The much-delayed hearing regarding the proposed nine-story hotel next door to the Merchant’s House Museum is now set for Sept. 11. This is the fifth time the hearing has been postponed: Previously, it was scheduled for Sept. 4 after the developer of the hotel requested more time from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to prepare a presentation that will likely seek to allay the many concerns of museum supporters. Critics have said the hotel could threaten the foundation of the museum, and that its size would diminish the historic qualities of the 180-year-old building.
Andrew Carmellini is aiming to open his lounge in the mezzanine of the refurbished Public Theater in time for a star-studded ribbon-cutting on Oct. 4, a spokesperson for the chef has confirmed. Fans of Locanda Verde and The Dutch – and, for that matter, of Joe’s Pub, which Mr. Carmellini’s partner Josh Pickard helped launch – can hope for The Library to open in the first week of October, barring construction delays. Meanwhile the French restaurant that Mr. Carmellini, Mr. Pickard and Luke Ostrom are opening at 380 Lafayette Street by the end of the year is still without a name, said the spokesperson.
Scott LynchGood morning, East Village.
The New York Post reports that Carlisle Brigham may have died from a slip down the stairs. “There was so much blood around Brigham’s neck when her body was found at 10:33 a.m. that investigators initially theorized she’d been slashed. But they later said it appeared to be just a tragic accident, during which she shattered her chin on a step of the first-floor stairwell in the building.” Former mayor Ed Koch called the victim “a wonderful young woman.”
The Post also reports that the woman killed yesterday by a flatbed truck turning onto Sixth Avenue is named Jessica Dworkin, and that she was known around the neighborhood as “the Scooter Lady.”
Guest of a Guest has a street styles gallery of “The Pretty and the Gritty in Alphabet City.” Read more…
A Facebook page set up in Star the pit bull’s honor features photos of the pooch before she was shot by a police officer in the middle of 14th Street. The photos show the dog lounging on the street with humans and other mutts, and in one photo checking out a rat. The Facebook page also includes chatter about Star going into surgery tomorrow, possibly to have an eye removed. A spokesman for Animal Care and Control did not respond to a question regarding further treatment for the dog. Meanwhile, The Daily News reports that the dog is “recovering at lightning speed.”
The New York TimesThe police have identified the woman who died from a cut across the neck this morning as Carlisle Brigham.
The Wall Street Journal cites a police source who said the victim was estranged from her husband.
Her roommate at 191 Orchard Street, where she was found in partial cardiac arrest, told investigators he spoke with her this morning and she sounded “distraught,” according to the paper.
The Lo-Down reports that the victim’s husband or boyfriend is currently being interview by investigators.
Last year, The Times published a wedding announcement regarding Carlisle Vose Brigham and Anthony Lindley Champalimaud. It noted that Ms. Brigham’s father was the chairman of an investment bank in St. Louis, and that he served as president of the New York City Public Development Corporation and the city budget director in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mr. Champalimaud was a vice president for a Malaysian hotel conglomerate.
Update | 9 a.m. According to The Times and The Post, Ms. Brigham’s death may have been the result of a fall. The investigation is ongoing, but the headline of this post has been changed in light of the fact that the police do not currently believe there was a slashing involved.
Daniel Maurer Lobster Joint’s Rockaway location.Here’s more evidence of the East Village-Rockaway and the East Village-Greenpoint-Williamsburg dining continuums – oh, and a Lower East Side oyster trend.
Lobster Joint, which opened in Greenpoint last year and set up a concession stand in Rockaway Beach this summer, wants to sink its claws into the home of French bistro Lina Frey on East Houston Street.
Yesterday afternoon the seafood spot’s owner, lifelong Greenpointer Thomas Chabrowshi, chased local residents through a sea of tourists standing in front of Katz’s. He was looking for their support in the transfer of a liquor license at 201 East Houston Street, near Ludlow Street. Read more…
A flatbed truck struck and killed a 58-year-old woman crossing West Houston Street on a scooter this morning.
The police said that the victim was run over by the rear wheels of the trailer as it turned onto Sixth Avenue around 8:50 a.m. She was dragged to Minetta Lane before witnesses alerted the truck driver to the horrific accident. “There were a dozen people running up the street screaming and telling him to stop,” one witness told The Daily News.
The latest accident only reinforced the perception that Houston Street is one of the most deadliest thoroughfares in the city.
“Of course today’s tragedy is unique and we don’t know if any of these critical improvements would have prevented it. But we must do everything in our power to prevent the next one,” State Senator Daniel Squadron wrote in a statement, pointing to a bill that would strengthen penalties against reckless drivers, as well as recent safety improvements to Delancey Street.
Stephen Rex Brown A distraught man was interviewed by police at 191 Orchard Street.A 29-year-old woman was slashed across the neck and died this morning.
A police spokeswoman confirmed that the victim was declared dead at Beth Israel Hospital about 10 minutes ago. She was found around 10:33 a.m. “heavily bleeding” from the neck and in partial cardiac arrest inside of 191 Orchard Street near East Houston Street.
Further details regarding how she died or if there are any suspects were not immediately available. A distraught man, pictured above, was seen speaking at length to investigators a half-hour after the incident.
Update | 12:52 p.m. A resident of the building who did not wish to be identified came upon the victim moments after a neighbor attempted to revive her in the hallway. “It was a big mess. There was blood everywhere,” the resident said.
According to the resident, a medic said the victim’s injuries were not consistent with a fall down the stairs, as some initially suspected. “She had compound fractures in her arm and she was cut,” the resident said. The victim, who was wearing acid-wash blue jeans, had a Missouri drivers license in her wallet, which also still contained money, credit cards and an iPhone.
“She did not look like she was homeless or a hooker,” the resident said. “She had too many accouterments of the average American young person in her 20s: An iPhone and wallet full of plastic.”
The longtime resident added that it was unlikely the victim lived in the building.
“It’s pretty upsetting. I almost threw up.”
Update | 5:20 p.m. Lower East Side Slashing Victim Identified
Soon after 90s post-hardcore band Quicksand took the stage Friday night for its first hometown show in about 15 years, a half-dozen beers had flown into the air. Bowery Ballroom had never felt so full: virtually the entire audience consisted of men in their 30s and 40s, weighing over 200 pounds.
The mix of metalheads and current and former hardcore guys might have looked like a recipe for the sort of beef that erupted between current and former members of the Cro-Mags at the CBGB Festival last month. But the opening bass notes of “Omission” brought on 90 minutes of rapture. From the balcony to the mosh pit, the entire ballroom pulsed and popped as fans yelled and sang along, arms in the air. They were celebrating the return of a band that broke up in its prime in the late 90s, after touring with acts like Helmet and Rage Against the Machine but never achieving similar breakout success.
After a surprise reunion last month in California, Quicksand had announced two shows: one at Bowery Ballroom and another the next night at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Both sold out in minutes. Rumors of a full reunion came after an appearance on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” this week. Read more…
Joann Jovinelly At the flea market on East 11th Street, which will soon close.Good morning, East Village.
The Daily Beast chatted with protestors camping out in Tampa, Florida in anticipation of the Republican National Convention, and guess who was working the media tent in Romneyville? John Penley, the “longtime East Village anarchist activist.” He tells the Web site that roughly 600 protesters from New York will join rallies against the Republican agenda.
The New Yorker notes that Nublu will celebrate its 10-year anniversary at Le Poisson Rouge on September 13. That means for one night only, cocktail service is back!
The Times gives props to Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble’s performance of the opera “Dialogues des Carmélites,” performed at East 13th Street Theater. “The singers in the Dell’Arte performance, directed with eloquent simplicity by Victoria Crutchfield on a set consisting of little more than some chairs, were largely up to the task, singing with force and musicality and acting with unexaggerated sobriety.” Read more…
A man robbed the Chase bank on Second Avenue near 10th Street this afternoon.
Around 1 p.m., a man passed a teller a note demanding money and then fled with an unknown amount, according to the police.
The suspect, who wore sunglasses and black and yellow sneakers, was said to be about five-foot-eight with a medium build.
It’s the first bank robbery in the neighborhood since the Emigrant Savings Bank, just a few blocks away, was held up in June.
Courtesy Animal Care and Control of NYCThe pit bull that was shot on 14th Street has been turned over to the city after her owner failed to fetch her, and The Local has obtained the first photos of Star since she was shot while charging a police officer on Aug. 13.
Richard Gentles, a spokesperson for city Animal Care & Control, said Star’s owner failed to claim her by a deadline of 8 p.m. yesterday, at which point she was released to the agency. Once she leaves the care center in East Harlem where she’s been recovering, she’ll be turned over to the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City’s Animals, a coalition of non-profit animal shelters and rescue groups aimed at insuring that animals are adopted rather than killed in city shelters.
Mr. Gentles said his agency had arranged for what had come to $10,000 in medical treatment, most of which will be paid for by donations. He said Star was still resting and not ready for visitors, but – as with three previous status updates – her condition is improving.
See another photo…
Smoke gushing from a manhole at Broadway and 17th Street rattled commuters in Union Square this evening.
“A big boom and black smoke at the NE corner of 17th and Broadway,” tweeted the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. “It was NOT our truck blowing up. What’s going on?”
Others tweeted about an explosion, but a ConEd spokesperson said there was no explosion when the manhole started smoking at 5:30 p.m. He said there were no injuries or power outages as a result of the smoke, the cause of which is currently under investigation.
A fire department spokesperson said the smoke was quickly brought under control.
The event unnerved some already shaken up by this morning’s shooting near the Empire State Building. More photos…
Before it’s time to pack up those summer whites, enjoy the fine arts along with some fine weather this weekend.
Saturday and Sunday: FringeAL FRESCO
East Fourth Street between Bowery and Second Avenue, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The Fringe Fest comes to a close this weekend, but not before two more days of free outdoor entertainment on Fourth Arts Block. At 1 p.m. each day, watch “Jack and the Corporate Beanstalk,” an interactive play by the Occupy Wall Street Puppetry Guild. The free theater goes into the evening, with the block’s restaurants pulling their tables into the street for al fresco dining.
Saturday and Sunday: “Jason and the Argonauts: Tales from the Argonautica”
East River Park Bandshell, between Cherry and Jackson Streets, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
This adaptation of the “Argonautica,” the Greek epic poem in which protagonist Jason searches for the “Golden Fleece” and falls in love with the sorceress Medea, will likely be a trip. The Faux-Real Theater Company promises “bouzoukis (Greek guitars), drummers, platform shoes, and a chariot full of masks and flashy costumes far from the white togas we’ve come to expect from ‘the classics’ of the past.” Read more…
Courtesy of Glaze Paul Krug wanted to open a Seattle-style teriyaki joint in the East Village, where he had lived for most of his ten years in New York. But the Emerald City native couldn’t find the perfect lease, so he settled in midtown instead. Two years later, he’s finally giving it a go just below 14th Street.
The second outpost of Glaze Teriyaki Grill opened today at 139 Fourth Avenue – right next to another narrow takeout joint, Dos Toros – in a building where Mr. Krug once lived (he’s now a couple of minutes away).
“We never intended to go to midtown first. We always wanted to go down here,” said the restaurateur.
Take a look inside
Police officers climbed a fire escape on East 12th Street today to calm a man who had been causing a disturbance.
A resident of the block between Avenues A and B, who did not want to identify herself, witnessed the commotion. “I came out and saw a man who seemed to be agitated on the top floor hanging out his window, yelling down to the cops,” she said. “The cops didn’t seem too concerned about it, but apparently he didn’t want to let them into his apartment so they had to go up the fire escape.”
As police officers climbed to the top floor of 513 East 12th Street, the man locked the window; after a few minutes, they talked the man into opening it and letting them in. Read more…
They’re everywhere! Days after Mary Kate-Olsen was spotted on East 10th Street, Miley Cyrus caused a stir yesterday by debuting a punky new look on the streets of the “gritty East Village.” Someone (Iggy Pop, maybe?) might want to tell Just Jared and Gossip Girls that the name of the St. Marks Place store where she shopped is Search & Destroy, not “Search & Search.” At least Britain’s Daily Mail seems to be up on its East Village, which it says was “known before Miley’s birth as being the centre for counterculture in New York and, arguably, the birthplace of punk rock. Since then, the city has cleaned up, (for good or for worse, depending on who you ask) with blocks of trendy boutiques and galleries popping up that could keep even the most fashion-conscious star busy for hours.”
If you thought three days of “Eleanor Rigby” have been a parking hassle, wait till N.Y.U.’s freshman class moves in this Sunday.
But wait! If you live in the shaded area above, which includes the East Village from Second Avenue eastward, the school will reimburse you for a 24-hour stay in a parking garage. Ikea’d you not!
The school’s announcement, intended to “help alleviate potential difficulties,” invites non-students who park in a garage this Saturday night or Sunday to bring a receipt and proof of residency to its Office of Government and Community Affairs, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more details, contact the office at (212) 998-2400.
Daniel Maurer Good morning, East Village.
As you can see above, Joey Pepperoni’s Pizza has opened at 222 First Avenue, between 13th and 14th Streets.
Is it possible that the steamiest establishment on 10th Street isn’t the Russian-Turkish baths? Renee Linnell, an investor in Body Evolutions, has filed what the Post calls a “blockbuster” lawsuit against the workout studio’s founder (and her former romantic partner) Billy Macagnoner, claiming that he drove away clients by “improperly abusing his position as a teacher and authorized Gyrotonic master trainer to seduce and sleep with both trainers and clients — serially and simultaneously.”
Curbed presents four alternatives to the SPURA plan that got the City Planning Commission’s stamp of approval this week. One proposal envisions ski slopes above big-box retailers. Read more…
Melvin Felix The scene of the shooting.Readers as far away as Argentina, South Africa, Los Angeles, and Texas have been asking for updates about Star the pit bull. Here’s the latest: ten days after she was shot by a police officer on 14th Street, Star is doing “fairly well,” according to a spokesman for city Animal Care and Control.
“She is eating and moving around more,” the spokesman told The Local, adding that the organization is accepting donations to help with the pit bull’s care.
Meanwhile readers of The Local are debating whether pit bulls are dangerous animals. A commenter named Mike said his previous dog died after being attacked by one. “The Pit got away from his owner who was attempting to walk three pit bulls at the same time,” Mike wrote. “He could not help get his animal off of my friend Abby, a beautiful yellow lab. If I had a gun that day I would have shot that animal and saved Abby’s life.”
Penny Brumfield disagreed, saying that pit bulls are lovable and loyal dogs. “Because of the media and t[h]ugs the pit bull has got a bad name,” she said. “If you remove every pit, there would still be another breed to take its place.”
Mary Robbins said it could’ve happened with any other dog: “Any breed of dog, that sees their owner being kicked, or any other kind of abuse would get very defensive and that is what had happened here.”
