Sunshine Cinema-replacing office building moving forward; demolition watch back on

[EVG file photo]

An item from Crain's to note... especially if you've been wondering about the status of the Sunshine Cinema's corpse on Houston.

The business journal reported yesterday that demolition will soon commence now that the developers have nabbed some loans.

Developers East End Capital and K Property Group just secured a $67 million construction loan from CapitalSource and $19 million of mezzanine financing from Canyon Partners to fund the roughly $90 million project at 141 E. Houston St.

The builders will now break ground on the planned nine-story, 68,000-square-foot office property, which will seek rents above $100 per square foot. The project, catering to deep-pocketed tenants in search of luxury boutique offices, is expected to be completed in about two years.

In an interview with the Commercial Observer in late March 2018, Gregory Kraut, a managing partner at K Property Group, originally said that the demolition of the former theater that dates to 1898 would begin that spring.

East End Capital and K Property Group, who bought the building for $31.5 million in the spring of 2017, have a website marketing the spaces.

Here's the building's "redefined vision" ...

From acclaimed architect Roger Ferris, the only new development of its type on the Lower East Side, 141 East Houston is a new frame for viewing the neighborhood. Column-free and unbounded by walls, it reinterprets the area through a bold geometric perimeter of cladding and glass. State-of-the-art workspaces and private terraces reframe expectations, while a well-connected location recasts perspectives.

With its glass frame and dynamic courtyard running the length of its eastern side, doubling as a second facade, 141 East Houston challenges the distinction between indoors and out.

The ground-floor space along Houston Street will include outdoor seating in "Houston Alley" ...



The five-screen Landmark Sunshine Theater closed Jan. 21, 2018, after a 17-year run.

As Curbed noted in January 2018: "Rising rents put the theater into financial duress; it was served a death blow in 2012 when the Lower East Side community board rejected Landmark’s proposal to offer food and beverage service at the theater."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Discarded theater seats and goodbyes at the Sunshine Cinema

The 9-story boutique office building coming to the former Sunshine Cinema space

A celebratory ad on the purchase of 139 E. Houston St., current home of the Sunshine Cinema

The boutique office building replacing the Sunshine Cinema will be 'unbounded by walls' with an outdoor space called Houston Alley


[Photo outside the Sunshine on Jan. 22, 2018, by EVG reader Karen]

One Manhattan Square moves to the north

You've certainly seen the towering presence of the 72-floor One Manhattan Square off in the distance from Avenue B... Extell's tower is down at 250 South St. near the Manhattan Bridge.

EVG reader Paul Gale shared this photo yesterday ... part of an Extell mailer that unwittingly shows just how imposing this building is on the LES skyline...



Apparently this is what the intersection of "grit and glamour" looks like — somewhere right at Houston and B.

Report: Irving Plaza closing for 8-month renovation

[That time I saw the Damned last October]

Just as Webster Hall is returning to concert action, another area music venue is closing for renovations.

Irving Plaza on Irving Place and 15th Street will close this summer for an 8-month rehab.

Billboard has the story:

[T]he renovations at Irving Plaza will be overseen by Live Nation clubs and theaters division and include revamps of the lobby area and the music hall, new bars on all levels, the addition of a downstairs VIP lounge and remodeling of the mezzanine including a new box-seating section configuration.

Shows are booked through June 30. Live Nation officials say the venue will reopen in 2020 after eight months of work.

The 1,200-capacity venue has been in use for concerts the past 41 years. The Polish Army Veterans of America have owned the building since 1948.

Here's more history via the Irving Plaza website:

Originally, the building was four separate brownstones, which were eventually combined into a hotel in the 1870s. In 1927, the building was gutted and turned into a ballroom-style theater and christened Irving Plaza.

Over the next few decades Irving Plaza would serve as a union meeting house, a performance space for folk dance troupes, and a Polish Army Veteran community center, as well as a venue for the Peoples Songs Hootenannies with Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie.

In 1978, Irving Plaza was converted into a rock music venue ...

I've always liked the Irving Plaza, though not everyone shares that sentiment.

'Lucky 20' opens today at the Theater for the New City Art Gallery

EVG regular Lola Sáenz is curating a group show titled "Lucky 20" that opens today at the Theater for the New City Art Gallery, 155 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

The exhibit features works — paintings, sculpture, photography and mixed media — by artists who live or have worked in the East Village/Lower East Side.

"Lucky 20" features art from the following: Blanka Amezkua, Marcus Carter, Kathy Creutzburg, Selear Duke, Klay-James Enos, Kris Enos, JT Gray, Blake Greene, James Maher, Alisa Muir, Kanako Nagayama, Rochelle Pashkin, Carolyn Ratcliffe, Irene Rodriguez, Daniel Root, Bonnie Rosenstock and Sáenz.

The opening reception is April 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. And the gallery is open for viewing daily from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The Hells Angels have left the East Village

[Photo yesterday via EVG reader Erin S.]

The last of the members of the Hells Angels who lived in their clubhouse at 77 E. Third St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue have moved out.

By yesterday, the Hells Angels logos had been removed from the building's exterior ... and the front door — featuring flaming skulls and a pitchfork-wielding, helmeted-winged demon — had been painted over.

Also gone: The plaque in memory of Big Vinny inscribed "When in doubt knock 'em out." (In 1978, according to published reports, Hells Angel Vincent "Big Vinny" Girolamo was arrested after throwing his girlfriend, Mary Ann Campbell, from the roof of No. 77 to her death. He reportedly died as the result of a knife fight the following year.)


[Image via Wikipedia Commons]

As first reported here in February, there's a Memorandum of Contract (the form preceding a contract of sale) dated this past Dec. 21 between Church of the Angels, Inc. (aka — The Church of Angels) and 77 East 3rd LLC ...



The document was signed by Bartley J. Dowling, president of the NYC Hells Angels chapter, and the purchaser, Nathan Blatter of Whitestone Realty Group.

In a cover story published Sunday at the Post, Blatter said that a deal hasn't been finalized yet. The units in the building are expected to hit the market as rentals.

The Hells Angels have had a presence in 77 E. Third St. since 1969. They eventually bought the six-floor building, which included their clubhouse and member residences (Realtor.com lists 14 units), from Birdie Ruderman in the Bronx for a reported $1,900. The deed on file with the city from November 1977 shows the then-dilapidated building changed hands for $10...



In 1983, chapter president Sandy Alexander took over ownership of the building. The deed from that time states that Alexander, his wife Collette and their family could live on the premises rent free. In addition, in the event that the building was sold, she would stand to receive half of the proceeds.

This agreement was later the basis for a legal tussle in 2013 between the clubhouse and Alexander's family. (Sandy Alexander, who spent six years in prison for dealing cocaine, died in 2007.) That deed was eventually reversed in April 2018, per public documents.



So why now for the Angels to move away? A member named Tony told the Post: "We're being harassed by the yuppies down here [who are] sitting on our bikes and pissing on the sidewalk."

And: "When the neighborhood was s–t, nobody minded us because we kept the place clean. It comes a point where it’s useless to be down here because of the harassment. [We want to] go somewhere we can live comfortably."

The yuppies have apparently been a problem dating to 1987, as this People magazine article from that year shows...



Some excerpts from the article, dated Sept. 7, 1987:

Across the street from the Angels’ clubhouse a banner touting co-ops for sale flaps in the fetid breeze. A partial rehab, featuring a fresh coat of tan paint over a soot-blackened facade, has transformed a sagging old apartment building into trendy housing for the affluent young. You might think that a beer can’s throw away from the lair of a notorious band of bikers would be a less-than-desirable homesite — and you would be right. That’s why a dark, airless, 400-square-foot, one-room apartment there can be had for only $68,000 (plus $388 a month maintenance), about half the going rate in the city’s tonier precincts.

The Angels ... view the neighborhood’s sudden ascension with mixed feelings. "We’ve moved up in social class without leaving the block," jokes chapter president Brendan Manning. But his smile can’t hide that tinge of resentment common to an area’s old families when the nouveaux riches arrive. As his biker buddy Butch Garcia notes, "We always kept this block clean when it was a ghetto, a slum. Now the rich people moved in and everybody’s trying to keep it clean."

Manning, 31, who lives in an apartment above the clubhouse, as do a number of Angels and their families, anticipates no trouble with the new upscale neighbors. "If they don’t bother us, we can deal with them," he says. "As long as they don’t complain and don’t call the cops and" — his barbarically handsome face grows stern — "don’t hit our motorcycles." He vows with a resolve as ineradicable as his tattoos that, even if the clubhouse becomes an island of sweaty denim in a sea of pin-striped wool, there will always be the Angels: "We were here first. We’re not gonna change. We don’t change for nobody. If they can’t handle it, they can move."

In 2009, the Angels started having issues with hostel guests from next door sitting on their bench. You may recall that episode here.

In recent years, there were other territorial issues involving parking spaces and their orange cones. In 2016, there was a reported shooting over a parking spot outside the clubhouse. And in late December, a deliveryman was allegedly sucker punched by a member when he parked his car in front of motorcycles outside the clubhouse.

No word yet on where the members may relocate. According to the Sunday Post: "The gang hopes to relocate to a neighborhood where they won’t be bothered by Starbucks traffic, pushy tourists and nosy cops." As Giovanni noted in the comments on Sunday: "I sincerely hope they enjoy their new home in Wyoming."

CineKink returns to the Anthology Film Archives

[2018 photo by Stacie Joy]

CineKink NYC returns for its 16th annual engagement starting tomorrow (Wednesday) through Sunday ... and the Anthology Film Archives on Second Street at Second Avenue will be the main venue again for the curated program of films and videos that celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality.

A few details via the EVG inbox...

Billing itself as "the kinky film festival," the event is presented by CineKink, an organization dedicated to the recognition and encouragement of sex-positive and kink-friendly depictions in film and television. Works featured at CineKink NYC will range from documentary to drama, comedy to experimental, mildly spicy to quite explicit — and everything in between.

The CineKink NYC festivities commence tomorrow (Wednesday) at 8 p.m. with a fundraising kick-off extravaganza to be held at M1-5 Lounge (52 Walker St.)

The festival then moves to Anthology Film Archives from Thursday through Saturday with several different film programs scheduled for each day.

The festivities conclude Sunday with an afternoon workshop titled "From Fantasy to Film: Design Your Own Porn Film."

One item of local interest to mention: Saturday's slate of shorts includes "The Baroness," who "navigates the ever-growing world of latex fashion." The Baroness has her shop over on 13th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Find all the detail about CineKink 2019 at this link.

And here are a few photos from last year's CineKink via EVG contributor Stacie Joy...

Fare deal: The MTA's new digital payment system arrives at Astor Place

Vinny & O yesterday spotted the MTA's new fare payment system (not in working order yet) at the downtown 6 at Astor Place...



We first heard about this in October 2017, when the MTA board voted to approve a contract to phase in this new digital system.

Per the MTA press release at the time:

The moves help officially mark the formal transition away from the MetroCard, which was first introduced in 1994. ...

Rather than swiping a MetroCard, MTA users will instead be able to use a mobile wallet like Apple Pay or tap a contactless bank card at turnstiles and on buses across the city. The new system will test payment options for all-door boarding on SBS buses, a critical measure for reducing the time it takes for customers to board and travel.

The system was reportedly set to launch this May along a stretch of the 4, 5 and 6 trains and across all bus routes on Staten Island, per amNY.

And a few more details about the tap-and-go system via amNY from June 2018:

In addition to MetroCards, which won’t be completely phased out until 2023, commuters will only be able to use specific, contactless credit or debit cards or mobile wallets from Apple, Google and Samsung to pay for fares during this initial launch.

The MTA won’t unveil its new smart card until February 2021, when it will be available to purchase like any gift card at drugstores and other convenience stores. Vending machines within stations will follow in 2022.

Updated 4/4

Jiang Diner now in soft-open mode on 5th Street

Here's a little more information about Jiang Diner, which is now in a soft opening here at 309 E. Fifth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

According to their website: "Jiang Diner was founded with a mission to introduce authentic Xinjiang-styled Northwestern Chinese food and culture to New York City."

You can find their menu online here.



For now, Jiang's hours are 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, with a 3 p.m. opening on Saturday and Sunday.

Reminders: Your chance to discuss proposed changes coming to the M14A and M14D bus lines

ICYMI from Friday...

There's a town hall with MTA officials tonight (April 2) from 6-8 to discuss proposed changes to the M14A and M14D bus routes on Avenue A and Avenue D.

As previously reported, with the the new planned SBS route, the MTA may eliminate M14A and M14D stops throughout the East Village and Lower East Side.

The proposal would turn the M14A and M14D into an SBS route, lowering the number of stops on Avenue A and Avenue D and along Grand Street.

Tonight's meeting is at the 7th Precinct, 19 Pitt St., which is just south of the Williamsburg Bridge and Delancey Street.

On March 24, local elected officials spoke out against these proposed moves during a rally on Avenue A and Fourth Street. You can read coverage of this at Curbed and Patch.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Local elected officials urging the MTA/DOT to keep local service in M14 SBS plan

Monday's parting shot

Danger/anger hijinks on Avenue C today... photo via @Jason_Chatfield...

Happy No. 18 Academy Records

Academy Records, one of my favorite shops in the neighborhood, is celebrating its 18th anniversary.

So happy No. 18! You can find the shop — and their freshly painted floor — over at 415 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Photo via @academyrecords

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.

A quick look at Webster Hall a month before it reopens

Webster Hall officially reopens on April 29 with a two-night stint by Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía followed by Patti Smith on May 1-2. All four of these shows are sold out. (And there are the rumors that a band such as the Strokes, the National or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs will christen the new space at the end of the month before the official slate of acts.)

Ahead of the debut this month, here's a look at how the landmarked venue is shaping up outside here on 11th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue...





As previously reported, Webster Hall is now owned by BSE Global and The Bowery Presents, who's booking the acts at the venue.

And here's a recap from a previously released press announcement:

The renovations at Webster Hall aimed to preserve the iconic features of the venue, while modernizing it to meet today’s entertainment standards and enhance the guest experience. The Lounge (formerly The Marlin Room) has been revamped to serve as a bar and meeting spot for ticketholders both before and after shows in the Grand Ballroom.

Design details of The Lounge include elegant gold stenciling on the walls that pays homage to the original historic design, and fluted glass along the bar that mimics the venue’s former windows.

In the Grand Ballroom, the original stage remains, while acoustics were enhanced to create an optimal live event experience. Fans and artists returning to Webster Hall will notice other new features such as central air conditioning, expanded restrooms, additional stairwells for smoother entry and exit, and the venue’s first-ever elevator that will serve guests with disabilities and speed up each show’s load-in and load-out process.

Behind the scenes, an artist compound was built with upgraded amenities to provide direct access to the Ballroom stage, creating a more comfortable and inviting environment for performers and their management. The venue’s basement level, formerly known as The Studio at Webster Hall, will also return, with more details to be announced at a later date.

The architect of the revived venue is OTJ Architects, the contractor is Shawmut Design and Construction, and acoustic design is by L’Acoustics. Once open, Webster Hall will employ an estimated 70 people across various positions in the venue, between front of house and back of house, on any given event night.

This landmarked building has been around since 1886. It re-opened as Webster Hall in October 1992 after the Ballinger family purchased and renovated the space that was known as The Ritz during the 1980s.

And for making it this far in the post, here are bonus photos of the Moxy East Village across the street from Webster Hall...



The 13-floor hotel via Marriott is expected to open at the end of the year.



Previously on EV Grieve:
When Webster Hall reopens, there might be a Moxy Hotel across the street

First sign of upcoming renovations at the former Webster Hall

Permits filed to renovate Webster Hall

The Webster Hall marquee looks to be in danger of falling

Ride on, Cowboys: Stillwater Bar & Grill closes after 15 years on 4th Street

[Image via @stillwaternyc]

Multiple EVG readers shared the news that the Stillwater Bar & Grill closed its doors on Fourth Street last night after 15 years on the block here between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

At least one regular chalked up the closure to a "landlord dispute."

Since 2008, the neighborhood sports bar also served as home to the NYC Cowboys — the official alumni group for Oklahoma State University.

News of Stillwater's closure made it all the way to this Oklahoma State superbooster ...

Over the years, #okstate fans in NYC have gathered at @stillwaternyc to watch games and connect with fellow Cowboys. Sad to hear the place will be closing. Here’s a good memory from 2011 when @darrenrovell and I met up at the restaurant. @NYCCowboys pic.twitter.com/uh9ol1gbbP

— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) March 29, 2019

The bar was actually not named for the city in north-central Oklahoma, but rather owner Matt Keane's love for fishing.

Stillwater Bar & Grill opened in August 2004.

A reminder that H Mart is coming to 3rd Avenue

We've been waiting for word of H Mart's arrival in the long-vacant shops along the base of NYU's Alumni Hall on Third Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

There's now a new "coming soon" banner for the Asian-American supermarket on display...



We first spotted the branding for H Mart here last August. Still no exact opening date for the chain, based in Lyndhurst, N.J. This will be the third H Mart in Manhattan (the others are on West 32nd Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side). Overall, H Mart has more than 70 outposts in the United States and Canada.

H Mart is taking the place of the former Birdbath and Citi Habitats office. Both of these businesses left in the summer of 2014. ... and the storefronts have sat empty ever since.

While we're over here... the departure date for Metropolis Vintage has been pushed back from April 1 to May 1...



As we first reported on Jan. 2, Metropolis is moving to a larger space at 803 Broadway near 11th Street after 23 years at 43 Third Ave.


[Photo by Steven]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Metropolis Vintage is on the move to a larger space nearby on Broadway

299 Bowery arrives on the rental market 20 months after DBGB closed

A for-rent sign has finally arrived on the former DBGB space at 299 Bowery.

JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle Brokerage, Inc.) has the listing. There's not much info, such as the asking price, on the 6,600-square-feet of space. Per the listing: "Fully built restaurant space with infrastructure, kitchen and bar in place (no key money)."

DBGB shut down in August 2017 after eight years in the Avalon Bowery complex here between First Street and Houston Street.

The former Tatyana Boutique next door is also still for rent. That storefront has been vacant for three-plus years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
DBGB has closed, and erased from the Bowery

[Updated] Sage Kitchen announces itself on the Bowery

The signage is up now for the opening-soon [UPDATED: Now open!] Sage Kitchen at 356 Bowery between Great Jones and Fourth Street.

This is the first restaurant/marketplace (first announced back in February) for the five-year-old catering company. Per their website: "Our favorite seasonal menu features sandwiches, grain bowls, market salads and sweets — all made to order. Our Chef Jazzie describes our menu as, 'fresh, vibrant, simple.'"

You can find a (catering) menu here.

And you can hit up their Instagram for nice food pics...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sage Kitchen (@sage.kitchen) on Mar 19, 2019 at 8:43am PDT

The Bowery Bond, an artist collective, was previously in this retail space.

Updated 4/4

EVG regular Lola Sáenz notes that Sage is now open...

Work permits issued for the former (and future?) Sidewalk space on Avenue A

The city issued a work permit last week for 94 Avenue A, the former (and future?) Sidewalk Bar and Restaurant at Sixth Street.

Nothing too exciting per the permit: "INTERIOR REMOVAL AND RENOVATION WORK AT THE 1ST FLOOR AND CELLAR."



The work is estimated at $50,000, per the DOB paperwork.

The permit arrives amid rumors that the building had been sold. There's nothing in public records about a recorded sale. (The asking price had been $11.9 million.)

As previously reported, new owners have taken over the former Sidewalk, which closed after service on Feb. 23. So far not many details about what's to come here have been made public. There have been rumors that the new establishment will retain the Sidewalk name... and at least one of the open-mic nights.

Auction at Croissanteria today

Croissanteria is now officially closed at 68 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

There was a small sign on the door announcing an auction today (Monday, April 1) at 1 p.m. Everything left in the restaurant is for sale, per the sign.

Several people mentioned an interest in the cafe's antique wall clock...


[Image via Yelp]

The bakery and cafe began selling coffee and croissants here in October 2012. There wasn't any reason for the closure made public.

Noted (bagel edition)

[Image via Black Seed Bagels]

Of possible interest to bagel fans... Black Seed Bagels and Violet, the grilled pizza place that recently opened on Fifth Street, have partnered to create the East Bay Bagel Sandwich available starting today for the month of April.

Via the EVG inbox...

Inspired by Violet’s Rhode Island roots, the sandwich is made with chorizo, fried egg, melted provolone cheese, grilled and sautéed kale, topped with sliced banana peppers and served on an everything bagel. ($13)

The sandwich is available at all four currently open Black Seed locations, including First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street.