Photo: A cold day on Madison Street, courtesy of @spaghettisubway.
In the news this past week:
–“A group of Lower East Side residents and business owners have joined a lawsuit to stop the state’s congestion pricing plan. The local opponents of congestion pricing include a funeral home director, a Chinatown ice cream shop owner and a music teacher who works in the Bronx. [AM New York]
–Other plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit against the tolling proposal include Kathryn Freed, a former judge and City Council member, and Baruch Weiss, owner of East Side Glatt Kosher Butcher Shop. [New York Post]
–The push continues to keep Beth Israel open despite Mount Sinai’s decision to close it. Mount Sinai officials didn’t show up to a recent community meeting where they were supposed to have responded to neighborhood concerns. [CBS New York]
–An appearance by Mike Tyson boosted the fortunes of Conbud, the licensed Lower East Side dispensary, but will the retired champion boxer have a future as a tycoon in the marijuana industry? [The New York Times]
–The city prepares to begin a nearly $13 million renovation of the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, which will among other upgrades, bring the historic former school building into ADA compliance. [CityLand]
–There’s a new political club in the neighborhood. The Three Bridges Democratic Club had an official kickoff last week. [Instagram]
–“A secret space, a mini-biennial;” Roberta Smith turns her attention to an impressive group show staged at 1 Ludlow, one of the Lower East Side’s quirkiest buildings, where Tony Cox’s Club Rhubarb gallery staged quite a pop-up. Smith writes, “The art, the building and the square (Dimes, sigh) fit together like nesting dolls, demonstrating that in this time of gleaming big-box galleries and global franchising, Manhattan still has patches of grass roots and D.I.Y. All that is needed is an artist who believes that the work of other artists deserves to be more visible.” [The New York Times]
–Meet your Lower East Side neighbor, Jason Girouard, who spent the past year or so running across every street in Manhattan, traveling 750 miles on foot. [Gothamist]
