the renewal of a full on-premise liquor license (click on the image for a better view).... in part, because the owners "did not appear before Community Board #3" ... and "the location has been closed for several months." (Actually, Rapture Cafe & Books, the previous occupant here at 200 Avenue A, closed in April 2008)



Regardless, the State Liquor Authority has the final say in these matters. Meanwhile, according to the SLA Web site, Superdive has Rapture's existing license, which is effective through April 2011.



Rapture owner Joe Birdsong's name is on the SLA licensing information, operating as trade name Superdive. Birdsong was interviewed for a Dec. 28, 2006, article in the Observer about the cafe's opening:

Proprietor Joe Birdsong said the 2,200-square-foot space (formerly occupied by the Clockwork Orange-themed Korova Milk Bar)... is still awaiting his community-approved liquor license, which he hopes to receive once the State Liquor Authority's present moratorium on new licenses expires next month.

For now, patrons can sip coffee or tea as they browse the cafe's prerequisite bookshelves.

Mr. Birdsong, who, in order to some day sell alcohol, pledged to operate primarily as a bookstore, said he has, in fact, sold some books, particularly back on Christmas Day.

The Observer had more on Rapure on Jan. 7, 2007.

Rapture owner Joe Birdsong expects to receive his license to sling suds any day now, as the State Liquor Authority’s four-month-long freeze on processing such permits expired with the change in the calendar year.

The bohemian-style café’s entry into the booze business won’t technically exacerbate what many S.L.A. critics have denounced as a citywide proliferation of liquor licenses in recent years. Mr. Birdsong is simply taking the existing license from the location’s prior tenant, the Clockwork Orange–themed Korova Milk Bar. Keeping the license at that address was of particular concern to the building’s landlord, Mr. Birdsong said: "The owner doesn’t want to lose the value attached to it."

Not that Rapture’s ownership would choose to emphasize the alcoholic content of its business plan, penned by Mr. Birdsong. In fact, his proposal barely mentions the venue’s "extensive and unique beer and wine menu," even though his pending permit would grant him the freedom to serve Jägermeister shots or far stiffer drinks, if he wanted to. A wise strategy. Given the city’s current bar-wary climate, prospective restaurateurs and tavern operators are subject to an ever-increasing degree of scrutiny.

Even a self-described "nice little neighborhood Internet café–bookstore–performance space" is not immune, as Mr. Birdsong found out when he appeared this past September before local Community Board 3, a panel that specifically singled out Avenue A as a bad example of area bar sprawl. In order to garner community approval for his own "limited bar," Mr. Birdsong had to promise in writing that his proposed literary hangout would not someday morph into a troublesome, boozy nightspot.

Specifically, he was required to submit a "signed notarized stipulation" that Rapture would "operate as a bookstore with the service of alcoholic beverages incidental to its operation as a bookstore" and "with the predominant space being used for bookshelves," according to the minutes of that meeting.

Whoa. So, what just happened here?

Meanwhile, a few people were inside Superdive last night for what looked like a private party...

Feels as if we just wrote a post like this

In case you missed the news, Kim's Video at 89 Christopher St. in the West Village is closing June. 30. I swung by the other day. New videos are 70 percent off; former rental DVDs are going for $5.99. It's pretty picked over, but there are a few gems here and there. The First Avenue branch is now the last Kim's left in the city.

Ohhhing and aahhing

BoweryBoogie noted the new Calvin Klein Abvertisement (or maybe boobvertisement?) the other day at Lafayette and Houston...



Anyway, I'm enjoying the side-by-side placement of the ads...

I want to go to the beach

From New York's interview with Iggy Pop:

You moved to Miami ten years ago, but for many you will always be the epitome of a New Yorker.
I’d been in the city twenty years straight, so it was just time for me to go, and Miami seemed far enough. Besides, you can get an egg cream in Miami, and I’m still able to be disgusted by the Post at the local newsstand.

Baoguette expands its empire to the Financial District

Coming soon to the former site of Klatch. The St. Mark's location opened in April.

Update on the Lower Eastside Girls Club: Groundbreaking set for the fall

I've noticed some work being done on the grounds where the Lower Eastside Girls Club will build their new home on Avenue D between Eighth Street and Seventh Street.



I asked Lyn Pentecost, executive director of the Lower Eastside Girls Club, for an update. Here's her response, via e-mail:

"We have been conducting the city-mandated archeological site survey. So far all the archeologists (a woman crew) have found is late 1800's broken bottles and assorted pieces of pottery. Nothing of note, really — but we will create some kind of display of the 'finds' in the new building."



"As for the trees — the city required they be cut down also, but we have marked and will save the more mature maples. We have located a woman 'miller' who will mill them into boards on-site. The boards will be stored in a nearby basement and return to live again as our café tables."



"Right now we are thinking of a formal October 'groundbreaking' — work will probably have begun, but the fall is a better time to have a ground-breaking party!"

Glitter Gulp continues prepping for grand opening Thursday or Friday, the 26th or the 27th

Previously.

And: An update from Eater. An Eater reader responds: "I wouldn't quibble with 'dingy,' and would point out that's part of the allure of a dive called 'Superdive.' Nor would I leap to the conclusion that the yet-to-open bar is a 'con job.'...Without question, the vibe is raw and anything goes, and in prissy, high touch, please-call-for-a-reservation Manhattan, that nuttiness was more than welcome for stressed out us. Their approach to serving drinks is certainly novel, i.e. a D.I.Y. bar and keg, but then people thought D.I.Y. checkout looked strange at Home Depot too."

Cooper Union still looking for a store (plus, we communicate with the building)

Previously.

Oh, and don't forget! You can watch the building live via its, uh, Live Web cam!





And now, please let me concentrate: I must communicate with the building.

52E4 gets some stairs

Whoa, look up in the sky! Atop the 15-floor condo on the Bowery between Third Street and Fourth Street...what will be 52 East Fourth Street (home to Moby!) some day...




Stairs! That lead where?

A short history of Citi-Spaces at Second Avenue and 11th Street

As The Real Deal reported last Thursday, Citi-Spaces closed their office on Second Avenue at 11th Street.

The office was open for less than a year at this location. On this solemn occassion, let's take a look back at their history here!

It began June 17, 2008, when Jeremiah Moss noted this in his *Everyday Chatter:

Something weird is coming to the EV where a bodega used to be at 2nd Ave and 11th St. -- looks like a Mexican restaurant outside, with Moroccan-style lamps inside, but filled with many wooden cubicles, each with a computer terminal and an office phone. Hmm, DIY phone-sex biz?

[Photo courtesy of Jeremiah Moss]



Then! Shortly after its July opening, it was tagged.



Then it was tagged again in late winter...



...but someone had a change of heart a few weeks back. Just say no to the anarchy!



And now, it sits empty...



...with a new tenant forced to deal with the worst color scheme ever!

Watching the St. Mark's sinkhole

It actually looks worse than these photos indicate.




It's fine. But when you ride on the M8, I'd sit on the left side of the bus.

Gunshots on Fourth Street and Avenue B Saturday afternoon

A readers reports hearing gunshots Saturday afternoon around 2 on Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. According to the reader, the police blocked off Fourth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C for several hours. Does anyone have further information?

Superdive: "a total shitshow" and "impressively chaotic"

From the Eater tipline:

"I was there on Saturday night for about fifteen minutes getting change...it was a total shitshow. People couldn't figure out who worked there and who didn't. The mixed drink area was packed but no one could figure out how they were being charged for drinks. At one point I saw two pitchers of the same beer go for totally different prices. It was impressively chaotic."

Previously.

Meat pies and sausage rolls coming to St. Mark's Place

NYC Food Guy reports that Tuck Shop is opening a second EV outpost at 115 St. Mark's Place. He reports:

"Late night eaters are in for a treat, the new location, like Tuck Shop’s original location at 68 East 1st Street b/t 1st and 2nd Avenues, will be open until 5AM Friday and Saturday (an hour later than Crif Dogs) and 2AM Sunday through Thursday."

[Image via NYC Food Guy]

Superdive is opening Thursday or Friday, the 25th or the 26th

Thursday is the 25th. Friday is the 26th. So is the bar opening Thursday, June 25, or Friday, June 26?

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village, please meet your new nightmare

The accident waiting to happen happened

ConEd has been doing some work on First Avenue near St. Mark's Place.



With the metal plate and uneven surface, you can't help but think someone could take a nasty fall on this...



Well, unfortunately, such an accident happened early Friday evening. A woman tripped on the plate and plopped down. She was not injured. However, a woman walking directly behind her tried to stop, but got tangled up and fell. She smashed her face on the sidewalk.




Several people stopped to help. A chair was produced for her. She leaned back in the chair with a handkerchief covering her bloodied nose. Someone called for an ambulance. Someone called the woman's husband. Photos were taken of the uneven surface. Business cards were exchanged. Someone also called 311 and ConEd to complain.

The ambulance arrived and the dazed woman was treated for her injuries.





As of Sunday afternoon, the sidewalk remained as it did at the time of the accident.

Banks showing more attitude with ATM fees

On Seventh Street.

Trash Station

This is the scene that greeted passersby on Saturday morning in front of the new Yogurt Station on St. Mark's Place.



Someone ripped open the store's trash bags and dumped the contents, well, everywhere. Random tomfoolery? Or a message from unhappy locals fed up with crap like FroYo shops opening every 12 feet?



The store also received a $300 tickets for the mess.