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News
July 20, 2011, 10:00 am

The Day | Wilting Weather

By JOSHUA DAVIS
The Blurry womenMichael Lefkovits

Good morning, East Village.

Yesterday was hot, but today and the rest of the week will be hotter. Cooling stations are open in the East Village today, as the heat index is expected to exceed 95 degrees. The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch, and temperatures as high as 100 degrees are expected by Friday. You can find a local cooling center here or by calling 311.

One fun way to ride out the heat wave is with a cup of flavored, shaved ice, also known as a piragua. Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York offers an Alphabet City tour of where to get a piragua, which gets its name from the Spanish words for pyramid, pirámide, and water, agua.

As one fast food spot moves out, a new one moves in to the neighborhood. EV Grieve reports that the new Subway on Avenue B is open for business, while the Nathan’s-Pizza Hut-Arthur Treacher’s combo, according to a Grieve reader tip, is being transformed into a casual Italian restaurant from the folks behind the uptown restaurant Destino.

And in case you missed it, The Local’s Ian Duncan reports on Google Offers, a new deal site that started in the East Village last week.

Business
July 19, 2011, 2:00 pm

A New Daily Deal Site Lands

By IAN DUNCAN
Outside Crif DogsIan Duncan Crif Dogs was the second downtown business to try Google Offers, a new daily deal site

Last week tech giant Google rolled out its daily deal service in New York, launching with two East Village businesses: Pommes Frites and Crif Dogs.

Twitter user @jamiedurante summed up the pairing neatly: “LOL @ yesterday and today’s google offers. It’s like they KNOW us!! #eastvillage #eats #options #fat”

Despite the less-than-healthy picks, Google’s entry into this fast-growing business could be significant as it can bring search, e-mail and its new social network Google+ to bear on consumers. It had been trialing its Google Offers service in Portland, Ore., expanding the test run last week to New York and the San Francisco Bay area.

Like some other neighborhood business owners, Brian Shebairo, owner of Crif Dogs, said he had been unconvinced by other deal sites. “I kind of turned my nose up at these deals,” he said. “The reason I did it with them is because they’re Google.”

Mr. Shebairo explained that he thinks Google has the size to make the daily deal idea successful. He added that the company created a marketing campaign for the hot dog restaurant and gave his staff Android cell phones to scan offer barcodes.

The site works along the same model as Groupon and Living Social. Users sign up to receive a daily e-mail offering a coupon for discounted goods or services. When the coupons are purchased Google sends money to the business up front and customers use them to pay in the store. Last Thursday, 1,035 coupons for Crif Dogs were sold through the site. On Wednesday, the launch, 1,198 were sold for Pommes Frites.

Google Offers Tag at Crif DogsIan Duncan A Google Offers tag at Crif Dogs.

Google takes a cut of each offer it sells. For example, the $5 Crif Dogs offer was good for $10 of food at the store. Google keeps half, with the rest going to the restaurant.

At Pommes Frites, staff members were tight-lipped about the offer. Manager Ivan Roque said he could not discuss the terms of the deal and owner Omer Shorshi did not respond to e-mail messages requesting comment.