Another look at Le Fournil, the French bakery now open in the former Moishe's space on 2nd Avenue

Here's a quick follow-up to yesterday's post about Le Fournil, the French bakery that opened yesterday in the former Moishe's space at 115 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

EVG contributor Steven took these photos, showing the gut-renovated interior... gone is the wood paneling and stuck-in-time homey vibe that Moishe's offered ...




[Photo by Derek Berg]

We're still waiting to find out more about the operators here (and if they will put up their own exterior signage) ...

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Updated 1/6

Per Gothamist, the owner is Jean-Francois Hebert, a third-generation baker from Normandy, France, who's been living in New York for eight years and working at places like Felix in SoHo and Cafe du Soleil on the Upper West Side.

Gothamist has more on the tiles that they unearthed here too.

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A quick take based on reader comments here and on social media — overall people seem to be happy that there's a new bakery that actually sells bread (and not more cookies and other sweets) ... there were a few grumbles about prices. Early taste tests were all positive.





... and an upclose shot of the menu via Eden...



Moishe's bake Shop closed back on March 5 after 40-plus years in business. In December, investor Jay Schwimmer picked up a 21-year lease for the entire three-story building with the option to buy it from Moishe Perl, who has been the owner since the mid-1970s. There's still nothing in public records indicating a sale — just a memorandum of lease.

No one seemed to know exactly what was going to happen with the space (including Mr. Perl, whose narrative changed in various media interviews), though EVG commenter GadgetFreak nailed it with news of a French bakery in a comment on March 25.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: After 40-plus years, Moishe's Bake Shop has closed on 2nd Avenue

The mystery of Moishe's

An update on the former Moishe's Bake Shop

The Pure Green-Wattle Cafe combo storefront shutters on 2nd Avenue

[Photos by Steven]

Last Wednesday, we noted that the Pure Green space was for rent at 152 Second Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street, with landlord Icon Realty hanging a large for-rent sign — complete with arrow — above the storefront.

Over the weekend, Pure Green, along with Wattle Cafe and the I.V. Doc, the other two businesses that shared the space, went dark.



Pure Green, which has multiple NYC locations, opened here in March 2017.

According to the Icon website, the space has an asking rent of $18,000 per month.

Last Christmas for Zum Schneider on Avenue C: Biergarten on the move in 2020

[EVG photo from August]

In early 2020, Zum Schneider will be be moving away from its 20-year-old home on the northwest corner of Avenue C and Seventh Street.

As we understand it, the landlord is not renewing the lease of the popular Bavarian bierhaus and German restaurant. (The landlord, listed as 229 East 7th Street HFDC, unsuccessfully tried to evict Zum Schneider in 2006.)

"Yes, it's rather sad after 20 years, but the East Village seems to have the trend that storefronts become empty and stay empty for years," said owner Sylvester Schneider. "Strange development."

Schneider said that they will start looking for a new location in early 2020. Meanwhile, the kitchen closes on Feb. 2, with Feb. 25 serving as the last day for Zum Schneider on Avenue C. They'll be closing out with the annual Karneval party, held Feb. 20-25.

Zum Schneider opened on Avenue C in August 2000, and soon became a destination for World Cup and Euro Cup matches as well as events such as Karneval and Oktoberfest, which they later moved to a tent along the East River.

Schneider also serves as Mösl Franzi, the frontman for the house Oompah band, the JaJaJas.

From a pre-Oktoberfest article from September in The Red Hook Star-Revue:

Schneider is, undisputedly, the heart and soul of the restaurant, whether he’s behind the drums or not. His pervasive energy, enthusiasm and joy have made it a jubilant place since it opened. He’s often seen hopping up onto the benches and bar, leading the entire place in rousing singalongs, or creating spontaneous dance parties.

But he was a musician first. Born in Wessling, a small town outside of Munich, he moved to America to become a drummer. He played in rock bands in Boston and NYC in the ‘90s, before he opened Zum Schneider, which instantly stood out for its uniquely authentic German coziness.

Schneider said that Zum Schneider fans could sign up for their newsletter online for updates about the move next year.

French bakery opens at the former Moishe's Bake Shop

[Photo by Pinch]

Le Fournil, a French bakery, opened around noon today in the former Moishe's Bake Shop at 115 Second Ave. near Seventh Street... Eden shared these photos...



Here's a look at the menu...



We'll update more later...

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Previous post from this morning...


[EVG photo from Saturday]

We haven't heard anything lately about the new bakery venture taking over the Moishe's Bake Shop on Second Avenue near Seventh Street.

In June, workers were spotted delivering new kitchen equipment. Otherwise, pretty quiet.

On Friday, EVG contributor Derek Berg spotted another delivery at the storefront... some butter and items from Paris Gourmet, a specialty food importer, among other items...





Back in May, (current or former) owner Moishe Perl told Derek that several bakers are taking over the shop, where they will serve a variety of baked goods as well as coffee. (He said that they may call the new venture Formerly Moishe's.)

Moishe's closed on March 5 after 40-plus years in business. In December, investor Jay Schwimmer picked up a 21-year lease for the entire three-story building with the option to buy it from Perl, who has been the owner since the mid-1970s. There's still nothing in public records indicating a sale — just a memorandum of lease.

The links below have more background on what has transpired here in the past few months.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: After 40-plus years, Moishe's Bake Shop has closed on 2nd Avenue

The mystery of Moishe's

An update on the former Moishe's Bake Shop

Wanyoo Cyber Cafe arrives at the landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place

News arrived back in February 2018 that Wanyoo Cyber Cafe was taking part of the retail space in the renovated 4 St. Mark's Place.

The Wanyoo signage finally arrived on Friday, with a grand opening close behind (they are officially open)...



Wanyoo, Asia’s largest gaming café chain, has a location in Flushing. They reportedly signed a 20-year lease for this space in the landmarked building between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Until February 2016, 4 St. Mark's Place housed Trash & Vaudeville for 41 years. The store relocated to 96 E. Seventh St.

The Hamilton-Holly House (aka 4 St. Mark's Place), built in 1831, was once owned by Alexander Hamilton’s son. The building, which changed hands for $10 million in the spring of 2016 for $10 million, also underwent a gut renovation and expansion.

Chi Snack Shop moved into the parlor-level space with the Imogene boutique back in the fall...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Exclusive: After 40 years, punk rock mainstay Trash and Vaudeville is leaving St. Mark's Place


[Via]

4 St. Mark's Place is for sale

More residential units and a 5th-floor addition in the works for landmarked 4 St. Mark's Place

Watching us like hawks

Nice to see Christo (left) and Amelia, the resident red-tailed hawks of Tompkins Square Park, hanging out today ... thanks to Steven for the photos...

Week in Grieview

[Photo outside Veniero's by Lola Sáenz]

A holiday night to remember a loved one at Dress Shoppe II on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

New Citi Bike station arrives on 1st Avenue (Monday)

The Associated has closed on 14th Street (Monday)

Hit sandwich connoisseurs Foxface opening a new venture in the former Harry & Ida's space on Avenue A (Wednesday)

Gallery moving into doomed 4th Street restaurant space (Friday)

The Trash Bags rock Union Square station (Friday)

Fat Cat Kitchen closes on 14th Street (Wednesday)

Red Gate Bakery opens its gates today on 1st Street (Thursday)

Merry ChristmASS from Rite Aid on 1st Avenue (Friday)

MulchFest 2020! (Tuesday)

Land of Buddha, a Himalayan gift shop, taking over the former St. Mark's Comics (Tuesday)

Tenants call out Madison Realty Capital: Stop warehousing rent-regulated apartments (Friday)

These were the top reads from East Village libraries in 2019 (Friday)

You've got that Lovenburg feeling (Tuesday)

Hakata Zen is (almost) back on St. Mark's Place (Monday)

Le Sia remains closed for renovations on 7th Street (Tuesday)

A few scenes from the snow squall (Wednesday)

28 years of Unsilent Night and making 'beautiful music in the street' (Tuesday)

Santa fires up Christmas on 2nd Street (Wednesday) ... Christmas spirit at the 9th Precinct (Monday)

The Pure Green space is for rent on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

Joe's Steam Rice Roll back open on St. Mark's Place (Monday)

SantaCon came to town. Again. (Sunday)

... and yesterday, Dec. 21, marked the 12th anniversary of this website, which started with this post...



And so, 30,595 posts later... thank you to everyone who has followed along, shared comments and tips, commiserated over a lost business or remembered a neighbor who left too soon... A special thanks to the site's many contributors, especially Stacie Joy, Steven and Derek Berg.

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RIP Ron Edgecombe

[Photo via Facebook]

Ron Edgecombe, a longtime local resident dating back to the early 1980s, died this past week. He was 61. A friend said that he had contracted pneumonia.

He worked as a stagehand at venues around the city, most recently at the PlayStation Theater in Times Square. He was also a familiar presence at the free concerts in Tompkins Square Park.

Friends are leaving remembrances on this tribute page on Facebook.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Stump town: More on the tree art of Ian Dave Knife

[Photo by Steven]

In recent weeks we've posted about local artist Ian Dave Knife making art from dead tree stumps around the neighborhood (here and here).


[Photo by Steven]

He is featured today in the Post in an piece titled "East Village man Ian Dave Knife turns NYC eyesores into street art."

An excerpt:

Knife’s mission is to brighten every locale where a once-magnificent tree has been reduced to a lonely stump due to fungus or decay.

“There’s a void when the tree is missing. You see the gap,” the Zimbabwe-born activist artist told The Post. “It’s human nature that we want to grieve or sympathize with the tree. You feel the loss. I want to replace that gap.”

His latest is work in progress in on Avenue A at Sixth Street...



Read more about his work and influences here.

Updated 12/23

EVG reader Kerri Savage shared this photo... as he continues work on Avenue A and Sixth Street...



...and the final product, via Kerri...

Early Happy Easter wishes on this Dec. 22

Spotted on Seventh Street at Avenue B by Dave on 7th... not creepy at all!

Saturday's parting shot

BMX Christmas on Second Avenue today via Derek Berg...

It happened on 5th Street

Always the best Christmas lights in the neighborhood... Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

A Winter Solstice celebration today at the Campos Community Garden

Volunteers at the Campos Community Garden are hosting their Winter Solstice celebration today from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Among other things, you can burn your grievances "to open space for new goals in the coming year" and enjoy candied lemons made from the garden's very own lemon tree.

Campos Community Garden is at 640 E. 12th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Friday's parting shot

[From the top left] Jax, Atticus and Alistair dressed up in Tompkins Square Park today... photo by Derek Berg...

Merry ChristmASS from Rite Aid on 1st Avenue

Something to entertain you while waiting in line at the Rite Aid on First Avenue and Fifth Street.

Holiday hijinks or this is just how the monogrammed stockings happened to end up here high on the shelf? Anyway, 50-percent off!

Thanks to Stacie Joy for this photo ...

Not for 'Nothing'

A reconfigured Rocketship returned with its first record in 13 years with Thanks to You, an under-the-radar release from this fall. The dream-pop track here is for "Nothing Deep Inside."

Local to express: The Trash Bags rock Union Square station

Last night, the LES-based Trash Bags held their record release party in a rather unusual venue — the band brought their thrash 'n' roll to the 14th Street/Union Square station (the L-train mezzanine) ... sadly we missed it ... here are two clips...

View this post on Instagram

@THETRASHBAGS record release subway party 12/19/19

A post shared by 🐜🐜🐜 (@muddgutsrecords) on Dec 19, 2019 at 9:29pm PST

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Raishma (@raishmaram) on Dec 20, 2019 at 2:19am PST

The band's debut record, produced by Billie Joe Armstrong, is available now via Muddguts ... you can likely find the vinyl down at the Cast, the boutique at 72 Orchard St. run by band members Moan Elisa and Chuck Bones.

The Trash Bags are on a bill tomorrow (Saturday!) night out at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn with local singer-songwriter Fiona Silver.

Day and night on the Tompkins Square Park basketball courts

A look this morning and last night courtesy of Vinny & O...

Tenants call out Madison Realty Capital: Stop warehousing rent-regulated apartments

More than 50 residents, community activists and local elected officials gathered on Tuesday afternoon in the rain outside 325 E. 12th St., a building owned by Madison Realty Capital (MRC) that serves as a de-facto office for MRC’s property management arm, Silverstone Properties.

The group, led by Tenants Taking Control (formerly known as the Toledano Tenants Coalition), called on MRC to sell their 15 buildings to a nonprofit preservation buyer.

They also wanted to bring attention to the practice of property owners letting rent-regulated apartments sit vacant in the aftermath of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019.

According to the tenants, there are 136 vacant apartments across the 15-building portfolio, which has a total of 279 units. (MRC took control of the portfolio from disgraced landlord Raphael Toledano in the spring of 2017.)



"It is unconscionable to keep these apartments empty, when affordable housing is so rare," said TTC member Beth Carey.

"We have persevered for four long years — enduring an onslaught of insincere buyout badgering, construction as harassment, elevated lead dust, vermin infestations, and unfair lawsuits," said Sandra Mayer, a TTC tenant. "We have watched our friends and neighbors be picked off one by one until these once vibrant buildings stood dark and quiet. This community of working-class families and artists should not lose its spirit. It is our goal to bring back a solid base of rent-stabilized housing in the East Village."

Joining the tenants were several community groups and elected officials, including members of the INK Tenants Coalition, Cooper Square Committee, Lead Dust Free NYC coalition, St. Nicks Alliance, Good Old Lower East Side, United Neighborhood Organization (UNO), Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, Sen. Brad Hoylman and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera.


[Sen. Hoylman]


[Assemblymember Glick]



Photos courtesy of the Cooper Square Committee.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• Health Department to inspect Raphael Toledano's East Village properties for toxic levels of lead dust

• Ongoing concerns about demolition work and elevated lead levels in Toledano-owned buildings

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

• Petition asks Madison Realty Capital to waive legal fees for evicted East Village family

• Report: Raphael Toledano files for Chapter 11; $145 million deal for EV portfolio is off the table

• Raphael Toledano tenants take to Midtown streets to speak out against their landlord and his lenders

• Santa delivers sacks of coal to Madison Realty Capital, Rafael Toledano's lenders

These were the top reads from East Village libraries in 2019

The New York Public Library has shared its top checkouts for 2019. These are the books that were checked out the most at our neighborhood branches:

• Tompkins Square, 331 E. 10th St.: "Circe" by Madeline Miller

• Ottendorfer, 135 Second Ave.: "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover

• Hamilton Fish Park, 415 E. Houston St.: "Becoming" by Michelle Obama


"Becoming" and "Educated: A Memoir" were 1-2 systemwide for the NYPL. ("Circe" was No. 7 overall.)





Previously on EV Grieve:
Say hi to Sam, your new Ottendorfer librarian

A visit to the Tompkins Square Library branch on 10th Street