14th Street busway free to roll on, judge says

The city may now turn parts of 14th Street into a busway with vehicle restrictions after a judge today lifted a restraining order on the redesign, according to published reports.

In late June, a coalition of Manhattan landowners used state environmental law tried to permanently stop the busway plans with a lawsuit.

West Village resident Arthur Schwartz, arguing on behalf of several block associations, claimed that the Department of Transportation’s proposed busway violated state environmental law because the agency didn’t conduct a serious assessment of the impact that banning cars from 14th Street would have on neighboring residential streets. The suit also demanded the removal of the bike lanes on 12th Street and 13th Street.

As Gothamist reported today, New York State Supreme Court Judge Eileen Rakower gave the city the OK to move forward. (And the bike lanes are staying put.)

According to Rakower, the Department of Transportation "went to great lengths to describe the consideration that went into the analysis, considering pedestrian deaths, dangerous intersections and not just the speed of the bus that is going to traverse 14th Street."

Reaction via Streetsblog:

“Today’s court decision is a huge victory for New York’s two million daily bus riders,” said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance. “The 14th Street busway will provide faster and more reliable bus trips, saving precious time for tens of thousands of people who badly need it. The judge’s ruling also sets the stage for future victories and better bus service citywide.”

Analysis from Transportation Alternatives and Riders Alliance had found that rush-hour M14 bus riders spent a combined 8,654 additional hours commuting over the last month than would have been the case under the city’s plan to transform 14th Street into a busway, as amNY reported.

The busway aims to help move people during the L-train slowdown. Private through-traffic will be banned between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on 14th Street between Third Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Buses, trucks and emergency vehicles will be given priority in the center lanes between Third Avenue and Ninth Avenue. Cars will be allowed to make pickups and drop-offs as well as access local garages.

No word yet when the DOT will launch the busway.

RIP Unkle Waltie

Longtime East Village resident Walter Kohl (aka Unkle Waltie) died on July 30 at NYU Langone. He had been recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Kohl was 69.

Kohl was born in Switzerland in 1950. He moved to New York around 1970 and attended The Juilliard School.

A music engineer, Kohl had an incredible ear for music.

Friends said that he was known for his quips and barbs and the ability to effortlessly charm strangers. As they said, he would make friends for life after meeting somebody just for a few minutes.

There will be a memorial to celebrate his life at the International Bar on First Avenue in several weeks on Sept. 7 at 3 p.m.

Updated:



Thank you to EVG contributor Steven for reporting on Unkle Waltie.

The tree nest in El Jardín del Paraíso has been removed

[Photo by Roderick Romero]

The unique tree nest that surrounded a willow in El Jardin del Paraiso, the community garden on Fourth Street between Avenue C and Avenue D, is no more.

An EVG reader spotted the former octagonal treehouse broken up and lying in piles late last week...


[Photo via @artisanmatters]

East Village resident Roderick Romero created the structure in the fall of 2003. He also learned of its fate last week. No one from the garden, where he is a member, consulted him about the removal.

"It's horrible. It was a total surprise to me," he told me in a phone call.

Romero said that a garden committee member thought the structure had become decrepit, and started taking it down. When Romero saw what had happened — and what was remaining of the structure — he told the garden to just remove the rest.

"So many kids loved," he said. "Adults did too, but the kids got a lot of joy of it."


[Photo by Roderick Romero]

Romero, a well-known treehouse architect known for unconventional designs, has built structures for residential properties in the United States, Central America and Europe. This was his first treehouse in the "public domain," which he created at no charge to the garden. (This article for the Times in 2003 has more background.)

He said that he had done maintenance on the tree nest through the years and was unaware any structural issues.

The tree nest's departure reminded some residents of the removal of the Tower of Toys from the Sixth Street and Ave B Community Garden in 2008 a year after its creator, Eddie Boros, died. When told of this, Romero responded, "the only difference is I'm not dead."

Tech hub officially breaks ground on 14th Street

[Photo via @VladeckRA]

A handful of local elected officials and other community stakeholders gathered yesterday morning for the official groundbreaking at the future home of the Union Square Tech Training Center (aka tech hub) on 14th Street at Irving Plaza.

"The new Tech Training Center will be a hub for local residents to gain new skills, network and plug into the City's thriving tech scene," Vicki Been, deputy mayor for housing and economic development, said in prepared remarks. "We are proud to support this new institution and its goal of helping to create the most dynamic and diverse tech ecosystem in the country."

The project is being developed jointly by the city’s Economic Development Corp. and RAL Development Services. The Union Square Tech Training Center includes Civic Hall, which will offer digital skills for low-income residents, as well as market-rate retail, office space and a food hall.

The hub, championed by Mayor de Blasio and initially announced in early 2017, passed through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Process earlier in 2018, capped off by a unanimous City Council vote — led by local Councilmember Carlina Rivera — in August 2018. A rezoning was required to build the the structure, which is larger than what current commercial zoning allows.

The approval came despite the pleas of some residents, activists, small-business owners and community groups who had long expressed concern that the rezoning necessary for the project would spur out-of-scale development on surrounding blocks.

The Village Preservation, who was against the rezoning without stricter zoning protections for the immediate area, used the groundbreaking ceremony to help amplify their ongoing concerns. Nearly a dozen protestors gathered outside the private ceremony.

They kept the public out of their press conference for the groundbreaking, but we got our message across this morning as we protested @NYCMayor’s corrupt deal for 14th St Tech Hub + @CarlinaRivera breaking her promise to demand neighborhood protections: https://t.co/IyY1aflo8f pic.twitter.com/Wxbt664dyc

— GVSHP (@GVSHP) August 5, 2019

Here's part of a statement the Village Preservation issued yesterday:

"Rather than a cause for celebration, the groundbreaking ceremony for the 14th Street Tech Hub calls for serious examination of the corrupt process which led to its approval and the sweetheart deal it gave to several donors to the Mayor. The majority of this project is purely for-profit commercial office space being built on highly valuable public land for a song, when other bidders on the project would have included more public space and benefits and not required the commercial upzoning so opposed by the neighborhood. This sad saga is rife with broken commitments and promises made by both the Mayor and Councilmember Carlina Rivera regarding protections and mitigations for the surrounding neighborhood."

You can read their full report here.

The new building, on the former site of a P.C. Richard & Son, has an optimistic grand opening set for the fourth quarter of 2020, per the 14th @ Irving site.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Behold Civic Hall, the high-tech future of Union Square — and NYC

Speaking out against a 'Silicon Alley' in this neighborhood

P.C. Richard puts up the moving signs on 14th Street; more Tech Hub debate to come

City Council's lone public hearing on the 14th Street tech hub is tomorrow

City Council unanimously approves tech hub; some disappointment in lack of zoning protections

The conversation continues on the now-approved tech hub for 14th Street

P.C. Richard is gone on 14th Street; preservationists want answers about tech-hub commitments

Gaia Italian Cafe expected to reopen today after a short break; but for how long?

Local favorite Gaia Italian Cafe has been closed for a break since the end of service on July 28. They are expected to reopen today. (Gaia is closed on Mondays.)

Two EVG readers pointed us to the basement-level space here on Houston between Suffolk and Norfolk...



One reader, a longtime fan of Gaia's, found the note for patrons — presumably from proprietor Gaia Bagnasacco — especially worrying...



According to the note, they were taking a little break after being overwhelmed the past two years by the ongoing construction of Samy Mahfar's controversial 14-floor residential building — called Sioné — next door "that has made our business full of problems and from the space above us that gave us other problems too." (Not sure what exactly is in that upstairs space with the American flag in the window. Weeks back a reader mentioned MAGA signage inside the space.)

The Gaia note concludes with: "We need to think about the future of the cafe in which directions [we] should go for the time that we are living and for the money power that is taking this city to craziness."

This isn't the first time that the 8-year-old cafe discussed closing shop. In late 2013, Bagnasacco posted on Facebook that Gaia was "closing probably forever." Thankfully that didn't happen, as we need more affordable and quirky places like this in the neighborhood.

H/T Steph!

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black in Tompkins Square Park

Late yesterday afternoon, glam-punk performance legends The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, led by East Village-based artist Kembra Pfahler, headlined day two of the Tompkins Square Park Riot Reunion shows.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy was on-hand for the show... as were many other photographers. The band draws a crowd...










[Samoa Moriki]


[Gyda Gash]







Updated:

Several people have asked about the Andy signs the band is wearing. This was a tribute to Andy Kessler, a well-known skateboarder who died on Aug. 10, 2009. He liked to skate in the TF in Tompkins Square Park, which the city wants to cover with synthetic turf.

Free films at the Tompkins Square Park Library branch this month

As always, there are about 400000000 programs and events to take part in this month at the Tompkins Square Park Library branch on 10th Street. You can find their full listing at this link.

Here's just a look at the free film screenings... which includes the continuation of the Summer of JUDY! series marking the 50th anniversary of Judy Garland's death:

Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 5 p.m. — "In the Good Old Summertime"
Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. — "Summer Stock"
Saturday, Aug. 17 — DOUBLE FEATURE at noon: "A Star is Born," 3 p.m.: "I Could Go on Singing"

And two all-ages film screenings:
Friday, Aug. 16 at 1 p.m. — "The Wizard of Oz"
Friday, Aug. 23 at 1 p.m. — "Labyrinth" Starring David Bowie.

And two films on music:
Wednesday, Aug. 21 at 5 p.m. — "Standing in the Shadows of Motown"
Wednesday, August 28 at 5 p.m. — "The Devil and Daniel Johnston"

The library is at 331 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

RIP Lucien Bahaj

[Photo courtesy of Clayton Patterson]

Several EVG readers shared the sad news in recent days that Lucien Bahaj, the restaurateur behind Lucien on First Avenue, died last Monday in Florida. He was 74. A cause of death was not revealed.

Bahaj opened the French bistro at 14 First Ave. between First Street and Second Street in 1998.


[EVG photo from June]

Clayton Patterson wrote a feature obituary published at Document Journal:

Lucien was born in Morocco in 1945, and grew up in the South of France. By working at luxurious hotels and restaurants, he learned the etiquette, dress, and social mannerisms of their elite clientele. He refined his social skills in New York, becoming a player in the city’s ’70s and ’80’s nightlife scene by working at places like Indochine. It was always his New York dream to open a French-style restaurant, one that served quality food with sophisticated service, in his own idealized image.

And...

Lucien’s eatery was his art form and his performance space. Every day, he worked to perfect his art; tasting the food and wines, changing the spices and the mixtures, trying out different seating arrangements, and curating a selection of avant-garde reading material. To give the impression of an old-school establishment that had survived the test of time, the walls were given a distressed paint job, on top of which were hand-scripted poems painted by Rene Ricard. If Lucien wasn’t sitting inside, he would often be found by the entrance, always the gracious host who made sure his customers felt welcome.

Bahaj also operated the Pink Pony on Ludlow Street from 2001 to 2013, closing it after the landlord wanted a $6,000-per-month rent increase. Rent hike aside, as the Times noted then: "[H]is cafe had come to seem out of step in a neighborhood sprouting condominium towers, boutique hotels, mixologists and sports bars."

Lucien, whose walls are adorned with a variety of framed photos of artists, actors and filmmakers who have dined here, remains a timeless classic. Per a 2014 revisit at Serious Eats:

Lucien runs off an old, seemingly forgotten, formula from a time when nasturtium and nettles were just weeds. The food is reliable, seasoned well, and portioned with hunger in mind. It isn't necessarily progressive or trendy or challenging, but that's exactly why eating there is so great.

[EVG photo from June]

Patterson writes that Bahaj's son Zac has "the learned etiquette and special magic required to make Lucien hum along without his father."


[Lucien and Zac by Clayton Patterson]

Another Flamingos Vintage Pound opens in the East Village, this one on 11th Street

[Photo by Steven]

The second East Village outpost of Flamingos Vintage Pound opened on Saturday here on 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Seems like a good spot for the shop — on a corridor with like-minded businesses such as Buffalo Exchange and Tokyo Joe.

Another Flamingos debuted at 143 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street two weekends ago. Apparently they are opting for smaller storefronts as opposed to renting larger, more expensive space.

These are the latest locations for FVP, which as the name implies, sells vintage clothing by the pound. FVP opened on Stanton Street last summer. The company, now in its 10th year of business, has multiple stores in Europe, as well as in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and Brooklyn.

Maison Kayser closes Union Square location

Maison Kayser has closed its outpost on Broadway between 13th Street and 14th Street. (Thanks to EVG reader Cecily Millen for the tip and photo!)

The Paris-based French bakery/bistro opened here in September 2016. As we noted at the time, EVG commenters were pleased by this arrival.

The door signage for customers, which includes an apology "for the inconvenience," lists five Manhattan Maison Kayser locations as well as news of a store coming to Hudson Yards.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Maison Kayser opening a large bakery on 13th and Broadway (25 comments)

Medina's Turkish Kitchen debuts on 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

Medina's Turkish Kitchen is up and running now at 166 Second Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street.

Back in December, we spotted a sign for a Korean restaurant opening in the space that was Dinah Hookah Lounge. Obviously those plans never materialized.

The address has been home to several businesses just in the 12-year lifespan of EVG, starting with a Dunkin' Donuts ... then the pizzeria Pomodora ... then three open-and-shut hookah places — Entrez Bar & Grill, Farfasha and Dinah.

A new door for The Jones

A progress report of sorts to note at the former Great Jones Cafe space, where restaurateur Gabriel Stulman is opening The Jones.

Well, the under-renovation space has a new door. (H/T Steven for the photos!) The old door to the Great Jones Cafe was shown the curb back on Friday...



The Jones — on Great Jones between the Bowery and Lafayette — is expected to open this fall. The Stulman team describes the new venture this way: "An all-day bustling cafe and neighborhood joint with a focus on light, fresh and bright menu."



Stulman, under his Happy Cooking Hospitality, operates a handful of West Village establishments, including Joseph Leonard, Jeffrey's Grocery, Fedora, Fairfax and Bar Sardine.

Great Jones Cafe never reopened after Jim Moffett, the longtime owner, died in July 2018 at age 59. The Cafe, a popular yet low-key spot, first arrived in 1983.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Keeping up with the Joneses: Gabriel Stulman confirms plans for former Great Jones Cafe

Elvis has left Great Jones; 'seafood focused neighborhood restaurant' coming soon

[Updated] The future of the former Great Jones Cafe

Sunday's parting shot

Members of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black enter Tompkins Square Park this afternoon... they were the headliners for Day 2 of the Tompkins Square Park Riot Reunion shows. Thanks to Steven for this photo. We'll have more tomorrow from Stacie Joy...

Week in Grieview

[Hot summer nights and pastrami]

Posts this past week included...

RIP Tim Schellenbaum (Friday)

3rd Avenue and 14th Street cited as one of the city's most dangerous intersections for cyclists (Wednesday)

New legislation aims to track vacant storefronts, monitor health of small businesses (Monday)

Partial boom collapse at 749 FDR Drive and 6th Street; no injuries reported (Tuesday)

At the Heap of Ruins Garden Party (Tuesday)

A "quick reboot" for Coney Island Baby on Avenue A (Monday)

Celebrating 32 years of Two Boots Pizza (Friday)

Police ID suspect in 12th Street home invasion (Friday)

This week's NY See panel (Thursday)

Plywood report: A big Dig renovation on 4th Avenue (Monday)

Eiyo Bowl confirmed for part of the former Foot Gear Plus space on 1st Avenue at St. Mark's Place (Monday)

The McDonald's on 1st Avenue is closed for a gut renovation (Tuesday)

Last day for A Repeat Performance (Wednesday)

"Continuing adjustments" at Tree Bistro (Monday)

The return of Summer Streets (Thursday)

Ho, ho, ho now there's a SantaCon lawsuit (Monday)

A new Indian restaurant for 11th and B (Monday)

... speaking of that new restaurant on 11th and B, EVG reader Annabelle shared this WIP shot of new murals outside...



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