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 Photo credit: New Museum. The New Museum has a way of attracting publicity and crowds for its big exhibitions. The recently-closed “Carsten Holler: Experience,” complete with a two-story slide and a sensory deprivation tank, brought more than 100,000 visitors through the doors in the past several months. It was easily the museum’s most popular show in its 35-year history.
But other projects seem to keep a far lower profile, including the reasonably new experimental space, “Studio 231,” located on the ground floor of the old commercial and residential building next door to the Nu Mu’s Bowery headquarters. Recently we visited the space, where Berlin-based artist Enrico David is currently being featured, and chatted with Massimiliano Gioni, the New Museum’s associate director and director of exhibitions, about Studio 231 (he was also named director of visual art for the Venice Biennale today).
Continue reading New Museum’s Studio 231 Inspires Experimentation
 
 Moldy Fig, 178 Stanton Street. Earlier this month, we reported about the troubles at the Moldy Fig Jazz Club, at 178 Stanton Street. The business had been closed since November, due to a serious medical condition faced by owner Charles Brown. The club’s Facebook page was not specific about the illness and our calls seeking more information were not returned. Now it appears the establishment, which just opened in the summer, is history. A notice from the city marshals office has appeared on the front door. The notice says the landlord has taken possession of the business, acting on a warrant obtained in civil court. If anyone has additional information, please let us know.
 Photo by Cynthia Lamb. Last winter Chinese clay pots were often spotted on the bar at Clandestino. The reason was a mini-craze among staff and regulars for bo zai fan, Hong Kong-style rice casserole. The source was A-Wah Restaurant, 5 Catherine Street., a relative newcomer to Chinatown, specializing in Hong Kong cuisine.
This summer I mentioned wanting to feature A-Wah in an article to my buddy (and Clandestino regular) Peter Ho. He counseled me to wait until winter, because bo zai fan is a cold weather dish. When it finally felt like winter, I decided it was time for some rice casserole, so I headed down to Catherine Street. Continue reading JP’s Food Adventures: A-Wah Offers Perfect Comfort Food
 Image: Parsons. During the past few years Buscada, an organization that tries to stimulate community-based conversations, has been collaborating with students at the New School to explore SPURA, the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area. Tonight at Parsons the latest installment of the project will have its opening. The curator, Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, gives a talk at 6:30 p.m. centered around the exhibition, “Layered SPURA: Spurring conversations through visual urbanism.” There’s a reception following the talk. Both events will be held in the Aronson Galleries, 66 5th Avenue (13th Street). More info here.
- Andre Balazs wants the Cooper Square Hotel to be a “cost conscious center of the community.” (Real Deal)
- Assemblymember Grace Meng is not very happy about the mayor’s response to a proposal she and Senator Daniel Squadron are floating for a Chinese Lunar New Year school holiday (Politicker NY).
- Silver pushes for a minimum wage hike and seeks to reassert the Assembly’s influence in Governor Cuomo’s second year (Pougkeepsie Journal).
- Checking in on the St. Brigid’s Rectory (EV Grieve).
- Justin Long and Ryan Phillippe make a quick exit from the “Back Room” after a “large, dark-haired woman, who had clearly been over-served, started throwing cups and dishes.” (Daily News)
 Orchard Street at dusk (between Stanton & Rivington). Photo by jdx - http://jdx.me/ Partly cloudy today with a high of 55. Isn’t springtime nice?!
Remember to send us your photos and news tips at tips@thelodownny.com… and to like us on Facebook for news updates all day.
 210 Stanton Street. Photo: thelodownny.com. This afternoon, police were called to an apartment building at 210 Stanton Street (just west of Pitt), where a 16-year old girl was shot, allegedly by her boyfriend. The victim was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with a gun shot wound to the arm. She is expected to survive. We’re told investigators believe there was some kind of argument between the two just before the incident happened. The suspect is not yet in custody. We’ll have more details as they become available.
UPDATE 9:05 p.m. The Daily News reports that the victim is two-months pregnant. According to the story, her name is Kimberly Velasquez. She is going to be okay and doctors believe the baby was unharmed by the ordeal. Witnesses told the News there was a confrontation in the hallway of the apartment building just after 2 p.m. It was not clear tonight whether the suspect is the father of the baby. The suspect has still not been arrested.
 Klara Lidén, Self Portrait with Key to the City, 2005. Digital print. Courtesy the artist, Galerie Neu, Berlin, and Reena Spaulings Fine Art, New York The New Museum announced its spring exhibition schedule today.
Among the highlights: a large scale exhibition by Klara Lidén, a Berlin based artist who creates installations and videos inspired by “found objects” from urban environments (see photo); a film exhibition by Tacita Dean focusing on groundbreaking artists Merce Cunningham, Julie Mehretu, Claes Oldenburg, and Cy Twombly; and the first solo New York show by British sculptor Phyllida Barlow. You can read more about all of these projects on the New Museum’s web site.
Tomorrow, we’ll have our interview with Massimiliano Gioni, the museum’s associate director and director of exhibitions. We talked all about Studio 231, the relatively new experimental space next to Nu Mu’s main building.
Some interesting items popping up online this afternoon:
- Guns N’ Roses to play Webster Hall (Rolling Stone via EV Grieve).
- In the second part of his interview with Eater, WD-50′s Wylie Dufresne says he’s proud of what the restaurant has accomplished, but he’s always been surprised New Yorkers did not fully embrace it.
- The Local EV has a look at the martial arts studio that has taken over 34 Avenue A, a location that has been the subject of several contentious CB3 debates in the past couple of years.
 Photo courtesy of stephensperaillustration.com These lovely photos are courtesy of local photographer and designer Stephen Spera. (click through for more!)
Continue reading More Gorgeous Photos From Chinatown’s Lunar New Year Parade
 Photo: Parker Fitzgerlad. Tonight at Mercury Lounge, a musician who’s getting quite a bit of notice for her just released third album will take the stage. NPR called Laura Gibson’s first efforts “harrowingly intimate.” On “La Grande,” the Oregon-based singer goes in new directions, “stretching her own limits, without losing sight of the warmth, richness, subtlety and haunted beauty that made her worth celebrating in (earlier albums).” The show is at 7:30 p.m. and costs $12. Mercury Lounge is located at 217 East Houston. You can sample “La Grande” here.
 2012 Lunar New Year Parade, Chinatown. Photo by thelodownny.com. According to the Better Chinatown Society, the event sponsor, yesterday’s Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown drew more than 400,000 spectators. We took in the sights and sounds along Mott Street, just barely surviving the press section mosh pit at the start of the route on Hester. Gearing up for a hotly contested mayoral campaign, this year’s parade created some interesting photo opportunities for local pols. Maybe we’ll get into that sometime in the future. For the moment, let’s relive the good times!
Continue reading Scenes From Chinatown’s Lunar New Year Parade
 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.
What do you do?
I am an actor, computer nerd, all-around gadget geek and practitioner of Yoga.
I also love to cook and, for an amateur chef, there aren’t many better places for buying food than Essex Market. I’ve been shopping there for as long as I have lived in the LES but with the – somewhat – recent additions like Formaggio Essex, Heritage Meats, Rainbo’s Fish (just to name a few), Essex Market is a dream!
How long have you lived on the LES?
I moved to Orchard and Broome in 1997. When I arrived, the streets south of Delancey hadn’t much to offer other than cheap panty-hose and cheap leather. So far as I can remember, the first bar to open around me was Lolita which is still a fun place to go with friends if one of the couch and chair areas in the back is open.
Continue reading My LES: Benjamin Bauman
- A group marching in solidarity with Occupy Oakland ended up around Tompkins Square Park last night; police arrested about a dozen protesters (NYT, EV Grieve).
- A City Council panel passes a resolution calling on the Army to institute better “cultural sensitivity” training, in the aftermath of the hazing and death of Lower East Side soldier Danny Chen (Daily News).
- Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver confirms legislation pushing the state’s minimum wage to $8.50/hour will be introduced in Albany today (Daily News).
- Time is running out for restaurant operators to respond to the City Council’s survey on NYC’s restaurant inspection system; the Health Department says the results will have “negligible value.” (WNYC)
- Another record store bites the dust (Jeremiah).
- A conversation with Greg Armas of Assembly New York on Ludlow Street (Fashionista).
- Meet the top gentile in the Yiddish theater (NYT).
 Photo by Joel Raskin. Close-up on the Blue Building, the high rise Lower East Siders love to hate. Mostly sunny today with a high of 44. We might see some showers on Wednesday, when the thermometer will edge up towards 60.
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