The East Village is changing faster than you can say DBGB. But the "horizontal extension" going up (should we say "going sideways"?) above Joey Ramone Place (aka East 2nd Street) is one of those projects that seems to be taking forever. Perhaps you remember our first visit to what we like to call the Tumor Building? Seasons have passed. Downtown has changed in ways Joey would never believe. And this one just drags on and on.
[Seasons come and seasons go, but this "extension" remains incomplete]
The property in question, at 24-26 East 2nd Street just off Second Avenue, backs up onto the hidden New York Marble Cemetery, so it would seem that the neighbors there aren't the ones to complain. And The Bowery just down the block has become a hot-bed of Deconstruction and Architecture from A to Z. So one might think that this little metal-box-in-the-branches would be a welcome addition. But that hasn't exactly been the case.
The owner first filed for permits at DOB back in 1998. Community Board 3 voted against it. Various inspectors found assorted objections. And the project just would not end. But now things are coming together. One building permit, originally applied for nine years ago, was finally approved just last month. Construction continues. The move-in date remains unknown. But we'll keep you posted.
[24-26 East 2nd seen from "Joey Ramone Place"]
[The rear of 24-26 East 2nd from the entryway to the Marble Cemetery]
[The new Bowery Hotel rises to the west]
· Upon Further Examination: The Tumor Building [Curbed]
· Boulud's DBGB Vies for CBGB's Abdicated Throne [Curbed]
· Joey Ramone Place: Don't Take My Sign Away [Curbed]
· New York Marble Cemetery [marblecemetery.org]
· Eastern Europe... or East Village? [Curbed]
· Cooper Square Hotel a Tear Down Before It's Even Up? [Curbed]