Matthew Kenney bringing yet another plant-based restaurant to 2nd Avenue

Plant-based chef Matthew Kenney must really like Second Avenue.

Signage arrived yesterday on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and Fourth Street for Arata, another Kenney-backed restaurant. Here's more about this concept:

Arata highlights the diverse and abundant plant-based ingredients of Asia. Japanese for fresh and new, Arata will offer steamed buns, small plates, noodle bowls, tempura, vegetable sushi and Japanese inspired desserts. Arata will have an innovative cocktail and sake program. Opening in EARLY MAY 2018...

[Photos by Perri Silver]

Kenney, whose bio says that he is "crafting the future of food®," is also involved with 00 + Co. and Bar Verde right next door on Second Avenue.

Last month, Kenney teamed up with Pure Green to launch PlantMade, a cafe on Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street. So that's four restaurants with Kenney's involvement within six blocks on Second Avenue.

Meanwhile, the signage for Arata means the end for the previous tenant — La Contrada, which opened in July 2016. This corner has seen its share of turnover in recent years with the arrivals and departures of Contrada, (not to be confused with La Contrada), Calliope and Belcourt.

Thanks to EVG reader Perri Silver for the photos!

Full reveal at Thirteen East (of Thirteen East + West fame)

Workers recently removed the construction netting and scaffolding at 436 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, as the above photo via EVG regular Pinch shows.

This is one of the twin 6-floor condos — dubbed dubbed Thirteen East + West — rising on this block. No. 442 is still slightly hidden...



And the rendering of the final products...



Here's the official blurbage about the condos via the last news release on the development:

THIRTEEN EAST + WEST will offer 12 sun-drenched, full-floor two-bedroom homes, with floor-to-ceiling windows, private storage, balconies, and roof decks. The 1,706 square foot residence offers top-of-the-line internationally-inspired finishes, with Lualdi Italian doors, Alta Cucine kitchens, Miele appliance package and Rossetto Italia wardrobes. Each building will feature one state-of-the-art penthouse with private roof deck and a private, single car parking garage.

The prices range between $2.350 million and $3.7 million. It doesn't appear that sales are underway just yet here. None of the units are listed for now via Ryan Serhant and his Nest Seekers crew.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tracking the coming changes to East 13th Street between Avenue A and 1st Avenue

A look at the new luxury condos coming soon to East 13th Street

Temporary art and future condos on East 13th Street

Demo time for East 13th Street garages that will yield to luxury condos

A look at the residences coming to Thirteen East + West on East 13th Street

A 'no parking' annoyance

Crews for the new Netflix series "Russian Doll" have been spotted around the neighborhood.

While film shoots are, of course, a fairly regular occurrence around here, some residents have found this crew — particularly the parking production assistants — to be more aggressive than others in terms of blocking off space for their trucks and film equipment. On Eighth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C, crews started putting down the cones on the block yesterday — 48 hours before the announced filming times.

The posted signs say that "parking can be held a maximum of 24 hours in advance of the date and times indicated ..." Filming on Eighth Street, as an annoyed EVG reader pointed out, is tomorrow from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. ...



The cones also arrived late Saturday on Avenue A between Seventh Street and 10th Street for yesterday's shoot.

7-story residential building planned for former Blue Man Group facilities on 3rd Street

Permits have been filed for a 7-floor residential building at 238 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Here's more from New York Yimby, who first reported on the development:

The new structure will be designed by Vikatos Architect, and will comprise a total of 20,928 square feet of living area with a total built-up area of 27,657 square feet.

The building will rise seven floors above ground to 75 feet, with additional cellar living area and a basement. 20 rental units are planned, in total, putting the average unit at about 1,046 square feet.

The building, which the Blue Man Group owned at one point for use as a practice facility, hit the market last September with a $12 million ask.

The listing noted at the time: "This is an excellent opportunity for a developer to acquire a 50’ wide development site in the East Village. In addition, considering how unique the building is, the offering presents an incredibly rare opportunity in which the current building and configuration could be maintained for a user."

Given the new-building specs, it appears that the current structure will come down, though demo permits haven't been filed yet.

In a previous life, the building served as a movie theater. Public records from July 2017 list two of the founders of the Blue Man Group — Chris Wink and Philip Stanton — as the previous owners, who received $18.6 million for this and another LES property.

Per NYY, Vinbaytel Property Development is the new owner of No. 238. Vinbaytel has developed several East Village condos in recent years, including at 227 E. Seventh St., 67 Avenue C and 26 Avenue B.

The 'Night Mayor's' challenge close to home

For the @villagevoice, I wrote about the newly-appointed Nightlife Mayor's home turf, the East Village and Lower East Side, and the inherent difficulty of balancing dueling nightlife concerns in such a bar-heavy area https://t.co/ZxmJy69utO

— Allegra Hobbs (@AllegraEHobbs) April 2, 2018

Over at the Voice, Allegra Hobbs explores the challenges that Ariel Palitz, newly appointed senior executive director of the Office of Nightlife (aka Night Mayor), faces in her own neighborhood.

Palitz, an East Village resident, owned Sutra Lounge on First Avenue from 2004 to 2014. She also served on CB3's State Liquor Authority subcommittee from 2007 to 2014.

Hobbs speaks with residents and Block Association leaders who believe Palitz's appointment was a mistake.

Members of the Dwellers, North Avenue A, and the Orchard Street Block Associations all say that during her time on the community board, Palitz voted overwhelmingly in favor of new liquor license applications and brushed aside residents’ concerns in public meetings. (Community Board 3 declined to comment for this article and was unable to provide Palitz’s voting record.)

“They really couldn’t have made a worse choice, in my opinion,” says Pamela Yeh of the Orchard Street Block Association, which covers a swath of blocks below Delancey Street and between Allen and Clinton streets. “She voted in favor of just about passing every [liquor license] application that came through the SLA committee.”

Meanwhile, some of her former CB3 colleagues are more positive about the work that Palitz will do for the city.

“I am extremely happy that she got appointed — I think she is the perfect person for this job,” enthuses former board chair Anne Johnson, who says Palitz’s experience as a bar owner should allow her to effectively tackle the issues facing the Lower East Side and East Village. “I always found her to be reasonable and willing to listen to all sides and not just blanketly support one side or the other.”

Former community board member Chad Marlow, who has been a staunch supporter of limiting liquor licenses in the community, recalls Palitz as a voice of reason, attempting to bring “uniformity and clarity” to the process of supporting or denying liquor license applicants on the subcommittee. “I think [for] Ariel, her challenge is going to be to try and find a way to promote the interests of the industry while at the same time protecting the interests of the community, and I have no doubt she’s going to labor very hard to strike that balance,” he says.

Palitz declined requests for an interview with the Voice.

Remembering the Stone

The Stone ended its 13-year residency on Avenue C and Second Street in late February. John Zorn relocated his experimental performance space to the Glass Box Theatre at the New School.

It was time for a change, he has said.

Sasha Frere-Jones talked with Zorn about the Stone for a piece published at Artforum yesterday.

An excerpt:

You know, thirteen years, we had a lot of complaints from artists about the space, about this, about that.

You would think they wouldn't complain.

But there's a variety of things to complain about! You know, I mean, not the best equipment in the world, there was a long time when it was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. We didn't really have a good air conditioner.

Right.

The radiator's clanking, the woman upstairs walks around, sometimes she waters her plants, overwaters it and the water comes dripping down. Someone left their barbecue chicken in the basement for a week and the stupid guy who's volunteering didn't clear it out, and it stinks, or a rat got to it, or someone saw a rat in the basement. Now that we've closed it, of course, it's a very nostalgic place now, now they're not remembering all of that.

It’s people talking about the East Village. “Oh, you should've been here.”

That’s bullshit. You want to relive your days of beatnik glory? Sorry man, it's now, it's today, this is what's happening. Dig it or get the fuck out. I don't live in the past. I'm very happy with the present.

Bubbleology Tea seeking full liquor license for the former International space on 1st Avenue

There was a rumor a few weeks ago that a bubble tea shop was moving into the former International Bar space at 120 1/2 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

Looks like that might actually be happening. Applicants for Bubbleology Tea (a London-based chain) are applying for a full liquor license for the address, according to the questionnaire (PDF here) on file ahead of this month's CB3-SLA committee meeting on April 16

The proposed hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (9 p.m. for the rear yard) Sunday through Thursday; until 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The specs call for seven tables serving 30 people, per the paperwork.

Aside from a variety of (boozy) bubble teas, Bubbleology Tea will have a menu featuring a "variety of authentic Sweet & Savoury Toasted English crumpets, as well as assorted snacks."

Principal Ben (Haiying) Li has has been a partner in a Gong Cha bubble tea franchise out on Long Island since 2016, according to the SLA application.

The CB3-SLA meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on April 16 in the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.

The latest iteration of the International Bar closed this past Thanksgiving. (Non-renewal of lease, via landlord Steve Croman.) The bar merged with its sister saloon, the Coal Yard, one block to the south between Seventh Street and Sixth Street.

Coney Island Baby opens on April 26 with Murphy's Law

As noted back on March 8, Coney Island Baby is the name of the bar-music venue taking over the former HiFi space on Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street.

Since then, Coney Island Baby's Instagram account has shared more details on upcoming acts, including its opening night — April 26 with Murphy's Law...

Opening night of @coneyislandbabynyc ! April 26th with @murphyslawnyc. Tix available now: https://www.ticketweb.com/event/opening-night-event-with-murphys-coney-island-baby-tickets/8279015?pl=coney

A post shared by Coney Island Baby NYC (@coneyislandbabynyc) on Apr 1, 2018 at 5:08am PDT

Other upcoming shows for the 200-capacity space include Alejandro Escovedo on May 2 (sold out) and Bash & Pop with Johnny & The Bootlegs and the Liza Colby Sound on May 10, per the Coney Island website.

Brooklyn Vegan says the "the venue is from the folks who run Bowery Electric, Niagara and Velvet Elk Records."

HiFi, which also hosted the occasional book readings, comedy shows and acoustic bands, closed last October after 15 years at the address. The space was previously Brownies, the live music venue, from 1989-2002.

Monday's parting shot

At the former Subway (sandwich shop) on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street... previously.

HAWK FIGHT

There was plenty of red-tailed hawk drama in Tompkins Square Park today.

Here's a brief narrative, pieced together from several eyewitness accounts. (The first batch of photos are by Steven.)

Hawk watchers spotted who they presumed to be Christo in the nest that he has been fortifying for Dora. However, it turned out to be an intruder, another red-tailed hawk who was unfamiliar to the Park regulars. (The other hawk wasn't Barucha/Nora/Not-Dora.)

That's when the fight started. One eyewitness said that the intruding hawk was the aggressor...





By all accounts, Dora, on top in the above photos, kicked the intruder's ass (paraphrasing). The intruder fled. Red-tailed hawks are very territorial, and the sight of an intruder in her nest, where there may be eggs, likely angered Dora.

After the skirmish, Dora struggled to take off ... Ranger Rob (aka Rob Mastrianni, a Manhattan Ranger supervisor and East Village resident) was eventually summoned to the Park. He thought that Dora would be fine, especially as she started to fly.



She eventually made it into a tree, where Christo brought her a rat...



... and later in the day, Dora appeared to be doing OK...



And a few other photos of Dora today ... via Ryan John Lee...





... and from Garrett Rosso...



H/T Emma Haddad!

'Heeere's Kubrick' at the City Cinemas Village East

On Wednesday evenings in April, City Cinemas Village East is celebrating the work of director Stanley Kubrick starting this week with "Dr. Strangelove."



The theater is on Second Avenue at 12th Street. Find more details here. The films start at 7:30 p.m.

And upcoming...

False alarm of the day

[Random fake rubber finger photo]

Patch has the report:

Officers responded to a report of a bag of human remains near East 23rd Street and Avenue C at about 12:40 p.m. on Monday, an NYPD spokesman said. The bag turned out to contain fake rubber fingers, and not actual human remains, he said.

What you are missing if you went away on Spring Break this week

Suckers!

Tompkins Square Park this morning.

RIP Gino DiGirolamo

[Photo of Gino in 2014 by Michael Paul]

Gino DiGirolamo, who ran a tailoring business in the neighborhood for 50-plus years, died this past Friday. He was 82. He suffered a heart attack several weeks ago, and never recovered.

Friends and customers had been leaving get-well wishes on cards on the gate at Royal Tailor Shop on 11th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...




[Photo Friday by Vinny & O]

He was born Gioacchino di Girolamo in Palermo, Sicily. After active duty in the military, he worked for two years as a tailor in Palermo before deciding to move to the United States in the early 1960s.

He worked as a tailor on Avenue A near 12th Street (in space that is now part of Boris & Horton). He bought the shop for $1,000 in 1963 when the owner decided to return to Italy.

Gino moved to 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B in late 2006. A rent increase there almost caused him to retire. However, with the help of an East Village resident, he was able to find the 11th Street space where he had been since 2014.

Gino was known for keeping long — and often unusual — hours, working overnight, barely visible behind a mound of clothes, before calling it a day around 11 a.m.


[Photo from 2009]

Here's part of a post that Jeremiah Moss wrote about Gino in 2008:

He wears a measuring tape around his neck. He has two televisions sitting one on top of the other. His walls are covered with pictures of the Italian soccer team, boxer Rocky Marciano, and a poster showing popular lengths of sleeves and trouser legs.

A gray-haired woman sits with him. While customers are present, she is silent. But after the customer leaves the shop, she gets up and berates Gino, telling him what he’s doing wrong and asking why can’t he do things the way she says. The tailor just smiles.

You can read more on Gino in these features from years past at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York ... Town & Village ... and the Local EV.

And there is a series of videos with Gino from 2007 on YouTube... including this one...



Gino lived in Ozone Park, Queens with his wife Adriana, a schoolteacher, who died in October 2013. Their son Vito was a familiar presence in the shop.

Updated:

A longtime customer launched a crowdfunding campaign "to raise funds to honor Gino with a donation in his name or potentially a plaque or marker in the neighborhood." Find details here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
After 50 years in business, Gino DiGirolamo is closing the Royal Tailor shop

Report: Rent hike forced Gino to retire and close his Royal Tailor shop

Gino's short-lived retirement

Mary Pupillo - 'A true relic of the East Village'

Report: 2nd Avenue gas explosion trial to start in September

Three years after a gas explosion killed two men and leveled three buildings on Second Avenue at Seventh Street, the case will finally go to trial on Sept. 24, according to The Villager.

Per the paper: "Ahead of the projected trial date, both parties will suggest questions for jury selection on June 25, the judge on the case, Kirke Bartley said on Friday."

As previously reported in February 2016, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance's office charged landlord Maria Hrynenko, her son, Michael Jr. Hrynenko (now deceased), 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 119 and 121 Second Ave. All five pleaded not guilty in 2016.

In February, Nexus Building Development Group filed plans to build a high-end condo at 119 Second Ave. Nexus paid $9.15 million for the empty lots at No. 119 and 121 between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. Public records show that Maria Hrynenko's companies — MAH Realty and Kiev Realty — were the sellers.

Shi Miaodao Yunnan Rice Noodle opening in the former Mark Burger space on St. Mark's Place

Signage arrived Friday (H/T Steven) for Shi Miaodao Yunnan Rice Noodle, opening soon at 33 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...




[Photo by Steven]

The restaurant's website (not quite complete) is here ... it shows a few menu items, such as spicy trotter rice noodle and spicy pork intestine. Their hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.

High rents caused Mark Burger to close here last fall after eight years in business.

Checking in on 886, opening later this month on St. Mark's Place

Work continues at 26 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue ... where 886 (or Eight Eight Six) — a full-service Taiwanese restaurant named after its country code — will open at the end of the month...



And in case you haven't read their note that has been up on the front door... the 886 owners, whose résumé includes The Tang on First Avenue, offer a few more details on what's to come...



"We will be serving an array of local Taiwanese stir fry along with some comforting and creative dishes. Our mission is to bring people together with delicious food and authentic Taiwanese hospitality." (The note also offers an apology in advance as they "approach our more 'noisy' construction period." I think that period has already passed.)

The previous tenant at No. 26, TK Kitchen, which served bubble tea and various Taiwanese street food, closed this past December.

Previously on EV Grieve:
886, next-level Taiwanese food, in the works for 26 St. Mark's Place

Easter with Christo and Dora

Today's red-tailed hawk activity in Tompkins Square Park included: Christo standing guard at the nest, fueling further speculation that Dora has laid eggs...



Christo bringing more materials to help fortify the nest for Dora (perhaps for extra bedrooms?) ...





And more mating...



And hanging out...



Thanks to Steven for the photos!

P.S.

Dora apparently clipped her injured wing... this photo by Steven is from yesterday morning... hopefully it's just a minor irritation... hawk watchers thought she looked OK today...



... and from this morning...

Week in Grieview

[Photo on 6th Street near 1st Avenue]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

The FDNY remembers fire marshal Christopher T. Zanetis on 2nd Street (Thursday)

Residential rentals at the former Amato Opera on the Bowery start at $10,995 (Tuesday)

Baci e Vendetta has closed on Avenue A: 'it simply wasn't sustainable' (Monday)

Onetime home of Lucky Cheng's and adjacent property sell for $12 million (Thursday)

'Freak water problem' KOs Veselka till Monday (Friday)

8-story residential building underway in this empty 9th Street lot (Thursday)

Permits filed for Sunshine Cinema-replacing boutique office building (Friday)

Atino Eyewear Optical now open on 7th Street (Wednesday)

Benny's Burritos & Empanadas will not be reopening on 7th Street (Thursday)

A look at the former Streit’s Matzo Factory (Friday)

Mandolino Pizzeria has closed on 13th Street (Wednesday)

Double Wide signs off after 7 years on 12th Street (Thursday)

Jillery is closing on 7th and B (Friday)

Last weekend for Three of Cups (Friday)

... and Shawn Chittle shared this photo from last night at the Three of Cups Lounge...



On 14th Street, Evergreen Cleaners closing, merging with Wash N Clean (Tuesday)

Club Cumming temporarily suspends live music (Monday)

The OTB parlor-bank branch post that you've been waiting for (Wednesday)

'Night mayor' Ariel Palitz holds her 1st public meeting (Tuesday)

Hot Box bringing soup noodles to 2nd Avenue (Tuesday)

Restaurant in the works for former Golden Food Market on 1st Avenue and 7th Street (Monday)

Report: Cherche Midi looks to be closing on the Bowery (Monday)

The Subway (sandwich shop) isn't returning next to the McDonald's on 1st Avenue (Thursday)

... and it was a good week to track this witch's hat on Seventh Street...







And it has not been seen here since Friday...

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Free Count Dankula on 9th Street

Between First Avenue and Second Avenue. (Dog not included.) Photo by Grant Shaffer.