Phillip Kalantzis Cope

Good morning, East Village.

The big headlines of the weekend were all about the stores and buildings that are coming and going in our neighborhood. Famed Second Avenue dive bar, Mars Bar, is being torn down in August to make way for a 12-story luxury apartment complex — a sign many see as the destruction of the East Village of Yester Year. Adding fuel to the gossip fire, Joe’s Locksmith, located next to Mars Bar, announced that they will be closing on June 30, leaving residents wondering what else will be leaving the corner of First Street and Second Avenue.

After wandering aimlessly with no where to call home, those in search of the late night pancake can soon take a seat at IHOP. An EV Grieve reader was the first to notice the new signage on 14th Street between Second and Third Avenues. While it is unknown as to when the restaurant will open, it is expected to be one of many to come to Manhattan, making the clear connection between New York’s international appeal and the international culinary experience that is the International House of Pancakes.

NYC Icy also found a semi-permanent home, for the summer at least, in front of Badburger on Avenue A near 11th Street. Badburger’s owner said that the iced delicacy will be found there until at least October and then he will incorporate it into the dessert menu afterwards.

The former funeral home on Second Avenue between Ninth and 10th Streets is in the market for a facelift, or complete gut job: an application has been placed to allow for substantial changes to the building, including a possible expansion adding three floors on top of the existing three-story building. While the building does not have landmark status, some hope that it will be granted before the permit application is actually granted. The building, originally constructed in 1937, once was home to Gramercy Park Memorial Chapel, which was where Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were memorialized.

The police are looking for a man suspected of robbing three Chase bank locations since May, including one on Broadway near 13th Street. The man reportedly gets the cash by passing notes to tellers, but this plan only allowed him to end up with cash in two of the three instances.