The food blogs have been buzzing all day with the just released results of the 2010 Zagat Guide. But how did the 87 Lower East Side restaurants in the guide fare? Here's a first look:
The highest "food" rating in our neighborhood was 25 (out of 30 possible points) – Sachiko's (the sushi spot on Clinton) and Clinton Street Baking Company were the only restaurants on this (relatively) lofty perch.
Frankies, Apizz, WD-50 and Kuma Inn all scored 24 points.
Some other highly regarded restaurants, including Falai and Allen & Delancey, were awaded 23 points by reviewers.
Newcomer An Choi, "drawing hipsters and bankers alike" starts strong with a 21 food rating.
Other newcomers like Sorella and Bia Garden were too new to rate.
We stopped by the opening of Younity's new collective show, FRESHER! last weekend at CSV Cultural Center (107 Suffolk St.) The show features 40 different female artists' work, all focusing on recycling and creating art for/from the earth. The Younity collaborative was founded in 2007 by urban artists Allice Mizrachi (AM-files) and Maria Castillo (Toofly) in order "to create a place where females could tell their own
stories in more universal, down-to-earth voices". They also wanted to
build a stable community in which they could "teach the next generation
what goes into the process of setting up art shows and try to
successfully spread artistic ideas." We spoke with Toofly at the show:
Tomorrow morning, the City Council's Transportation Committee will take up a bill that would require the Department of Transportation to notify communities about major construction projects. In recent years, residents on the Lower East Side and in Chinatown have been highly critical of the DOT. The Grand Street bike lanes, the Allen Street Mall beautification and the Chatham Square re-configuration are the most glaring examples.
Neighborhood groups have argued that the changes caused traffic congestion to become worse, made Lower Manhattan's streets more dangerous and choked off access to small businesses. But they are particularly agitated about a perception that the DOT is imperious, ignoring their concerns and doing as it pleases.
Tonight's "Tenement Talks" series promises to be especially enjoyable. Michael Greenberg discusses his new collection of stories, "Beg, Borrow, and Steal: A Writers Life." And, another esteemed author, Edmund White, will talk about his latest book, "City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960s and '70s." White reviewed Beg, Borrow and Steal for the New York Times, saying of Greenberg:
(He) loves the city as a child loves a parent, and in its honor he has put
together a collection of tightly written, incisive chapters, each
another tessera or tile in a big mosaic — and like tesserae, they are
all placed at a slightly different angle to the light.
White's own book is the latest installment of his memoirs about gay life in New York City during two tumultuous decades. TheTimes book review says:
City Boy,” plain-spoken and knowing, is a survivor’s tale, a missive
from one of those antlered boys of that era to the others who are gone:
this is who we were, this is how it was, this was our city. Some
stories don’t need to be embellished to glow.
In an effort to make his office more accessible, State Senator Daniel Squadron has launched a Chinese-language hotline. He gathered with leaders from the Chinese community yesterday in Chinatown's Sara D. Roosevelt Park to make the announcement. Here's part of what the senator had to say:
Mandarin and Cantonese residents will be able to call the hotline from 10am-6pm Monday-Friday. The number is 917-254-3138. District 25, which Squadron has represented since last year, includes most of Downtown Manhattan, including Chinatown, the Lower East Side and parts of Brooklyn.
Right now he's the Governor. There are no vacancies. I don't
anticipate there'd be any vacancies, but I think the Governor would
make a good congressman. A good Senator. And a great Governor.
After a ribbon cutting ceremony in Syracuse, Speaker Silver enjoyed a cup of coffee at Starbucks with Syracuse University student and fellow LES resident, Shaquana Gardner. During the summer, we attended a ceremony in the Speaker's Manhattan office, in which he presented Gardner with an award recognizing her academic achievements. She was the recipient of a a scholarship from the Henry Street Settlement.
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