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 Image from EssG's Flickr photostream. Last night, CB3′s SLA Committee supported plans from the owner of VBar to reopen the old Amato Opera building (pictured above), at 319 Bowery as a theater and restaurant. They also signed off on a proposal to open a new restaurant, Goat’s Town, in the old Butcher Bay space on East 5th Street. We’ll have more details later today. Look for partly cloudy skies and 94 today. More of the same over the weekend — highs in the mid-90′s, humid and little chance of rain.
 
Here’s the latest from CB3′s SLA Committee hearing:
- A restaurant serving ramen and sushi was denied a wine/beer license at 121 Ludlow. Noting that there are seven empty storefronts on the block, some committee members suggested there would have been a “public benefit” to approving the license. But the panel’s chair, Alex Militano, said 7th Precinct officers have told her this particular section of Ludlow is the “worst in the neighborhood” in terms of crowds and noise.
We’re here in a pleasantly cool meeting room on East 5th Street, where CB3′s SLA Committee is breezing right through its agenda (2 hours in they’re already on their third application). The big news so far: the committee voted against a transfer application for Sin Sin on 2nd Avenue. Numerous residents spoke out against the bar/night club, saying it’s a magnet for a rowdy crowd, drug dealing and violent incidents. The new owners indicated the previous management would be involved for a short period of time to help with the transition. CB3 Chair Dominic Pisciotta said he was concerned that the new team lacks experience running a big city establishment. More to come…
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In a few short hours, CB3′s SLA Committee will convene for another marathon meeting. There are only 19 applications to review this evening but, looks can be deceiving. As EV Grieve reported last week, neighborhood activists are planning a major show of force against at least one bar, Sin Sin/Leopard Lounge, on 2nd Avenue.
The bar, on the corner of 2nd & 5th Street, is seeking to transfer a liquor license. Stuart Zamsky, president of the East 5th Street Block Association, organized a petition/letter writing campaign. Among their grievances: screaming, fighting, loud music and drug use in the late night hours, especially on weekends.
Continue reading CB3 Bar Battles: Another Long, Hot Night Ahead on East 5th Street
 David Garza David Garza has a new job, and it’s a big one. This month, he took over as executive director of the Henry Street Settlement, a social service organization serving 50,000 New Yorkers every year. But for the past seven years, as head of Henry Street’s Workforce Development Center, he was in the business of finding other people jobs. Just before he made the transition, we talked with Garza about the center, how job seekers and employers can take advantage of the center’s services and the employment outlook on the Lower East Side.
Continue reading Henry Street’s Workforce Development Center
Here are musician Ken Beasley’s top music picks on the Lower East Side this week.
 La Strada - Photo: Jennifer McManus
LA STRADA – Friday, July 16 at 9pm
“La Strada” means “the road” in Italian, and with songs like “Go Forward,” “The Traveler,” and “Where You Want To Go,” it’s clearly an apt appellation for this Brooklyn 5-piece. They’ve also been on the road quite a bit, building a loyal following across the country with a fizzy concoction of accordion, strings, and horns, that blend crisscrossing harmonies and pop melodies.
Continue reading This Week’s Music Picks
“Unapproved use of electrical wiring” – cords on the roof – caused the fire at 240 East Houston (NYT).
240 East Houston fire and Noho fire highlight concerns about wood decks (NYT).
By the way, the Noho fire was caused by someone smoking (NY1).
Layoffs at the Department of Buildings (Real Deal).
Continue reading Rooftop Electrical Cords Caused Avenue A Fire, DOB Layoffs, Yitzhak Rabin Gallery on the LES
 Under the Manhattan Bridge. Image from Bobby Plasencia's Flickr photostream. Is it safe to leave the umbrella at home? Partly cloudy today and a high of 88 degrees. We’re looking ahead to two Community Board 3 meetings tonight: the monthly SLA melodrama and the Landmarks Committee, where the contentious issue of the Russian Orthodox Church will be taken up. Also today, we’ll have our weekly music picks.
 Lower Orchard - part of the LES BID's proposed expansion plan. There’s been lots of talk recently about the pros and cons of creating a Chinatown Business Improvement District. Critics of the plan have emerged both in the historic heart of Chinatown, but also in Soho and the Lower East Side. One major point of contention: the proposed BID’s expansive boundaries, which some people feel would amount to a hostile takeover of parts of the LES, Soho, Noho and Nolita.
In recent weeks, community leaders in all of the impacted neighborhoods have been working to head off a border war. It may be awhile before Chinatown and Soho come to terms. But in the last few days, it appears the Lower East Side part of the puzzle has fallen into place.
Continue reading Business Leaders on Lower East Side & Chinatown Agree on New Boundaries
 Last week, we posted the list of “member items” sponsored by District 1′s Margaret Chin in the City Council’s 2011 discretionary budget. Today we’re returning to the budget beat — detailing some other projects Chin helped to sponsor in her first year on the Council. Listed after the jump are items from the so-called “speaker’s list.” In some cases, Chin was the single co-sponsor. In other instances, there were several Council co-sponsors. We’re not including items from a much larger list of funding choices sponsored by groups she is a part of, such as the Women’s Caucus and the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.The descriptions following each program are taken directly from the City Council budget database. As reported last week, Chin’s member items total $364,464. There’s another $2.075,000 in expenditures on the Chin/Speaker’s List, bringing her grand total to $2,439,464.
Continue reading Followup: Margaret Chin’s 2011 Funding Choices
 Lower East Side food fiend Mitch Weinstein has a message for the restaurants of the Lower East Side: close the windows and doors! Here’s the latest post from his blog, Tasty Travails:
Restaurateurs – listen up. I have one word for you…Friedrich.
Allright, admittedly, I’m a grouch…just ask Significant Eater, our friends, family, anyone I come into contact with, whomever. But, something happens every summer, and it doesn’t make me happy. That is, either restaurants in the city are not turning their air conditioners on at all or they’re greatly lowering the amount of conditioned air they’re sending out.
Continue reading A Plea for A.C.
As part of the New Museum’s current exhibit, “Brion Gysin: Dream Machine,” artist and performer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge will be discussing Gysin’s work and the influence it had on him/her, tomorrow night in the museum’s theater. The museum’s notes read:
Founder of the bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge was also a friend and an acolyte of Brion Gysin. P-Orridge met Gysin in the 1970s, and was deeply influenced by him, and particularly his Cut-Up Method. Continue reading Genesis Breyer P-Orridge in Conversation about Brion Gysin at New Museum
Project Envision, a initiative run by the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, wants to get the word out about an open house they’re holding tomorrow night. The organization was one of many groups that took part in last month’s public forum regarding the sexual assault of a child at the Seward Park Library.
Project Envision has conducted a study in the neighborhood in preparation for developing a sexual violence prevention program on the Lower East Side and two other communities. Recently, the city decided to cut more than $300,000 in funding from the organization’s prevention programs.
Continue reading Project Envision Invites Community to Open House Tomorrow
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