Sunday, June 7, 2015

The downtown skyline this morning



Photo by Bobby Williams

Puke Island Part 5 is this afternoon in Tompkins Square Park



Bands today will include:

2 p.m. — Universal Truth Machine
2:45 — The Graveyard School
3:30 — Skitzopolis
4:15 — Get Ignorant
5 — Lucifer Jones

Find more details here.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Manhattanhenge this

Bringing home the bacon



Spotted outside Porchetta this morning on East Seventh Street … via EVG correspondent Steven…

'The Oracle of the Past, Present and Future' now on display in Tompkins Square Park



Artist Jorge Luis Rodriguez installed his new sculpture yesterday in Tompkins Square Park …



Here's more about it via Facebook:

"The Oracle of the Past, Present and Future" (2015) consists of geometric interlocking parts of steel, wood and glass elements that stands about 12 feet high with a magnificent steel dome and designed for Tompkins Square Park …"



The sculpture is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Growth, his large-scale, permanent work at the East Harlem Art Park at East 120th Street and Sylvan Place.

EVG correspondent Steven took these photos of Rodriguez, who teaches at at the School of Visual Arts, Manhattan Community College, and Kingsborough Community College.



The installation will officially be dedicated today at noon … you and the night heron have until May 2016 to enjoy this in the Park.

Some earlier reports did contain a little misinformation…

Zoltar, now with the personal branding back in place


[September 2012]

Zoltar graced us with his presence outside Gem Spa starting on Sept. 23, 2012 (as seen in the above photo).

And Zoltar hadn't really looked the same since his glass was bashed by a skateboard in April 2013 here on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place… the replacement glass didn't carry the ZOLTAR name…



Now, though! Yesterday, the ZOLTAR SPEAKS lettering returned!



See?!



Though given how vocal Zoltar can be, is the SPEAKS part necessary?

Friday, June 5, 2015

The beautiful south



The debut record by Atlanta-based Algiers came out on Tuesday… Here's a quickie band bio via label Matador:

A trio of émigrés of the American Deep South, now split between New York and London, Algiers synthesizes its eclectic influences, from Nina Simone and PJ Harvey to Suicide and Public Enemy, into frightening new forms.

The video here is for "Black Eunuch."

Afternoon break



Outside St. Stanislaus on East Seventh Street today via Derek Berg…

EV Grieve Etc.: A rise in serious crime; an homage to Arthur Russell


[Photo on East 7th Street by Derek Berg]

A rise in serious crime in most NYPD precincts, including the 9th (DNAinfo)

Some 100,000 rent-stabilized apartments may go market-rate (The Real Deal)

June is Gay Pride Month (Off the Grid)

East Village-based photographer Sally Davies has an exhibit at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery (Bernarducci Meisel Gallery)

The story behind the mural "Nepal 2015" on the Avalon Chemists building at Second Avenue and Houston (Bedford + Bowery}


[EVG photo of "My Nepal" from Saturday]

An homage to Arthur Russell (The Independent)

Egg Rolls, Egg Creams & Empanadas Festival returns to Eldridge Street this Sunday (The Lo-Down)

A bike/coffee shop opens on Canal Street (BoweryBoogie)

The Super 8 films of Stephanie Gray playing at the Anthology Film Archives (The Villager)

One resident's unchain challenge (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Midtown's vanishing historic architecture (The New York Times)

...and won't someone please help Santa in Tompkins Square Park?

Name change for Bar Akuda?


[EVG photo from May 8]

Bar Akuda, the sports bar-restaurant at 16 First Ave. between East First Street and East Second Street, opened on May 21.

Perhaps ownership decided to rethink the name, which sounds like a Heart song.

An EVG reader notes this morning that the Bar Akuda is sign is gone... and there's a banner noting a more dignified-sounding name — The Grayson...



There isn't any mention of a name change on the bar's Facebook page... here is the latest entry...

On the road again: Who's behind the wheel of that apocalyptic-looking RV



You've likely seen this Mad Max-era RV parked around the neighborhood in recent months.

Back in March, BoweryBoogie spotted the vehicle with corrugated siding and barred-over windows parked at the Baruch Houses. (We've seen it moored on East Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.)

BoweryBoogie reported that this Urban Assault Vehicle had "instilled a sense of intrigue (nay, suspicion) among the population." (Curbed wrote that "this might be the scariest vehicle, recreational or otherwise, we have ever seen.)

For the past three weeks, the RV — which has a bed and some flowers inside its rather nondescript interior — has been parked on East Houston … anywhere between Avenue A and Avenue C. A few residents apparently have complained "because of garbage in the street and [the owner] sitting there idling, causing noise and fumes," one resident told us.

One resident also said that the owner, who apparently lives inside, was BBQing on the street, which prompted a visit by the FDNY.

Anyway, the owner has introduced himself as "an artist working at the Whitney Museum."

You can see Jared Madere's work starting Oct. 16 at the Whitney.

Perhaps the artist will even arrange a shuttle service between here and the Whitney.

Brewer and Mendez celebrate Mayor's signature of new tenant notification law


[The good news is your shower curtain is fine]

Via the EVG inbox…

Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer and Council Member Rosie Mendez [on Tuesday] celebrated Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature of Int. 222, legislation requiring landlords provide tenants with advance notice for non-emergency repair work that will result in disruptions to building services.

The new law establishes a general baseline of 24 hours’ advance notice for most work. For work affecting elevators, the bill requires 10 business days’ notice for major alteration work and 24 hours’ notice for any other work that will suspend all elevator service for more than two hours.

This legislation, sponsored jointly by Mendez and Brewer, closes a gaping hole in the city’s tenant-protection laws, which previously did not provide no such advance-notice requirements.

“It’s also no secret that no-notice quality-of-life disruptions labeled as ‘maintenance work’ are a frequent harassment tactic to push tenants out of rent-stabilized apartments. The new notice requirements in this law will be easy for honest, everyday landlords and building managers to respect, but they will take another harassment tool away from abusive landlords,” Brewer said.

“This legislation codifies common sense and common courtesy,” Mendez said. “No longer will tenants come home from a hard day’s work to find out that work in their building is interrupting some basic service and/or possibly obstructing access to their apartment. This law requires that landlords notify tenants when such work will affect services and for how long.”

Many landlords and management companies already provide advance notice of planned repairs to tenants – but many others do not. The reasonable notice requirements established by Int. 222 would help tenants plan ahead to minimize the impacts of these service disruptions on their lives, and also help tenants distinguish between disruptions for planned work on the one hand, and emergent service failures or landlord harassment tactics on the other.

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Department of Buildings will be responsible for enforcement and rulemaking in relation to the new law. The law will take effect in the fall of 2015.

Previously

Here then, the new dorm on Cooper Square



After shedding most of its construction netting at the beginning of the year, workers removed the sidewalk bridge this week here on Cooper Square at East Sixth Street… showing off the dorm that will house students from Marymount Manhattan College starting this fall…







Marymount's campus is on East 71st Street, so the students will have a bit of a commute to class...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Something 28,998 square feet or so coming to Cooper Square (and goodbye Cooper 35 Asian Pub?)

Here's what's coming to 35 Cooper Square: 9-story dormitory

Proposed dorm for former 35 Cooper Square looks to be 4 floors taller

City OKs 13-floor dorm for Cooper Square

Updated: Here's what the newest East Village dorm will look like

Dig bottoms out on Cooper Square; here comes the dorm, here comes the dorm!

Your chance to lease the retail space in the new Cooper Square dorm

The Dan and John's sign takes flight on 1st Avenue


[Photo by EVG reader Steven]

The sign went up yesterday at 135 First Ave., future home of Dan and John's Wings here between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

The two have been selling their wares wings at Smorgasburg, the outdoor food festival on weekends in Williamsburg and now in Coney Island.

Per their website:

When two friends from Buffalo found themselves in Brooklyn without authentic Buffalo wings, they decided to make their own. Using recipes they learned working in Buffalo bars and pizzerias, Dan and John bring Buffalo's legendary flavor to Brooklyn, New York.

No word yet on an official opening date. Meanwhile, here's their menu.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dan and John's Wings opening a storefront on 1st Avenue

The disappearing penthouse of 515 E. 5th St.


After reading our post from Tuesday about the demolition of the penthouse at 515 E. Fifth St., two EVG readers sent along photos showing the progress… on Wednesday …


[Photo by Laura Gurfein]

… and Thursday…


[Photo by a resident who doesn't have permission to be on the roof]

After seven years of legal wrangling, the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) told landlord Ben Shaoul that he has until the end of July to provide proof that the illegal penthouse here between Avenue A and Avenue B has been demolished … then the BSA will reopen hearings on the variances that Shaoul and Co. are requesting.

One 515 Penthouse Removal Watcher told us that he is surprised that the demolition work is actually taking place (given that it is Ben Shaoul and all).

Previously on EV Grieve:
Sidewalk bridge arrives at 515 E. 5th St., site of Ben Shaoul's illegal penthouse conversion

Thursday, June 4, 2015

[Updated] Tonight on East 13th Street


[Image via Instagram]

And tonight on East 13th Street … there's the unveiling of the directionally named Thirteen East + West at 436 and 442 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue… here's the invite that several EVG readers received for some reason



There will be a street-art competition and other stuff. The broker is Ryan Serhant, one of the real-estate agents featured on Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing New York." One invitee told us that Bravo will be shooting scenes for the show tonight.

Per the description of the new condos: "Each building has 6 floor-through homes, all with private outdoor space. The penthouses have their own private garages and incredible roof decks. Two and Three bedrooms. Pricing from $2.3M. Penthouses start at $3.4M."

Updated 8:27 p.m.

Dave on 7th shared these photos of the Art Battle(s)…





Previously on EV Grieve:
Tracking the coming changes to East 13th Street between Avenue A and 1st Avenue

Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

A look at the new luxury condos coming soon to East 13th Street

On Avenue A, Kasadoro Deli is closed for some reasons (for real)


[Photo by EVG reader Steven]

We noticed that the deli (formerly Fares Deli then Sahara) between East Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place was closed yesterday without any explanation… However, the following sign arrived today …


[Photo by Michael Hirsch]

Updated:
The deli reopened on Friday

Moishe's has a new (temporary-looking) sign



EVG reader Steven passes along this photo from outside Moishe's Bake Shop at 115 Second Ave. ... workers removed the sign in mid-April for some facade work...

Owner Moishe Perlmutter told WPIX that the sign sustained damage following the deadly gas explosion on March 26. "We got a violation last week that it’s shaking. We have to take it off and fix it," Perl told the station on April 20.

Anyway, looks like whatever sign is there will be well illuminated with those new lights...



Previously on EV Grieve:
What lies beneath the Moishe's sign

Today in Urban Etiquette Cat Signs



EVG regular OlympiasEpiriot spotted this sign on East Ninth Street at Avenue A…

"Please keep your cat inside. It has been coming into our backyard harassing and fighting with our two backyard cats and eating all their food. If the cat continues to come here we will have no choice but to call the ASPCA."

East Village Radio is officially back


[Photo from April by James Maher]

After a few months of prep work and testing, East Village is now officially back on the Internet waves… Yesterday, Dash Radio, the online network that now includes East Village Radio among its stations, made its debut.

Aside from new programming, you can hear old favorites such as Chances With Wolves and Andy Rouke's Jetlag. (As Brooklyn Vegan pointed out yesterday, Dash is ad and subscription free.)

The comeback comes just about a year after East Village Radio called it quits in May 2014, as we first reported. At the time, East Village Radio CEO Frank Prisinzano said licensing fees and Internet costs did in the 11-year-old station with a surging listener base.

How will things be different for EVR2? "We have an infrastructure that we didn't have before," Peter Ferraro, the general manager/head of programming at East Village Radio, told us in April. "Last time it was us trying to really bootstrap it … I don't know if we had the team in place. Now we have someone looking after the licensing situation for us."

Yesterday, Ferraro told us that there are a lot of great things in the EVR pipeline, such as ticket giveaways and special studio guests… However, the station continues to fine tune its programming, so don't expect it to be exactly like it was when they signed off in May 2014.

You may access EVR here. (Follow them on Twitter for all programming notes.) And you may still find DJs and guests at EVR's revamped studio at 19 First Ave. between East First Street and East Second Street.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: East Village Radio is signing off after 11 years; final day of broadcasting is May 23 (53 comments)

East Village Radio says goodbye with Johnny Thunders

Signs of life at East Village Radio, but what does it mean?

1st look at the revamped East Village Radio studio on 1st Avenue