Halfway home at Alphabet Plaza

A milestone, of sorts, to note on the incoming Alphabet Plaza, the 12-story mixed-used apartment building at East Houston and East Second Street/Avenue D ... As far as we can tell from the picture by EVG reader Ray, it appears the building is now at the 6th floor mark and climbing... on its way to...


[Via The Real Deal]

Will this thing be as enormous as it looks?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: 12th-story 'Alphabet Plaza' in the works for Second Street and Avenue D

Alphabet Plaza ready to rise on Avenue D

Alphabet Plaza is rising on East Houston and Avenue D

Easy as...: Alphabet Plaza makes first appearance above ground

Alphabet Plaza starts to apply sun block

Report: Whynot Coffee expanding into the East Village

Catching up to this item in the Post from Monday... where Jennifer Gould Keil reported that Whynot Coffee is expanding in the city... including in the East Village.

Each of the locations has a theme ... the 40-seat shop at 14 Christopher St., which opened last month, is inspired by 1960s and 1970s Paris, with murals of Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin and Brigitte Bardot...

Per the article:

The East Village coffee house will be based on “tattoo culture” and the Chelsea shop will be a “coffee island in the midst of an art gallery displaying work from upcoming artists,” a spokesperson said.

We reached out to the Whynot folks to learn where the East Village location might be... will let you know if we hear back... Are you familiar with Whynot? We're not... they serve La Colombe Coffee ...

Noted... and, Noted

East 10th Street near First Avenue... and Tompkins Square Park this afternoon...



Photos by Bobby Williams.

52 new security cameras arrive at Campos Plaza

News release from the EV Grieve inbox...

New York City Council Member Rosie Méndez, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chairman John B. Rhea, and Campos Plaza Resident Association President Dereese Huff formally announced the completed installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in targeted areas of NYCHA’s Campos Plaza I and II. The cameras should greatly enhance security and reduce the likelihood and incidence of crime at the development. NYCHA is only able to provide this additional security because of discretionary funding provided by elected officials such as Council Member Méndez.

“The safety and security of our residents is of great importance to NYCHA, and installing CCTV cameras deters crime and enhances the quality of life of our residents,” said NYCHA Chairman John B. Rhea. “Through our roadmap for providing safe and secure housing for our residents, Plan NYCHA, we have been actively working with all public housing community stakeholders, including the NYPD, to ensure that issues of safety and security are addressed through a more collaborative approach.”

The City Council capital funding at Campos Plaza provided for 52 new cameras located in all 4 buildings and the infrastructure to connect all the cameras to a Security Operations Center, where all cameras can be viewed in one place. NYCHA, the NYPD, and Resident Association leaders worked together to determine camera locations at each building. The CCTV security systems are strategically placed to monitor key areas such as building entrances, street corners, elevators, and equipment rooms. The NYPD can access footage in cases of reported criminal activity.

Serena Solomon at DNAinfo covered the event today at Campos Plaza between East 12th Street and East 13th Street off of Avenue C. You can read her report here.

Breaking (perhaps): First Avenue Rite Aid now carpet free

Exciting news to report from everyone's favorite store, Rite Aid on First Avenue and East Fifth Street!

Goggla writes in:

"Whoa! The carpet is gone — the place is looking fancified! Not sure this will improve the hellish line experience, which is now blocked from the aisles. The lighting is very romantic, though."

Indeed!

Of course, at the same time, there isn't any carpet now to absorb a shoplifter from getting tackled onto the floor.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Local man decides to hack off arm while enduring a 127-hour line at Rite-Aid

[Photo by Goggla from 2011]

The 'tremendous retail potential' of East 10th Street and 4th Avenue

There are renewed efforts to develop the long empty space on East 10th Street and Fourth Avenue ... for sale signs appeared on the corner lot last week ... There were plans to build a 13-story hotel here, though the city never OK'd that proposal, as Curbed reported in 2009.

Now what is being pitched? According to the Massey Knakal listing:

This prime residential development site is located on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and East 10th Street. Currently, there are two seperate buildings, but both the properties can be delivered vacant to allow for future development. Plans exist for a nine story mixed-use building with 8 floor through apartments and a bi-level retail space with double height ceilings. The existing properties are also available for lease.

This corner site has tremendous retail potential. Astor Place, which is only two blocks to the south, is a major transportation hub ... Minskoff Equities’ 51 Astor Place has been a game changer for the area. Designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, it reaches 13 stories with 400,000 rentable square feet. Its top office floors are asking over $100/SF and its retail is rumored to be looking for $300s/SF. The retail at 41 7th Avenue will certainly benefit from its close proximity and should be able to achieve $200/SF from a luxury retailer or top restauranteur.

And here is a rendering showing the possibilities...



Price for the lot: $24 million.

A market and St. Marx Music were the most recent tenants here, going back to 2007 ... Jeremiah Moss, who has written extensively about this corridor's history, has more about the plans for East 10th Street and Fourth Avenue today here ....

3 retail spaces available at 51 Astor Place

The 24-hour public plaza opened last week outside 51 Astor Place... there are more developments to note as well, such as the retail space for the 400,000-square-foot office building.

According to the listing at RKF, there are three retail spaces available:

Space A
Ground Floor 9,217
Lower Level 8,145 SF
Total 17,362 SF

Space B
Ground Floor 3,397 SF

Space C
Ground Floor 2,946 SF

The floor plans give you of better idea of what will fit where...



Not much other information on the listing, aside from "Flagship opportunity" and "incredible exposure to a heavily foot-trafficked area."

The marketing materials also note that there are "35,000 residents under 35 in the immediate area" as well as "53,500 undergraduate and graduate students in the surrounding area."

So what kind of "flagship opportunities" will be realized here?

More details on Davey's Ice Cream, opening later this summer on First Avenue

[William Klayer]

Last Wednesday, we noted that the sign arrived for Davey's Ice Cream at 137 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street ...

We reached out to the proprietor, David Yoo, to learn more about the shop...

About his ice cream:

I will be making small batches of traditional and seasonal ice cream flavors from scratch in the shop, meaning I will be mixing and pasteurizing my own custom ice cream mix. It's making ice cream the hard way!

I lived in the East Village while in school (Parsons, I'm a former graphic designer), and I knew this was the location for my venture. Rent is getting out of control in EV/LES, but I'm excited to give it a shot here.

About his change in careers, from graphic designer to ice cream store owner:

The idea to switch career gears was definitely a lightning bolt moment. I could have continued moving from studio to studio and do more of the same, or really try something different while still being creative.

Opening an ice cream shop has always been an inside joke of mine. When I realized there wasn't much of an ice cream scene in NYC like there is in Portland or San Francisco, I knew I had to try this. I finally left my studio, started making ice cream a little more seriously, wrote a business plan, completed the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course in January, and signed a lease shortly after.

I'll be the sole owner of Davey's Ice Cream. I'm also the business guy, ice cream dude, designer, PR, scooper, and janitor. It's all been a very interesting experience so far…

He hopes to open the shop by late July or early August.

Looking at the penthouses atop Starbucks on First Avenue

I'm strangely curious about the apartments atop 219 First Ave. at East 13th Street... with that addition that looks as if it blew in from another building...

The building, which had structural damage, had been under renovation going back to 2007. (And the corner space was home to Mee Noodle Shop, which is returning a few doors away.)

[Via Flickr]

The apartments here hit the market last June. I never looked at the penthouse, though. Turns out there are two penthouse units, and both are on the market now. One is $4,395 ... the slightly smaller one is $4,095, per Streeteasy.

Here's a look inside the more expensive unit...









Perfect view for the First Avenue $1 slice pizza wars.

Billy Hurricane's now apparently called Station B

[Photo via @danielpmcd]

We've recently noticed some changes to the exterior of Billy Hurricane's on Avenue B near East Second Street... that neon orange is gone, for starters ... Yesterday @danielpmcd pointed out that the bar has a new name — Station B. No word on any of the Billy Hurricane's social media sites about a name change... back in March, we spotted a listing for bartenders that noted:

Tattooed Bartenders Wanted!
Job Description
Upcoming Lower East Side / East Village Bar w/ Kitchen Looking for some New Staff for New Location!
Bourbon... Beers... Burgers... Blastin' Rock!

What we are looking for...

>> Male or Female
>> Age 21- 31
>> Professional, Reliable & Punctual
>> Experienced (Mixology a Plus)
>> Outgoing & Fun
>> Tattoo'd ( not a unicorn on your ankle kind of tattoo)
>> Non-Complete-Alcoholic