2010 March | The Lo-Down : News from the Lower East Side

If You Want to Speak Out About the New Restaurant at 384 Grand...: We're working on it!
No Sanctuary for Young Israel Synagogue: Dear Below Grand, Sorry, your comment made me chuckle, an
If You Want to Speak Out About the New Restaurant at 384 Grand...: Any chance the Lo-Down could interview the owners? I'd like
No Sanctuary for Young Israel Synagogue: Great reporting! But what a sad story. No one wins here.
Chinatown Working Group: LES Question Unresolved: I agree with Sun. I don't believe Lalan has spoken with any
Mexican Restaurant Seeks Liquor License at 384 Grand : I hope the Lo-Down can get in contact with the proprietors o
Op/Ed: Make Schools a Priority in SPURA Plan: We have so blurred the private/public boundary in NYC over t
Op/Ed: Make Schools a Priority in SPURA Plan: I don't understand this; why the apparent bias for a charter
Op/Ed: Make Schools a Priority in SPURA Plan: Since there have been a few comments about this story, I wan
Op/Ed: Make Schools a Priority in SPURA Plan: "The Department of Education doesn't believe a new school sh

This Week’s Music Picks

Dancers Scott Heron and Hijack come to Dixon Place with Smithsoniansmith - photo by William P. Starr via Time Out NY

The Lo-Down List: This Week’s Happenings

Gary Shteyngart at Brown Cafe - photo by Matthew Monteith for thelodownny.com

TLD Interview: Author Gary Shteyngart

March 31st, 2010

This Week's Music Picks

Here are musician Ken Beasley’s top shows of the week:

Josh Mease

JOSH MEASE – Rockwood Music Hall – Thursday, April 1

When you listen to the music of Josh Mease, a million images orbit your mind, and none of them will ever hurt you. It’s as if you’re sleepily floating towards a framed watercolor wilderness, slowly approaching, closer and closer, until you finally enter it and become one with swirling streams, grassy meadows, and frolicking bunnies.

Continue reading This Week’s Music Picks

March 31st, 2010

One More Day For LES CSA Sign Up

There is one more day to sign up for the new Lower East Side CSA. We wrote about their farmers last week here. Their core members write: We are in the home stretch. Only 5 shares away from meeting our goal of 50 shares. If you are thinking about it, or know someone who is thinking about it, don’t delay. Please sign up today.
For online registration visit their website here.

March 31st, 2010

Numu Arts Collective at Bluestockings Bookstore Tonight

Numu Arts Collective will be at Bluestockings tonight with “Emerging From Brooklyn” - new works of drama, fiction and poetry performed by emerging writers from North Brooklyn, including appearances by Cassandra Katsiaficas, Michael Lala, Leila Ben-Abdallah, Eric Nelson, Julia Knorr and Jeffrey Salter. Numu states, “(we) see the infinite possibilities for changing the world by bringing art and community together.” 7pm. $5 suggested.

March 31st, 2010

Stringer Announces Community Board Appointments

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has appointed 88 new members to the 12 community boards he oversees. A news release from his office highlights the emphasis on increasing the diversity of the all-volunteer boards. “In Community Board 3 alone,” the release says, “the Asian American representation increased from 12 percent to 20 percent of the board in comparison to last year.”

Continue reading Stringer Announces Community Board Appointments

March 31st, 2010

DOE Vows to Fight Complaint From LES Parents

There’s more this morning on a story we covered earlier this week — the latest in the fight over the Girls Prep Charter School. As we reported on Monday, Lower East Side parents have filed a formal complaint with the state education commissioner. Last month, the Dept. of Education decided to approve the expansion of the Girls Prep Middle School in a building on East Houston Street shared with two other schools, P.S. 94 and P.S. 188. The DOE, the complaint alleges, violated state law by failing to spell out how students at those schools would be impacted by the expansion.

Continue reading DOE Vows to Fight Complaint From LES Parents

March 31st, 2010

New School Overcrowding Concerns, More “Skin Fruit” Opinions, Painkiller’s New Logo

A court ruling keeping 19 high schools open is likely to create new tensions, as the overcrowding problem grows worse (NYT).

Was the New Museum’s “Skin Fruit” worth the trouble? (WNYC).

The Lounge at Dixon Place has its official opening April 8 (Broadway World).

Painkiller now has what every good tiki lounge needs, a bad ass logo! (Black Book).

March 31st, 2010

Good Morning!

A few hearty souls on Orchard Street yesterday weren’t about to let a downpour deter them from making the right choices at Laboratorio del Gelato! We appear to have survived the monsoon. There could be a few main showers this morning, but we might just see the sun this afternoon. Today’s high: 58. 67 and mostly sunny tomorrow!

March 30th, 2010

Squadron's Community Convention April 11th

We mentioned this in passing a few days ago. Now here’s some more detailed information about State Senator Daniel Squadron’s Community Convention. It will be held Sunday, April 11th, from 2-5pm at Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street. Last year, shortly after his election to the Senate, Squadron hosted more than 400 constituents at his first 25th District Convention. He says the “great ideas I heard influenced my work at home and in Albany.” You can check out all of the topics that will be covered by going to Squadron’s web site. You can also RSVP via the web site or by calling Rosemarie Diaz at 212-298-5565.

March 30th, 2010

CODA Candidate Forum on Thursday

It’s hard to believe, but election season is once again upon us. One of the neighborhood’s most influential political organizations, CODA (Coalition for a District Alternative), is holding a Democratic candidate forum Thursday night. U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and her District 14 challenger Reshma Saujani have been invited to participate, as well as U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez and her District 12 opponent, Bruce Hirschfeld. State Senator Daniel Squadron (District 25) and Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh (District 74) have been invited, as well. They are running unopposed. The forum will take place at 535 East 5th Street, at 7pm.

March 30th, 2010

Neighborhood Organizations Plan Marco Polo Weekend

Victor Papa of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council is fond of saying that Italians and Chinese in Lower Manhattan have enjoyed more harmonious relations than any ethnic groups in the city. Living side by side in Chinatown and Little Italy for generations, they’ve always (literally and figuratively) found common ground. It was this fact that led Papa to push for state and federal designation of the two neighborhoods as a single historic district.

Continue reading Neighborhood Organizations Plan Marco Polo Weekend

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Numu Arts Collective at Bluestockings Bookstore Tonight

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DOE Vows to Fight Complaint From LES Parents

New School Overcrowding Concerns, More “Skin Fruit” Opinions, Painkiller’s New Logo

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Squadron's Community Convention April 11th

CODA Candidate Forum on Thursday

Neighborhood Organizations Plan Marco Polo Weekend

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