Reader report: Odessa Cafe closes for good after Aug. 15

[File photo via Shawn Chittle]

Word is spreading among Odessa Cafe and Bar regulars that the space on Avenue A will close for good after Aug. 15.

The closure rumors started last summer after the building at No. 117 was sold to 9300 Realty (owned by Croman Realty).

Paperwork filed ahead of this month's CB3/SLA committee meeting showed that six principals are part of a team who is buying the business ... at least one of which is a "former owner and general manager" of Tribeca's Tiny's & the Bar Upstairs, according to public documents posted on the CB3 website.

And CB3 OK'd the applicant's license, with the stipulations:

• it will operate as a full-service American brasserie restaurant, with a kitchen open and serving
food during all hours of operation,
• its hours of operation will be 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M. all days,
• it will play recorded music at less than entertainment level, and not have live music, DJs,
promoted events, scheduled performances or any event at which a cover fee will be charged,
• it will close any façade doors and windows at 10:00 P.M. every night,
• it will not commercially use any outdoor areas,
• it may have "happy hours" from 5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.,
• it will not host pub crawls or party buses

The closure of Odessa Cafe and Bar does not impact the newer Odessa next door at 119 Avenue A... though we hear this Odessa will have more of a bar environment now later in the evening hours.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Building that houses Odessa Cafe and Bar for sale on Avenue A

Is the end nearing for Odessa Cafe and Bar on Avenue A?

Former GM from Tribeca's Tiny's & the Bar Upstairs part of team to buy the Odessa Cafe

The Yippie Museum Cafe will reopen next Wednesday

[Photo from June 27 by Donna Rae]

The Harmony Kitchen, the food vendor at the Yippie Museum Cafe, closed at the end of June ... At the time, it was unclear what would happen with 9 Bleecker Street, the longtime headquarters of the counterculture group and home to the cafe just a few storefronts west of the Bowery.

On June 10, Colin Moynihan at The New York Times reported that Yippie leaders have been fighting an attempt by a lender to foreclose on their three-story home.

The space has been shut all this month, with a "closed for re-calculating" sign up...

However, there's an additional sign now... noting that they space will reopen next Wednesday for performances and events, though without any food or coffee...



The sign says Harmony "packed their bags and split. They left many unanswered questions and bills."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Yippie Museum Cafe is in financial trouble

Unattended ladders and new bedbugs at 132 E. Seventh St.

Construction continues at 132 E. Seventh St. at Avenue A... at the residential portion above Niagara... (work started back in April) ... DOB permits point to "facade repair" on the building.

A resident here shares a little about the ongoing construction this summer...

I got home from work [the other night] to find that the construction crew (who themselves have been notably professional and diligent) had left their ladder set up. Since the scaffolding went up, we have had two incidents of strangers scrambling their way up and wandering around on the scaffolding after dark and that was without a handy ladder.

And how have the renovations been going?

When they started construction, they (again with no warning) entered all of our apartments and started to cut holes in our ceiling. After we stacked and moved all of our belongings and furniture, they continued by putting anchor bolts and plates through our walls. Ostensibly this was to reinforce the existing structure; however, in conjunction with the "roof patio" they have built and the in-wall a/c units they are insisting on installing, it's our (the tenants) guess that they are looking to either flip these into more "luxury units" or more aggressively, try to add another floor on top.

Also, we got bedbugs after they cut the holes in the ceiling.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Straight to hell: Keeping a watchful eye on the Joe Strummer mural

'End of Days' are here for Max Fish

[You never know when a cliched photo of the Max Fish toilet will come in handy]

Max Fish closes for good on the Lower East Side on Aug. 1, according to Gallerist.

And the Ludlow Street fixture, which is moving to Williamsburg, signed off with their final exhibition — titled "End of Days," which Ava Rollins and Yolande Whitcomb curated. (The show, featuring work by Craig Wetherby, Ricky Powell and FAILE, is only up through tonight.)

X Games at ESPN paid tribute to the Max Fish on Monday... noting how the bar was big with the skate crowd through the years...

Max Fish will all be leaving a neighborhood that now resembles the chaos of New Orleans' Bourbon Street on the weekends more than the downtown cool with which it once was associated.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

[Updated] Max Fish is apparently moving to Brooklyn; eyeing August close date

Up ahead in the distance, Hotel Ludlow

On the topic of Max Fish... Here's their next-door neighbor, Hotel Ludlow. We haven't looked at it in awhile (November, anyway) ... And after nearly 5 years of various construction stops and starts, it's construction-netting free these days.

...and from the back...







In October 2011, Curbed reported that BD Hotels — the team involved with the Maritime, Chambers, Greenwich, Jane and Bowery hotels — bought the stalled site for $25 million... finally bring a vitally needed hotel to this area. (OK, OK.)

For more on the background here, you can check out BoweryBoogie and The Lo-Down.

Previously on EV Grieve:
People behind fabulous hotels opening another likely fabulous hotel on Ludlow Street

Actual work being done at the long-stalled Hotel Ludlow site

The Dude abides again tonight in Tompkins Square Park

"The Big Lebowski" is the free film tonight in Tompkins Square Park. (The 1998 comedy from the Coen Brothers also played last summer in the Park.)

As you probably know, the film stars Tara Reid, the leading lady of "Sharknado."



Also, "The Big Lebowski" includes Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, John Turturro and Sam Elliott.

There's pre-movie music by Jake Pinto & the Yeahtones.

As always: all this is weather permitting... Check the Films in Tompkins Facebook page for updates on tonight's screening.

And upcoming...

Aug. 1 — Rocky Horror Picture Show
Aug. 8 — Chico + Rita
Aug. 15 — Romeo + Juliet
Aug. 22 — O Brother, Where Art Thou

Iris Cafe 'closed for remodeling' one month after opening on St. Mark's Place

On St. Mark's Place, the Iris Cafe opened in the former Rockit Scientist space (RIP) in the middle of last month ... However, in recent days, the Taiwanese-style bakery with a location in Flushing has been closed... a sign on the door notes that they are "closed for remodeling." A worker hauling out trash bags yesterday said that they would be expanding their menu and reopening.

These days, it's even more expensive to live in a cabin without a toilet and running water

In the last few days, an Airbnb listing for a cabin caravan on the Lower East Side has been making the rounds. (The listing is no longer live.) Curbed posted it Tuesday via ValleyWag.

The same ad offering the exact same amenities flew around the Internet in January 2012. (We posted it here.) One thing worth noting: In the new listing, the cabin is asking $1,367/month. In January 2012, the price was $900/month.

What do you think caused a $467 rent hike in 19 months? Demand?

Anyway. Here's part of that original post from January 2012...

-----

Small unusual cabin caravan in Manhattan's lower east side situated on a forested edge of a private lot with 24/7 security. Large windows and a skylight ensure an open and airy feel in the minimally furnished interior outfitted with a full sized bed, desk, lamp and kettle for making tea or coffee. Linens and blankets will be provided.

Appealing places, cheap and otherwise, within walking distance for dining and entertainment and several small parks within easy access to public transportation. A bicycle and a lock are included with the cabin if you prefer travel above ground.

The cabin has no running water or toilet, there is a toilet on the property steps away. Previous guests have used a convenient 24 hour gym to shower.

Single occupancy or couple preferred, perfect for someone quiet, clean, independent, no pets.

All the windows shut and lock and there are curtains so you are not exposed, there is a heater, the space is small and warms easily, there are plenty of extra blankets if necessary.

$900 for the entire month, can be prorated.

Here's what it allegedly looks like...

Evening tweet

Nicest night we've had in weeks. (Heat & humidity wise) pic.twitter.com/aIaypkPCKd

— evgrieve (@evgrieve) July 24, 2013

Another Katie Holmes moment

Filming for "Mania Days" continued today ... now at the 6BC Botanical Garden... where EVG reader Francis Ratna happened by... we're meeting her later for a few 24-oz Natty Light cans at Vazacs...

In case you have a few loose screws

Free bed frame! Yours for the taking on Elizabeth at East Houston... Clean? Maybe not now. Been here long enough to be tagged...

East Village resident wants 'female hipster' to moon him for 3 seconds

Courtesy of Gawker, we learned about the existence of this real or fake Craigslist ad...

Mooned by female hipster
I know, I know. Strangest fetish ever. But I can't successfully talk myself out of it, so I'm hoping to craigslist it into enactment.

What I'm hoping (but not exactly expecting) to find is an attractive-ish female who is either a hipster or who possesses the wardrobe and willingness to fake it, who will consent to moon me for a fee.

I am able to host this encounter at my place in the East Village or willing to travel virtually anywhere else you'd prefer. Chaperones are perfectly welcome. The entire transaction would consist of me handing you cash in advance followed by you mooning me for approximately three seconds. The entire encounter needn't last more than five minutes, awkward introductions included. No photography, no commercial aspect, no contact whatsoever.

How green is Rite Aid's valley?

Wow. The mural on the East Fifth Street side of Rite Aid is nearly complete. (Maybe just a few more details left?)

This is today's view via EVG Senior First Avenue Rite Aid Correspondent Goggla. The Royal Kingbee UW, a Bronx-born graffiti artist, has created this mural. Kingbee and Vase1, who specialize in urban and rural landscapes, will also be painting the exterior at the Avenue D Rite Aid...

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] As the Rite Aid turns (colors)

Rite Aid's enchanted forest

Today in randomish Katie Holmes sightings on Avenue B

Crews for "Mania Days" are filming along Avenue B near East Fourth Street today... And EVG reader Vinny spotted co-star Katie Holmes, the former East Village resident, wearing longer-than-average denim shorts on the street ...

"Mania Days" is about a manic depressive rapper (Luke Kirby) who gets involved with a manic depressive poet (Holmes) in a passionate affair that results in a pregnancy. And likely manic depressiveness. (Spike Lee is a producer.)

The production shot scenes on Avenue A and in Tompkins Square Park back in April.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village reeling over breakup of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

The Exterminator is Coming

A front hall from along East Second Street... from an apparently mice-infested building...

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher

Name: Elizabeth Cunningham
Occupation: Paramedic
Location: 1st Avenue between St. Mark's and 9th Street
Time: 6 pm on Sunday, July 21

I’ve lived in New York for about 15 years and I’ve been in the East Village for a little over 2 and a half years. The art, diversity, culture, music and food brought me to New York. I grew up as an Army brat so we moved around a lot. I lived in Europe a little bit when I was a kid but I spent most of my formative years in the south, in Augusta, Georgia, home of James Brown and The Masters. James Brown was the better part. It was a pretty closed-minded place and didn’t have any of the things that New York had to offer.

I’m a paramedic. I’ve been doing that for about 17 years now. I work for the City, for 911. I primarily cover the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights. I work 60 to 70 hours a week, full time at Lenox Hill Hospital and then on the weekends I usually work a couple of shifts at New York Presbyterian/Cornell and we cover Midtown — east and west.

I respond to 911 calls and I work in advanced life support. We do everything from cardiac arrest, to heart emergencies, to people who can’t breath. We get the more critical calls. We get a lot of crazy people too ... people barricaded, a lot of violent crimes, although it’s not as much as it used to be. That’s further uptown. The subway accidents are pretty common. They’re more common than people think — it’s not always publicized how many people get run over by trains.

And then at Presbyterian they have a special ops division — it’s a hazardous materials emergency response team. I’m the only woman on the team of 50. If there’s some sort of radiological disaster or if there’s something like September 11 or a dirty bomb or anything with hazardous materials, we’re prepared for that. If something like that happens again we can team up with the FDNY. The training is a lot of fun. It’s definitely a high-adrenaline, Type-A personality type of thing.

I came to the East Village because I just felt more comfortable down here. I lived in a rent-controlled sublet on the Upper East Side for years and I hated it — it was so dry and so bland. It was horrible.

But it was a thousands bucks a month for rent, so it was really hard to give up. I’d ride my bike down here and I hung out down primarily and every time I’d ride back uptown I could see the architecture and the demographic changing and I’d just feel my spirit sinking. I didn’t want to go back up there.

So I finally got kicked out of the sublet. They wanted to tear the building down and then I figured, this was it — now or never. The first time in my new apartment I felt like this weight was off my shoulders. I slept like a baby. You don’t have to leave this neighborhood. Even if you’re broke you can walk to the Park and get free music. It’s perfect. I love it.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Your chance to buy an ice cream truck, maybe become 'Dairy Dan'

A reader sent along this Craigslist ad under the Manhattan/East Village section ... under for sale/business ...

I have a beautiful ice cream truck for sale, and ready to make money now! Its a 1978 ford step van Including : Taylor air pressure ice cream machine, 2 roof top AC units, Freezer for novelties, Topping unit, milk shake blender, new music box, and a 20 kw water cooled generator. for sale for $20,000.

Seems legit... though "Dairy Dan the Ice Cream Man" ...



...can mean something really different.

We asked Doug Quint, co-proprietor of the Big Gay Ice Cream shops and truck, about all this.

"My statement as a professional, and you can quote me, is 'what the fuck?'"

This 'historic East Village treasure' offered up as an investment or 'splendid personal home'

A listing for 75 E. Second St. arrived yesterday... and the historic building with 10 apartments is being touted as a "dream" single-family residence.

Per Brown Harris Stevens:

Located on one of the most picturesque blocks in the East Village Historic District, this 1868 Italianate brownstone offers both a very appealing opportunity for a savvy investor as well as a future homeowner looking to create the large-scale residence of their dreams in a highly coveted location.

75 East 2nd Street is built 25 feet wide and 55 feet deep with a backyard approximately 15 feet deep. Currently structured as 2- one bedroom floor-throughs per floor on five floors with a full basement with new mechanicals, 75 East 2nd Street maintains a wide and generous footprint and low annual taxes with incredibly attractive options and appeal. The building is currently comprised of 5 rent stabilized rentals along with 5 free-market rentals.

Eighteen large windows face north towards 2nd Street framing views of mature trees, and the elegant ironwork and carved stone of the New York City and National Register Designated Landmark Marble Cemetery, established in 1831.

The listing notes that the building has been "meticulously maintained by the same owners for decades." Perhaps it will "continue as a reliable investment" rather than "a splendid personal home for a fortunate new owner."

Asking price: $5.45 million.

Ben Shaoul plans to sell Bloom 62 'in a year or two'

We were watching "The Stoler Report" — the real-estate roundtable program on Channel 75 — the other evening... Developer Ben Shaoul, president of Magnum Real Estate Group, was one of the guests discussing the residential market in Manhattan and the boroughs... it was a fairly sobering discussion on everything from end loans for condos ... debt yields... capital gains...

At roughly the 20-minute mark, host Michael Stoler asked Shaoul about his preference for short-term lending ... Well, you know, it depends on the asset and who the partner is and what the plan is for the asset, etc.

While he didn't mention it by name (Bloom 62, the new luxury residences that replaced the former Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation on East Fifth Street and Avenue B), Shaoul mentioned his current "conversion of a nursing home."

And?

"We're going to look to sell the asset in a year or two," he said.

This type of property, he said, was attractive to the institutions who buy this caliber of asset.

In December 2011, Shaoul and company purchased Cabrini for $25.5 million from a family trust made up of the estates of Jacob W. Friedman and Sol Henkind. Negotiations to resell the building to a for-profit nursing home operator reportedly fell apart in early January 2012. Cabrini closed for good on June 30, 2012.

The 240-bed Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation — sponsored by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus — provided health care for low-income elderly residents in the East Village. The center opened in 1993 and served 240 patients and employed nearly 300 employees.

Bloom 62 is currently renting — prices range from $3,450/month for a one-bedroom unit to $7,600 for a four-bedroom apartment. The listed amenities include 24-hour doorman, gym and exercise facility with weight room, secured landscaped courtyard entrance, deck with showers, Weber grills and teak sun-deck, and yoga room with music system.

You can watch this episode of "The Stoler Report," taped on May 30, right here.

Meanwhile in Italy: [TO]Bike of Turin

Given some ongoing interest about Citi Bikes... we've had readers share photos of the bike-share programs in London ... and Paris... Now, EVG reader Jennifer Kellow checks in with photos from a recent trip to Turin (Torino), Italy... [TO]Bike of Turin launched in June 2010... at its debut, the 1,200-bicycle and 116 station service was Italy's second-largest bike share behind Milan...

Per the Bike-Sharing Blog (from 2010):

In Turin, the annual subscription to the system is very reasonable at €20 ($24 USD). There is a weekly pass at €5 ($6 USD) and a daily at €2 ($2.40 USD). As with most bike-sharing systems, the first 1/2 hour of usage is at no charge and then each 1/2 hour thereafter escalates in price.

[TO]Bike is part of the Bicincittà, which has bike-sharing programs throughout Italy and Switzerland.

Jennifer notes that "it does look like a nice normal bike share" ... and without any noticeable corporate sponsors.

Tonight's sunset

Photo by Bobby Williams

If life gives you limes... oh, forget it...

East 11th Street and Avenue B late this afternoon. Photo by Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.

Going... going...

Oh! That Cadillac that we've admired through the years on East Second Street is for sale, EVG contributor Derek Berg notes... Better hurry...

Friends and family remember teen shot and killed on Avenue D

Serena Solomon at DNAinfo has a feature today on Deontay Moore, the 18-year-old lifelong resident of the Jacob Riis Houses who was shot and killed Friday night.

"He was always happy and even if he was sad, you would never tell," said Moore's sister Janet Mejia, 22, who lives in Harlem.

"He was a great uncle and he loved his nephew," Mejia said. "He was love wherever he walked."

Mejia joked that Moore had been a "pain in the ass, like any little brother" who always had a practical joke up his sleeve to lighten the mood.

Moore was standing with friends on Avenue D near East Eighth Street Friday night around 10:45. The NYPD have said that gunmen on bicycles fired into the group, with one bullet striking Moore in the head.

[Photo by Serena Solomon via DNAinfo]

Big crane work at the incoming Mary Spink Apartments on East 11th Street

EVG reader Ron Z. shares photos from this morning... A crane has arrived for the second installment of pre-cast concrete floor planks for the incoming Mary Spink Apartments on East 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...



He notes that the planks are hoisted over 539-541 E. 11th St. and lowered onto the steel superstructure that workers have put into place.

"All residents on the 4th and 5th floors have to vacate their apartments until later this afternoon — in case a plank decides to land on top of the building," Ron says.







There were three trucks with planks waiting along Avenue A...





The Mary Spink Apartments will one day be home to eight stories — 46 units — of affordable housing for formerly homeless and mentally disabled East Villager residents.

Spink, a respected community activist, CB3 member and executive director of Lower East Side People’s Mutual Housing Association, died in January 2012 at age 64.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 11th Street lot prepped for the Mary Spink Apartments

Empty East 11th Street lot will yield to 8 stories of affordable housing (49 comments)

Today's Rite Aid update

More progress here on First Avenue and East Fifth Street...

EVG Senior First Avenue Rite Aid Correspondent Goggla notes that the mural is courtesy of The Royal Kingbee UW, a Bronx-born graffiti artist. Kingbee and Vase1, who specialize in urban and rural landscapes, will also be painting the exterior at the Avenue D Rite Aid...

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] As the Rite Aid turns (colors)

Rite Aid's enchanted forest

An East Village without rent regulations

[File photo via Bobby Williams]

The Times will have a piece in the magazine on Sunday on rent regulations... a version is now online titled "The Perverse Effects of Rent Regulation."

The East Village plays a starring role as writer Adam Davidson, co-founder of NPR's Planet Money, presents some what ifs about the elimination of rent regulations and other forms of housing subsidies. He goes over the two rental markets in the city: "Roughly half the apartments are under rent regulation, public housing or some other government program. That leaves everyone else to compete for the half with rents determined by the market."

One East Village realtor estimated that there are between 20-30 available apartments for rent in a given month.

He goes on to point out how "an East Village where nobody makes less than $90,000 a year might actually damage the city's long-term prospects" ... because the neighborhood has always "served as an initial toehold into this chaotic mess" of Manhattan.

Christopher Mayer, a housing economist at Columbia Business School, contends that these programs actually make the city much less affordable ... he lays out one scenario:

Eliminating rent regulation would be such a huge windfall for landlords, Mayer says, that he could imagine a sort of grand bargain. The programs go away, but landlords have to pay higher property taxes. The extra city revenue could go to a fund to help poor people afford market-rate apartments. In theory, this could be designed to make the shift win-win-win. The city could stay socioeconomically diverse without any six-bedroom apartments renting for $225.

Otherwise?

Writes Davidson: "What happens if all the rich people are on one island and the poor but creative are somewhere else? "

Anyway, there's a lot to take in with the article... too much to quickly recap in a post. Go read the article here.

An 'especially dramatic' retail opportunity for Fourth Avenue

Last month, plans emerged about developing the long empty space on East 10th Street and Fourth Avenue. The Massey Knakal listing notes that "plans exist for a nine story mixed-use building with 8 floor through apartments and a bi-level retail space with double height ceilings."

And now the retail portion of the potential development is on the books. Per the Massey Knakal listing:

This prominient corner retail space will be located on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and East 10th Street. Currently, the site is under construction, and the anticipated possession date will be one and a half to two years from now. The site also provides an exceptional opportunity, which could accommodate a variety of uses. The space will house over 2,600 square feet of column-free space on the ground floor and over 3,500 square feet on the lower level. The lower level will also feature partial double-height ceilings, making the space especially dramatic.

No word on the asking rent for the retail space. But! The price for the lot is $24 million.

Sembrado’s Tacos al Pastor opening Thursday on East 13th Street

[Image via @SembradoNYC]

Sembrado’s Tacos al Pastor, the new Mexican restaurant from Danny Mena, the chef and co-founder of Hecho en Dumbo, is apparently opening on Thursday. (This info comes via a news release published in The Epoch Times.)

Sembrado’s, opening July 25, will be one of the first in New York to use the classical Mexican technique of slowly cooking marinated pork on a vertical rotisserie — called the trompo.

Grilled meat tacos, made with hand pressed corn tortillas, will be a staple on the menu.

The pastry chef is Fany Gerson, who used to work for Eleven Madison and Rosa Mexicano.

Sembrado offers a “Make-Your-Own Mexican Sundae” dessert menu.

Sundae options will include rotating ice cream flavors such as Mexican Vanilla, Strawberries and Sour Cream, and Horchata.

Each is coated with a choice of sweet tomatillo sauce, Mexican hot fudge, and goat’s milk caramel.

The Sembrado website is live... and includes the menus...


[Click image to enlarge]

The space at 432 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue was previously home to Masak.

Meanwhile, at the Jefferson...

At the site of the former Mystery Lot. Where million condos are at the ready.



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

The Jefferson reveals what '21st Century living in the heart of Olde New York' costs

The Jefferson loses its netting, gains its glass

Speaking of The Jefferson... EVG regular Katja notes that the construction netting is off the East 13th Street side...



... and the glass is going in...



The listings include a 536-square-foot studio for $850,000 up to a two-bedroom penthouse with a rooftop terrace for $2.49 million. In between, one-bedrooms range from $1.11 and $1.54 million.

According to Streeteasy, six of the units are in contract...



Previously.