EV Grieve

Monday, February 3, 2014

Strummer through the snow

The Joe Stummer mural on the side of Niagara on East Seventh Street and Avenue A provides a beacon through the whiteout today in Tompkins Square Park... photo by William Klayer

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[At Key Food, via Michael Sean Edwards]

Remembering Slugger Ann’s Bar & Grill from Second Avenue and East 12th Street (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

When there were lines to enter the Tompkins Square Library branch (Off the Grid)

Photos from the Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown (The Lo-Down)

The East Village building from "Batteries Not Included" (Gothamist)

Upclose and personal with a hawk eating in Tompkins Square Park (Gog in NYC)

About the founder of the the Little Missionary's Day Nursery on St. Mark's Place (Ephemeral New York)

Ray's 81st birthday bash — in VIDEO! (Slum Goddess, a little NSFW)

Gaia Italian Cafe on East Houston closed for a break (BoweryBoogie)

and, meanwhile, via a dear EVG reader, a scene on the N train this morning...

Reader report: Small track fire at the Delancey/Essex Street station this morning

Waiting for the uptown F at at the Delancey/Essex Street station provided some photo ops this morning ... EVG reader David Shankbone shares these photos of a small track fire... no word on what caused it...

Updated 12:59
Gothamist has more on the fire here.

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Famed sculptor Walter De Maria died last July at age 77. De Maria owned one of the most intriguing buildings in the East Village — the mysterious 421 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Avenue A. The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. (NYC Songlines described No. 421 as "a giant-robot laboratory.") De Maria bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

We had never seen any photos of the interior … or met anyone who had been inside. Who is up there? What is up there?

[Photo by Goggla]

We were curious what would happen to this after his death. (After all, it was our dream home.)

Well, Robin Finn at the Times has the story: The building and adjacent lot are ready to hit the market for $25 million.

Meanwhile, the Times got a look inside… and it is as amazing as we expected.

In keeping with his Minimalist philosophy, Mr. De Maria left the substation’s industrial origins intact: An impressive grittiness prevails throughout the raw space. Major improvements were confined to the overhead lighting that illuminated his room-size installations.

Even the elevator is a vintage artifact, as is the Viking stove in the bare-bones kitchen where he cooked steak and vegetables. But mostly he worked, dreaming up installations like Bel Air Trilogy, an assemblage of three classic, two-tone (red and white) 1955 Chevrolets, each with a silver stake embedded in its front and rear windshields. A two-story ramp at the back of the property made it possible to take the cars, and other huge objects, up to the second-floor studio.

[Katherine Marks for The New York Times]

There are a lot more photos on the Times website.

The sale will include the lot next door.

Per the Times:

The sale also includes an unimproved lot at 419 East Sixth, a 7,920-square-foot expanse of grass and gravel partially enclosed by a chain-link fence with the potential to be repurposed into gardens, a noncommercial gallery, a garage or townhouses.

The mind reels at what a developer might do to/with this.

P.S.
Can anyone lend us $25 million?

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

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Some part of 7A will stay in the new 7A's name

[Photo by Bride of 7th]

As we first pointed out last Thursday, Paul Salmon's name is on the application that's on file at the CB3 website for the 7A space ahead of this month's SLA committee meeting. Salmon is the one of the restaurateurs behind Miss Lily's, the Jamaican bar and restaurant on West Houston, and Joe's Pub.

There's now more paperwork on the CB3 website (PDF). It's a little tough to make it all out (did they use disappearing ink?) … the paperwork shows that Moshe Hatsav is the name of the partner leaving the corporation… and Paul Salmon is joining the corporation… the form shows that his position is "full time manager, overseeing day to day operations."

The form also asks, "Will the business name be maintained?"

The answer… "As a nod to the venerable history of this establishment, the new owners plan to incorporate some variation of the current trade name, 7A, into the new trade name."

How about — "7A — You No Longer Can Afford Our Food." (Haha. Kidding! Kind of!)

One more observation about the application. CB3 has it listed this way for the meeting:

Corporate Change (not heard at committee)
• New 7A Cafe LLC, 109 Ave A (op)

So, "not heard at committee." As far as we understand how this works, this means that there won't even be a vote by the committee for approval. Seems a little strange that they will completely change the concept (with an all-new staff) … and there's not any discussion on the matter.

7A closed on Jan. 26.

Pan has closed on St. Mark's Place; so long 1 cent beer deal

Pan, the Korean pub and restaurant, has closed at 13 St. Mark's Place. They moved here from Koreatown just last July.

Didn't know much about the place, except that they always seemed to have some sort of drink incentive …

… and this one that started in December…

Flinders Lane opening today on Avenue A

The Beagle, the craft cocktail bar at 162 Avenue A, closed back in October … signage arrived last week for the restaurant taking the space — Flinders Lane.

Here's a description of the restaurant via Facebook:

Flinders Lane is an Australian inspired eating and drinking house focused on offering a boutique selection of domestic and international wines, fresh seasonal cocktails and a creative small plate food selection.

After a few previews for friend and family, the restaurant opens tonight, and the owners had this to say about it on Facebook:

So this is it! We just want to say after 4 years of collaboration over late night Chinese and gimlets I'm proud to say that Monday the 3rd Feb is a red letter day - to realize a dream with a mate. A massive thank you to all that have helped us realize this dream.

There are some photos of the interior on Facebook… such as this one:

You can find their menu here.

Sushi favorite Shima seized by the Marshal

As we noted earlier last month, sister restaurants Sapporo East and Shima suddenly closed without any warning (to diners anyway).

Per the notice on the door at Shima … the Marshal has seized the restaurant on Second Avenue and East 12th Street …

A "for rent" sign can't be too far behind here. Meanwhile, we didn't spot any notices at Sapporo East over on First Avenue and East 10th Street.

[Updated] Why Birdbath Bakery has been closed of late

A reader shared this Friday about Birdbath Bakery over at Third Avenue and NYU:

The Birdbath Bakery at 3rd Avenue and 9th Street appears to have closed. There are no signs indicating what has happened, but the store has been locked, dark and empty each day this week.

Hmm… the location on First Avenue near East 13th Street closed last March… so…

However! There is now a sign up explaining the situation on Third Avenue… Looks like a broken door has been the culprit...

Updated 2/6

Birdbath reopened today.

Crunch branding back on the Bowery

We first saw the coming soon signs for Crunch in the long-vacant retail space at 2 Cooper Square last July. Then that signage all went away… and we wondered if the gym was still opening a location here on the Bowery and East Fourth Street.

Yes, as you can see from the Crunch signs that went up last week…

There's also a Crunch Bowery website showing the floor plans.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Crunch moving to the Bowery; CB3 OKs New York Sports Club on Avenue A

Crunch announces itself to the Bowery

Sunday, February 2, 2014

'Super friendly' dog in peril

An EVG Facebook friend shared this photo … these flyers are hanging around the neighborhood… From Avenue D up to B … From East Fifth Street to East Seventh Street…

Noted

Someone taped a handful of the above flyers to various trees and light poles along St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and First Avenue … we blocked out the photos of the woman accused of being a home wrecker …

In any event, someone has ripped down the flyers, which look homemade legit and not some kind of wacky marketing campaign…

Cockshark sighting reported on Avenue A

Dunno how long this has been here at East 12th Street… a reader pointed it out to us today…

The stickers were originally the handiwork of Enzo and Nio.

Week in Grieview

[Houston and Avenue C by Michael Sean Edwards]

RIP Mike Bakaty (Friday)

NYU student jumps to his death from Third North Dorm (Monday)

Ben Shaoul's Bloom 62 may fetch upwards of $70 million (Thursday)

Happy 81st birthday Ray! (Tuesday)

So long 7A (Monday)

beQu opens on East Ninth Street (Monday)

New menu for Sidewalk (Monday)

Out and About with Alex Harsley (Wednesday)

What's next for 7A and Odessa Cafe and Bar (Thursday)

Lock your apartment door, mmmkay? (Tuesday, 39 comments)

A look at 170 E. Second St. before the renovations (Tuesday)

What's next for the Peels space (Tuesday)

Brooklyn Piggies now open on A (Friday)

A rough month for East Village restaurants (Friday)

How 7-Eleven wants to be a good neighbor (Tuesday)

100 years before 7A (Monday)

Filming "Ten Thousand Saints" in the East Village (Wednesday)

Renovations for this unique East Fourth Street tenement (Friday)

Watson's first tag

Well, not much of a tag, to be honest… here at the IBM Watson building (aka 51 Astor Place). And what, exactly, is this temporary sign thingy out front? Looks like some shop class project… while a $50-million Jeff Koons rabbit sculpture sits inside the lobby.

Anyway!

… next frame, a bit of an upskirt moment…

Photos by Derek Berg

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Car alarm causing some residents to lose their shit, and leave Urban Etiquette Signs

A reader who lives in the 500 block of East 13th Street (between A and B) shares this …

"The car in the enclosed pictures is now infamous for keeping many of my neighbors, wide awake, sleepless and angry for the past three nights. What’s hilarious and makes the car a symbol of the gentrified EV, are the protest fliers plastered all over it’s front and side window."