Reader report: Cheap-eats fave Papaya Dog looks done on 14th Street

Several EVG readers noted that Papaya Dog has been dark recently on the northwest corner of 14th Street and First Avenue ... and yesterday, KT spotted a worker cleaning out the space. He confirmed that the closure is permanent. (All pics here by KT.)

Later yesterday, some furniture and other PD items were placed on the curb...

A look inside shows that many of the fixtures have been removed...

Papaya Dog seems as if it was here forever. However, Manhattan Sideways listed its opening in 2005. 

There's a Papaya Dog still in business on Sixth Avenue (and on Fulton Street?), though other quick-serve hot dog joints have dwindled in numbers in recent years. (The circa-1932 Papaya King is still serving up the grilled franks and papaya drinks on the UES.)

While prices here inched up lately, you could still get two hot dogs, fries and a drink for $7.99 late into the night. 

This corner also seems primed for development. But at this point, there's nothing official about anything coming to this corner ... for now.

2nd annual Mask-Querade taking place Halloween afternoon on 7th Street

East Village restaurateur Ravi DeRossi's Overthrow Hospitality group is once again hosting a Trick-or-Treat Halloween festival for children ages 12 and under on 7th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

It's taking place on Oct. 31 from 2-4 p.m.

A few details via the EVG inbox: 

Children accompanied by a parent or guardian are invited to trick or treat safely. Adults will be able to observe in designated viewing stations to watch children with complimentary mulled wine and spiced cider. Safety will be enforced by volunteer community members. 

Candy will be safely distributed and candy bags will be issued by us!

Overthrow is also looking for volunteers to hand out candy. If you're interested, then you may email: speakup@overthrowhospitality.com 

FA debuts on 9th Street; the green bench arrives in Tompkins Square Park

FA — better-known as Fucking Awesome World Entertainment — debuted on Saturday at 420 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The skateboard company and streetwear brand, co-owned by pro skaters Jason Dill and AVE (aka Anthony Van Engelen), opened its first retail space in Los Angeles in 2019. This is the first East Coast outpost for FA.

The shop's grand opening also saw the arrival of the green bench, a very special guest brought here by the owners of FA and currently a block away in the skating (TF) area of Tompkins Square Park. 

Here's more about it via Curbed, who first reported about it coming here:

The green bench is in Tompkins Square Park right now.

If you're a skateboarder — or a former skateboarder, or at least somewhat skateboarding-adjacent — and live in New York City, that sentence cannot be read without an exclamation point. The green bench! That's because this particular 300-pound piece of steel street furniture has become one of the most storied objects to skate around and on, and its arrival on the East Coast adds a coda to a two-decade saga of discovery, theft, loss, reconstruction, and a particularly hard-won switch backside noseblunt slide across its 13-foot arc.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy went to check out the green bench...

... and found it in heavy use ...

Back to FA, their store hours are Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

No. 420 was previously Puppy Love & Kitty Kat, the 10-year-old pet supplies and grooming shop that closed in 2019.

Storefront photo by Steven. Thanks to William Klayer for sharing pics as well.

Blank Street coffee looks to be opening an outpost on 3rd Avenue

Blank Street, the fast-growing NYC coffee brand founded in the summer of 2020, looks to be opening an outpost at 36 Third Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

The address just showed up on a Google Map of locations for Blank Street. (Thanks, Upper West Sider, for pointing this out!)

Here's more about the company via a Grub Street profile from August:

Blank Street has managed to underprice the competition. A cappuccino costs $5 at Blue Bottle, $4.15 at Starbucks, and $3.90 at Dunkin' Donuts. At Blank Street, it's $3.50. To achieve this, [founders Vinay Menda and Issam Freiha] have had to fundamentally rethink what customers like them really want from a coffee experience today, and what that might mean for the future of the beverage in New York City. 

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Blank Street is not just the way that the founders have fastidiously optimized their own operation but also the vision that Menda and Freiha have to update the thousands of coffee carts already doing business on city streets.

The two plan to have 100 locations operational by the end of 2022. 

Blank Street takes over space last leased by Frisson Espresso, which closed in September 2019 after 20 months in business.

This seems like goldmine territory for coffee given the proximity to college students (NYU and Cooper Union have dorms nearby). There is also plenty of competition, including the Bean across Third Avenue. Plus, the storefront-obscuring sidewalk bridge surrounding the residential building (The St. Mark at 115 E. Ninth St.) has been up for five-plus years.

Photo yesterday by Steven!

Sun meets the sidewalk again along this stretch of 2nd Avenue

Workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside 111 Second Ave. here between Sixth Street and Seventh Street on Monday... re-introducing sunlight and the storefronts (New Yorkers Foodmarket and Le Fournil Bakery) to this west side of the Avenue. 

And you can get the full view of Le Fournil's newish sign, which debuted back in the summer...

The sidewalk bridge had been in place since the bakery opened in December 2019. (The sidewalk bridge went up in the fall of 2019 for exterior work at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.)

Thanks to Steven for the photos!

Reader report: new laundromat washed up before it opens?

We've been meaning to note that a laundromat is opening at 60 Avenue B between Fourth Street and Fifth Street... previously site of a laundromat. 

An EVG reader (who shared both of these pics) points out a 14-day rent demand on the gate...

Per the document, the total rent due is $9,510.44 (the monthly rent is $4k). Hopefully, the owners can get this sorted out to open.

Convincted felon Steve Croman is the landlord of the building.

When life gives you a bulky sidewalk bridge, play tetherball

As seen today on the Urban Umbrella scaffolding around Cooper Union's Foundation Building ... thanks to Goggla for the photo! 

(And the sidewalk bridge is NOT being removed ... at least not now...)

Office building for 3 St. Mark's Place appears stalled for now

As we reported earlier this month, workers at the development site on the northeast corner of Third Avenue and St. Mark's Place removed the barriers from around the work site... allowing pedestrians to use the sidewalks once again — for the first time since the barricades arrived in June 2020 at this gateway to the East Village...

Several weeks later, there's not much going on at the site as work appears to have stopped. (The excavator has moved from one spot to another.) Meanwhile, there aren't any posted work permits on the plywood... 

In addition, the rendering for the proposed office building has been discarded inside the pit, where little progress can be detected (soil testing started in March 2020)...

What's all this mean? Well, don't expect construction to commence anytime soon.

In August, The Real Deal reported that Madison Realty Capital was moving to foreclose on Real Estate Equities Corp.'s (REEC) leasehold interest at 3 St. Mark's Place.

Some numbers and background from TRD's report:

Madison has owned the $48 million loan package backed by REEC's East Village property since 2019. The real-estate private equity firm acquired the debt from South Korean financial services firm Hana Financial group, which provided REEC $79.1 million of debt and sold the $48 million portion to Madison Realty Capital.

Madison filed a complaint with the state Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleging that REEC defaulted on the $48 million mortgage, which combines an acquisition loan and construction loans.

A REEC spokesperson said that they "are working on a recapitalization plan and are optimistic that this will be resolved soon."

It's not known where REEC is with this plan.

According to the Department of Buildings, there's a Stop Work Order "due to contractor withdrawal" dated Sept. 27.

The partially approved work permits dated from May show that the building is now 9 floors — 45,207 square feet in total, with 3,400 square feet designated for a commercial facility.

As you may recall, a 10-story office building had been in the works here.

In October 2020, the City Council's Zoning Subcommittee voted down REEC's application to transfer air rights from the landmarked 4 St. Marks Place to the new building across the street.

With the air-rights transfer, REEC would have been allowed to build 8,386 square feet larger than the current zoning allows here.

REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the corner properties for nearly $150 million in November 2017. The previous buildings here, which included retail tenants such as Korilla BBQ, the Continental and McDonald's, were demolished in 2019.

Bottom two photos by Steven

Openings: Chichen Itzá on 10th Street

Chichen Itzá is now open at 277 E. 10th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

We don't know too much about the Mexican restaurant. (We heard that it was affiliated with the now-closed Chichen Itzá Mexican Grill in Sunset Park.)

There are photocopies (of photocopies?) of the menu out front for passersby... there are plenty of standbys here, including variety of tacos and chicken enchiladas...

They are open from 3-10:30 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday with an 11 p.m. close Thursdays through Saturdays. Chichen Itzá also offers a weekend brunch service from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. And a beer-wine license is in the works.

This address was home for 11 years to the Brindle Room, whose closure was made official in June. Owner Jeremy Spector told us that he is looking for a new location for his restaurant that served "eclectic comfort food." 

Omakase sushi bar coming to former upholstery shop on 7th Street

An omakase sushi bar is in the works for 208 E. Seventh St. between Avenue B and Avenue C. 

The applicant, Linda Wang, had received administrative approval for a beer-wine license from Community Board 3 this month. 

According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website (PDF here), the still-unnamed establishment (reservations only) will be in service from noon to 10 p.m., with seats for 12-16 patrons. 

Wang is a partner in Shinn East, which opened in May 2020 at 119 E. Seventh St. She is also an owner of Ume in Williamsburg. 

The space was, since 2013, C.Y. Upholstery. The shop run by Charles Young quietly closed late last year.

A wrap at the Bowery Mural Wall

David Flores has wrapped up work at the Bowery Mural Wall after several days. 

According to a description of the work, the mosaic-style mural depicts "a motorcyclist driving into the street spreading florals out the back of the bike. The goal of the piece is to bring an element of fun to the daily lives of the community."

EVG photo from last night

You had me at cello: Details on a free recital tomorrow evening at Most Holy Redeemer

Passing this along from the folks at Most Holy Redeemer/Nativity Parish on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... 

Tomorrow night, there's a cello and piano recital from 7:30-8:30 ... featuring Roric Cunningham, currently a student at Juilliard, and Clara Bartz, who serves as the church's director of music...

Tickets are free, and you can sign up for them here.

A moment on the L-train platform this afternoon

 

As seen on the eastbound Third Avenue L platform this afternoon ... thanks to Adrienne Dee-Olsen for the clip!

Signs of new development along the retail strip of 250 E. Houston St.

The old retail section of this strip of storefronts at 250 E. Houston St. is apparently coming down to make way for an unspecified new development. 

As we've reported, there was a storefront shuffle along this stretch between Avenue A and Avenue B. Kapri Cleaners and the FedEx Office Print & Ship Center moved from the unrenovated spaces to new storefronts closer to the entrance to the 13-story residential building at No. 250. Other businesses, including the Dunkin'/Baskin-Robbins and China Town, have closed. 

And there is actually a demolition permit on file with the city for the address dating to July. (Not sure how we missed it in previous tours of this DOB bin.) The permit has not yet been approved, per public records.

In the ALL-CAPS style of the DOB:

PARTIAL DEMOLITION OF 1 STORY BUILDING (COMMERCIAL SPACES). PARTIAL DEMOLITION TO BE COMPLETED PARTIALLY BY HAND AND EQUIPMENT (EXCAVATOR). 

And back on Thursday, a crew was here between Avenue A and Avenue B with a Davey drill... presumably taking soil samples (thanks to Salim for the photo!) ... 

There has been a Davey drill sighting before the start of every new development in recent years (like here ... and here... and here) in the neighborhood.

And this Google Maps aerial view shows how much space there is at the property should the developer desire to drop in a new building ... 

Via Della Pace owners opening an Italian deli on 4th Street

Photo by Derek Berg

As we've been reporting, Via Della Pace is reopening in a new space at 87 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. 

Turns out co-owner Giovanni Bartocci and company have another venture on the block. Work has been taking place at 60 E. Fourth St. in recent weeks on an Italian deli/cafe going by, we're told, Via Della Scrofa.

The handpainted signage lists items such as espresso, biscotti, tramezzini, chinotto and porchetta. 

No word on opening dates for either business.

The 17-year-old Via Della Pace lost its home during the devastating fire on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street in December 2020.

The Italian restaurant had been closed since the previous fire on Feb. 10, 2020. At the time, the owners were unsure if they would ever reopen on Seventh Street. The fire last Dec. 5 took care of that, as workers had to demolish the five-floor building.

A campaign to landmark the building that housed A Gathering of Tribes on 3rd Street

Steve Cannon founded A Gathering of Tribes at 285 E. Third St. between Avenues C and D in 1991. Through the years, A Gathering of the Tribes evolved into a salon of sorts in Cannon's apartment for artists to meet and exchange ideas.

There's now a campaign to landmark the federal-style building that housed the arts and cultural organization. 

Here's more via the Gathering of Tribes website:

The Landmarks Preservation Commission recently made a commitment to "ensure diversity and inclusion in historical landmark designations, to make sure that we are telling the stories of all New Yorkers." 

Let’s hold them to it. Currently, the vast majority of historical landmarks in NYC honor the accomplishments of white, cis/het men from affluent backgrounds. 

Landmarking A Gathering of the Tribes would honor Steve Cannon’s legacy of radical inclusion, and protect a space that served as a second home and one-of-a-kind creative hub to countless diverse, revolutionary NYC artists for decades. Landmark status would protect this already historic building from demolition now, and in the future.

The organization, with the help of Village Preservation, is collecting letters of support for the landmarking through this Wednesday. (A previous effort to landmark the building was not successful in 2011.) This link has a sample letter and info about where to send a letter.

Cannon, a blind poet, playwright, and novelist, was evicted from the building following a lengthy legal battle in April 2014. Cannon died in July 2019 at age 84. 

A Gathering of Tribes continues on today, providing "a platform for diverse, traditionally under-represented artists and writers, amplifying the emerging and established revolutionary voices of our time." 

Image via

A speakeasy and restaurant concept slated for 221 2nd Ave.

A group of hospitality veterans is looking to open a two-concept establishment at 221 Second Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. (Thanks to Steven for the photo last week.)

Reps for Best Speakeasy NYC will appear before Community Board 3's SLA committee tonight to discuss their speakeasy, Sincerely, Ophelia, and restaurant, Chicken & the Egg, for the space. 

According to the questionnaire posted on the CB3 website (PDF here), the space will feature 11 tables for 44 guests and a 10-seat bar. Proposed hours for the restaurant are noon to 4 a.m., with the bar serving from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m.

The questionnaire includes this sample menu (click on the image for more details)...

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30. You can join via Zoom here.

The previous tenant at 221 Second Ave., the 11-year-old Bay-Area sports bar Finnerty's, never reopened after the PAUSE of March 2020.

Tonight's sunset rainbow

Some dramatic rainbow action this evening! Thank you to everyone for the photos! 

The top one is via @cecilscheib ... And from Robert Miner...

... and Derek Berg...

... from Lilly Dancyger...

Updated! 

Here's one more via Jeanne Krier...

... and a great shot via Rob D. ...

Week in Grieview

Posts from this past week include (with a photo on 2nd Avenue by Derek Berg) ... 

• RIP Dee Pop (Monday) 

• Remembering William John Lopez (Tuesday)

• The Compost Yard in East River Park is on the move (Thursday) 

• A visit to Lovewild Design (Tuesday) 

• Duo NYC now open in its new 9th Street storefront (Thursday) 

• Souen reopens after late-September kitchen fire (Monday) 

• Demolition continues along 2nd Avenue to make way for an 11-story mixed-use building (Wednesday) 

• Cinema Salons — 'a mini-festival of radical films' — coming to the Anthology (Tuesday) 

• Ankara Turkish Restaurant announces itself on East Houston (Monday) 

• LiveSounds return to the Third Street Music School Settlement (Wednesday) 

• Tom's Juice debuts on 4th Street (Thursday) 

• Belse Restaurant makes it sign official on the Bowery (Wednesday) 

• And now the full reveal at 141 E. Houston St. (Monday)

• Con Ed puts more energy into power washing its substation on Avenue A (Monday) 

• A for-rent sign at the renovated former home of Black & White on 10th Street (Tuesday) 

• Night Market is a place for artists to meet (Friday) 

• David Flores next up for the Bowery Mural Wall (Wednesday) Motorcycle diary: In-progress look at the Bowery Mural Wall (Saturday) 

• Farewell to the locksmith-CBD shop on Avenue B (Monday)

... and a hello from Ray and Stella at Ray's Candy Store at 113 Avenue A (thanks Lola Sáenz for the pic!)

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Follow EVG on Instagram or Twitter for more frequent updates and pics. 

A Tim Ho Wan line check

EVG reader Doug notes that the lines are back to pre-March 2020 levels at Tim Ho Wan at 85 Fourth Ave. at 10th Street ... as seen today for their 11 a.m. open. 

The Hong Kong-based, Michelin-starred dim sum parlor officially opened here in January 2017. And they've been able to keep the crowds coming back (except when they were closed for indoor dining during the pandemic).