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 Photo by Pat Arnow We have received word that the famous gorilla artist Olek – yes, the one who has been crocheting all sorts of objects around the neighborhood, from bicycles to cars, and most recently, the Wall Street Bull – will be teaching a class, “Crochet Sculpture!” at the Educational Alliance starting this Monday, January 24th. The class description: Crochet for beginners, artists and experienced ‘crocheters,’ this class will be a creative laboratory. Continue reading OLEK, Gorilla Crochet Sculptress, Offers Local Class
 
 Department of Sanitation trucks break the ice on the Lower East Side. Photo by Joel Raskin. Partly cloudy with a high of 32 today. The snow returns this evening, continuing into tomorrow. A few inches expected. Continue reading Good Morning!
 Photo via Cat Sitter in the City. …Lady Gaga is showing Anderson her old stomping grounds at 176 Stanton… it appears that they enter the building for a tour… afterwards, the pair walk toward Clinton Street, where a police car pulls up. Lady Gaga says hello, etc. They move on. Then! The police car pulls in front of 176 Stanton, where someone who could be the super emerges and starts screaming and gesturing. Basically, he’s pe-od that Lady Gaga got into the building… Minutes later, the super is still screaming.
You can be almost certain we haven’t heard the last of this.
 Amar Ramasar and the Abrons Arts Center Dance Ensemble courtesy of Abrons Arts Center It was a packed house at the Abrons Arts Center on Sunday for an impressive benefit performance, An Afternoon to Celebrate Amar Ramasar and Friends, held in honor of Abrons alumnus and New York City Ballet principal dancer Amar Ramasar and the talented students at Abrons. We knew it was a rare treat to see Mr. Ramasar, live and up close, but we had no idea we’d get to see such fantastic talent from the students at Abrons. (More gorgeous photos after the jump.) Continue reading Abrons Celebrates Amar Ramasar, Arts Training Programs
The gallery and performance mecca, Ramiken Crucible, is opening a new space (above ground!) at 389 Grand Street. Owner/artist/musician Mike Egan tells us the other space (downstairs in the Mayflower Building at E. Broadway and Clinton) is under renovation. We’ve noticed him working away for the past couple weeks, getting the space ready for a group show, WIN LAST DON’T CARE, which opens this Friday from 6-9pm.
 A message from District 1 City Councilmember Margaret Chin:
I am writing today to invite all of District 1 to a public hearing on the City’s response to the December Blizzard and snow cleanup. I encourage everyone to attend and make your voices heard on this important issue. The hearing will be held this Thursday, January 20th at 6:00pm at the Adam Clayton Powell State Office (163 W 125th Stm Room 8ABC, Adam Clayton Powell Blvd/Seventh Ave). In addition, starting in February, my office will begin holding monthly ‘town hall’ style meetings to increase communication between the residents of District 1 and myself. I look forward to these meetings and I will be sending along more information on our first event soon.
Also – at yesterday’s City Council meeting – Chin introduced two bills. The first piece of proposed legislation would require restaurant owners to clean up liquids that leak from garbage placed curbside. The second bill would order the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to release an annual report on Hepatitis B & C. The proposals now go the Council committees for review.
 Hotel Chantelle, via Gothamist. In food/restaurant news today:
- Landbrot, a new German bread maker, has signed a 10-year lease for a ground floor space at 185 Orchard (the Thompson LES Hotel). It’ll be one of two Manhattan locations. According to Crain’s the cafe should open in around three months.
- Gothamist chats with Hotel Chantelle (92 Ludlow) owner Benjamin Shih; a full-scale restaurant (French Colonial) is planned to complement the cocktails currently being served — AND — there’s going to be a large rooftop dining area.
- The Post is in a dither because “Chinese Restaurant News” only included two New York restaurants on its top 10 list (Congee Village is #9). A place in Bryn Mawr, PA is number 1! Bryn Mawr?
- Florence Fabricant talks up the “real buttermilk” that Saxelby Cheesemongers gets direct from an Orwell, Vermont farm.
 Photo by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis. Next Monday, Community Board 3′s land use committee will meet to vote on proposed guidelines for the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area. Last night, CB3 released a revised draft, incorporating some feedback received from committee and community members.
According to an email message from CB3 Chair Dominic Pisciotta, additional remarks have been “compiled into a separate document that has been made available to committee members for consideration and discussion… It will also be viewable to the public at (next Monday’s meeting).”
The guidelines are available for review on the community board’s web site. There aren’t a lot of major changes from the previous drafts, but every word is expected to come under scrutiny between now and Monday’s meeting. We’ve been talking with a number of committee members in the few days to find out whether they’re inclined to support the guidelines. More on that later today.
 Essex Street and Canal.
Six days after the indomitable snowman went viral on The Lo-Down, it’s still hanging in there on the corner of Essex and Canal. The rain continues this morning before moving out. We’re expecting a high of 39. Continue reading Good Morning!
 A new report by Halstead Property agents Jeremy Bolger and Neal Young shows that, reflecting a citywide trend, sales of Grand Street’s co-ops began to stabilize somewhat in 2010, with apartments that had lingered on the market finally finding buyers, and first-time home buyers taking advantage of low interest rates.
Characterizing prices as having “flattened out” from the steep rise of 2006 and 2007 and equally sharp decline of 2008 and 2009, Bolger credits low mortgage rates with stimulating last year’s sales in the Seward Park, East River, Hillman and Amalgamated co-ops, including the turnover of many units that had sat on the market for long stretches. A couple of years ago, it was not uncommon for a listing to sit for five to seven months awaiting the right buyer. Lately, well-priced units generally sell in two to four months, Bolger says. Continue reading Grand Street Co-op Sales: A 2010 Report
 The Museum at Eldridge Street will be hosting their 2nd annual Tu B’Shvat seder (also known as Jewish Arbor Day) and party this Sunday, Jan. 23rd, from 1-4pm.
The festival is free and open to the public. Activities look to be fun for the whole family and include: flower planting, a genealogy workshop, a family-tree art activity, a sustainable musical instruments design workshop and Rhythm for Recyclables concert, and a traditional Tu B’Shvat seder with grains, fruits, nuts and wine. Continue reading Museum at Eldridge to Host Winter Garden Festival
 The Jewish Daily Forward is holding a fascinating poetry contest based on the historic Triangle Factory Fire, which happened 100 years ago this March. It was considered the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and led to many labor laws created to help workers. They write:
A century ago, 146 workers – mostly immigrant women – died as flames engulfed the floors where they worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City. The ensuing public outcry against unsafe work conditions was covered in detail in the pages of the Jewish Daily Forward by poet Morris Rosenfeld.
Continue reading The Forward Holds Triangle Fire Poetry Contest
 Photo by C. Merry. In the next couple of hours, the snow will become rain and we’ll be experience a “wintry mix” until about 1pm. Warmer than yesterday (a high of 39) expected but look for the winds to return (20mph). Continue reading Good Morning!
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