2011 March | The Lo-Down : News from the Lower East Side

A new operator wants to serve alcohol at the home of the old White Slab Palace, which was shuttered by authorities last year.

Liquor License Applications: A Preview of February’s List

Back to School: Bureaucrats Fix Spelling Error!

Scenes From Chinese New Year Celebrations

CB3 Releases Agenda for April Liquor License Hearing

Community Board 3 is out with the agendas for its May committee meetings. Here’s a first look at the bars and restaurants seeking liquor licenses. CB3′s SLA Committee meets Monday, April 11, 630pm at the JASA/Green building, 200 East 5th Street. There are quite a few interesting items listed here. More details later. Continue reading CB3 Releases Agenda for April Liquor License Hearing

Jew Wish – One Girl’s Adventures in Online Dating, at the Museum at Eldridge Tonight

Writer/performer Rachel Evans will bring her comedic one-woman show, Jew Wish to the Museum at Eldridge Street tonight. Evans describes the show as “one girl’s journey through the world of online dating. With the aid of her nosy but well-meaning parents, she is surprised by where her search takes her and the discoveries she makes along the way. She is telling the stories from her room, but through playing ten other characters and recreating the different worlds. The main character, Rachel, brings the audience on the different dates, and with the help of her imagination, the audience is able to go on this ride with her.” The show was a big hit at last year’s New York International Fringe Festival. Directed by Rachel Eckerling. $20 adults; $15 students/seniors // Tonight at 7pm // 12 Eldridge Street.

Dr. Jane Katz to be Honored this Weekend

Dr. Jane Katz and Dr. Leon Katz. Photo courtesy: the Sol Goldman Y.

Sunday night, eight men and women will be inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Museum. One of the honorees has deep Lower East Side roots. Here’s the scoop, via the blog, Kaplan’s Corner:

Growing up on the Lower East Side of New York City, (Dr. Jane) Katz started swimming competitively at age 14. While a member of the U.S. Swim Team Maccabiah Games in Israel, her love for long-distance and synchronized swimming grew. Katz has competed in many races in pools, lakes, and even oceans. In 1964, she was a member of the U.S. synchronized swimming performance team in Tokyo. Some of her other achievements include being named an All-American and World Masters Championships. As recently as August, 2009 she competed in the National Senior Games winning several events. She earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a master’s degree at NYU and currently works as a professor at John Jay College and continues to teach student the benefits of water fitness at City University.

We spoke with Dr. Katz last November, just before her father – legendary swim coach Leon Katz – celebrated his 90th birthday at the Sol Goldman Y on 14th Street. Jane Katz takes her dad swimming several days a week at the Y, a place that served as a second home when she was growing up. You can see our story on Leon and jane Katz here.

This Week’s Music Picks

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

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS – Thur-Fri, Mar 25-26 | 8:30PM at Bowery Ballroom

Black Joe Lewis comes from Texas, but you’d swear he came straight from the late 1960′s. After boredom caused him to teach himself to play a guitar he got from the Austin pawnshop where he worked, Lewis put together a band and had a couple years of hit & miss success on the local scene. Ready to hang it up for good in 2007, serendipity stepped in, and Lewis was booked with his old band to open for Little Richard at a music festival. Things have never been the same. Somewhere between the tight horn groove of Eddie Floyd, and the sweaty raunch of Chuck Brown – “Garage Soul” is the term they’ve been throwin’ around, and it fits Lewis & The Honeybears pretty damn perfectly.

$16 Advance, $18 Door // 6 Delancey St.

Continue reading This Week’s Music Picks

Restaurant Owners Hope City Hall Can Cut Red Tape

Freemans Restaurant.

Ask any small business owner. They’ll tell you it’s a maddening experience trying to navigate the city’s bewildering maze of regulations. This is especially true for new restaurants. Yesterday, seven food-service entrepreneurs, including William Tigertt (Freemans and Peels), were invited to City hall to discuss the problem. The Daily News reports:

Among their complaints: Waiting six weeks for a 12-minute appointment to review plans with Buildings Department inspectors, ripping out and reinstalling equipment when two inspectors can’t agree what’s legal and agencies that don’t coordinate their inspections, forcing owners to sit and wait for weeks. The city’s bureaucracy has spawned an industry of expediters who use connections to push applications through – for a price. “We probably spent $60,000 on expediters and consultants – not to mention the same problems of paying $25,000 a month rent for an extra four months on the schedule while we got signoffs,” said William Tigertt.

Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith wants to “replace the blizzard of separate permits with a single ‘restaurant license’ and a simple checkoff process that would give New Yorkers a clear path to open a new food business.”

Bus Driver Says He Was Alert, Girls Prep Move Approved, Rent Law Posturing

The driver of the bus that crashed in the Bronx, killing 15, says he was sober and awake (NYT).

A crash victim sues the bus company and driver (NY1).

Education panel approves Girls Prep’s move to East 12th Street (DNA Info).

The governor releases a video threatening a government shutdown. Sheldon Silver’s response?: “I didn’t see it. I don’t think there was any reason for it.” (Politics on the Hudson)

Cuomo reportedly wants to raise thresholds for rent regulated apartments to at least reflect cost of living increases; GOP leader Skelos is opposed (Post).

Assembly Democrats are in a tough spot as the rent battle escalates (City Hall News).

Mayor Bloomberg chooses a new housing commissioner – is he up to the job? (Daily News).

Sweatshops on the Lower East Side: hardly a relic of the Triangle fire-era (The Forward).

A look at the Lower East Side leaders who emerged in the aftermath of the Trinagle tragedy (NYT).

Chinatown author to be honored by Hamilton-Madison House (Nearsay).

Woody Allen’s new film may not be getting rave reviews but his Moscot frames? That’s another matter (Esquire).

Good Morning!

Photo by Joel Raskin.

We’ll see more rain and snow this morning, but probably no more Thunder Sleet! Clearing this afternoon with a high of 45. Continue reading Good Morning!

Silver Seeks to Clarify Position on Rent Law Timing

As we reported earlier, Democratic lawmakers from New York City to Albany demanded today that rent reform be addressed in the nearly completed budget deal, not at some later date. Everyone was interested in knowing whether Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver would oppose the governor’s decision to delay the rent debate until after the budget is passed. Here’s how the Daily News reported the story:

When reporters caught up to him on his way into the Assembly Democratic conference, Silver said the true deadline was June 15th, when the current rent regulations expire. “The end result is obviously the most important thing and that’s that we have a meaningful rent regulation bill in place when the current law expires,” Silver said. “That’s the most important thing. As far as the timing of it, it would be more convenient in the budget, obviously, to do it now, but what’s the most important thing is to have a system in place before the expiration. Continue reading Silver Seeks to Clarify Position on Rent Law Timing

Follow-up: City Council Backs Bus Bill

This afternoon the City Council voted in favor of a “home rule message” calling on the State Legislature to pass legislation setting up a permitting system for intercity buses. This morning, a Council committee held a hearing on the matter and unanimously recommended passage of the resolution. Continue reading Follow-up: City Council Backs Bus Bill

Lower East Side Lawmakers Press For Rent Reform Now

Margaret Chin listens as a resident advocates for expanded rent protections.

This morning, City Council members rallied in the rain with tenant advocates in support of extending and expanding New York’s rent regulation laws. Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the rent issue would be dealt with separately from ongoing budget negotiations.

That’s not what the elected officials and activists huddled on the steps of City Hall wanted to hear. City Councilmember Margaret Chin said she was “disappointed in the governor’s backtracking.” Just a few days ago, Cuomo suggested the rent law issue as well as property tax relief could be part of a budget deal. Continue reading Lower East Side Lawmakers Press For Rent Reform Now

Council Committee Urges State to Establish Permitting System for Intercity Buses

This past weekend on Canal Street; police pulled over discount buses for inspection.

A City Council committee this morning gave a boost to proposed state legislation that would allow New York City to set up a permitting system for intercity buses. This afternoon, the full Council will vote on the so-called “home rule” resolution, calling on Albany to pass the bills now before lawmakers in Albany. Pushing through the bus regulation bill has taken on greater urgency in light of the horrible accident in the Bronx March 12th that left 15 passengers dead. Continue reading Council Committee Urges State to Establish Permitting System for Intercity Buses

Anna Silver PTA Comedy Fundraiser to be Held at Laugh Lounge

The PTA at the Anna Silver School (P.S. 20) is holding a fun funny fundraiser this Friday night, March 25th at 6:30p. Comediennes Carla Johnston (“Moms Cracking Up”), Marion Grodin ( “The View”) and Cory Kahaney (“Lettermen”) will be doing stand-up at the Laugh Lounge. Family friendly – bring the whole gang. $20 (all proceeds go to the school’s PTA) plus a two drink min // 6:30 – 8:30pm //151 Essex Street // No reservations are required, just show up at the door!

Weekend Kid’s Pick

Family workshop on Chinese Puzzles at MOCA.

This Saturday visit the Museum of Chinese in America and try your hand at puzzle solving! MOCA is offering family puzzle-solving workshops on the last Saturday of each month from March to August 2011. Kids 4 and older work with their parents to solve the puzzles, hear stories related to the puzzles, and experiment with puzzle-inspired art.

Time: Saturday, March 26 from 1:30 to 2:30 // Location: 215 Centre Street // Admission: $10 per child and adult pair; $5 per additional child; Free for MOCA Family Members. RSVP to education@mocanyc.org

Food Wire: Goat Town, Dining on Mulberry, Ribs & Brews with Martha!

Martha Stewart and Chris Santos of Beauty & Essex talk ribs and brews.

In this morning’s food news:

In the Voice, Robert Sietsema writes about the resurgence of the French bistro, as evidenced by the presence of places like Goat Town, the new spot on East 5th Street.

The Voice also talks up the culinary renaissance on Mulberry Street. Rubirosa, Torrisi Italian Specialties and Balaboosta are featured.

The veggie burgers at Tiny’s and Alias get a thumbs up in the Times.

Martha Stewart and Chris Santos of Beauty & Essex chow down.

Cuomo “Unlinks” Rent Renewal from Budget, Triangle Sleuth, Fake Ads

Governor Cuomo says rent laws and property tax caps will not be part of the budget deal. He also comes out in support of expanding, not just extending, rent protection, laws (NYT).

What would happen if the rent cap was raised above $2000? Speculation abounds (Curbed).

Lower East Side resident Michael Hirsch uncovers the forgotten names from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (NY1).

Fake ad campaign sweeps the Lower East Side (DNA Info).

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