SpacesTVA tour of a “micro studio” in the neighborhood, via Gothamist.
The Daily News brings word that operators associated with upscale nightclubs in SoHo, West Chelsea and the Meatpacking District are eyeing the area around East Houston Street. The soon to be vacant spaces at Sutra and Lucky Cheng’s are the most desired locations of the bunch. The prospective tenants have roots in the “Pink Elephant, Greenhouse, Hudson Terrace, Acme, 1Oak and Electric Room,” according to the paper. And a real estate agent reiterates what The Local has reported for months: that the the up-scaling of the Bowery has opened the flood gates to higher-end clubs further east.
Mark Connell, last seen in The Local coping with his landlord, has plans for an upscale establishment in the former NoLita House. Bowery Boogie, reporting now on a Community Board 2 meeting last month, says that Mr. Connell was stymied by the board due to concern that the revelers in his bar, Botanica, would mix with customers in the new establishment.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the thriving tattoo scene in Williambsurg, “the neighborhood that lured tattoo shops from Manhattan’s higher-rent ink havens like the Lower East Side and East Village” a decade ago. Not all of them have beenlured away, though. Read more…
A cyclist was hit by a cab after running a red light at East Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m., witnesses said.
The cyclist was traveling west-bound on East Ninth Street, went through a red light and then managed to avoid one cab before being nailed by a second, Katarina Kojic said. “Luckily, I don’t think he hit his head,” she said.
The victim was treated by Fire Department medics and put in an ambulance.
“He came across. There was too much traffic, I didn’t see him,” said the cabbie, Hardyale Singh. “I hit the bike, not him. It wasn’t my fault.”
This is the second accident at that intersection that The Local has recently stumbled upon. In June a pregnant cyclist was hit by a cabbie at the very same spot. Read more…
Melvin FelixNicoletta got handed lemons and is
making lemonade.
Michael White has yet to respond to theharshreviews of Nicoletta that have been the talk of the food world (and the cat world) for the past 24 hours. The star chef was unavailable for comment when we tried him yesterday, though he has now retweeted a few messages from supporters, including this one: “@pete_wells A bitter note seeped into your review. Ambitious owners? Long lines? Well-designed tables? Thick crust? Fine by me.”
It remains to be seen what, if anything, Mr. White will say for himself. But looking at how East Village restaurateurs have responded to criticism in the past, it’s clear he has some options.
1. Respond in the comments
In March, Tompkins Square Bagels owner Christopher Pugliese replied to a none-too-positive assessment of his “bagel burger” special by saying the joke was on the reviewer, Josh Ozersky: “I probably put more thought into what color chalk to use on the special board than to that burger,” he wrote in the comments. During the ensuing exchange with Mr. Ozersky, the bagelsmith conceded, “I should not have responded so strongly because this fellow Josh was just doing his job,” going on to explain, “I am very passionate about my bagels. To call them light, airy confections and poke fun at my clientele, got me riled up.” Read more…
A market and deli is coming to the space where vegetarian standby Kate’s Joint closed in April.
Marcelino Castillo, a manager at Gracefully, told The Local that his store at 58 Avenue B will be called Vella Market and will sell organic fruits, vegetables, and juices, as well as a full deli menu with sandwiches. It should open by October.
“It’s going to be all-natural,” Mr. Castillo said, indicating that Vella will be similar to the Gracefully store on Avenue A, between Second and Third Streets, and its sister location adjacent Stuyvesant Town. Read more…
What’s more shocking than Michael White’s new pizzeria Nicoletta getting zero stars from The Times? How about 2 Bros. Pizza breaking the dollar barrier?
This week, the celebrated dollar-slice joint unveiled a larger, cheesier “supreme” slice at its 36 St. Marks Place location, where the owners of the original location a few doors down previously experimented with cut-rate Neapolitan pies. The new slice, which goes for a whopping $1.50 after tax, still has the straight-out-of-the-oven taste that draws in the late-night crowds (others, like New York magazine’s Adam Platt, aren’t such big fans.)
If that extra 50 cents is going to break the bank, relax: you can still get the dollar slice at the original location at 32 St. Marks.
The Times‘ Pete Wells paid a few visits to chef Michael White’s new pizza spot, Nicoletta, and came away unimpressed, to say the least. The critic gave the restaurant zero stars. “Warmed up a day or two later, a Nicoletta crust is just as stiff and bland as when it was fresh from the oven,” he writes. As for the toppings: “The pies are overburdened conglomerations of cheese, flour and fistfuls of other stuff; in the end, the elements cancel one another out.” Jay Cheshes of a Timeout filed a similarly negative review, though he at least doled out a couple of stars.
Off The Grid explains the historical link between the tenements at 517-519 East 11th Street and the Eldridge Street Synagogue. The buildings were built by the same architects only one year apart, and share numerous aesthetic flourishes.
This is no way to start off a relationship with Community Board 3. Two weeks before it is scheduled to appear before the board, the bar in the former Lakeside Lounge space will open Thursday night for a three-day bash, according to Bowery Boogie. Most importantly: open bar from 9 to 10 p.m.
The Village Voice provides a helpful reminder that Trojan condoms will be giving out 10,000 free vibrators today and tomorrow in the Meatpacking District and on Third Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets. Read more…
In light of this week’s news that Big City Records will close, it seems especially important to appreciate the East Village’s record stores. In the latest installment of What’s That You’re Playing?, Michael Stasiak tells us what’s on the system at Other Music.
Last week, Community Board 3 approved 19 pages worth of funding requests that it hopes will eventually win the support of the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg.
The document is an important one. “The district needs statement kicks off the city’s budget process,” board member David Crane told The Local.
Outlining priorities in the areas of education, nightlife enforcement, housing, and public health, the sprawling call to action now goes to the Office of City Planning, which distributes relevant sections to the appropriate agencies. From there, dialogue and negotiations between the board and the city begin, culminating in a more boiled-down statement of budget requests submitted to the city in October.
City Council Speaker Rosie Mendez said district needs statements, and community boards in general, play a “significant role” in the formation of each year’s budget. “Past district needs statements have been the basis for a number expense and capital grants as well as collaborative programs,” she said.
The statement doesn’t change much from year to year, but this year the board added language to the Housing and Land Use section that trumpets a need to “slow the growth of gentrification and to ensure that long-term residents can remain in decent affordable housing.” Read more…
A man sexually assaulted a woman on a rooftop near Clinton Street in the Lower East Side on August 3, the police said. The pair entered the building together at 2:50 a.m. and then the suspect, who is said to be 5-foot-5 and in his early 20s, assaulted the victim and fled. Just yesterday, the Manhattan District Attorney announced the conviction of a 39-year-old man who was linked to a sexual assault in the East Village in 2008 thanks to a state DNA database.
The Architects Newspaper sits down with Adam Lubinsky, a managing partner of WXY Architecture + Urban Design who is charged with designing the East River Blueway. It’s no easy task. Aside from overcoming the barrier of FDR Drive, there’s the “ADA-inaccessible overpasses; narrow, collision-inducing bike lanes; and combined sewage overflows [that] have also been identified as key issues.” And then there’s just the simple fact that a lot of people don’t look toward the river for recreation: “The challenge is to get residents to turn around, to realize the river is there,” Mr. Lubinsky said.
The Lo-Down reports that landlord Ben Shaoul now must submit a detailed timeline about replacement of a staircase in his building at 435 East 12th Street, following complaints by a resident who was at one point literally stranded in her apartment. “After the plan for each day has been approved, residents must be notified by certified mail when the work will be done, so that they can make arrangements to be away from their apartments,” the site reports. Typically, developers do not face such a high level of supervision.
Gothamist notes that Cake Shop has accomplished its fundraising goal, and will stay put on Ludlow Street. Read more…
Dan GlassKirk-Jones Quintet at University of the Streets
The boycott of University of the Streets is over, a group of musicians announced in a statement posted by Brooklyn Vegan today. But it’s not necessarily back to business as usual for the jazz venue: its director, Saadia Salahuddeen, said it would likely head in a new musical direction in the coming months to help pay the bills.
“I’ve always supported the musicians that can’t get paying gigs, who are more improvisational, experimental, and given them a place to play,” Ms. Salahuddeen told The Local. Moving forward, she said, “We will service another community of musicians, change our focus to another group that needs attention.”
That shift is a result of ongoing financial pressures on the nonprofit performance space and a result of the negotiations between University and a coalition of musicians represented by the Local 802 union. As part of the agreement that brought the boycott to a close, the venue will end its “pay-to-play” policy, which required bands to pay a fee if too few paying customers came to see their show. Read more…
Mohammed Rahman, the Bangladeshi man clocked in the face and threatened by a pair of troublemakers, was back at work today at Astor Place serving lamb gyros, chicken over rice and the like. So, did the police get that guy who threw the punch? “It’s foolishness,” Mr. Rahman said. “I told the police, ‘He’s right there!’ One block away. They’re slow. They said call 911 if he comes back.” Since the incident on Thursday, which was followed by a threat to burn his food cart to the ground, Mr. Rahman has seen his attacker around. Fortunately, it seemed the man had cooled off.
A 2008 cold case involving an East Village woman sexually assaulted in her apartment resulted in the conviction of a man already behind bars for a similar attack, the Manhattan District Attorney announced today.
George Poirier, 39, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually motivated burglary and sexual abuse in the first degree. In April of 2008 the 28-year-old victim was entering her apartment on East Seventh Street near Avenue B when the Bronx resident pushed her inside, locked the door, and sexually assaulted her. During the attack the victim bit Mr. Poirier’s arm, drawing blood that was subsequently entered into a state DNA database. At the time, the DNA did not yield any matches, and the case went dormant.
But one year later Mr. Poirier’s DNA was entered into the database as part of his conviction for a charge of sexual abuse tied to a string of groping attacks on four different women on a single day in May, according to a criminal complaint. He was then tied to the 2008 attack. Read more…
The designer who outfitted Chloë Sevigny’s apartment as well as her brother’s club, the Beatrice Inn, is moving to bigger digs in the East Village.
According to a Craigslist posting, David Cafiero’s art gallery and home goods store, Cafiero Select, will soon vacate its East Sixth Street location near Cooper Square. The post advertises two side-by-side storefronts, each “325 square feet with painted exposed brick walls and 11′ ceilings”: one is going for $2,800 per month and the other for $2,750.
It won’t be part of the wave of furniture-shop closings in recent months. Mr. Cafiero said the store was moving to a bigger, better space in the neighborhood. He declined to go into detail.
“I want to smoke food, cure food, and be in a place where I can do whatever I want,” said chef Will Horowitz, whose new eclectic barbecue joint Ducks Eatery will officially open early next month.
Judging by the limited menu (the restaurant is still in soft opening mode) and smoky, spicy cocktails, Mr. Horowitz is indeed having fun. A spicy beef jerky is made with squid sauce; cherrystone clams are served with smoked ham, kaffir granita, currants, and cilantro; crispy pig ears come in a lettuce wrap. The spicy trail mix includes bacon and Cocoa Krispies.
The star of the show, of course, is the smoked brisket with apricot and fish sauce.
Mr. Horowitz plans to continue changing up the menu, and mentioned goat feet curry soup and yakamein, a New Orleans noodle soup. Read more…
Saturday and Sunday, bands and neighborhood activists, including local legend David Peel, took to the park to commemorate the 1988 Tompkins Square riot (not to be confused with the May Day riot of 1990). The Local’s cameras rolled as slamdancing and calls of “Die yuppie scum!” ensued.
Among those clubbed by police officers during the curfew and gentrification protest of Aug. 6, 1988 was New York Times photographer Angel Franco. Funny that: 24 years later, a headline in today’s paper reads: “Times Photographer Is Arrested on Assignment.”
Another one bites the dust. WNYC reports that Big City Records NYC on East 12th Street will close at the end of the month due to rising rent. Owner Jared Boxx told the blog that he’d cultivated a diverse clientele looking for old jazz, Latin music and hip hop, and counted Q-Tip and Dr. Dre among his customers. The news follows the recent closings of Rockit Scientist Records. Bleecker Bob’s and Norman’s Sound & Vision are expected to depart its current location soon.
DNAInfo chatted up Grace Weaver, a vegan who sings the praises of the dietary restriction as she walks her dogs around East First Street. “Vegans have better sex, better health, cleaner conscience,” she sings in her original ditty. And if that doesn’t get through, she passes out flyers, too. (Perhaps she should get her commitment to veganism immortalized with a vegan tattoo from White Rabbit.)
Speaking of a meatless lifestyle, The Wall Street Journal gives a shout-out to the brunch at Caravan of Dreams. The vegan restaurant on East Sixth Street that has been avoiding delicious steaks since 1991. Read more…
Timothy DavisConstruction work at Paulaner Brauhaus.
High levels of lead have been found in dust that shot up from the incoming Paulaner Brauhaus and blanketed an upstairs apartment, displacing a family of seven and causing the city to issue a stop work order.
The dust-up occurred last Wednesday at 265-267 Bowery, where the brewhouse and beer hall is being built on the ground floor. On June 25, ceiling work sent a plume of dust through the floorboards of a second-floor loft, forcing its residents to seek shelter elsewhere while testing for toxic materials was conducted.
Today, a health department representative said the levels of lead found in parts of the apartment were six times what the Environmental Protection Agency finds acceptable. According to the testing company’s report (posted below), the highest concentrations were found in the living room, where Mr. Davis said the children’s books and toys are kept.
Blood work taken from at least one of the five children is still out at the lab. Read more…
At Forbidden Planet’s new location, which opened last Tuesday, the shelves still overflow with comic books, graphic novels, and action figures – but according to manager Jeff Ayers, there’s one big difference from the old store at the corner of Broadway and 12th Street. “It’s not a cave,” he said, pointing at windows in the front and a skylight in the back. “There’s a sense of actually being able to breathe.”
The new location at 832 Broadway is the store’s third on the block south of Union Square where it first opened in 1981. For those who remember sky-high shelves and bumping into other customers in the aisles, the 40 percent increase in space will likely be a shock to the system.
“F.P. has always had that cool, grimy — not dirty… but that reputation of being jam-packed,” Mr. Ayers said. “We want it to be the same, and a little classier.” The store’s most recent Yelp reviewer appreciated the upgrades, writing, “So much more room and THE A/C WORKS!!!” Read more…
Continuing story. Efforts to reduce the resident rat population haven’t helped. The local hawks grow fat on unpoisoned rats, but kids and caretakers in the Avenue A playground and the garden alongside the E.10th Street pool must share the playspace with fat and happy rats. Anyone can see that the baited boxes are too few to dent the population. Why can’t these rodents be gassed?
Have rats returned to the park, like at Rat Alley? Volunteer to be our rat-porter at the Open Assignments page (filter posts by “Pitch” to see the submission above). Add photos to our Flickr pool. E-mail us your most hair-raising video footage.
The Local was a journalistic collaboration designed to reflect the richness of the East Village, report on its issues and concerns, give voice to its people and create a space for our neighbors to tell stories about themselves. It was operated by the students and faculty of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, in collaboration with The New York Times, which provides supervision to ensure that the blog remains impartial, reporting-based, thorough and rooted in Times standards. Read more »
