Jared Kushner's East Village tenants wish he'd resolve issues closer to home

[Page 1 of the Journal from Tuesday]

Since the election, Jared Kushner, President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law, has been the subject of Page 1 stories in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ... as well as the cover of the latest issue of Forbes...



As the Times and other media outlets have reported, Kushner, 35, who is married to Trump’s elder daughter, Ivanka, "is exploring the prospects of joining the administration as a formal, but unpaid, adviser." During the presidential campaign, Kushner became an integral member of Trump's inner circle.

Kushner has been running his family’s real-estate business, Kushner Companies. According to the Times, "the Kushners have acquired $7 billion worth of commercial and residential property over the last decade."

In recent years, starting in 2013, Kushner has bought 40-plus buildings in the East Village. According to the Cooper Square Committee, only Steve Croman owns more residential buildings in the East Village than Kushner does.

And as we've noted in multiple posts, there hasn't been any shortage of tenant horror stories since Kushner and his management company, Westminster City Living, became the landlord. For instance, back in March, tenants at 118 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue went to Manhattan Housing Court as part of ongoing litigation against Kushner. Tenants there had been without gas for cooking since October 2015. There were other issues too, such as collapsed ceilings, overflowing trash and sporadic heat. (Kushner eventually settled with the tenants.)

Brandon Kielbasa at the Cooper Square Committee told Gothamist in March that Kushner "treats both rent-stabilized and market-rate tenants badly, and seems to feel that he can get away with not maintaining buildings because the housing market is so tight he can keep them full anyway."

In July 2014, DNAinfo reported that "Kushner is using lawsuits, disruptive construction and neglect to force rent-stabilized tenants out of two buildings [170-174 E. Second St.] he owns in the East Village, as he converts them to high-end apartments, according to court documents and residents."

Meanwhile, around that same time, the Daily News filed a story with the headline "Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner forcing residents out of East Village building so he can get higher rents: tenants."

Yesterday, DNAinfo filed a lengthy piece on a lawsuit that a resident at 331 E. Ninth St. filed against Kushner. Uta Winkler, a rent-stabilized tenant, said in court papers that her kitchen was destroyed several days before Thanksgiving in 2013 by construction workers renovating an unoccupied unit above her apartment.

And then...

Two weeks later, Winkler had to endure more mayhem when she came home to find that a construction worker carrying dirty water and debris on the floor above hers had crashed through her bedroom ceiling, landing on her bed, court document said.

The fall destroyed her bed and other furniture, but Westminster refused to reimburse her for the damage or even return her calls, court papers said.

Without a response, Winkler withheld her monthly rent, which reportedly prompted the Kushner Companies to sue her for the unpaid rent in 2015 in Manhattan Housing Court. DNAinfo reported that the company also sued tenants in two other units, include new market-rate residents, in the building for also withholding rent because of the disruptions from construction. (Those two other tenants then each filed counter-suits against Kushner.)

As a way to improve its image, Westminster introduced a new program this fall called Westminster Cares (not to be confused with this Westminster Cares), a partnership with the Educational Alliance...



The kick-off party was Nov. 17 at the 14th Street Y. Per the fliers, "This new program gives you an opportunity to serve your community while getting to know your fellow Westminster neighbors." The slogan: "Mingle. Give Back. Repeat."

The event prompted the Cooper Square Committee to release a statement asking, "Westminster Cares – About Who?!"

Said Kielbasa: "Every week we have Kushner tenants calling our office to get issues resolved. The problems they face range from not getting security deposits back, not getting lease renewals, having chronic mixups with their rent payments, and having difficulties getting repairs. If Westminster really cares, they need to get better at managing their properties."

For their part, Westminster provided DNAinfo with a statement for yesterday's article about their ongoing work in maintaining their portfolio:

"As with all our properties, we are committed to providing a high level of service for our tenants across that portfolio, which is nearly fully leased. We couldn't maintain that level of occupancy or service without investing in essential building infrastructure, so we consistently make meaningful upgrades in our walkup buildings across the city on behalf of our residents."

In a Page 1 story on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal cited Kushner's business activities that could potentially raise conflict-of-interest issues if he is named to a staff position in the Trump administration. (Possible solutions include Kushner selling his assets and putting the money into a trust.)

As the Trump told the Times last week, "Jared’s a very smart guy. He’s a very good guy. The people that know him, he’s a quality person and I think he can be very helpful." (The Times contacted dozens of politicians, diplomats and journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Very few of them were familiar with Kushner.)



Upon reading the news of the possibility of Kushner brokering peace, one resident wrote on Facebook last week: "The Middle East is gonna have to wait until he fixes my sink. Might be forever."

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Report: Jared Kushner buys $130 million portfolio of East Village rental buildings

Report: Jared Kushner paid $49 million for 7 more Ben Shaoul-owned properties in the East Village

More about Jared Kushner's East Village buying spree

Soon, we will all be writing our rent checks to Jared Kushner

Tenants claim: Kushner and Westminster want to destroy this building's beautiful garden

Reports outline how Kushner Companies is aggressively trying to empty 170-174 E. 2nd St.

Local politicos join residents of 2 Jared Kushner-owned buildings to speak out about poor living conditions, alleged harassment

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

A Bandura Christmas tomorrow on 7th Street

Via the EVG inbox...

The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus returns to New York City with a special holiday program "A Bandura Christmas," on Saturday, December 3rd!

Founded in 1918, the all-male Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus has captivated audiences in major concert halls in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Ukraine since immigrating to North America from Europe in 1949. Under the current artistic direction of conductor Oleh Mahlay, today's chorus of bandura players and singers hail from all throughout North America, each volunteering their time and talent for the mission of the ensemble.

Combining the musical characteristics of both the lute and the harp, the Ukrainian bandura is more than a national musical instrument: it is the voice of Ukraine, its history closely tied to the turbulent history of the Ukrainian people. Producing a sound similar to a harpsichord but with a wider range and tone, the modern bandura has between 20 and 65 strings and is tuned like a piano rather than a guitar. The concert variety (the kind played by the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus) has levers that allow the 'bandurist' to quickly change keys during a performance.

Join us this Saturday, December 3rd, as these talented musicians and all-male chorus perform traditional Ukrainian Christmas Carols in the beautiful setting of St George Ukrainian Catholic Church...

The church is at 16 E. Seventh St. (across from McSorley's!) near Cooper Square. The concert begins at 7 p.m. Find ticket info here.

East Village students show support on World AIDS Day

Students from the Children's Workshop School on East 12th Street took part in parade today in honor of World AIDS Day 2016 ... their route took them through Tompkins Square Park...



Photos by Derek Berg

The Lightstone Group flips 10th Street residential building

[Photo of 85 E. 10th St. from September]

Back in the spring, the Lightstone Group paid $127 million for a 6-building portfolio on East 10th Street and East 11th Street. Five of those buildings, 112-120 E. 11th St., are currently being demolished to make way for a 13-floor hotel for the Marriott's Moxy brand.

And now, a resident of the other address in the deal, 85 E. 10th St., which abuts the hotel conversion, shares news that the building here between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue has been sold.

Per the resident:

New ownership put notes under tenants' doors announcing the sale and promising improvements to the property, including adding a package room, virtual doorman system with surveillance cameras throughout the building, much to the relief of tenants who regularly complain of packages that go missing!

And!

New owners also boast they will be "sprucing up the common areas and keeping the premises very clean and the air smelling pleasant." Also good news to tenants since the building usually reeks of garbage and marijuana, has an outdated ugly lobby, filthy hallways and stairwells and an overgrown, leaf-covered backyard common area no tenants use.

According to The Real Deal, Mallory Management bought the 121-unit rental building on 10th Street for $72.5 million. Residents in the back of No. 85 will have unobstructed views of the demolition at 112-120 and subsequent construction of the Moxy hotel, which is expected to open in late 2018.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Updated: 6-building complex on East 10th Street and East 11th Street sells for $127 million

Report: LPC OKs renovation and expansion of 4 St. Mark's Place

[EVG file photo of 4 St. Mark's Place]

On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) signed off on renovations and an expansion for the Hamilton-Holly House aka 4 St. Mark's Place aka the former storefront for Trash & Vaudeville.

The landmarked building (built in 1831 and sold to Alexander Hamilton’s son two years later) changed hands for $10 million in the spring.

As we first noted back in June, the building's developers, Castellan Real Estate Partners, need the proper LPC approvals before any work can take place.

The proposed plans show that the 4-floor building would increase its residential units from three to eight... with the help of a fifth-floor addition and expansion in the rear ... (the proposed renderings are on the left)


[Click for more detail]

...and the profile section...



New York Yimby has a full recap of the LPC meeting here.

A quick takeaway from NYY:

The commissioners were okay with most of the proposal, but not the fifth floor, because it would knock out the rear dormers. Nor did they like the new window at the basement level. They also had issues with the signage proposed for the front. In the end, they approved the proposal, but with the elimination of the new fifth floor and the new basement window. Without that additional floor, there might be a reduction in residential unit count. The applicant will also work with the LPC staff on the signage.

The LPC presentation included this photo of No. 4 from 1940...



Eastern Consolidated is currently listing two retail spaces at the building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Until this past February, 4 St. Mark's Place housed Trash & Vaudeville for 41 years. (The store is now at 96 E. Seventh St.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: After 40 years, punk rock mainstay Trash and Vaudeville is leaving St. Mark's Place

4 St. Mark's Place is for sale

More residential units and a 5th-floor addition in the works for landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place

Try not to rock the boat while 'Ocean's 8' films here today

Fans of the first seven Ocean's movies will be pleased to know that crews will be back filming scenes for "Ocean's 8" here today.


[Pause for bad joke to sink in]


Anyway! This all-female spin-off of the Ocean's Trilogy has an ensemble cast that includes Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Mindy Kalig, Awkwafina, Dakota Fanning, among others.

Cast and crew will be filming (or trucks are taking up space) on First Avenue between Sixth Street and St. Mark's Place, Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Avenue A, and Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A. Posted notices say crews will be filming roughly from 6 a.m. to midnight.

The film has a June 8, 2018, release date.

Updated 7:30 a.m.
Looks as if crews are setting up to shoot inside Blue & Gold on Seventh Street.

A look at the former Rodeo Bar, currrently being transformed into the Gem Saloon

And from up on Third Avenue at 27th Street, EVG reader Stephen Popkin shares these photos of the new facade of the incoming Gem Saloon ... owned by the folks who run East Village bars Phebe's on the Bowery and Penny Farthing on Third Avenue ...



The space was previously home for 27 years to the Rodeo Bar. The former Rodeo Bar sign has been removed from the building... its fate unknown at the moment...



As we first reported in July 2014, the Rodeo Bar — billed as "NYC’s longest running honky-tonk" — closed for good after 27 years in business. In a message on Facebook, the owners said that recent rent increases, "combined with a changing landscape, have made it impossible for us continue."

Kips Bay Corner reported yesterday that the Gem Saloon is expected to open on Jan. 4.

Back in June, a broker for the landlord told this to The Commercial Observer: "The Rodeo Bar was in operation for over 25 years, and hadn’t renovated or changed the interior in many years. The new tenants will transform the space into a first-class eating and drinking establishment. The tenant plans to renovate the entire space, to cater to a sophisticated clientele, that enjoy a wonderful atmosphere and quality food and spirits."

Wednesday's parting shot

The path to Peter Cooper outside Cooper Union via

Noted

Letter for Santa from residents of this East Ninth Street building... hoping the hot water issues doesn't continue...

Out and About in the East Village

In this ongoing 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: Henry Hills
Occupation: Filmmaker
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: Saturday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m.

I grew up in Atlanta. I was in San Francisco for four years and I moved here in 1978 - 6th Street between A and B for the first year, and 9th between B and C for 6 months. My apartment was burglarized, I got mugged twice in the park, but I had a great apartment. Then I subletted a place in SoHo for six months, I lived on the first block of Ludlow for eight years and then I renovated a building on 8th Street with a group of people — an artists' building.

When I was here in the 1970s ... there were a lot of empty storefronts, especially on Avenue B, but most of the storefronts weren’t stores. There would be a lot of little artist spaces that would come and go. Ray’s was there of course. Leshko’s was there but I liked Odessa better. You could eat supper for about $2, and there was an old woman who knew the regulars, and she would always give you extra portions. The kitchen in my place was impossible to cook at home, plus you couldn’t possibly buy groceries and eat as cheap as Odessa’s or Leshko’s.

We started as a study group in 1981. We got a site in 1985, and we moved in 1988. I’ve been there ever since. It was an artist-housing program that the Koch administration had proposed. It was basically people who were being displaced from SoHo, and they were moving them to Forsyth Street, but the Community Board freaked out because they were giving low-cost housing money to relocate artists who were being pushed out of Tribeca to the Lower East Side.

I got an application, and it was clear that with the deadline you had to hire a development team to do this, so we formed a study group. We figured we were all college graduates – we’d figure out how to fill out this application ourselves. So we ... put in an application. It was defeated by the Community Board. We went and asked them to spell out exactly what they opposed, because they didn’t want to say they hated artists. They just didn’t want this funding for low-cost housing to go to middle-class artists. I mean, it wasn’t all middle class — none of us had any money, but most of us came from middle-class backgrounds.

I’m a filmmaker. I’ve always made short films. I show a lot at Anthology Film Archives on Second Avenue and Second Street. This filmmaker friend Peter Hutton died last summer, so people got some friends and former students of his to go out and shoot a camera roll in 16mm. I shot a camera roll of the Hare Krishna Tree as a memorial to Peter and showed it at Bard College a few weeks ago and out in Brooklyn two weeks ago. I was out shooting today. I’m just making a little short film on the Hare Krishna Tree for my wife Martina, who’s also a filmmaker.

I just finished a new film called HHHHH - my first 16:9 movie. All the images revolve around the letter H. It’s a kind of game planned to avoid narrative, but still make it entertaining and a lively movie. I made a movie called SSS, which is on YouTube. I shot it when I was renovating the building. It’s a dance movie, shot entirely on the street. I worked with a bunch of dancers, and if it was a sunny day I would just call them up and we’d find one of the gardens or some rubble-filled lot or something, and they would improvise movement. I composed this movie. You can really see the neighborhood during that time and also the 1980s clothing styles.

I love Tompkins Square Park. I come here and sit almost every day. I think it’s the nicest neighborhood in town – every block has a garden. It’s unbelievable. I live in the back, between two one-way streets, a dead end and the park, with a tree in the backyard and stuff. It’s very quiet.

When I moved from Ludlow Street I could not believe how quiet it was. Here there are lot of people in rent-control apartments, there are the buildings where the tenants took over or people renovated, and also there is a bunch of public housing. So when you walk in Tompkins Square Park you don’t feel like you’re in a neighborhood full of millionaires.

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

Former Sunburnt Cow space on Avenue C is the new home of Viking Waffles

The retail space at the renovated (and taller by one floor) 137 Avenue C has been on the market for the past 15 or so months. The building's ground-floor was previously home to drunk-brunch hotspot Sunburnt Cow until April 2014.

Now The Commercial Observer has the scoop on the new tenant — Viking Waffles, which is opening its first retail space here. The location will also serve as Viking's wholesale manufacturing business, currently housed in Long Island City.

So what are Viking Waffles? Per the VW website:

Unlike Belgian waffles, Norwegian waffles are thinner, softer, fluffier and their heart-like shape fits conveniently in your hand making for a great snack on the go.

Viking Waffles are all-natural, gluten free, ready-to-eat and packed with 24g of protein and only 2g of sugar!

A photo posted by Viking Waffles® (@viking_waffles_) on Nov 25, 2016 at 9:46am PST

The packaged waffles are currently sold just in gyms around the city such as Barry's Bootcamp and Solace Crossfit as well as retail outlets like Westside Market on Third Avenue and 12th Street.

The broker at No. 137 noted that Benedicte Engen, a Crossfit trainer who founded Viking Waffles, only signed a five-year lease because "if their sales continue the way they’ve been going they will surely outgrow the space."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Renovations in store for 137 Avenue C, home to the Sunburnt Cow

The Sunburnt Cow closes for good at the end of this month

137 Avenue C, hollow on the inside

137 Avenue C — still standing!

137 Avenue C getting its extra floor


[Photo from April 2014]

Dahlia's-replacing salad and juice bar closes after 3 months on 2nd Avenue

After less than three months in business, 100% Healthy Blend (or maybe just Healthy Blend) has closed at Second Avenue and Fifth Street.

EVG regular Carol From East 5th Street, who shared the top photo, noted that workers were cleaning out the space yesterday.

There's also a notice from the Marshal, indicating that the property is now in possession of the landlord...





The quick-serve restaurant featured a sprawling menu that included create-your-own salads ... as well as juices, smoothies, empanadas, arepas and much more.

The corner spot was last home to Dahlia's, busted by the SLA after serving a reported 50 minors one night in January. The Mexican restaurant then closed in May.

Post, a new cafe, opens on Avenue B

Back in the fall of 2015, we heard that a new cafe was in the works for 42 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street.

In recent weeks it looked as if the place was getting ready to open... The cafe, called Post, debuted last week. EVG reader ‏@Jason_Chatfield shared these photos from yesterday...



The menu shows several varieties of biscuits for breakfast ... as well as coffee and tea...



Lunch and dinner are coming soon, per the Post website.

And we don't know too much else about Post at the moment. (Updated: Gothamist has more on Post here.)

The address was previously home to Coyi Cafe, which closed in January 2014 after five years in business.

SantaCon battle lines forming

Just 10 days out now from SantaCon 2016. So far, no word on where the annual [____________] will take place. Regardless, even if the hot action happens elsewhere, there are sure to be plenty of residual Santas and friends in these parts...

... which is why battle lines are already forming...

Once again, the Continental at 23 Third Ave. near St. Mark's Place is welcoming the SantaConners...



...though the sign arrived some six weeks later than last year...



Meanwhile! Around the corner at 6 St. Mark's Place...



...Barcade has put up some No Santa signage...



And noted...their response to the amNewYork piece on how to avoid SantaCon...

🎅🏼 is a lover of free will, liberty and this great city! If you choose to avoid #SantaConNYC on 12/10 we respect your decision. #bahumbug https://t.co/kVCDZezO1q

— Santacon NYC (@santacon) November 29, 2016

Tuesday's parting shot

Photo on Second Avenue late this afternoon by Derek Berg...

Steve Croman case adjourned until Feb. 7

Landlord Seve Croman was back in criminal court today... and the case was adjourned until Feb. 7, which is also the date for his civil trial.

A handful of Croman's tenant's braved the rain to attend...





Those in attendance were not aware of today's legal proceedings that led to the adjournment.

In May, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced 20 felony charges and civil suit against Croman, who owns 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village.

Photos today via Steven

The story behind one of the original CBGB awnings that's now up for auction

[Photo by Rainer Turim last winter outside the John Varvatos store on the Bowery]

According to research by Gothamist, there were three awnings during the life of CBGB at 315 Bowery. One was up from 1973 to 1987, another from 1987 to 2000 and the last until the club closed in 2006.

And where are they now? The most recent awning is at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Museum in Cleveland. The original awning was allegedly in the possession of JFA (Jodie Foster's Army), who may have borrowed it after a show in the mid 1980s. And the third awning has been with East Village resident Drew Bushong since 2004.

Now Bushong is selling the awning at an auction at Sotheby's on Dec. 10, where it could potentially fetch between $25,000 and $35,000.

I asked Bushong, a former CBGB employee, about the awning and how it came to live in a box under his bed... and why he's selling it now.

How did you come into possession of the awning?

Totally randomly. I was walking home from Mars Bar on a sweaty night in 2004 and saw a cardboard box that was very familiar. It had sat above my desk for a year. I heard later it was just waiting for postage stamps to get to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but was tossed out with a bunch of other crap in a cleaning rage.

So I saw it sticking half out of the trash in front of the club, and just threw it over my shoulder. I didn't really lose my shit about it until the next day when I woke up in bed next to it, torn open with the awning peeking out of it. Was quite an exciting hangover.

How do you know that it’s the real deal?

There's no doubt it's real. In my research, it's one of only three awnings that hung there. It went up as a replacement after punk rockers JFA are rumored to have stolen the first one.

It's a bit of a mess with paint splotches over some tags and it stinks a bit. It's been under my bed mostly since I found it.

Why are you selling it?

I had a beautiful baby girl, Thorn, 3-and-a-half-weeks ago and could use the space and money in better ways now. Dad ways now. Life's pretty exciting.

How long did you work at CBGB?

I worked as a door guy/security starting in late 2000 and was just working a couple shifts a week here and there. I had been there a few months and was getting pretty good at it. One boring night I ended up stopping a fight from happening and got stabbed in the neck in the process. I held the knifer down, under this awning actually, and called [owner] Hilly [Kristal] before calling the cops. I guess I handled the fight pretty well as I was promoted to management pretty soon after.

I have to say it was the best job I'll ever have. Best crew of people and employees and some of the most exciting shows I'll ever see in my life. Really got to be a part of something real special by working there.


[The middle awning is the one up for auction on Dec. 10]

Artichoke appears to be moving into a new space on 14th Street

An EVG tipster shares the following from 14th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue:

"At the end of October, I noticed construction guys at 321 E. 14th St. It has always been a vacant storefront. (I think there was a statue of a Virgin Mary in the window for awhile.) Anyway, imagine my surprise and glee when I read a pizza place was coming!"

Indeed, the work permits do show a "pizza restaurant" in the making...



Furthermore, the tipster said that the space will house Artichoke Basille's Pizza, the growing pizzeria empire that opened its first location nearly directly across 14th Street in 2008. Per the tipster, there's a "rent-hike scenario" brewing at the original location.



Approved work permits list the name of Francis Garcia, who founded Artichoke with his cousin Sal Basille, as the owner. (Public records lists an LLC with a Flushing address as the owner.)

The permits, approved in September, show the estimated build-out cost for the pizzeria at $72,750.

There are currently nine Artichoke locations, eight in NYC and one in Berkeley, Calif.

The 13th South Asian International Film Fest is this week at Village East Cinema (and an offer for EVG readers)

[A scene from "Gardaab," playing Friday night]

The 13th annual South Asian International Film Fest takes place this year from Wednesday (tomorrow!) through Sunday at the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at 12th Street.

Here's more about the fest:

The South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) is the largest film premiere destination for South Asian/Indian filmmakers in the United States. SAIFF was founded in New York City due to the lack of support for many emerging filmmakers and the overall underrepresentation of Indian cinema in a capital that is recognized by the world as the birthplace of independent filmmaking! The Festival is committed to exhibiting films from South Asia (i.e India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal) and within the Indian Diaspora.

One of the Festival's producers is an EVG reader, and he's making this offer to other readers: A 50% discount on all SAIFF tickets. Please enter this code at checkout: ZAZZY2016 (it must be all caps).

You can find the list of films playing right here.

Monday's parting shot

Photo from earlier today... the Joe Strummer mural outside Niagara on Seventh Street at Avenue A... dressed for the holiday season.

Report: Attacker repeatedly punches man dining at B Bar and Grill

Surveillance video published by NBC 4 New York this evening shows a man run up to a diner sitting in the covered patio at B Bar and Grill and repeatedly punch the victim.

The incident occurred last Wednesday night at the restaurant on Fourth Street at the Bowery.

Per NBC 4:

The footage ... shows the assailant run up from out of the frame as the patron sits and stares at a fireplace. The attacker throws one haymaker after another until several others rush to help the victim.

The 29-year-old victim, who asked not to be identified because the attacker is still on the loose, told NBC 4 New York that his head still hurts several days after the attack.

And...

The victim said there was no warning that he was about to be attacked and that he didn't remember saying anything to the man beforehand. He said over the weekend that he thought he may have been targeted because he was gay.

Police could not confirm whether the incident was being investigated as a hate crime, according to DNAinfo.

Patch reported that the attack took place around 11 p.m.

None of the media reports had any description of the suspect. An earlier post at NBC 4 included this photo of the alleged suspect...



You can watch the video over at NBC 4.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Another court date for Steve Croman tomorrow morning

Steve Croman, who is charged with 20 felonies and a civil suit accusing him of forcing tenants from their rent-controlled apartments, is due back in court tomorrow morning.

Croman tenants are holding a rally outside Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Centre St. Afterwards, tenants are going to room 1322 on the 13th floor...

Here's the flyer that arrived via the EVG email...



Croman's real-estate empire includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village. As previously noted, Croman owns more buildings in the East Village than any other landlord.

Morning watch on Avenue A

The scene on Avenue A at Ninth Street this morning... with Dora the red-tailed hawk keeping watch a block away atop St. Nicholas on 10th Street...





Thanks to Steven for the photos

The past, present and future of 264 E. 7th St.

[264 E. 7th St.]

The New York Times checks in with a piece on 264. E. Seventh St., the circa-1843 townhouse between Avenue C and Avenue D awaiting possible demolition.

In late October, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) announced that they will not consider a row of five pastel-colored residences here for landmarking. As previously reported, preservationists hoped to have the buildings landmarked ... in part to spare the demolition of No. 264 for some unspecified new development. (In early September, a permit was filed with the DOB to demolish the 3-level house.)

Per the Times:

The fate of the rowhouse is now in the hands of its owner, Elaine Hsu, the president of GlobalServ Property One, with offices on Lexington Avenue.

Barbara Sloan, the operations manager at Manhattan Renovations, a general contractor representing GlobalServ, said the owner was planning an information session for neighbors “to discuss details surrounding potential asbestos abatement and demolition.” She declined to comment on what might replace the building.

And...

“We recognize that people feel very passionate about their neighborhoods,” said Sarah Carroll, the executive director of Landmarks. But “in some cases, Landmarks designation is not actually the right tool.”

[Photo at rally outside No. 264 on Nov. 4 by Peter Brownscombe]

For more history on these buildings in the former Dry Dock District, head over to Ephemeral New York.

As residents of the Dry Dock District gained power and ran for office, the houses acquired a new distinction: “Political Row.”

Political Row “has furnished many office-holders, and there were more office-holders and patriots who are willing to serve the city and county, the State or the country at large, living on that thoroughfare now than on any similar stretch of highway in New York,” stated the Evening World in 1892.

The beginning of Political Row’s end came at the turn of the century, when many of the original houses went down and tenements built in their place.

Newspapers wrote descriptive eulogies, mourning a neighborhood that was “an American District” now colonized by a second wave of immigrants.

Previously on EV Grieve:
City says no to landmarking row of 7th Street homes, clearing way for demolition of No. 264