Avenue A bank-branch free for the moment with Santander's closure

This Santander outpost closed on Friday here on Avenue A at Fourth Street. Workers had removed the signage by the end of the business day.

A letter to Santander customers in January explained that the bank was consolidating this branch with the one at 841 Broadway.

This departure makes Avenue A bank-branch-less for now. The Chase closed at Second Street in November 2015 ... while the Citi shut down between Third Street and Fourth Street in January 2017. Both of those spaces remain on the rental market.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Santander branch closing in April on Avenue A

EastVille Comedy Club has left 4th Street for Brooklyn

Here's one way to announce a move: Spray paint the message over your business sign. (Thanks to @EdenBrower for the above photo!)

That's the case here at the now-former EastVille Comedy Club on Fourth Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery ... the club has relocated to Brooklyn (by the Barclay's Center)...



Last October, EastVille looked at taking part of the former Chase space at 20 Avenue A and Second Street. However, CB3 denied the application, citing, among other reasons, that this address was never licensed before ... and that it exists in a saturated zone.

Previously on EV Grieve:
EastVille Comedy Club space for rent on 4th Street

Unwrapping the future Swiss Institute on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Back on Saturday, workers removed the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding from around the former Chase branch on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...



... the future home of the Swiss Institute...



As previously reported, the nonprofit cultural center will open on June 21.

And via a news release:

The inaugural exhibition is titled "Readymades Belong to Everyone," marking the 3rd edition of SI’s Annual Architecture & Design Series. This exhibition is curated by Fredi Fischliand Niels Olsen, directors of exhibitions at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architectures at ETH, Zurich, and will track a history of exchange between artists and architects employing found objects associated with urban space.

The revamped building will create spaces for exhibitions, projects and public programs ... as well as a library, bookstore and rooftop garden.


[Rendering via the Swiss Institute]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Swiss Institute moving into the former Chase branch on 2nd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

Neighbors at First Street Green Art Park

The Neighbors project is a series of portraits of Americans taken across all 50 states by photographer John Raymond Mireles ... the portraits went up yesterday along East Houston Street from First Avenue to Second Avenue at First Street Green Art Park.

Here are just a few of the images...











The opening reception is May 12.

Week in Grieview

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Affordable housing lottery underway at 79-89 Avenue D (Friday)

Cherche Midi space on the market for new retail development on the Bowery at East Houston (Wednesday)

Jane's Exchange is not closing! (Wednesday)

Christo and his new lady hawk friend Amelia have at least one egg in their nest in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)

Rue St. Denis is closing after 25 years of selling vintage clothing and accessories on Avenue B (Tuesday)

The Hard Swallow returns on 1st Avenue (Friday)

Former East Village Cheese space for rent on 7th Street (Monday)

On Avenue A, Coney Island Baby debuts; live music returning to the Pyramid (Thursday)

FDNY: Wiring blamed for April 21 fire on 9th Street (Saturday)

Activities at the the Tompkins Square Park library branch (Thursday)

Pop-up theater in the former Pork Pie Hatters on 9th Street (Tuesday)

Makeshift dog run in Tompkins Square Park has been padlocked (Friday)

LPC nixes proposed addition for 827-831 Broadway (Tuesday)

Former Rainbow Music shop will be a Chinese restaurant (Thursday)

No Malice Palace is closed again (Wednesday)

Y7 Studio bringing the hip-hop yoga to 250 E. Houston St. (Thursday)

Plywood arrives at Webster Hall (Monday)

Counting down to the Joe and Pat's opening (Monday)

Ace Hardware closes on 4th Avenue (Friday)

High praise for Mani in Pasta’s Roman-style pizzas on 14th Street (Thursday)

The return of Gothamist (Thursday)

Reader report: Economy Foam & Futon is leaving 8th Street for Chelsea (Wednesday)

Cafe in the works for 2 St. Mark's Place, previously Ayios and St. Mark's Ale House (Tuesday)

The force is apparently no longer with Suffolk Arms (Monday)

MoMa officials not really into MoMaCha's name on the Bowery (Monday)

Slurp Shop signage (Monday)

Discarded painting of the week (Thursday)

... and EVG reader Steph noted that the Man in White — the longtime LES resident seen for years dressed head to toe in white — was spotted in blue jeans and a blue jacket this past week...



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Revisiting Rue St. Denis

As you may know, Rue St. Denis, the decades-spanning vintage clothing and accessories shop, is closing on Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street after 25 years at this location.

Founder Jean-Paul Buthier and his partner Riccardo Bonechi are closing the store for a change of pace, not because of rising rents or declining sales, as The New York Times reported last week.

The photos here are by East Village-based photographer Gudrun Georges, who featured the boutique on her blog in July 2015... revisiting that post here...


[Riccardo Bonechi]


[Jean-Paul Buthier]

A commenter on her post had this to say about Rue St. Denis:

[C]alling it a store doesn't quite capture the experience of Rue St Denis — It feels more a like a day trip to a world where effortless chic and sporty glamour are forever percolating to create for you a new memory of a day when life was magical.

Find the full post here.

Meanwhile, the closing sale continues... haven't heard a final day just yet...

Saturday's parting shot

Tonight's sunset via Bobby Williams...

Citizens of the Anthropocene in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo Thursday by Steven]

In case you haven't seen these things hanging out in Tompkins Square Park the past few days... the one above is in the center of the Park.

Look up!

Hello up there!

A post shared by Citizens of the Anthropocene (@citizensoftheanthropocene) on Apr 23, 2018 at 10:43am PDT

And this one is near the entrance at Seventh Street and Avenue A


[Photo Thursday by Goggla]

And the explanatory laminated note...


[Click on image to go big]

As explained on Instagram: "We are the Citizens of the Anthropocene ~ an anthropomorphic race of plastic-bag humanoids."

Anyway, One word: Plastics.

FDNY: Wiring blamed for last Saturday's fire on 9th Street

[Photo from this morning]

A quick follow-up to last Saturday's two-alarm fire at 218 E. Ninth St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The FDNY called the fire accidental, citing building wiring...

Per #FDNY Fire Marshals: Cause of 4/21 2-alarm fire at 218 E 9 St. Manhattan was accidental, electrical, building wiring. Smoke alarm present and operational

— FDNY (@FDNY) April 23, 2018

A fire official said the building is now "unlivable." The address houses Yakiniku West, the Japanese steakhouse, and three apartments. Previous reports said that five adults and one child were displaced. No one was injured.

Here's more via The Villager:

Two families were said to occupy the upper floors but were not there when the Red Cross arrived, according to spokesperson Michael de Vulpillieres. The Villager spoke briefly to the owner of Yakiniku West on Sunday evening, shortly after he emerged from the building’s blackened first floor with several associates. Asked when his restaurant would open, he said, “in two months,” and abruptly walked away, declining to give his name.

Last weekend for Bakeri on 6th Street

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the last day for Bakeri NYC, the cafe-bakery at 627 E. Sixth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Bakeri, with locations in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, opened here in October 2016. The cafe carries homemade bread and pastries as well as Counter Culture Coffee.

However, as we understand it, the space won't be empty long — new owners are taking over the storefront for a similar venture in the weeks/months ahead.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Bakeri closing at the end of the month on 6th Street

You've got Snail Mail

From Snail Mail's debut album Lush, out on June 8 via Matador Records. The video here for "Heat Wave" debuted yesterday.

Sunday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park

It's time for the first free concert of the season/year in Tompkins Square Park via The Shadow.

Sunday at 2 p.m.: May Day with Haram, Rubber, Olor a muerte, Headsplitters and Junta.