501 2nd Street for sale

Subject: Re: no to demolish!

you're right. I agree with you about the condition and time...

i've always heard the owner (not that you'd be surprised) is a little whacky. although no one has said that in this thread who knew her...

i was in there about a year (2 years?) ago... they had the bar open on Saturdays and were getting rid of stuff inside it. It was mostly junk and I doubt worthwhile to anyone (although what do they say...? one man's trash...). It was filled with *things.* at that time, one of the daughters said they were going to open in another month. she sounded almost defiant about it, as if she'd been asked many times and, yes, this time it was going to happen!

Drano wrote: [quote=cat]the building itself has such character as opposed to anything 'new' that would be built. it should be saved, in my opinion.

cat.

Then buy it...I'll warn you though, I recently talked to a guy that did some "band-aid" type work in/on the building a while back (10+ years ago) and his professional opinion was that the overall structural integrity of the place was unsatisfactory and likely to deteriorate pretty steadily. If the owner hasn't had some serious work done, I hope the city is on that situation.

The building is a white elephant - fun to think about fixing up and saving, I suppose, but not likely to be economically feasible. Unfortunately, since the owner doesn't appear seriously willing to sell the joint, by the time it does change hands demolition might be the only option.

Subject: Re: no to demolish!

oh. sorry, sorry, i was unclear.

they were just open during the day on a few Saturdays to sell things in the place! they should have just given it all away if that was their goal although there might have been a few good things in there on the walls.

they were clearing out the place for the grand re-opening that never happened!

before that I believe, one time i was walking by on the 2nd Street side and they had started construction on the place and there were workmen inside. (I figured there are pigeons living in there so I asked one of the workers, what are you doing with the pigeons...? I can't recall if I really got an answer.) anyway, a man stopped my friend and I as we looked inside and said "do you want to rent an office in there? there are going to be offices to rent."

we always wondered what happened because they had started working on it. this was maybe 3 years ago... if I had to guess.

Drano wrote: [quote=cat]i was in there about a year (2 years?) ago... they had the bar open on Saturdays and were getting rid of stuff inside it. It was mostly junk and I doubt worthwhile to anyone (although what do they say...? one man's trash...). It was filled with *things.* at that time, one of the daughters said they were going to open in another month. she sounded almost defiant about it, as if she'd been asked many times and, yes, this time it was going to happen!

Wow, I didn't know they had been open that recently - sorry I missed it, I would have loved to have a beer there for old time's sake.

If that building is going to be saved, though, it seems as though something would need to happen relatively soon...

I remember when the Iron Horse was a gay bar back in the late '70's. That bar has a ton of history.

Subject: well yes if she was going to rent to the 'homeless...'

how is the owner wealthy? FROM her real estate?

and, well yeah, if she was going to let homeless people live there that would be unique ! but i believe that whenever the building gets revived, it will also probably also be sold or rented to the wealthy. I keep waiting for someone (all these developers and realtors and corporations with TONS of money) to do something unique and maybe 'charitable' - or just honest - but I will be waiting a long time with the dynamic that prevails in our society.

guestx wrote: I used to work across the street from that building, and I was there and spoke with the police on the day that two of the glass panes fell out from the third floor window frames and shattered in the street. No one was hurt, but I'm surprised that it doesn't appear on the long list of building violations. The owner is extremely wealthy and there is NO EXCUSE for leaving this building uninhabited for a decade while there are so many homeless people in NYC.

armchair_warrior wrote: [quote=8thandPrez][quote=armchair_warrior]damn i wouldnt mind a date with those two daughters though . hot.

you'd just better hope they didn't inherit the crazy gene.



the hotness negates the craziness. till they put a axe on your back :P.

c'mon, guys: hot? cute, maybe...

I also remember they were open on a few weekends about two years ago selling things, but only the junk! the few better items like fancy chandeliers were not for sale. One of the daughters is a lawyer and the other I hear has a clothing shop in SoHo. My impression is there just a strange rich family.
The building is full of all sorts of clutter from stained glass windows to who knows what. Over twenty years ago I sold at 321 flea, and the mother was a regular buyer at my booth but always asked for better price.
Its a shame that building has been neglected to the point where it is dangerous just to walk past!
The mother is still around the neighborhood, I usually see her walking down 7th Ave.