EV Grieve

Why is the Pizza Shop closed?

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:07:00 +0000

Tonight on Avenue A near Seventh Street...

...and how long has the Cabin Down Below been made public for mere mortals?

The Bowery, 9:55 a.m., Nov. 14

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:21:00 +0000

Noted

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:46:00 +0000

From Page Six today:

New York's homeless could be kept warm this winter in expensive furs owned by Ruth Madoff -- if PETA has its way. The anti-fur campaigners have written to US Marshal Roland Ubaldo asking for the Madoff skins to be donated to the homeless. More than 100 Madoff items will be sold off today at the Sheraton New York to reimburse the Ponzi scammer's thousands of vic tims. PETA's Dan Mathews said in a letter to Ubaldo, "By donating them to the homeless, you'd be able to highlight the difference between need and greed."

Report: "the tide seems to be turning for young galleries of the East Village and Lower East Side"

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Bloomberg News had this report the other day:

Wandering around Manhattan’s scruffy Lower East Side galleries, I kept hearing three words rarely uttered in the more polished Chelsea district these days: Everything is sold.

The global financial crisis punctured the art bubble last year, drying up cash and driving up caution. Now the tide seems to be turning for young galleries of the East Village and Lower East Side.

“It’s like the Dow,” said art dealer Simon Preston, who runs a gallery on Broome Street. “When it goes down, people are looking for new markets.”

Mr.Magoos

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:00:00 +0000

The Blue Magoos from the Bronx.

Stuy Town rally tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:37:00 +0000

Via Stuy Town Lux Living:

First film set for Theatre 80: "The Brooklyn Heist" opens Nov. 27

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Lorcan Otway checks in with news of the first film to be screened at Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place....

"Projectors in, screen up, a few of us watched a film last night, great sight lines, even from the front side seats, as the screen is set back about fourteen feet or more, (I'll have to measure and let you know...) image looks wonderful... so here is the news about the opening..."

“The Brooklyn Heist” will be released on Nov. 27. From the press materials:

Desperate to improve his life, New Yorker Fitz concocts a scheme to rob a wealthy and hated pawnshop owner. Unknown to Fitz, his gang of cheerful incompetents faces competition from two other crews who plan to hit the joint on the same night. Each group has a unique, hilarious style in this satire on heist capers that uses stylish cinematography, editing and art direction to explode filmic stereotypes. A stellar cast including Danny Masterson (“That ’70s Show”), Leon (“Get Rich or Die Tryin’”) and Dominique Swain (“Lolita”) brings to life this stylish spoof of the beloved heist comedy genre.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Films to return to Theatre 80

Saving what remains of the neighborhood

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:29:00 +0000

Community activist Susan Howard has a column in this week's issue of The Villager. It begins:

What is a neighborhood? A place where you feel a sense of belonging as you walk down the streets? Where you know your neighbors and local shopkeepers? Where your children go to school? Where you play, garden or just shoot the breeze? Where you can sit on the stoop, in the park or in a neighborhood hangout and listen to music, gossip and lore?

That’s the way I remember the Lower East Side, before all our vacant land was sold for the development of luxury housing in an 80/20 scheme. Before it was marketed to the white upwardly mobile as a cool place to live. Before the speculators arrived to scoop up the existing buildings to turn them into luxury rentals and condos, and before many of our squats and gardens were bulldozed for more of the same. Before the largest tract of land, once promised for artists, low-income housing and community facilities, was sold in another 80/20 scheme for the development of a luxury community, Avalon Christie, before the high-rises, hotels, high-end eateries and boutiques.

Sure, it may just look like a hole in the ground now...

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:51:00 +0000

This abandoned hole-in-the-ground project at 427 E. 12th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue has been on the market...

At one point five residential floors were going to be added to the existing storefront. Dunno what happened to those plans. Here's the listing:

East Village residential rental development opportunity, with FOUNDATION already in place. The foundation was poured prior to the June 2008 421-a deadline, enabling the full property tax exemption benefits. This site has plans for a six story (plus cellar and roof), 12 unit, rental building, w/ a total of 12,952 gross SF (10,741 SF above grade, 2,211 SF below grade). A Condo plan is also available. Another option is to file an “alt plan”and develop the property to custom specifications while still maintaining the 421-a tax benefits. This is a unique project for a developer or user and is ready to go. Priced at $178 per gross buildable square foot, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Here's what it could look like!

And now, my collection of bus/truck booty

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:45:00 +0000

Why does this annoy me?

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:41:00 +0000

On St. Mark's Place.

Rectory also part of St. Brigid's renovation

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:59:00 +0000

We've noted the progress on the renovations at St. Brigid's. However, we never heard if the plans including repairing the rectory next door to the church on Avenue B.

The other night, we noticed that lights were on inside the rectory.

So we asked Edwin Torres, chairman of the Committee to Save St. Brigid's, what was happening with the rectory.

The rectory is part of the renovation. It will be fully restored and will serve several functions, one of which will be the home for the pastor. The current church I attend does not have a rectory and the priest rents an apartment [nearby]. It will be a luxury to have a rectory.

P.S.

We've always liked this aerial shot that Gothamist published back in 2006....

Previously.

Great homes for sale: 1840s townhouse on East Ninth Street going for $4.3 million

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:42:00 +0000

One of my favorite buildings in the neighborhood has been on the market for several months now... This 1840s townhouse on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A is going for $4.3 million. Here are some listing details:

When it comes to historic houses, remember: They aren't building any more of them. This is a three-story town house with basement, 20 feet wide, built in the 1840's, with a large, leafy backyard. Period details include French doors, wide plank floors and exposed ceiling beams. Currently zoned as a 3-family home but could be configured as a 1-family or a 2-family. House is partially renovated and is currently occupied. Only 2 sales of this property in the past 75 years.

In 1998, it sold for $640,000.

An appreciation of Chico's work

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:40:00 +0000

We noted some of Chico's new work last week... After the spay/neuter sign disappeared, figured that I may want to chronicle some of Chico's work... As he has said, Chico figures that he has done 7,000 murals around the city the past 30 years. Here are a few of those murals.

Posts that I actually forgot to post: Commercial space available at the Theatre Condos

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:31:00 +0000

I've completely forgotten about the Theatre Condominiums. Jeremiah first wrote about this development at Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place in July 2008. Apparently, this is a popular corner! As The Real Deal reported last November, all seven units sold out in Phase I of the development. The condos ranged from $800k to $1.25 million. Or so. As The Real Deal noted: "Most of the buyers were young professionals, college students, or parents buying apartments for their children."

People seem to be living there, too. Or at least the lights are on.

(I secretly walk by and look up in hopes of catching a glimpse of the model from the Theatre Condo Web site...the model who, as Jeremiah wrote, "enjoys her stunning view of BBQ." Nothing better than the fresh aroma of an onion loaf at 11:30 a.m.!)

I bring all this up because... I noticed that commercial space is now available on the second floor...is this Phase II?

I went to the W&S Web site, but couldn't find any information on the commercial space.

But I did tool around the Theatre Condo site...where among the amenities, is this hilariously random list of "bars and clubs," including one that has been closed for three years.

Fundraiser for Calvin Gibson

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:30:00 +0000

Read The Villager's profile on Gibson here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning edition

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:17:00 +0000

The Decapitator arrives in NYC. (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

A look at New York state's new license plate: "It looks like we live in Delaware or something." (New York Post)

What 311 tells you to do with your dead pet. (The Awl)

They tore down Howard Johnson's in Times Square for this? (Lost City)

Antique rubber boots discovered in Orchard Street shop. (BoweryBoogie)

Lower Manhattan in 1905 (The Bowery Boys)

Another hidden bar on the LES. (Grub Street)

And NYC's newest "underground playground." (NYPress)

Drag queens and DJs put on the unemployment line at Dtox (GaySocialites.com)

Yesterday, we mentioned Bob Arihood's account of Slum Goddess being taken for a spin by rickshaw Spiderman.

And now! Here's the video that Slum Goddess shot of the event.

Tiger beat

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:59:00 +0000

Yes, as a matter of fact I am posting photos of a cat. Do you know Tiger at East Village Convenience on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place? Well, if not...

The Mayne event: What went into designing the new Cooper Union building

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Time magazine has an interview online with Thom Mayne, the bigshot architect who designed the new Cooper Union building. To an excerpt!

TIME: So Cooper Union comes to you and says "Okay, here's the program. We need laboratories, offices, classrooms." They told you what they wanted. What did you want to bring to this project?

MAYNE: I don't bring anything a priori to a project in a conscious way. I don't come with an agenda. Clearly I come with interests that I've pursued over 35 years. Who I am as an architect and the history of my work — that's clear to anybody who hires me. But I come in literally with nothing in my brain about what the building will look like.

And I really couldn't with this one because it had a very complicated program. There was nothing to design until I knew how big it was and how many pieces there were. The envelope was given us — the basic shape — because it's a zoning diagram. And we needed every ounce of it because we didn't have enough. And then we looked at the program. On one side are laboratories and they go straight up and they're very efficient and straightforward. And in the front where the offices are, ditto. There's not a lot of room there for architecture.

[Photo via Time]

Vietnamese sandwich opens tomorrow on Sixth Street

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:45:00 +0000

EV Grieve reader Creature brings us these photos of Bahn Mi Zon, a Vietnamese sandwich shop on Sixth Street near Avenue A. As the signs says, the place opens tomorrow.

Formerly at this spot: Gomi, the vegan/green boutique.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to Sixth Street: Vietnamese sandwiches

Front and Maiden back to being Front and Maiden

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:34:00 +0000

An intersection in the Financial District became 54th Street and Third Avenue...

Yesterday!

Now!

Oh, well. I was with Goggla, who left a comment yesterday saying:

Ha, I hope they leave the street signs up! I'd love to see lost tourists milling around, looking at their maps and saying, "Whaa?"

Previously on EV Grieve:
Financial District becomes Midtown for "The Other Guys"

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:50:00 +0000

When the area bounded between 11th and 13th Streets and 1st Avenue and Avenue C was known as something else... (Blah Blog Blah)

Alex has another now-and-then series; this one featuring the EV (Flaming Pablum)

More on the fire that broke out on St. Mark's on Saturday morning (EaterNY)

Lenox Lounge still grand at 70 (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

When pedicab Spidey meets Slum Goddess (Neither More Nor Less)

Pop-Up Lunch art in NYC (BoingBoing)

The haunted beauty of Bellevue (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

Remembering CBGB TV (This Ain't the Summer of Love)

The history of 765 Eighth Avenue (Lost City) (And read more about the New York Inn's one-star reviews here.)

RIP 128 Hester (BoweryBoogie)

Flashback to 1982's Avenue D (Ephemeral New York)

When bounty hunters moonlight (Nonetheless)

Over at BushwickBK, check out this NBC News feature on the street gangs of Bushwick via 1976. (Hat tip, Curbed)

Financial District becomes Midtown for "The Other Guys"

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:50:00 +0000

There are gawkers galore now down in the Financial District next to the Seaport, according to a source standing right in the middle of it. People are lined up to see the likes of Will Ferrell, The Rock and Mark Wahlberg film "The Other Guys."

Anyway. Midtown must not have that Midtown feel these days...which may explain why the corner of Maiden Lane and Front Street is standing in as 54th Street and Third Avenue.

Another doomsday scenario for OTB

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:43:00 +0000

The Post has the scoop:

The city's teetering Off-Track Betting Corp. will seek permission to close as many as two-thirds of its 68 branches when it files a bankruptcy reorganization plan, The Post has learned.

Sources said the plan also calls for eliminating half of the remaining 1,100 betting clerks, through attrition or buyouts, and for OTB to float $250 million in bonds to meet its obligations.

One source said the bonds would have to be backed by the state, which faces its own monumental budget woes.

"Who in their right mind is going to buy OTB bonds?" asked the source. "The only way it works is with a state guarantee."

Here's a passage from a May 2008 post on the shuttered John Street OTB:

This line from the Times article sums it up best:

It is an ever-narrowing slice of New York that still belongs to the hustler and the old-timer. Soon it may be extinct...

Like everything else that helps give the city some character.

100 Third Avenue's lonely add-on

noreply@blogger.com (Grieve) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:55:00 +0000

It appears that the work has stopped at 100 Third Ave. near 12th Street and 13th Street. Can't even recall the last time we saw workers here.

A Fine Blog had this report on the history of the address back in February:

100 Third Avenue, originally a 4 story building built in 1880, has sprouted an intriguing growth which now bring the structure to Nine stories. An interesting use of a walk-up building to be sure.

I hate to say it, but we have another mystery on our hands here! The building is zoned commercial, and a permit was filed to amend the building height to 90' , contain 3 units, and be re-categorized as F-1B - Assembly (Churches, Concert Halls) . Will it be a church or an assembly hall? Well, plenty of people have assembled at 100 Third Avenue in the past. In 1880 it was a restaurant. In 1910 it became a theater, later named "The Lyric Theatre". In the 1930's it catered mainly to the Bowery bum set. The Theatre would open at 7am an hour before showtime, so the transients could catch a nap before the double feature plus newsreel would begin. Later, the Theatre was renamed "The All Male Jewel Theatre", for, you guessed it gay porn.

There is a stop work order on the address because: "BUILDING SHAKING/VIBRATING/STRUCT STABILITY AFFECTED."

Anyway, you may consider walking on the east side of the street moving forward...