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June 2011
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Velazquez, Sadik-Khan Announce Traffic Study

Photo

Rep. Nydia Velazquez and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadek-Khan just wrapped up a news conference in Chinatown. Standing on Hester Street, on the edge of Sara D. Roosevelt Park, they announced the beginning of a neighborhood traffic safety study. More details later.

Crain’s: LES Gets an “F” as a Shopping Destination

Sunday afternoon on Orchard Street.

The week is beginning with an article sure to get people talking.  Crain’s New York reports: “The Lower East Side is getting an F as a shopping destination.”  Continue reading Crain’s: LES Gets an “F” as a Shopping Destination

Bowery Restaurant Store Owner Guilty of Tax Fraud

The owner of Daroma Restaurant Equipment at 180 Bowery pleaded guilty to tax fraud last month.

The owner of a large restaurant equipment and supply store on the Bowery has admitted to failing to report nearly $2 million in state and city sales taxes, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Meir Markovitz, 53, of Manhattan, was convicted late last month of one felony count each of attempted grand larceny in the first degree and city tax fraud in the fourth degree, according to court records. Under a plea agreement with prosecutors struck May 25, Markovitz admitted failing to turn over 90 percent of the sales taxes he collected from customers since 2004, as well as filing a false New York City corporate tax return in 2010 that understated the business’s receipts by two-thirds.

Continue reading Bowery Restaurant Store Owner Guilty of Tax Fraud

That Awful Smell on Broome Street? Mystery Solved!

Google images.

There are lots of great things about summer in the city. The rotting odor wafting up from the street is not one of them.  On the Lower East Side, most everyone would agree that Broome Street, near Allen, smells particularly awful just about any time of the year, but especially in the dog days of July and August. New York Magazine reporter Molly Young decided it was time to launch an investigation (someone has too much time on her hands). Continue reading That Awful Smell on Broome Street? Mystery Solved!

Rent Deal Progress, Coaxing Walmart to Buy Local, East River Swimming Pools

  • Fred Dicker: a rent deal in Albany is “hours away;” decontrol cap will rise to about $2500; Cuomo read real estate industry honchos the “riot act.” (Post)
  • “The board of the Rent Stabilization Association, a group of large and midsize residential landlords… agreed (Friday) to move off of its long-held position that the existing (rent) law must be renewed in its current form (WSJ).”
  • Senator Schumer wants the federal government to issue letter grades for discount bus carriers (WABC).
  • Speaker Quinn asks Walmart to buy local produce as a condition for opening stores in New York City (Daily News).
  • Document drop: new tidbits about our elected officials disclosed in financial statements. Rep. Carolyn Maloney has assets ranging between $12.3 million and $44.6 million; the value of her East 92nd Street town house is (as high as) $25 million. Rep. Nydia Velazquez has assets of up to $5 million, including a brownstone in Carroll Gardens,  but her debts total (as much as) $5.2 million (Post)
  • The hipster architect dreaming of building floating pools in the East River has started a Kickstarter campaign (NY Press).

Good Morning!

LES Streetscape

Photo by Joel Raskin; www.joelraskin.blogspot.com.

After a beautiful summer weekend, more of the same to start the week! Partly cloudy skies and a high of 80 expected today. Continue reading Good Morning!

NYPD Closes “Welcome to the Johnsons”

As we tweeted in the wee hours this morning, another bar has been shuttered by the 7th Precinct. This time, it’s Welcome to the Johnsons at 123 Rivington Street.  Last night, the NYPD and city attorneys showed up with a temporary restraining order, forcing the ironic 70′s theme bar to close its doors.  On Tuesday, owner Frannie Marchese will be called in to State Supreme Court to answer allegations that Welcome to the Johnsons serves alcohol to minors and has failed to hire licensed security guards. Continue reading NYPD Closes “Welcome to the Johnsons”

Sponsored Post: Grand Street Apartment of the Week

This spacious one-bedroom with beamed ceilings, mint renovated bath, and large windowed eat-in kitchen has eastern and northern exposures for excellent morning sun. The apartment overlooks a private gated park and offers a nice quiet oasis with soothing views to open sky and tree tops.  Continue reading Sponsored Post: Grand Street Apartment of the Week

Seward Park Co-op Elects Board Members

Seward Park Co-op stretches along Grand Street between Essex and Pitt streets.

The Seward Park Co-op announced the outcome of its annual board of directors election this morning. Four seats were up for grabs. Incumbents Karen Wolfson and Geordan Goldstein were re-elected, while newcomers Harold Aranoff and Brett Leitner claimed the other two seats. Continue reading Seward Park Co-op Elects Board Members

Peek at 74 Orchard, LES Food Tours, Dragon Fruit, Falai

Renovations were in the works this week at 74 Orchard St., the former home of Bunny Chow.

It’s been a really busy week on the LES restaurant scene. The health department shut down The National Underground. The Doughnut Plant made plans to expand. Cafe Grumpy opened. In other food news:

  • We took a sneak peek at the renovations inside 74 Orchard, the former home of the short-lived Bunny Chow and the future home of an as-yet-unnamed burgers and fish-and-chips joint backed by the owners of Los Feliz.
  • The Tenement Museum’s Annie Polland talked about German beer halls of old and the Lower East Side food tours beginning next week.
  • Dragon fruit is making its way onto American menus, and the chef at Alias says, “It looks like something out of Star Wars, like Jabba the Hut would be eating.”
  • Iacopo Falai is expanding his LES empire with a new trattoria at 77 Clinton St.

JOIN US! For a Night of LES Trivia

Comedienne Jesica Delfino, who will be hosting our LES Trivia Night on June 28th.

We are thrilled to be co-sponsoring a night of Lower East Side trivia with our friends at the Tenement Museum’s Tenement Talks series.

The fun-filled night is also sponsored by Fontana’s, where the event will take place at 6:30p on Tuesday, June 28th.

The fantastic and lovely musical comedienne Jessica Delfino will be our wonderful host for the evening.

There will be plenty of drink specials, tasty treats from the neighborhood (did we mention cupcakes?) and exciting prizes from local businesses…Plus, all kinds of fun trivia about the Lower East Side. Categories will include: History, Music, Famous People, Landmarks and more…so grab your neighbors and join us for an exciting night of LES trivia and culture!

Visit us on Facebook for more details.

FREE // 6:30-8:00p // 105 Eldridge St.

Orchard St. Business Calls for Stepped Up Police Patrols

Merchants and business owners up and down Orchard are calling for more police protection in the wake of Tuesday's violent robbery.

As we reported yesterday, this week’s violent attempted robbery at the Pilgrim vintage clothing boutique has focused new attention on shoplifting and other incidents that have plagued Orchard Street for the past several months. Still recovering from injuries suffered in Tuesday’s bloody altercation, the shop’s co-owner, Brian Bennett said, the situation has “gotten totally out of hand and we can’t defend ourselves.”

Bennett is certainly not alone among Orchard Street business owners, in his belief that more needs to be done to curtail crime on the neighborhood’s main commercial strip. Yesterday afternoon, the management at M & M Environmental, the pest control company at 32 Orchard, reached out to us.  Timothy Wong, M & M’s director, said he’s been trying to get the police to pay more attention to incidents happening on lower Orchard (M & M is located between Canal and Hester streets) for several years. Continue reading Orchard St. Business Calls for Stepped Up Police Patrols

Remembering Vincent Chin in Columbus Park

June 23 marks the 29th anniversary of the bludgeoning death of Vincent Chin, who was beaten with a baseball bat by two white auto-workers in a hate crime in Detroit in 1982. Thursday evening, a vigil to honor him is planned in Columbus Park, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Continue reading Remembering Vincent Chin in Columbus Park

Take a Boat Ride, New Boutique, Rent Control, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Tompkins Square Piano

  • The new East River Ferry service is up and running, and offering free guided tours of its Brooklyn and Queens destinations with a Lonely Planet travel expert tomorrow (NYWaterway)
  • Blake Scotland’s new boutique celebrates its opening on Clinton Street (Fashionista)
  • The governor is not happy with the state Senate over rent regulations lapse (NYT)
  • A new documentary about Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, punk-era iconoclast and denizen of the LES (WSJ)
  • The best tabloid covers about Anthony Weiner’s resignation (Gothamist)
  • Tompkins Square Park’s piano is back for the summer (EVGrieve)

Good Morning!

Today brings thundershowers and highs in the high 70s, but the weekend will be perfect weather for a nice bike ride. Expect mostly sunny days and highs in the mid-80s for Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy your weekend!