[Updated] Patrons trying to help keep Big Lee's open on 1st Avenue

We noticed that Big Lee's (aka the Hard Swallow Saloon), the no-frills bar at 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, has been closed the past week.

Some patrons of Big Lee's have started a fundraising campaign to help keep the bar open. Here's part of their appeal:

We are friends of Big Lee's The Hard Swallow Saloon, and are fighting to keep another true dive bar from being kicked out of the big city. Due to a re-neg on a purchase agreement of the bar, our friends are now having to incur some serious legal fees to fight this injustice, and also cover lost revenue while the bar is closed. ... So we're asking for everyone to help pitch in a little to help cover the legal fees & get our favorite bar back open.

So far, the group has raised some $1,400 of a $10,000 goal.

The bar opened in the summer of 2015 in the former Spanky and Darla's space. Big Lee is a former doorman/bouncer at Hogs & Heifers as well as Coney Island High on St. Mark's Place (he is also originally from Coney Island).

Updated 12/10

Big Lee's is back open...


[Photo by Steven]

The 25th annual tree lighting in Tompkins Square Park is Sunday (Dec. 11)

From 4-5 p.m. And as usual, the event includes music via the Carolers of Olde New York from Theatre for the New City and refreshments from Veselka.

The tree was planted in 1992 in memory of Park advocate Glenn Barnett, "and each of our neighbors whom we have lost to AIDS," per the sign that hangs near the tree.

Revisit last year's gathering here.


[Photo from last year by Stacie Joy]

Turntable Lab reveals new 10th Street storefront

[Image via Turntable Lab]

Last month, the owners of Turntable Lab announced that they will be moving away from their small storefront on Seventh Street near Avenue A "to a larger, more central East Village location."

The Google Map link they provided on their website takes visitors to 10th Street between Fourth Avenue and Third Avenue. There are several available storefronts on that block, so we weren't sure which space the 17-year-old Turntable Lab would be taking.

Now, though, the coming soon signage is at 84 E. 10th St. ...



... above Ramen Zundo-Ya and right next door to Black and White.

The sign points to a February opening for the store that sells a variety of vinyl, stereo equipment and assorted DJ gear.

Report: Raphael Toledano selling more East Village properties

[Part of the East 5th Street buildings owned by Raphael Toledano]

As we first reported in September, Raphael Toledano's Brookhill Properties was selling more than a third of its East Village properties.

Now comes word via The Real Deal that Toledano is expanding the scope of the sale to 13 East Village buildings. (He acquired the 13 buildings through two separate deals with the Tabak family last year, paying $140 million to acquire 28 buildings in total.)

According to The Real Deal, these are the buildings for sale:

• 514 E. 12th St.
• 510 E. 12th St.
• 251 E. 10th St.
• 253 E. 10th St.
• 332 E. Ninth St.
• 334 E. Ninth St.
• 27 St. Mark’s Place
• 66 E. Seventh St.
• 223 E. Fifth St.
• 229 E. Fifth St.
• 231 E. Fifth St.
• 233 E. Fifth St.
• 235 E. Fifth St.

Records show that Toledano paid a combined $76 million for the 13 buildings he’s shopping. Now, the price tag for these 13 buildings, which feature 206 apartments and 12 retail spaces, is $160 million, a number sources told The Real Deal was ambitious.

The Brookhill Properties website shows that the company owns 21 buildings in the East Village. However, that number is starting to decrease.

In September, he reportedly sold 221 E. 10th St. and 58 St. Mark’s Place. There was also a listing for 444 E. 13th St. (That address is no longer on the Cushman & Wakefield website.)

In an interview published by The Real Deal back in June, Toledano said that he will keep his core East Village assets "for eternity."

As previously reported, Toledano, 26, has been accused of a variety of predatory practices. In addition, 20 of his buildings were tested for toxic levels of dust. In May, Toledano agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged that he harassed rent-regulated residents at 444 E. 13th St. He also apparently ruined Thanksgiving for a few East 12th Street residents.

New condos at 64 E. 1st St. exposed

Workers have removed the scaffolding and construction netting from 64 E. First St., showing off the building that the marketing materials say "stylishly pays homage to the nearby iconic Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges."

Here's a look at the rendering...



The site for 64 East — located [eyeroll] in the "Bowery District" — shows that two units are svailable in the $3.3 million neighborhood. (For what it's worth, the Post recently noted that Seth Rogen and his wife Lauren Anne Miller Rogen recently checked out a home here.) In total, there are six, full-floor residences here between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

This lot previously housed LaVie, the horrible hookah hotspot that closed for good in June 2013 after a protracted battle with the SLA.

Previously on EV Grieve:
La Vie has closed; neighbors rejoice

Former La Vie space on East First Street will be demolished

Getting rid of the rats at the former LaVie ahead of a new 6-floor residential building

Here lies the remains of La Vie

Here's a look at the new condos coming to East 1st Street

This is what the new condo building at 64 E. 1st St. will really look like

The 'stunning boutique collection' of new residences on East 1st Street in 'The Bowery District'

Construction watch: 64 E. 1st St., paying homage to the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges

Former TakeMeHome space wants you to rent it

The for rent signed finally arrived late last week at 151 Avenue A, most recently TakeMeHome Rotisserie Chicken.

The to-go shop never seemed to have it together ... shutting down for weeks at a time before resuming business. It finally closed this past summer.

To date, the listing at Winick hasn't been posted. (Most of their listings note that the rent is available upon request.)

Before TakeMeHome opened, high-profile restaurateurs Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield were vying to open a cafe here in the spring of 2014, though the CB3/SLA Liquor Licensing Committee voted to deny them a license, disappointing fans of chicken liver toast in the process.

TakeMeHome opened in November 2014. The space previously housed a San Loco.

Week in Grieview

[Time to hoard paper towels]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

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

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

The Neptune Restaurant is closing (Sunday)

Steve Croman case adjourned until Feb. 7 (Tuesday)

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

Out and About with Henry Hills (Wednesday)

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

The Lightstone Group flips 10th Street residential building (Thursday)

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

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

Grubby ol' St. Nick inflatable makes triumphant return to 14th Street after two (long) years (Saturday)

Beethoven Hall, that $25 million condo for sale on 5th Street, returns to the market (Friday)

Dahlia's-replacing salad and juice bar closes after 3 months on Second Avenue (Wednesday)

The past, present and future of 264 E. Seventh St. (Monday)

Al Horno Lean Mexican Kitchen now open on First Avenue (Monday)

"Please think about the darkness you are going to create with your development" (Monday)

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

Post, a new cafe, opens on Avenue B (Wednesday)

About Southern Cross Coffee, opening soon on Fifth Street (Monday)

Squish Marshmallows opens on St. Mark's Place (Monday)

SantaCon battle lines forming (Wednesday)

Speaking of SantaCon, there was a warm-up of sorts yesterday with an ugly Christmas sweater bar crawl... a sweater selection via Derek Berg...

Today is the last day in business for the Neptune

Neptune Restaurant on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street closes after service today. Staff started telling this news to patrons on Friday evening.

This iteration of the Polish diner has been around since 2001... though there has been a Polish-American restaurant here, such as KK, for a lot longer ...


[Photo from 1997 by Dave Buchwald]

The buildings here at 192-194 First Ave. arrived on the market in January 2015. At that time, both of the retail spaces (the other being Lin's Laundromat) were listed.

This past July, the EMMES Group of Companies sold the two five-story, walk-up buildings to Nazarian Property Group in an all-cash transaction valued at $13 million.

Then in the fall, the Neptune cut back hours during the week...


[Photo by Greg Masters]

And add the Neptune to the RIP list of affordable diners, joining Polonia, Kiev, Christine's, Leshko's, Teresa's, the Stage ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Space that houses 1st Avenue's Polish-American diner Neptune is on the market

7:45 a.m., Tompkins Square Park, Dec. 4

Report of a gas leak on 9th Street and Avenue A

ConEd and officers from the 9th Precinct were on the scene early this morning (7:30) on Avenue A and Ninth Street ... where there had been a report of a (noticeable) gas leak at 145 Avenue A... at the time, no one involved appeared terribly concerned ... Ninth Street was blocked off at A to vehicles, but pedestrians were allowed to pass on the sidewalk ...and the Neighborhood Barbers were open for business as usual...

Some big nights ahead for the Second Avenue Star Watchers

Via East Village astronomy buff Felton Davis...

Amazing lineup of planets setting in the southwest this week: the sun in Ophiuchus setting at 4:30 pm, Saturn in Ophiuchus setting at 4:55 pm, Mercury in Sagittarius setting at 5:34 pm, Pluto in Sagittarius setting at 6:56 pm, Venus in Sagittarius setting at 7:30 pm, Mars in Capricorn setting at 9:30 pm, and Neptune in Capricorn setting at 11:19 pm. What a spectacle for people viewing over the Hudson from High Line Park or from Battery Park.

What does that leave for Second Avenue Star Watchers? It leaves a nice four-day old waxing crescent Moon about seven degrees north of Venus in the constellation Capricorn, and if it doesn't cloud over, later in the evening the famous Pleiades star cluster rising high in the heavens between Aries and Taurus.

If it stays clear I'll set up outside The Bean (East Third Street & Second Avenue) at 5:30 pm to show the Moon going down, but don't get your hopes up for the Pleiades, because that one is difficult to spot from the street.

Updated: Unfortunately, the cloud coverage made all this impossible this evening... Felton says he will try again tomorrow night...

Grubby ol' St. Nick inflatable makes triumphant return to 14th Street after 2 (long) years

[Lame perky inflatables photo from December 2014]

After two years of lame perky inflatables at the tree stand on 14th Street at First Avenue ... a familiar figure has returned atop the RV...



Why yes, it is grubby ol' St. Nick! (Trailer Park Santa Claus to a few) ... and it looks like the genuine original (unlike the fake cube that returned to Astor Place)...



Compare this to a photo from several years ago ... (image slightly faded as it's been in a frame on my desk)...



Meanwhile, in other less-triumphant returns, the one-seat bubble room is back outside Whole Foods Market® Bowery ... providing shelter to the brave men and women (one at a time) who sell the holiday trees here...



Previously on EV Grieve:
The Year Without a Trailer Park Santa Claus

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

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