12th & A Fills Out

For about the past year, the four corners of 12th and A have sat empty. (Click here for more info and photos.) The former small businesses that occupied the spots were mostly pushed out by rising rents--I believe these were all part of the big, bad East Village Portfolio. And, I imagine, the landlord has been keeping them vacant as they held out for something hot to come along. Well, it looks like they may have finally given up, as a few new places have moved in and none of them look hot.

Dave's Electric Motors & Pumps is now a gypsy fortune-teller joint (those bellydancers just happened to be hanging out there after the Dance Parade):



The former sites of Gino the Royal Tailor and a copy shop have been combined for Furry Land Pet Supplies:



And the southeast corner (formerly the Cock) looks like it's going to be a restaurant with a kind of UGLY WTF Russian mob-styled exterior decor that has already been commented on by a critical graffiti artist who might also have been expecting something a little more Meatpacky:



Keep in mind, there is still more to rent. Next to the gypsy joint, where the Metropolitan funeral home used to be, there is a rather well-fortified blue plywood fence that's airtight, impossible to see through, and I suspect that means something top-secret fancy is going in there, but overall, I'm quite pleased to report that these corners have remained cozily crapalicious. And that just might mean that Westbrook, in a deal that booted several residents from their business and homes, lost out on their big buy.

• East Village Portfolio
• Corners of 12th and A
• More pics of the corners on my flickr