Photo: A busy afternoon at the Forsyth Street produce market.
In Lower East Side News:
–Applications are now being accepted through the Chinatown Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Last year the state awarded $20 million for Chinatown revitalization projects. [AM New York]
–Cops arrested a suspect who slashed an Asian man across the face as a J train pulled into the Delancey Street station this past Sunday morning. [Yahoo News]
–Two former police officers were convicted by Manhattan juries of swiping cash during an incident on the Lower East Side in 2019. While the ex-cops thought they were pulling over a drunk driver, it was actually part of a sting operation in an NYPD “integrity test.” [Daily News]
–Drug overdose prevention kits are increasingly available in NYC restaurants. Chelsey Ann, who works at the Lower East Side spot, Las’ Lap, says, “We want to keep our community safe, and we’re not going to naively pretend recreational drug use doesn’t happen in the neighborhood.” [Eater]
–The Lower East Side, of course, plays a big role in Todd Haynes’ new film, The Velvet Underground. [Tablet]
–The number of street signs in both English and Chinese in Chinatown is dwindling. The dual language street sign program was, “a vast, neighborhood-wide exercise in translation carried out hand-in-hand with the city government… The history of these signs tells the story of the growth, decline and evolution of one of Manhattan’s largest immigrant communities.” [The New York Times]
–The Lower East Side’s Lenin statue atop 178 Norfolk St. has been lit up in the colors of Ukraine’s flag. [New York Post]
–A Chinatown restaurant collected almost $1 million in pandemic relief funds before closing. Now its landlord is suing to recover $400,000 in back rent. [The Broadsheet]
–The Tucson-based boutique, Desert Vintage, opens up an outpost on the Lower East Side, lured to the neighborhood by their friends at Bode. [The New York Times]
