Concern for China Wok, which has not been open lately on Avenue B

China Wok, the reliable quick-serve Chinese restaurant on the corner of Third Street and Avenue B, has not been open in recent days, fueling concerns among patrons that they have closed for good.

The storefront has been on the rental market. The current listing notes an asking rent of $6,495 a month. The space can also be combined with the empty storefront next door for a few thousand more.



There is an unconfirmed neighbor report that the Marshal took legal possession of the space on behalf of landlord Steve Croman. (There is another unconfirmed claim that the rent was raised to the asking amount from $2,500.)

H/T Stacie Joy!

And an EVG Instagram post from late in the summer...

View this post on Instagram

3rd and B • #eastvillage #chinesefood

A post shared by EV Grieve (@evgrieve) on Aug 23, 2018 at 5:55pm PDT

My favorite comment from this Instagram post: "The fan on the side that drips grease into the cardboard on the sidewalk 😍😍"

TabeTomo debuts on Avenue A

That new ramen shop that we told you about last August is now in soft-open mode at 131 Avenue A between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.

Eater had a preview yesterday of TabeTomo:

Starting today, NYC will finally have a ramen shop where tsukemen is the star. Chef Tomotsugu Kubo’s new restaurant TabeTomo, opening today, will go all in on the dipping ramen in a petite space...

Kubo has credentials that make this opening promising. The chef previously worked at the Tokyo location of Tsujita and helped open the LA location of the ramen sensation, where the restaurant that has one of the longest waits in the city. Like TabeTomo, Tsujita specializes in tsukemen, a style where room temperature noodles are dipped into an ultra-hot, ultra-rich broth.

But Kubo’s NYC restaurant will be more upscale than Tsujita, he says. It has 24 seats and a 16-seat wood bar. Warm, low light provided by hanging lanterns, a brick accent wall, and wood throughout give the restaurant a romantic vibe.

And more opening buzzzzzz via The New York Times:

In New York, Mr. Kubo says he will take up to 60 hours to simmer his broth to deep perfection. The noodles are thicker than garden-variety ramen, the better to sop up the soup, and additions like eggs, pork belly, spinach and dried seaweed can dress up the meal. Regular ramen bowls are also served. Donburi rice bowls topped with sashimi or fried chicken, among other options, are also on the lineup, along with appetizers like crisp chicken skin, braised pork belly, edamame and pickles. The focus of the room is a large counter with seating on three sides.

TabeTomo is offering a limited menu until its GRAND opening next Monday.

This is the second L.A. ramen transplant to venture into the East Village this year. Tatsu Ramen, with two locations in Los Angeles, opened its first NYC outpost in July at 167 First Ave.

Baci e Vendetta closed at 131 Avenue A in March after nearly 16 months in service. Nic Ratner, a partner in Baci e Vendetta, said that business for the Italian cafe wasn't sustainable with only a beer-and-wine license.

This space was the 10 Degrees Bistro until the fall of 2015 ... and the Flea Market Cafe before that.

H/T Steven!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Veteran of hit L.A. ramen shop behind new noodle venture at 131 Avenue A

Tuesday's parting shot

A look inside the incoming Madam Vo's Barbecue on Second Avenue at Sixth Street late this afternoon via Derek Berg...

Superhero's welcome

A look at the recently completed (as of yesterday) Spider-Man mural on Second Street at First Avenue... created by Chilean-based artist Otto Schade (courtesy of East Village Walls). The mural is a tribute to the late Stan Lee.

Well it's 1969 OK

Thanks to the EVG readers who pointed out this post via @NYTarchives... showing Gem Spa (Gems Spa then) on the corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue circa 1969...

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The word “iconic” gets thrown around a lot these days, but when it comes to New York City street life, Gem Spa, at St. Mark’s Place and 2nd Avenue, warrants the description. Just 6 months before the @nytimes staff photographer Carl Gossett Jr. captured the famous storefront in 1969, the paper described the corner soda fountain as a “hippie hangout.” In the subsequent years, Gem Spa would become a neighborhood anchor for the punk and New Wave music scenes, and be featured in an eponymous painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat and a poem by Allen Ginsberg. #eastvillage #newyork #history #photography

A post shared by The New York Times Archives (@nytarchives) on Dec 3, 2018 at 1:32pm PST

Headline H/T

Where the gas stations were

In the past four years, the last three area gas stations have closed, replaced by high-end new developments. Here's an update...

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Lafayette at East Houston Street

The BP station closed in April 2016... (the Irish pub Puck Fair was also on this parcel)...


[EVG file photo]

... and here's a look at the new 7-story retail-office complex as of Friday at 300 Lafayette St. ... the building will include 30,000 square feet of retail and 53,000 square feet of office space...



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Second Avenue at First Street

The gas station — first a Gulf, then BP — closed in July 2014...


[EVG file photo]

... and here's the 10-story condoplex shaping up as of Saturday...



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Avenue C at East Houston Street

The Mobil station closed in September 2014. It was the last one in business in the East Village...


[EVG file photo]

... and as of Saturday, workers are still down in the foundation of what will be a 10-floor building with 45 luxury rentals via BLDG Management ...



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With these closures, there is one gas station in the city below 14th Street — a Mobil on Eighth Avenue near East 13th Street. There is also a BP on East 23rd Street at the FDR.

Previously on EV Grieve:
How much longer will the East Village have gas stations?

The East Village will soon be down to 1 gas station

RUMOR: Gas station going, boutique hotel coming on Second Avenue? (31 comments)

BP station on 2nd Avenue closes this month

Have you seen the glass tower in the works for Lafayette and East Houston?

Filling up: the status of 2 former East Village gas stations

Report: Boutique office building on East Houston and Lafayette at BP site a go

BP station on East Houston and Lafayette closes April 14

Report: Lack of gas stations downtown a concern

Wara bringing Japanese cuisine and Batsu theater to 1st Avenue

[Photo from November]

Wara, a Japanese izakaya restaurant and dinner theater, is slated to open at 67 First Ave. at Fourth Street in the spring.

Wayne Yip, who owns Jebon Sushi at 15 St. Mark's Place and Clay Pot at 58 St. Mark's Place, is also behind this new venture.

CB3 OK'd a beer-wine license for Wara this month. According to the questionnaire (PDF here) at the CB3 website, Wara will be open from noon to midnight daily. The space has 18 tables seating 64 guests.

Real Estate Weekly had a few more details yesterday:

The experiential dining experience features sushi, Japanese pub-style eats and a Batsu theater, a show where actors are comically punished after losing a competition or bet.

Wara, whose name translates roughly to “laughing out loud,” took a 15-year lease at the corner spot ...

The asking rent was $15,500 a month, according to Sinvin Real Estate’s Steve Rappaport, who represented Wara. The landlord, Landlord Icon Realty, was represented in-house by Zach Levine.

Jebron also hosts Batsu theater in its basement lounge.

The Korean cafe Space Mabi closed here without any notice to patrons last month after a year in business.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Guayoyo has been closed now for 1 year

Gastropub — 'Your new playground' — slated for former Guayoyo space on 1st Avenue

Space Mabi closes 1 year in on 1st Avenue

Dim Sum Palace debuts on 2nd Avenue

Dim Sum Palace is now up and running under the sidewalk bridge in one of the storefront spaces at 59 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street.

We first spotted the signage for the restaurant back in March. As noted then, the owners also run two locations of Dim Sum Palace in Midtown.

You can find their fairly extensive menu here. Their hours are 11 a.m. to midnight daily.

CB3 OK'd a beer-wine license for them this month.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dim Sum Palace planned for 59 2nd Ave.

The incoming Dim Sum Palace has a large menu on 2nd Avenue

On 2nd Avenue, 16 Handles is temporarily closed for the season

[Photos by Steven]

The 16 Handles outpost on Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street is currently and temporarily closed, per the sign on the front door...



The email to people on the 16 Handles mailing list notes that this location is "temporarily closed for the season" (thanks to the EVG reader who shared this) ...



The Chelsea and Murray Hill Handles remain open. This location, which opened 10 years ago, has been closed several times before (here and here and here) for renovations ... but never for the season.

A new 2nd Avenue home for the NYPD's light tower

As noted on Saturday, the NYPD removed its portable lights from the northwest corner of Seventh Street at Second Avenue... and as several EVG readers have pointed out, the lights have moved down the Avenue... to the northeast corner of Third Street ...



A reader passed along these photos from yesterday... showing that the lights are now fixed on the southwest corner of Third Street, a spot where people have been known to congregate...



H/T Choresh Wald!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: It's 'Crusty vs. Postie' on 2nd Avenue

NYPD installs light tower on 2nd Avenue and 7th Street

Cookie Walk this way this weekend

The 10th Annual Cookie Walk is set for this coming Saturday (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 3 p.m.) at St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church on Avenue A and 10th Street.

And here's how it works via the Church's website:

Our Cookie Team bakes over 70,000 holiday confections — about 75 varieties. What makes the Cookie Walk unique is that you are in charge. You “take a walk” around tables ladened with cookies and hand-pick your favorites to fill an empty box. There are two sizes of boxes to fill: $15 & $35.

Find more details at this link.

MaKiinNy is now open in the East Village Thai space on 7th Street

On Friday, MaKiinNy debuted at 32 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

This is the former home of East Village Thai, which closed in July after 20-plus years in business. As EVG contributor Stacie Joy first noted, the owner's daughter was taking over the space for her own take on Thai cuisine here.

An EVG reader shared these photos from Saturday.

There are several rice and noodle options, such as the popular Thai dish khao mun gai ($10)...



The beverages include a Thai iced tea and Thai iced coffee.

MaKiinNy is open Monday-Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and then 5 to 9:30 p.m. They are closed Sundays. The interior includes a counter and several stools for eat-in dining.

Their delivery isn't set up just yet.

Updated

MaKiinNy will reopen on Dec. 17.

H/T to Steven for checking on the opening last week!