May 26th, 2009
The new American Girl doll, Rebecca Rubin, will debut on Sunday morning (9am) at the company's retail store on 5th Avenue and 49th Street. If you haven't been following the hoopla, Rebecca is the newest historical character from the Wisconsin Company (bought out by Mattel) with a huge following among, as the New York Times put it "the female 7-12 year old set."
She's 9 years old, living on the Lower East Side in 1914. Rebecca will retail for $95. The author of a series of accompanying biographical books about Rebecca, Jacqueline Dembar Greene, will be on hand at the store Sunday afternoon (330-530pm) for the big event. Then on June 7, there will be a special lunch at the store to "meet" Rebecca, followed by a trip downtown to tour the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. There are similar events on June 29th and August 10th. Tickets are $75 per person, enough to make Rebecca's Russian immigrant family plotz! More info on American Girl's web site.
May 26th, 2009
The Manhattan brokerage firm, "The Real Estate Group," is out with its May rental market report. "It's clear to us consumer demand is back" for New York City apartments," the report declares. But there's this caveat:
"…our consumer base is not as optimistic as the demand numbers indicate.
Many potential renters have told us that the issues with securing
employment in Manhattan have not subsided and while many new grads are
looking for housing in the city, a great deal of them are doing so
without employment or with start dates that have been pushed back."
Prices of Lower East Side studios are up about 9% since April. Doorman one bedrooms increased 3.72% in the neighborhood. Non-doorman 2 bedrooms were up about the same amount. The mean price for a non-doorman one-bedroom in the LES in May was $2433. You can see the full report here.
May 26th, 2009
Who says nothing good ever came from Twitter? From Roni Sue of Roni Sue's Chocolates in the Essex Market:
roni_sue Sample something sweet today! Pina Colada and Pomegranate truffles, Buttercrunch, and of course Pig Candy on request!
And over at Saxelby Cheesemongers (also in the Essex Market), their blog has some suggestions for summer snacking. Ann Saxelby says leave the oven off, pick up some "luscious, creamy" burrata and toss it with a green salad. Or how about Salvatore Brooklyn's smokey ricotta, which is "hung in a cheesecloth, smoked over cherry wood, and somehow comes out tasting like a toasted marshmallow."
May 26th, 2009
It'll be all Sotomayor all the time online and over the airwaves today. Sonia Sotomayor, a New York federal appellate judge, is President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court. She grew up in a Bronx Housing Project in the shadow of Yankee Stadium. Her family came to this country from Puerto Rico. See more about her life story here, here, here and here.
The Tenement Museum blogs about Streit's Matzo, a Lower East Side institution, which has been on the verge of moving from its Rivington Street headquarters for at least the past two years. The company has had a tough time finding a buyer for the 47,500 square foot building.
Serious Eats gives us a pictorial tour of the locally grown and produced foods being offered at the old Fulton Market Fridays and Saturdays through the summer.
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