Here comes The Fourth, with a crazy bed frame installation and private-label coffee

Over at the five-years-in-the-making Hyatt Union Square, signs just went up for one of the restaurants in the space on Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street.

Here's a description of The Fourth via the Hyatt's website:

Our signature Lower East Side restaurant boasts 30-foot ceilings and wide French doors for open-air dining, attracting hotel guests and local denizens alike with fresh baked bread and neighborhood appeal. The 100-seat room will offer three distinct dining areas: a café with a European style espresso and wine bar, a 24-seat communal bar and dining space, and a 45-seat full service formal dining area. Open virtually all day, The Fourth will serve traditional brasserie fare with a modern American interpretation: upscale fare with a continental flair.

Taking its name from the elegant and sophisticated right bank neighborhood in Paris, the vibe at The Fourth is Union Square meets the 4th arrondissement - a stylish place to meet for coffee, dine at the bar after a movie, or enjoy a business dinner. The wine and beverage program at Hyatt Union Square New York is skillfully designed by Roger Dagorn, MS, whose vast knowledge and approach to wine selection makes The Fourth not only a delicious place to dine, but also an intriguing place to explore the vineyards of the world.

This Lower East Side restaurant serves espresso drinks made with Café Quatrième, a private label coffee, offering various blends and roasts throughout the day for an excellent coffee experience to stay or to-go.

Repeat: "Union Square meets the 4th arrondissement."

Also, we took a look inside and spotted this hanging from the ceiling...



Maybe that's one of the hotel's specially priced courtyard studios?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Through the years with the sunlight-blocking Hyatt Union Square, opening Nov. 15

Retail space for The Jefferson is also moving on up

The Jefferson's retail space on East 14th Street near Third Avenue is shaping up, as you can see now that the scaffolding and stuff has come down...



There are two spaces available, as we've pointed out previously here ...



Here's the official retail listing...

In the renderings, the two available storefronts are called "Dapper Drake" and "Karmic Koala."

Also, a different broker has the listing for the currently-empty 212 E. 14th St. space, former home of the Super Saving Store, which closed in June 2011. (It was no Dapper Drake, but...)

Previously on EV Grieve:
City approves new building for Mystery Lot

The last days of the Mystery Lot

Before it was the Mystery Lot

The Mystery Lot developers using famous dead comedians to sell condos at The Jefferson

Prepping for the new 6-floor residence on East Seventh Street

Taking the time to check in on a few construction projects... Last week, we looked at the start of the digging for a new 6-floor building at 327 E. Ninth St. ... and 316-318 E. Third St.

Here's an update on another new 6-floor building — 227 E. Seventh St. near Avenue C... DOB permits show that each floor will contain one residential unit. (And we have not seen the final rendering just yet.)

Until then...





The sign says that the work be complete by March 31, 2014.

In late October, the body of Christine Ebel, the co-owner of Arcane, which is adjacent to the property on Avenue C, was found in this lot.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Asbestos abatement on East Seventh Street, then a new 6-story building

Here's what's left of the former 227 E. Seventh St.

Happy 5th Birthday to the sidewalk shed of St. Mark's Place!

A belated 5th birthday to the sidewalk shed outside 32 St. Mark's Place. And thanks to @Ewingweb for the reminder and photo above... Saturday was the anniversary...

According to the DOB, the city issued the permit for the sidewalk shed in February 2008.

[March 2012 via Bobby Williams]

As far as anyone can recall, no work had ever been done on the buildings at 30 32 or 34 St. Mark's Place.

But the DOB did approve the following work back in October:

PROPOSED ALT 2 FOR RESTORATION OF FACADE EXTERIOR AND MINOR INTERIOR RENOVATION TO SPACKLE & PAINT CORRIDORS, NO CHANGE IN USE OR EGRESS

Still, five years for an abandoned sidewalk bridge is nothing, as a report in the Post noted yesterday. The Milford Plaza Hotel on Eighth Avenue has reportedly had a sidewalk shed dating to 1990.

Per the Post:

The number of the ugly overhead structures has steadily climbed each year since 2009 — to 8,514 last year — as the city’s new rules for façade inspections kicked in.

Under the law, owners of buildings higher than six stories must hire engineers to inspect for cracks, loose bricks and other deficiencies every five years. In 2010, the Buildings Department began staggering inspection deadlines to ensure 12,000 buildings weren’t filing reports all at once and scrambling for contractors the same day.

Previously on EV Grieve:
St. Mark's sidewalk shed celebrates fourth anniversary

Red Boutique space for lease on East 7th Street

Red, the boutique featuring jewelry and apparel from owner Donatella Quintavalle, has apparently closed here at 123 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. For lease signs went up late last week. (The listing isn't online yet at Besen Realty.) No word of a closure or relocation on the Red website, Facebook page or Twitter account.

Red opening here in 2009... taking over the space from Locks 'n' Lads, the hair salon for kids.

Callers spend weekend on hold at First Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Friday! Via an EVG reader...



Yesterday! Via IansTweets ...



And today, via Bobby Williams...



Did anyone learn who was on the other end?

Week in Grieview

[Avenue A]

Bar 82 is closing (Friday)

More details on the new community center on East Ninth Street (Wednesday)

About 'Straight Outta Tompkins' (Thursday)

8th Street Winecellar expanding to East Fourth Street (Monday)

Plans for the open space at Meltzer Tower (Friday)

Checking in on The Treehouse above 2A (Thursday)

Something Sweet hopes to revive its bakery (Monday)

Get your apartment with a 3-level zen garden (Wednesday)

Looking at the David Schwimmer estate (Friday)

What it's like working at Zaragoza (Wednesday)

Comet spotting with East Village resident Felton Davis (Tuesday)

Another laundromat closes (Monday)

Remembering St. Patrick's Day Weekend 2013 (Monday)

Renovations for new Apartment 13 (Tuesday)

At the residents meeting for Smith Houses (Friday)

More on Jennifer's Way Bakery (Tuesday)

Renaming Riceton on East 14th Street (Tuesday)

This East Village residence has its own screening room (Monday)

'This is elderly abuse' — Warhol star Taylor Mead lives in squalor during building's gut renovation

Taylor Mead's home life in his fifth-floor walk-up continues to be a living hell, the Post notes today.

As you may have read in The Villager or at BoweryBoogie, Ben Shaoul bought the building Mead lives in and two others on Ludlow Street for $16.5 million last summer. Mead, 88, continues to live in his rent-stabilized apartment while the rest of the building is converted to market-rate homes. (Mead has lived here for 34 years and pays $380 a month in rent.)

Per the article:

Workers hammer outside his door from 7 a.m. till the evening. Plaster falls from his walls and roaches crawl up his legs. The kitchen sink doesn’t work.

Mead’s friends suspect Shaoul wants the poet to evict himself.

“It’s going to kill him,” said Clayton Patterson, a neighborhood activist and longtime friend. “This is elderly abuse. It’s pretty Third World when you think about it.”

You can read more about the legendary Mead, an actor, writer and poet, here. (Read this feature on Mead from The Paris Review last summer here.)

Of course, history doesn't mean much to developers.

“[Shaoul] is out for profit. He doesn’t give a shit about who I am,” he said. “It’s going to be hell.”

The end of the Viking Age?

Avenue A this morning.

A moment with Super Bad Brad in Tompkins Square Park yesterday

Thanks to EVG reader John G. for sharing this video of Brad Prowly (aka "Super Bad Brad") from Tompkins Square Park yesterday...

Today's hawk and squirrel show in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Bobby Williams.

Saving the world in time for Easter

Our friend Curt Hoppe sent along these photos from today... where Arturo Vega was installing a mural on Prince and Elizabeth...



Vega says that it's "for the people saving souls."

Tomorrow is Opening Day at Coney Island, where Zoltar is only $1

Coney Island has its grand opening tomorrow... the Cyclone, Luna Park and Deno's Wonder Wheel Park are all set to reopen ... this after millions of dollars in Hurricane Sandy-related repair work and upgrades.

Our friends at Amusing the Zillion have been carefully documenting the opening-day developments. Find more details on rides and restaurants here ...

Per ATZ:

The amount of activity far exceeds anything we’ve seen in past years because of the extra added work of recovering and rebuilding from Superstorm Sandy. Even though Palm Sunday, Coney’s traditional opening day, is early this year, the great majority of the rides, games and eateries are ready to open.

Sandy KO'd Deno's Wonder Wheel Park's Zoltar. But! There is a new one...



And, as ATZ reminds us, the Coney Island Zoltar is only $1, as opposed to the $2 Zoltar outside Gem Spa.

Speaking of Zoltar... here's a shot of our own Zoltar this morning ... flashing some jewelry and his carefully placed flute, as always...



[Thanks to Amusing the Zillion for permission to repost the photos]

[Updated] Cab ends up on sidewalk outside Horus Café on Avenue A and East 10th Street

A reader sent along this photo from Avenue A at East 10th Street... we do not have any information on what happened or if there were any injuries... another reader thought it happened around 10:15 a.m.

Updated 10:41

Via @mikebarish — "didn’t see it happen but saw him extricating himself (with police help)"

This might be the largest pink limo ever in the East Village

Bill the Libertarian Anarchist spotted this on Ninth Street between Second and Third Avenues... Per Bill: "I walked off 35 feet for the length. Biggest limo I ever saw."

Freaky Friday

At the ping-pong table in Tompkins Square Park today... photo by Bobby Williams.

Color my World

Siouxsie and the Banshees with "Song from the Edge of the World" circa 1987.

Why there'll never be a Ramones bio-pic

Marky won't let it happen.

The drummer insists former bandmate Johnny Ramone's widow, Linda, who is the driving force behind a proposed new film about the band, is not qualified to oversee such a project - because she has little insight into the band and was not around when the group formed and first started performing together in New York.

And!

But even if that project was in the works, Marky wouldn't be a part of it - because he doesn't like how his peers have been portrayed on film.

He adds, "I wouldn't allow my image to be in it... They can't get it right unless there are people involved that were there in the nucleus. I know it would be inaccurate, like The Runaways movie; that was a good indicator of how these movies go."

[Source: Express UK]

At the residents meeting for the Smith Houses

On Wednesday night, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) officials briefed residents of the Smith Houses on the Lower East Side about their plans to to lease playground and community-center space to developers within public housing areas.

As The Lo-Down reported, members of the Smith Tenant Association boycotted the meeting, in part, because residents wanted at least a 10-day notice and opportunity to review the proposals. The city pushed ahead anyway.

Six Lowa, a DJ and music producer who was born and raised in the Smith Houses (his grandmother has been a resident since the complex opened in 1953), attended the meeting to document what took place. He shared his thoughts on a newly created blog. (You can read that here.)

He concludes:

My personal thoughts are that the projects in the Lower East Side and along the FDR Drive have always been eyed at by developers for some years now. They now realize it's prime real estate next to the waterfront, all 3 bridges, City Hall, South St Seaport, World Financial District, & Police Headquarters. It all starts with the building of private housing on NYCHA playgrounds and parking lots. What's next? Whose next?

[Boycotters outside the meeting. Photos courtesy of Six Lowa]

The Daily News has coverage of the meeting here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

Homeless man sets himself on fire inside the Bleecker Street Station (BoweryBoogie)

John Penley concludes his NYU campout (The Villager)

Lovals grumble about the cabs stacked up outside at the Madina Masjid mosque and Islamic Center of America at the corner of East 11th Street and First Avenue (DNAinfo)

Update on the New Amsterdam Market (The Lo-Down)

Call Martin Scorsese: Condos planned for Mulberry Street condos (Curbed, previously on EV Grieve)

A mini-documentary on Jayne County (BlackBook)

Rainy Union Square in 1912 (Ephemeral New York)

Photos of Greenwich Village in the 1950s (Gothamist)

History of 1 Astor Place (Off the Grid)

Johnny Rotten reviews "Katy Perry: Part of Me" (Dangerous Minds)

Deadline approaching to help revive Something Sweet

As we first reported on Monday, the owners of Something Sweet are looking for help to revive the longtime bakery on First Avenue and East 11th Street. The deadline for the so-called casting call is tomorrow, per the above ad.

DNAinfo's Serena Solomon was with the family yesterday when they revisited the shop, closed since last July.

[W]ithin minutes of rolling up it doors, former customers walking past came in to embrace Kathy.

"To me it was old Europe," said Anna, customer of 40 years, who declined to provide her last name. "I always said when that [Something Sweet] closes, it's over for the East Village."

Previously.

Spend Easter Sunday night with the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black

[Photo of Kembra Pfahler by Walter Wlodarczyk]

On March 31 (Easter Sunday!), there's an all-ages concert featuring a rare appearance by the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black and their brand of ferocious glam-punk as well as Youthquake and No Bra at Santos Party House on Lafayette. (Tickets are $15, and available here.)

We asked Kembra Pfahler, the lead singer of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black (and an East Village resident) for an update on the band via Facebook.

"Yes, it's a special show. After a bit of a hiatus, Samoa the originator and original guitarist is back! Gyda Gash is on bass and Michael Wildwood is on drums. We traveled last spring to England and Berlin together, but this will be the first large scale Karen Black show with this fabulous band.

"We are also working on a new album together — 'Fuck Island.' We are doing new work from the album in progress like 'Soldier of Female" and 'I Am a Big Black Cat.' I am working on a new feminist movement called 'Future Feminism.' All of the new work is related to this, and saving the world one show or song at a time.

"Youthquake and No Bra are also playing. We are all friends and are looking forward to the show."

So are we.

[Updated] Reader report: Bar 82 is closing

Word was spreading last night that Bar 82, with its ample back room for bands, poetry readings and other events, is closing at the end of this month. At least one performer with an act booked after March 31 took to Facebook last night with the news.

Several other sources confirmed the impending closure. The bar opened here on Second Avenue near St. Mark's Place in 2008... the bar was a reincarnation of sorts of Verchovyna Tavern aka George's Bar aka Bar 81, which sat for decades on East Seventh Street until a rent hike KO'd it.

We'll have more information on the closing as it becomes available.

Updated 1:31

Per Bar 82's Facebook page:

Bar 82 is going to close it's doors at the end of March. We would love to see you all before then. I'm going to keep this page open after the fact to tell everyone where your favorite bartenders might end up just to be cool. Please come by and say hello and goodbye and hello again somewhere else. It's important to us bartenders. We love you peeps.

Here's what the city has planned for open space at Meltzer Tower

This week, more details emerged about the city's plan to lease playground and community-center space to developers within public housing areas. On Wednesday, we looked at the plans for Campos Plaza.

In the image above, you'll see what's in store for the Meltzer Tower off of East First Street between First Avenue and Avenue A (via the NYCHA website):

Max Meltzer Tower on Manhattan's Lower East Side is a 20-story building exclusively for seniors with 230 apartments housing an estimated 246 residents.

Meltzer Tower has a $10.5 million unmet need for capital building improvements over the next 5 years.

Proposed Development on Land Lease Site(s)
East 1st Street Site
Site Area: 13,000 SF (Approximate)
New Construction: 121,500 SF of Residential Floor Area (Approximate)
18,500 SF of Commercial Floor Area (Approximate)
97 New Apartments

Current Uses on Land Lease Site(s)
-Landscaped Seating Area

Benefits for Meltzer Tower Residents
-Redesigned Central Plaza with resident participation
-Preference for new low-income apartments
-Emergency power generation for critical building systems
-Temporary and permanent job opportunities
-Enhanced security for development

Here's the presentation that officials gave on March 13.

NYCHA Infill Sites Presentation for Resident Meeting 3-13-13 (Meltzer Tower) from NYCHA Nyc-Housing

A reader pointed us to the FAQs for the proposal.

Wouldn’t this be disruptive to the community?
Construction would not take place forever, and would be conducted in a strictly monitored fashion. Additionally, construction would generate job opportunities for NYCHA residents. Once the new building is in place, there would also be additional, permanent job opportunities for NYCHA residents to pursue.

Heart N' Soul introducing to-go menu, Meat n' Three

A tipster spotted this to-go menu in the window at Heart n' Soul, which opened on East Third Street at Avenue B several weeks ago in the former location of Mama's Food Shop ...



Richard Freedman, who has owned the building that housed Mama's for the past 30 years, left a comment on our previous post about Heart N' Soul. In part, it read:

When Brendan and Jeremiah bought the food shop I did everything I could to help them. A couple years ago when they were running into problems I forgave unpaid rent and lowered their rent. Again and before they closed, I met with Jeremiah and his wife and again offered to lower the rent. I guess the emotional and financial commitment to the restaurant was too much, but I know they tried very hard and I wish them the best.

I don't know if I'm going to succeed, but I hope people will give us a fair chance. It is my hope to keep the best of the old mama's (classic meat and 3 menu) plus some new and hopefully interesting items.

Let's take a look at David Schwimmer's East Village mansion

Well, you can now see more of David Schwimmer's new mansion on East Sixth Street, as Curbed pointed out yesterday...

We took a photo ourselves. Still got some plywood to go for the full reveal.

Thoughts? One Curbed commenter said: "Nice windows, brick looks like burger king."

And a few other comments:

"not sure why a multi-million dollar celebrity would want to live in such an ugly building with tenements on either side."

"I heard that it's a meth lab."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Is David Schwimmer the 'Friends' star who now owns the demolished 331 E. Sixth St. townhouse?

Outrage over total demolition of historic East Sixth Street townhouse

Here is David Schwimmer's East Village home

A moment on Avenue A

Thought the photo looked cool both ways... Photo(s) by Grant Shaffer.

Meanwhile, at the former Mystery Lot...

Work atop The Jefferson continued until 10 last night. You have to put in a lot of hours to create a "tasteful oasis of state-of-the-art living in an enclave of 18th and 19th Century charm."

Photo by Nick Solares.

Checking in on the Treehouse, where you can find free live music every Sunday night above 2A

[Lenny Kaye and Kevn Kinney at The Treehouse]

On Sunday night, The Treehouse, the live music venue upstairs at 2A on Avenue A and East Second Street, welcomes Lenny Kaye and Cindy Lee Berryhill.

Treehouse proprietor Tom Clark is also on the bill, teaming up with his longtime friend Brian Halverson for a set of the "Never-Be Brothers." (It's a loving tribute to the Everly Brothers.) As always, the shows here are free on Sunday nights. (Start time: 8:30 p.m.)

Anyway, it seemed like a good time to check in on the Treehouse, which Clark launched upstairs on Sunday nights in July 2011. Via an email, Clark said that he wanted to create a vibe that was reminiscent of some of the places he had played in the good, old days when there weren't seven bands on the bill and the person running the show was nice and actually cared about the musicians and sound.

Has the Treehouse turned out as you planned it?

I have to say yes. It really could gone a lot of different ways in the beginning. It could have been insanely busy, then fizzle out, or it could have just fallen on it's face, like so many places have done.

I was lucky to know a good few talented people I could call on to get the ball rolling [for] the first shows, so a precedent was set of quality. Since the Treehouse is only on Sundays, I have to be kind of particular about the acts I choose because you only get four Sundays (usually) a month.

It's really grown into a nice destination on Sunday nights. No cover, a LOT of interplay between acts. Just good vibes. I hate to use that term, but that's what it is. I can't tell you how many emails I get a day from people wanting to play, and notes from people saying how much they dig it. I have every single show on video. I'm putting a site together now, where I'm gonna be posting clips.

A lot of really great venues have gone by the wayside — the original Sin-e, Banjo Jim's, Lakeside Lounge. It has hard to find places like those to play anymore.

What has been the best part of running The Treehouse?

I don't know about you, but I think having a job you look forward to is pretty nice. I get to watch and hear amazing songwriters like Lil' Mo (Monica Passin) and incredible guitar players like Fausto Bozza fingerpick like I could only dream of doing.

When I'm up in the little sound booth, I often turn around, just to survey the crowd, and it's a sea of smiling faces. That's really nice to see in this jaded day and age. I also love the fact that I get to play guitar with a lot of these cats. Always a thrill.

This Sunday is gonna be extra special. My pal Lenny Kaye is gonna play, and the lovely Cindy Lee Berryhill is in town from LA and asked if she could play. Then me my buddy since I was 13, Brian Halverson, are gonna do a set of Everly Brother songs like we used to do — and those damn songs are HARD, and we try to stay true to the originals. And then we will see what happens after that. That's always my favorite part. The stuff that's NOT planned. That's really where the magic is.

-----

Clark, a guitar collector for years, also lends his 1949 Gibson J45 as the "house guitar."

"Most people, when offered, tend to go for it," he said. "Of all my guitars, it's my favorite, and you wouldn't believe how many musicians have never played a great guitar. I think at least 50 people have used it for their shows. I enjoy watching it be played. Guitars are happiest when they are played."


[Clark uses 2A's projector to show the performances on the wall across East Second Street. You have to be inside and upstairs to hear the music, though. Photo by Lauri Hornik]

'Straight Outta Tompkins' is real, and it is now filming around the neighborhood

"Straight Outta Tompkins" started filming on March 12. We heard about the film, but, to be honest, we thought the person who told us was joking. You know — a play on Straight Outta Compton. However, it is an actual production. Here's the description via the film's Facebook page:

A feature film written, directed and starring Zephyr Benson.

"Straight Outta Tompkins" is real, authentic and: Straight Outta Tompkins

Inspired by true events, "Straight Outta Tompkins" is a shocking, brutally honest view of today's Lower East Side, New York City drug trade.

We witness a powerful drug ring many don't dream exist: a consortium controlled by upper class, white, privileged young adults.

Seen through the eyes of Gene, a charming 18 year-old, a ‘pitch away’ from a college baseball scholarship.

Abandoned by his family, Gene finds a 'surrogate,’ seemingly more loving family within the underbelly of the L.E.S. drug community.

Gene is faced with one simple decision that could rob him of his youth, his innocence, his life.

There are also updates on the production's Twitter account. There's video of a shooting-up-heroin scene here.

Zephyr Benson, who attended attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in Filmmaking, is the son of Robby Benson, the boyish-looking actor your older sister totally had a crush on in the 1970s.

Checking in behind the plywood at 316-318 E. Third St.

Time for a check behind the plywood here at 316-318 E. Third St., where a Karl Fischer-designed, 33-unit apartment building is in the works ... replacing a circa-1835 single-family home.

EVG reader Bobby G. sent us these photos showing the work in progress...



Bobby points out that this area was known as the Dry Dock district ... and that ground water is close to the surface in this area, especially at high tide...

So. The cement the workers poured Tuesday quickly became submerged...





Should be good for mosquitos soon enough.

Also, in the middle photo in this post... you can see the progress at Alphabet Plaza, the 12-story mixed-used apartment building at Avenue D and East Houston.

Previously on EV Grieve:


Another parcel of East Village land ready for development

33-unit, Karl Fischer-designed building rising at former home of Community Board 3 member

Landmarks Preservation Commission rejects hearing for 316 E. Third St., paving way for 7-floor condo

Lovely townhouse with bucolic gardens on East Third Street ready for "creative expansion"