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October 2010
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Silver’s Assembly Worried About Election, Bouncer Wanted for Questioning, Cyclist vs. Cop

  • “Assembly Dems running scared,” fearing they could lose their veto-proof majority and potentially weakening Speaker Sheldon Silver’s position with New York’s next governor (Daily News).
  • A Lower East Side cyclist claims an off-duty NYPD cop pointed a gun at him during a traffic dispute (Daily News).
  • Police want to talk with a bouncer at Santos Party House who allegedly roughed up two clubgoers (Post).
  • From the archives: Monk Eastman’s journey from thug to war hero (Daily News).
  • The curious case of a 1st & 1st newspaper box (Jeremiah).

Good Morning!

Black Lace

Photo by C. Merry.

Mostly cloudy to start the week and 63 degrees.  Continue reading Good Morning!

CB3, City Discuss SPURA with Co-op Residents

Last night, Community Board 3 and city planners took the SPURA show on the road.   A fairly large group of residents from the Grand Street cooperatives attended a briefing at the Educational Alliance on a two-year-old initiative to finally redevelop an infamous  7-acre parcel near the Williamsburg Bridge. Continue reading CB3, City Discuss SPURA with Co-op Residents

Weekend Guide

Looks like another action-packed fall weekend on the Lower East Side is in store for us:

The Pickle Guys owner Alan Kaufman, one of many participants in this Sunday's 10th Annual International Pickle Day. Photo by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis for The Lo-Down

Shuang Wen Academy Network Calls NY1 Report Offensive and Misleading; Demands Apology

Earlier this week, NY1 aired two reports raising questions about Shuang Wen, the highly regarded LES dual language school. Education reporter Lindsay Christ said the Department of Education is investigating the school’s recent decision to charge students for after-school Mandarin instruction. And she reported that the principal and members of the parent association have received threatening letters.  This morning, Winston Chow, executive director of the Shuang Wen Academy Network, responded. Here is the full text of a press release we received a short time ago: Continue reading Shuang Wen Academy Network Calls NY1 Report Offensive and Misleading; Demands Apology

Good Morning: More Bike Battles, Mars Bar as Bohemian “Standard Bearer,” Vintage Film

From International Pickle Day to the Hester Street Fair food festival — there’s plenty happening on the LES this weekend.  The weather will (mostly) cooperate.  59 for a high today and rain showers, beginning mid afternoon. Tomorrow, partly cloudy, windy and a hgh of 62. Sunday, partly cloudy and 67. Continue reading Good Morning: More Bike Battles, Mars Bar as Bohemian “Standard Bearer,” Vintage Film

Weekend Music Picks

Here are musician Ken Beasley’s top music picks on the Lower East Side this weekend:

Carolina Chocolate Drops

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS – Friday, Oct. 15 at 7:30pm

No two ways about it – the Chocolate Drops are the real deal. Brought up in the south (mostly the Carolinas), this string-band trio is following in the footsteps of their mentor, none other than fiddle legend Joe Thompson. Continue reading Weekend Music Picks

Police Need Information About October 1st Assault

We have a followup on a brutal beating that happened in the neighborhood earlier this month. As you may recall, the New York Post reported:

The bloody 46-year-old victim was hit repeatedly and then fell to the ground in front of Little Giant’s Bar on Orchard and Broome streets at 9:44 p.m. yesterday (October 1). Just before he collapsed, the wounded man was seen staggering nearby.

During last night’s Community Council meeting, 7th Precinct Commander Nancy Barry provided an update — and clarified at least one important piece of information. The assault, she said, did not happen on Orchard Street, but near the corner of Hester and Essex streets. Continue reading Police Need Information About October 1st Assault

Law Cracking Down on Careless Drivers Takes Effect Today

A short time ago, elected officials, pedestrian safety advocates and community leaders crowded onto the bustling sidewalk on the Lower East Side to acknowledge a legislative achievement. Today, “Hayley and Diego’s Law,” which cracks down on careless drivers, went into effect. Continue reading Law Cracking Down on Careless Drivers Takes Effect Today

Neo-Futurists Bring (Un)Afraid to the Living Theatre

Experimental theater company Neo-Futurists (creators of the long-running “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Minutes“) are bringing a new show to the Living Theatre for a four-week limited engagement. Presenting what is billed as their “Fall 2010 horror show and fear experiment,” the show will examine the concept, causes and consequences of fear.  Attempting to summon a different guest spirit each performance, from such deceased masters of horror as Edgar Allen Poe, HP Lovecraft, Mary Shelley, M.R. James, the New York Neo-Futurists call upon the forces of chance and change to present a different show every night. Oct. 14th – Nov.6th // $18.00, $12 Student rush // 21 Clinton Street.

Second Annual Marco Polo Day Returns to the L.E.S.

Our friends at The Two Bridges Neighborhood Council will be hosting the second annual “Marco Polo Day” on Saturday. The occasion is a celebration of the co-existence of two communities, Chinatown & Little Italy, which was inagurated last year after the creation of the Chinatown Little Italy Historic District.  This year’s festivities will include marionette puppet displays from the NYC Village Halloween Parade, Superior Concept Monsters, and musical performances by ALFIO, Chinese Fremasons, The New York Chinese Opera Society and more. Grand Street, between Mott & Mulberry Streets, we be closed off for special events, which begin at noon.

Continue reading Second Annual Marco Polo Day Returns to the L.E.S.

Councilmember Margaret Chin Honors Hundred Year Old Church

First Presbyterian Church of New York City - photo by Katy Silberger via flickr

Councilmember Margaret Chin honored the First Chinese Presbyterian Church yesterday, as it officially turned 100 years old, with a City Council Proclamation.  Chin was at the historic Birthday Party earlier this summer (along with The New York Times, which profiled the congregarion’s oldest member here).

In her remarks during yesterday’s council meeting, Chin noted, “I remembered reading about Rev. Huie Kin, the founding pastor of the Church in 1910 and his work in Chinatown helping the Chinese immigrant workers who were strangers in a strange land with all kinds of needs.  Continue reading Councilmember Margaret Chin Honors Hundred Year Old Church

Ann Magnuson Comes To Abrons With Dueling Harps

Downtown club diva and actress Ann Magnuson will make her first New York theatrical appearance in nine years (she’s been in L.A.) with perfomer Adam Dugas tonight at Abrons Arts Center.  Expect some theatrical fireworks in this musical mash-up performance that will be accompanied by harpists Alexander Rannie and Mia Theodoratus. In Dueling Harps, the quartet will present “an arsenal of tunes ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime: psychedelic calls to prayer, Henry Purcell’s Baroque art songs, Kraftwerk, Buffy St. Marie, Lee Hazlewood, and Pink Floyd, as well as original songs by Magnuson and Dugas.” Oct. 14 -16 // 8p // $20 // 466 Grand Street.

Good Morning: EMT’s Help Catch Hit-and-Run Driver, Ticketing in the Bus Lane, Talking Up Kickstarter

We’re waking up to blue skies, but our weather will be changing for the worse in the next several hours. The forecasters say a Nor’easter is heading our way this afternoon.   The rain is supposed to begin around 5pm. Look for a high of 65. Continue reading Good Morning: EMT’s Help Catch Hit-and-Run Driver, Ticketing in the Bus Lane, Talking Up Kickstarter

Art Exhibition Helps Enliven Allen Street Pedestrian Malls

Hester Street Collaborative is an organization that believes in improving public spaces in our neighborhood any way it can. Yesterday leaders of the LES non-profit gathered with city officials and four talented artists to unveil “Mall-terations,” a temporary exhibition on the Allen Street pedestrian malls.

Continue reading Art Exhibition Helps Enliven Allen Street Pedestrian Malls