Good morning, East Village.
The Post reports that a fire broke out last night on the second floor of an apartment building at 21 East Second Street, near Second Avenue, and spread across four stories: “The three-alarm inferno ran mostly through one shaft in the building and was difficult to put out because several of the apartments were heavily cluttered, the FDNY said.” According to the AP, the fire, which started around 11:30 a.m., wasn’t under control until 1:30 a.m. and two firefighters and three civilians were treated for minor injuries. NBC New York reports that about 30 adults and four children have been displaced and the cause of the blaze is under investigation.
DNA Info reports that a car crash on Third Avenue and 14th Street left two people hurt early this morning.
Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin won’t have to sleep on that East Village (or is it Lower East Side?) couch anymore: The Daily News hears he has leased a two-bedroom apartment in… White Plains? Read more…
Photos: Stephen Rex Brown
Chanting against Mayor Bloomberg and Monsanto, protesters marched from the Bank of America on Second Avenue to the bed-in at Washington Square Park. “I want to go on the offensive against the ‘get a job’ people,” said Roman Shusterman, an unemployed 30-year-old from Brighton Beach who was holding a sign with an unprintable message about jobs.
“The whole world should demand better food,” he added in regards to Monsanto. “But we’re in a position to challenge our government, so why not?”
Lauren Carol Smith The Holiday Cocktail Lounge’s shutter, days after
the bar closed.The Holiday Cocktail Lounge had been a part of his life for 58 years — and after his father’s death, it was time to let go. Finally.
Speaking for the first time since selling the revered dive on St. Marks Place — and the five-story building that housed it — Roman Lutak expressed relief that he was, in a way, emerging from his father’s shadow and getting out of the bar business that had been in his family for four generations.
“My parents, they did this. I didn’t do it, I just happened to be along for the ride,” Mr. Lutak said over coffee on 14th Street.
Today, the new owner of the building, Robert Ehrlich, is scheduled to go before Community Board 3 and likely reveal his plans for the bar on the ground floor. Whatever they may be, he has some big shoes to fill. Stefan Lutak, who bought the bar in 1964, was as closely associated with the Holiday Cocktail Lounge as Lucyna Mickievicius is associated with her bar, Lucy’s. It was hard to imagine one existing without the other. Read more…
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. The Gathering of the Tribes building at 285-287
East Third Street.The blind poet behind Gathering of the Tribes is on the hunt for a wealthy benefactor who will buy his building on East Third Street near Avenue C — a move that would, in theory, stop his pending eviction.
In an e-mail forwarded to The Local, Steve Cannon urged his supporters to spread the word that his landlord, Lorraine Zhang, wishes to sell the building.
“Ultimately, what we were told was Lorraine wants to get rid of the building,” wrote Mr. Cannon. “Is there a possibility of any interest in investing/buying the building and making it all Gathering of the Tribes and getting someone to run it?” Read more…
Scott LynchGood morning, East Village.
In case you missed The Local’s earlier coverage, there was a minor fire on St. Marks Place this morning, and a head-on collision on FDR Drive early Sunday morning. Two were killed and two injured in the car wreck, which occurred near Houston Street.
The Post reports that a husband and wife who met at a Grateful Dead concert are opening the Chabad Serving NYU synagogue above the building at 353 Bowery where the 7-Eleven is located. “CBGB was the hub of punk-rock culture, driven by passion, excitement and energy — an energy that’s an expression of spiritual thirst,” says Lubavitch Rabbi Dov Yonah Korn. “Two blocks north, we’re harnessing that energy in a Jewish way.”
The Daily News tells the story of the newest Knicks star, Jeremy Lin, who rose to stardom while sleeping on a couch in what the paper says is his brother’s East Village apartment. The Post has a photo of the couch, and places the apartment in the Lower East Side. E-mail us if you have any Linformation about the sofa’s exact location. Read more…
Photos by Baruch Herzfeld: Cars involved in a collision on FDR Drive were towed to Delancey Street between Ridge and Pitt Streets.
A driver heading the wrong way on FDR Drive led to a three-car pileup that left two dead and two others injured early Sunday morning.
The police said that a 26-year-old man was driving a Nissan Maxima at 2:52 a.m. against southbound traffic when he collided with a Dodge Caravan. A Mazda then collided with the wreck near Houston Street, injuring the 22-year-old driver, as well as her 31-year-old passenger.
The 52-year-old driver of the Caravan and the driver of the Maxima were both pronounced dead at the scene. The passengers of the Mazda were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, the police said. The police have not yet released the names of the victims.
Daniel MaurerA fire broke out this morning on the first floor of a building at 17 St. Marks Place, between Second and Third Avenues. A Fire Department spokesman said the blaze – which was not thought to be major – was reported at 6:45 a.m. and was under control by 7:11 a.m.; one person was taken to New York Hospital with a minor hand injury. The cause of the incident is still under investigation.
Two months ago, a mattress fire broke out in a building across the street, at 26 St. Marks Place.
Stephen Rex Brown Firefighters at 710 East Ninth Street.A construction worker fell around 15 feet after scaffolding collapsed underneath him at a building on East Ninth Street at Avenue C.
Battalion Chief James Costello said that the worker was on scaffolding near the roof at around 2:50 p.m. when the structure collapsed, sending him plummeting to a stairwell landing below. Firefighters then removed him through a window on the top floor using a ladder. A Fire Department spokesman said that the worker suffered injuries to his head and was taken to Bellevue Hospital.
Read more…
Generic garbage truck shot.An opportunistic garbage collector swiped an iPad from a closed restaurant this morning after being let in to use the bathroom, the police said.
A spokesman for the police department said that the sanitation worker, Michael Maldonado, was on duty at around 11:40 a.m. when he asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use the bathroom. After the owner of the undisclosed eatery let the 38-year-old Mr. Maldonado in, police said he swiped an iPad and then went back to work. Read more…
Natalie RinnGood morning, East Village.
The Daily News reports that a Manhattan lawyer’s license has been suspended owing to a 2007 incident in which he assaulted his girlfriend in her East Village apartment. According to the News, Michael Zulandt “grabbed a hammer, smashed her $3,500 Cartier watch, ruined her $1,000 purse by filling it with water, poured oil on her $1,500 couch and ripped into artwork with a pen before ripping her intercom off the wall and snatching her cell phone.”
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York notices a flyer demanding, on behalf of “The East 10th Street Protestors,” that the owner of 106 and 110 East 10th Street “clean up his mess” at two townhouses where work is being done.
The Villager profiles the eccentric CD and DVD vendor on Avenue A who goes by the name of the Birdman: “The proprietor estimates that there are more than 100,000 CD’s in a space that is much too small for them. And that’s just in the front — the back room holds another 20,000. Not long ago, The Birdman spent five hours trapped in that room when the piles collapsed, trapping him until he could dig himself out.” Read more…
Evan BleierAn elderly man was taken to Beth Israel a little after 5 p.m. today after having difficulty crossing Avenue A near 14th Street and causing a traffic delay. The man, who said his first name was Henry, was crossing the street with the assistance of a walker when he became immobile. Concerned passersby (including this reporter) came to his aid and helped him walk to the corner, where he sat down.
The man was disoriented and his face was extremely bruised. When a small pool of blood began to form around his left leg, emergency services were called. He told police officers that he was 88 and lived alone in Stuyvesant Town but was unable to say what caused his injuries.
Meghan KeneallyMoving is a drag; as Off the Grid pointed out yesterday, even Allen Ginsberg had to do it a whole bunch (heck, your editor lives in one of his old apartments – found it on Craigslist). Maybe you’re looking for new digs in the neighborhood? The Local would like to show you some! Don’t worry, our apartment tour won’t take long; and you’ll get to tell us what you think of each place on camera. Fun, right? Okay, so send an e-mail telling us what you’re looking for and let’s talk. Who knows, maybe you’ll snag Iggy Pop’s old place…
Scott Lynch Good morning, East Village.
Citybiz reports that the hotel at 151 East Houston Street is going for $21 million. The building’s marketer notes that its “rooftop area and basement level could easily accommodate a restaurant, bar, lounge or a combination of all three, and preliminary architectural designs for such space have been completed.”
The Lo-Down outlines changes that the city believes will make Delancey Street more safe, including extended sidewalks, lengthened crossing times, and the elimination of left turns at certain intersections.
Ephemeral New York remembers a time when sidewalk peddlers at Cooper Square were considered an epidemic. Now all that’s left is this guy. Read more…
Having presided over another musical moment at Luna Lounge from 1995 to 2005, Rob Sacher has some strong opinions about the possibility of a CBGB revival. Writing for WNET’s MetroFocus, the former co-owner of the Lower East Side venue — which once hosted the likes of The Strokes, The National and Elliott Smith — says that it’s best to leave the Bowery’s punk rock Mecca to the history books: “Someone may buy the name, even buy the walls, but no one can buy into a time that is glorious, though frozen in the past.”
Phillip Kalantzis-CopeGood morning, East Village.
Add Douglas Howard to the list of people who are unhappy with the permitting system at East River Park. According to The Post, the East Village resident is suing the city for revoking his permit to teach tennis due to what he says is racial discrimination. Mr. Howard, who is white, was arrested after clashing with a park employee who, the lawsuit claims, gave preference to a non-licensed Hispanic tennis instructor.
According to a Citi Habitats report released on The Real Deal, January rents were up 5% from last year. In the East Village, the average studio went for $1,881 and 1-bedrooms went for $2,616.
The Post and the Daily News report that Louise Meanwell, who is accused of extorting money from Brian Cashman, the General Manager of the New York Yankees, was told in court yesterday that she will also face charges of harassing an ex-boyfriend, Thomas Walsh, who lived in the East Village. The charges, from 2010, had been suspended but are now being revived. Read more…
Grace MaaloufA critical hearing to determine whether a large swath of the neighborhood will be designated a historic district has been set for June 26, a spokeswoman for the Landmarks Preservation Commission just revealed.
The news sets the stage for another clash between local preservationists and the religious leaders who oppose the district on the grounds that it would create burdensome additional expenses. The public hearing is the final step before the Commission votes on the proposed district, which has Second Avenue south of St. Marks Place as its spine. The exteriors of all the 330 buildings within the district would essentially be preserved as-is.
Last month, a much smaller district on East 10th Street along Tompkins Square Park was approved with minimal opposition. However, the developer Ben Shaoul was able to get approval for a controversial rooftop addition to a building on the block literally hours before the district was given the green light.
The Commission spokeswoman added that on June 26 the former auction house at 126-128 East 13th Street will also face a separate vote to determine whether it should be designated an individual landmark. Here is the Commission’s write-up regarding the building. Read more…
What says romance better than hot dogs? Crif Dogs just unveiled over Twitter a new line of condoms featuring a variety of puns on the wrapping that The Local need not reprint. (You can probably guess.) The condoms will be available for free at the Williamsburg location of Crif Dogs on V-Day. What, no love for St. Marks?
Stephen Rex Brown The scene at Cooper Square today at noon.
Stephen Rex Brown Peter Cooper, minutes before being donned with the wreath.Under the shadow of Peter Cooper, students are celebrating the founder of their university while also protesting the possibility that future scholars at Cooper Union will have to pay tuition.
The wreath-laying ceremony is an annual event that honors Cooper’s birthday. Today at around 12:30 p.m., students were using the event as an opportunity to remind the president of the school, Jamshed Bharucha, of their opposition to any tuition hike. Many of the roughly 75 attendees held balloons that read “110 years free.”
Michelle RickCommunity Board 3 may reverse its hardline stance against new beer-and-wine licenses in booze-heavy areas of the East Village and Lower East Side. In a letter to residents, the board will ask whether it should be more lenient to those seeking such licenses within resolution areas, so long as the businesses agree to operate primarily in the daytime and close at midnight or earlier.
The move comes just a few months after The Local unleashed a sobering study showing that the State Liquor Authority regularly disregards the board’s recommendations regarding who should or shouldn’t be allowed to serve wine and beer (as opposed to hard liquor) in resolution areas – nightlife-heavy strips such as St. Marks Place where the board has recommended a moratorium on new licenses.
At a meeting of the SLA task force last night, board member David Crane described the motivation behind the potential policy shift. “The SLA generally is going to grant a beer-wine license,” he said. “Since that’s a reality, we’re interested in preventing problems. We want to work with the SLA given that that’s a fact.” Read more…
Scott Lynch Good morning, East Village.
The Post has ID’d the man who climbed the statue of George Washington in Union Square yesterday as “Maksim Katsnelson – whose past antics have included a ‘protest’ against Donald Trump and scuffle with cops in Times Square.” He was taken to Beth Israel for evaluation but will not be charged.
The Real Deal reports that Rose Associates has taken over leasing at 2 Cooper Square, a 15-story rental building owned by a Kuwaiti firm where a studio goes for $4,125 per month.
Today in letter writing: Bowery Boogie reports that Rosie Mendez is on board with the East Bowery Preservation Plan proposed by the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors. That plan seeks to ensure that “any new developments in the area would be of a size and scale that would not interfere with the Bowery’s architectural integrity.” Read more…
