The 23rd annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade took place this afternoon... and EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there to take a lot of photos... A sampling of this year's costumes...
Updated:
Slum Goddess has a lot of photos and video here.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
And now, 18 photos of dogs in Halloween costumes
The 23rd annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade took place this afternoon... and EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there to take a lot of photos... A sampling of this year's costumes...
Updated:
Slum Goddess has a lot of photos and video here.
RAE's 'Word of Mouth' exhibit opens tonight in vacant corner deli on 12th and C
.JPG)
From the EVG inbox...
"WORD OF MOUTH"
RAE
October 26 - November 16, 2013
Opening: October 26, 7-10pm
Corner Avenue C & East 12th Street
Post-opening exhibition hours:
Thursday - Saturday 2:00 pm-7:00 pm
*(closed on Halloween)
The Voice interviewed the Brooklyn-based RAE yesterday. Excerpt!
I've been working on this show for about a year and a half, and I always wanted to do something inside a store because every time I went into a store, the signage and everything in there, to me, felt like art. The misspelled signs, how things are put together haphazardly on cardboard always appealed to me. Just the imperfections of things. It just made sense for me to have a show inside a space like this, but obviously I wanted to take over the space. Even if you have an entire gallery, you still have limitations. Here, there are no limitations for me. I can do whatever I want. I almost have to hold back because I want to write on the ceilings and the floors.
Photos via Mark White
That's it for Heathers ... for now
Word on East 13th Street was that Heathers would close at the beginning of December. However, that closing came earlier than expected, as Grub Street first reported late yesterday afternoon. Per Grub Street, "the locks have been changed illegally."
Ray Lemoine and Michael Herman took over the bar just east of Avenue A during the summer of 2012.
Back to Grub Street:
Lemoine and Herman say they were gradually being pushed out of the bar, which came with a history of complaints and controversy. Initially, a cash settlement with the landlord established an end date of December 1, 2013 for the East 13th Street space.
Heather Millstone opened Heathers in 2005 ... and the bar quickly became a lightning rod for noise complaints. (The Times had a lengthy article in January 2007 about the ongoing noise issues between the bar and neighbors.) You can read more about the bar's CB3 issues here.
We asked Lemoine a few questions via email last night about what's next.
What are your feelings about how things came to a rather abrupt end here?
Sad. Staff is sad, customers are sad. But I'm kind of happy I can stop drinking for a bit. Would have a proper send off.
Are you looking to relocate in the East Village?
We have a few great options right nearby and are looking to close a deal ASAP. We love the North East Village.
What's your assessment of the East Village nightlife scene these days?
I like many of the old bars. I love Lit for its club scene. But there aren't many cool new spots despite all the blogs telling you about these cool new spots. ACME is great, but it's in NOHO. Cocktail bars and $9 sandwich shops should be banned. Nightlife is pretty dead in the East Village in terms of, say, hearing a great DJ and dancing and not paying $12 for a drink. I miss The Hole. I mean, now that Heathers is closed, there isn't even a lesbian/heroin rock bar left in the East Village (frown face).
Friday, October 25, 2013
Banksy's grim reaper and the old Bowery ghosts
[Image via jerebles]
As you may have heard or seen, Bansky's latest street installation is on East Houston and Elizabeth ... at the site of Billy Leroy's former big tent.
The above video of the Grim Reaper Bumper Car comes from the official Banksy site, which includes an audio guide. (Banksy labeled this Bowery on his site.)
Catch it while you can, I mean, if you want to. Tonight through Sunday, dusk until midnight, apparently.
Find more photos, and what not, at Gothamist... BoweryBoogie ... and AnimalNY, who posted this video...
We reached out to Billy Leroy for comment... he is currently in Los Angeles... enjoying the start of the third season of "Baggage Battles" on the Travel Channel.
He said he was unaware that Banksy would be using his former Billy's Antiques spot for this installment.
"I support art and I like Banksy's work," Leroy said via email. "A year and a half ago we did the whole Death thing and buried the old Bowery with music. It's a compliment that a world-class artist would do a similar idea. The ghosts of the old Bowery told me they are still happy,
but will never allow anything to be built on that spot."
Something that you don't see in the trash every day
Discarded outside the Church of the Immaculate Conception today on East 14th Street at First Avenue...
Photo via Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.
There's goes the R-I-T-E A-I-D on East 14th Street
Our friend DJ Xerox passes along this photo... showing a worker removing the last of the sign from the Rite Aid between Avenue A and Avenue B... The store is one of several along East 14th Street to close to make way for something to look like...
Anyway, apparently the Rite Aid moved up its original Oct. 30 closing date.
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
East 14th Street corridor now nearly business-free ahead of new development
Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail
Swoon at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall
Well, we've done a lousy job of documenting Swoon's Hurricane Sandy mural that went up this week at the Bowery Wall... and it is likely our favorite mural in recent memory here...
There'll be an official dedication on Tuesday, Sandy's one-year anniversary...
Find more photos at GammaBlog ... BoweryBoogie ... the Lo-Down ... AnimalNY...
Bloomberg: The Citi Bike program isn't profitable yet, but you should be happy
[This morning at 13th and A]
Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that the Citi Bike program hasn't turned a profit yet some six months after the bike-rental program launched.
Per the Post:
“It is, I think, better than anybody had anticipated in terms of usage,” Bloomberg said during a press conference at the Department of Transportation.
“It’s a way to commute, it’s a mass-transit system that requires no federal, state or city monies whatsoever.”
And!
The program is run in conjunction with NYC Bike Share, a subsidiary of Alta Bicycle Share, which designs and manages the massive system of docking stations.
“If they make money, we’re going to share in the profits,” Bloomberg said.
“So, you know, everybody should be happy with this.”
Today's lost and found
Spotted on East Second Street near Avenue C.
To discretely claim, you may now find it atop the cube in Astor Place.
Reader mailbag: What do I do about my new neighbors who smoke pot all the time?
After last week's reader question about finding places in the neighborhood that still have an older East Village vibe... and after assuring me that he was not pulling one over on the Griever ...
The scenario from a reader: The neighbors are new as of the beginning of September. They are recent college grads who seem fairly well off and pretty insular. (Meaning they're not the let's-meet-the-new-neighbor types.) They have some unknown office jobs. They both arrive home around the same time each night (7ish). And then just about every waking moment in the evenings, mornings and weekends, they're smoking pot. And it's likely not for medical reasons.
While the reader isn't opposed to you know, partying, he doesn't want to have to smell the weed all the time. It has become annoying.
So. Urban Etiquette Sign? An awkward knock on the door? Call the landlord's management company? 311? The cops? If you don't like pot, then move to ________?
I did a little research and found this piece from the Daily News from May 2012 on the topic.
Important soundbite:
"New York courts have recently found that secondhand smoke constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability, which is a non-waivable obligation imposed on all residential landlords [including co-ops] to insure that the premises are fit for human habitation and do not contain any conditions that would be dangerous, hazardous, or detrimental to tenants' life, health or safety," says Ian Brandt, a real estate lawyer at Braverman & Associates in Manhattan. "The threat of habitability violations might be sufficient economic incentive for a landlord to begin eviction proceedings."
The reader wanted to know if anyone has managed a similar experience (preferably successfully). Any advice? Anyone...?
-----
We often get reader queries ... asking for help with, say, donating clothes or books ... or finding an East Village-based caterer... If you have a question for the masses, then try the EV Grieve email...
Here's more of the November CB3/SLA docket
[Root & Bone on East Third Street]
Yesterday we looked at three of the applicants on the November CB3/SLA agenda. (Find that post here.)
And please note that the CB3/SLA meetings are now double the fun, double the drama! The meetings are now spread out over two nights.
So here's a look at some more of the above East Houston (mostly!) applicants... starting with Monday!
Monday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 pm — Community Board 3 Office, 59 East 4th Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery)
Applications within Saturated Areas
• Brownstone Lounge & Grill, 240 E 4th St (op) (aka 50 Ave B)
That was quick. In the face of neighbor opposition and skepticism from Board members about a rather half-baked business plan, the applicants looking to take over the former Affaire space decided to withdraw their application during the October CB3/SLA meeting. Guess they have it all figured out after a month.
Alterations
• Rockwood Music Hall (Ken Rock Enterprises LLC), 192 Allen St (op/acoustic music in basement)
• Nublu (Tatu LLC), 151 Ave C (op/expand to upstairs)
New Liquor License Applications
• To be Determined, 8 Extra Pl (op)
Most likely the new location for Momofuku Ko.
• DY Schnitz LLC, 177 1st Ave (wb)
The mystery applicants taking over the former Something Sweet bakery.
• Root & Bone (Root & Bone LLC), 200 E 3rd St (op)
As previously reported, "Top Chef" alum Jeff McInnis and current "Top Chef" contestant Janine Boothwas are joining forces to open a restaurant called Root & Bone at the former Mama's Food Shop and Heart N' Soul on East Third Street and Avenue B.
• 9 East First Street LLC, 9 E 1st St (op)
The former Veselka Bowery space. Eater and Grub Street reported that restaurateur John McDonald signed a lease for a steakhouse/oyster place here.
• To be Determined, 269 E Houston St (op)
About the 500th time an unknown applicant has signed up to take over the former Local 269 venue on East Houston at Suffolk. The applicants always seem to withdraw before the meetings.
• Gaia Lounge (Sams 1 Lounge Inc), 103 E 2nd St (wb)
The former Animal Crackers pet shop near First Avenue.
• Moonstruck (88 2nd Ave Food Corp), 88 2nd Ave (op)
---
b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations
---
Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 pm — Community Board 3 Office, 59 East 4th Street (btwn 2nd Ave & Bowery)
Applications within Saturated Areas
• Cantina LES (Black Fish LLC), 8-10 Ave B (op)
The former M&M Variety Hardware between Houston and East Second Street looks to become a bar/restaurant serving Mexican fare... the applicants had previously looked at 1 Ludlow St.
New Liquor License Applications
• To be Determined, 134 1st Ave (op)
This is the address of Simone at St. Mark's Place... anyone know what's happening here?
• Ginger (Gold River Restaurant Corp), 109 1st Ave (upgrade/op)
• Ethos Meze (167 AA Rest Corp), 167 Ave A (op) (saturated area)
As we first reported on Oct. 3, the Diablo Royale Este space will become a Greek place from restauranteur John Kapetanos, who operates Ethos Gallery, Ethos Meze and the Moonstruck Diners, among others.
Corporate Change (not heard at committee)
• Paprika (Inter Pepe Inc), 110 St Marks Pl (wb)
• Croissanteria (Croissanteria Inc), 68 Ave A (wb)
---
b=beer only | wb=wine & beer only | op=liquor, wine, & beer | alt=alterations
On Avenue D, Sergio Deli Superette will yield to a 7-story building
[Google Maps]
Some recent news from BuzzBuzzHome: There's a 7-story mixed-use building in the works for 127 Avenue D near East Ninth Street... currently home to Sergio Deli Superette.
Paperwork filed Monday with the DOB shows that the 11-unit building will have ground-floor retail and 7,932 square feet of residential space.
Per BuzzBuzz, the developer is H Holding Group, whose projects include four luxury townhouses on Degraw Street in Boerum Hill.
Cute dogs in costumes alert for Saturday
The 23rd annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is tomorrow, noon to 3. (Quick — how many Miley Cyrus and Walter White-inspired costumes will there be?)
Beggin' Stips is the sponsor ... and they apparently made a $10,000 donation to Tompkins Square Park and donated more $3,500 in prizes ... all which was discussed here.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
CB3/SLA highlights: Liquor license applicants for former bakery, pet shop and hardware store
Community Board 3 released the agenda for next month's liquor licensing committee meeting... which is split over two nights — Nov. 18 and 19.
We'll take a look at the whole rundown later... until then, three items of interest ... three new liquor licenses for addresses that were previously not bars/restaurants ... for the time being, not much is known about the applicants...
New Liquor License Applications
• DY Schnitz LLC, 177 1st Ave (wb)
There's an applicant looking to take over the former Something Sweet space, the family-owned bakery at East 11th Street.
• Gaia Lounge (Sams 1 Lounge Inc), 103 E 2nd St (wb)
And there's an applicant eyeing the former family-run pet store on East Second Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. They closed in August 2012.
Applications within Saturated Areas
• Cantina LES (Black Fish LLC), 8-10 Ave B (op)
And the former M&M Variety Hardware between Houston and East Second Street looks to become a bar/restaurant serving Mexican fare... the applicants had previously looked at 1 Ludlow St.
Nice townhouse for sale of the day: 301 E. 10th St.
This fine townhouse at 301 E. 10th St. hit the market this week... along an equally fine block between Avenue A and Avenue B...
Details per the listing at Garfield:
Set in between several row houses, 301 East 10th Street was originally built in the late 19th Century by architect Joseph Trench in Italianate style as a single-family home. This property was later altered in a fine interpretation of Queen Anne style with raised ceiling heights, changed lintels, sills, and cornice into a multi-family home.
Currently configured as five, gracious floor-through units, four that can be delivered vacant. Ceiling heights range from 9’ to 13’ at Parlor level. Unobstructed, sunlit views overlooking Tompkins Square Park in front, 360 degree unobstructed Manhattan views from the roof including the Cooper Hotel, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Freedom Tower to the South and the Empire State, Chrysler, and New York Life buildings to the North. Large, north-facing garden and terrace in rear abutting a historic carriage house on 11th street.
First public offering in over twenty-five years with endless opportunities to renovate and create a strong rent roll, create a 2,700 garden duplex or an upper duplex with fantastic roof deck. Property is currently under built by approximately 3,300 square feet.
Asking price: $7.5 million.
Now will Extra Place become Extra special?
[ Image via Forgotten New York]Extra Place has been a fairly popular topic here through the years... about six to be exact.
We first heard of the plans the developers of Avalon Bowery Place had for the former alley that ran behind CBGB six-plus years ago ... Extra Place would become "a slice of the Left Bank, a pedestrian mall lined with interesting boutiques and cafes."
Sure!
To date, nothing has really worked. The latest casualties appear to be sister restaurants Extra Place and Heidi. And across East First Street Veselka Bowery was never a good fit. Other businesses have come and gone. It didn't help that it took four years to finally replace the roadway with a sidewalk and to add lights to Extra Place.
It was still Extra Place though.
Now some big names will give it a whirl. The Times reported that Momofuku Ko will move from First Avenue to Extra Place. And Eater heard that restaurateur John McDonald has signed a lease for a steakhouse/oyster place in the former Veselka Bowery. (Grub Street confirmed it.)
Add this two places to the seemingly popular Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken and L'Apicio nearby in Avalon Bowery Place... an instant upscale dining destination?
As we've asked before about new places coming to Extra Place: Is this all enough to ward off the ghosts of the Bowery's past?
Previously on EV Grieve:
With new restaurant opening, will Extra Place finally become a dining destination?
Extra Place now officially a Dead End
Extra Place and Heidi currently 'closed for renovation' in Extra Place
You have a little longer to get gas on Avenue C
Last fall, The Real Deal reported that the Mobil station on Avenue C and East Houston been sold to a brokerage firm for $8 million.
Existing zoning allows for 43,000 square feet of residential development on the parcel, which has 120 feet of frontage on Houston Street, according to The Real Deal.
We all figured the station would be a goner soon enough.
Apparently not that soon.
The Times had a piece yesterday titled Manhattan's Vanishing Gas Stations. The piece offered a few more details on what's next here.... and when.
[A] rental building will rise on the site when the station’s lease expires in two years, according to HPNY, a development firm that is a partner in the project.
The 12-story rental building will encompass 43,000 square feet of apartments, as well as 6,000 square feet of ground-floor stores, which will wrap three sides, HPNY said.
So two more years here.
And it is not your imagination that gas stations are disappearing around the city.
In October, there were 117 stations in Manhattan, down from 207 in 2004, or a 44 percent decrease, according to the city’s Bureau of Fire Prevention. The city as a whole has 35 percent fewer stations than it did a decade ago, according to the data.
And I'll repeat this from a previous post:
Now I'm not lamenting the loss of gas stations... I don't have a car... and, even with an occasional rental, have never used either East Village gas station... I'll echo the sentiments of Jeremiah Moss on the matter: "And while I'm not a fan of oil, I like gas stations for their smudgy, blue-collar existence, and their vanishing from the face of Manhattan is worth noting."
Previously on EV Grieve:
How much longer will the East Village have gas stations?
The East Village will soon be down to 1 gas station
The Mobil on Avenue C is still going strong — for now
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Report: CB3 won't reverse its suspension decision about the L.E.S. Dwellers
During its full Board meeting last night, Chairperson Gigi Li reportedly said that she would convene a group to draft new policies governing how the board works with block associations.
Per The Lo-Down:
[B]oard member Chad Marlow proposed a motion to reverse the suspension and to mandate that future actions against block associations must be approved by the full board. But a vote never took place because, through the use of a parliamentary maneuver, the board voted instead on an alternative motion to table the original proposal, which if it had passed would have represented a public embarrassment for Li. Only Marlow and one other member, Julie Ulmet, opposed the “motion to table.” Three others abstained.
Find more details on the meeting over at The Lo-Down.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Breaking Badly: LES Dwellers demand impartial investigation of Community Board 3 (33 comments)
More details about the new Russ & Daughters Café coming to Orchard Street
Today, The Daily Meal published a Q-and-A with fourth-generation co-owner Niki Russ Federman about the new space. Federman offered up several details, such as if the new space will have that counter culture of the mothership:
That is so critical in how we’re designing the space, trying to bring that counter experience and that human interaction to the new café. So there will be an open slicing area where you can watch the slicing happen, and actually you’ll be able to see it better than you can in the store. Right now you have to peek down poke around, There, we’ll have a slicing counter [and] an old-school soda fountain making our egg creams. There’s going to be almost like a luncheonette counter where you can sit down as you’re watching all the food come together, and you still have that over-the-counter interaction.
The Russ & Daughters Café is aiming for a mid-February opening.
Meanwhile, in other news about LES institutions, BoweryBoogie has a recap of the gallery opening at the The Space At Katz’s.
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
James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.
By James Maher
Name: Tom Kopache and Chia
Occupation: Actor
Location: 5th Street between 1st and 2nd
Time: 5:50 on Friday, Oct. 18
My family moved a lot but I did a lot of my growing up on the West Coast. Then, after college and grad school I joined a theatre company that went to Europe. After Europe, I came here thinking I was only going to be here a year or two, but I ended up staying till now. I moved to the Upper West Side in 1976 and to East 3rd Street in 1983.
I’m an actor. It’s what I majored in in college and grad school. I work in theatre, film and TV, when I get the work. It’s an up-and-down profession but it’s been alright for me. I’ve been able to earn a living. I worked at La MaMa for many years. I worked at the Manhattan Theatre Club when they were in their old space. I did a couple of Broadway Shows and then TV and film work.
My favorite roles that I’ve played were a few from Shakespeare ... I played Macbeth at La MaMa and "Measure for Measure" when I was in Europe. And I’ve enjoyed some of my TV parts, but those parts were predicative.
I have to say, I’m glad a lot of the changes have taken place here. It was a rough area in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The drug scene was out of hand and the buildings were really run-down. There was a high crime rate. You had to watch yourself. Back then I was a young guy. I was a tough guy so I held my own.
I remember a girlfriend came to visit me on 3rd Street and she came up to my apartment. We had a nice time together and she said, “I will never come here again. If you want to see me you come up to the Upper West Side.” It was that kind of place. That relationship didn’t last very long. I liked my neighborhood, but I knew what she meant. It was tough and she wasn’t used to that kind of scene.
Some of the gentrification has gone a little overboard and [the neighborhood has] lost some of its character, but the streets are better. I like a lot of the changes. The arts are still here. I heard somebody say that the artists were leaving but there’s theatre here and a lot of little theatre companies. There’s a lot of painters and dancers. All-in-all it’s cleaned up a bit, but I think for the better. And there are good restaurants and coffee shops. Every block has got something. It didn’t used to be that way.
I’m heading to Social Tees right here. I’m a volunteer. They rescue animals, they adopt, they do fostering, and they take volunteers to do things like this, walking dogs. They’re a community-oriented group and they care about the community and taking care of the animals.
This is Chia. He’s an old guy. He’s been a shelter dog for awhile, but he’s a very gentle, sweet dog, and he’s up for adoption — if anyone’s looking for a nice, friendly little, I think you call him a Terrier mix. He’s low key. Not a yapper.
James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.
'Potential townhouse conversion' a possibility at residential building now for sale at 58 E. 7th St.
58 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue recently hit the market. The listing at Eastern Consolidated mentions that this is a "potential townhouse conversion."
More details:
The Property is a five-story-over-full-basement, circa 1900, walk up apartment building containing ±6,792 square feet of above-grade building area divided into (5) five apartments. Each apartment contains approximately 1,300 square feet and has 3 bedrooms, a spacious eat-in kitchen area, a living room and one bathroom.
There's certainly precedent for townhouse conversion on this very block... just a few numbers to the east at No. 64.
64 E. Seventh St. was sold as a single-family townhouse several years ago... and gut rehabbed into a luxury, 13-room mansion. It seems likely that history will repeat itself on the block. (Read this post at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York for more on the fascinating past of No. 64.)
Con Ed making strides so that the East 13th Street substation doesn't explode again
On Monday, Con Ed officials unveiled the repaired substation on East 13th Street nearly a year after Hurricane Sandy.
As you'll
Con Ed issued this video to show their improvements to its systems as part of a $1 billion plan to fortify critical infrastructure from major storms. Per Con Ed officials: Overhead equipment is now tougher and more resilient. Substations have new walls and raised equipment. Gas and steam infrastructure also is protected with water-proofing measures.
And here's WABC with a report... Last November, Fortune published an inside look at the Con Ed's Sandy experience. Find that here.
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