The Fourth Arts Block and the LES Business Improvement District are joining forces for the first ever "Pride Goes East" celebration. The two organizations are sponsoring a week full of free entertainment events, nightlife specials, restaurant deals and shopping discounts that stretch across the East Village and the Lower East Side (click here for more info). The kickoff event is this coming Sunday from 4-6 pm on Orchard Street, between Houston and Stanton. The emcee is Allen Roskoff, a veteran gay activist who co-authored the nation's first gay rights bill. A number of elected officials have been invited to attend, including City Councilman Alan Gerson.
Pride Goes East, is an effort to expand New York's Gay Pride celebration beyond the West Village. Sunday's event will also feature special musical performances and an appearance by the popular drag queen, "Ms. Sarah Palin." According to Roberto Ragone, executive director of the Lower East Side BID and Tamara Greenfield, executive director of Fourth Arts Block, their collaboration is meant to show that Houston Street is not an imaginary barrier separating two neighborhoods. They point out that, historically, the entire area was thought of as the Lower East Side — and that today they still have a certain kinship. We'll have more about that next week.
Despite the fact that the city faces a $5 billion loss in revenues and has decided to layoff 2-thousand employees, the City Council has not reduced pork barrel spending one cent. Next year's budget includes more than $48 million in "discretionary spending." Most of this money goes to worthy non-profits, but a lot of people see the "discretionary" pot as a political slush fund – and it's been plagued by scandal this year. LES Council Member Alan Gerson is not the worst offender. He's in the middle of the pack, with 30 discretionary items. This year's champion: Inez Dickens (149 items). The Council votes on the budget this afternoon.
The city reports that major crimes (such as murder, rape and robbery) declined 9-percent in the public schools in the past year.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn (with Mayor Bloomberg's support), wants to relax certain city regulations to help ease the financial burden's on small businesses. The Daily News likes the idea. So does the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, but not surprisingly, they want to see more steps taken.
Curbed has new details about the hotel ("Stories_NY") going up at 163 Orchard, which may or may not be in compliance with the LES's new zoning rules. The hotel apparently includes a "lot-through outdoor terrace with a bar on the second floor." Make you nervous?
Tomorrow at noon, at the Bowery Poetry Club, "The Bowery: Past, Present & Future." The presentation and discussion is a fundraiser ($6 minimum) for the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors.
Some bicycling advocates were not very happy with comments City Council candidate Margaret Chin made about the Grand Street bike lanes, in her recent interview with the Lo-Down. In responding to a question about Mayor Bloomberg’s transportation policy, she said, in part:
“…That bike lane (between Chrystie and Canal) is the stupidest thing,
that’s what people in the community say. It just created a lot of
congestion. But the city says ‘we think it’s a good idea. We just think
people will get used to it.’ Wait a minute. You can’t just impose that
on a community…”
Bicyclist Liam Quigley posted the following comment:
“The Grand Street Bike lane is a vital part of my commute to my home in the LES as well as to my friends and family. I implore you to try to see the benefit for the community in having
a truly safe network for bicycle commuters, not one that puts them toe
to toe with traffic and huge trucks that are often careless about
cyclists.”
Liam, and apparently other cyclists, contacted Chin’s office for an explanation of her position on the bike lanes. You can see the full post on his blog here. The bottom line: Chin says she’s not “anti-bike,” and she doesn’t oppose the concept of the Grand Street bike lanes – just the execution. She told Liam, “It has added confusion and removed space from an already congested area, and doesn’t work as well as it could.” Chin added, “the creation and usage of the Grand Street bike lane has been, in my opinion, a failure.” She also reiterated the main point she made during our interview: the Department of Transportation must do a better job of taking community feedback seriously.
Some critics of the bike lanes argue the configuration of Grand Street makes it nearly impossible for large emergency vehicles to make turns. In a message to us, Liam said the design is not the problem:
The bike lane… has design considerations for larger vehicles (fire trucks, etc).
There are buffer zones near intersections in the parking lane, where
parking is not allowed to provide better visibilty and allow for
vehicles that need to make wider turns. The problem is, people park here illegally. Crack down on that and trucks can turn somewhat more easily.
A representative for “Transportation Alternatives” said, essentially the same thing to us following the heated “transportation town hall” City Councilman Gerson’s office sponsored on the LES a few weeks ago.
One thing’s for certain: this debate is far from over. Next up in our series of interviews with the candidates running for the District 1 Council race: Pete Gleason. Read what he has to say about the bike lanes Monday.
A few weeks ago we linked to a "Grub Street" item about the departure of chef Gavin Mills from "Broadway East." It turns out Mills was not at all pleased with the way the restaurant's managing partner, Laurie Tomasino, characterized his departure.
“Gavin is a great chef, but he’s at a stage of his career where he
wants to make a mark — say, from a three-star review — but he didn’t
have the experience or business savvy to know there was a serious
disconnect between the food and the scene.” Tomasino says the
restaurant wanted Mills to change the menu more often — “We weren’t
asking him to dumb down the food but to broaden his horizons and bring
new, affordable ideas to the table in an effort to reach the
neighborhood.” She says she’s currently looking for a great chef who’ll
appreciate the venue’s melding of art, music, and food (maybe Don Pasta?).
Then, several days ago, there was this rather strongly worded rebuttal (read it in full here) left in our comments section:
"…that's bs. Broadway East has had 6 chefs, the first of which left
before the restaurant opened… when he put his notice in, he was not asked to leave in
any way, his entire kitchen staff including the assistant manager left
too. Broadway East is a sinking ship that is being run by people who
have absolutely no clue about the restaurant industry."
Turns out, the author was Mills' wife. We contacted Gavin, who's relocated to California, for a fuller explanation. He was fairly circumspect but did not take too kindly to the suggestion that he lacked "experience or business savvy." Mills said he was lured from the highly regarded "Mas Farmhouse," in the West Village, with the promise that he would have the freedom to create a "farm fresh," inventive menu. He was asked to change the menu more than once, and he was open to that. But Mills says he was commited to the idea of "fine dining" and balked at the suggestion from the owners that he serve up "pizzas and banana splits."
We also discussed the restaurant's struggle to balance its status as a hot nightlife destination, while also appealing to people in the neighborhood. Broadway East's owners apparently concluded the food and the prices were too "high end" for, what Mills called, "the deep Lower East Side." He's now searching for a new job in California. He's only been looking for a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, as Grub Street reported, Broadway East continues to look for a new chef. Patricia Yeo (formerly of Sapa and Monkey Bar) is helping out in the interim.
Chef Dennis Ngo with Co-owner Tuan Bui at the banh mi counter inside An Choi on Orchard Street.
Although the Vietnamese restaurant, An Choi (85 Orchard), is new to the 'hood, as of a couple months ago, co-owner Tuan Bui is not a newcomer to the Lower East Side. It's been his neighborhood for almost nine years – he can't imagine living anywhere else. Tuan has watched the LES change during the past decade. There are those big, towering developments, like the Blue Building and the Hotel on Rivington, but he really likes how the community is evolving below Delancey Street.
"People say it's too much gentrification, but I do love the diversity and the history it has. I mean here we have Hassidic Jews, the Chinese, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, professionals, artists, hipsters,
tourists. It's one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York, so I like that this (restaurant) is
something I can contribute, to add to it's diversity".
After 7 years in the finance industry, Tuan took a "sabbatical" and traveled on his own through Vietnam last year. He ate different types of regional food throughout the country and realized he was ready to bring some of his cultural heritage back to the Lower East Side.
Luckily his brother, Huy Bui, who is an architect, was also ready to work on his first solo project. They had noticed a big gap between the "no frills" type of Vietnamese food Chinatown offers and some of the more upscale, high concept Vietnamese restaurants uptown. "We wanted to be something in the middle, to elevate the experience of eating the traditional street food everybody loves but bring it inside to a nice environment." But mostly, Tuan saw a need for an authentic Vietnamese restaurant. "Sometimes when I order in Vietnamese at a Pho restarant in Chinatown, he says with a twinkle in his eye, they don't understand what I'm saying".
Shelly Silver's mayoral control bill passes the Assembly. The Senate? Oh, never mind.
Census officials are facing an uphill battle, trying to count the estimated half million undocumented immigrants in New York. As the Gotham Gazette puts it, many immigrants see participation in the Census as "a murky unknown — a vast question mark, which many fear could lead to a one-way ticket home."
More on the violent feud among rival gangs that has left at least two people dead this week: the brother of Lower East Side rapper "Tru Life" has reportedly been linked to the stabbings of two men outside an apartment building Monday morning.
The Bicycle Film Festival, including an art show known as "Joy Ride," staged in several Lower East Side galleries, is in full swing.
It's worth highlighting a couple of interesting films that will be debuting soon. The first is called, "Excuse Me, Mr. Speaker." Filmmaker Justin Sullivan follows the unlikely journey of Paul Newell, who had the audacity to challenge Sheldon Silver in last year's election. Silver, State Assembly Speaker and Lower East Side boy, had run unopposed in 11 previous campaigns. The film will be screened at the Vision Festival this weekend in Tribeca. You can see the schedule for the fesatival here.
The other film, mentioned in the Examiner.com, is "The Lower East Side: An Endangered Place." It's a short that will be part of the Asian American International Film Festival. It was a production of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, directed by M.A. Shumin. The film examines the impact of gentrification on the neighborhood through interviews with both longtime residents and new arrivals. Take a look at the trailer:
A few weeks ago we had coverage of a contentious community meeting, in which residents lit into managers of the Thompson LES Hotel for their failure to control late night noise and unruly crowds. New York Magazine has now checked in with Thompson LES owner Jason Pomeranc.
He expressed confidence that the neighborhood would get used to the hotel, and downplayed the complaints, "I think that’s a broad characterization to say that the neighborhood is upset about it… it is a minority element, I believe, that has been negative about it.
Part of the process is to ingratiate the neighborhood and realize that
the hotel, the pool, the restaurant, the bar are actually an asset and
do make for a better, safer, cleaner neighborhood that creates more
jobs and creates more energy and ultimately has a positive ripple
effect for residents, for merchants, for everyone around it."
He told NYM the hotel takes the complaints from neighbors seriously, and will work to alleviate their concerns. Another community meeting is scheduled in early July.
The Albany coup's big winner is, perhaps, New York's real estate industry. The New York Times notes the "most significant expansion of rent regulation and tenant rights in a quarter-century" is now DOA.
Some analysts are warning the city's election-year budget is unrealistically rosy. And as the Times warns on the editorial page:
Once the votes are counted in November… the city will have to
start facing a $5 billion deficit for the fiscal year beginning in 2010
— a problem it will have to confront without much surplus or stimulus
funds as extra padding.
The dailies like to take shots at Shelly Silver, so it's worth acnowledging when they're complimentary of the speaker. The Daily News points out that the Assembly is working as a well oiled machine in contrast to the romper room that is the New York State Senate.
As the Daily News reported yesterday, police are having to confront an outbreak of gang violence that started over the weekend when a suspected drug dealer was killed. Police sources told the paper the stabbings (one fatal) of two men on 26th Street Monday were meant to avenge the killing. Last night, during a community meeting, police acknowledged the men have ties to housing projects in the East Village and Lower East Side. They tried to assure concerned residents they are stepping up patrols and remaining vigilant.
By the summer of 2010, the MTA will debut high speed buses that will travel in express lanes along First and Second Avenues.
Starting this week, The Lo-Down will be doing a weekly check-in with local Essex Market merchants.
I went to visit Roni-Sue of Roni-Sue's Chocolates. She's moved across the way from her old post and has an updated look and more space. I have to admit I hesitated slightly before trying a piece of chocolate-covered bacon, but, I must say it was good. The taste is rich (could be the lard) chocolaty, crunchy, and salty – what's not to like? Apparently people are really taking to the maple and bacon lollipops, as well. She gave me a taste of one her favorites, "Down the Hatch". It's dark chocolate over toffee with green chili. At first you only taste the chocolate but then the chili slowly sneaks up on you in a strangely satisfying way. Yum.
I finally had a seared salmon sandwich on a roll from Rainbo's Fish. It was great and is a steal-of-a-deal at $4.50. They are the same guys that make the delicious home-made muffins at Tra La La Juice Bar. Ron, the co-owner and muffin baker, says his favorite muffin of the moment is Banana-Blueberry.
The folks at Puerto Rico Importing Co. gave me an iced coffee, which they make with their house blend, and said yes, the season has definitely started, even though it's been cool and rainy.
I noticed they are selling small bags of raw sugar labeled "brown sugar" at Essex Farm Groceries, which is also what people are spending a lot of money on these days when it is called Turbanado sugar. Because they buy it in bulk and bag it themselves, they are able to sell the bags for around $1.50, a real steal compared to some similar-sized bags I've seen selling for as much as $6.00.
Cheese monger Ann Saxelbly recommends the new sheep's milk ricotta she just found in Vermont. She says it's rare to find sheep's milk ricotta and she loves the taste. It's somehow more "barnyard-y, in a good way". She is also featuring little buttons of "3 sisters" cow, sheep and goat milk cheese from Nettle Meadow.
We’ve been following the campaign, led by the Educational Alliance, to restore funding for 88 community-based after school programs cut by the Bloomberg administration. Late last night, they got some good news. 80-percent of the funding for the “OST-2″ program was tentatively added back into the city’s budget. The budget negotiations are ongoing, so it’s not a done deal yet – but there’s reason for optimism. There’s also a possibility that the organizations could qualify for federal stimulus money. So, it’s conceivable the programs, which are utilized by more than 10-thousand children and teens citywide, could be funded in full. You can see our video report on a big rally the organizations held at City Hall last week. And here’s our story on the Educational Alliance’s very successful Teen Center.
This evening City Councilman Alan Gerson and the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors are holding a "Stakeholders' Meeting" to discuss proposed zoning changes to the East side of the Bowery. The west side of the block was included in the recent rezoning of the Lower East Side, but not the east side. The plan devised by the Bowery Alliance would restrict the height of buildings to 8 stories and protect certain buildings that are historically significant. The gathering will bring together residents, business owners, developers and community groups to talk about the proposal, in advance of an upcoming meeting of the Department of City Planning. The meeting will be held at 6:15 at P.S. 131, 100 Hester Street (Forsythe).
Last night, Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council announced an election year budget deal that restores funding to a range of programs and agencies, including the city's libraries, the Fire Department and the Administration for Children's Services. According to the Daily News, the budget also includes $40 million in "member items." Depending on your point view, that $40 million is either wasteful "pork" council members will use to reward their supporters or it's an invaluable piggy bank they'll draw from to restore important services slashed by the mayor.
State Senator Daniel Squadron has gotten the MTA to order a review of service problems on the "F" train. Constituents (and his fiance!) have been hating on the "F" line pretty much forever, so Squadron cornered the MTA's lobbyist in Albany.
Club owners are banding together to target elected representatives and community board members who they say are unfairly targeting them. Club veteran Steve Lewis tells the New York Post, "Both good clubs and bad clubs are constantly harassed by city
agencies, while real estate interests are trying to turn Manhattan into
a bedroom community," In the Post story, Councilman Alan Gerson gave this assessment of the new group, "The Nightlife Preservation Community,"
"They will certainly make campaigns more interesting," he says of
the NPC. "But they should keep in mind that the people who enjoy night
life are sophisticated enough to recognize that whoever is behind this
may or may not have their best interests in mind." Gerson, whose district includes TriBeCa and the Lower East Side,
points to his efforts to overturn city laws that prohibit dancing
without a license: While the freedom to shake it anywhere would
certainly be appreciated by many party people, some club owners opposed
the change, he says, because they enjoy the hearty profit that comes
with having a monopoly on dance venues in the city.
From the Civic Center Residents Coalition: it seems the NYPD is now helping solve a problem the neighborhood group has been campaigning to fix for several months – the Parks Department's practice of parking and driving its vehicles in Chinatown's parks.
A month after he withdrew his application due to concerns about late night noise, Jesse Hartman won the approval of a Community Board 3 committee tonight for a new restaurant at 365 Grand Street. The committee signaled its support for a full liquor license for "Grand Park," a small plates Italian restaurant that will feature a glass enclosed patio. Last month three or four residents spoke out against the project, fearing that the noise from the patio would reverberate up to their apartments in the Seward Park Co-op. But since then, Hartman has been building support in the community and he had an architect draw up plans for a sound-proofed enclosure. About 10 supporters showed up tonight, including the moderators of two neighborhood message boards and the owner of another restaurant a short distance away on Grand Street, Roots & Vines. The supporters told the committee they welcomed the addition of a good restaurant that will breath some life into a part of the street that's all but deserted after dusk. There was no opposition to the restaurant whatsoever, although committee members did express small reservations about a nearby school. The resolution they passed requires Hartman to close his windows after 10pm.
Also tonight, the committee rejected a request from the highly rated Clinton Street restaurant Falai for a full liquor license. The owner of Falai said it was necessary to upgrade from a license that permits the sale of wine only due to the tough economic climate. But Alexandra Militano, chair of the committee, insisted on upholding the community board's resolution severely restricting new liquor licenses in an area of the LES over-saturated with bars and restaurants.
And then there was the continuing saga surrounding the unfinished shell at 179 Ludlow, which, the owners promise, will one day be a boutique hotel. They went before the committee for a third time, pleading their case for a liquor license for a hypothetical restaurant in the, so far, hypothetical hotel. Militano and District Manager Susan Stetzer reminded them about the building's sordid past – a rat infestation, building code violations, etc. – and sent them packing.
Be sure to head down to the Angel Orensanz Foundation at 172 Norfolk Street to catch the last night of the 7-day Vision Festival put on by Art for Arts.
"It all started with improvisation" says founder, dancer and co-host Patricia Nicholson Parker. "I define Avant Jazz as disciplined disregard of traditional sound barriers – you can pick and
choose the rules you are going to use or not use… 99% of what I
present is improvisation." She says the festival hasn't changed too much over the 14 years she's been putting it on but she does feel like our
community has lost it's understanding and it's relationship to art, partly because of market place pressures to be financially successful and partly because of the new "viral" world we are all living in now. "You have to
hear it live – it's visceral art – it's exciting, inspiring, it's doesn't do
the same thing when you are plugged in".
Tonight's (very visceral) closing celebration includes
performances by Jason Kao Hwang's Spontaneous River with a 30 String
Ensemble, The William Parker Quartet plus Special Guests Bobby
Bradford on trumpet and James Spaulding on sax. Then there's an After
Party at The Local 269 (Corner of Houston and Suffolk Street) with a jam
session led by Bobby Bradford that should go well in to the night.
