Brendan BernhardGood morning, East Village.
DNA Info, EV Grieve, and Runnin’ Scared have more on the temporary closing of Billy’s Antiques. Billy Leroy tells Runnin’ Scared, “Everyone’s like, ‘Oh my God, the tent is closing! Sniff, sniff.’ But try sitting in here in winter. The conditions are rough, and I think it will be nice to have heat, maybe air conditioning. But will it be a tent with everything splattered on the sidewalk? No.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Foursquare has outgrown its office at 36 Cooper Square and has signed a 10-year deal at 568 Broadway near Prince Street.
According to the Lo-Down, times are tough at the flea market behind the struggling Mary Help of Christian’s Church. One vendor used to make $300 to $350 per weekend, but “today, she said, she is lucky if she reaches $100. Add the $80 it costs to rent her table and the $5 to $10 in equipment storage fees, and she is essentially breaking even.”
The Real Deal reports that closings have begun at 40 Bond Street. The first unit went for $5.5 million.
Off The Grid gives five reasons why you should “just say no” to rooftop additions like the one at 514-516 East Sixth Street. One of them: “The buildings at 514-516 East Sixth Street are in violation of the Multiple Dwelling Law. The developer did not make the fire or safety improvements required by the building code when additions like this are built, and by not doing so the developer put tenants safety at risk.”
Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York recalls a time when prostitutes worked 14th Street, near a peep joint in the Sahara Hotel. Until it was sold in 1999, the Sahara was “like a slice of Times Square’s grittiest, an SRO known for danger and shady dealings.”
A 60-year-old resident of the Smith Houses who does 700 push-ups and 10 pull-ups a day at Tompkins Square Park has become a viral sensation of sorts. Check out LiveLeak for the video.
Bowery Boogie hears from Clayton Patterson that his “Legends of the Lower East Side” coloring book is now available for $12 a pop. If that’s not enough of a history lesson for you, the blog also informs that the Seward Park Library, as part of its “LES Heritage Film Series,” will screen “Punking Out” (about the CBGBs scene) and “Wino” (Jack Smith’s film about the Bowery) tonight at 6:30 p.m.
The New Yorker’s Tables for Two column has good things to say about the Beagle: “It was nearly impossible to keep from ravenously attacking the crispy half chicken, served with hearty chestnut spaetzle and a questionably named but unquestionably delicious ‘liver sauce.'”
In a profile of David Kaplan and Alex Day of Death & Co., Page Six Magazine reveals that not even the proprietors can get a table unless they call ahead.
The Post is having some trouble getting into the SantaCon spirit this year. An item about the bar crawl begins: “’Tis the season . . . for drunken Santas to stagger through the city like a bunch of booze-soaked fruitcakes annoying everyone in sight.”
