–Happening Today: Community Board 3’s State Liquor Authority Committee meets tonight at 6:30 at 59 East 4th St. (Bowery). Among the liquor permit applications to be considered: a proposal from the team behind, Gracias Mama, a new Mexican cantina being built out at 162 East Broadway. You can read more about their plans here. The committee will also hear a new pitch for a restaurant at 107 Eldridge St. (next door to Fontana’s, which closes this week) and learn about the Wu Room, a club operating on the lower level of the Wyndham Garden Chinatown hotel.
–As the April 19 special election to replace former Assemblyman Sheldon Silver draws near, “some Democrats have privately acknowledged that they expect Republican candidate Lester Chang to perform better than expected in what is an extremely Democratic district, thanks to a fractious Democratic nomination process.” [Gotham Gazette]
–Former Lower Manhattan City Councilman Alan Gerson catches a break, as “a judge recently cut ($100,000 in fines from the Campaign Finance Board) in half, citing Gerson’s ‘extraordinary misfortune.'” [DNA Info]
–Here’s an update on what’s happening with the former Nevada Smith’s space. [EV Grieve]
–D.J. Jonathan Toubin’s Friday night gig, an “ecstatic, sweaty time portal to the swingin’ sixties” is still going strong at Home Sweet Home. [New Yorker]
–“Suffolk Arms” owner Giuseppe González has “a lot to prove, since his career up to this point has been defined by his unique ability to make excellent drinks and to piss off basically everyone he works with.” [Grub Street]
