Daniel Maurer

Last night The Local spotted 7-Eleven signage up at 142 Delancey Street (Bowery Boogie also noticed it) and today EV Grieve noted that the chain has opened at Broadway and East 12th Street. Not only that, but check out the signage above. It went up over the weekend at 85 Canal Street, on the corner of Eldridge Street, where the Highline Deli is replacing the “gourmet” deli before it. The High Line, by the way, is a good three miles from this corner. Why not name it the Low Line?

G.V.S.H.P.

A real estate listing spotted on Sotheby’s (also noticed by Curbed) indicates that Beethoven Hall, a chic condo in a onetime concert hall, is back on the market, this time at an elevated price of $25 million.

Built by German immigrants in 1860, 210 East Fifth Street served as a social hall for performances, community meetings and celebrations. As The Lower East Side History Project noted, it became a primary gathering place for unions, with appearances from high profile leaders like Emma Goldman and William Randolph Hearst. Andrew Berman shared more history in his roundup of buildings that may become part of an East Village-Lower East Side Historic District.

This hall hosted a number of important events including the 1880 funeral for six victims of a fire that broke out at a wedding at nearby Turn Hall; the 1890 meeting of the American Bowling Congress which standardized rules for the game and initiated national competitions; a boxing match between featherweight and local hero Joe “The Pride of the Ghetto” Bernstein and Tommy Daly; and the 1915 formation of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. By the 1940s the building became a television studio and then later, Mother’s Sound Stages, a film studio; episodes of “The Honeymooners” are purported to have been filmed there.

Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

Care for some lamb brains?

Jehangir Mehta, best known as a memorable contestant on “The Next Iron Chef,” is planning to serve the gamey delicacy with an onion confit when he opens Graffiti Me next to his restaurant of five years, Graffiti. He said preparing brains is “as easy as slapping together a ham and cheese sandwich.”

The Local spotted a fresh coat of bright orange paint today on the 10th Street storefront that previously held bridal boutique Atelier Muse. Mr. Mehta is transforming the narrow space into a casual-cozy restaurant that he said would “literally look like your living room.” Though no graffiti will adorn the walls, chandeliers will create a “Bohemian chic” vibe. Lobster soufflé and bone marrow with fennel relish will be among dishes included on the three-course, $30 tasting menu. Read more…

Nevermind those pesky rats in the park; the latest pitch to come in via the Virtual Assignment Desk is unsullied natural splendor. The folks at LUNGS (Loisada United Neighborhood Gardens) are jazzing up the neighborhood’s community gardens in October, with an arts festival we’d like you to photograph. If you’re up for some garden-hopping, sign up to cover the story for The Local using our Open Assignments page. Here’s the information we received.

The “Harvest Arts Festival in the Gardens” will take place the first weekend of October in community gardens on the Lower East Side. The Festival will kick off with an opening night party Friday evening, October 5. The Festival will continue in community gardens Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7, from noon until 5 p.m. Each participating garden is designing its own unique and multi-dimensional arts program, with music, dance, performance, the visual arts and more planned. The Festival is free and open to all. The following gardens have already signed on, and more are expected to participate. Read more…

Dana Varinsky

An old refrigerator caused some trouble at the Standard East Village today. About a dozen fire department vehicles surrounded the hotel this afternoon. Fire Chief Michael Kendall said a leaky refrigeration unit in the basement had caused elevated levels of Freon and sulfur dioxide. The staff and guests from the first few floors evacuated the building for over an hour.

According to Chief Kendall, somebody from the building called the fire department to report the leak, and the first trucks arrived at 2:05 p.m. Firefighters removed the refrigerator and vented the building until the leak was dissipated. Crews searched for any other sources of gas and declared it safe to go back inside a little over an hour after they arrived.

Chief Kendall estimated the leaky fridge to be about 70 years old, making it 69 years older than the swanky new hotel it served until today. “It was an old unit,” he said, “it just broke.” The Standard’s management declined to comment.

Daniel Maurer

A couple of troubled establishments on Avenue A have closed, and it’s uncertain whether they’ll reopen. A sign on the window of Diablo Royale Este indicates the Mexican spot is closed “until further notice” and redirects patrons to the West Village original. And a reader uses our Virtual Assignment Desk to express concern about Bar on A, also between 10th and 11th Streets: “The last couple times I’ve walked by it’s been closed,” writes the tipster. The bar’s outgoing phone message indicates, without explanation, that it is indeed “temporarily closed.”

Both businesses had a troubled history. Bar on A’s owner, Bob Scarrano, died in 2010 after surgery to address esophageal cancer, and his widow fell behind on the rent, according to an associate of the bar who spoke to The Local in May. That associate said at the time that an upstairs neighbor had called 311 numerous times in an attempt to shut down the bar. The neighbor said she was only trying to resolve “excessive noise” issues. In July, EV Grieve noticed a listing indicating that bar’s space was on the market.

Diablo Royale’s headaches were similar: during an acrimonious community board meeting last November, neighbors who had been complaining of noise since 2010 accused the restaurant of “contributing to turning Avenue A into a booze-filled entertainment zone.” Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Porsena’s bar back in July.

Porsena’s next-door bar will open tomorrow for lunch and dinner. The Local spotted chef-owner Sara Jenkins prepping Extra Bar this evening, and a Tumblr page lists the small plates (e.g. lemon potatoes with caviar and Surryano ham with spicy greens) that will comprise the “fleeting and changing menu, reflecting inspirations from the Mediterranean, random travels by Sara, and found ingredients.” Ms. Jenkins said the narrow space, which is made up mostly of a bar and boasts a map of Rome on one wall, won’t be ready for photos until Friday; in the meantime the chef has been posting images of dishes such as yellowfin tuna puttanesca, gulf shrimp and black spaghetti, and a salad of yellow zucchini, tomatoes, lemon vinaigrette, pecorino Romano, herbs. See Porsena’s Twitter feed for more.

When we last updated you on Porsena’s annex in July, Ms. Jenkins had a few words for Porchetta.Hog, the relative newcomer that she said was “so pathetically copying” her other joint on Seventh Street, Porchetta. Well, guess what? A sign on the door of that fine establishment indicates, without explanation, that the place is “temporarily closed.” A call to the restaurant went unanswered.

Further down Seventh Street, Greek favorite Pylos is also temporarily closed – “for renovation,” according to a sign on the door. Work was being done at the restaurant this evening and an outgoing phone message indicated it would reopen Sept. 8.

Update | 11:00 p.m. Porsena has sent over its lunch and dinner menus, below.

Opening Lunch Menu

Opening Evening Menu

N.Y.P.D. The suspect.

The police are on the hunt for a woman who stole a purse from Arlene’s Grocery on August 7.

The suspect allegedly swiped the bag hanging below a bar inside the music venue at 12:50 a.m. Police said the bag contained a cell phone, wallet, cash and credit cards.

Fashion Week might cater to the magazine editors, power bloggers and models but Fashion’s Night Out is all about the hoi polloi. Tomorrow night, anyone can enjoy free drinks and nibbles as well as discounted merchandise while rubbing shoulders with designers. Of course the coolest events are happening in and around the East Village.

Aesop
232 Elizabeth Street, (212) 431-4411
Aesop is collaborating with Wilder Quarterly, a publication for nature lovers, to create a sensory installation: plants and flowers will appear to be growing out of the walls to highlight the plant-derived ingredients in the antipodean skincare company’s products.

Barbara Feinman Millinery
66 East 7th Street, (212) 358-7092
Sneak a peek at the workshop where Barbara Feinman makes one-of-a-kind hats using traditional methods and materials. Enjoy champagne and cookies while browsing the new fall-winter collection and receive a free pair of sunglasses with purchase of a full-price hat. Read more…

Joann Jovinelly

Good morning, East Village.

A lengthy piece in The Observer detailing the trials and tribulations of the city Housing Authority features neighborhood city Councilwoman Rosie Mendez defending its embattled chairman, John Rhea — guardedly. “I didn’t think we needed a banker, but I have to say, he’s done a good job. We’re seeing progress, but I don’t know if it’s enough. Given the situation we’re in, I don’t know if any one person could fix it.” The councilwoman also recalls growing up in the Williamsburg Houses during a more hopeful time for public housing. “Even when the city started to get really bad in the ’70s and ’80s, NYCHA still had it all,” she said.

The Wall Street Journal previews tonight’s Community Board 3 committee meeting, which will discuss the possibility of a special nightlife district in the East Village. “As the neighborhood once known for its intimate night life is transformed into what some deem a multi-block frat house, community leaders are looking for ways to control the scene that are more subtle than simply quashing liquor-license applications.”

Of course, while the debate picks up steam at C.B. 3, bars will keep opening. The Times reports that “Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the East Village (arguably the city’s two best neighborhoods for drinking) will become even richer in saloon life, welcoming new places run by some of the best bartenders in the business.” The paper singles out the soon to open fancy cocktail joint Pouring Ribbons on Avenue B.
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Daniel Maurer The old and new homes of Village Dream

There’s a lot of action on St. Marks Place today, and we’re not just talking about the incoming Han Joo.

First, our lunch plan was thwarted when we noticed Baoguette was closed, and looking rather emptied out. Michael “Bao” Huynh confirmed to Eater today that he has shuttered the Vietnamese sandwich shop’s location at 37 St. Marks Place.

Daniel Maurer Interior of Baoguette.

Down the block, piercing and tattoo parlor Village Dream is moving from its current cubbyhole at 3 St. Marks Place to 128 Second Avenue, where the Village II smoke shop got new signage today. In the next week or so, Village II will officially reopen as Village Dream, with less tobacco accessories and a new focus on piercing and tattoos. Giesh Heidel, who is a partner in both stores, said he was moving because his lease was up after seven years and his partner planned to move the gem shop adjacent to Village Dream into the space at 3 St. Marks Place. The gem shop’s space, meanwhile, will soon be home to what Mr. Heidel thought would be an Asian food joint. Read more…

Daniel Maurer

Susan Stetzer woke up to an unpleasant surprise this morning – the “Wanted” flyers you see here were posted all along her walk from home to her office on East Fourth Street, where she is district manager of a community board that has become entangled in many a controversial bid for a liquor license.

Ms. Stetzer told The Local it could’ve been one of those hearings that drove someone, whose identity is unknown, to post the flyers. “Most of the complaints that come into the office are liquor license related,” she said. “C.B. 3 has more than any other community board and I don’t know of any other issues that people are so upset about.”

Ms. Stetzer said her building’s superintendent took down some of the postings describing her as an “unelected meddler” and an “assassin of New York’s creativity,” as did workers near the community board’s offices on East Fourth Street between Bowery and Second Avenue (The Local spotted the flyer shown here on Second Avenue). She said she didn’t care to try to ascertain the identity of the poster. “It’s someone who obviously has some problems and issues and they’re dealing with it personally and in a very destructive manner instead of seeing how it can be resolved in constructive manner,” she said.

It’s curious that Ms. Stetzer has been singled out as Public Enemy #1. As she pointed out, she doesn’t vote on community board issues. “I implement board policies and I’m the person who gives information about relevant legal issues,” she said. “I don’t vote. I don’t give suggestions on how people should vote – what I do is maybe bring up zoning issues and that sort of thing.” Read more…

Joann Jovinelly Spotted at East 13th Street and Avenue B.

Good morning, East Village.

NY1 takes a closer look inside the two new restaurants next door to each other on Extra Place that share the same owner but completely different concepts. “I found the space, we designed the layout and then the space next door became available, and I thought ‘why not make it two restaurants in one,'” the owner, Amadeus Bogner, said. So now Mr. Bogner is managing a restaurant serving traditional Turkish street food, as well as a Swiss fondue joint.

Speaking of restaurants, The Times chatted with two customers at Upstate and gave a shout-out to the beer-and-oysters spot’s happy hour deal.

Eater notes that a pizzeria dubbed “Famous Artichoke Pizza” in Hoboken eliminated the “Artichoke” from its name. The owner of the original Artichoke Pizza was none too happy about the imitator. Read more…

Noah Fecks

Can we tell you about a couple of completely insane additions to the menu?

Daniel Maurer Cheesesteak on a bagel

First off, Tompkins Square Bagels is running a “Philly cheesesteak on a bagel” special today. As impressive as it looks (at right), it’s to be expected of the place that brought you the infamous bagel burger. What really blows are minds and will probably pop our buttons is this: L’asso EV, itself no stranger to experimental bagels, is adding a trio of Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas to its menu, and one of them, called the Big Muff, is the pizza version of that New Orleans meat monster, the muffuletta.

We happen to have a soft spot for the muffuletta, and apparently so does L’asso’s owner Robert Benevenga, who after his last trip to N’awlins, came up with the idea of a pizza version of the sandwich. Of course, New Orleans-inspired pizza is nothing new (Two Boots, anyone?) but this is really something special: a two-inch pie formed in a buttered deep-dish pan in the following calorific manner: layers of soppressata, caciocavallo cheese, mortadella, and capicola are covered by a bed of mozzarella and then a slathering of the obligatory giardiniera, consisting of pickled olives, carrots, celery, red onions, cauliflower florets and peppers. The process is repeated all over again and then – “to add color,” says chef Joseph Lee – the pie is topped off with yet more mortadella.

The Big Muff, $16, debuts at L’asso EV on Tuesday along with a deep-dish meatball pie. You can see that one in The Local’s Flickr pool.

Shortly after Labor Day, Alan Teigman will close Teigman Press, the print shop that four generations of his family has operated over the course of 101 years. In early August he let go of his only employee, his son, who after an extended apprenticeship had decided to return to school for an accounting degree.

In the 1970s and ’80s, when Mr. Teigman was the apprentice and his uncle ran the shop, the business flourished by printing brochures and charts for the fur industry. As fur became less fashionable and printers became more affordable, customer demand dwindled. Lately Mr. Teigman, a part-owner of the building in which his press is located, had taken on whatever business he could get, including local pizzeria menus and bargain boxes of business cards.

In the end, he decided it would be more lucrative to lease the bottom floor and basement to “fancy Bushwick restaurateurs.” Paperwork filed with Community Board 3 and spotted by Bowery Boogie indicates those restaurateurs will be Jessica Lee Wertz and Ted Mann, owners of Lone Wolf bar. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown

Stephen Rex Brown

Today construction workers were installing a new awning above the entrance of 46 Cooper Square, which will welcome the Grace Church School’s inaugural class of high school students next week. According to the school’s Web site, 59 students will be in the first ninth grade class. In four years, the school hopes to have maxed out enrollment with 320 students. Next year, the school will expand into the adjacent Village Voice building when the alt-weekly’s lease expires.

Daniel Maurer

Daniel Maurer The truck has a skylight, swinging front doors,
and a sliding brick wall.

Last night a moving truck pulled up in front of Pinkberry on St. Marks Place and put its blinkers on. But it wasn’t there to unload Ikea furniture: this was a pop-up art gallery. Or, more accurately, a pull-up gallery.

In 2008, Adeel Usman, a onetime aspiring actor who bears a striking resemblance to Aziz Ansari, and John Herbert Wright, his friend since high school, made yet another unsuccessful bid to get Mr. Wright’s artwork placed in a Chelsea gallery. While they grabbed lunch at a nearby taco truck, they had the idea of building an art gallery of their own – one that, unlike their Harlem studio, could rove around the city like a food truck.

They acquired a Moishe’s moving van that was bound for the junkyard and, without knowing much about construction, installed plexiglass windows on its sides and roof, plus sliding and swinging doors. Last summer, the project they call 83rd Anomally was born. Read more…

Scott Lynch

Good morning, East Village.

Earlier this week, Gothamist featured a video of a nasty beating of a man in Union Square. The report yielded a flood of complaints about “Tyrone,” a tall man allegedly bullying Occupiers and homeless people in the park. He claims to be a member of the Crips, and has allegedly threatened to kill Matthew Silver, the goofball often dancing around Astor Place with underwear on his head. (There’s video of a confrontation between them, as well). Park advocates tell the site that Tyrone’s unchecked behavior is an example of neglect by the Parks Department.

Shulamith Firestone, a reclusive and influential feminist writer, died in her East Village apartment on Tuesday, apparently of natural causes, The Times reports. At 25 Ms. Firestone wrote “The Dialectic of Sex,” which “extended Marxist theories of class oppression to offer a radical analysis of the oppression of women, arguing that sexual inequity springs from the onus of childbearing, which devolves on women by pure biological happenstance.” Following the publication of the book, she withdrew from public life.

USA Today is a big fan of “Dirt Candy,” the comic-book cookbook that tells the story of the vegetarian restaurant on East Ninth Street. “If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to start a restaurant from scratch, Cohen doesn’t glaze over the details here: Shady contractors, piles of money and a temperamental staff factor in to Dirt Candy’s evolution.” Here’s a trailer for the book.
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Stephen Rex Brown

A mural of onetime Warhol muse Grace Jones has started going up on the side of Sushi Lounge, on St. Marks Place, just a block from Niagara’s Joe Strummer wall. We’ll show you the finished work when she’s ready.