This week I found the new tile floor is almost complete at the Essex Street Market, and they are preparing to re-open the seating area at the North end.
Speaking of the North end of the market, I noticed the Tra La La Juice Bar is now making cupcakes, along with their famous muffins. I had a blackberry (in season!) cupcake for a mere $1.25, and noted that Ron (co-owner of Tra La La and Rainbo's Fish) has also included some "animal free" cupcakes. This week, he is offering animal free apple orange cupcakes and animal free mocha cupcakes for $1.50 each. Ron did a lot of experimenting until he got them to taste right. He uses a combination of olive oil and vinegar instead of butter, milk, or eggs. He was also offering a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting for $1.25 that looked delicious.
I noticed that it does pay to compare prices at the fruit and vegetable (grocery) stands because they do vary. Today mangos were selling for $1 each at Viva Fruits & Vegetables and $1.79 each at Essex Farm Groceries. But Viva was selling Rice Dream (in their new organic section) for $4.19 while Essex Farm sells it for $3.99.
Ronnie Sue of Ronnie Sue's Chocolates is now making cookies. I tried a chocolate chocolate chip cookie that was moist and delicious. They come in a $2.00 bag with six cookies. Another great deal.
After the cookies, I ventured over to Formaggio Essex, a specialty store that has been based in Cambridge, Mass for over 30 years (they've been at the Essex Market for about three years). They specialize in exclusive imports, from artisan cheese to olive oil to jelly. You can always find a unique import to sample. Ayse (the Cambridge store owners' daughter) offered me some palacio chorizo from Spain ($6.95 whole or $3.50 for a half) and some Basil Olive Oil from Chile ($11.95 per bottle). I also noticed some lovely preserves, "Configures de Raphael" from Brittany, France. The organic fruit Raphael uses is from his farm in Brittany and is boiled in a copper cauldron over an open fire.
For more cheese I visited Ann Saxelby at Saxelby Cheesemongers. She had me try a delicious Brebis Blanche, a fresh, cultured sheep's milk cheese, made by 3-Corner Field Farm in Shushan, New York. ($8.50 for 4oz or $4.25 for a half round). It was light with a citrus flavor, and seemed perfect for a salad or with a little honey, as a snack.
Also, in case you are wondering, you can get a $10 haircut from Aminova (men only!) at Aminova's Barber Shop while you are doing your shopping.
Last week we reported about a dust-up between the two Asian candidates running in the First District City Council race. Margaret Chin's campaign accused rival PJ Kim of using "racially charged language," when he asserted that Chin was running to become the "Mayor of Chinatown." A couple of Lo-Down readers took note of those stories – and were displeased that we had not also reported another story with racial overtones, involving Chin's campaign manager.
Fair point. Last week's episode (both Kim's remarks and Chin's response) have opened the door to a discussion about race in the District 1 campaign. So, here's the story. Last month, Chin's campaign manager, Jake Itzkowitz, wrote on his personal Twitter account:
“@CityHallNews Politicians should be able to use the 'N' word in
attacking ignorance & racism. Aren't we a mature enough culture for
that?”
The tweet was apparently a response to a City Hall News interview with Carolyn Maloney:
There is Carolyn Maloney, ripping into Kirsten Gillibrand broad and
hard for voting against the two stimulus bills and for changing her
positions on several core Democratic issues, sounding out her case on
the fly as, “It’s the NRA, it’s immigration, it’s all these other
things. In fact, I got a call from someone from Puerto Rico, said
[Gillibrand] went to Puerto Rico and came out for English-only
[education]. And he said, ‘It was like saying n—r to a Puerto Rican,’”
she said, using the full racial slur. “I don’t know—I don’t know if
that’s true or not. I just called. I’m just throwing that out. All of
her—well, what does she stand for?”
Maloney later apologized for using the word. Itzkowitz sent a written statement to a political blogger:
I'm not saying it should be used w/o thought, but I think in the context of chastising ignorant statements/ppl, it is valid. When I worked for the Obama campaign, some volunteers believed it was appropriate
& valid to use the N-word in a sentence criticizing those who
opposed his campaign on racial grounds. I obviously don't have the racial background to speak from experience on the N-word in particular, but as a member of a minority w/ it's own derogatory terminology, I do think there is a place for the use of language in deconstructing stereotypes. I would love to hear your opinion.
There you have it. Ultimately voters in the First District can decide whether either "race issue" is relevant to their decision- which candidate is best suited to represent their interests on the New York City Council.
City Council members, community organizations and several candidates running in upcoming elections gathered on the steps of City Hall earlier today in support of the Small Business Survival Act. The bill, being considered by the City Council, would give small businesses the option of 10-year leases and the right to mediation if negotiations with landlords reach an impasse. The Bloomberg administration opposes the legislation, saying it would not be practical for the city to track every lease. Among the speakers, District 1 City Council candidate Margaret Chin:
A source inside his campaign office tells The Lo-Down that a special referee has recommended putting City Council member Alan Gerson back on the September Primary ballot. The Board of Elections removed Gerson for failing to satisfy its concerns about altered petitions. Separately, candidate Pete Gleason sued Gerson in State Supreme Court, alleging fraud. Last week, the referee, Leslie Lowenstein, heard two days of testimony — and he has now forwarded a report to State Supreme Court Judge Edward Lehner. The judge has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow afternoon, in which he'll hear legal arguments from both sides – and decide whether to follow Lowenstein's recommendation. If Gerson gets back on the ballot tomorrow, the Gleason campaign is widely expected to appeal. See our previous coverage of Gleason vs. Gerson here and here.
Courtesy of Zeva Bellel and Paris By Appointment Only.
We received a nice submission from Zeva Bellel, "an American journalist born and bred in Brooklyn, who has been living in Paris for the last ten years". She is the founder and editor in chief of Paris By Appointment Only, a
website "devoted to the hidden artisans and innovators of Paris".
Zeva told The Lo-Down she posted a story about a private tour of the Two
Bridges section of Lower Manhattan as part of the special summer USA
edition she's doing for her blog. The tour was given by her father, who grew up in Knickerbocker Village (cradled by a district once referred to as the “fourth ward”). She writes about how she convinced her father to give the tour:
At the time he was working at a school on the Lower East Side smack in
the middle of the neighborhood where his parents grew up. Around the
corner from his school was the apartment where my grandfather lived,
several blocks away (from) the Synagogue where he met my grandmother, nearby the cleaners where my aunt and uncle worked, yadda, yadda, yadda…Inspired by his surroundings, he reconstructed the past piece
by piece using historic documents, photographs, and a treasure trove of
census bureau records he’d found in the trash. The result was a (highly
personal) new-media tapestry of early 20th century Lower Manhattan
immigrant life.
Her father's research led him to create a blog about Knickerbocker Village, which can be found here. You can also email him through his blog for additional tour information.
Scallop Crudo, at Allen & Delancey, with Lime Vinaigrette, Pink Peppercorns, Shiso, and Trout Roe.
The restaurant Allen & Delancey's (115 Allen St. at Delancey) newly installed chef Ryan Skeen tells Grubstreet why things didn't work out at Irving Mill and explains that he's happy to be doing things on a smaller level. He says, “It’s a lot of work but it’s comfortable. Everything is organic — it’s all in-house. Plus, it’s got more personality." He also says he's happy to be focusing less on pork and more on pasta. You can see the new menu in a vivid slideshow illustrated for Grubstreet here.
The Daily News political blog headlines: "A Window Into Politics On The Lower East Side." Elizabeth Benjamin adds to her earlier story detailing the United Jewish Council's close relationship with the LES's political power brokers. She says City Council member Alan Gerson's court fight to get back on the ballot offers an "…unusual glimpse of the political clout wielded by Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver, whose district (the 64th AD) overlaps with Gerson's
(the 1st CD):"
I noted in my column today that officials from the United Jewish Council of the East Side
were involved in the signature-gathering effort for Gerson and a host
of other candidates – including Silver himself, who is running to be a
delegate to the Democratic judicial nominating convention – an effort
that threatens the group's tax-exempt status. The UJC raised and spent $2.3 million in 2007 (the most recent year
for which its 990 is available), and 99.66 percent of that funding came
from government grants. Since 2006, Silver has directed $2.3 million worth of member items
to the group. Gerson directed $16,000 over the past two years. The UJC
also landed $1.6 million worth of state contracts between 2006 and
2008. In other words: The group relies almost entirely on elected officials for its funding… Also involved: Jessica Loeser, a former Silver aide and wife of
Mayor Bloomberg's press secretary, Stu Loser, who is president of the
Harry S. Truman Democratic Club (an organization closely allied with
Silver), which handled the omnibus petitions;
David Weinberger, a district leader who, as of 2007, was a
$50,969-a-year director for UJC; and Ray Dowd, Gleason's attorney, who
ran against Silver on the Green Party line in 200, receiving 15 percent
of the vote.
The blog, Soho Politics (definitely not fond of Alan Gerson), speculates that Gerson will get back on the ballot, even though his troubles with the Board of Elections "underscores a certain inattention to detail at the very least."
The MTA's new five year plan calls for high speed bus lanes and replacing Metro Cards with an "Easy Pass" style computer chip embedded in cell phones or debit cards.
Broadway East has a new chef. He's Phil Conlon, the former chef de cuisine at Cafe Cluny, the West Village brasserie serving up Odeon style bistro fare.
Outrage: Brooklyn boy David Sax, in his new book "Save the Deli," declares: “Brace yourself New York, because what I am about to write is definitey
going to piss a lot of you off, but it needs to be said: Los Angeles
has become America’s premier deli city.“
The Tenement Museum continues to unravel the mystery of Schneider's Saloon.
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