The Elephant is closing, and selling off its wares today

As you can see, the Elephant, the troubled Thai eatery on East First Street, has closed. You can read its history here, including an interview with the manager.

We don't really know either

Weather balloon crashed into the new Edi & the Wolf, the Austrian Wine Tavern!, here on Avenue C near Seventh Street?

Newspaper discovers East Third Street

The Wall Street Journal checks in today with a piece titled "New Crowd Descends on East Third Street."

Let's jump into it!:

A once-seedy slice of the East Village is turning into a new night-life Mecca, drawing crowds of late-night revelers to increasingly trendy nooks.

The stretch along East Third Street between Avenues A and D has long appealed to culinary and night-life entrepreneurs. Now, the area is teeming with newly opened bars and restaurants, more of which are venturing farther east toward the grittier Avenue D.

Surely there are repercussions from this new-found popularity?

"The rents have gone way, way up, so that the people who made this community vibrant in the first place can't afford to live here," said Susan Stetzer, district manager of Community Board 3, who lives on East Third Street.

Still, it's good that Nuyorican Poets Café is doing well. But there's always a but.

Despite those signs of success, some ponder the impact of the changing demographics on the neighborhood.

"It's a weird vibe when people come here for events who have no context of the economics or politics of the Lower East Side—they just come for events." said Steve Cannon, a poet, playwright, novelist and retired professor at City University of New York, who founded A Gathering of Tribes in 1990.

Next week... East Fourth Street!

[Image via The Wall Street Journal]

"Ice pick bandit" menacing Stuy Town

Stuy Town Lux Living has more details.

A mighty thanks

Yikes... and many thanks... I'm honored to be part of this group ... Village Voice Web Awards: The Finalists for Best Neighborhood Blog Are...

Upright Citizens Brigade making progress on East Village outpost

Grub Street first reported that the Upright Citizens Brigade would be opening an East Village outpost back in January 2009. Plans called for the troupe to open at the former Pioneer Theater, which closed two years ago on Avenue A and Third Street. Work started on the space in July 2009.... a time which brought us an epic comment thread about cargo shorts.

Anyway, it seems as if work has picked up again here of late...



Alex Sidtis, managing director of the UCB’s current location in Chelsea, told me in an e-mail that "we are making progress on the space, it will be open in 2011." Stayed tuned for more details.... By the way, CB3 did approve a liquor license for this space in January 2009.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Work on Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre begins at former Two Boots space

More on the future of Polonia

On Monday, we posted an interview 22-year-old Paul Jurczyk, who bought Polonia from his parents. With a new chef, Jurczyk has been modernizing the traditional Polish eatery on First Avenue...

The post elicited many negative comments from readers... Jurczyk followed up with a comment of his own that I thought was worth making a separate post...

Hi everyone, I feel like most of you have misunderstood what I was trying to say. I have no plans, whatsoever, of trying to scare off Polonia's long time patrons. I have become very well acquainted with many of them and would be sad to see them not come back. I have been frequenting Polonia since before I could walk. Many of these patrons have watched me grow up.

Everyone seems to be focusing on my "hoping that the old customers which really enjoy to nag and complain will find somewhere more suitable to their liking" comment. I did not mean to say that the older customers are naggers and would rather not have any of the older customers come in anymore. What I meant was that I have some customers (not all or even majority) which have been coming to Polonia for decades and prefer it the way it was before and make a point to tell not only myself but all my servers how much they dislike the changes.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you do not like what I am doing that is fine — I do like the changes that I am making and most of my customers also like the changes. What doesn't make sense to me is why these patrons keep coming back and keep complaining. I won't be changing Polonia back to a diner. If you enjoy eating at diners (which I don't mind once in a while) then go eat at a diner, but please don't come in and tell me that you rather have Polonia as a diner. Its frustrating to have to listen to these complaints and frankly I find them to be a bit rude. I promise I am not changing things around just to annoy the long time customers.

Also, I in no way meant to criticize the original owners, my parents. What they did was great. They came here without a penny and created a business that was able to put my sisters and me through school. I know more than any of you how much time, work and hardships it took my parents to do what they did. My father worked seven days a week for fifteen years — I barely saw him. They did all this for my sisters and me and believe me, I appreciate all of it.

I am trying to make sure that Polonia stays afloat and doesn't disappear entirely like the many of the local spots have. Whether you like the changes or not depends on your taste and each person is allowed their own opinion. Hopefully you can all stay a bit open minded — maybe you'll find that you like Polonia better now than before.

13th and B, 71 years apart

Well, thanks to Pinhead, we've been spending more and more time at the NYPL Digital Library site...

So, here's a photo of Avenue B at 13th Street looking to the northeast from March 1939....



...and close enough from today... just the ConEd stacks let you know that you're looking at the same corner...



Speaking of Pinhead... here's a nice now and then via EV Transitions at First Avenue and St. Mark's Place... Alex has one too at 14th Street and Irving Place...

Rite Aid sets the bar for Dec. 25

On 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Big Daddy on Second Street

Hanukkah In NYU Dorms

From an article on the NYU Local titled "Eight Crazy Nights: Doing Hanukkah In The Dorms." (And where did they get all the Four Loco for the photoshoot?)

Is this $30,000-a-month apartment the most expensive ever in the East Village?

Back at the beginning of the summer, The Wall Street Journal noted that three-bedroom apartments in 2 Cooper Square were going for $20,000 a month, which would make these the most most expensive apartments in the neighborhood.... not true, seeing as there was a $25,000-a-month penthouse around the corner on First Street...

Speaking of First Street... somehow, this three-bedroom apartment at 38 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue escaped my expensive home radar... It first hit the market in September... and it remains on the market for $30,000 a month...

I'm trying to figure out if this is the most expensive monthly rental ever in the neighborhood... If you have any info to support this, please let me know...

Uh, anyway, what exactly do you get for that kind of money every month?

One of downtown's most dramatic and unique properties! Consisting of approx 5000 sq ft, this XXX mint, elegant home features 16 foot ceilings, corinthian columns, grand entry room, a 45 ft long living room, 3 master suites,library/family room,formal dining room,an enormous chefs kitchen & terrace.Other features include beautiful maple floors,oversized windows & doors,3 zone cental a/c & 3.5 baths. Building allows live/work.A magnificent property suitable for both family living & entertaining on a tremendous scale! Other Features: East, South, West, New Windows, Washer/Dryer designer wnd treatments, gold leaf ceil in entry hall

(Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate has the listing)

Look at the floorplan — it comes with your very own ballroom....



And the rest of the place...

Cafe Hanover's asking price: $50,000 per month

Cafe Hanover quickly flamed out at the former Mondo Kim's space on St. Mark's Place... here's one possible reason: The rent for the two levels here is $50,000 a month... For lease signs are up now on the front doors...




I looked at the listing online:

Size: Ground Floor (3,000 Rsf), Plus Full Basement (3,000 Rsf) Term: 5-19 Year Sublease Rent: $33,750 Per Month No Key Money! Fully Equipped Restaurant/Deli In One Of The Busiest Streets. Basement Includes A Fully Equipped Kitchen, Including Hood, Venting, Modern Ovens, Huge Walk-Ins, And New Structural Beams. Leased At $135 Psf, Or $33,750 Per Month. Optional 2nd Floor Lounge/Bar With Operating 4 Am Liquor License. 2nd Floor (3,000 Rsf) @ $80 Psf, Or $20,000 Per Month. Total Space, Consisting Of Ground Floor (3,000 Rsf), 2nd Floor (3,000 Rsf) And Basement (3,000 Rsf), Asking $50,000 Per Month

And, not until I took the photos above, did I ever realize there was some place called JD's Bar on the second floor...



And where exactly is 2U (U2) Karaoke in this funhouse?

Orologio is for sale on Avenue A

While searching for the Cafe Hanover listing... I came across another one... a listing that may leave a few people dismayed...



We were just talking about Orologio in the comments here. From Cookiepuss: "Orologio is a real local place too with its bohemian decor, warm vibe and affordable pricing."