Steven Matthews Good morning, East Village.
Clayton Patterson discusses his new new book, “Jews: A People’s History of the Lower East Side.” [East Village East East Village]
“For more than a decade now, Manhattan performance artist and former Warhol starlet Penny Arcade has been doing her part to preserve the legacy of fellow downtown artists—a legacy that continues to be gradually erased as the East Village and the Lower East Side march toward total gentrification.” [Capital NY]
A Valentine’s chat with Pilar and Walter La Rosa of Pilar Jewelry Repair on East Seventh Street: “This adorably cute couple hail from Lima, Peru, and have been coworkers for the past 20 years at this East Village storefront, which is an accomplishment in itself. What is even more astonishing is that they’ve been married for the past five decades!” [Runnin’ Scared]
Where art galleries are concerned, is uptown the new downtown? Bill Powers, owner of a gallery that was formerly on Forsyth Street, is reopening on 78th Street. “The reality,” he says, “is that, with the exception of one person, anyone that I sold to lived a hell of a lot closer to our new location than the old space on Forsyth Street. So you do the math on that.” [Gallerist]
“New York University received a $40 million donation from Lightyear Capital LLC Chairman Donald Marron and will use the funds to create an institute to study cities and urban areas.” [NY Post]
“At Pouring Ribbons, a second-story bar that opened last fall in the East Village, there’s little interest in conjuring a Prohibition-era ambience — or really much ambience of any kind.” [NY Times]
L’Apicio’s director of guest relations on surviving the wait for a table: “Basically I tell everybody the same thing. Get a drink, stay here, something is going to change. Somebody is going to come in late, somebody is going to decide that they want to sit at the bar or decide that they want to stay in the lounge. If you stay in the building I can typically help you.” [Eater]
