Add Kickstarter to the long list of businesses in the neighborhood that have packed up and moved to Brooklyn. The New York Post reports that the fundraising site is spending $7.5 million to buy and renovate a landmarked former pencil factory in Brooklyn. That means Kickstarter will soon bid farewell to its current location at 155 Rivington Street. A few other local businesses that decided to open outposts in Willyburg: Mama’s (it was short-lived), Cafe Mogador, Norman’s Sound & Vision and Vanessa’s Dumpling House.
DNAInfo takes a look at Ruff Club, the new dog social club coming to 34 Avenue A. The space will have free wi-fi, and its owners hope that it will turn into a gathering place for dog-lovers, as well as their dogs. “We really want people to come in and meet other people,” said Simon Frost, one of the owners. “The only other place is the dog park, which isn’t that friendly when it is 10 degrees out.”
Bowery Boogie notes that cars traveling southbound on Essex Street can no longer make a left turn onto Delancey Street. The traffic pattern tweak is part of a wave of safety improvements that were expedited following the death of 12-year-old Dashane Santana, who was crossing Delancey Street earlier this year. Read more…
SpacesTVA tour of a “micro studio” in the neighborhood, via Gothamist.
The Daily News brings word that operators associated with upscale nightclubs in SoHo, West Chelsea and the Meatpacking District are eyeing the area around East Houston Street. The soon to be vacant spaces at Sutra and Lucky Cheng’s are the most desired locations of the bunch. The prospective tenants have roots in the “Pink Elephant, Greenhouse, Hudson Terrace, Acme, 1Oak and Electric Room,” according to the paper. And a real estate agent reiterates what The Local has reported for months: that the the up-scaling of the Bowery has opened the flood gates to higher-end clubs further east.
Mark Connell, last seen in The Local coping with his landlord, has plans for an upscale establishment in the former NoLita House. Bowery Boogie, reporting now on a Community Board 2 meeting last month, says that Mr. Connell was stymied by the board due to concern that the revelers in his bar, Botanica, would mix with customers in the new establishment.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the thriving tattoo scene in Williambsurg, “the neighborhood that lured tattoo shops from Manhattan’s higher-rent ink havens like the Lower East Side and East Village” a decade ago. Not all of them have beenlured away, though. Read more…
The Times‘ Pete Wells paid a few visits to chef Michael White’s new pizza spot, Nicoletta, and came away unimpressed, to say the least. The critic gave the restaurant zero stars. “Warmed up a day or two later, a Nicoletta crust is just as stiff and bland as when it was fresh from the oven,” he writes. As for the toppings: “The pies are overburdened conglomerations of cheese, flour and fistfuls of other stuff; in the end, the elements cancel one another out.” Jay Cheshes of a Timeout filed a similarly negative review, though he at least doled out a couple of stars.
Off The Grid explains the historical link between the tenements at 517-519 East 11th Street and the Eldridge Street Synagogue. The buildings were built by the same architects only one year apart, and share numerous aesthetic flourishes.
This is no way to start off a relationship with Community Board 3. Two weeks before it is scheduled to appear before the board, the bar in the former Lakeside Lounge space will open Thursday night for a three-day bash, according to Bowery Boogie. Most importantly: open bar from 9 to 10 p.m.
The Village Voice provides a helpful reminder that Trojan condoms will be giving out 10,000 free vibrators today and tomorrow in the Meatpacking District and on Third Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets. Read more…
The Architects Newspaper sits down with Adam Lubinsky, a managing partner of WXY Architecture + Urban Design who is charged with designing the East River Blueway. It’s no easy task. Aside from overcoming the barrier of FDR Drive, there’s the “ADA-inaccessible overpasses; narrow, collision-inducing bike lanes; and combined sewage overflows [that] have also been identified as key issues.” And then there’s just the simple fact that a lot of people don’t look toward the river for recreation: “The challenge is to get residents to turn around, to realize the river is there,” Mr. Lubinsky said.
The Lo-Down reports that landlord Ben Shaoul now must submit a detailed timeline about replacement of a staircase in his building at 435 East 12th Street, following complaints by a resident who was at one point literally stranded in her apartment. “After the plan for each day has been approved, residents must be notified by certified mail when the work will be done, so that they can make arrangements to be away from their apartments,” the site reports. Typically, developers do not face such a high level of supervision.
Gothamist notes that Cake Shop has accomplished its fundraising goal, and will stay put on Ludlow Street. Read more…
Another one bites the dust. WNYC reports that Big City Records NYC on East 12th Street will close at the end of the month due to rising rent. Owner Jared Boxx told the blog that he’d cultivated a diverse clientele looking for old jazz, Latin music and hip hop, and counted Q-Tip and Dr. Dre among his customers. The news follows the recent closings of Rockit Scientist Records. Bleecker Bob’s and Norman’s Sound & Vision are expected to depart its current location soon.
DNAInfo chatted up Grace Weaver, a vegan who sings the praises of the dietary restriction as she walks her dogs around East First Street. “Vegans have better sex, better health, cleaner conscience,” she sings in her original ditty. And if that doesn’t get through, she passes out flyers, too. (Perhaps she should get her commitment to veganism immortalized with a vegan tattoo from White Rabbit.)
Speaking of a meatless lifestyle, The Wall Street Journal gives a shout-out to the brunch at Caravan of Dreams. The vegan restaurant on East Sixth Street that has been avoiding delicious steaks since 1991. Read more…
The Post reports that stop and frisks were down 34 percent during the second quarter of the year: “A city official with access to the data said 133,934 people were stopped by police between April 1 and June 30, compared to 203,500 from January 1 to March 31.” Those stopped were “66 percent black; 26 percent Hispanic; 6 percent white; and 2 percent Asian.”
More Than Usual has a photo of a flyer that went up at the site of the notorious “private” bike rack. It appears that the owner of the bike that was stolen from the rack has not given up his search.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the city has declined to defend Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna in a civil suit. Inspector Bologna is accused of pepper spraying protestors during an Occupy Wall Street rally near Union Square in September. The move means that the police officer “could be personally liable for financial damages that may arise out of the suit,” according to the paper. His lawyer is fighting the decision by the city. Read more…
Maribel Araujo, the Venezuelan restaurateur behind Caracas, has found inspiration in the Rockaways, where she has opened a new outpost on the boardwalk. “I don’t find the East Village and Williamsburg interesting anymore,” she tells The Daily News. “The people here are for real. They’re all characters.”
East Ninth Street jewelry shop Verameat just opened an outpost in Willamsburg (just like every other business, it seems), according to Racked.
EV Grieve has a thorough roundup of all the new developments and openings and closings on Avenue B. Read more…
An executive with a background in digital technology has purchased a bundle of downtown papers that includes The Villager, the paper announced yesterday. Jennifer Goodstein, a former exec at MetLife, bought Community Media LLC, which also includes Gay City News, Downtown Express, the East Villager and Chelsea Now for an undisclosed amount. Ms. Goodsetin told The Post she has no plans to shut down any of the papers. The papers were previously owned by John Sutter, who bought them in 1999. “[I’m] delighted to have found someone like Jennifer Goodstein who understands and believes in the community newspaper space and has the digital skills, ideas and ambitions for the newspapers and their websites,” Mr. Sutter said in a statement to Crain’s. Ms. Goodstein’s husband is News Corp. Senior Vice President Les Goodstein, who runs the Community Newspaper Group. (This reporter landed his first job at The Brooklyn Paper, which is part of C.N.G.)
A jury recommended that the sergeant facing charges related to the suicide of Private Danny Chin serve 30 days behind bars. Supporters of Mr. Chin told The Times the sentence was too lenient.
P.S. 63 William McKinley was the first stop for the “Recyclarium,” a mobile lab meant to teach students the importance of recycling. Schoolbook reports that the school received the honor because it “has reduced its trash by 85 percent in two months by composting food waste.” Read more…
The shockwaves from the closure of Mama’s Food Shop continue on The Local’s Facebook page, where the majority of commenters expressed dismay that another longtime business had bit the dust. “The East Village continues to go upscale. I bet some overpriced ‘new American’ restaurant will open up in its place…or else a ‘speakeasy’ that charges $15 a cocktail. I don’t mind change….but when EVERYTHING changes, it’s too much!” wrote Elise Herbruger.
The Lo-Down reports that a building owned by Benjamin Shaoul was slapped with a partial stop work order yesterday after ripping out a staircase and not providing a tenant on the fourth floor with “an unobstructed exit.” In April the same tenant in the East 12th Street building was left stranded on her floor after the staircase was completely demolished.
PcvstBee spotted a Craigslist ad seeking job applicants for the new Burlington Coat Factory in Union Square. Read more…
Scott LynchAt the “Mystery Lot,” which isn’t so mysterious anymore.
Good morning, East Village.
The Times reports on the New York Marble Cemetery’s decision to open itself up to events. The trustees see the parties, weddings and film shoots as a way to “make the cemetery pay for itself.”
The gents at Big Gay Ice Cream tweeted on Friday that two of their employees were asked to identify a suspect who allegedly tried to use a counterfeit $100 bill at the ice cream joint, as well as Porchetta and Luke’s Lobster. “We don’t play!” the owners joked.
An owner of Northern Spy tells USA Today that FourSquare has been a boon for business. “On one level, it’s like a digital maitre d’.” Read more…
Our contributor Suzanne Rozdeba sent us the above shot of last night’s storm shortly before it rolled over the East Village. Gothamist rounded up some more shots.
The Times reports that concerns about the storm moved Governor Cuomo to meet with Con Ed executives and union higher-ups; the two parties were able to come to a tentative agreement on a four-year contract yesterday.
But protests continued near Union Square: Gothamist spotted members of the Community/Farmworker Alliance and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers demanding that Chipotle sign on to a Fair Food Program that insures a raise for Florida tomato pickers. (Chipotle says that although it hasn’t signed the agreement, it only works with workers who’ve done so.) Read more…
The perennially on-the-brink St. Mark’s Bookshop has unveiled a new crowdfunding campaign on Lucky Ant to pay for its move to a new location. The campaign comes less than a week after a successful cash mob. Crain’s, which first reported the latest plea, notes that the Bookshop hopes to raise $23,000. The initiative is particularly urgent because the store’s rent, which it renegotiated with landlord Cooper Union last year, will sharply increase in January.
The Times gets a tour of Reno Dakota’s Bed-Stuy Brownstone. In his salad days, Mr. Dakota “was for many years a downtown beau idéal, living in the East Village, working as a prop stylist and decorating nightclubs like Area, even inspiring a song by the Magnetic Fields about unrequited attraction.”
EV Grieve has an update on the ongoing tenant-landlord clash at 50, 54 and 58 East Third Street, where over a dozen people were notified their leases would not be renewed earlier this year. Now, a rep is going door to door talking to remaining tenants about buyouts and “relocation opportunities,” as heavy renovations are about to begin on vacant apartments. “Many tenants have accepted our offer as most people aren’t interested in living in a building that is under construction and they would much rather move during the summer months,” a letter from the rep reads. Read more…
Above, watch Marky Ramone give a tour of his food truck for Fuse TV.
Gallerist brings word that Audio Visual Arts Gallery on East First Street near Second Avenue is planning a 60-hour marathon of German artist Conrad Schnitzler. According to the site, the event is part of Con-Mythology, “a whole slate of Schnitzler activities in New York over the next week.” It starts at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Zagat takes a peek in Extra Place and Heidi. The former will feature a “Mediterranean menu with a focus on döner, a type of German-meets-Turkish Street food,” according to the blog. The latter is a “tiny Swiss eatery that will serve fondue.” EV Grieve reports that both are opening today. Read more…
After interviewing embattled ex-Cro-Mag Harley Flanagan, Steven Blush, author of “American Hardcore: A Tribal History,” believes that the man accused of stabbing two current band members was set up. “To accept Harley’s ‘beatdown’ scenario is to accede to a not-totally-unlikely conspiracy involving his long-standing beefs with the intimidating DMS street gang (mostly over who did what to whom back in the day) as well as other NYHC elements. Anyone who knows the tough new punk subculture around DMS realizes nothing is beyond the pale,” Mr. Blush writes for Papermag.
EV Grieve notes that construction has commenced at the Mystery Lot on East 13th Street, and neighbors are already using words like “nightmarish” to describe it.
ArtsBeat has first word on PS 122’s upcoming fall season, which will be a collaboration with the French Institute Alliance Française and the Chocolate Factory in Long Island City. The renovation of its headquarters on First Avenue will soon be underway. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal attends “Uncle Vanya” in the Lincoln Center Festival with PS 122’s artistic director, Vallejo Gantner. Read more…
The Post doesn’t just hate the new water cafe on East 10th Street. A pair of reporters got wind of an $18 entree at Northern Spy Food Co. that consists of carrots with wild spinach, freekeh, and almonds — and they are outraged. The pricey plate, like the water cafe, is a signal that New York’s dining scene is spiraling out of control, according to the paper. (“Even Bugs Bunny would balk.”) The restaurant doesn’t seem too concerned, though. “The fact that we’ve teed off the NY Post could stand as a point of pride,” it writes on Twitter.
By the way, The Voice joins The Post in criticizing the water cafe, calling it a “snake oil factory.”
DNAInfo reports that Bleecker Bob’s won’t be at its current location for much longer, as the landlord is actively dealing with potential tenants. “We’re letting them stay there until we get somebody, so it works for both of us,” the landlord said. “There’s no timeline, but they should be finished very shortly though.” Read more…
Life Cafe’s most storied artifact is headed to Jersey. The owner of the shuttered cafe, Kathy Kirkpatrick, writes on her blog that the bench where Jonathan Larson wrote “Rent” is now at Adelphi University. According to Ms. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Larson is an alum of the university in Garden City. “I felt a heaviness in my heart as I watched the boys lift the bench into the truck. It felt like a big part of my life was being taken away,” she wrote.
The Daily Beast tries to get to the bottom of Jennifer Sultan’s finances. Ms. Sultan, who was swept up in the arrests related to the missing guns from the Ninth Precinct, was reported to have made millions of an Internet company in 2000.
At the very least, the water store on East 10th Street, Molecule, is a hit with reporters. “I mean it’s subtle, but if you have a sensitive palate you can totally tell” co-owner Adam Ruhf tells The Wall Street Journal. “It was sweet and tasted good,” a customer tells DNAInfo. “Who’d waste money on Molecule? Those who belong to the High Holy Church of Culinary Rectitude,” writes the always warm and fuzzy Steve Cuozzo in The Post.
Has Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver gone rogue? He tells The Daily News he won’t be campaigning exclusively for Democrats in the Senate this year.
Second Avenue has its noodle nuts, Jersey Street has its sneaker fiends. Bowery Boogie has shots of people queuing up for the release of limited edition Nike sneakers. Read more…
The Jewish Week reports that Greg Wall, the jazz-playing rabbi of Sixth Street Community Center, is stepping down amid financial troubles at the synagogue and infighting among board members. “The synagogue is financially challenged (aren’t we all!), and must now raise cash to shore up their 150-year old building, and cannot afford to fund a permanent rabbi,” Mr. Wall wrote.
The Paris Review has joined the fight to help the St. Mark’s Bookshop as it considers a move to a smaller location. The magazine is offering a one-year subscription to the first five customers who spend $500 during Saturday’s cash mob.
One of The Local’s community contributors, Martin Johnson, has a review of “Love Goes To Buildings On Fire,” by Will Hermes. The book examines the city’s music scene from 1973 to 1978, a time in which “great music grew out of buildings on fire.” Read more…
DNAInfo reports that Il Laboratorio del Gelato has a strict two-sample limit on ice cream flavors. With all the exotic flavors, some folks tend to try lots of ice cream before making a decision, an owner says. The excessive sampling creates a long line, and also costs money. “”If a group of eight people come in, that is still 16 samples,” the owners of Il Laboratrorio tells the Web site. “”If any of my staff break it, I flip out.”
EV Grieve notes that a water cafe — that’s right, a water cafe — is open on East 10th Street. It sells “hyper-filtered, perfectly pure, eco-conscious” agua.
Booker & Dax, Death & Co., and Summit Bar are featured in Eater’s roundup of the city’s best cocktail bars. Read more…
The economic woes at St. Mark’s Bookshop continue, but Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York refuses to bow to the ailing print industry. The blog has planned a cash mob on Saturday at 3 p.m. To hear the owners (and Jeremiah) tell it, the stakes couldn’t be higher. “We’re in the midst of some serious summer doldrums and could use a little lift….a shot in the arm,” one of the owners writes.
The fallout from the theft of guns from Ninth Precinct locker rooms continues. The Post reports that one of the suspects in the ring is a woman who sold her web streaming company for $70 million in 2000. She then blew through her fortune and got caught up — allegedly — in last week’s bust involving the guns and “large-scale drug deals.”
Grub Street has more analysis of the images spotted at the location of Andrew Carmellini’s new French restaurant. According to the blog, the mysterious images at 380 Lafayette Street harks back to famous silk-screened posters that “went up all over Paris after De Gaulle left France in May of 1968 during the protests.” Read more…
The Local was a journalistic collaboration designed to reflect the richness of the East Village, report on its issues and concerns, give voice to its people and create a space for our neighbors to tell stories about themselves. It was operated by the students and faculty of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, in collaboration with The New York Times, which provides supervision to ensure that the blog remains impartial, reporting-based, thorough and rooted in Times standards. Read more »
