The construction site at 26 Avenue B was slapped with a Stop Work Order yesterday after a Department of Buildings inspector determined that excavation at the site undermined an adjoining building’s foundation. A five-story apartment building next to the site, at 28 Avenue B, was evacuated yesterday after large cracks appeared in the walls.
Chris McCabe — a lawyer representing Gail Weinsten, the owner of 28 Avenue B — said he was hired “immediately after she received the first tenant’s call” on Monday. He insisted that the instability occurred because workers excavating at 26 Avenue B, where a six-story building is expected to rise, “didn’t do it right.” Mr. McCabe couldn’t say when exactly 28 Avenue B, home to Croxley Ales, would be inhabitable again but said his client was willing to do whatever was necessary to make it happen. Read more…
A man was struck by a Mercedes Benz around 1:46 p.m. today while crossing the street near the corner of Avenue C and East Houston Street, authorities said.
The 43-year-old victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital, the police said. He is in critical condition, according to the fire department.
An East Village woman got some surprise house guests in the early-morning hours of April 6.
Around 1:20 a.m., three young men clambered up a fire escape ladder at 500 East 11th Street and entered the first window they found open — likely in search of valuables like MacBooks and iPads, said Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann, commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct.
Upon entering the apartment, they surprised the occupant, a woman who was alone and awake. She ran out the door and from her neighbor’s apartment called the police, who quickly arrested the teenagers, said Mr. Cappelmann.
Bronx resident Diejo Martinez, 19, already on probation for burglary, was caught along with a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, also from the Bronx; they claimed that they were visiting a friend in the area, saw the fire escape and wanted to see what was at the top, according to Mr. Cappelmann.
The building on the corner of Avenue A is where a controversial 7-Eleven is under construction on the ground floor.
By the way, Lafayette isn’t the only newcomer on Lafayette Street. Just a couple blocks away, between Bleecker and Bond Streets, a new shop has quietly opened in the former home of Hip-Hop USA.
Daika features one of-a-kind leather handbags, wallets, sandals, and wristbands, all of which are made by Taichi Shimizu, a longtime maker of “classic European style” handbags who goes by the name Daika. Read more…
Like Wylie Dufresne, chef Andrew Carmellini has deep ties to the East Village. He’s lived in the neighborhood for years: you may have spotted him walking to work at The Dutch, his American tavern in SoHo, or coming home from The Library, the lounge he and his partners opened in The Public Theater in October. His wife and cookbook co-author, Gwen Hyman, walks to work, too: she’s a professor at Cooper Union.
This week, Mr. Carmellini opened his second restaurant in the neighborhood. Lafayette occupies the corner spot that housed Time Cafe when he first moved to New York. “It’s an amazingly beautiful building,” he said of the landmark Schermerhorn Building. “One of the first things we did was turn the lights back up on the building, here at nighttime, because it just has amazing features.”
Designed by Roman and Williams (no strangers to the neighborhood themselves) to evoke France’s “grand cafes,” the 150-seat, bi-level spot bills itself as a “light-filled restaurant” where the seasonal fare is light, as well. See le menu…
Just a couple of days after a 52-year-old man, now identified by police as Arnold Cintron, was shot in the stomach in broad daylight Saturday, an arrest was made 200 miles from where the incident occurred on East Third Street.
Authorities tracked the alleged gunman, 44-year-old Jose Cintron (no relation) up to Bedford, Mass.; on Tuesday morning, he was apprehended there while in possession of three bags of heroin, said Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann, commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct.
The dispute between the two men was likely personal and probably centered on narcotics, said Mr. Cappelmann — both the victim and the perpetrator have histories of drug-related offenses. At the time of the shooting, Jose Cintron was on parole for drug sales. Last September, Arnold Cintron, who survived the shooting, was locked up for possession of heroin.
An 84-year-old woman perished in an apartment fire near Union Square early this morning, the police said.
The fire broke out in a fifth-floor apartment of The Petersfield, at 115 Fourth Avenue, shortly before 12:15 a.m. The woman’s lifeless body was discovered after the blaze was extinguished and paramedics pronounced her dead on the scene, according to the police.
The investigation is ongoing and the victim’s identity has not yet been revealed.
“Police showed up yesterday afternoon at the ROX Gallery and met 24-year-old beauty Natalie White — who went bare-breasted as she showed them the exhibit, which is plastered with explicit photo of her. She even invited them to last night’s opening.” [NY Post]
Some public school students gathered with parents and activists in the auditorium at P.S. 364, the Earth School in the East Village on April 14 to protest standardized tests. [Village Voice]
Susan Stetzer, district manager of Community Board 3, spoke out against proposed budget cuts to New York City libraries. [DNA Info] Read more…
A dozen people were evacuated from a five-story apartment building at 28 Avenue B after debris fell from it shortly before 3:15 p.m. today, the fire department said.
The building, between Second and Third Streets, was evacuated after a tenant called to say her walls were cracking, according to one of dozens of firefighters that have converged on the scene. A crack running along the back of the building — visible from the adjacent Miracle Garden — has loosened a second-floor window pane and runs from the vents belonging to the bottom-floor tenant, Croxley Ales, to the roof.
Construction of a six-story building recently started in an empty lot next to 28 Avenue B. A complaint to 311 alleges that excavation at the lot “has hit and damaged building with large gaping space on out facade, brick is falling.” The Department of Buildings has been requested at the scene. Read more…
Beijing, the Chinese takeout joint we gave you the heads-up on last month, is now open and delivering. At left is our lunch-cam shot of the $7.50 sesame-chicken lunch special, which comes with your choice of soup and, of course, a fortune cookie; you can see the menu on Seamless. Beijing, 223 East 14th Street (near Third Avenue); (212) 982-8966.
Picnic, a restaurant serving “simple American comfort food,” is replacing a Korean pub on the corner of Second Avenue and East Seventh Street.
Brianna Myers, the manager and designer of the new restaurant, said the menu would include classics such as meatballs, sandwiches, salad and macaroni and cheese, as well as beer and wine.
Interior renovations are currently turning the space into “somewhere you always feel comfortable going,” per Ms. Myers, and Picnic should open in mid to late May.
Ms. Myers wouldn’t reveal anything about the owner except to say she had managed one of his other New York City restaurants and that he had acquired the Song 7.2 space in October after many months of negotiation. “We really went for it,” she said. “We love the vibe in this neighborhood.”
Police were called to the Starbucks at Astor Place this morning after a suspicious package was discovered there, adding to the tense mood in the wake of the Boston bombings yesterday.
The situation was quickly diffused when the customer who had walked away from the worrisome item came back to claim it. The manager on duty declined to comment further, so the nature of the item is uncertain.
The Astor Place Starbucks was targeted almost exactly a year ago, on April 14, by a group that attempted to smash its windows with steel pipes. At the time, police pinned the mayhem on anarchist protesters.
After countless rehearsals and a victory at the Northeast Regional Barista Competition in February, Sam Lewontin of Everyman Espresso vied for the national title this past weekend. Mr. Lewontin’s regional win afforded him a bye in Thursday and Friday’s preliminary rounds, and he showed up at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center ready to compete on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday’s semi-final was full of strong competitors, including former U.S. champions Pete Licata of Parisi Artisan Coffee in Kansas City and Katie Carguilo of Counter Culture Coffee in Brooklyn, whose coffee producer from El Salvador had come to watch her compete. Read more…
The police are seeking a man who is said to have inappropriately touched a young child.
The suspect, a sketch of whom is shown here, approached a nine-year-old girl and touched her on the buttocks around 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, the police said. He’s thought to be in his 30s or 40s, between 5’8” and 5’10”, and approximately 240 pounds, with black and grey hair.
The police didn’t specify where in the East Village the alleged act of sexual abuse occurred. We’ll update this post with any further details.
As you can see above, the former Life Cafe space is getting a new restaurant, Maiden Lane. Michael Natale, who posted interior shots to The Local’s Flickr pool, says it’ll open Wednesday. [GammaBlog]
More details have emerged about the dormitory Gregg Singer has proposed for the old P.S. 64 building: “The dormitory, called University House, will have amenities ranging from a health center to private study rooms and a fitness center. Mr. Singer expects rents to be about $1,550 per month per bed. It is expected to open in the fall of 2014. Cooper Union has signed a 15-year agreement for its students to get priority for roughly 200 beds.” [Wall Street Journal]
The owner of Boukiés is suing the State Liquor Authority over an “illegal” liquor license agreement that he felt he was forced into with CB3. [DNAinfo] Read more…
Ray LemoineThe game on one television, President Obama
on the other.
Bostonians came together at Professor Thom’s today, visibly rattled by news that explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon had killed two and injured dozens more.
“I’m devastated and wanted to come somewhere Boston to show solidarity,” said Carolina Tenjo, a 27-year-old who hails from Newton, Mass., where an unexploded device was found after the initial two blasts in Copley Square. “I wanted to be there today. I was like, ‘I want to be there,’ and then bombs went off.”
Professor Thom’s was closed for weekend cleanup when news of the explosions broke around 3 p.m., but Bostonians were there to show solidarity immediately after it opened at 5 p.m.
Heather DiMare, 26, from Medford, said she attends Marathon Monday, “the only Boston day,” every year. “I was shocked,” she told The Local. “My father’s a cop; he called me first. I used to work at Mass Gen[eral Hospital]. The E.R. looks like a battle zone, my friends there say.” Read more…
The East Village will get its eighth Subway tomorrow morning. Mohammed Matin, owner of the sandwich shop coming to 41 Third Avenue, said it was the “proximity to young people” that sold him on the location between East Ninth and Tenth Streets.
Okay, but what about not-so-young folks like David Cross, who just reiterated his distaste for Subway in the Post? “No, I haven’t heard anything negative from the neighborhood,” said Mr. Matin.
Told of the No 7-Eleven movement and the anti-Subway signs on local countertops, he seemed unfazed. “By putting up signs they’re doing our job for us,” he said. “People don’t know where there’s a Subway, but they’ll know after the protests.” Read more…
The Bowery was abuzz this afternoon, as workers installed a new billboard above B Bar. Say hello to Questlove, folks. On the opposite corner of Bowery and East Fourth Street, scaffolding went up at 3 Cooper Square. The application for the construction permit indicates the owner is simply patching and repairing defective concrete spandrels.
A couple of blocks south, at Bowery and East Second Street, workers were spotted hauling pipes and garbage bags into the Amato Opera House building. We asked one of the contractors what was happening and in broken English he said “make new,” and motioned up and down the building. He shrugged when asked for details.
Daniel Maurer3 Cooper Square.
Last month, The Local broke news that Steve Croman had filed an application to convert the former opera house into a residential building. According to its Website, the Department of Buildings was still examining the plans as of Friday.
Last week, we spotted a new newsstand in front of the former opera house. EV Grieve noticed it too, and today posted a photo of it with the sadface headline “The Bowery just got a little more bland.” Cheer up, guy: maybe the newsstand will stock Ramones sticker books.
Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong continue sorting through their archives of punk-era concert footage as it’s digitized for the Downtown Collection at N.Y.U.’s Fales Library.
Robert MediciJohn Cale on the road.
Five Favorite Facts about John Cale:
He studied musicology at London’s Goldsmiths College in the early 1960s, where his teachers dubbed him “Most Hateful Student”before awarding him a prestigious Leonard Bernstein scholarship to study with the Boston University Orchestra.
He appeared on the game show “I’ve Got A Secret” in 1963. His secret: participating in the New York performance of an Erik Satie piece that ran for more than 18 hours.
He composed the soundtrack for theprison sexploitation flick “Caged Heat,” Jonathan Demme’s 1974 directorial debut.
He decapitated a dead chicken on stage in 1977 in Croydon, prompting two vegetarian members of his band to walk off. (He had vegetarian musicians in his band?)
He produced Patti Smith, Happy Mondays and Siouxsie and the Banshees, as well as Jennifer “I Had the Time Of My Life” Warnes’ third album, “Jennifer.” Impossible to find and never reissued, it’s probably genius.
Well, that’s a start. It is impossible to sum upJohn Cale in 700 words. Seven million wouldn’t be enough.Would there have been a Downtown music scene without the Velvets and John Cale? Maybe, but it sure would have been different. He is an artist who hasnever stopped experimenting, never stopped reaching. He is fearless, complex, breathtakinglybrilliant, exhausting, and inexhaustible. Read more…
Here’s more about the man who fell on the train tracks at the Second Avenue subway stop Friday: “The worried mom says her son suffers from seizures, as well as emotional and drug problems. She said tests found no alcohol in his system and that she believes he fell because of a seizure.” [NY Post]
David Cross on filming in his old neighborhood: “Especially in the East Village, there’s this old, annoying kind of typically clichéd, iconoclastic punker and all that kind of s- -t — the Goths and gay guys — and those guys see the production, and they’re yelling, ‘The park is for the people!’ It was a nightmare.” [NY Post]
“On Saturday, Bleecker Bob’s shuttered its doors for good after forty-six years on the corner of West 3rd Street and MacDougal – just a week before Record Store Day celebrations on the 20th.” [Runnin’ Scared] 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.
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Mel Bailey 26 Avenue B
