Friday, March 4, 2016

Reader mailbag: What is this on East 10th Street?


[Photo by Lola Sáenz]

Since it arrived late last year after some Con Ed work on East 10th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue (roughly outside The New Theatre Building) ... several readers have asked what that air raid-looking thing is ...

There's also one on Great Jones near Lafayette...



So! Anyone know what these are? (Excluding popular comments beer store! and Amy Schumer)...

Updated:

Thanks to the readers for the answers! it's a Con Ed pipeline pressure regulator/vent.

NYC Velo cycling to new storefront next door on 2nd Avenue



Paper arrived on the windows at 66 Second Ave. between East Fourth Street and East Third Street a few weeks back.

Per EVG correspondent Steven, NYC Velo will be moving here one storefront to the north to take the space that last housed the short-lived Red Mango.

The current bike shop storefront is now for rent... and we understand that an increase in rent here at No. 64 prompted the move next door...



And as we posted about several years ago, 66 Second Ave. was once the home to the Anderson Theatre...


... where you could see the Grateful Dead for $2... Later, Hilly Kristal ran the CBGB Theater here from late 1977 to early 1978. The Talking Heads christened the CBGB Theater, followed by shows featuring the Dictators, the Dead Boys and Patti Smith.

You can find a lot more history and photos of the Anderson Theatre at the blog It's All the Streets you Crossed Not So Long Ago right here.

An epilogue sale at St. Mark's Bookshop



St. Mark's Bookshop closed for good on Sunday... however, there will be an epilogue sale tomorrow (Saturday!) at the shop, 136 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

From noon to 8 p.m., they'll be selling off more of what's left — books and magazines for $2. (And out-of-season cards are 46 cents, per the sign on the front door.)

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

Report: Last stand for St. Mark's Bookshop

Report: Latest woe for St. Mark's Bookshop — possible eviction

Looking to carry on the legacy of St. Mark's Bookshop

Farewells: St. Mark's Bookshop will close for good on Sunday

No deposits: Baiting the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue for rats ahead of demolition



The orders are in to demolish the former Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

Ahead of that, workers are baiting the building for rats, as you can see from the subtle placements of the baiting stations that arrived on the sidewalk on Wednesday ...



The Commercial Observer reported in August that J.P. Morgan Chase sold the 2-level space to Stellar Management for $12 million. (Stellar and Icon teamed up to buy No. 128 next door.) The former Chase site allows for redevelopment of the 2,380-square-foot site into a mixed-use retail and residential project of 9,520 square feet, according to the Observer.

Icon Realty had been trying to lease the space with an asking monthly rent of $72,000.

The branch consolidated with the Chase two blocks up Second Avenue back in November.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Chase space on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place is for rent

2 East Village Chase Bank branches are closing for good on Nov. 12

Chase branch on 2nd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has the potential to get 4x larger with new owner

The East Village is down 2 Chase branches

Icon wraps former Chase branch at St. Mark's Place with retail ribbon

'Good riddance' Chase, and — a development to watch in 2016

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Meal deals at Dahlia's



Since the SLA temporarily suspended the Mexican restaurant's liquor license for serving a reported 50 minors one night in late January.

Photo on Second Avenue and East Fifth Street via Vinny & O.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Dahlia's busted after cops find 43 minors drinking inside locked restaurant

Fake snow makes a return to East 4th Street



Crews for "Collateral Beauty" were out again earlier... spreading the fake snow* on East Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery ...





The dramatic comedy stars Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Naomie Harris and Edward Norton.

Photos by EVG Fake Snow Powder correspondent Derek Berg.

---

* we hope that this is fake snow and not a non-licensed asbestos removal team

[Updating] Reports of major police activity on East 9th Street near Avenue A


We haven't heard anything just yet...



We'll continue to monitor the situation and update when there's more information...

Updated 8:40 a.m.

From the photos via William Klayer, it appears the police are concentrated on 438-440 E. Ninth St. ...









Updated 9 a.m.

UNCONFIRMED report of an armed robbery at Tacos Morelos.

Updated 9:30 a.m.

Another reader photo shows the NYPD concentrating on Tacos Morelos ... several bystanders said that police did not find any suspects at the scene...

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat


[Image via Streeteasy]

Via the EVG inbox...

Tenants of 118 East 4th Street in the East Village appear back in Manhattan Housing Court on Thursday March 3rd at 9:30 AM as part of ongoing litigation against their landlord, Jared Kushner. Tenants are calling for the immediate restoration of essential services and for living conditions to be rectified.

The tenants have recently endured bouts of no heat, mounding trash, and have been without cooking gas since October 2015. Con Ed shut down all gas for the building and Jared Kushner has yet to take the necessary procedures with the city to restore it. This comes on top of the landlord’s failure to repair a multitude of potentially dangerous conditions in the building, including:

• No cooking gas
• Collapsed ceilings
• Questionably safe electrical systems
• Mounding trash
• Deprivation of heat
• Apartments entered without notice
• Blocked mail delivery
• Vermin

The tenants filed an HP Action for repairs and services in January to seek a remedy for these unsafe conditions. The landlord received a default judgement at the first court appearance on February 4th as Kushner failed to appear in court to address matters – a sign the tenants interpret as further disregard for the issues they face. At the time of a previous court appearance, the building had a total of 17 open violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, including 4 considered “immediately hazardous.” The current violation count is now 35 in total with 8 class “C” immediately hazardous violations. A motion was recently filed in court to hold Kushner in contempt of court due to the lack of restoration of services.

You can read the whole notice at the Cooper Square Committee website. The news advisory includes quotes from Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez.

It hasn't been easy at 118-120 E. Fourth St. through the years. Ben Shaoul's Magnum Management, in partnership with Meadow Partners, bought the buildings in late 2010. Fortune East LLC reportedly managed the buildings. The blog Occupy East Fourth Street had been documenting renovation horror stories. (Like this one.)

Kushner bought the buildings during his East Village land grab in February 2013.

Occupy East Fourth Street continues documenting the situation inside No. 118. Here's a post from Feb. 14:

Woke up this morning to 7 degrees, its now 14 degrees outside, and no heat at 118 East St. Through some communications with the other tenants, it seems the heat is on in one line of the building. That line contains the market rate tenants. There are 2 other heat lines that are off and those lines contain the majority of rent stabilized tenants, including some senior citizens in fragile health. I think one or two market rate folks are getting the frozen treatment if they are unfortunate enough to reside above or below a rent stabilized tenant. Calls to the Westminster office provide no results as usual. There seems to be a Westminster person living in 118 at the moment. A call put into him goes unanswered and he has no voice mail set up on his phone. The same goes for the "Super". No answer. No voice mail set up on phone.

City changes way it will treat people drinking or urinating (or both) in public


[Pee Phone™ photo from 2014]

Well, we somehow missed this announcement on Tuesday... via the DA's office...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., New York City Police Department Commissioner William J. Bratton, and Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced a new initiative to change how individuals who commit low-level offenses are processed in Manhattan.

Beginning on Monday, March 7, 2016, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will no longer prosecute most violations or infractions, and the NYPD will no longer arrest individuals who commit these offenses – such as littering, public consumption of alcohol, or taking up two seats on the subway – unless there is a demonstrated public safety reason to do so.

This initiative will enable the NYPD to devote its resources to investigating serious crimes, while further reducing the backlog of cases in Criminal Court. The issuance of summonses instead of arrests is expected to result in the diversion of approximately 10,000 arrests that would be prosecuted in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Public urination is also on the list of low-level offenses, per published reports.

Will the city's new policy make you more likely to urinate in public?
Yes
Yes, and when is SantaCon?
No
If you don't like urinating in public, then move to _____
Beer store!
personality test

Krystal's Cafe 81 has closed for good on East 7th Street

[EVG file photo]

Krystal's Cafe 81 on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue has closed for good. Sunday was its last day in business, according to this website for "New York Ethnic Food Lovers."

There isn't any mention of a closure on the Cafe 81 Facebook page. The Cafe 81 phone rings once before the line goes dead.

Most recently Cafe 81 had been a Filipino restaurant and bar... Until Jan. 1, 2005, the address was home to Verchovyna Tavern aka George's Bar aka Bar 81.

H/T EVG reader Charlie Chen

Previously on EV Grieve:
At Cafe 81, you'd better be quiet or someone will throw a shamwow at you

Hakata Hot Pot (RIP Sushi Lounge) has moved on St. Mark's Place



Hakata Hot Pot and Sushi Lounge, housed in the retail spaces at 58 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue, are no more.

The restaurants shut down at the end of February. According to the owner, they lost their lease. (The building's new landlord is Raphael Toledano.)

However, Hakata Hot Pot will live on. Here's the message via Facebook:

Attention all of our guests!

Hakata Hot Pot and Sushi Lounge will move from 58 Saint Marks Place to 31 Saint Marks Place from March 1st.

Hakata Hot Pot had started 1983 as NATORI Restaurant.

Unfortunately we lost our lease in this place, and now we are going to join our sister restaurant Zen 6 since 1985 on the heart of Saint Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd avenue.

Zen 6 is Ramen restaurant, and we will add new Japanese Hot Pot on the menu.

Our new restaurant name is Hakata Hot Pot & Zen 6.

Please visit feel free to our new location and enjoy our authentic Hakata style izakaya food.

Thank you for your patronage.
owner
Hideyuki Okayama

Let's see if we have this straight. Higher rents chased Sushi Lounge from St. Mark's Place and Avenue A at the end of October 2013. (The corner space is now home to Empellón al Pastor, a bar with tacos.)

The owners of Sushi Lounge were also the new proprietors of Natori at 58 St. Mark's Place. (The original Natori, a longtime favorite, closed in November 2012.)

Then what was operating as the second Natori became Sushi Lounge in January 2014. Then they added the Hot Pot component.

Anyway, what we do know is that Hakata Hot Pot and Zen 6 will be under one roof at 31 St. Mark's Place...



H/T EVG reader Morgan!

Previously on EV Grieve:
As the sushi turns: Sushi Lounge now operating out of the former Natori space on St. Mark's

100 Avenue A reps say that 100 Avenue A is already 50% sold



As previously noted, developer Ben Shaoul's residences at 100 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street at the new 6-story 8-story building will start at $1.28 million.

Apparently people want to live here, according to the people who are selling the units.

Per a news release on the opening of the sales office at 115 Avenue A yesterday:

Prior to opening the sales office, the rare luxury 32 unit condo property is already 50% sold to date as a result of early buzz generated by a daring marketing campaign featuring nearly nude models painted to blend into their surroundings. 100 Avenue A is set to break countless records, including the highest residential price per square foot achieved in the East Village for a non-penthouse unit, with residence 7C already going into contract for $2,685 per foot.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The retail space at Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A is available for $24.5 million; plus, naked model marketing clarification!

Trying to figure out what is going on at 98-100 Avenue A

Part of the former Alphabets storefront will serve as sales office for Ben Shaoul's 100 Avenue A

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

Take a look at the inside of Ben Shaoul's condos at 100 Avenue A

100 Avenue A announces its incoming sales office with familiar naked, graffitied person motif

'Gentrification in Progress' tape arrives at former Trash & Vaudeville and Stage Restaurant spaces

The tape arrived late Wednesday night outside the former Trash and Vaudeville storefront on St. Mark's Place ...



... and the Stage Restaurant on Second Avenue...



Thanks to EVG correspondent Steven for the photos (and H/T Ed B.)

Trash and Vaudeville closed after business on Sunday ahead of a move to 96 E. Seventh St. Rising rents and a change in the business environment on this block of St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue were among the reasons for the move. The Stage announced its permanent closure earlier on Wednesday.

The tape is the work of the artist GILF, who previously has cordoned off the Germania Bank Building at 190 Bowery with her creation.

Goodbye red lights #gentrificationinprogress

A photo posted by gilf! (@gilfnyc) on



Updated 6:30 a.m.

BoweryBoogie notes that GILF also placed the tape at the former St. Mark's Bookshop.

Updated 8 a.m.

Morning views...




[Photo by Lola Sāenz]

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

East 7th Street maintaining rep for stunt parking

Previously! Between the dumpsters on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...



EVG Tight Parking Spot correspondent Derek Berg also shared this photo on East Seventh Street ... this time between Avenue A and First Avenue...