Monday, September 4, 2017

Manhattan makes a return visit to Tompkins Square Park



Manhattan, a nickname (along with 10 or Ten) for Christo and Dora's 2017 hawklet, hasn't been seen in recent weeks... and the red-tailed hawk watchers in Tompkins Square Park figured she had left for good (as the young hawks have done in previous years).

However, last evening around 6, she made a return engagement (top photo).

And today she was back for more...



Steven, who shared these photos, said she was crying out for food.



After she realized she wasn't going to be fed, she struck out on her own... pouncing on a dead pigeon.



However, she didn't eat the decomposing pigeon, because it was, well, disgusting.

Pants is missing [Updated — found!]



This cat was last seen Saturay night/Sunday morning on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. He is a 19-pound boy with one black ear and a black tail. Goes by the name of Pants.


[Image via Facebook]

Updated 5:30

Good to hear that Pants has returned...

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And over the weekend, a $200 reward was posted for Big Kitty ...

A new (and refurbished) 9/11 mural for 9th Street and Avenue A


[Photo yesterday by Steven]

As you likely noticed, the 9/11 mural on the Ninth Street side of 145 Avenue A is in pretty bad shape.

The proprietors of the new gelato shop that opened here earlier this summer reached out to ask for input on what to do with the wall space. Refurbish the mural or paint it over.

Looks as if there will be a combination of those choices.

Yesterday, artist (and musician) David Ouimet started prepping the wall for a new 9/11 mural — incorporating part of the original — that he will paint on Sunday, 9/10.



Lola Sáenz shared these two photos from today... she said that he is not getting paid for the mural, and has permission from the Gelarto folks to rework it...



Jesse Fischler, who co-owned the former Shrine Records on Ninth Street, created the original mural.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Thoughts on the 9/11 mural on 9th and A

The 9/11 mural on 9th and A

[Updated] 9th Precinct hosting Sector Safety Summit meetings


[Click image to go big]

On Wednesday evening, the 9th Precinct is hosting a Sector Charlie Safety Summit at the Community Board 3 offices.

Sector Charlie covers this part of the neighborhood: The north side of East Houston Street to the south side of Seventh Street, from the west side of First Avenue to the east side of Broadway. (Last October, the 9th Precinct started a new initiative called the Neighborhood Coordination Officers — NCO — program. The Precinct is split up into four sectors, with two officers assigned to each sector. Find the sectors and the responsible officers here.)

Per the flyers posted on various front doors within Sector Charlie, this will be:

An open, honest discussion between the local Neighborhood Coordination Officers and the community. We will discuss the NYPD's NCO Program, how it affects you, and any issues going on within your area.

Why should you go?

This is an opportunity to become acquainted with the officers who are directly responsible for your area, and to inform them of any problems that you might be encountering at your home or business.

The meeting is Wednesday night from 6:30-8. The CB3 office is at 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. (Refreshments will be served!)

Updated 6 p.m.

The 9th Precinct just posted a meeting notice on Twitter for Sector A tomorrow night ...





Updated:

The NYPD shared info on the other Sector meetings...

• Sector B — Sept. 7 (tomorrow) at 6 p.m. at Campos Plaza (Community Room), 611 E. 13th St.

• Sector D — Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. at the 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue

Happy Labor Day!



Or the Ghost of Labor Day Past here on 13th Street at Second Avenue... thanks to Uncle Pete for the photo this morning!

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Parks Department clears corner of 7th Street and Avenue A



Around noon, four officers from the Parks Enforcement Patrol, garbage truck in tow, arrived at Seventh Street and Avenue A to oversee the removal of Jerry's art work and other items that had been gathered/assembled this summer here at the entrance to Tompkins Square Park.

EVG regular Bayou shared these photos...





There's no immediate word if the mannequin survived the purge.

Back in April, the NYPD and the Sanitation Department chucked the short-lived Tompkins Square Park Art Bar here.

Updated

What survived is now across the street...



Week in Grieview


[Bed moving on 7th and A by Derek Berg]

Saying goodbye to Clayworks Pottery after 44 years on 9th Street (Monday)

Michael Hrynenko, Jr., awaiting trial for his role in the 2nd Avenue gas explosion, dies at 31 (Saturday)

Checking in on the Swiss Institute, coming next spring to 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place (Wednesday)

Jennifer Esposito's Jennifer's Way Bakery is moving from 10th Street; destination unknown (Monday)

Summer's end: So long to the hawklets of Tompkins Square Park (Friday)

Following eviction proceedings, Steve Croman's 9300 Realty has a new office (Monday)

1st look at the condoplex coming to the site of the former beer distributor on 2nd Street (Thursday)

Scaffolding arrives as demolition nears for Mount Sinai's 13th Street residential building (Tuesday)

Jesus Saves shines again on 11th Street (Friday)

Momofuku Ko remains closed as expansion-related work continues in Extra Place (Monday)

At the Bowery Market, Parantha Alley exits, Dosa Royale enters (Tuesday)

Out and About with David Anderson (Wednesday)

Croxley Ales has closed (Wednesday)


[Not Graydon Carter or Beetlejuice on 4th Street by Derek Berg]

Tagging the cube (Thursday)

House of Physical Therapy coming to 10th Street (Wednesday)

Resobox, a Japanese cultural center, opening in the former Edge space on 3rd Street (Thursday)

Good hair day: On the Mark opens second location; Bonefade Barbers debut on Avenue A (Thursday)

A new storefront for 2nd Street (Wednesday)

The latest installment of I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Thursday)

Temporary closure at Jimmy's No. 43 may be permanent (Tuesday)

Heyday bringing facials and skin care to Lafayette Street (Tuesday)

Classic tags uncovered at under-renovation Lafayette Street building (Tuesday)

Côte opens a 'quick Côte' shop on 13th Street (Monday)

Blue Bottle now open on University Place (Friday)

... and a patriotic ride on Second Avenue yesterday via Lola Sáenz...

Penthouse with rooftop cottage sells on 1st Avenue


[Image via Compass]

The penthouse unit at 72 E. First St. at First Avenue with the Cape Cod-style cottage on its rooftop has sold after about six weeks on the market.



As Curbed first reported yesterday, it went into contract at the home’s original asking price of $3.5 million. (The unit has not yet hit public records.)

Here's a refresher on the space, per the Compass listing:

The crown jewel of this offering is a loft penthouse built on the roof in design of a Nantucket cottage with weathered shingles, cupola and wraparound terrace. New Marvin true divided light windows and a glass block wall highlight extraordinary open views through three exposures. Direct access to the private roof terrace from double french doors create a charming retreat and a rare offering in all of Manhattan. The cottage includes a full bathroom and kitchenette.

As the Post reported earlier this summer, Gale Barrett Shrady is the owner. The cottage addition was the handiwork of her late husband, artist Henry Merwin Shrady III.

Previously on EV Grieve:
That penthouse with a cottage atop 1st Street and 1st Avenue is for sale

At the Official Animal Rights March



The Official Animal Rights March NYC was held yesterday afternoon, with a crowd estimated at several thousand taking part. The March began at the Flatiron Building and eventually came across St. Mark's Place to Tompkins Square Park.

Per the Facebook events notice: "Join us on the streets of New York as we march through the city demanding an end to all animal oppression."

Several other marches took place yesterday in London and Los Angeles as part of global campaign for animal rights.

Here are a few scenes from the march...









Above photos by Steven

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Above photos by Derek Berg
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Above photos by an EVG reader

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Lucy's returns on Avenue A



After the usual summer break (though this one seemed a little longer)...

Michael Hrynenko, Jr., awaiting trial for his role in the 2nd Avenue gas explosion, dies at 31

Michael A. Hrynenko, Jr., a key figure in the Second Avenue gas explosion investigation, died on Aug. 25. He was 31, according to an obituary posted Aug. 27 at the Pizzi Funeral Home website.

A cause of death has not been disclosed for Hrynenko, who was also called Mischou.

He was the son of Maria Hrynenko, the landlord of 119 and 121 Second Ave., two of the three buildings destroyed by the deadly blast on March 26, 2015. He lived on Seventh Street before moving to Rockland County in 2014, according to published reports. (His father, Michael, owned the Kiev Restaurant on Second Avenue and Seventh Street. He died in 2004.)

In February 2016, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance's office charged Maria and Michael Jr. along with contractor Dilber Kukic and plumber Jerry Ioannidis with manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide and assault in the second degree, among other charges. (The final defendant, licensed plumber Andrew Trombettas, was charged with offering a false instrument​,​ for allegedly lending his name and license number to paperwork.)

The five were accused of installing an illegal gas system, which they hid from inspectors, at No. 119 and 121. All five pleaded not guilty.

In announcing the charges in February 2016, Vance singled out Michael Hrynenko, who served as a building manager, and Kukic for their actions on March 26 at 121 Second Ave., the site of the restaurant Sushi Park.

As the Post reported at the time:

The two were caught on ​building surveillance ​video ​the day of the deadly blast and fire ​responding to a fumes complaint from the ground-floor sushi restaurant, then quickly running to fiddle with their hidden basement gas set-up — literally sprinting through the restaurant without warning a single patron, officials allege.

Moments later, restaurant-goer Nicholas Figueroa, 23, and restaurant worker Moises Lucon, 26, were fatally engulfed in the blast, which also injured two dozen others, among them Kukic and Michael Jr.

The criminal case has yet to go to trial while the multiple civil actions are still making their way through the courts.

To date, Maria Hrynenko and her companies have reportedly been hit with 28 lawsuits.

In June, Hrynenko filed a lawsuit, claiming that her management company was "careless and reckless" in its work. In the spring of 2015, as investigators focused on her actions, a lawyer for Hrynenko said that Con Edison bore responsibility for not shutting off the gas during the visit to the property earlier that day.

"Maria would not have sent her son in there if she knew the building was going to explode," the lawyer, Thomas M. Curtis, said in 2015, according to The New York Times.

The Hrynenkos were expected to appear on Sept. 12 in New York Supreme Court in front of Justice A. Kirke Bartley Jr., per court records.

Updated 12:24 p.m.

Giovanni shared this link from the Orangetown Daily Voice from February:

A Sparkill man accused of drunkenly crashing his car and failing several field sobriety tests immediately after is facing a felony count of driving while intoxicated, according to police.

Michael Hrynenko, 31, was taken into custody about 4:50 p.m. Monday after officers responded to a reported one-car crash in a parking lot off Route 303, according to Orangetown police.

According to authorities, Hrynenko was found behind the wheel of the crashed car and appeared to be drunk. He submitted to several field sobriety tests at the scene, which he's accused of failing, according to police.

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Read the previous coverage here.

Prepping for the Animal Rights March on Avenue A



Barricades line the east side of Avenue A from St. Mark's Place to 10th Street this morning ... ahead of today's Official Animal Rights March.

The march starts at the Flatiron Building at 2 p.m. ... and ends in Tompkins Square Park. You can read more about it on Facebook.

The march will impact bus service this afternoon along Avenue A...

Today's attraction in Tompkins Square Park



On Avenue A and Seventh Street this morning...





... and previously...



Friday, September 1, 2017

'Sphere' of influence



Frankie Rose (ex Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls) has a new record out... the above video is for "Dyson Sphere."

Noted



A discarded item an EVG reader spotted this afternoon on Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... we contacted the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife Services.

Blue Bottle now open on University Place



Starbucks is not the only chain to expand around here. Blue Bottle opened on Wednesday at 101 University Place between 12th Street and 13th Street.

As Eater reported back in June, the San Francisco-based coffee chain "is on an East Coast expansion tear," with six new locations set to open across the city — making for a grand total of 15 stores in NYC alone.

This Blue Bottle, housed in the former Andrade Shoe Repair, is between the incoming Sweetgreen and the News Bar Cafe.

Summer's end: So long to the hawklets of Tompkins Square Park

After an entertaining few months in Tompkins Square Park this summer, the two red-tailed hawk fledglings have apparently moved on.

Goggla has a post with more details here.

There is Christo and Dora's only 2017 offspring, nicknamed Manhattan (or 10, for being their 10th hawklet) ...


[Photo by Steven from Aug. 19]

Here's Dora feeding Manhattan back on May 15...


[Photo by Bobby Williams]

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And on June 14, Ranger Rob (aka Rob Mastrianni, a Manhattan Ranger supervisor) released a juvenile red-tailed hawk into the Park that had been injured earlier in the month in Brooklyn. Hawk watchers nicknamed him Flatbush, as he fell from a nest on Flatbush Avenue.


[Photo by Derek Berg from June 24]

Christo and Dora took him under their wing (sorry) fed him rats, taught him to hunt and treated him like their own hawklet.

Anyway, as Goggla reported on Wednesday, the juveniles have not been spotted of late.

She writes:

People often ask me where the young hawks go when they leave the park. I wish I knew! They instinctively disperse, but I don't know if they fly a few miles away, or migrate somewhere completely different. I also don't know if they return. Flatbush is banded, so if he does decide to visit, he will be identifiable.

All we can do is wish them safe travels and a long healthy life.

Although it's sad to bid farewell to the fledglings, we still have Christo and Dora, who should stick around and defend their territory.


[Photo by Steven of Christo, left, and Dora from February]

Jesus Saves shines again on 11th Street



Workers yesterday re-installed the neon tubes in the Jesus Saves cross on 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...

Last October, workers had removed and stored the tubes during a capital improvement project here at the landmarked Father’s Heart Ministry Center, which provides a variety of services, from classes to meal services for the homeless, the elderly and working poor.

Find more details about the renovations at their crowdfunding page. And you can read my interview with Carol Vedral, co-founder and executive director of Father's Heart, here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Renovation work starting at the landmarked Father's Heart Ministry on 11th Street