Sarah Darville

Sarah Darville

Iconic Hand Rolls isn’t the only takeout joint that’s new to the neighborhood: an empanadas spot will host its grand opening tonight, days after quietly soft-opening on East Ninth Street.

Empanadas Bar makes a bold claim on its menu, as you can see below: “We only use organic or local farmer market products.”

“The idea was that New York doesn’t have good empanadas,” said owner Juan Tourn. “Here, everything’s fresh.”

He and another cook, Efrain Sosa, left Novecento, an Argentinian restaurant in SoHo, after Mr. Tourn spent a year dreaming of opening his own small place. Deciding what to serve at Empanada Bar was easy, he said, since he’d been making empanadas for decades, first in Argentina (where he got his dough recipe) and then in Spain.

Will this newcomer fill the void that Ruben’s Empanadas left when it closed on First Avenue? Find out for yourself: tonight’s grand opening starts at 6 p.m. Read more…

Cyn Darling Scenes like this at Sutra Lounge may soon be a thing of the past.

Community Board 3’s agenda for July just landed in The Local’s inbox, and the most striking item is a possible new operator in Sutra Lounge.

Reached by telephone, club owner and Community Board 3 member Ariel Palitz said that negotiations are ongoing with the company that may take over, Golden C Hospitality Inc, and that she’d added her business to the agenda so as not to miss a deadline for this month’s meeting.

“If they don’t accept the offer it’s probably going to be withdrawn,” said Ms. Palitz, who expected that negotiations with the company would be concluded by early next week. For now, she would not go into further details.

A few other highlights include an appearance by the new operators in the Lakeside Lounge space, as well as a request for approval of a full liquor license at the new location of Nevada Smiths. (The soccer bar has appeared on the agenda for several months, only to be withdrawn.)

As you may have noticed, we’ve just launched a nifty new tool that allows you to suggest stories you’d like to see on The Local. Using our Virtual Assignment Desk, you can either offer to write or photograph stories yourself or we’ll post your ideas so that fellow readers can volunteer to cover them. Below are just some of the suggestions we’ve recently added to our Open Assignments page, including a protest against N.Y.U. 2031 tonight, an upcoming play, and a record release party. Want to volunteer for one? Click through to sign up and we’ll be in touch!

Angry Greenwich Village Residents Hold “Memorial Service” in Sasaki Garden to Stop Bulldozers Under NYU Expansion Plan
Tomorrow, Thursday, June 28th @ 5pm: there will be a memorial service for the Sasaki Garden, lead by Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper, Senior Minister of Judson Memorial Church. It will be R.I.P. for the Garden and all our green spaces if the NYU plan goes forward. Come with your own stories and pictures, and bring your friends & family; kids very welcome. This place where trees of all kinds bloom, birds of many species sing, and children laugh and play, will soon be razed by NYU’s bulldozers, and the ground sowed with rat poison, to make way for a gigantic office park…unless we stop it! http://savewsvsasakigarden.blogspot.com/?utm_source=NYU+FASP+First+Eblast&utm_campaign=NYU&utm_medium=email VERY IMPORTANT! Friday, June 29th: The City Council holds its ONLY public hearing on the expansion plan. Join the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation @ an 8:30 am press conference on the steps of City Hall, before the hearing begins. (If you go, try to be there @ 8:15am). Bring your energy, your voices, your signs. The hearing is inside City Hall and starts at 9:30 am. We hope to have a packed hearing. If you do go, be aware that hearing can last well into the night and that photo i.d. is required. Be prepared to stay for a quite a while. Written testimony is also accepted. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown Blueprints for the CBGB in Times Square.

Some punk rock purists might roll their eyes at Tuesday’s announcement that the CBGB Festival will hold a “multi-stage” concert in hyper-commercialized Times Square. But before you go cracking a Disney-meets-Dead-Boys joke, consider this: a few years before the legendary club on the Bowery closed, founder Hilly Kristal was on the verge of reopening it in Times Square.

The new location wouldn’t have been a mere recreation of the club that fostered the likes of The Talking Heads, Television, Blondie and many others, either. Mr. Kristal planned to drastically expand it. Blueprints drawn up of 1540 Broadway, which are pictured above, hint at the scale of his ambition.

He aimed to demolish a four-screen movie theater next-door to the now-closed Virgin Megastore and make it a club. Given that the theaters could seat 1,626 people total, it is clear that Mr. Kristal was fine with CBGB — which by then had developed into the merchandising bonanza it is today — moving on from the dirty bathrooms, dingy bar and sorry speakers of the original location. Read more…

Mary Reinholz The Strand’s window.

Almost all of Nora Ephron’s books were sold out yesterday morning at The Strand, where a photo in the window depicted the literary dynamo posing with the bookshop’s owners, Fred Bass and Nancy Bass Wyden, during the filming of “Julie & Julia” there in 2008.

Today, a portrait of Ms. Ephron – a “writer and filmmaker with a genius for humor,” per The Times’s obituary – pops up on the The Strand’s Website when you search for her books, just two copies of which are said to be in stock (both are of her 2002 play, “Imaginary Friends”).

A clerk said the run on her novels (“Heartburn”), essay collections (“I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Reflections on Being a Woman,” “I Remember Nothing”) and screenplays (“When Harry Met Sally…”, “Julie & Julia”) started yesterday morning, after it was announced that she had died the previous night from pneumonia brought on by leukemia at 71. Classic collected essays from the 1970s like “Wallflower at an Orgy” and “Crazy Salad” were unavailable, but the store has put in orders for more. Employees at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square reported a similar shortage. Read more…

Joel Raskin

Good morning, East Village.

Photographer Joel Raskin got this shot of a mural on East 10th Street and Avenue C. In the caption of the photo he posted to The Local’s Flickr group, he writes, “I saw Chico working on this from the bus either late last week or early this week.”

Bowery Boogie heard from “sources” that the Ace Hotel was headed for the Jarmulowsky Bank building at 54 Canal Street, but The Lo-Down batted down the rumor before it could cause any more of a stir: “Today a source with knowledge of the Jarmulowsky project tells The Lo-Down that the creative team consists solely of Ron Castellano, the developer of The Forward Building, and Taavo Somer, who’s behind Lower East Side restaurants Freemans and Peels.”

Capital New York takes a look at what Erik Dilan’s loss to Nydia Velazquez means for Brooklyn’s county chairman Vito Lopez. “Dilan’s poor showing could throw a wrench into the Lopez’s reported plan to challenge Velazquez over the course of two cycles. The first was supposed to weaken Velazquez and put her on the ropes for an even tougher fight in 2014.” Read more…

Sarah Darville Sue Palchak-Essenpreis

When Council Member Rosie Mendez joined the residents of three buildings on Third Street last month to protest the non-renewal of their leases, Sue Palchak-Essenpreis vowed to stay put past the end of her lease on May 14. And she did just that: her one-bedroom apartment is still jam-packed with bookshelves, and plants are perched on almost every windowsill. But last night, she signed a new lease for an apartment in Washington Heights. On July 4, she’ll move out of her third-floor apartment at 50 East Third Street. But first, she has an appointment downtown.

On Friday, she and her husband Greg Essenpreis will appear in Housing Court in hopes that a judge will keep them from having to pay the legal fees of their landlord, Abe Haruvi. That would mark the end of the high-profile protest against the owner of 50, 54, and 58 East Third Street, who did not renew the leases of some 17 tenants whose contracts with his company, Abart Holdings, were running out this summer. After a few months of outcry, most of the buildings’ residents are now moving on.

Since Ms. Palchak-Essenpreis began organizing tenants, she said, there has been more fleeing than fighting. “There has been a different moving truck in front of the building almost every day for the last two weeks,” she admitted. “After I sent off the e-mail – ‘We’re going to court!’ – it was like a cartoon: everyone ran off.” Read more…

Photos: Daniel Maurer

Back in April, we brought word that David Ravvin, a 29-year-old graduate of N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business, planned to open a quick-service sushi spot in the former home of Cotan, on First Avenue near Saint Marks Place. Soon after that, its plywood got defaced (to the delight of neighbor JoeDough), but after a fresh coat of paint, the restaurant opened to friends and family just minutes ago, and will open to the public tomorrow.

Earlier this evening, Hiroko Shimbo, the Japanese cooking authority who designed the menu, was busy in the kitchen as Mr. Ravvin buzzed about the modest eat-in area, which is still awaiting some finishing touches. Mr. Ravvin plans to plaster a mural of this photo of Rocky Aoki, the late charismatic founder of the Benihana chain, on a wall where the restaurant’s few tables are lined up. “He’s kind of an inspiration,” he explained. And he’s still working on perfecting a method of delivering the cone-like temaki rolls that will be the signature of his menu. (You can see that menu below.) Hours are from 6 p.m. to midnight daily, and beer and wine will be served. Read more…

Miha Matei

For every East Village business that’s opening or closing, dozens are quietly making it. Here’s one of them: Pink Olive.

Grace Kang spent her early career as a buyer for fashion retailers like Barneys, Bloomingdale’s, and Saks. “People thought I would open a fashion clothing store,” she said, “but I am into doing the unexpected.” Five years ago, she opened Pink Olive, a gift shop stocked with charming treasures at 439 East Ninth Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A. It did so well that she opened a second location in Park Slope. She told us how she’s managed to make it.

Why did you choose the East Village?

The East Village has always felt like home to me. It’s my favorite neighborhood because it is low-key and full of unexpected finds. That’s what Pink Olive is all about, too: character with hidden gems. The East Village has the kind of vibe I wanted for my store. Read more…

Earlier this month, The Local learned that the installation of an odor-eating ventilation unit at IHOP had been delayed, raising concerns among neighbors that the bacon smell emanating from the restaurant was there to stay. In the meantime Sandy Berger, whose apartment overlooks the roof of the International House of Putrid Odors, as she calls it, continues to maintain her diary of olfactory impressions.

Sandy Berger’s Bacon Dairy, Page Three

Sandy Berger Could it be? Are these workers preparing for installation of the ventilation unit.

Thursday, June 14

My wake-up call came at 7 a.m. this morning in the form of bacon grease from IHOP — not my alarm clock! And it was still going strong at 8:42 a.m. When I came back home at 1:30 p.m. I could smell that lunch was in full swing, but it was bearable.

Friday, June 15

At 8 a.m. there were no smells, but four hours later the bacon grease was definitely on the burner! It is now 3 p.m. and the smell still lingers.
Read more…

Scott Lynch and Lauren Carol Smith The first lady in line for an in-store appearance by Maroon 5 on the left, and the line later this afternoon.

Clearly, their love has taken its toll. Teenage girls are lining up in droves outside of the Union Square Best Buy for an in-store appearance by the band Maroon 5. There’s still time to head over — the heartthrobs aren’t scheduled to arrive until 7 p.m.

Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong are sifting through their voluminous archive of punk-era concert footage as it’s digitized for the Downtown Collection at N.Y.U.’s Fales Library. Here’s this week’s trip down memory lane, starting with a word form Jeff Magnum, bassist for the Dead Boys.

Emily Armstrong/NightclubbingStiv Bators

I was working in a record store, it was horrible. Farmers would come in demanding John Denver, or say, “Do you have that record they play on the radio…” But at least there was Rocket From the Tombs. They were the only good band in Cleveland in the early 1970s, and I went to see ’em play a lot! I heard they were breaking up but they were playing one last gig (Bators and Cheetah were gonna start a new band). I went to that last gig and I walked up to Cheetah, who I never met, and told him, “I’m the bass player yer lookin’ for!” That new band was called Frankenstein (Bators, Cheetah, Blitz, Zero, and me).” [In 1976, the band left for New York without Magnum, and booked a gig at CBGBs. They came back for him, and returned to the city as the Dead Boys.] We went on this 20-hour car ride, the whole time them telling me how great it will all be, that they had a place and that we would be playing at the greatest club in the world. I got to the club and said, “What a shit-hole.” But it became our living room. We were there every night and when we played, we kicked ass. — Jeff Magnum

The Dead Boys held a special status at CBGBs. They were managed by the club’s owner, Hilly Krystal, and played there more than any other band. Read more…

Felton Davis Joanne Kennedy gives a quick astronomy lesson.

If it were up to him, Felton Davis would install a 75-foot dome atop the communal shelter where he has lived for 25 years. But the Catholic Worker doesn’t have that kind of money, so he uses a simple telescope to show his fellow Maryhouse residents the wonders of the universe.

Mr. Davis hosts informal viewings on the rooftop of the Catholic-anarchist hospitality house, but on a half dozen occasions, he’s taken his planet parties to the street. Saturday night, he took his Orion telescope and wide-angle Q70 lens to the corner of East Third Street and Second Avenue to give over a hundred passersby an intimate view of Saturn. Positioned next to a bright star in the Virgo constellation, the planet is imminently visible during these summer months.

“This is something that intrudes on people’s consciousness in very strange ways. It’s out of this world,” Mr. Davis told The Local. “People were surprised they could see Saturn from the city streets.” Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown

Good morning, East Village.

Nydia Velazquez beat out her opponents in the Democratic primary, according to DNA Info, The Lo-Down, and Runnin’ Scared. “With 97 percent of the districts reporting, Velazquez had a commanding lead with 58 percent of the vote, compared to City Councilman Erik Martin Dilan’s 31 percent,” reports DNA Info. “The other two challengers, Dan O’Connor and George Martinez, received just 8 and 3 percent of the vote respectively.”

The Lo-Down reported from yesterday’s Community Board 3 meeting, where a bar that the owners of B-Side are planning for 221 East Broadway received more scrutiny. The board eventually voted to support its liquor license application after it agreed to close its windows at 9 p.m.

East Village Corner spots some workers fixing the sinkhole on East Seventh Street. Read more…

Courtesy Warby Parker The Warby Parker Readery at The Standard.

Some blocks north of William S. Burroughs’s “bunker” on the Bowery, The Standard, East Village is paying tribute to the neighborhood’s literary past by opening a throwback lobby newsstand stocked with the likes of Kesey, Kerouac, and Corso.

The Readery, as the book nook will be called, won’t just feature rare and vintage books by 60s authors, it’ll also sell 60s-inspired Warby Parker glasses and shades.

Neil Blumenthal, a co-founder of the hip eyewear company, said his company’s mission – of donating to international non-profits that train low-income women to give eye-exams and sell low-cost glasses – is very much in step with the Beat generation. “Much like those writers that were reimagining what it means to be an individual and to be an American, we’re trying to transform the optical industry. And we’re trying to remake what it means to be a for-profit company,” he said. Read more…

Map of the proposed district.

Preservationists came out in force today to support a proposed historic district that would encompass a large chunk of the East Village, and ran into familiar anger from religious groups.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission held the public hearing to collect feedback on a proposed 330-building district that would be centered around Second Avenue south of St. Marks Place and regulate the facades of cultural icons like the La MaMa theater, the former Fillmore East building, and the Anthology Film Archives, among other storied buildings.

At the meeting, which was standing-room only for the first hour and a half, members of the commission listened to about 80 speakers express more support than opposition, with many sporting blue and yellow stickers reading “Preserve the East Village, Landmark Now!”  Read more…

Mary Reinholz

In Union Square today, a semi-truck doubling as a barbecue smoker offered free chicken and beef sausage links to pedestrians as part of the History Channel’s “Cross Country Cookout.” The truck will be serving free grub till 6 p.m.

Of course, it may be a little late to get in on the feeding frenzy, so here’s something else to chew on: Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring (yes, they’re still around, and have an album out today) and Evette Rios, correspondent on ABC’S “The Chew,” have been added to the judging table at the Crif Dog Classic, an eating contest taking place at Roberta’s, in Bushwick, on the Fourth of July.

Mary Reinholz

The contest, hosted by the East Village’s own Crif Dogs, will feature ten renowned eaters, including Takeru Kobayashi – the legend who famously became persona non grata at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest –  as well as beats from Finger on the Pulse and performances by Wild Yaks, Andy Suzuki & The Method, and The Electric Mess.

As for the Coney Island competition, East Village roommates Timothy “Eater X” Janus and Crazy Legs Conti are gearing up for it, and we’ll have more on that later.

Cue “Return of the Rat” – the furry fiends are back on First Street.

Last summer when the BMW Guggenheim Lab took over an empty lot between East First and Houston Streets, near Second Avenue, even the project’s detractors begrudgingly gave it credit for cleaning up a longstanding rat infestation. Well, guess what? The rats are back.

A friend who lives a couple doors over from the lot, which is now a park hosting public programming, brought the rodent resurgence to our attention. (She didn’t want to be named lest she gain a reputation on the block as, well, a rat.) “They’ve steadily become more of a presence and now it’s threatening to be what it used to be,” she said, adding that she has started walking in the street again to avoid the stretch of sidewalk on the southern side of First Street, near Second Avenue, where the whiskered interlopers frolic.

Sure enough, minutes after The Local set up to film the rats on a recent evening, they were seen zig-zagging across the sidewalk every 20 seconds or so, scampering from underneath a set of trash containers to a pile of garbage bags across the way. Passersby shrieked at the site of the voluminous vermin. Before long, we bumped into Emily Armstrong, co-author of The Local’s Nightclubbing column and a longtime resident of the Lower East Side. “They’re back!” she exclaimed as she walked her dog on the block. Read more…

Sarah Darville Diablo Royale’s back garden.

The tequila may have to stop flowing in a few months at Diablo Royale Este. The embattled Mexican restaurant won’t have a liquor license come September unless its owner, Jason Hennings, files a special proceeding against New York State, according to a State Liquor Authority spokesperson.

At a hearing last month, the authority told Mr. Hennings it would renew his liquor license only if he agreed to close down his restaurant’s back garden earlier. Since 2010, neighbors have claimed they’ve lost sleep because customers are allowed to linger on the patio after-hours.

Stipulations in Diablo’s license dictate that the patio be closed at 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends, but Andrew Coamey and Meri Micara, who live adjacent the restaurant, have testified in the past that the curfew hasn’t been honored. At the May hearing, Ms. Micara complained to the S.L.A. that her front door “is always blocked, music fills the building, the backyard noise is unbearable.” Michele Burger, appearing on behalf of Council Member Rosie Mendez, showed support for the residents, and said of Diablo, “[They] just aren’t being good neighbors.”

Presented with timestamped photos allegedly showing customers using the patio after-hours, the restaurant’s owner grew visibly irritated. “It’s not people,” he said. “They’re black chairs.” Even S.L.A. chairman Dennis Rosen said he couldn’t tell what the pictures showed. Read more…