Interpret the final work anyway that you wish... and there's a new art opening here starting Sunday.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Holiday anarchy and fat cats outside the Mars Bar
Sergey is the latest artist to have his work grace the wall outside Mars Bar... Anji Shirai took the photos yesterday....
Interpret the final work anyway that you wish... and there's a new art opening here starting Sunday.
Interpret the final work anyway that you wish... and there's a new art opening here starting Sunday.
Max Fish latest nightlife institution to close
Eater has the story. Blame high rents and skyrocketing property taxes... and CB3.
[Updated. The rumors are true, reports AnimalNY. End of January she goes.]
What the Mars Bar would be torn down for
The plan to shutter the Mars Bar for two years is hardly a done deal... Meanwhile, I haven't talked to anyone yet who thinks this whole development is such a good thing ...
The "affordable housing" part of the equation is swaying some people... The city needs more afford housing... But looking at the news accounts (first reported by the Local East Village) of the plan.... the structures along Second Avenue will be combined and possibly have their height brought up to 12 stories. Curbed put it this way: "That's allowed under zoning because the developer will get bonuses for including affordable housing, which in this case will be 12 apartments (compared to 48 market-rate units). There are 9 low-income families currently in the buildings, so they'll get first dibs on the apartments."
So they'll be 12 affordable housing units in the new building... currently there are nine low-income families living in the buildings... so we'll get three extra units of affordable housing in return for demolishing a block, putting an end to an EV institution and adding MORE luxury housing?
Hmm. What am I missing here? In the end, the Mars Bar would get a spiffy new space here...
Anyway, CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee will discuss the plan tonight at 6:30 pm — Community Board 3 Office — 59 East 4th Street (2nd Ave & Bowery)
From a reader exchange last night:
Reader: "What is a Mars Bar in a renovated space that's 3X the size?"
Me: Another bar.
Previously on EV Grieve:
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no: Why the Mars Bar is closing (maybe)
[Top image PropertyShark via Curbed[
Three buildings sell for $11.5 million on East Fourth Street
From the EV Grieve inbox....
Three buildings at 118 and 120-22 East 4th Street, located between First and Second Avenues in Manhattan’s East Village, were sold in an all cash transaction valued at $11,500,000. The buildings were situated on two lots, with a combined 75’ of frontage, and approximately 26,000 gross square feet. The properties consist of 69 residential apartments with a unit mix of 24 one-bedroom apartments and 45 studios. With the tenant mix consisting of 40 rent stabilized and 29 free market apartments. The properties are well kept with new brass plumbing, updated and rewired electric, two new gas burners, a newly installed laundry room and many renovated apartments.
The Seller was Bruce Miltenberg of Bread & Butter Realty, LLC. “This sale demonstrates the strength of investor appetite for the multifamily rental marketplace that the East Village offers. We have found investors are extremely attracted to the low turnover rate of the tenants and the ease with which it takes to re-rent the apartments that do become vacant. In these buildings in particular it is uncommon to have a vacancy for more the 2-3 days,” said Massey Knakal Vice Chairman and Partner John Ciraulo who exclusively handled this transaction with Massey Knakal First Vice President of Sales Joe Sitt and Director of Sales Craig Waggner.
Shake Shack poll results: The end is near! (Woo!)
Yesterday we asked: What if a Shake Shack opened in Tompkins Square Park?
We based the survey on one sentence regarding Tompkins Square Park in the Times from Sunday that read ... "The echoes of demonstrators yelling “Die, Yuppie Scum” may be very faint these days, but there is no Shake Shack ... yet."
So, as of 6:06 am, here are the results, based on 364 votes (two of which I admit were mine — I was pulling for the jeans!):
We're calling it official, though because this is America, final results of the election won't likely be known for another 2-3 months. So keep voting!
We based the survey on one sentence regarding Tompkins Square Park in the Times from Sunday that read ... "The echoes of demonstrators yelling “Die, Yuppie Scum” may be very faint these days, but there is no Shake Shack ... yet."
So, as of 6:06 am, here are the results, based on 364 votes (two of which I admit were mine — I was pulling for the jeans!):
We're calling it official, though because this is America, final results of the election won't likely be known for another 2-3 months. So keep voting!
Revisiting: MARS BAR was a riot in the Nineties...
I first posted this back in February... Given yesterday's news about the possible two-year closure of the Mars Bar, I thought I'd repost...
An EV Grieve reader pointed out the Facebook page titled "MARS BAR was a riot in the Nineties..." Since then, I have been looking at the nearly 800-plus photos there, such as these by Ellen Cheever....
(And thanks to Ellen for granting me permission to repost here...)
And this!
An EV Grieve reader pointed out the Facebook page titled "MARS BAR was a riot in the Nineties..." Since then, I have been looking at the nearly 800-plus photos there, such as these by Ellen Cheever....
(And thanks to Ellen for granting me permission to repost here...)
And this!
Devil in the details: Why would you list a condo at this price?
Here's a fine-looking penthouse on East 10th Street going for... Ah!
$666,000?
Those open houses must be a real horror show!
Get out!
Anyway, someone must have figured out the 666 thing — the unit is now listed at $665,000. The listing was reduced by $1,000 yesterday.
$666,000?
Those open houses must be a real horror show!
Get out!
Anyway, someone must have figured out the 666 thing — the unit is now listed at $665,000. The listing was reduced by $1,000 yesterday.
Even in a hospital bed, Bob Arihood still taking photos!
Melanie went to visit Bob Arihood yesterday... and Bob took this photo and one other (please see Melanie's site)...
Bob remains in the hospital. We're told that he saw a printout of the post from Monday as well as all the comments from readers ...he thanks everyone for their kind words and good wishes. Thanks to Bob's friend Jefferson Siegel from The Villager and Daily News for the updates.
[Photo via East Village Corner]
Bob remains in the hospital. We're told that he saw a printout of the post from Monday as well as all the comments from readers ...he thanks everyone for their kind words and good wishes. Thanks to Bob's friend Jefferson Siegel from The Villager and Daily News for the updates.
[Photo via East Village Corner]
More of 14th and Third ready for something new
On the southwest corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue, you have your new burger place opening some day, as DNAinfo noted... the retail space adjacent to the corner, formerly home to the salon, is now on the market...
Now with some ghost signage from a previous tenant...
...and the salon is just relocating a few blocks away...
Now with some ghost signage from a previous tenant...
...and the salon is just relocating a few blocks away...
People who are now friends with Minnie McSorley (and when did McSorley's get TVs?)
Yes! Friend her here. (Thanks to Cat Sitter in the City!)
P.S.
And when did McSorley's get TVs???
Per Minnie's Facebook page:
The boss should never have installed TVs. McSorely's was not a very happy place last night as the NY Jets lost 45-3 to the Patriots. This is because they didn't play in the New Meadowlands Stadium, where there is a black cat in residence -- a black cat that is good luck, like all cats.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
They took the bar!
Previously on EV Grieve:
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no: Why the Mars Bar is closing (maybe)
Developers!
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no: Why the Mars Bar is closing (maybe)
That's it.
So, the Local East Village via Curbed is reporting that "BFC Partners, builders of luxury condos like Noho's 48 Bond and Downtown Brooklyn's Toren, plans to renovate part of [lower Second Avenue] and add new market-rate housing. This will cause the temporary closure of Mars Bar and its neighboring businesses."
From the Local East Village:
“They won’t choke me,” Hank Penza, the longtime owner of Mars Bar, said of the developers, adding, “I didn’t get off the boat yesterday with a pound of spaghetti in my hand.”
Mr. Penza said that he wasn’t too concerned about the lost revenue, noting that he’ll ultimately get a space that’s three to four times the size. The developers, he said, “are good people” — and that seemed enough for him.
BFC goes before CB3 tomorrow night with its plans, including combining the buildings along Second Avenue near First Street — "perhaps bringing the height all the way up to 12 stories."
So many questions. To be continued....
Eater sums it up nicely:
If a current plan to build low income housing on a parcel of land on lower 2nd Avenue is approved by Community Board 3, the borough president, and the City Council, it will lead to the two year shuttering and eventual rebuilding of famed East Village dive Mars Bar.
Everything inside St. Vincent's currently being auctioned off
I may try to buy an ambulance.
Per an EV Grieve reader: "The only thing sadder than a working hospital is the liquidation of one."
Here's the auction site — happening live right now.
Minnie the McSorley's cat now has a Facebook page
Our friend Cat Sitter in the City passed along this, uh, tidbit...
Per Facebook: "I'm an adorable cat who's the target of a frivolous pawsuit."
Indeed! Read about the lawsuit here. Have you seen Minnie on YouTube yet?
Is a Minnie Twitter feed far behind?
Per Facebook: "I'm an adorable cat who's the target of a frivolous pawsuit."
Indeed! Read about the lawsuit here. Have you seen Minnie on YouTube yet?
Is a Minnie Twitter feed far behind?
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition
What you didn't know about A Repeat Performance on First Avenue (Neighborhoodr)
Lots of Red Square retail space available (BoweryBoogie)
Another Seventh Street tumor! (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
A budget hotel with a Beaux-Arts exterior (Ephemeral NY)
A sad photo of a discarded teddy bear (Shawn Chittle)
For coverage of last night's CB3/SLA meeting, check out:
The Lo-Down
DNAinfo
Eater
Gothamist
And tonight...
Claim: 123 Third Avenue Reaches 'Sales Milestone' in 'East Union Square'
That's the word from the site Uniques Homes. According to the site:
After just two months on the market, 123 Third Avenue, the 47-unit condominium located on 14th Street and Third Avenue in New York City, is 55-percent sold. Following a sales launch in early September, 26 homes are in contract at the latest residential addition to East Union Square, reports exclusive sales and marketing agent Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.
And!
The team surpassed the 50-percent mark at remarkable speed, which “speaks volumes to the desire for homes of this caliber in East Union Square,” said Elaine Diratz, of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. Set at the nexus of Union Square, Greenwich Village, the East Village and Gramercy Park, East Union Square contains some of the best dining, parks, entertainment and shopping. The famed Greenmarket, Momofuku, Pure Food & Wine, Kiehl’s, and ABC Carpet & Home all provide the quintessential shopping and dining experience. New York is a cornucopia of different neighborhoods, but none with more “best of’s” than in East Union Square.
What if a Shake Shack opened in Tompkins Square Park?
The piece in the Times on Sunday about Seventh Street included the following passage:
The mention of Shake Shack in the East Village prompted a sudden pain in my groin. In the comments, Jeremiah Moss noted: "the writer is practically begging for a Shake Shack in Tompkins Square Park."
Does the author know something that we don't? Or is this just wishful thinking?
So... what if a big, mooing cash cow of a Shake Shack opened in Tompkins Square Park ... just like the one in Madison Square Park?
As Jeremiah recently wrote: "We know what happens when popular, higher end businesses are introduced into a neighborhood. Like the mongoose and gypsy moth, they have a powerful and irreversible effect on the ecosystem."
What would the release of a Shake Shack mean to the Tompkins Square Park and East Village ecosystem? [The poll actually works now! Vote early and often!]
Near the eastern end of this stretch is Tompkins Square Park, that wonderful 10.5-acre patch that continues to lure the bohemian legions yet resists gentrification against all odds. Originally planned as a farmers’ market, it has been used as a public park since the 1800s and has weathered many seasons since. On any given day, there might be a band making noise, codgers playing chess, schoolchildren all in a line, and a Police Department van slowly cruising through. The echoes of demonstrators yelling “Die, Yuppie Scum” may be very faint these days, but there is no Shake Shack ... yet.
The mention of Shake Shack in the East Village prompted a sudden pain in my groin. In the comments, Jeremiah Moss noted: "the writer is practically begging for a Shake Shack in Tompkins Square Park."
Does the author know something that we don't? Or is this just wishful thinking?
So... what if a big, mooing cash cow of a Shake Shack opened in Tompkins Square Park ... just like the one in Madison Square Park?
As Jeremiah recently wrote: "We know what happens when popular, higher end businesses are introduced into a neighborhood. Like the mongoose and gypsy moth, they have a powerful and irreversible effect on the ecosystem."
What would the release of a Shake Shack mean to the Tompkins Square Park and East Village ecosystem? [The poll actually works now! Vote early and often!]
There are 6 LES apartments on the market for more than $7,500 a month
You know last week we had that post on the $30,000-a-month apartment on East First Street, which we figured was the highest-ever rental in the neighborhoood... The B@C (Blumstein at Corcoran) real estate blog had more on the topic... and Team B@C confirmed this:
"I’ve looked in Corcoran’s system, and despite one apartment that was briefly listed as a $2,150,000/month 1 BR (likely off by a factor of 1,000) it would indeed by the highest rent commanded in the area.
"No matter where you are in the city, rents like these mean you are getting something unique and/or huge. While there is only one other apartment over $20,000 currently (or ever) on the market, 6 tip the scales at $7,500 or more per month. For an area as big as the EV/LES this is a reasonable number of high end apartments. With a relatively low apartment density and as most buildings are 100 years old and chopped into studios, 1 and 2 bedrooms, rentals like this are rare to come by. Comparatively, the Upper East Side currently has 83 units over $7,500/mo, and the Upper West Side has 70. Of course, both these neighborhoods are relatively large, have many more mid-high rises and with locations (of some) right on Central Park they command high premiums."
Here is a listing of the six $7,500-plus apartments in the Lower East Side available now.
East Side Gourmet Deli closes on Avenue B
The East Side Gourmet Deli, formerly known as Cibao's, has closed on Avenue B at Fourth Street... Papi and company cleaned out the store on Saturday...
We don't know why the market closed ... perhaps the competition from the new salad tossers at East Village Finest Deli across the street... Anyway, some longtime residents on Avenue B recall the 1980s when there were other items for sale and what not in the back room here...
We don't know why the market closed ... perhaps the competition from the new salad tossers at East Village Finest Deli across the street... Anyway, some longtime residents on Avenue B recall the 1980s when there were other items for sale and what not in the back room here...
Healthy choice?
Last week, Urban Roots, the natural foods store on Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street, shuttered without much notice...
Over the weekend, a sign for a competing health food store — Healthfully Organic Market on East Fourth Street — suddenly appeared...
Unless the two stores are owned by the same people, this move seems rather tacky...
Over the weekend, a sign for a competing health food store — Healthfully Organic Market on East Fourth Street — suddenly appeared...
Unless the two stores are owned by the same people, this move seems rather tacky...
Monday, December 6, 2010
The Ross Global Academy Charter School placed on closure list
The Ross Global Academy Charter School on East 12th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue was one of 12 "failing" schools that NYC officials said should be phased out. According to reports, the school has had six principals in five years.
The Wall Street Journal has more on Ross here.
The Wall Street Journal has more on Ross here.
Virage closed for renovations this week
EV Grieve reader ~evilsugar25 reports that Virage is closed on Seventh Street and Second Avenue...
The sign offers an explanation...
The sign offers an explanation...
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition
Dining at Polonia: "This place is not going to attract any douchebag crowds anytime soon, so don't fret" (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
Motorino team planning eatery under the Sunshine Hotel (The Lo-Down)
A comprehensive history of Dry Dock and St. Brigid's (EV Transitions)
NYC in photos from different eras (Flaming Pablum)
5 things disappearing from New York (Blah Blog Blah)
The "ice pick bandit" has been apprehended (Runnin' Scared)
"Castle" on Canal Street (BoweryBoogie)
Taking a stand against NYU expansion (Gothamist)
Looking at Time Square's transition (Curbed)
Melanie has a shot of an @EVLambo competitor from earlier this year (East Village Corner)
Judging the Mr. Lower East Side pageant (Slum Goddess)
And the Times apparently didn't accept BaHa's online comment on the Seventh Street feature. We have accepted it:
"Ageist, youth-worshipping twaddle, standard issue for NYT reporting whenever it ventures downtown."
Bob Arihood hospitalized
Jefferson Siegel from The Villager and Daily News passed along the following information...
The East Village may not see Bob Arihood in front of Ray's for a while, or see updates to his blog, because Bob was hospitalized early Friday for an ongoing condition he's had for years. On Sunday doctors started running some tests and by early this coming week they should have a clearer diagnosis and be able to formulate a plan of treatment. Right now Bob doesn't want to name the hospital. We speak daily so I'll keep you posted on developments.
We wish Bob the best... and hope to see him back soon outside Ray's...
[Photo of Bob via The New York Times/Jessica Dimmock]
Miracles in real-estate listings: The two renovated apartments that look exactly alike
Last week, we pointed out the newly renovated apartments at 222 Avenue B were now on the market... Here's the listing...
And here's what the listing shows for the bathroom and living room...
This must be a popular interior look.... As an eagle-eyed reader notes, these very same photos are also used for a newly renovated Lower East Side apartment listed at CitiHabitats...
Either real estate agencies are using stock photos... or, perhaps, someone is using the wrong photos...
Anyway, not sure where those double-doors lead to at 222 Avenue B... just looks like one door to me...
And here's what the listing shows for the bathroom and living room...
This must be a popular interior look.... As an eagle-eyed reader notes, these very same photos are also used for a newly renovated Lower East Side apartment listed at CitiHabitats...
Either real estate agencies are using stock photos... or, perhaps, someone is using the wrong photos...
Anyway, not sure where those double-doors lead to at 222 Avenue B... just looks like one door to me...
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