Expanded Clinton Street Baking Company opens on New Year's Day

Pancake-line-waiting hotspot Clinton Street Baking Company is ready to unveil its expanded restaurant on East Houston and Clinton Street.

BoweryBoogie reports that CSBC will unveil the new space on Friday (aka New Year's Day).

The current dining room will be reconfigured to accommodate takeout and coffee, with some limited seating options, BoweryBoogie noted.

The corner space was previously home to Min's Market.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Clinton Street Baking Company expansion underway

I have a bad feeling about this

Passing this along for fans of stunt burgers, "Star Wars" and indigestion ... you just have through Thursday night (New Year's Eve!) to order The Force at The Grayson (RIP Bar Akuda) at 16 First Ave.

The Force Burger ($19.95) is an off-the-menu special with: two beef patties, mac & cheese, pulled pork, bacon, cheddar and American cheeses, onion rings, mushrooms, jalapenos, a sunny-side egg and waffle fries with bacon Thousand Island and barbecue ranch sauces.

The burger arrives with two souvenir lightsabers.

Then you wait for the force to awake. (Or erupt.)

NYC braces for a 'snow event'

DSNY issues Snow Alert for 8p tonight to prepare equipment/personnel for poss. storm. More: https://t.co/1GLraIHDia pic.twitter.com/bCU4ebzUu6

— NYC Sanitation (@NYCSanitation) December 28, 2015

Oh!

Let's check out the advisory...

The New York City Department of Sanitation has issued an agency preparedness ‘snow alert’ for Monday, December 28 at 8 p.m. A snow alert is not a weather forecast, but indicates the potential of a snow event. Calling a snow alert allows DSNY to begin to prepare for a possible response by loading salt spreaders, attaching plows (if necessary), preparing tire chains and notifying other city agencies and supplementary personnel as needed.

DSNY is coordinating with the Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Transportation on snow clearing protocol in accordance with each agency’s written snow plan. All relevant city agencies have been notified of the snow alert. DSNY will continue to monitor forecasts and will provide updates as the snow event approaches.

Please remain vigilant.

The city's 1st free wi-fi kiosk is now outside a Starbucks near you

Sure, it may not look like much now, but soon this shrouded installation, which arrived this morning, will be a gigabit Wi-Fi access point/hub/thing outside the Starbucks on Third Avenue and East 15th Street.

We'll cut-n-paste some from The Verge for the background:

First announced in November 2014, the hubs are designed as an update to the standard phone booth, using upgraded infrastructure to provide gigabit Wi-Fi access points.

And!

The full network will install more than 7,500 public hubs throughout the city, each replacing a pre-existing phone booth. Once completed, the hubs will also include USB device charging ports, touchscreen web browsing, and two 55-inch advertising displays. The city estimates that ads served by the new hubs will generate more than $500 million in revenue over the next 12 years.

And this LinkNYC kiosk is the first one that workers have installed. As Gothamist notes, "the city has pledged to build 7,500 of the hubs in place of old pay phone booths over the next 8 years, with 3,500 of them coming in the next four years, and 499 more of them over the next 6 months."



LinkNYC will be testing this one for the next few weeks before you will be able to use the free Wi-Fi, charge your smartphone or have the government track your every move even easier.

Landlord Greed stickers on St. Mark's Place

Someone has placed Landlord Greed stickers on the long-empty storefronts at 37 St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue...





Some of the spaces have been without retail tenants since late 2011. Back in the fall, workers removed the for rent signs and papered the windows, given the impression that someone had leased the space. Guess not yet.

Thanks to EVG contributor Steven for the photos!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Timi's Gelateria Classica™ facing eviction on St. Mark's Place

[Updated] Baoguette Cafe still looks rather closed

A few more details about renting the former 7-Eleven space on St. Mark's Place

After nearly 4 years empty, 37 St. Mark's Place may be getting new retail tenants

[Updated] New life for the Nevada Smiths space on 3rd Avenue

Although the Coors Light neon remains illuminated in the windows, Nevada Smiths has not been open since The Marshal paid a visit back in September.

I expected to either see some for rent signs up this fall ... or the football/soccer mainstay at 100 Third Ave. to reopen its doors.

Neither of those scenarios ever played out, though.

However, there is a new proprietor in line to take over the three-level space between East 12th Street and East 13th Street. An entity going by Food For Third LLC is on CB3's SLA committee meeting docket in January for a new liquor license. The notice with the application includes Bruce Caulfield's name as the applicant. CB3 hasn't posted the questionnaire online just yet, so there aren't many other details about the new operation, and whether soccer will remain the main draw.

As for Caulfield, since 2003 he (with two business partners) has run the train-themed Tracks Raw Bar & Grill in the LIRR level at Penn Station. He's also a partner in Harp Raw Bar & Grill on Third Avenue near Grand Central.

According to a feature on Caulfield in Crain's from November 2014, he dropped out of Hunter College 40-plus years ago to start running an outdoor newsstand where he worked the graveyard shift on East 53rd Street. He later operated a newsstand inside the Daily News Building on 42nd Street.

The revamped Nevada Smiths opened here in April 2013. The new space, which reportedly cost $3 million to outfit, included 20 Plasma TVs and two life-size projection screens.

Nevada Smiths was previously down the block at 74 Third Ave., a location that closed in November 2011. The buildings at No. 74-76, as well as an adjacent parking lot, were eventually demolished to make way for the luxury residential building (The Nathaniel) that now houses the Westside Market.

The SLA meeting is Jan. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Updated 5 p.m.

This applicant is no longer on the January docket.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Nevada Smiths is closed, and here's what's next

Those persistent rumors about 74-76 Third Avenue and the future of Nevada Smiths

The East Village will lose a parking lot and gain an apartment building

Here then, where Nevada Smiths once stood

The Marshal seizes Nevada Smiths on 3rd Avenue

[3rd Avenue and East 12th Street circa 2011]

Sweethaus Cupcake Cafe opening an outpost on St. Mark's Place

[EVG photo from June]

The former Luca Bar space at 119 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue hit the market in the early summer.

And now there's a taker for the former bar-restaraunt. The owners of Sweethaus Cupcake Cafe, with locations in Charlottesville, Va., and Williamsburg (Brooklyn, not Virginia), are on the January CB3/SLA committee meeting docket for a new beer-wine license.

While the Virginia location serves house-made cupcakes and what they describe as "nostalgia" candy such as wax bottles, candy necklaces and gummy cola bottles, the Brooklyn outpost of Sweethaus offers a more extensive food menu... as seen here...



Sounds as if the St. Mark's Place location will feature a similar concept. There aren't many details available at the moment, aside from the hours: 8 a.m. to midnight. (You can read more about Sweethaus here.)

In any event, this item will not be heard before the committee meeting, which is Jan. 11.

Luca Bar closed back in late April.

A dry cleaner-laundromat combo for the former Little Pakistan Deli space on 2nd Avenue

Little Pakistan Deli at 200 Second Ave. closed in January 2015... and now there's a new tenant for the storefront between East 12th Street and East 13th Street... the coming soon (with three !!!) sign announces a dry cleaning and laundromat...

Soothsayer is hiring on Avenue A

And at 171 Avenue A, work continues on the conversion of the former B.A.D. Burger space between East 10th Street and East 11th Street ... which will soon be a contemporary Vietnamese restaurant called Soothsayer.

The restaurant, run by siblings Stephan and Kimxuan Brezinsky who grew up in Stuy Town, is currently hiring...



Back in July, Soothsayer upset a few neighbors after asking for support for a full liquor license and use of the back patio. Soothsayer reportedly withdrew its application at the July CB3/SLA meeting.

In September, CB3 OK'd a beer-wine license without use of the outdoor space. The proprietors also agreed to hours of 5:30 p.m. to midnight during the week, with opening hours of noon on Saturday and Sunday.

Soothsayer has a website (no menu posted just yet) here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Incoming restaurant on Avenue A asking residents to rally for their liquor license and back patio (42 comments)

Restaurant news: Mulan East and Banana Leaf now open; By Chloe coming soon on Lafayette

A few items to note from the past week or so...



Mulan East opened earlier this month at 58 Third Ave. between East 10th Street and East 11th Street. One EVG reader gave them high marks after a meal on Xmas Day. (You can find their menu here.) Until this past July, the address housed the Thai restaurant Bodhi Tree.

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Banana Leaf, a Sri Lankan restaurant, is now open at 326 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... taking over the space from Spice Cove (same owners) ... Banana Leaf moved their business here from West 28th Street... find their menu here.

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And slightly outside the usual coverage area... the popular Bleecker Street vegan restaurant By Chloe is expanding... and the signage arrived last Wednesday on Lafayette Street between Spring and Prince... BoweryBoogie noted this storefront previously housed 16 Handles.

Week in Grieview

[Early morning at the Odessa the other day]

Watch this guy take all the packages from an East Third Street building lobby (Tuesday)

Floors collapse at under-renovation 356 E. Eighth St. (Thursday)

The new Tompkins Square Bagels will arrive before the 2nd Avenue subway, probably (Monday)

Bluebird Coffee Shop has closed on East First Street (Tuesday) and here's its replacement (Saturday)

The CBGB restaurant is open at the Newark airport, though you won't be able to order the Marquee Moons Over My Hammy (Thursday)

Prepping to repair fire-damaged wall next to the Second Avenue explosion site (Wednesday)

Details on the legal battle over the ownership of 80 St. Mark's Place (Monday)

Danny's Cycles has closed on East 14th Street (Thursday)

Number of national retailers increases in the East Village, report says (Wednesday)

Minca Ramen Factory remains closed on East Fifth Street (Tuesday)

Incoming 99¢ pizza place on Avenue A will be called 99¢ Pizza (Tuesday)

Some more details on the condos at the former East Sixth Street synagogue (Monday)

About the East Village-based podcast mürmur (Wednesday)

A question about Extell construction noise on East 14th Street (Monday)

Raphael Toledano's Brookhill Properties gives tenants $20 gift cards for the holidays (Wednesday)

Live painting with Mike (MiMo) Mozart at 212 Arts (Tuesday)

Another juice shop in the works, this one on First Avenue (Monday)

AMC Village 7 premieres renovated theater, reclining seats (Thursday)

Manhattan Cryobank wants Stuy Town sperm (Sunday)

Anecdote about a photo of framed sheep (Monday)

Candles for Joe Strummer (Tuesday)

EVG turns 8 (Monday)

... and a last look at some holiday cheer on Avenue B...

Catch 'Astor Barber All-Stars' tonight on PBS

[Production still by Phil Penman]

Tonight (Dec. 27!) at 11, WNET (PBS Thirteen) is airing "Astor Barber All-Stars," the documentary by Karen Gehres.

A summation of the film:

With so many NYC institutions dropping like flies, due to skyrocketing rent, one barber shop remains. Since 1939, Astor Barber has been cutting hair with pizzazz and is still one of NYC's most loved institutions. Get your hair cut from cradle to grave... literally! The Vezza family, their loyal customers and over 50 stylists working at Astor will show why this three-generation family-owned business attracts 'em all. It’s a story of endurance and a family, its employees and customers that stuck together against the odds in NYC.

Check out the trailer ...



The shop has been here since 1939. Jeremiah Moss wrote about it back in April 2012: "It's one of the last places in the East Village that still feels like the East Village. More than that, it still feels like New York City."

Continuing to enjoy scenes from the Christmas season along Avenue C

Avenue C at East Seventh Street...





... and at the former Mobil station on Avenue C at East Houston... the stockings remain up!

The Lazy Llama Coffee Bar is the name of the Bluebird replacement on East 1st Street

We first noted back on Tuesday that the Bluebird Coffee Shop has closed on East First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

A sign on the door thanked customers and noted that new owners were taking over the space.

There's now a second sign on the door...

Dear customers,

We are working very hard to open shop after Christmas. We will be serving Stumptown Coffee... see you soon

And the name of the new venture is The Lazy Llama Coffee Bar...

Thailand Cafe now closed for renovations on 2nd Avenue

Meant to note this earlier in the week... looks like Thailand Cafe at 95 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street is sitting out the holiday season... the sign on the gate points to a renovation that will keep them closed through an unspecified date next month...



I also realized that I've never eaten here... if anyone wants to put in a good word for the place...

Start-up Christmas/holiday tree stands available to budding entrepreneurs

Several of the tree vendors left behind their unsold wares as Dec. 25 came and went (oh, how was your day?) ... seemed to be the most remaining product on East Houston between Essex and Norfolk...

And this tree got as far as across Essex Street...

Christmas dog day afternoon

Maddie from Avenue A shows off her skills on the First Park handball courts this afternoon...





Thanks to Katie from Avenue A for the photos...

Jimmy's holiday party is today at La Plaza Cultural

And if you're around today without any plans ... Jimmy's annual holiday party is today from noon to ??? at La Plaza Cultural, on the southwest corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street...



Per the Facebook invite: "There will be food and music and it is potluck. Bring firewood for the bonfire and grill if you can. Bring your musical instruments. It is rain or shine."

And not to be a jerk, but these elves working the mail room at La Plaza totally lost my packages ...

[Updated] Sunset, xmas eve edition

Photo by Bobby Williams

Updated 12/25

And now equal time to the xmas morning sunrise, also via Bobby...

[Updated] Reader report: Partial building collapse on East 8th Street; unconfirmed report of a fatality

Several EVG readers have passed along word of a partial collapse at the under-renovation townhouse at 356 E. Eighth St. There is an unconfirmed report that one of the workers at the site was killed in the collapse that occurred earlier today, according to the super of a building on the block between Avenue C and Avenue D.

As of 2 p.m., a reader reported that the site is cordoned off... with building and police officials on hand.

There isn't any other information available at the moment. We'll update as necessary.

As previously reported, the vacant townhouse had been on and off the market in recent years (here and here). The most recent listing pitched the space for "high-end apartments or a luxury home."

Recently approved work permits show that the existing 4-level structure will receive two new floors and a mezzanine. Here's the all-cap DOB recap of the permit:

FILED HEREWITH PLANS AND APPLICATIONS TO ADD A SIX STORY HORIZONTAL REAR ENLARGEMENT AND A THREE STORY + MEZZANINE VERTICAL ENLARGEMENT WITH SIX FAMILIES TO AN EXISTING FOUR STORY, THREE FAMILY BUILDING.

[EVG photo from September]

The owner is an LLC with a Kew Gardens address, according to DOB paperwork.

Here's a photo of the house from 2014...



Updated 12/25

The city has issued a Full Vacate on the address... "due to stability concerns," according to the DOB website...



The Firemen's Garden next to the property has also been hit with a Full Vacate...





As for the report from a neighboring super about a worker fatality... we have not heard anything further about this. There is a candle at the scene now. Someone wrote "May the Lord be with you now and forever."



According to the DOB website, the FDNY ordered the inspection after a worker fell from the third to first floor.

Updated 12/27

There is a new chalk message outside the site ... along with more candles...



"May God Bless your soul eternally. Godspeed."

Updated 1/11

A reliable source says that the construction worker who died was a 33-year-old man from El Salvador, a married father of five. The accident happened around 11 a.m., and the man died later that afternoon at a hospital. According to the source, workers were demolishing the existing rear wall when a large chunk of masonry broke off and somehow landed on the scaffolding the was on and he fell.

Even the rats in Tompkins Square Park are wondering what's up with these temperatures

Photo by Bobby Williams