State attorney general sues David Barton Gyms following sudden closure in December

[Image from Dec. 21 via]

Back in December, the four David Barton Gym locations in Manhattan, including on Astor Place, shut down without any warning to its members or staff.

Now, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a lawsuit against Club Ventures Investments LLC d/b/a David Barton Gyms (DBG).

Here's more from a media advisory that Schneiderman's office shared today:

According to the lawsuit, over 5,000 members enrolled in these four New York City health club facilities, many of whom had paid hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, in advance for membership and training packages. At least one consumer complained that he had paid in excess of $15,000. Although Defendants were well aware that the health clubs were in a financially precarious position, they continued to enroll new members and accept payments for future services up through early December 2016. The health clubs failed to provide any advance notice to members that they were going to close. The clubs subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

“As alleged in our complaint, David Barton Gyms acted irresponsibly and left their members without any recourse to recover lost payments, causing some to lose thousands of dollars,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Health clubs must own up to their responsibilities to their members. They cannot be open one day and closed the next without proper notice to their membership, and must provide refunds for services not provided.” During the early hours of December 21, a security company retained by DBG changed the locks on the doors at each facility and affixed a notice to the outside doors ... DBG was promoting itself on social media up to two days before it closed.

The Attorney General’s office is seeking full restitution and an accounting to determine to whom the health clubs owe money. The office will closely monitor the bankruptcy proceedings and take whatever actions are warranted to protect the interests of the consumers.

Club Ventures and the other corporate defendants purchased the facilities from David Barton, the original owner, in 2013.

Consumers who were DBG members and believe they are owed a refund are urged to file a complaint online or call 1-800-771-7755. Consumers who paid by credit card are also advised to contact their credit card company and dispute the charges due to the failure of the gyms to provide the contracted services.

The Astor Place location opened in 2009. The space was previously a Barnes & Noble.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] David Barton Gyms abruptly close

Holiday season is officially over on 9th Street

The Christmas holiday season anyway... workers were out this morning removing the lights from the light poles on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

And in case you need help spotting the lights in the back of the truck...



Thanks to Steven and EV Arrow

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: Delphine Blue
Occupation: Radio Host, DJ, Pilates Instructor
Location: St. Mark's Place between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue
Date: Thursday, Feb. 2 at 1:45 pm

I’m from Queens — Fresh Meadows. My dad had a store on Avenue C and 5th Street in the 1960s called Sol’s Hardware. I would go there sometimes when I was very young. I remember we walked out of the store one day and there was a guy wearing a fez and I was like, ‘Dad, what’s that,’ and he was like, ‘That’s a beatnik.’

He had that store for awhile but that was when the Lower East Side was dangerous. People were getting shot and killed and my mom told him, ‘You have to sell that store or I’m going to be a widow.’ Around that time there were some homeless guys who were going into various hardware stores on the Lower East Side and buying wood alcohol. It was cheaper than going to a liquor store and some of them died. They were alcoholics and drinking this stuff and dying in the street.

So the FBI started to investigate it and they asked one of the homeless people where they bought it and they pointed to my father’s store. At the time my grandfather was minding the store and they arrested him on the spot and charged him with murder and he was on the 6 o'clock news. He wasn’t charged with murder ultimately, but they kept this investigation on for years and years. When I was a little kid they used to come to my house, handcuff my father, and take him away to question him.

They left my father’s business unattended on the Lower East Side when they arrested my grandfather and we had the lawsuit against the city that they kept pushing back to try to get us to drop it, and we didn’t. And then we finally won and we had a huge award — and then the city reduced it to like $900.

I started coming to the East Village around the late 1970s. My best friend and I moved into a studio apartment at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. It was tiny and it was totally fine — we were as happy as could be. We started going to all the clubs then, down to the Mudd Club, Club 57, Max’s Kansas City to see Blondie and CBGBs to see Patti Smith.

The club scene was so creative and a melding of all these different things and all these different kinds of music. It was everything together. It seemed like everybody was doing something related to the arts or fashion or being in a band. You could get by and you could live. You could live creatively and everybody you knew was doing that.

The best thing about the East Village then was that there were gazillions of shops down here. There were loads of vintage stores where you could get great clothes. Many of the shops didn’t open till 5 or 6 in the afternoon and stayed open till midnight. Nighttime was when all the cool shops would open, so you would go hang out in the shops and record stores and then go to a club. I would describe it like a festival. That’s what it felt like. Didn’t get going till noon. The streets were deserted till noon. You could eat any kind of food, really good food for really cheap and buy anything you wanted anytime of the day or night, and be surrounded by creative people.

I was aspiring to be a ballet dancer. That was my dream. I went to ballet classes every day. Then a little bit of rock n’ roll life collided with that. They didn’t mix very well and rock n’ roll won. And you kind of have to be touched by the gods to be a ballet dancer, and I wasn’t going to get where I wanted to go, but I could have still had a dance career.

I started DJing at the Sheraton Hotel on 53rd Street and 7th Avenue. They had a dinner club and they only hired girls. We were supposed to be playing disco music and they were teaching me how to mix. It’s not that I had a prejudice toward the music, I liked it, I liked to go out dancing, but I tried to play some rock songs and I got fired.

Next week Delphine talks about her DJ career that took her from WLIR to WBAI to Little Water Radio.

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

The all-new 189 7th St. asking $6.25 million

[Photo from 2014]

The circa-1860 townhouse on Seventh Street between Avenue B and Avenue C has emerged from behind the scaffolding and construction netting following a full-on gut rehab...


[Photo by Dave on 7th]

And now the all-new No. 189 is available as a single-family home. Here are the details via Sotheby's:

Upon entering this beautiful townhouse, there are 22-foot-high ceilings. Located on the first floor is a Poggenpohls custom chefs kitchen with custom Statutori marble countertops. The kitchen offers a fully marble covered island, along with a Six Burner Wolf Range, Miele Dishwasher, Viking Fridge and modernized ez-touch cabinets.

The 2nd floor is an open library and living room. The 3rd floor presents a one-of-a-kind open master suite layout with a separate standing shower on a class of its own. The vanities are a combination of top pieces from Ferguson, Kohler, and Restoration Hardware. The 4th floor presents two additional bedrooms, each personalized with their own all-marbled bathrooms and Porcelanosa vanities. At the top of the home lies a private oasis, roof decked in custom Runnen Tiles, along with a Calcutta Stone front ledge and Statutori back ledge.

Here are a few interior pics...





Price: $6.25 million.

At the rally for the former PS 64 today at City Hall

As previously reported, local elected officials and other community leaders, organizations and residents held a rally and press conference on the steps of City Hall this afternoon to get Mayor De Blasio's attention on the former P.S 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street. (You can read the background here. Or here.)

EVG regular Peter Brownscombe shared these photos...





"Developers and their lobbyists are looking for every loophole they can find to convert Lower East Side community resources into luxury real estate opportunities," said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. "After what happened to Rivington House, properties with deed restrictions like this one deserve the strictest scrutiny from city agencies. We are still waiting for answers from City Hall to our questions about this property and its status, and we think Lower East Side residents have a right to demand a true community facility in this building."

City Council member Rosie Mendez, who helped organize the rally, was unable to attend due to a family emergency. Her office shared this statement: "The Former PS 64 CHARAS/El Bohio was a school building and a cultural community center that cultivated the hopes and dreams of so many people in our community. Community activists laid the seeds and the foundation that created our community gardens and our urban homesteading buildings while sitting in a room at CHARAS. This Valentine’s Day my community and I want nothing more than to get our building back."

And here are a few more photos... via Scuba Diva...




[Chino Garcia, one of the five founding members of CHARAS]

Valentine's night at Sunny's

[Photo by @EdenBrower]

Sunny's Florist, operated by Sun "Sunny" Ja Hwang and her son Edward, on Sixth Street at Second Avenue is arguably the best place to buy flowers in this or any neighborhood ... no surprise then that there is always a line on Valentine's Day or Mother's Day for quality bouquets that start at $10.

Noted

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

Streeteasy teamed up with Hinge, the relationship app, for a Valentine's Day survey about dating in NYC.

Here are a few places in which the East Village rated...

Residents of Murray Hill, Gramercy Park and the East Village in Manhattan are the most prone to conversation after connecting with someone on Hinge. However, it’s difficult to say whether these conversations will lead anywhere. After all, the goal of dating on an app – much like the goal of apartment hunting – is to eventually meet in person.

Hmmmk

And the 5 most-popular neighborhoods in Manhattan for dating:
1. West Village
2. Murray Hill
3. Flatiron
4. East Village
5. Chelsea

A mid-afternoon Valentine's break

Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Steven...

Clockwork Bar denounces weekend attack by reported white supremacist group

As you may have read, a group of men described as "neo Nazis" attacked twin brothers outside Clockwork Bar on Essex Street early Sunday morning.

The Post had the first report:

The beatdown happened when the brothers, both 27-year-old Columbia graduate students, noticed the large group of “skinheads” hanging inside one of their usual haunts called Clockwork on Essex Street and decided to head for the exits around 12:30 a.m.

On the way out the door, they ran into a group of smokers outside who noticed the sticker on one of their phones reading “New York City Anti-Fascists.”

“One of the guys … sees [my brother’s] phone, grabs it and starts screaming, ‘I know what the f— that means, I know what the f— that sticker is, you need to get the f— out of here,’” said one of the victims, who asked to remain anonymous.

“He throws the phone on the ground and they just start jumping us right in front of the bar.”

Six to seven men, all wearing matching vests with patches that read "211 Crew," reportedly took place in the fight.

Police arrested one of the group members, identified as John Young, 29, of Washington, D.C., according to DNAinfo. The charges against Young include two counts of assault as well as menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

Gothamist has more details on the attack here.

Yesterday afternoon, the bar, which opened in 2013 at 21 Essex St. between Hester and Canal, released the following statement...

Clockwork Bar would like to express its concern for the victims of the attacks on Feb. 11 on Essex and Hester streets. Our hearts go out to them. And we pray for a speedy recovery.

We would also like to state clearly that Clockwork Bar does NOT endorse, sympathize, nor invite the views and beliefs of Neo-Nazi, supremacist hate groups. These groups and their views are not welcome at our establishment. They have never been, nor will ever be invited or allowed in our bar. We apologize for what happened and are taking steps to prevent future instances as well as working with the NYPD to increase awareness and security for our patrons.

Furthermore, it is fundamental to Clockwork Bar, its ownership and staff that we are not a Neo-Nazi, white supremacist or hate group association establishment. Clockwork is about music, friendship and good times. Anything else is hereby prohibited.

The two brothers reportedly suffered cuts and bruises to their faces and bodies and were taken to New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital. One brother required five staples to close a wound on his head.

ABC 7 had an interview last evening with one of the brothers:

"I'm completely shocked, and I'm appalled by it," the victim said. "I feel like these organizations are sort of being emboldened to come out of the woodwork now, just because of the general sentiment that's going on."

The Clockwork Bar also updated their profile photo last evening...


Updated — Gothamist has more today, reporting: "It turns out that Matt Restuccia, lead singer of the right-wing oi band Lonewolf and a 211 member, was DJing an after-party at Clockwork on the night of the attack. A flyer for the DJ set advertises it as an after-party for a concert by the legendary English punk band Cock Sparrer."

Reminder: Rally at City Hall today for PS 64

As we noted last week, City Council Member Rosie Mendez and other community leaders, organizations and residents are holding a rally and press conference on the steps of City Hall today to get Mayor De Blasio's attention on the former P.S 64 and CHARAS/El Bohio community center on East Ninth Street. The rally starts at 2 p.m. today.

As previously reported, developer Gregg Singer, who bought the property between Avenue B and Avenue C from the city in 1998, is reportedly pushing de Blasio's administration to remove a stop-work order that has been in place since 2015.

According to public records, Singer is continuing to retain high-powered lobbyist Jim Capalino, a former Mayor de Blasio ally, for the remainder of the year...


[Click for more detail]



Among Capalino's lobbying targets: the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development and the Office of the First Deputy Mayor.

Capalino, according to a New York Daily News story in March 2016, steered $50,000 to de Blasio after pushing the city to lift the deed restriction at the Rivington House. (The mayor said last August that he has cut off contact with the lobbyist in the wake of multiple investigations into his administration, per Politico.)

Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, told this to DNAinfo in a story published yesterday: "We want to save our community center and we don’t want another Rivington House situation where the restrictive deed on this property is undermined or circumvented and the dorm for hire plan that the developer is currently pursuing is approved and becomes the fate of the building."

It has been reported that Singer has a signed lease with Adelphi University, and hopes to have students move in by the fall of 2018.

Preservationist groups and other residents have been opposed to Singer's plans, and want to see a return of the landmarked building to use as a cultural and community center.

Previously

Southern Cross Coffee now open on 5th Street

[Photo by Steven]

Southern Cross Coffee opened its doors on Sunday at 300 E. Fifth St. (the Shops of East Fifth Street) between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Here are details via the Southern Cross Coffee Facebook page:

The name Southern Cross Coffee is in honor of the Southern Cross constellation, which is visible primarily in the southern hemisphere and sometimes as far up as 20 degrees north latitude. Our founders were both born in the southern hemisphere, where the constellation is very much a part of our cultures.

And...

Grab a great cup of locally roasted coffee and quick bite at Southern Cross Coffee. Natural foods and espresso made the traditional Italian way.

The cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. They do have a website, though it's still mostly under construction.

Jamie the check-cashing guy previously worked from this storefront before the renovations. The other two spaces remain on the rental market.

BeetleBug arrives with flowers on 9th Street

BeetleBug, a flower shop, recently opened at 441 E. Ninth St. at Avenue A (their placeholder website is here).

They are the first retail tenant in the recently renovated spaces along here... which have been vacant for nearly a year...



According to one previous tenant here, landlord Icon Realty either wasn't renewing leases or offering new terms with unmanageable rent increases. The last tenant to leave was the Upper Rust, who found a new space in Chelsea for their antiques.

The former tenant at No. 441, the vintage boutique Dusty Buttons, moved one block to the west on Ninth Street in 2015. Unfortunately, owner Amanda Loureiro recently announced that Dusty Buttons was closing at the end of this month at 324 E. Ninth St.

Back on Ninth and A, four other retail spaces remain for rent... and the corner spot, home for 20 years to Café Pick Me Up until May 2015, still sits empty.

Updated: DNAInfo followed up with a post on BeetleBug here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
On East 9th Street Dusty Buttons is closing after 125% rent hike: 'Saying goodbye will hurt like hell'

Monday's parting shot

A view downtown early this evening via Bobby Williams...

'St. Mark's Is Dead' at the Tompkins Square Library Thursday evening

Author Ada Calhoun will be reading from (and signing paperback copies of) her book "St. Marks Is Dead" this Thursday evening at the Tompkins Square Library branch.

The reading starts at 6. The event is free to attend, though attendees are encouraged to RSVP here.

This is part of the library's ongoing LES Oral History Project.

A 4-vehicle pileup on East Houston

An EVG reader shared these photos from yesterday afternoon... showing a four-vehicle pileup on East Houston at Attorney...



Per the reader: "Guy in the black coupe tried to pass westbound cars stopped at the Attorney Street light by going in the bike lane. He hit the parked white SUV, which hit the Smart car, hitting another SUV."



And there is some surveillance video showing the impact of the crash...





The crash reportedly drew an emergency response that included four fire trucks, four police cruisers and three ambulances. According to the reader, the westbound lane of Houston was closed for several hours.

"People in the black coupe were ambulatory, but taken to the hospital by EMS," said the reader. "The traffic coming off the FDR is so fast. People think it's a highway when the speed limit is 25 mph."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reports: 73-year-old East Village woman struck and killed by van while crossing East Houston

More accidents on East Houston Street

Reader report: An assessment of the dangerous East Houston-Avenue B/Clinton Street intersection

Resident: July 4 collision highlights dangerous East Houston-Avenue B/Clinton Street intersection

1st sign of Ikinari Steak, the quick-serve, no-seat steakhouse coming to 10th Street

The signage has arrived for Ikinari Steak at 90 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue...



This will be the first U.S. location (there are more than 100 worldwide) for the popular Tokyo-based restaurant. The concept: Diners stand and basically eat really quickly.

Here's more on Ikinari Steak and its owner, restaurateur Kunio Ichinose, via The Financial Times:

Customers stand at 1m-high tables and order the precise number of grammes desired. The cost — Y5/gramme for rib-eye to more than Y10/g for sirloin — gives customers what Mr Ichinose claims is a vital sense of control.

Everything is calculated for speed of throughput and optimal use of limited ground floor spaces in key city locations. The height of the tables, Mr. Ichinose demonstrates by jumping up and miming, has been calibrated so that diners are unlikely to put their knives and forks down between mouthfuls. He pulls out a smartphone, which funnels him real-time CCTV footage of all the restaurants, to show this happening.

Press materials for this first U.S. location note the following:

The idea behind Ikinari Steak is to serve “super thick” high quality meats quickly and economically, therefore people stand while consuming their steaks. It’s a fun, interactive, communal, and brand new experience for New Yorkers! This is what is called "J-Steak" (Japanese style steak), a phrase coined by, and being introduced to New York by Ikinari Steak. Three cuts of Choice Beef are offered at a minimum of 12 or 14 oz.: ribeye, sirloin, and filet, cooked on an open-fire, served with corn, and presented sizzling on a cast-iron platter. Guests can choose to add more to their steaks at an extra cost. Therefore, any tenth of an ounce increment above the minimum is possible, as all steaks are cut to order. Lunch will offer a set meal of a 14oz Chuck Eye Steak with salad, soup and rice for $18.

The restaurant, designed by Idea+ Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, and Goodspeed Architects in NYC, has 40 standing stations and 10 table seats. The same loyalty program, so popular in Japan, will also be offered in New York. It's a "beef mileage card" app that allows diners to track how many pounds of steak they’ve eaten and ranks them against other regulars.

The original opening date was November... so not sure what the new date is. Soon?

This address was home to the steakhouse Prime & Beyond until last summer.

Previously on EV Grieve:
On 10th Street, Prime & Beyond has closed; popular Japanese steakhouse coming

The Empire has officially fallen: Former Biscuit shop for rent on Avenue A

A for rent sign arrived on Friday at 198 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street, marking the official end of Empire Biscuit.

The quick-serve biscuiteers were only open a few days in 2016. They announced reduced hours in January 2016, and then never reopened. Empire Biscuit owner Jonathan Price promised a return in March. That same month, someone there posted a disposable plate on the front window noting that they were peelin' potatoes.

so many potatoes.

— Empire Biscuit (@empirebiscuit) April 27, 2016

Legal documents from the landlord arrived on the front door back in the fall. According to that paperwork, the Biscuit owner was in arrears on rent and back taxes to the sum of $106,000.

Meanwhile, the for rent sign stipulates no bars or restaurants.

Empire Biscuit opened, originally 24/7, to some fanfare in the fall of 2013. Several near-by residents were turned off by their slogan — Breakfast Lunch Dinner Drunk.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Incoming Empire Biscuit on Avenue A launches Kickstarter campaign (122 comments)

Report: Empire Biscuit opens today (65 comments)

More renovations for Whole Foods Market® Bowery

A few weeks ago I noted some renovations underway at the Whole Foods Market® Bowery. For starters, a new bakery is going into the store's northeast corner at the Bowery/Houston entrance.

There are more renovations on the way. In addition to the bakery, parts of the area adjacent to the salad bar region were recently boarded up ... the sign promises more prepared foods...





I recall a sushi station here... and a pizza stand, which is still there... and what else was back here?

Anyway, some Whole Foods Market® Bowery regulars and semi-regulars have noted the 10-year-old store is seeming a little tired these days.

Back in January, the Post went in for a look at the dining area on the second level.

Substance abusers, drug dealers and homeless people are turning the sunny cafe area, where shoppers can dine on pulled pork or Vietnamese sandwiches, into their own private social club for the cost of a cup of coffee or nothing at all.

During five visits to the store in recent weeks, a reporter saw a modern-day Bowery bum sleeping in the fetal position, another nodding out in an obvious drug-induced haze, a few who appeared to be drunk, and one smearing toothpaste on his face and mumbling to himself.

A new era of Bowery bums, plus more workout choices

Over the weekend the Post checked in with a feature on the boutique gyms and studios that continue to pop up along the Bowery and various side streets.

The article, titled "Bowery, once gross, now bursts with boutique gyms," provides an overview of the new spaces, such as New York Pilates, who use some butt sidewalk signage for their studio at 262 Bowery.

Meanwhile! There are more gyms on the way ... coming-soon signage has been up since November for Rumble, which will offer boxing-inspired, group-fitness classes on Broadway at Fourth Street (there's a location on West 23rd Street)...



Also on Broadway... the new Equinox Fitness at Bond Street looks close to opening is now open (thanks commenters!)... (the entrance is on Bond)...

Week in Grieview

[Photo Wednesday in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

A look at the Moxy Hotel coming to 11th Street (Monday)

Report: Raphael Toledano selling major EV portfolio; foreclosure proceedings underway (Tuesday)

Lottery open for below-market rate apartments in Stuy Town (Wednesday)

Clay Pot, from Hong Kong to St. Mark's Place (Tuesday)

Out and About with Lola Sáenz (Wednesday)

A Valentine's Day rally to get some love for the former PS 64 (Friday)

Tsukimi bringing sushi to 10th Street (10th Street)

It snowed (Thursday)

Blue 9 Burger has not been open lately (Friday)

A state-of-the-art Quad Cinema expected to open this spring (Friday)

A visit to Uogashi on First Avenue (Friday)

Sugar Cafe has closed (Monday)

Work underway on 10-story condoplex at 4th Avenue and 10th Street (Tuesday)

Report of a fire at 86 E. 10th St. (Tuesday) ... Black & White looks to reopen early next week (Saturday)

Construction watch: 253 E. 7th St. (Wednesday)

196 Orchard's 'Culture & Cuisine' (Monday)

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