A visit to Mashbill Wine & Spirits on Avenue C

By Stacie Joy

I stopped by Mashbill Wine & Spirits on a recent Friday night, when the shop at 24 Avenue C between Second Street and Third Street hosts a wine and spirits tasting.

Owner Adi Pal, also the founder of online spirits merchant Mash & Grape, was behind the counter...



The space has been a liquor store for years. (Before Mashbill arrived in 2014, going first by Mash & Grape, the liquor store's clerks still worked behind bulletproof glass.)









During my visit, I was impressed with the staff's personalized service, greeting customers and having their orders waiting for them. Mashbill fans also appreciate the shop's thorough stock of harder-to-find items... and the Threesomm Wine Club, a three-bottles-for-$45 deal.

Mashbill is also dog friendly (there's a treat jar for pups up front)...





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Mashbill Wine & Spirits is at 24 Avenue C between Second Street and Third Street. The shop is open Monday through Thursday from 2 to 10 p.m.; until 11 p.m. on Friday. Weekend hours: Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.



Previously on EV Grieve:
A visit to the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street

A visit to Bali Kitchen on 4th Street

A visit to Eat’s Khao Man Gai on 6th Street

A visit to Yoli Restaurant on 3rd Street

Preparing for Saturday's dinner at Il Posto Accanto on 2nd Street

A visit to the Streecha Ukrainian Kitchen on 7th Street

A trip to the recently expanded Lancelotti Housewares on Avenue A

A visit to C&B Cafe on 7th Street

Bar Virage has closed on 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

Bar Virage, the corner bistro with a popular sidewalk cafe on Second Avenue at Seventh Street, closed Sunday after service... bringing an end to its 20-some years in business. (H/T Rhonda!)

This photo by Steven last night shows that the dining room has been emptied out...



No word on why the restaurant closed. (We did spot a retail listing for the address dating back to September 2017, last updated in April. The space appears of be off-market now.)

A sign on the front door thanks patrons...



The space went under a renovation in 2014, switching from Virage to Bar Virage (featuring an expanded bar area) ... there was another renovation in 2010.


[2010]

Coming soon to 13th Street: On the Mark Cleaners

On the Mark Barber Shop opened a second location in August 2017 at 350 E. 13th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Their original location at 400 E. 13th St. between First Avenue and Avenue A is now closed. EVG regular Pinch tells us that Mark, the owner, is opening On the Mark Cleaners, a drop-off dry-cleaning service, in the New Year at No. 400...



Updated Jan. 17, 2019

The business is now open...

A year-end look at the Streit's-replacing condoplex

Here's 150 Rivington, the 7-story glass condoplex with 45 one- and two-bedroom residences at Rivington and Suffolk... a corner better known as the longtime home of Streit’s Matzo Factory from 1925 to 2015.




The last time we checked in on the site — back in March — workers had recently reached the top level. Now it's looking close to completion, clad in floor-to-ceiling glass and 265 custom-cast panels.

The 150 Rivington website lists five residences still available (sales started in 2016). As for the interior, Christopher Robbins at Gothamist toured the new condoplex back in October. (Link here.)

The family-owned business sold its original factory to Cogswell Realty in January 2015 for a reported $30.5 million.

Streit's, who left the LES in 2015, now operates out of more modern facilities in Rockland County. (Here's a story about how they're doing today.)

And here's the slot for the future new ABC No Rio next door...



The city signed off on the new building permit in mid-November, and construction is expected to start in early 2019.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Times reveals the Streit's-replacing condos; Ben Shaoul wordsmiths gentrification

A celebration of Streit's Matzo Factory starts tonight on Avenue A

Matzo madness as Streit's documentary by East Village resident debuts at the Film Forum

At ABC No Rio's last HardCore/Punk Matinee on Rivington Street (for now)

Tonight's Con Ed blue light special brings back Sandy memories

[Image via @BreakingNews]

The Con Ed transformer explosion tonight in Astoria brought back some memories ... to when the transformer blew at the Con Ed plant on 14th Street and Avenue C the night of Superstorm Sandy in October 2012.

EVG regular William Klayer took this shot at nearly the moment he heard the explosion about 8:13 that night in 2012, bathing the sky in an eerie gray-blue light similar to what people saw tonight ...



And the second explosion the night of Sandy, which KO'd the power to lower Manhattan (as seen from Brooklyn)...

Dec. 27

Lost or late...? (Or maybe really early.)

Photo in Tompkins Square Park this morning by Derek Berg...

Holidays in the East Village

[Met Fresh, Avenue D]

EVG contributor Stacie Joy took these photos in shops and on the streets to capture some of the holiday spirit on display around the neighborhood this season...


[Lancelotti, Avenue A]


[Andrew Glover Youth Program, Avenue B]


[Mother & daughter, Avenue D]


[Porto Rico, St. Mark's Place]


[Ray's Candy Store, Avenue A]


[Key Food, Avenue A]


[Il Posto Accanto, 2nd Street]


[Fly at MoRUS, Avenue C]


[Hamilton Fish Recreation Center, Pitt Street]


[Exit9, Avenue A]


[4th Street at Avenue C]


[Avenue D]


[The Odessa, Avenue A]


[Sneak Ez, 9th Street]


[The Stand, 7th and Avenue C]


[Scrooge, Stanton Street]


[The Sock Man, St. Mark's Place]


[Shop Fair, Avenue C]


[Spark Pretty, 9th Street]

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And an extended look at 7B/Horseshoe Bar/Vazac's on Seventh Street and Avenue B... a winter wonderland this time of year...

Report: Residents of Kushner-owned 118 E. 4th St. learn building had 10X legal levels of lead

[Image via Streeteasy]

The following report was released last week via the Cooper Square Committee and the Lead Dust Free New York City coalition.

Tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. recently received notice that work crews hired by Jared Kushner’s Westminster City Living contaminated their building with lead-laden construction dust. The contamination was the result of unchecked dust from demolition work being performed in the building.

A report issued by New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from November shows elevated levels of lead in four of the five samples collected in the building. The sample with the highest level was nearly 10X (383 µg/ft2) the acceptable standards prescribed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for floors/treads of 39 µg/ft2.

In the fall of 2015, tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. endured bouts of no heat, mounting trash, and a longstanding cooking gas outage. The tenants then filed an HP Action in January 2016 for repairs and services to be restored. A motion was also filed in court to hold Westminster in contempt of court due to the lack of restoration of services.

Tenants of 118 E. Fourth St. and the Lead Dust Free NYC coalition are now calling the unsafe conditions to be remedied immediately and for safe work practices to be put in place for all work being performed. Tenants, advocates and elected officials are calling on the City to improve enforcement around lead and to increase penalties for landlords who contaminate buildings.

Many provisions with NYC’s lead laws, Local Law 1 of 2004, are not being utilized by the City. A City Council hearing in September of this year called to attention major deficits within the enforcement and regulations surrounding Local Law 1.

"I was in my apartment on a day when they began demolition. A dust cloud invaded my entire apartment from the demolition happening in the apartment below me. I felt a burning in back of my throat along with feeling of grit. I decided to leave for my own safety," said David Dupuis, a tenant of No. 118 for 35 years. "When I returned in the evening, the halls and everything in my apartment was completely covered in dust. The burning sensation at the back of my throat lasted for days."

You can find the full release, including comments from elected local officials, as well as the health department's report from November, at this link.

In an article on the report for The Villager, a spokesperson for the Kushner Companies said: "As soon as we were alerted to the condition, we instructed the contractor responsible to immediately clean the public areas and to implement stricter measures to prevent construction dust or debris from escaping the work area. Kushner always uses a lead-certified contractor who fully complies with the law."

Kushner bought the buildings during his East Village land grab in February 2013.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Local politicos join residents of 2 Jared Kushner-owned buildings to speak out about poor living conditions, alleged harassment

Jared Kushner's residents at 118 E. 4th St. would like gas for cooking and some heat

Get the lead out: Tenants call for protections from lead dust during renovations

Tenant activists praise lead reform, urge for more protections from city against predatory landlords

Joyface debuts on Avenue C

A new neighborhood bar called Joyface opens today at 104 Avenue C at Seventh Street.

These photos, by Steven, were taken last week with the Joyface signage was added to the exterior...



This has been in the works going back to the summer of 2017, when applicants Jennifer Shorr, who used to live in the building at 104 Avenue C, and her partner Brian Powell were OK'd by CB3 to take over the space.

The previous tenant, Alphabet Lounge, was apparently not well-liked by immediate neighbors. During the CB3 SLA committee meeting in August 2017, four longtime residents of either No. 104 or nearby buildings talked about what a horror show Alphabet Lounge was. (They were also there to support Shorr and Powell.)

The bar's 1970s basement rec-room look was also the subject of a feature last week in Architectural Digest...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elizabeth Ingram Studio (@elizabethingramstudio) on Dec 21, 2018 at 10:24am PST

Previously on EV Grieve:
New ownership taking over the Alphabet Lounge space on 7th and C

Rue-B adds daytime café service

Rue-B, the jazz lounge-restaurant at 188 Avenue B, has added a daytime coffee service here between 11th Street and 12th Street... Café Rue-B is open every day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and, per the door signage, offers coffee/tea, pastries and free WiFi.

The rush to be the first tree in the Tompkins Square Park MulchFest pen

The city is officially starting to collect trees for the annual MulchFest on Jan. 4.

Ahead of this, EVG Senior MulchFest Deputy Editor Steven notes today that a tree is already waiting in the wings ... just outside the MulchFest pens that Park workers have yet to assemble...



The two-day Chip-a-thon (aka Chipping Weekend) happens in the Park on Jan. 12-13. Per the Parks Department website: "We'll chip your tree and give you your very own bag of mulch to use in your backyard or to make a winter bed for a street tree."

The mulch also pairs nicely with banana and granola for a seasonal Açaí bowl.

Updated 8 p.m.

Well, the sign on Avenue A at Ninth Street says "drop your tree here" ... and someone has...


[Photo by Steven]