Rumors: 'Top Chef' alum Jeff McInnis will help revamp former Mama's Food Shop space

Over on East Third Street at Avenue B, Heart 'N Soul came and went in just a month or so this past spring after taking over for the 15-year-old Mama's Food Shop. (Read all about that here.)

Now, a tipster tells us that "Top Chef" alum Jeff McInnis has bought into the space ... and that he and building owner (and Mama's Bar owner) Richard Freedman are in the process of revamping the restaurant and designing the new menu. The restaurant will apparently be called Root & Bone.

During the summer, McInnis reportedly parted ways with the successful Yardbird Southern Table & Bar in Miami ... He told the Miami New Times that he'd "take advantage of this down time and do some staging in a few restaurants around the country."

Upon closing in July 2012, Jeremiah Clancy, owner of Mama's Food Shop, sent a doozy of a farewell letter to various media outlets ... noting, among other things:

Avenue B is a ghost town commercially, the community nature of the neighborhood has all but vanished, and it is over-run every weekend by a generation that has no vested interest in the East Village community except to visit on the weekends.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Note outside Heart N' Soul explains that the chef had a 'nervous breakdown'

Mama's Food Shop closes after 15 years; 'the community nature of the neighborhood has all but vanished'

Campaign to protect the Village; corporate naming rights for the Washington Square Arch?

You may have seen these posters around the neighborhood in the last few days... spotted this one on Third Avenue at East 12th Street... Save Our Village launched the campaign... and they have a website...

Saveourvillage.org is a project rooted in love and respect. When you feel such a deep connection to what you love, you take responsibility for it. Responsibility leads to action.

Many of us have left our home, we are either unable to afford to live in Our Village or no longer feeling the inspiration to create. Many of us are artists in exile, awaiting the dream in belief that one day we will be able to return to our home.

We were joking that we want to form a provisional government

This project has been a return to our roots, understanding what we have been given and that it is now our responsibility to stand up and protect what we love.

The root of why we are taking a stand now is that we recognize that each of us would not be the people that we are without the magic of The Village and we want others to continue the tradition of creativity that we have received.

Only from researching the historic evolution of art and culture here, do we stand to understand the fountain of wisdom that we are so luck to be a part of.

Is it possible that the city is planning on selling the naming rights to the arch at Washington Square Park?

(Short answer: Yes!)

But we've never heard anything about this... so we checked in with someone who is far more tuned into the issues here than us — Cathryn at the Washington Square Park Blog. Her take yesterday:

We think that the above — selling naming rights to the Washington (Square) Arch — could never happen… but if this privatizing path that we’re being led on continues, is it really that improbable?

Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly films 'Shelter' in Tompkins Square Park today

Crews for the Paul Bettany-directed "Shelter" were back in Tompkins Square today... the film stars Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly in a "love story set among the homeless living on the streets of Manhattan."





... Bettany, her real-life husband, was also spotted minding one of the couple's children... (or, perhaps, just a random kid...)



Meanwhile, crews were also trimming trees in the Park today, as Dave on 7th noted...



And we forgot to ask how the film crew-tree crew battle ended up...

@evgrieve Now they cleared the grass so they can cut trees. THERE IS AN EPIC BATTLE ABOUT TO HAPPEN HERE.
— Eden Brower (@edenbrower) September 30, 2013

Film photos via Bobby Williams.

Why there were a lot of chainsaws and ropes in Tompkins Square Park today

Crews spent a good part of the day in Tompkins Square Park trimming back trees ...



... the high-wire act provided a bit of entertainment today (along with the film shoot...)





...and pieces of the leftover American elm make for nice apartment accessories, according to at least one reader...



Photos by Bobby Williams. (Except for that last one.)

El Sombrero likely to remain open until early December

[Photo by Nick Solares via Facebook]

Looks like you'll have a little longer to take in El Sombrero on Ludlow and Stanton. The release last week of the October CB3/SLA committee meeting agenda showed that Artichoke Pizza has designs on taking over the inexpensive Mexican restaurant that opened here in 1984.

At the time, it was unknown just how long El Sombrero would remain open. (BoweryBoogie, who first reported on the item, noted that the deal wasn't quite finalized.)

Regina Bartkoff, a waitress at The Hat since 1988, passed along word this morning that the restaurant is expected to continue operations until early December. The owner's daughter is going to create a Facebook page with updated details about the pending closure.

Meanwhile, Bartkoff said that last week's news has helped boost business. "All these people are sad that we are closing, but telling me they haven't been here in 15 years."

Rite Aid on E. 14th St. closes at the end of October

Employees at the Rite Aid on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B received word last week that the store will close at the end of October. A manager confirmed the closure.

This is the latest business to exit ahead of some new, unspecified development via Extell ... Rite Aid joins Rainbow ... The Blarney Cove... Bargain Express ... Petland ... and the ABC Animal Hospital as former block mates. (The laundromat moved toward Avenue B. ABC Animal Hospital is now at 200 Avenue A.)



As we first reported last December, eight parcels consisting of 222 Avenue A and 504 - 530 E. 14th St. (excluding No. 520) were leased for a 99-year period by the respective owner of East Village 14 LLC. As The Real Deal reported, city property records show that Gary Barnett of Extell Development signed a 99-year lease worth $35.14 million to rent eight Sol Goldman-owned properties.

Workers had been test drilling ahead of the construction in recent weeks... we saw workers pack up the Davey drill last Thursday...


[Bobby Williams]

To date, reps for the developer have yet to file any demolition permits or building plans.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

Bargain Express has closed on East 14th Street

East 14th Street corridor now nearly business-free ahead of new development

On East Houston, work begins on a new 13-floor residential building

Work has started on East Houston and Ridge Street (331 E Houston St. and 161 Ridge St. to be exact), where a demo crew took down the former one-level laundromat ... to make way for a 13-floor residential building with 78 units for this L-shaped parcel of land. The city OK'd plans for the new building on Sept. 17.

EVG Facebook friend Edward Arrocha shared these photos that he took of the property last week.











The site was active on Saturday... perhaps the crew will employ a flagger next time ...







Records show that Stephen B. Jacobs is the architect for the project. (His firm's East Village work includes the Copper Building on Avenue B and the Village Green on East 11th Street.) Jon Halpern of "East Houston Development LLC" is listed as the owner on the DOB permits. (Halpern is a partner and head of Real Estate Investments at Marathon Real Estate Mortgage Trust.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
An L-Shaped footprint ready to make its impression on East Houston Street

An abandoned car in an empty lot that will soon yield a 13-floor residential building

About other 'rooftop ragers' in the East Village

[Also, World War Z is on DVD now]

Yesterday's post on the stairwell collapse at 159 Second Ave. that left "30 collegiate partygoers" ("rooftop ragers" per the Daily News) stranded on the roof brought out a lot of comments/emails about other similar rooftop bashes in the neighborhood... maybe to epidemic proportions? Hard to say!

Per one reader:

I live on 12th Street, and the NYU kids who lives upstairs had their own rooftop rager a couple of weeks ago. My poor super had to come put a stop to it. He estimated there were 100 kids on the roof of our tenement building. Not only are they disturbing everyone, they are risking their lives.

Our building is old, and I am hardly an engineer, but I doubt our roof was made to hold all that weight. Plus, there aren't any railings, and someone, especially someone who is tipsy, could easily fall over the edge, which is probably about a foot or so high.

Anyway, it sucks for the rest of the us tenants as well as the supers on our block who are basically resident assistants now, forced to get up all hours of the night to babysit these out-of-control children. My building, once full of people who looked out for each other and took care not to disturb each other, is a dorm now, and I don't want to be back in college!

Have any other rooftop rager stories to share? Hit us up!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: FDNY rescues partygoers from 2nd Avenue 'rooftop rager' after stairwell collapse injures 1

Report: Partygoer may have caused stairwell to collapse at 159 Second Ave.

As for that stairwell collapse at 159 Second Ave. ... the Post reports today that a "drunken NYU teaching assistant crashed through three marble landings while trying to jump the stairs," according to unnamed authorities.

“The guy jumped. He broke through a couple of landings,” said a source with the city’s Office of Emergency Management, which had video of the 1:30 a.m. stunt gone awry.

A friend who lives in the building said Niu, a student at NYU’s prestigious Stern School of Business, “was barely moving” after his fall.

“[He] was definitely a little intoxicated and probably stumbled down,” the friend said.

Friends of the NYU TA said that he weighs roughly 150 pounds.

“I have no idea what kind of weight [the staircase is] supposed to sustain,” an OEM source said. “But, obviously, it was not being used normally. It was jumped on by a grown man from 10 to 12 feet in the air.”

Meanwhile, the missing sections of the stairwell stranded about 40 students on the roof. The student reportedly suffered broken ribs and a fractured ankle. Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the collapse, per the Post.

You have another chance to see Jennifer Connelly play a homeless person today

Crews return today to Avenue A/Tompkins Square Park to film scenes for "Shelter," the directorial debut of actor Paul Bettany ... and starring his wife, Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly.

They filmed in the Park last Tuesday... According to published reports, the drama is a "love story set among the homeless living on the streets of Manhattan."

Incoming: Cork 'n Fork on Avenue A

At 186 Avenue A, the former Kamui Den in is being prepped for a tapas and wine bar called Cork 'N Fork ...

According to paperwork (PDF) filed ahead of the June CB3/SLA meeting, the proprietor is Demetrios Klidonas, who has been in the restaurant business in Manhattan and Queens for three decades ... most notably Isadora's Cafe on East 52nd Street, which he ran from 1990 until 2008 when he sold his interests in the business. (Isadora's is still in operation.)

Plans showed 16 two-seat tables ... and a bar seating 10 people. No word on an opening date just yet...

Alphabet Scoop has reopened on East 11th Street

The seasonal ice cream shop near Avenue B has reopened after a lengthy delay ...

Back on March 19, the store's Facebook page noted the following:

Alphabet Scoop's spring reopening will be delayed due to the need to repair the steps to the store. We had an engineer examine them and they cannot be used until they are either repaired or replaced. They are the original steps, created in 1867 when the building was erected. Please pray that the project will move along quickly.

They finally got those new stairs... and they were just able to reopen last weekend...





They'll be open weekends only this fall... Per their Facebook page: "Already the Pumpkin Spice and Salted Caramel are big hits as well as a long-time favorite, Pistachio! $5.00 for a pint!"

The Father’s Heart Ministries runs the shop that employs at-risk youth in the neighborhood. (You can read an article about it at The Villager here.)

Photos by Shawn Chittle