More Demolitions Coming To Vacant UES Block As Development Looms

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A developer filed permits Monday to demolish three of the few remaining buildings on an Upper East Side block that has been steadily cleared in recent years.

The permits call for the demolition of 1643, 1647 and 1649 First Ave., a set of four-story, tenement-style buildings between East 85th and 86th streets.

No developer was named on the permits, but the listed owner is David Rothstein, an executive vice president at megadeveloper Extell, which kickstarted the Billionaire's Row of skyscrapers below Central Park.

Starting in 2018, Extell began filing plans to demolish other buildings on the block, starting with the six-story brick building on the corner of East 86th Street that previously housed Gracie's Corner Diner & Grill.

More demolitions were filed in 2019 for three adjacent buildings at 1637, 1639 and 1641 First Ave., permits show. The building at 1645 First Ave. is the only one on the block where no permits have yet been filed.

The buildings where permits were filed this week most recently housed the Irish pub Danny & Eddie's, a barbershop, a pickle and olive store, and a dollar store.

No new construction permits have yet been filed for the site, but all signs point to it becoming Extell's next block-swallowing development on the Upper East Side. Patch reported in 2019 that the firm owns the entire block and corner properties on East 85th and 86th streets through four LLC companies — 350 EAST 86 LLC, TFO85 LLC, First NY LLC and 1651 First LLC — according to city records.

Extell's other neighborhood projects include the full-block site a few blocks south at 1516-18 First Ave., which has sat largely empty since Extell began tearing down those buildings in 2018.

The company did not respond to a request for comment about its plans for the site.