At the East Village Vintage Collective

Photos and article by EVG contributor Stacie Joy

The newly opened popup shop, East Village Vintage Collective (545 E. 12th St. between Avenues A and B), is fully operational and full of inexpensive housewares, vintage clothing, books, and gifts.



The shop is run by four people (Maegan Hayward/Red's Vintage Threads; Melanie Ön/Rad Vintage Shop; Claire Marston/Eco in Disguise; and Chaim O'Brien-Blumenthal/Shoestring Records & Books) who met on the vintage and resale market circuit in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

They found that the cost of renting out booths and carrying in/loading out was growing too burdensome, so they decided to pool resources with a rental shop. The four originally planned just to rent out the East 12th Street space for a month (opening date was Aug. 1), but have since decided to stay longer now.

I stopped by to chat with Melanie, who handles the Collective's children's stuff and 1970-80s merchandise.



"We’re all finders and seekers," says Melanie. "The shop came together really nicely."







She sees the place as a "kitschy gift shop where someone could get the perfect gift for a friend, something one of a kind." And noted that "everyone shops here: from NYU kids to neighbors to moms and dads and visitors to the city."



New merchandise is added weekly — if not daily — and guest vendors make their wares available as well.

There is a large space downstairs with room for records, books, knickknacks, dolls and toys. Some local artists also display their work on the downstairs level. Melanie likens this floor to "peeking and shopping in your friends' closets."



Every Monday the shop hosts an 1980s movie night (BYOB and snacks) at 7:30. They put down blow-up mattresses and cover them with the (for sale!) afghan blankets. This week they screened "Heathers." Next week they will screen "Three Amigos." They are also hosting a poetry night on Sept. 10.

The downstairs space is available for rentals. The store is especially keen on being a space for the community.

The store plans to evolve and add new merchants and artists and material and hopes to stay for a long time to come. For now, though, the shop will remain open through October.

They also buy vintage books, records and housewares, so feel free to book an appointment to show your stuff. You can keep up with the store on Instagram here.

Store hours:
Monday through Thursday, noon until 9 p.m.
Friday, noon until 10 p.m.
Saturday, 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Sunday, noon until 9 p.m.

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

[Photo from May by Stacie Joy]

Let's get right to the Daily News with the story:

Aaron Jungreis, one of the top building sales brokers in New York, is suing Raphael Toledano, his nephew, for allegedly agreeing to form a joint venture with his uncle to acquire the buildings, then going behind his back to buy them himself.

Jungreis accuses his nephew of being “motivated solely by greed” and says he mentored him in the real estate business for years and shared his network, only to be cast aside when Toledano felt he could go it alone.

The lawsuit is over a 16-building portfolio in the East Village owned by Morton Tabak & Co. (The sale has not yet hit public records.)

As for that portfolio of buildings, The Real Deal lists them as the following:

• 253 East 10th Street
• 510 East 12th Street
• 228 East 6th Street
• 329 East 12th Street
• 327 East 12th Street
• 334 East 9th Street
• 323-325 East 12th Street
• 95 East 7th Street
• 514 East 12th Street
• 27 St. Mark’s Place
• 231-233 East 5th Street
• 229 East 5th Street
• 223 East 5th Street
• 235 East 5th Street
• 66 East 7th Street.

It has been a busy legal year for Toledano. In May, rent-regulated tenants at 444 E. 13th St. filed a lawsuit against Toledano and his Goldmark Property Management for "deplorable conditions" as well as for alleged ongoing threats and harassment.

On Monday, the Daily News reported that state officials have launched an investigation into Toledano following the accusations of strong-arming tenants into giving up their rent-regulated apartments on East 13th Street.

Meanwhile, in the East Fifth Street buildings that are reportedly part of the sale, a resident claims that Toledano has already been visiting the properties even though the sales haven't been finalized. According to the resident, Toledano will introduce himself as Rafi, Ralph or Raphael.

The East Fifth Street resident also claims to have recently witnessed the following:

Arriving in a convoy of three black SUVs in the morning or evening, [Toledano] has been hanging out on the street, asking tenants if he and his entourage can enter their apartments. Others he shadows to or from their apartment house entrances with accusations that they "should not be living in rent-regulated apartments," that he has had them investigated, all the while referring to specifics on their Facebook pages.

Residents here have been in contact with GOLES and The Urban Justice Center.

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

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Superiority Burger adding another night to its schedule starting next week

A photo posted by @superiorityburger on Aug 23, 2015 at 8:09pm PDT

Superiority Burger opened on East Ninth Street back on June 25 to very favorable reviews for its namesake veggie burgers and side dishes such as the burnt broccoli salad.

We checked in with proprietor Brooks Headley, who reported that Superiority will add an extra evening to its schedule starting next Wednesday… So on Sept. 2, Superiority will be open Wednesday through Monday nights. (They were previously closed on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.)

"We will go to seven days very soon," he said. "Lunch and delivery are a little further off. Probably by the time it gets cold outside."

For now, the hours remain 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Superiority Burger is located at 430 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Oysters coming to the former Bourgeois Pig space on East 7th Street

We'll continue to look at some of the applicants on CB3's SLA committee meeting for September.

There's a new applicant looking to take over the former Bourgeois Pig space at 111 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. According to paperwork (here's the PDF) at the CB3 website, Joseph Marazzo, who owns Virgola over on Greenwich Avenue, is opening a second location of his oyster-and-Italian-wine bar here. He is seeking a beer and wine license.

The questionnaire on file at CB3 shows daily hours of 11 a.m. to midnight ... with room for eight tables (seating 29) and a bar for 17 patrons. The paperwork includes a sample menu for Virgola...





Marazzo told DNAinfo that the East Village location will have the same vibe as the original — "with a dimly lit, black interior similar to the Greenwich Avenue bar and a new steel bar."

"It’s dark and sexy, more of an aphrodisiac style of an oyster bar," he said.

Virgola will have some oyster competition here, as Desnuda is across the street ... not to mention Good Night Sonny, which recently opened on First Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

The Bourgeois Pig closed for good in late January, moving to a new location on MacDougal Street. As Eater reported back in November, a rent increase was behind the 10-year-old bar's East Village departure.

The SLA meeting is at the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Sad planters will greet arriving students today

Marymount Manhattan College brand-new student residence at 200 E. Sixth St. officially opens today here on Cooper Square.

According to the school, the Cooper Square Residence Hall will accommodate 272 students in total. This year, 199 MMC students will be moving in ... while the additional 73 spots have been contracted out to Cooper Union.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Marymount Manhattan College's Cooper Square dorm opens on Aug. 28

Updating: Fire reported on the rooftop at Kiehl's on 3rd Avenue

MAN ALL HANDS 109 3RD AVE, MIXED OCCUPANCY FIRE ON THE ROOF,

— FDNY (@FDNY) August 27, 2015

The address is Third Avenue at East 13th Street. In the building that houses Kiehl's. The rooftop features the cottage-style penthouse.


[EVG file photo]

Fire on 13th & 3rd. NYFD handling it. Hope no one is hurt. pic.twitter.com/MMblm6oU40

— Connor Scalleat (@connorscalleat) August 27, 2015

Here's a photo from 4 p.m. via William Klayer...



Updated 4:07

That nice EV penthouse on 13th St. & 3rd Ave. that was just sold is on fire! @evgrieve #eastvillage #fdny pic.twitter.com/5walmtAa44

— urban myths, legends (@urbanmyths) August 27, 2015

4:09





4:33

Via EVG reader Justin, who is at the scene: "Hard to know for sure, but it the FDNY seemed to have it under control quite well. Dozens of firefighters on the ground standing by, a couple on the ladder/bucket, and maybe only 10 on the roof. Seemed like routine work for them. It's mostly out now; no flames visible anymore."

And here's a photo via Justin from just after 4...



4:40

MAN ALL HANDS 203 E 13TH ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON THE ROOF, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) August 27, 2015

4:41

Looks like the flames are out at the @Kiehl's building and #fdny is working on hot spots. cc @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/NgEmBQerV1

— Barry Loudis (@barryloudis) August 27, 2015

5:39

The FDNY told CBS 2 that there weren't any injuries. There's no word yet on the cause of the fire.

The penthouse cottage was in contract, according to Curbed. The asking price had been $4.4 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Live in tranquil cottages overlooking … 3rd Avenue (but still)

Noon

Photo today by Bobby Williams

Report: The Birdman of 1st Avenue is retiring, will close his shop next month

[Photo by Jessie Auritt]

Back in March 2014, we first heard that one of the neighborhood's more intriguing shopkeepers, a man known as the Birdman who works amid the stacks of used CDs, videos and cassettes at Rainbow Music, will be closing his store at 130 First Ave. in the coming months.

The Birdman told a reader that he had lost his lease here just south of St. Mark's Place. However, he has remained open for business.

Now, though, the Birdman says it's time to close up his shop, as Gothasmist is reporting this morning.

"I'm not being forced to retire, but I want to retire."

He plans to close at the end of September. So you have some time left to go test his ability to recall every obscure item in the wonderfully cluttered store. I'm going to see about that "License to Drive" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.


[Photo in March 2014 by EVG reader Chris F.]

A few years back Jessie Auritt made a 10-minute short about the Birdman... which you can watch right here...

You can read our Q-and-A with Auritt here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Birdman of the East Village

Something new in the works for 25 Avenue B

[EVG photo from April]

After just two months at 25 Avenue B, Matty's shut down back in February. There's now a new applicant for the bar space between East Second Street and East Third Street.

According to the questionnaire (the PDF is here) on file ahead of the September CB3/SLA committee meeting, there's is a 100 percent corporate change for the business... and a name change to Avenida Cantina.



However, despite a new concept and partners, this item will not be heard in front of the committee. There isn't any other information at the moment about what to expect from the new venture.

In the past few years, 25 Avenue B was home to Idle Hands and Station B and Billy Hurricane's.

A listing for the bi-level club shows an asking price of $299,000 with a monthly rent listed as $16,882.63.

The SLA meeting is at the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Caracas Arepa Bar back open after an 18-day, gas-related hiatus

Caracas Arepa Bar reopened yesterday after a gas leak kept the small Venezuelan restaurant on East Seventh Street out of commission since Aug. 8.

As DNAinfo first reported, the plumbing company that the restaurant management hired to fix the gas-pipe problem waited a week before filing the necessary paperwork with Con Ed.

Con Ed was expected to make the inspection yesterday here just east of First Avenue. Given the usual line waiting to get in last evening, all went well with the approvals.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Caracas Arepa Bar remains closed due to gas issues

A refurbished 330 Bowery comes into view

After two-and-a-half years, workers have removed the construction wrap from 330 Bowery (aka 54 Bond St.), the historic circa-1874 building at Bond Street.

Crews have been "rebuilding the parapet wall and restoring existing stairs," per the work permits, among other refinements.



The retail space (the last tenant, Rogan, closed in April 2013) will be the second NYC home to a John Barrett luxury hair salon. It is expected to open this fall.

The landmark cast-iron building once housed the Bouwerie Lane Theater and various banks (and famous residents upstairs, like Lauren Hutton and Pearl Bailey). You can read more history of the building here.

H/T EV reader Mike Brown

Previously on EV Grieve:
330 Bowery wrapped and ready

Former Jones Diner lot on Lafayette primed for new development

The stretch of Lafayette between Bond and Great Jones is about to host yet another new development.

Catching up to this from the Post last week (h/t New York Yimby) … there's a new commercial development in the works for 363 Lafayette, a long-vacant parcel that partially housed the Jones Diner.



Per the Post:

“They will build something special and unique to bring a cool vibe to the neighborhood,” said Stephen Shapiro of JLL, who along with colleague Richard Baxter represented Olmstead Properties in arranging the 49-year ground lease with extension options.

There is reportedly 32,000 square feet of development potential on this 5,500 square-foot site.

Nearby projects include 10 Bond Street, 372 Lafayette, 25 Great Jones/22 Bond St. and whatever retail tenant that Aby Rosen recruits for the 43-bed shelter for homeless women on Lafayette Street at Bond Street.

Blimp attack underway

Vinny & O spotted them above Second Avenue...

Don't worry, we're on it!



Probably here practicing for the U.S. Open... it's Qualifying Day 2 today!

Another report of stolen packages from an East Village lobby

[Screengrab from earlier this month]

Two weeks ago, a resident who lives on East Seventh Street between Avenue A and Avenue B told us that the man in the above photo has entered his or her building several times in the past month… video surveillance cameras show him taking packages from the lobby. (Another resident said that he has struck No. 140, 144 and 150 on East Seventh Street.)

In the comments on that post, several other residents noted that someone had also stolen packages from their doorman-less lobbies in the neighborhood.

Now comes word of another lobby package grab on Monday in a building on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. The suspect — a different man than from East Seventh Street — was caught on the building's security cameras.



Per the resident:

The man entered our building at 4:27 p.m. — about 10 minutes after UPS had dropped off their deliveries — and took all the packages in the mailroom. He appears to have buzzed random doors to gain entry.

Here is the surveillance video...



And last Wednesday night around 8:30, a resident spotted a man pushing a cart with packages from East Seventh Street and Avenue B... then west on Sixth Street to Avenue A. The resident did not see the man take — or deliver — any packages.



"It was just really strange that he didn't have a uniform," said the reader, who alerted the NYPD. "He didn't have a truck anywhere either." [Updated: Multiple readers said that the man works for Amazon]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Watch this man help himself to packages from an East 7th Street lobby

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

Name: George Cameron
Occupation: Musician, The Left Banke
Location: 6th Street and 1st Avenue
Time: 3 pm on Friday, Aug. 21

I’m originally from Manhattan, but I’ve been around the world and stuff. I grew up in Hell’s Kitchen. That’s why I’m such a bad kid. It was OK and then I was raised in Brooklyn because we bought a house out there.

I lived on the Upper West Side, but moved down here seven years ago. The Upper West Side was getting a little you know… not that loose, so I said let me try something else. So I came down here, man. I love it down here. I like the diversity. I love the small parks. All the people are really nice. You say hello, they say hello back.

I’m a musician. I was in a group called the Left Banke. We did a song called "Walk Away Renee." Me and mom had an up-and-down relationship. I guess you could call it like that, so I left kind of early, at 16 and I got involved in singing in the Village. My friend and I hooked up and we just started singing in the streets like crazy. The music scene was basically the Village — the West Village and some of the East Village. Everybody was around. It was all about the music. Mostly everybody was into music it seemed like. People were a little tighter with each other.

Somebody came up to us on the street, ‘Do you want to [be in a band?]’ And we went up to the studio. We had a recording studio to ourselves, day and night. Nobody has that anymore. I can’t get used to that part. We were dedicated and we did good. We didn’t realize it, but we did pretty good.

We’d tour for months at a time. We’d be on the road. We played with The Beach Boys, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, The Mamas & The Papas — all those people. It was fun. When you’re 17 years old and you’ve got all this money, you’re really not thinking about much. When you’re 17, you think about girls; that’s all you think about. It was really wild and we really didn’t have any person behind us who was sort of an authority figure. Everybody around us was like, ‘Oh, we saw these young guys. They really just want to play. We can take their money now.’ And they’re still trying to do it today.

So now we’re back on the road and doing some new music and stuff we couldn’t do back then. I was the guitar player originally, then the drummer split and I became the drummer, but I’m a songwriter and singer as well. I wrote a lot of the [music]. We just came back from Massachusetts and we just finished in Woodstock. We’re planning a tour for us to go down south in the fall — nice Florida weather. We’re all going to meet my lead singer in Tampa. We plan to go across from the East Coast to the West Coast. I want to be back in California for awhile. The Troubadour opened out there. Things are happening out there somehow.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Nicoletta looking to upgrade to a full liquor license on 2nd Avenue

[Via]

Last evening, CB3 released the September agenda for the SLA committee meeting coming up on Sept. 1.

So far, not all the applications and questionnaires have been filed online. So we'll take a look in the days ahead as more information becomes available. (You can find the applicants here.)

One item to start with... Nicoletta, chef Michael White's Midwestern-style pizzeria that opened to a lot of hype in June 2012 (and lousy reviews), is on the docket for an upgrade to a full liquor license. (They currently only serve beer and wine.)

There was speculation almost two years ago to the day that White might close Nicoletta and swap it out for another restaurant from his empire. (Eater even put the pizzeria on Second Avenue and East 10th Street on Deathwatch.)

Well, two years later, and Nicoletta has expanded into New Jersey with a space in D.C. on the way. Anyway, they'll likely be more speculation as to whether Nicoletta will solider on with full liquor, or if this is a step to secure a license for another venture.

And it has been about two years since we heard anything from anyone about the place. Early on, some EVG readers were turned off by Nicoletta's T.G.I. Fridaysish interior and clipboard-toting hostesses standing guard by the door. Feeling any different about Nicoletta these days?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Cafe Centosette closes on Second Avenue

Former Cafe Centosette space becoming a fancy-pants pizza place

'The Art of Noise: A Punk Collective' opens tonight at 174 Rivington Street Bar and Gallery

From the EVG inbox...

174 Rivington Street Bar and Gallery is pleased to announce that spotlight curator Lisa Lush has assembled an exhibition to feature musicians who are also artists. As a former musician on the NYC garage punk scene she noticed that many of her artist friends have put their focus more on music, but also deserve to have their visual art showcased.

THE ART OF NOISE: A Punk Collective features the artworks of Anthony Begnal, Lee Ann Fassbender, Max Frechette, Sierra Furtwangler, Stu-Art Gray, Sam Harris, Sean Pryor, Tommy Volume, and Joseph Western who are all part of the local underground punk music scene. The opening reception will take place tonight from 6 to 10, with DJ Charles Gaskins.

The exhibit will be up through Sept. 30. The gallery is located at 174 Rivington St. between Clinton and Ridge on the LES. Find more details here.

Yummy Asian Food coming to East 3rd Street

The new awning is up at 226 E. Third St., where Yummy Asian Food will be serving take-out Chinese fare here between Avenue B and Avenue C. We don't know anything about the place just yet.

The space was home earlier this year to Lord Hamm's, the short-lived (two months) sandwich shop that people seemed to like.

H/T EVG reader Glenn B.

Reader report: Bike room burglarized at Icon's 2nd Avenue residential building

A resident who lives at 152-154 Second Ave. reports that the building's secure bike storage room in the basement was recently burglarized.

Per the resident: "All the locks [were] cut and about seven bikes are gone. You need two keys to access this room. I'm not necessarily saying it was an inside job, but there wasn't any forced entry."

The theft happened some time between Aug. 18 to Aug. 23. According to the resident, several people have access to the bike storage area, including the other tenants (there are 12 units in total), cleaning staff and super.

The resident says that the building has security cameras. To date there haven't been any updates from management about the theft, according to the resident.

Landlord Icon Realty began converting the former Sigmund Schwartz Gramercy Park Chapel between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street into a residential building with three additional floors in April 2012. The rentals hit the market back in March.

At the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Tompkins Square Park

It was a full house park Sunday afternoon for the 22nd annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival... EVG contributor was there for some of the action...




[Joe Lovano]


[Jon Batiste]


[Myra Melford]


[Michael Mwenso]


[Ron Miles]


[Rudresh Mahanthappa]

The Times checked in with a review...

[T]he festival doesn’t uphold bebop as a rigid absolute, or impose Parker’s music as a precondition. There tends to be a refreshing absence of formal tributes among the artists on the bill, and a healthy abundance of the informal kind, sometimes as fleeting and allusive as a scrap of melody shoehorned into a solo. Usually, that’s enough.

Still, there was a welcome charge in the air at Tompkins Square Park in the East Village on Sunday evening as the tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano unfurled a billowing, adroit improvisation, using elements of “Barbados,” a Parker tune. Leading a band with Leo Genovese on piano, Esperanza Spalding on bass and Lewis Nash on drums, Mr. Lovano was dipping into “Bird Songs” (Blue Note), his 2011 Parker-themed album.

Parker, who died in 1955 at age 34, lived at 151 Avenue B from 1950-54.

Tompkins Square Park will be a little less shady

Earlier today, the Community Board 3 office passed along some information from the Parks Department, who recently completed an assessment of trees in city parks throughout Manhattan.

Crews have identified some trees that are dead, decaying or structurally unsound, and need to be removed for public safety. Unfortunately, according to the Parks Department, six of those trees reside in Tompkins Square Park.

EVG correspondent Steven was in the Park this afternoon, and spotted a crew in charge of removing three trees on the East 10th Street side of the Park... one of which was pushing into a light pole...





CB3 District Manager Susan Stetzer said that complaints regarding unsafe trees have increased recently ... and that the Community Board is relaying those concerns in a timely manner to the Parks Department.

Stetzer also said that all six trees that the city removes will be replaced with new trees.

Noted

[Photo from June by Derek Berg]

More people are stealing Citi Bikes, according to the Post today.

The number of Citi Bikes stolen from docking stations and off the street has skyrocketed this year compared with 2014, with a 100 percent jump in Manhattan.

So far this year, 476 Citi Bikes have been stolen throughout the city, compared with 300 in 2014, an increase of nearly 60 percent.

There are also more bikes in circulation… anyway, according to Post:

Many riders fail to dock their bikes properly or leave them sitting on the street while they run an errand. And that’s when thieves most often strike.

“Some dope with a Citi Bike leaves it unattended while going into a store or something, and a perp comes up and steals it,” a police source said.

So, as a reminder, don't leave the bikes unattended. Or put them on a fence.

City removes Sandy-damaged willow from 9th Street Community Garden Park

An EVG reader let us know that a city crew is taking down a willow tree in the 9th Street Community Garden Park … Sandy's floodwaters killed the tree here on the northeast corner of Avenue C and Ninth …



As we understand it, the remaining willows at La Plaza Cultural across the way on the southwest corner of Ninth and C survived due to an underground stream beneath it that provides fresh water (and also makes development in that part of the neighborhood difficult). While those willows lost some branches, they remain healthy.

And EVG reader stickmanpk shared these photos…