Construction watch: 3 E. 3rd St.

Checking on on the progress at 3 E. Third St., the six-floor, five-unit condoplex in progress steps off of the Bowery and in the shadows of 347 Bowery...



Inspiron, the project's construction manager, has more details on their website:

The Building is a concrete design that will be roughly 13,400 square feet. The space will be split between residential spaces on the upper floors with luxurious rooftop access and commercial space on the lower floors.

The project originally started out as a 7-floor building. There hasn't been any information released yet on pricing for these units.



Alex Barrett’s Barrett Design and Development paid $11.5 million in 2016 for the property, a building that served as short-term rentals for students and interns.


[3 E. 3rd St. in April 2015]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Development site available on East 3rd Street at the Bowery

Demolition watch: 3 E. 3rd St.

Last week for Puppy Love & Kitty Kat on 9th Street

Multiple EVG readers have shared the news that Puppy Love & Kitty Kat, the 10-year-old pet supplies and grooming shop at 420 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, is closing this week.

No word what's behind this closure at the moment. (Thanks William Klayer, Steven and Barley...)

Monday's parting shot

Not a Citi Bike either... photo on Fourth Avenue by Derek Berg...

Yet another reminder that February is nearly over

Workers removed the holiday lights today on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, as these photos by EVG Ninth Street Holiday Lights Correspondent Steven show... the lights had been up since Dec. 5 ...

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's the latest installment of 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. (And recently featured on the #ArtOnLink campaign via LinkNYC.)

Last call at Sidewalk and St. Mark's Comics, now closed after a combined 70 years in business

[Photo early Sunday by Day Clancy]

The Sidewalk closed after service on Saturday night... ending 34 years on Avenue A and Sixth Street. New owners are taking over the restaurant and live-music venue.

And there were many thank yous and goodbyes on social media from musicians who have played here through the years... just one example ...

View this post on Instagram

Thank you SideWalk for the memories! It has been a journey - And an absolutely incredible one at that. The only place in my book that welcomed me as a musician. Love you all, misfits, creatives, and Antifolks. 🖤❤️ #longlive @sidewalknyc #rocknroll #stairwaytoheaven #highwaytohell #Antifolk

A post shared by Natalie Asport (@natalieasportmusic) on Feb 23, 2019 at 7:24pm PST

Meanwhile, on St. Mark's Place, St. Mark's Comics closed its doors after 36 years in business last evening. Owner Mitch Cutler cited a variety of factors behind the closure. "I have been working 90 hours a week for 36 years, and I no longer have the wherewithal to fight them — all of these various reasons," he told me last month. The storefront at 11 St. Mark's Place is currently for rent.

amNY stopped by yesterday for a final report. You can read that piece here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by amNewYork (@amnewyork) on Feb 24, 2019 at 12:30pm PST

100 Gates project coming for East Village gates

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A post shared by EVIMA (@evimanyc) on Feb 22, 2019 at 8:05am PST

The Lower East Side Partnership is bringing the 100 Gates Project to the East Village.

Here's the pitch:

Interested artists will be paired up with like-minded businesses for these site-specific mural collaborations that will be installed on exterior roll-down security gates. Artists are paid a supply and artist stipend of $400 for each gate installation and the project comes at zero cost to merchants.

EV merchants can email this account to apply for a gate revamp. (And artists can apply to work on a gate at this link.)

The 100 Gates project started on the Lower East Side in 2014 ... and eventually expanded to Harlem and Staten Island.

The 100th gate was completed (by LAmour Supreme) on the LES in September 2016... over at Katz's (this photo is from last year)...

New playground equipment alert in Tompkins Square Park

[Photos Friday by Steven]

New playground equipment is arriving in the under-renovation playground on the Avenue B side of Tompkins Square Park (H/T @dens!) ...



Renovation work started last Oct. 1 on the Avenue B children’s playgrounds.



According to the Parks Department website: "This project will reconstruct two playgrounds with new play equipment, safety surfacing, spray showers, seating and fencing."

The project has a 12-month timeline for completion. Construction here is listed as 37 percent complete, per the Parks Department website.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Playground renovations underway in Tompkins Square Park

Heavy-duty fencing arrives as playground renovations continue in Tompkins Square Park

Ravagh Persian Grill is back in action on 1st Avenue

Ravagh Persian Grill has returned after a months-long interior renovation here at 125 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

This is one of five outposts for Ravagh (three in Manhattan and two on Long Island).

People seem to like this place. Eater gave it high marks in a roundup of Persian restaurants ... while the reader comments were positive, with one noting on our last post: "I eat here all the time! The ghormeh sabzi is the best I've ever had in a restaurant. Very much hoping they open up again soon."

BeetleBug sits empty now on 9th Street

Several EVG readers have noted that BeetleBug, the floral design shop, has been emptied at 441 E. Ninth St. at Avenue A.

There's no message on the site's website or social-media properties about any type of closure. (They do have operate a small-scale market and flower farm in the Hudson Valley.)

BeetleBug opened in early 2017, and they were the first tenant in Icon Realty's renovated retail spaces here at 441 E. Ninth St. (aka 145 Avenue A).

According to one previous retail tenant here in 2015, Icon either wasn't renewing leases or offering new terms with unmanageable rent increases. (Icon bought the building for $10.1 million in April 2014.)

The last previous tenant to leave — in February 2016 — was the Upper Rust, who found a new space in Chelsea for their antiques.

Another new business along here, Mahalo New York Bakery, which served Hawaiian-inspired desserts, closed back in fall after seven months in business. That 300-square-foot space is now for rent with an ask of $4,500 monthly, per the Icon website.