If you're Jonesing for a new apartment on East Houston

[Photo from August, oh August!]

Rentals are now on the market at Jones LES (website here), the new 13-floor residential building on East Houston at Ridge Street.

Per Buzz Buzz Home (h/t Curbed!), there are five units available at the moment, with leases ranging in price from $2,854 for a studio to $5,477 for two bedrooms.

The 78-unit building includes 16 affordable apartments.

The photos at Streeteasy look pretty nice, with items carefully and photogenically draped over things... just like a real apartment, except not on the floor...





As for the amenities! Per Streeteasy:

Residents have access to a unique mix of amenities, including a lobby lounge, library, fitness center, and a private garden with exclusive street access. Fourteen stories above jones hill, residents can enjoy a landscaped rooftop with remarkable 360-degree city views, complete with an outdoor screening area...

Lobby lounge! Oh, hello! Would you like to see my boxing gloves? They are on my wall...



And the roof deck...



From the TV screen on the roof, you can apparently watch people in the lobby lounge...



As for the name, Jones LES, here's the explanation via the marketing copy:

In 1776, the home and gardens of judge thomas jones sat at the highest point on the lower east side. This location became known as jones hill. For manhattan at the time, jones hill afforded some of the most incredible vistas in lower manhattan. These view experiences can be relived today exclusively at jones l.e.s

We always read that this hill was roughly the area now of Grand and Pitt.

The parcel here sat empty for years, the property of reclusive real-estate baron William Gottlieb.

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

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

What 331 E. Houston St. will look like one day

A look at 331 E. Houston St., with a rooftop deck for outdoor showers and 'Live Free or Die Hard'

16 affordable apartments now available at the incoming 331 E. Houston St.

Full reveal at 331 E. Houston St.

331 E. Houston St. now with a teaser site and name — Jones LES


[Jones LES lot in July 2013]

Report: Last stand for St. Mark's Bookshop

The financial struggles continue for St. Mark's Bookshop.

DNAinfo is reporting this evening that the store "might not make it into the new year unless it raises $150,000 in the next month," based on a crowdfunding campaign launched yesterday afternoon.

The store, now in its 38th year (spread over several locations), opened in its new home at 136 E. Third St. just west of Avenue A on July 19, 2014, after well-documented financial struggles with escalating rents and declining business at its previous home on Third Avenue.

Despite lower rents in the new location, the bookshop is still in arrears. Here's part of a letter that Bookshop co-owner Bob Contant shared with the crowdfunding campaign:

Unfortunately, we were quite undercapitalized for the move and the bookshop has not recovered. Cost overruns left us with little money to stock the store with books...

In an interview with Lisha Arino at DNAinfo, Contant said, "We’ve been going along for the past year just trying to replace the key books in the store and yet we’re doing less and less business because the inventory is depleting ... This is our last stand."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: St. Mark's Bookshop prepping fundraiser ahead of possible move to Avenue A.

Is this the new home for the St. Mark's Bookshop?

Report: St. Mark's Bookshop signs lease for East 3rd Street space

Renovations at the future St. Mark's Bookshop on East 3rd Street

St. Mark's Bookshop seeking buyers with an ownership interest

If you'd like to hear an overview on what the city has planned for the P.C. Richard and Son space

[EVG file photo]

As you may know, the city has plans to redevelop the city-owned site that P.C. Richard (and Son!) has leased the past 19 years at 124 E. 14th St. at Irving Place.

As Crain's first reported last month, the city's Economic Development Corp. (EDC) is now accepting proposals to encourage developers "to pitch projects that include new office space for booming industries in the neighborhood, such as technology and creative businesses."

Tomorrow night at 6:30, CB3's Economic Development Committee will hear an RFP overview ... the city's EDC reps are also looking for local input on the project.

The meeting is at the Village View Community Room, 175 E. Fourth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The P.C. Richard and Son discussion follows a presentation about Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer's Small Business Jobs Survival Act.

The P.C. Richard is set to close when the lease is up in February. The electronics store recently announced plans to open its first location in Harlem.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Last holiday for P.C. Richard on East 14th Street

[Updated] The Cock is heading to the former Lit Lounge space on Thursday

After a battle with residents and Community Board 3, it looks as if The Cock is still packing up and moving several blocks up Second Avenue to the former Lit Lounge space.

As an EVG reader noted, the bar has taken to social media with the announcements... noting a Thursday opening date...

You should tell everyone you know that we're moving on Thursday to 93 2nd Avenue. #nyc #gay #eastvillagenyc #homo

A photo posted by The Cock Bar (@thecock.nyc) on Nov 30, 2015 at 6:57pm PST

In August, the CB3 SLA committee voted against owner Allan Mannarelli's application to move the Cock from its current Second Avenue home to the Lit space between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street.

The application was heard again before CB3 last month. According to the minutes (PDF) of that meeting:

Community Board #3 denied its application [in August] for a new full on-premise liquor license, in part, because 1) there was substantial opposition from area residents, citing the already overwhelming conditions on this block of Second Avenue from the existing thirteen (13) full on-premise liquor licenses, which include crowds of people on both sides of the street so big that residents have to walk in the sidewalk, drunken people, noise from people, noise emanating from the open facades of businesses, trash and vomit on the street, 2) there were resident complaints of noise and crowds from people in front of the existing business located at 93 Second Avenue and the sometimes impassable conditions from patrons at night in front of this storefront, which is situated behind a bus kiosk, making the available sidewalk significantly narrower for pedestrians, 3) the principal made misrepresentations about its business to Community Board #3 when it applied for its full on-premise liquor license at 29 Second Avenue, for The Cock when it was located at 198 Avenue A, and for Superdive, located at 200 Avenue A, 4) there is a substantial difference in residential character between the block of Second Avenue where its business is presently located, which is comprised of mixed low and medium rise commercial and residential buildings on one side of the street and commercial lots and buildings on the opposite side of the street, and 93 Second Avenue, between East 5th Street and East 6th Street, which is densely populated with five (5) and six (6) story residential tenement buildings ...

And...

BE IT RESOLVED that Community Board #3 asks that the SLA not consider the alteration of the full on-premise liquor license, for 93 Art LLC, by majority principal Allan Manarelli for the premise located at 93 Second Avenue, between East 5th Street and East 6th Street, to wit decreasing its size by one (1) floor and reducing its certificate of occupancy to one hundred fifty-seven (157) people until this principle has appeared before Community Board #3 for the hearing of this application.

Keep in mind that the Community Board's decisions are only advisory. The State Liquor Authority has the final say in these matters.

Lit first closed at the end of July after 13 years. There was talk of a relocation to Brooklyn, but those plans never materialized.

In July, according to multiple published reports, police arrested a teacher and coach at Leman Manhattan Preparatory School for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old girl inside the bathroom at Lit Lounge.

Updated 5:23 p.m.

An EVG reader passed along this photo of the Cock sign now up at the old Lit space...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Confirmed: Lit Lounge is closing on 2nd Avenue

New, confusing signs up at the former Lit Lounge space

Reports: Prep school teacher arrested for having sex with 16-year-old girl in bathroom at Lit Lounge

Jason Wang bringing Xi'an Famous Foods offshoot Biang! to the former Alder space on 2nd Avenue

In the past few years, Jason Wang has helped his father expand Xi'an Famous Foods from a small food stall in Flushing to a mini empire in the city with several locations, including 81 St. Mark's Place, that serve their popular hand-pulled noodles.

Now Biang!, his family-style Chinese restaurant, is moving from Main Street in Flushing to 157 Second Ave. between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street.

Biang! is on this month's CB3 SLA committee docket for a beer-wine license. According to the questionnaire (PDF!) on file at the CB3 website, the restaurant will have hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, until 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The configuration shows 16 tables good for 32 seats, as well as one standing bar without any seats.

After two-and-a-half years in business, Chef Wylie Dufresne closed Alder, his well-regarded bistro here, at the end of August. The address had been on the market with an asking rent of $17,389 plus key money.

The December CB3-SLA committee meeting is next Monday night at 6:30 in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Updated 7:46 a.m.

Several readers have noted that Wang opened this Xi'an offshoot several years ago in Flushing. I edited the headline and post to reflect this.

Meanwhile, here's the message on the Biang! website (you can find the menu there too):

As of November 18, 2015, Biang! is closed until re-opening at a different location which is to be announced within the month. The current Flushing location will be converted to a Xi'an Famous Foods for fast-casual dining needs! Please stay tuned to this website for updates.

Here's The New Yorker on Biang!:

Unlike its sibling restaurants, with their lines and numbered food pictures on the wall, Biang! is a sleek, sit-down affair. (Biang, the name of the restaurant’s signature noodle, mimics the sound the noodles make when they are being snapped into shape.) Biang!’s menu has all the staples, including those cold-skin noodles, but with an even more traditional bent.

Image via CB3

Oh rats: CB3 reportedly tops in Manhattan for vermin

Community Board 12, which covers Washington Heights and Inwood, no longer has the worst rat problem in Manhattan, according to DNAinfo.

Per DNAinfo, the new honor goes to:

Community District 3 — which covers the Lower East Side, East Village and parts of Chinatown — earned the new No. 1 ranking for 2015, the Health Department said.

Well, I didn't see this report online just yet... The department reportedly ranks districts "based on measures of active rat signs, such as fresh tracks, droppings, holes and gnaw marks." (Mmmmmmm)

Anyway, you are welcome CB12!

Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg

Ian Schrager's 215 Chrystie now in the condo-building phase

Well, I've mostly been following along with the developments at Ian Schrager's hotel and condo development at 215 Chrystie St. just below East Houston via Curbed and BoweryBoogie.

Walked by the construction site the other day and hello!



When completed, the Herzog & de Meuron-designed building will be 28 stories, featuring 370 hotel rooms via Schrager's Public Hotel brand, topped off by 11 ultra-luxury condos, which appear to be going up now ...



The final product will have a real, authentic street-art vibe...



Oh! Well, you can see the 215 model inside the Schrager Sales Office in the Death Star/51 Astor Place...



According to Streeteasy, several of the residences are in contract. And several units are still up for grabs, including PH3 which is selling for $18.75 million... and includes top-of-the-line everything (kinda just guessing with that price) with 360-degree views that you can take in from your John Pawson custom-designed concrete tub.



Simply toss a piece a plywood over the tub and outfit with some table felt for when the gang comes over later for poker night.

Report: Sheldon Silver found guilty in corruption trial

Assemblyman #SheldonSilver was found guilty Monday of selling his office for legal fees https://t.co/2jIzzNAM0H pic.twitter.com/jsICVP0see

— POLITICO New York (@politicony) November 30, 2015

In case you missed the news this afternoon... let's go to the Times:

Sheldon Silver, an assemblyman who rose from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to become one of New York State’s most powerful politicians, was found guilty on Monday in a federal corruption trial, ending a case that was the capstone of the government’s efforts to expose the seamy culture of influence peddling in Albany.

The 71-year-old Silver faced seven counts of honest services fraud, extortion and money laundering ... and he was convicted on all counts. He now faces up to 130 years in prison.

To Twitter for some reaction...

We'll be convening a conference of imprisoned New York state legislators at the earliest opportunity. I believe we have enough for a quorum.

— Fake Sheldon Silver (@ShellySilver) November 30, 2015

Noted

OK, who keeps doing this?

Photo by Derek Berg

Previously on EV Grieve:
Strategically placed trash bags raise suspicion of hijinks on Avenue A

Someone placed free handmade scarves in Tompkins Square Park

Goggla spotted these this morning by the entrance on Avenue B at East Eighth Street...



The tags on the scarves read:

I am not LOST!
I was made with you in mind.
I am yours to keep.
Stay warm with my hugs!

Updated: Bagel Belly coming to 3rd Avenue

You may have noticed some activity at 114 Third Ave. near East 14th Street, home until May of Delicacity (aka Robin Raj!).

Now there are posted signs about the new tenant...



... 114 Bagel & Grill Inc.



The applicants are on CB3's SLA committee meeting docket on Dec. 7 for a beer and wine license. There isn't any other information about the place online just yet.

The place is described as a restaurant ... Maybe they will grill — and not toast! — their bagels?

Updated 7 p.m.

The questionnaire (PDF!) from the applicants is now online at the CB3 website.

The deli/cafe will be called Bagel Belly. And the proposed hours are 6 a.m. to midnight seven days a week. The proprietors also own Namu Deli & Grocery at 252 Third Ave. between 20th Street and 21st Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
More Robin Raj intel (and what about those cartoon hams?)

Oh no! Robin Raj is no longer Robin Raj!

Robin Raj finally makes the move, though there's no sign of the cartoon ham

Live above Robin Raj

Reader report: Rent hike KOs Delicacity (RIP Robin Raj) on 3rd Avenue

New plywood for the empty lot where the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office once stood

This past Friday, workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside where the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office once stood at 438 E. 14th St. near Avenue A...





... and a view from the East 13th Street side via EVG regular Greg Masters...





Workers then put up a new plywood fence...


[GM]


[GM]

... and by Saturday...





An 8-story retail-residential building featuring 114 units is on tap. (Waiting for the rendering via SLCE Architects to appear on the plywood.)

The residential entrance will be on East 13th Street, as previously reported ... a short walk to the incoming Avenue A L train entrance.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolished

The former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential building

New residential building at former 14th Street PO will feature a quiet lounge, private dining room

... and one last time...


[Photo by Gian G. via Yelp]

Encouraging signs at Nino's

[EVG photo from Nov. 11]

Nino's on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place had to close on Oct. 21 due to a gas leak in the building, according to a sign on the door. (There was a similar sign a storefront away at Yoshi Sushi, 131 Avenue A.)

On Nov. 17, the pizzeria was hit with an eviction notice.

Nino Camaj, the owner of Nino's, told Bedford & Bowery last week that the gas was shut off in the building without any notice to him or the residents.

"Now they want us to pay rent for the month we have been closed, and I’m not paying that, that’s their problem." Camaj’s lawyers are currently in conversation with the lawyers of the landlord, Citi Urban Management, to dispute the rent charged for the month during which Nino’s was forced to remain closed.

Meanwhile, this past weekend, Nino's posted help wanted signs...





... perhaps a good sign that the business will be up and running soon enough.

2 'modern jewel box retail spaces' for rent on Lafayette

The new building construction phase has (mostly) ended here at 372 Lafayette on the southwest corner of Great Jones.

And the retail-for-rent signs on the ground floor of the residential building are now in place...



We checked the listing via Sinvin for more details on the two spaces on the market (dubbed "NoHo's Newest: Small Spaces, Big Presence"):

Two gorgeous modern jewel box retail spaces located in one of the trendiest areas in downtown Manhattan. Impressively high ceilings with huge showcase windows. Where sophisticated shopping meets downtown cache, this part of NoHo is quickly becoming the east side’s answer to Bleecker Street.

And why does "this part of NoHo is quickly becoming the east side’s answer to Bleecker Street" sound more like a threat? Anyway! No mention of the asking rent. You need to ask. But possession is immediate.

The last business on this corner was ZP Auto Repair Shop.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New skyline for Lafayette Street?

Another corner still primed to fall on NoHo

Demolition starts on former garage and lot; new developments coming for Lafayette Street

Looking at the future luxurious corners of Lafayette Street

New, improved inflatable Santa arrives on East 14th Street tree lot

[Happier days in 2013]

JUST when we though that the tree stand on East 14th Street and First Avenue would go another holiday season without a Santa Claus...


[Saturday morning]

... an EVG reader let us know that a new, [maybe] improved Santa inflatable now adorns the trailer...





Maybe by Dec. 25 this st. Nick will look as grubby as the previous one... maybe we will witness a Christmas miracle...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another year without grubby ol' St. Nick on East 14th Street; what to tell the children?

Week in Grieview

[Morning in Tompkins Square Park]

City council members talk up new L train entrance coming to Avenue A (Monday)

Former dorm being pitched as Luxury Renting 101 (Tuesday)

Gas work in building temporarily shuts down Hot Kitchen on Second Avenue (Saturday)

Someone threw black paint bombs at the naked women condo ad along 100 Avenue A (Friday)

The revamped Dunkin' Donuts reopens on First Avenue (Thursday)

How about some more 99¢ pizza for Avenue A (Monday)

The Alamo has been away from Astor Place for one year now (Wednesday)

The Gerber Group responds to criticism over Mr. Purple (Tuesday)

234 E. Seventh St. is for sale (Wednesday)

Pinche Taqueria has closed on Lafayette (Tuesday)

115 Avenue C is for sale (Monday)

Report: Letter claiming to be from terrorist group found at East Ninth Street boutique (Wednesday)

East Sixth Street switcharoos: Another name change for La Esquina Burritos and Bar; Spice Cove exits (Monday)

26 Avenue B getting its high beams on (Tuesday)

Former Vegtown-Chubby Mary's-Led Zeppole space for rent on East 14th Street (Monday)

First Bitcoin ATM arrives on the Lower East Side (Tuesday)

That photogenic Ford F-Series pickup truck from 1961 is for sale (Wednesday)

... and a look at some of the murals that recently arrived at First Street Green via the Centre-fuge Public Art Project...





... and an EVG reader let us know that a new deli/cafe called Stuyvesant Organic has opened in the former Kennedy Fried Chicken space on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... don't know too much else about the place at the moment...

Mixing politics and free standing lamps

The sign reads: "I work ... unlike Trump's immigration strategy." And it's written on the back of an immigration form.

Photo on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue by @katblomberg

Pushcart Coffee closes East Village location

An EVG reader stopped by Pushcart Coffee on Third Avenue at East 12th Street in NYU's Third North dorm retail property this morning... only to find a sign that the place closed for good after service yesterday...



The sign simply says "unfortunately, we had to close our doors." This location opened on July 1. The other Pushcart locations remain open.

As previously noted, there were already many coffee choices right around here with the Wayside on East 12th Street just west of Third Avenue ... City of Saints Coffee Roasters on East 10th Street between Fourth Avenue and Third Avenue ... Third Rail Coffee on East 10th Street near Second Avenue ... Think Coffee on Fourth Avenue between East 12th Street and East 13th Street… Everyman Espresso on East 13th Street west of Third Avenue… and the newly opened Le Café Coffee at 145 Fourth Ave. between East 13th Street and East 14th Street. Not to mention the recently relocated Dunkin' Donuts on East 14th Street just east of Third Avenue.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Pushcart Coffee opening an East Village outpost (20 comments)

Report: East River Park rape suspect now in police custody

A man accused of raping a jogger in East River Park on Wednesday night has surrendered to police, according to published reports.

Surveillance cameras reportedly captured 28-year-old Paul Niles using the victim's credit card at a deli near the scene of the attack.

Police say that Niles was riding a bike when he approached the 26-year-old woman jogging near the FDR Drive and Cherry Street around 7:30 Wednesday night.

According to NY1, after Niles turned himself in at a precinct in Queens, he was charged with rape, robbery and identity theft against the jogger and with forcible touching of another victim, who he approached separately.

Updated:

Per the Daily News: Niles pleaded not guilty to rape, robbery and identity-theft charges. If convicted of the most serious charges, he'd face up to 25 years in prison.

Niles also told investigators that he had been living at a rehab facility and a homeless shelter "and is suicidal."

A guest at the Bowery Hotel lost this heirloom ring

Via the EVG inbox... from a guest at the Bowery Hotel...

Lost Heirloom Ring
Lost on St. Mark's Place and/or the surrounding area
Substantial reward if found or returned, no questions asked.
Please call 310-429-9011
Very much appreciated!

Gas work in building temporarily shuts down Hot Kitchen on 2nd Avenue

Hot Kitchen, the Sichuan restaurant at 104 Second Ave. near East Sixth Street, has been closed this past week.

EVG correspondent Steven passes along a photo of the signage on Hot Kitchen's front door...



The note explains that ConEd has shut off the restaurant's meter "due to the work [the] landlord is doing to the building main gas piping."

The note also says they hope it will take a week or less to compete the repairs. That seems awfully optimistic given how long it has taken gas service to return to other East Village restaurants, such as Second Avenue neighbor B&H Dairy. On Avenue A and St. Mark's Place, Nino's and Yoshi Sushi have been closed for five weeks now due to a gas issue in its building.

And of course, Hot Kitchen sits nearly directly across the Avenue from the site of the deadly gas explosion this past March 26.

When the birds of Tompkins Square Park sound like whales

EVG regular Grant Shaffer picked up on the birds communicating with one another today... and slowed it down...