Some facts and figures to depress you about rent

The Furman Center at NYU released the annual State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods report yesterday... a sprawling mass of data on rent, rent regulations and many other things to do with rent... as well as demographic statistics...

Here are a few sobering passages straight from the report's news release:

In the six years since the recession, data paint a mixed picture of New York City’s recovery...

The city’s housing market showed signs of recovery — including sustained employment growth, rising home sales, and increased housing prices—but also showed increasing affordability challenges for New York City renters.

Since the recession, stagnant incomes and rising rents have led to an increase in rent burdens. In 2011, 24 percent of New Yorkers were moderately rent burdened (spending 30 to 50 percent of their income on rent) and 31 percent of New Yorkers were severely rent burdened (spending 50 percent or more of their income on rent), according to the report.

Between 2007 and 2011, a period when house prices citywide fell by 20 percent, the median monthly gross rent citywide increased by 8.6 percent, from $1,096 to $1,191. During that same period, median household income decreased 6.8 percent, dropping from $54,127 to $50,433.

The report for Manhattan is broken down into 12 community districts, with the East Village presumably landing in the Lower East Side/Chinatown bracket. (Find that PDF here.)

A few stats from that report...


[Click image to enlarge]

You can find a PDF of the report for Manhattan here.

Archie & Sons, a new luncheonette, opening very soon at 23 Third Ave.

[Photo from last week]

Work is wrapping up at 23 Third Ave. near St. Mark's Place... where Archie & Sons, a 1950s-style luncheonette, is expected to open this week...

There was a casting call for staff on July 22...



Archie & Sons has roots on Long Island (Hewlett) where proprietor Howie Cohen ran Archie's Deli until 2010. He's bringing that concept here.

Cohen is also one of the investors who bought the Papaya King brand several years ago.

While we didn't get a chance to speak with Cohen, Blake Gower, part of the Papaya King team, told us a little more about Archie & Sons.

"Howie and his family have been in the business for decades. The presence of B&H and Stage reinforced our thinking that the East Village was the right kind of neighborhood to bring this to life in NYC; there's a certain warmth and appreciation for homey neighborhood places that persists in the East Village," Gower said. "I grew up eating at the original Archie's — I still have dreams about side dishes of Howie's macaroni salad."

Archie's will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They originally announced an Aug. 1 opening date, though Gower said that they may bump that back by a day or two.

23 Third Ave. was mostly recently home to a fairly humdrum slice place.

Everything you've ever wanted to know about the Little Free Library, probably

[From May]

You've likely seen one of the 10 Little Free Libraries around downtown Manhattan ... such as the one above in Extra Place... they arrived in May ... and are expected to be up until Sept. 1. (Organizers from the PEN World Voices Festival and the Architectural League of New York will reevaluate the locations at that time...)

Anyway, if you're interested in why and how all these came together, there's a 10-minute video that may (or may not!) answer all your questions...

[H/T Gizmodo]

Report: 51 Astor Place remains tenant free for now

[EVG file photo]

The Wall Street Journal had an article yesterday (subscription required) on the well-regarded brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle and its work leasing 51 Astor Place.

Now the firm is facing one of its biggest challenges yet: representing developer Edward Minskoff in his effort to lease up his new 400,000-square-foot development at 51 Astor Place in the East Village. The building, which opened in May, has yet to sign a single tenant.

And there were a few close calls, such as Microsoft, which opted for Times Square, and Facebook, which decided to lease space directly across the street at 770 Broadway in Midtown South.

Regardless, Paul Glickman, a vice chairman at Jones Lang, told the Journal that "70 percent of the building is close to being leased but declined to name tenants."

Sources said that developer Edward Minskoff "took a risk by developing a modern office tower in a neighborhood best known for funky older buildings — in high demand among technology firms and media businesses."

There's also a matter of rent, which may be too pricy for the area. Rents at 51 Astor reportedly vary from the $80 a square foot for lower floors to more than $100 a square foot for higher floors.

Previously on EV Grieve:
51 Astor Place demolition begins July 1; 17 months to build new black-glass tower

East Village — the new Midtown?

Exciting new business finally opens on East 14th Street

[Photo by @fnytv]

Hey, that Wells Fargo is now open on East 14th Street near Fourth Avenue... at the site of the mostly awful but serviceable (mostly!) Cafe Amore's Pizza Restaurant...

And is this where the Tad's Steak's was before the pizzeria...?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exciting new business opening on East 14th Street

The end is nearer for Mary Help of Christians

Demolition preparations are picking up at the Mary Help of Christians lot on Avenue A between East 11th Street and East 12th Street... The plywood is up now around the former lot... and some probably-not-random-looking digging has started ...



Until now, work seemed agonizingly slow... the corpses of the buildings standing in recent weeks without windows while waiting for demolition...


[Photo by Shawn Chittle]











Developer Douglas Steiner bought the property last fall for an unspecified residential complex.

All photos by Bobby Williams unless marked.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Permits filed to demolish Mary Help of Christians church, school and rectory

Preservationists call for archeological review of former cemetery at Mary Help of Christians site

Scaffolding arrives for demolition of Mary Help of Christians

Just after 1 a.m. outside Max Fish

Photo by @toddsines.



Photo by @goodpeoples

Last call in a few hours.

A little after 8 pm at Max Fish

Last night for the bar here on Ludlow Street.

... and someone has already removed the pay phone...



Thanks to @ThePeterHa for the photos...

Noted

Bride of 7th spotted the above in Tompkins Square Park today... a trap for Treeman?

RIP Walter De Maria

[Photo by Patrick Rogers]

Famed sculptor Walter De Maria died last Thursday of a stroke, according to published reports. He was 77.

Here's part of a feature obituary from The Los Angeles Times:

Throughout his career, De Maria cultivated a somewhat reclusive personality as far as the media was concerned. He seldom gave interviews and disliked being photographed. He also avoided participating in museum shows when he could, preferring to create his installations outdoors or at unconventional urban locations.

As a result, his work was not widely exhibited in the U.S. and he never became a household name. But critics championed his work, finding his large-scale installations to be conceptual and intellectually complex, while at the same time accessible to the general public.

He was also a one-time drummer for the Primitives, a Velvet Underground precursor. The band members included Lou Reed, John Cale and Tony Conrad.

De Maria also owned one of the more intriguing buildings in the East Village — the mysterious 421 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Avenue A... I wonder what will happen to the building... Here's what I wrote about the address back in December in a post titled "What is your East Village dream home?"

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I've always had my eye on 421 E. Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.

According to Forgotten New York: "421 was a Con Edison substation built in 1920-21 that converted direct current to alternating. It is at present (2008) the studio of modern artist/sculptor Walter De Maria."

Off the Grid just had a post on this landmarked building, offering more background:

According to a 1919 Board of Appeals resolution, the “four-story fireproof transformer building” would accommodate a switchboard room, static air chambers, blower room and rotary foundations on the first floor; rotaries, transformer, and booster compensator on the second floor; a battery room on the third floor; and a high tension room and blower and exhaust chambers on the fourth floor. Three people would work on the first floor and two on the second.

I've never met anyone who has been inside. I'm not sure if any photos exist of the interior. Kinda "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"-ish.

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Here's more on the building via Wikimedia Commons:

421 East 6th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City was built in 1919 as a transformer substation for the New York Edison Co., and was designed by William W. Whitehill in the Neo-classical style. It converted DC current into AC. The bulding was converted to a multi-use commercial structure in 1963, and has been owned by artist Walter De Maria since 1980.

[February 2013. Photo by Derek Berg]

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

Why, yes you can live on St. Mark's Place for $19,500 a month

The penthouse rental at 19 St. Mark's Place (waaaay above the Chipotle!) is back on the market. We wrote about it in January 2010. It was $17,000 a month then. Starting Sept. 1, the furnished place is $19,500. (A bargain, considering this apartment first went on the market in October 2008 for $25,000.)

Here's the listing via Stribling:

Dazzling views and two large private terraces (265 and 886 sq ft) flank both sides of the living/dining room of this unique and luxurious furnished 2 bedroom with office or 3 bedroom penthouse. The key lock elevator opens into the loft thereby ensuring one's privacy and north and south facing floor to ceiling windows on both sides of the loft grace every room with open city views.

The entertaining space has a large living room with a wood burning fireplace, separate dining room and a pretty top of the line windowed kitchen with breakfast bar. On the east end of the loft is the master bedroom which has a large windowed marble spa bath en-suite with soaking tub and separate shower .The office or small 3rd bedroom is across the hall and the spacious 2nd bedroom with en-suite bath is on the other side of the loft near the guest bath. A laundry room, highend finishes, central AC and a rare feeling of space, light and privacy complete this unique, approximately 2700 sq ft, home in the East Village. A gourmet market, major transportation and convenient shopping are steps away. Available September, furnished only and flex lease term. Doorman: M-F 8:30am - 4:30pm

And the accompanying photos, which are the same from 2010...







And, according to a reader who lives on this block, this is the home that a movie star and his Academy Award-winning wife have have lived in lately... But who knows.

See our previous post on this building for photos of what the address used to be...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Live on St. Mark's Place for only $17,000 per month!

A detailed note about a dog on the window ledge

A reader shared this Urban Dog Etiquette Sign spotted on East 11th Street...

Excellent detail. And, friendly!