Astor Place Shake Shack going for a beer-wine license

Just a quick follow-up about the 3,000-square-foot Shake Shack coming this fall to the empty retail space at 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star...

Team Shack is on the June CB3-SLA committee docket for a beer-wine license for the space...



Select Shacks Shacks serve ShackMeister® Ale, "otherwise known as the ShackBurger’s best friend." It's made in collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery, per the Shacksite. As for wine, Shack Red® and Shack White® by Frog's Leap is available by the glass or bottle.

We'll look at other items on the CB3-SLA docket next week ahead of the meeting on June 12.

Someone was Jonesing to pay $61 million for a newish apartment building on East Houston

[Image via Cushman & Wakefield]

The Real Deal reports that Gili Haberberg, a multifamily investor who runs Arkar Inc., is paying in the $61 million neighborhood for the newish, 13-floor rental at 331 East Houston St.

Haberberg is expected to close in June on the purchase, which comes out to roughly $900 per square foot, sources said.

The building between Attorney and Ridge hit the market in May 2016. Rentals at Jones LES began in December 2015. Prices ranges here from $2,700 per month for a studio to $9,990 per month for a three-bedroom penthouse, according to Streeteasy. (Of the 78 apartments, 80 percent are market rate and the rest are affordable.)

The parcel sat empty for years, the property of reclusive real-estate baron William Gottlieb.


[Jones LES lot in July 2013]

Previously on EV Grieve:
An L-Shaped footprint ready to make its impression on East Houston Street

An abandoned car in an empty lot that will soon yield a 13-floor residential building

On East Houston, work begins on a new 13-floor residential building

What 331 E. Houston St. will look like one day

A look at 331 E. Houston St., with a rooftop deck for outdoor showers and 'Live Free or Die Hard'

16 affordable apartments now available at the incoming 331 E. Houston St.

Full reveal at 331 E. Houston St.

331 E. Houston St. now with a teaser site and name — Jones LES

If you're Jonesing for a new apartment on East Houston

If you're Jonesing to buy a new apartment building on East Houston

[Updated] David Choe next up on the Bowery mural wall

David Choe will start work next week on the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall, according to a news release landlord Goldman Properties issued yesterday.

Choe’s work as a visual artist spans pop culture and entertainment, encompassing everything from album covers for Jay-Z to music videos and museum shows. Also famed for writing, directing and appearing in many VICE shows, Choe first achieved renowned success as a muralist after creating work for Facebook’s first Silicon Valley offices in 2005.

Not sure what he has planned. The release notes: "For the first time ever in the history of the Houston Bowery Wall, Choe will share this monumental experience with a diverse group of community members who have never before had an opportunity to participate on a public project of this scale."

His completed mural will be up through October.

Updated 6/9

Hyperallergic has a post titled "How the New Bowery Wall Commission Puts Rape Culture on Display." Read it here.

Free concert Saturday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park

'Tender is the Night' opens tonight on Avenue A

A group exhibit featuring the work of Kembra Pfahler, Samoa and Ian Wilson opens tonight at the Art on A Gallery.

Pfahler and Samoa are the co-founders of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black while Wilson was is the lead singer of the Star Spangles.

The opening reception is tonight from 7-9 ... the exhibit is up through June 15. Find more info here. The space is at 24 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street.

Sneak peak of "Tender is the night"... Amazing paintings of Samoa!!

A post shared by Wendigo Productions (@wendigoproductionsny) on May 24, 2017 at 4:29pm PDT

Reader report: Neo-Nazi slogan spotted on East Village sidewalks

A slogan popular with white supremacists has been spotted on sidewalks around the neighborhood.

EVG reader Marjorie Ingall has come across three of the stenciled slogans, which read: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." According to the Anti-Defamation League, these "14 Words" are a reference to the most popular white supremacist slogan in the world.

Ingall said that a community affairs officer from the 9th Precinct was investigating the stencil on Third Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Ingall also contacted the Southern Poverty Law Center and City Council member Rosie Mendez's office.)

"My kids and I have been covering the graffiti with chalk," Ingall said.







In addition, someone painted a swastika on a wall on Third Street near the Bowery... that has since been covered up...

A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema

News broke last week that developers East End Capital and K Property Group bought 139 E. Houston St. for $31.5 million. As the Post reported, the current tenant here, the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, will close when its lease expires in January 2018.

On Tuesday, the involved parties took out a full-page ad in the Post (thanks to Blue Glass for the photos)...







The partners say they look forward to a "transformative retail future." Given the negative reaction to news of the Sunshine's demise, some local residents likely won't be offering their congratulations.

Patch had an update last evening on the building's future:

Greg Kraut, a managing partner at K Property Group, did not confirm to Patch rumors of the theater's imminent closure, but noted that the cinema's lease would expire in 2018, and that the developers would look to fulfill "whatever the community thinks" the space should be used for.

And Landmark's position?

"We have been notified that the building was sold and we certainly hope to operate for as long as the new owners go through the permitting process with the city," a spokeswoman for the Landmark Theatres company said in a statement.

The Sunshine opened here between Forsyth and Eldridge in 2001.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Sunshine Cinema on East Houston to close in January

A Shake Shack is coming to the Death Star

That empty retail space at 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star has a tenant: Shake Shack.

The Post has the scoop:

Danny Meyer’s fast-growing burger chain has signed a lease on Astor Place that will open this fall...

The new location, which will span nearly 3,000 square feet on the northeast side of the building at 51 Astor Pl., “will feature some unique design and customer experience elements,” a Shake Shack spokeswoman confirmed, declining to elaborate.

Until earlier last month, this corner slot on Third Avenue at Ninth Street housed the sales office for hotelier-developer Ian Schrager's hotel-condo tower at 215 Chrystie just below East Houston.

The Shack joins the building's other retail tenants — CVS, Flywheel Sports, Orangetheory Fitness, Bluestone Lane Coffee and Chopt.

According to Lois Weiss at the Post, the Shake Shake team signed a 15-year lease.

The lease memo, reviewed by the Post, provides the Danny Meyer fast-casual joint with the ability to exclusively sell “hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries and frozen custard.”

As such, it banishes direct competitors such as Smashburger and Johnny Rockets from the building.

This will be the second Danny Meyer venture to open on Third Avenue in the coming months. His Union Square Hospitality Group is behind Martina, a pizzeria, in progress on 11th Street at Third Avenue.

Chi Ken signage arrives on St. Mark's Place

The sign is up for Chi Ken, the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Store, at 58 St. Mark's Place...

As we noted back in February, Chi Ken sells a variety of quick-serve items, including milk tea, popcorn chicken and Crazy Jumbo Squid "that's bigger than your face."

A Chi Ken location opened in Sunset Park last summer. You can find the Chi Ken website here.

The adjacent space at the address here between First Avenue and Second Avenue will be home to Clay Pot, serving "traditional Hong Kong style open-flame cooked clay pot rice."

The Marshal seizes Palà on Allen Street

An EVG reader shares these photos... the landlord now has legal possession of Palà, the pizzeria at 198 Allen St. just south of Houston...



The Palà website is also no longer active.

Here's what New York had to say about the place a few years back:

The dough, which consists of nine organic flours, is allowed to rise naturally over three days, and the result is a marvelously light and crispy crust. Italian owner Gigio Palazzo says he set out to “change the game of pizza in New York.” And indeed he has. Delectable combos include the zucca, pumpkin purée layered with marbled pancetta. Palazzo’s savvy gamble on unlikely toppings pays off: Of the veggie options, the bufala cruda easily tops the list, heavy with misshapen hunks of mozzarella and roasted cherry tomatoes with splitting peels.

Palà opened in 2006 ... and underwent a major renovation in 2012.

Given the location and build-out with those roll-up garage doors, this promises to be a sought-after space...

AG Schneiderman introduces new bill — the Tenant Protection Act of 2017

Via the EVG inbox...

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today introduced the Tenant Protection Act of 2017, a new bill aimed at holding New York’s most unscrupulous landlords criminally accountable for tenant harassment.

Current state law requires that prosecutors reach an inexplicably high evidentiary bar in order to criminally convict a landlord of Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant — which is why, in the twenty years since its initial enactment by the NYS Legislature, not a single landlord has ever been convicted of that crime. The Attorney General’s Tenant Protection Act would change that, setting a more reasonable standard that eliminates the need to prove physical injury to a tenant, and opening the door to prosecutions arising out of more commonplace and insidious tactics — such as turning off heat and hot water, exposing tenants to hazardous materials, and making rent-stabilized buildings deliberately uninhabitable for current tenants and their families.

The Tenant Protection Act of 2017 was introduced today by Attorney General Schneiderman as a program bill, and will be sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Joseph Lentol.

“The laws should protect tenants, not greedy landlords who make their buildings uninhabitable in an effort to force families out of their homes,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “It’s clear that our existing criminal laws are simply inadequate when it comes to protecting tenants from these dangerous tactics by landlords. We must give prosecutors the tools necessary to protect tenants — and stem the rising tide of tenant harassment that is undermining affordability around New York.”

Read the full release on the bill here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Festival of the Arts this weekend; Porchetta pop up extended

[Photo at Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

The potential impact of President Trump's budget proposal on the NYCHA (Daily News)

New Chinatown-themed hotel on the Bowery apologizes for its "opium den-themed" lounge (DNAinfo)

Details on the annual Festival of the Arts this weekend at the Theater for the New City (Patch)

Stuy Town resident petitions to get rid of playground (Town & Village)

Avenue C wine bar Lois now selling its snacks retail (The Daily Meal)

About Voided, an exhibit featuring Benjamin Armas and Ori Carino, up through Saturday at Howl! Happening (Forbes)

Resident of 344 E. 13th St. and family friend of the Dawsons has been living in an RV down the block (New York Post)

Porchetta pop up extended at Porsena (The Village Voice)

Some great pics from the Dance Parade (Laura Goggin Photography)

Williamsburg Bridge HOV lane proposed for the L train shutdown (Daily News)

More about the early Saturday morning attack on Forsyth and Stanton near Sara D. Roosevelt Park (The Lo-Down)

On the market: 12th Street duplex with "outdoor sanctuary" (Curbed)

Hedda Lettuce presents "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" Thursday night (Village East Cinema)

Remembering Mary Help of Christians on 12th Street and Avenue A (Off the Grid)

In honor of Sir Roger Moore's death, the FDR chase scene from "Live and Let Die" (BoweryBoogie)

Revisiting a gruesome murder from 1903; body found in barrel on Avenue D and 11th Street (Ephemeral New York)

Standard High Line for sale; Standard East Village not on the block (The Real Deal)

... and the Midnight Movies are set for the next few months at the Sunshine Cinema on East Houston... more details here...



...and several readers asked about the work on Astor Place...



I asked William Kelley, executive director of the Village Alliance, what the workers were doing. "They are trying to fix some plaza drainage issues. Should be just a few days depending on weather," he said via an email.

Updated 2:30

And the workers have made some progress...


[Photo by Vinny & O]