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May 2009
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15 Seconds – What I Love About the Lower East Side


Living Legend Judith Malina, from The Living Theatre on why she loves the LES.

Posted by Traven Rice

Birthday Cheese Sale

Anne Saxelby, who runs the tiny but inspired cheese shop at the Essex Market, celebrates three years in business tomorrow. To celebrate, Saxelby Cheesmongers is offering a one-day deal. Buy three cheeses and the third one is 30-percent off. You can read more on Anne's blog. 

Monday News Links

According a New York Post "source" State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is weighing the idea of delaying some of the MTA's capital projects until the economy improves.

Speaking of Shelly, he provided a grant to make possible the Alliance for Downtown's free bike program. You can borrow a set of wheels for 2.5 hours – free.

City Council members Gerson and Liu host a Lower East Side "transportation issues" Town Hall tonight at P.S. 134 at 630pm. See the details here.

Daniel Boulud's new restaurant on the Bowery will be a "little french, a little American." New York Magazine details the menu.

Some people in Chinatown felt Nic Cage and the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" crew overstayed their welcome on Eldridge Street. Now he's moved on to terrorizing Midtown. Last night in Times Square, a chase scene went awry, a ferrari jumped a sidewalk on 7th Avenue and two people were injured before the car took out a Sbarro restaurant.

News Flash: The Lower East Side is Noisy!

WNYC's Soundcheck blog takes a look (and a listen) at the noisiest neighborhoods in the city. It won't come as a big surprise that this is a category in which the Lower East Side and Chinatown excel. After Washington Heights/Inwood, we live in the neighborhood with the most noise — more than 7-thousand complainsts since the middle of 2008. The LES/Chinatown is the top district for noise complaints from bars, restaurants and clubs. You can see the complete list here.

More Details: New Grand Street Restaurant

Yesterday we told you about the new restaurant planned for 365 Grand Street, the old "Isabella's" location. This morning Jesse Hartman confirmed he's going before Community Board 3's licensing committee on May 11 to ask for permission to serve alcohol. Hartman is a musician and filmmaker, who along with his brother, Phil, operated "Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction" on Avenue A until it closed a couple of years ago. Phil Hartman runs the "Two Boots" pizza restaurants.

The restaurant will feature an Italian small plates concept. Since the indoor space is very small, he'll make full use of an outdoor area in the back, adjacent to the Seward Park handball courts. Hartman says he plans to enclose the garden so it can be used all year and to cut down on noise.

Hartman and his wife have lived in the neighborhood for 7 years. Since "Mo Pitkin's" closed, he has been working on a film project, "House of Satisfaction."

He's excited about the concept for the restaurant, tentatively called "Grand Park." Unlike several blocks above Delancey (Rivington, Orchard, Ludlow), there are not a lot of dining choices in the immediate area.  Hartman says there are stil a lot of details to work out, including building department issues. But he's hopeful everything will fall into place.

Friday News Links

There are now 49 confirmed cases of the swine flu in New York City. NYC's health commissioner is calling for stepped up efforts to develop a vaccine (NY1).

Juan Gonzalez says small businesses in Chinatown are being exploited while the Bloomberg administration ignores their plight. One tenant sub-leasing space in the East Broadway Mall recently had his rent raised to $9600/month from $2000. Gonzalez says the city, as the landlord, needs to step in (Daily News).

As the New York pension scandal widens, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed records involving a lobbyist with ties to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (Daily News).

Curbed updates the progress, or lack thereof, of the development they dubbed the Orchard hell building (Curbed).