Notices are up along the sidewalk bridge on the northwest corner of Houston at Avenue B from the the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) ...
The flyers state that the DHS along with the NYPD and other city agencies "will complete a clean-up" of this area...and people need to vacate along with their belongings. Anything left behind by tomorrow may be discarded.
As for this longstanding sidewalk bridge, according to the DOB, a permit for it was first approved in December 2014. The city renewed the permit in October. The building, 6 Avenue B, has been vacant for years. The liquor store in the retail space has been closed since the owner died in the fall of 2009.
Updated 12/22
The area under the sidewalk bridge has been cleaned...
Now everything that was there is neatly stacked a few feet away on the curb (as Neighbor noted in the comments) ...
... and the belonging all have these fake-looking U.S. Federal Use labels...
And "Max," who was sleeping under the sidewalk bridge, is now in the adjacent bus shelter.
If you're looking for a little holiday cheer... "It's a Wonderful Life" is screening in 35mm on Wednesday night (7 and 10:10) over at City Cinemas Village East on Second Avenue at 12th Street.
The freshly renovated 4 St. Mark's Place — aka the Hamilton-Holly House, circa 1831 — has made its first public appearance after nearly two years covered in construction netting and plywood here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.
These two photos are from Friday...
In December 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) signed off on renovations and an expansion for the landmarked building. In doing so, the LPC did nix an additional floor, and a few other proposed items. The expansion was to take place in the back of the building, doubling the number of residential units from three to six.
Here's more about what was to take place via New York Yimby, reporting from that December 2016 LPC meeting:
On the front of the structure, a largely new entryway would be installed, the gate at the stoop would be removed, new windows would be installed, and the grand curved balcony would be reconstructed at the first floor. The secondary stair from the ground to the first floor would be removed and a new small gate put in its place at ground level, an additional window would be added to the basement level, an existing basement door would be replaced with a window, an agree under the front steps would be reopened, and signage would be installed. The existing fire escapes would remain. The façade would also receive an overall restoration.
[Photo from Friday]
And a look at the building in 2010...
In February, Wanyoo, a Shanghai-based cyber cafe chain, reportedly signed a lease for the garden space, per The Real Deal. Another retail listing from a different broker arrived in March for the parlor space.
Col. Alexander Hamilton Jr. was the first owner of the townhouse at 4 St. Mark’s Place. British-born real estate developer Thomas E. Davis was erecting Federal-style homes along the street at the time as homes for wealthy New Yorkers seeking refuge from the cholera epidemic further downtown. In 1833, three decades after his father died in a duel with Aaron Burr, Hamilton Jr. bought the home and moved in with his mother Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (who was riddled with debt after her husband’s death), wife Eliza, and his sister Eliza Holly and her husband Sidney.
And, when St. Mark's Place became dead for the third or fourth time...
In 1843, the Hamiltons sold the house to oil and candle merchants Isaac C. Van Wyck and his son Cornelius. By mid-century the neighborhood had fallen out of fashion, and the homes along the street were split up into multiple dwellings. From 1903 to 1952, musical instruments firm C. Meisel Inc. housed their retail store and offices here. In the 1950s and ’60s, number 4 was used an experimental theater, including the Tempo Playhouse, New Bowery Theater, and Bridge Theater.
A bar called Eliza's Local, named for Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, recently opened next door at 2 St. Mark's Place.
As we've been reporting, a 10-story residential building with full-floor luxury condos are in the works for 14 Second Ave. adjacent to First Street Green Art Park.
Curbed has more details about new owner Daniel Vislocky (of development firm Station Companies) and his plans for the site, the former Irreplaceable Artifacts.
Vislocky said that he "expects prices to be in the $2.8 million to $3.5 million range" for the building's units, where residents will have access to ground-floor storage and a gym.
Next steps: working with a consultant to take the appropriate steps to remedy the Stop Work Orders dating to 2009 and 2000.
Per Curbed:
Vislocky was attracted to the property because of its openness; it’s adjacent to First Park, so the south side and rear of the building will have guaranteed views. “It’s such a luxury to live in New York City and have treetop views,” says Vislocky, “especially in the East Village.” The leafy surroundings were such a draw, in fact, that the developer decided to name the new development Treetops.
In July 2000, the city demolished the four-story building that housed Irreplaceable Artifacts. According to the Times, a wall and two floors collapsed at 14 Second Ave., which forced the evacuation of 51 apartments in three nearby buildings.
The Timesreported that a construction crew was making alterations to the first floor of Irreplaceable Artifacts in defiance of a stop-work order.
Ravagh Persian Grill on First Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place has been dark of late.
Signage on the front windows points to a temporary closure for renovations (in a positive sign, their outgoing phone message relates the same info).
This is one of five outposts for Ravagh (three in Manhattan and two on Long Island).
Anyway, I've never eaten here. It gets high marks from one reliable source. Here's what Eater had to say about it in a roundup of Persian restaurants:
The menu here stands up to some of Southern California's best Iranian restaurants. The barg kebab (whole chunks of beef rather than ground meat) is particularly flavorful, as are the joojeh (lemon chicken) kebabs. Get the kashk e bademjan as an appetizer. The creamy eggplant dip is enhanced with kashk, which is creamy whey that has a tart and almost caramelized flavor. Don't forget to order dessert: Zoolbia, which looks like a funnel-cake but is potato-chip crisp and soaked in a rose water syrup, goes well with amber-colored Persian tea.
Workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside 287 E. Houston St. late last week... providing a full FULL reveal of the 11-floor condoplex — called 287/LES — here between Clinton and Suffolk.
As previously reported, the 120-foot-tall luxury building features 27 residences ... with two to four units on each story, including two duplexes on the first and second floors and a penthouse duplex on the top two floors. The units start at $1.175 million.
ViVi back in bubble tea action on Allen after 2-month DOH-related closure (Wednesday)
... and there is some vigorous debate in the tree-tossing community about the discarded item on Sixth Street at Second Avenue (spotted by Derek Berg and Russell K.)...
There were several reader reports of some kind of explosion(s) early this morning around 1.
A Reddit user uploaded a video providing the possible explanation — a street fireworks display ... the video appears to be from Second Street heading east toward Avenue B...
This interview with Simonon from 2011 has more about him smashing his bass at the Palladium (now an NYU dorm) on 14th Street between Third Avenue and Irving. That bit starts at the 3:10 mark...
... and an undated photo (without a credit) looking west on 14th Street at Third Avenue with the Palladium on the left...
Composer Phil Kline will lead a massive chorus of boomboxes from the West Village to the East Village in the 27th annual holiday presentation of UNSILENT NIGHT. People gather at the arch in Washington Square Park, and less than an hour and mile later, end up in Tompkins Square Park.
Kline will hand out a limited number of vintage boomboxes from his collection—and cassettes for those who bring their own. The public is strongly encouraged to bring their own boomboxes or sound-blasters, and to pre-download the track. Find out more about how to participate and download the tracks at this link.
Participants will meet at 5:45 p.m. in Washington Square Park ... the approximate end time is 6:45 p.m. in Tompkins Square Park.
Here's this week's NY See, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's comic series — an observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood ... and NYC.
The Neighborhood School's annual Holiday Fair take place tomorrow (Sunday!) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The holiday fair features an artisan market with items like soaps, jewelry and screenprinted T-shirts. There will be food, a photo booth, games and activities for kids ... as well as a book fair run by McNally Jackson.
The school is at 121 E. Third St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.
The Continental ends its 27-year run tonight at 23 Third Avenue at St. Mark's Place. (Final night details here.)
Ahead of that, workers removed the iconic 6-shots-of-anything-for-$12 signage this morning. (And if you want to see an 11-second video clip, this is on Twitter.)
The special evolved from $10 for five-shots-of-anything ... then $12 for five-shots-of-anything... to $12 for six-shots-of-anything. (Documented here.)
Apparently Dec. 15 was simply the farewell party but NOT the last night... flyers are now up on the front doors noting a Dec. 31 last night... with inventory clearance until then...
The Community Council of the 9th Precinct is holding its annual Children's Christmas Party tomorrow outside on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue from 9 a.m. to noon. (Rain or shine...)
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The Animal Care Centers of NYC will be at Boris and Horton, 195 Avenue A at 12th Street, "with great cats and dogs available for adoption" from noon to 4 p.m. ACC adoptions include vaccinations, spay/neuter, a pre-registered microchip, an identification tag, a collar and a certificate for a free initial exam at a participating veterinarian. Details at this link.
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The Lower Eastside Girls Club is hosting the Cookie Bake-Off and Holiday Sweet Sale from noon to 3 p.m. at Girls Club HQ, 402 E. Eighth St. at Avenue D.
Per the invite: "We have over 20 bakers competing for the best holiday cookie, and guests get to take them home. Just fill an empty tin ($20, $35 or $50) with delicious “Angel Baked” homemade cookies while our celebrity judges (including Amy Sedaris, Amirah Kassem and Connie Girl Fleming, to name a few) taste the cookies and crown the Cookie Queen."
On Tuesday, Assembly Member Harvey Epstein along with residents and advocates rallied outside the MTA HQ on Broadway to call for greater community input to mitigate the ongoing impact of the L-train renovations underway on 14th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.
This past summer, residents learned that this corridor is not only the main construction zone leading up to the L-train closure, but also during the 15 months the MTA expects the trains to be offline between Bedford Avenue and Eight Avenue.
As one 14th Street resident told me about Epstein's press conference: "He got really annoyed with the MTA's intransigence about the ongoing work. Same issues: loud noise, accessibility issues, late hours — going to 24/7 — and general horribleness."
Here's part of the press statement released by Epstein's office (and NY1 has a recap here ... and Town & Village here)...
Assembly Member Harvey Epstein advocated with residents and business owners of 14th Street to draw attention to concerns over air quality, noise, and dust mitigation as a result of the L Train renovations. Tenants, business owners, community groups, elected officials, and others gathered to hold the MTA accountable to the repercussions of ongoing construction, which have hurt small businesses and created innumerable nuisances for local tenants.
Local residents have raised concerns about the MTA’s limited engagement. Without any input from the community, the L Train construction has created huge impediments on 14th Street. Small businesses are obstructed by sidewalk closures and barriers, and many local owners have reported a decrease in business since construction began. Tenants have been harangued by constant white noise, traffic jams, and dust and debris that have impacted air quality. There’s also been little consideration for accessibility, and sidewalk closures have made it difficult for people with disabilities to access the affected area.
The press conference was held to highlight these ongoing issues and bring the stories of 14th Street residents to the forefront. With the support of Assembly Member Epstein, advocates demanded that the MTA take definitive steps to address community concerns, including: holding monthly meetings with 14th Street residents; implementing shorter hours of construction, including prohibiting work on Sundays; instituting an independent monitor for air quality and environmental concerns.
“We're calling on the MTA to be a better neighbor to folks on 14th Street” Epstein said. “We're not trying to stop the MTA from doing the necessary work to improve the L train line and the 14th Street and First Avenue, but we do expect the MTA to seek community input in order to minimize the impact of ongoing construction on local residents."
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera also called for more accountability from the MTA.
MTA spokesperson Shams Tarek provided this statement to Gothamist:
"We have had dozens of meetings with neighbors of the L Project, have developed extensive procedures to minimize the impact of construction, and welcome practical ideas on how we can further protect local quality of life," Tarek said. "We require our contractors to uphold strict guidelines regarding noise, vibration, air quality, and safety, are monitoring all of these impacts, and any suggestion otherwise is just false."
Meanwhile, Gothamist has a piece from Wednesday focusing on the green stuff (upper-left-hand corner in that photo above) that workers are dredging up from the bowels of the L tube.
Transit Authority President Andy Byford had pledged to be transparent about what materials workers would dispose of and how. As for the green substance, officials said that it was water, concrete and dirt, per Gothamist.
"I don't believe anything the MTA says," resident Penny Pennline said Tuesday. "I'm not buying it, they also said 9/11 was safe for the first responders, where are those people now?"
L-train gunk aside, there are other quality-of-life issues, such as the constant noise. A resident who lives adjacent to the construction site shared this video from Wednesday...
Here's 14th Street resident Patrick Ryan from Tuesday: "Everyone who lives on East 14th Street understands the L train has to be repaired, but the conditions that the residents and schools and small businesses are living under are untenable and dangerous. The air quality in our area has suffered immensely due to the continuous use of diesel run machinery, a constant flow of trucks, and fifteen uncovered industrial dumpsters regularly being filled and emptied and overflowing into the streets.”
In another development, Gov. Cuomo was scheduled (at the last minute) to tour the Canarsie tube overnight "so that he and his experts can decide if repair work really needs to take 15 months," the Postreported.
“This is a vital and complicated project. We’re talking about a hundred year old tunnel. This is highly disruptive to New Yorkers,” Cuomo said after the tour. “I want to be able to look New Yorkers in the face and tell them that this is the best possible way to have done this.”
All photos courtesy of the 542 E. 14th St Tenants' Association
We sent the notorious landlord Steven Croman to jail for breaking the law. Now, his tenants are also getting the restitution they deserve after enduring years of harassment. The first round of payments from our unprecedented $8M settlement are in the mail. https://t.co/9EjRwLi1DKpic.twitter.com/r4KBiRxNLt
New York AG Barbara Underwood announced yesterday that the first checks are in the mail to eligible current or former tenants of buildings owned by Steve Croman who submitted claims to the Croman Tenant Restitution Fund.
The restitution fund is part of the settlement that arose out of an investigation and lawsuit filed by the AG against Croman for — among other things — harassment, coercion and fraud, to force rent-regulated tenants out of their apartments.
The consent decree requires Croman to pay $8 million into a Tenant Restitution Fund – the largest-ever monetary settlement with an individual landlord. The $8 million will be divided equally among eligible claimants and distributed to tenants in installments over a 38 to 42-month period. This first round of restitution payments follows Croman’s initial $2 million payment to the fund.
To be eligible for restitution, tenants had to have lived in a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartment owned by Croman between July 1, 2011 and December 20, 2017, not including tenants who received a buyout of more than $20,000 (not including any amount that purported to cover rent or arrears).
Following last year’s historic consent decree, in August 2018, the claims administrator hired by the Attorney General mailed claim notices and application forms to current and former rent-stabilized and rent-controlled tenants in Croman’s buildings. Nearly 800 households filed applications for restitution funds. Eligible households will begin receiving checks for $2,425 each, as early as next week, in this first installment from the Croman Tenant Restitution Fund.
Cynthia Chaffee, Croman tenant and cofounder of the Stop Croman Coalition, told me this: "As far as I'm concerned, no amount of money can ever make up for the hell Steve Croman put his tenants through."
In addition to this $8 million Tenant Restitution Fund, the settlement required that a new, independent management company run Croman's residential properties for five years. In June, the AG's office selected Michael Besen’s New York City Management to oversee Croman's real-estate empire, which includes 47 buildings with 617 units in the East Village.
Croman was released from the Manhattan Correctional Facility on June 1 after serving eight months of a one-year jail sentence and paid a $5 million tax settlement following separate criminal charges brought by the AG's office for fraudulent refinancing of loans and tax fraud.
EVG regular Lola Sáenz shared this photo of China Star owner Jay Yang. (You can read our interview from October 2017 with Jay and learn the family backstory of the China Star at this link.)
The NYCHA plans to sell air rights and open some land to private development in order to raise money for repairs (The Real Deal)
The Opportunity Zone program promoted by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, whose company owns many EV properties, could also benefit them financially, an Associated Press investigation found (TPM)
Details on the Mercury Lounge’s 25th anniversary shows (Brooklyn Vegan)
Gov. Amazon Cuomo will tour the L-train tunnel, cause disruptions tomorrow (Gothamist)
The Sanitation Department is hosting a design contest for a new corner waste basket (Curbed)
MC5's Wayne Kramer revisits old EV haunts (The New Yorker)
Under financial duress, the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy theater has announced lay offs. Their theaters, including the U.C.B. East on Third and A, are not in danger of closing. (The New York Times)
Who's that kid with the New York Dolls outside the Gem Spa in 1973? (Dangerous Minds)
A homes feature on Adam Elzer, who lives above his restaurant Sauce on 12th Street (6sqft)
About those mysterious sidewalk markings on Avenue C (Town & Village)
The U.S. theatrical premiere of "Dead Souls," the eight-and-a-half-hour documentary (shown in three parts) by Wang Bing that documents the testimony of survivors of the hard-labor camp in the Gobi Desert in Gansu, China (Anthology Film Archives)
41-year-old Cornelia Street Cafe closing on Jan. 2 (JVNY)
And people have been lining up to get into the new Nutella Cafe over on 13th Street and University Place. Save some time and month and head to Key Food on Avenue A...
You may have noticed the recent arrival of those mysterious flyers in the front windows of the always-crowded Dallas BBQ on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place noting "Here we stay..."
Perhaps it's a variation of dining in...? EVG correspondent Steven spoke with a manager, who said that Dallas BBQ was considering moving to a new location. Apparently word leaked to some regulars. Ownership decided to stay put, and the signs are to let their customers know that they are not going anywhere.
The family-owned Dallas BBQ has 11 locations in the metropolitan area serving up enormous platters of reasonably priced food (onion loaf!) and supertanker-sized (Texas-sized?) drinks.
The original Dallas BBQ opened on the Upper West Side in 1978. The EV location debuted at some point in the 1980s. (If anyone can supply the exact date/year...)
Tamam, a Turkish boutique, opened last week on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue in a storefront between White Trash and So-Hair.
The owners sent us a note about their shop.
Tamam means "ok! all right! sure!" etc. in Turkish. Our shop is a boutique with handmade ceramics, tabletop, jewelry old and new, as well as ikat and hand-embroidered pillows, Turkish rugs, handmade scarves, accessories, clothing. We also have a great selection of antique and vintage textiles from Turkey, Central Asia, India and beyond.
Tamam is three partners: Clare Louise Frost, Elizabeth Hewitt of Tulu Textiles, and Hüseyin Kaplan, a noted Turkish textile and rug dealer. Tamam is all of treasures in one place, a treasure chest of all the things we love.
We are so happy to be in the East Village — we couldn't imagine opening our shop anywhere else.
They are open most days from noon to 8 p.m. through Dec. 23. (They will then be closed until the start of the New Year.) Find more info at their Instagram account here.
As previously reported, the Continental is wrapping up its 27-year run at 23 Third Avenue at St. Mark's Place on Saturday night.
More details on that last night have emerged via these flyers, showing the New York Dolls outside Gem Spa in 1973, in circulation...
It will be a late night, with festivities set to start at 11 p.m. Guests/DJs including Lenny Kaye, Jessie Malin and Randy Jones (the cowboy from the Village People).
The Continental, which transitioned from a live-music venue to a regular-old bar in 2006, had received several extensions in the past year, first in July then October. Trigger, the bar's owner, had most recently hoped to stay open until May 2019.
This will be the last business to close on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place. A boutique office building with ground-floor retail is in the works. Real Estate Equities Corporation picked up the 99-year leasehold for the properties here for nearly $150 million in November 2017. The corner assemblage is owned by the Gabay family.
Updated 12/17
Apparently Dec. 15 is not actually the Last Night as the Last Night flyers note or what was previously announced... flyers are now up on the front doors noting a Dec. 31 Last Night... with inventory clearance until then...
Going outside the usual coverage zone for this post about the Pearl Diner, a place that I always liked.
Yesterday, New York Yimby reported that building permits have been filed for a new 21-story hotel at 212 Pearl St. in the Financial District — a plot of land that currently houses the Pearl Diner.
Per NYY:
The concrete structure will yield 26,413 square feet with 21,120 square feet dedicated to hotel rooms. Permits detail the 244-foot tall building will have 48 hotel units, averaging 440 square feet each. Gene Kaufman Architect PC is responsible for the design.
No demolition permits have been filed as of yet and the Pearl Street Diner located at the site is currently still open for business. The estimated completion date has not been announced.
The Pearl Diner hasn't announced a closing date just yet.
Diners in NYC are an endangered species as it is... especially a single-level building in the heart of the booming Financial District. So it's rather amazing the Pearl Diner has lasted this long.
And now another hotel via Gene Kauffman will rise here. (According to The Real Deal, who first reported on this, Kaufman was already the architect for three of the six ongoing hotel projects in the Financial District.)
The hotel will have company — a 40-story Marriott consisting of two brands — a Courtyard and a Residence Inn is rising directly across the street from the diner...
