This weekly feature spotlights a wide variety of people who live and work on the Lower East Side. If you know someone you would like to suggest be featured in “My LES,” please email us here.
This week’s L.E.S.-er is Laurie Gwen Shapiro. She’s a writer and a documentary filmmaker with neighborhood roots that go way back. As you’ll see, she’s got some amazing stories from the Lower East Side!
All month long, the neighborhood has been captivated by the always growing and evolving snowman outside the bodega at the corner of Essex and Canal streets. But it is now clear his influence extends way beyond this bustling intersection. Take a look at some of the photographic evidence we’ve received in the past couple of days from Lo-Down readers: Continue reading Snowman/woman Mania Sweeps the Lower East Side
Sheldon Silver and Assembly Democrats might refuse to renew a tax break benefiting real estate developers unless Republicans in Albany agree to strengthen rent control laws (WSJ).
The State Senate is scheduled to vote on the governor’s tax cap proposal today; upstate media speculate about Silver’s response (Pougkeepsie Journal).
Mostly sunny with a high of 30 today. The snow and sleet return tomorrow, but it looks like there won’t be much in the way of accumulation (the forecasters are predicting a couple of inches). Continue reading Good Morning!
Here are musicianKen Beasley’s top music picks on the Lower East Side this weekend:
Sarah Jarosz
SARAH JAROSZ – Sat., 1/29 | 7PM at Rockwood Music Hall
Texas songwriter and Grammy nominee, Sarah Jarosz, has been amassing industry, peer, and audience recognition for several years now (she’s only 20) and she’s coming to New York to play a month long residency at the Rockwood. A deft multi-instrumentalist (mandolin, guitar, banjo), Jarosz also has a knack for taking the “stripped-down” approach of performance to its heart-wrenching brink, with darkly gorgeous songs and a beautiful crystalline voice.
Much thanks to Lo-Down reader Marijke Briggs who sent along this photo with the note: “In competition with the big guy on Essex and Canal…” At least we have these images to keep us smiling through all this snow!
Yesterday morning we posted this surveillance video, which Police say shows the suspect in an attempted sexual assault of a 12 year old girl earlier this week. At around 6pm on Monday, the girl heard banging on the door of her apartment building, on Hester Street. She let the man inside, police say, and he followed her up to the third floor stairwell. The suspect ran away before the girl was hurt.
We’re re-posting the video now, at the request of City Councilmember Margaret Chin. After being briefed on the case by the NYPD, she released a statement yesterday saying:
“Keeping our children safe should be every community’s number one priority. I urge parents, grandparents, and adult caregivers to sit down and talk to their children about the importance of never buzzing up or opening the door to let a stranger — or anyone — into the building.”
The suspect is described as white man age 25-30, 5’9″ tall, 175 lbs, and was last seen wearing a blue jacket, brown pants and a gray hat. Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. You can also submit your tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting your tips to 274637(CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.
The Great Winter of 2011 marches on. Snow showers pick up this afternoon, continuing into this evening. More snow tomorrow afternoon. Look for a high around 35 today and tomorrow. Careful navigating those soupy intersections out there!
There wasn't too much traffic on the Williamsburg Bridge bike lane.
Schools closed, traffic snarled and most mass transit stuttered, but for those who ventured around the Lower East Side and the East Village on foot today, there was plenty of snowy scenery to appreciate.
Wednesday’s one-two punch of a storm that ended in the wee hours of Thursday brought record-breaking snowfall, making January 2011 the snowiest ever. With an official measurement of 19 inches in Central Park, the storm ranks as the eighth largest snow storm in New York history. (The Dec. 26, 2010, blizzard ranked sixth.)
There is a fun new event coming to the neighborhood. It’s called the LES Film Festival and it’s 20 days of independent short and feature films made for under $30,000. Screenings will be held at the intimate Grand Opening space on Norfolk Street. Their judges are local muralist Marco of MarcoArt, actress Eva Amurri (Californication, The Banger Sisters), Phil Hartman of Two Boots Pizza and Indie Film Fame, and Roxy Hunt and Tony Castle of BFD Productions. Continue reading Grand Opening To Host Micro-Budget LES Film Festival
Essex Street and Canal. Photo by Bridget Bosworth.
Lo-Down reader Bridget Bosworth is doing an excellent job keeping us alerted to the ongoing transformations of our new local hero, the Giant Snowman at Essex and Canal. Looks like he got a little buried last night!
City crews have their work cut out for them today. Most main streets appear to be in pretty good shape. But, even before yesterday’s storm, the sidewalk along Seward Park (on East Broadway) was an icy mess. In spite of numerous calls to 311, this stretch has gone un-shoveled. Lo-Down reader Linda Jones of the Friends of Seward Park and Community Board 3, sent us this photo today.
UPDATE 2:24PM: We understand Parks Department workers are clearing the sidewalk right now. Community Board 3 has been in contact with city officials throughout the day on this particular issue.
Earlier this week, news reports suggested the MTA plans to reduce service on 40 bus lines, including the M22. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has written to Jay Walder, the troubled transit agency’s chief, to protest the proposed cuts:
This weekly feature spotlights a wide variety of people who live and work on the Lower East Side. If you know someone you would like to suggest be featured in “My LES,” please email us here.
