EV Grieve

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Bringing 'the beauty of Japanese Tea Ceremony' to 7th Street

Coming soon signage has arrived over at 74 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

As we understand it, the storefront will be a shop run by the owners of Tea-Whisk, whose aim "is to introduce the beauty of Japanese Tea Ceremony in NY."

The owners have hosted tea ceremonies at events around the city. This is their first shop. You can find the Tea-Whisk website here. Tea ceremonies date back 400 years in Japan. This article in the Voice looks at the art of tea ceremonies, and features the owner of Tea-Whisk, Souheki Mori, who runs the business with her husband.

The address here has been vacant for a few years... it was previously home to David Shoe Repair for 35 years.

Equipment watch: 253 E. 7th St.

A reader noted that a davey drill and other equipment recently arrived at 253 E. Seventh St. between Avenue C and Avenue D... where a 6-story residential building featuring six residences (each condo roughly 1,500 square feet) will rise.

This replaces a four-story residence that stood here until late 2015.

And on the other side of Seventh Street... we haven't heard much about No. 264 (the one on the left), the circa-1843 townhouse awaiting possible demolition... there's a "no trespassing" sign on the door...

In November, The New York Times reported:

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.”

As far as we know, such a meeting hasn't taken place to date.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Sunset wow

An EVG reader shared this from East Houston and Avenue A... #NoFilter

Updated:

Another view via Bobby Williams...

Back to the future

Zoltar had been partially covered with a trash bag outside Gem Spa the past few days. The front pane of glass in his house of birch-veneer fortune telling fell back and knocked his head wrap off to the side.

Anyway, EVG regular Lola Sáenz notes that a coin-operated, fix-it machine team has repaired Zoltar's home of nearly five years here on Second Avenue at St. Mark's Place...

To a wealth of wisdom.

EV Grieve Etc.: Con Ed worker rescues man on the L tracks; NYU student eyes Mendez's Council seat

[The latest cycle of Centre-fuge on 1st Street]

Con Ed employee rescues man moments before L train arrives at Third Avenue station (DNAinfo)

NYU senior wants a shot at succeeding Rosie Mendez on City Council (New York Post)

Nephew of model Tyson Beckford was found guilty of manslaughter and other charges in the death of an MTA bus driver (Daily News)

Neighbors petition Ian Schrager to shut off those lights at the incoming Public Hotel on Chrystie Street (The Lo-Down)

Owners of The Tang on First Avenue opening an outpost on the Bowery (BoweryBoogie)

The Lower East Side smells (The New Yorker)

Hot-dog purveyor Feltman's will reopen on the site of its former home in Coney Island. East Village location at Theater 80 on St. Mark's Place will stay put (Gothamist ... previously)

A few days remain to see the Tony Conrad documentary (Anthology Film Archives)

After sitting empty in Soho for three years, the former Milady’s space has a new tenant (Eater ... previously)

Con Ed sues Extell over mess at One Manhattan Square (The Real Deal)

...and the new Mick Rock documentary starts Friday down at the Metrograph on Ludlow Street...

One of the greatest music photogs in the history of ever—Mick Rock visits for a Q&A after 9:15p show Fri 4/7 + 7p show Sat. 4/8 of SHOT!, the documentary about his life. The movie is screening through 4/13.
A post shared by Metrograph (@metrographnyc) on Apr 5, 2017 at 5:52am PDT

[Updating] Reader report: Bike-truck collision on 1st Avenue at 9th Street

[Reader-submitted photo]

Several readers passed along reports of a collision between the truck in the above photo and a cyclist at the west side of First Avenue at Ninth Street earlier this morning.

In an email sent at 7:50 a.m., a reader said: "I was told rider was under truck .. and taken to hospital."

There isn't any other information available at the moment about the condition of the cyclist and who may have been at fault in the collision.

As of 8:30., the intersection remained taped off while investigators were on their way to the scene, according to witnesses.

[Photo via OlympiasEpiriot]

We'll update if/when more information becomes available.

Updated 11:30 a.m.

According to DNAinfo, the cyclist, whose name has not been released, is a 31-year-old woman. She was riding in the northbound bike lane when the truck reportedly struck her.

She suffered severe head trauma and was treated at Bellevue Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition, police said.

The truck driver remained at the scene and wasn't immediately arrested, police said.

Updated noon:

Per Streetsblog, "the available information suggests the truck driver failed to yield to the cyclist."

First Avenue has a parking-protected bike lane, but at most intersections, cyclists and turning motorists proceed during the same signal phase through “mixing zones.”

Turning drivers are supposed to yield to cyclists at the mixing zone, but the treatment is not as safe as intersections where cyclists and turning drivers have separate signal phases. These “split-phase” signals have a demonstrably better safety record than mixing zones.

Bikers pls be careful out there. Devastating reminder in EV on 9th + 1st @evgrieve @EastVillageBuzz pic.twitter.com/ON6TOjthSH
— Kristi Adams (@KristiAdamsNYC) April 5, 2017

Updated 4/12

A friend of the victim told us on Sunday that doctors were optimistic about her chances for recovery.

Unfortunately, there were complications. DNAinfo now reports that Kelly Hurley was taken off life support yesterday.

Per DNAinfo: "Investigators were still reviewing video, the spokesman added, and the driver could still be charged."

Last evening around 6, a group of 12-15 cyclists left flowers at the scene of the collision.

[Photo by Lola Sáenz]

I reached out to a family member... and will update when more information is available.

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: Terry and Harmony
Occupation: Artist
Location: Second Street and First Avenue
Date: Thursday, March 30 at 3:30

I’m from Philadelphia. I came here in 1980. I had just finished graduate school in fine arts in Oklahoma, and after that I was very ready to experience the city. I’ve lived in my apartment for 32 years.

I was looking for a place for myself – when I moved in my rent was $276. My block was pretty much just all empty, burned-out buildings and junkies. It was very quiet. I had friends who refused to visit me and this and that, but I don’t think I ever felt really in danger. The junkies had their business, and I had mine, and they left me alone.

When I first moved in there, the super was this old Irish woman – she was really a remnant of the old Irish immigration that came through here, and then I had a Puerto Rican super. He was found tied up and murdered in his apartment one day.

There were a lot of fires on my block that were either set or just convenient. Operation Pressure Point took place for months — there were cops on every corner and they were just mass arresting everybody. They knew who you were, if you lived in the neighborhood, and they kept an eye. They were just arresting people – like the plumber came and he had to show his ID, so that pretty much emptied out a lot of the junkies.

I’m a fine artist, a painter. I’m working in oil pastels - small because I work in my apartment and so the size limitations are there. I had a few shows in places like Gargogyle Mechanique and Gallery Amazonica ... but I never really got into the whole art scene, which flourished in the 1980s.

At one point there were quite a few galleries around here. I remember going to openings and seeing people like Keith Haring. There were performances and this and that almost every night. It was a lot of fun. There were after-hour clubs in abandoned buildings. There were art centers. There were all kinds of places that no longer exist.

I think the last remnants of the neighborhood that really have that community feel are the community gardens. There is now much more of a young, drunken, kind of boozy brunch crowd. There’s only about three or four of us who have lived in my building for more than 30 years. Now the turnover is so fast with a lot of college kids and young working kids. Unfortunately, our new landlady is not giving out new leases, so it’s a little concerning because we pay our rent.

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

Ummburger vying for the Mancora space on 1st Avenue

A group of applicants is looking to bring Ummburger to 99 First Ave. at Sixth Street, the current home of the Peruvian restaurant Mancora.

According to the public documents (PDF here) on file ahead of this month's CB3-SLA agenda for a new liquor license, this is a sale of assets.

Ummburger is described as a "fast casual restaurant in the style of a gourmet burger bar." The application shows proposed daily hours of 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. The configuration shows 16 tables seating 66 guests with one, six-seat bar.

The 31-page questionnaire also includes a sample menu as well as professionally produced materials that include "Concept inspiration and mood board."

Well, if you're in the mood for burgers... here's a look at the sample menu on file...

... there are a variety of burgers, including a vegetarian option ... and a fried chicken sandwich called the Southern Ummfort...

The enclosed materials state that the restaurant plans to open on May 15.

Mancora opened here in March 2003. Here's how the Times described it in a 2004 feature:

Mancora caters to East Villagers, and a raucous subset of them at that. Its jaunty room, an explosion of seashell chandeliers, octopus murals and fish nets, is buoyant with sangria-sipping crowds and South American soundtracks, especially on weekends.

The April SLA committee meeting is April 13 at 6:30 p.m. Location: The Thelma Burdick Community Room, 10 Stanton St. at the Bowery.

Up to 4 floors at the all-new 34 E. 13th St.

You can see the progress at the corner of 13th Street and University Place...

As previously reported, an Adjmi Architects-designed seven-story condoplex is going up. Plans call for one unit per floor on top of 3,200 square feet of ground-floor retail.