Real Estate

Last year, after sixty years of selling fruits and vegetables from a beyond bare bones storefront at 400 Grand Street, cranky but beloved Ruby Baumgarten decided to call it quits. Now the ground-floor tenement space is about to get...

The attorney representing Chinatown developer William H. Su says he will appeal a decision from the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal ordering payments to the displaced tenants of 128 Hester. As we reported yesterday, the decision requires...

Affordable housing advocates believe a recent ruling from the State of New York ordering a Chinatown building owner to pay more than a million dollars to the former residents of 128 Hester Street has broad implications. On Friday, State Assembly...

We just returned from a news conference on Hester Street, in which tenant activists and elected officials announced a victory in a year-long legal struggle against a hotel developer. Last August, the residents of 128 Hester were forced from...

Once upon a time, the city envisioned creating an "urban beach and boat launch," something like the rendering posted above, on Pier 42. Last week, however, NYC's Economic Development Corp., detailed plans that are considerably less ambitious. David Quart,...

Flowers on Essex is making a move to Grand Street, taking over the space previously occupied by Isabella's Oven. The shop has been located at 51 Essex Street for about 7 years. A short time ago the owner, Bill...

Today we continue our series of interviews with community activists engaged in the ongoing debate about the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA).  The development site near the Williamsburg Bridge has languished for 43 years, as neighbors feuded about...

Back in March, we reported that M. Schames & Sons, the legendary Essex Street paint store, was being forced to relocate. The demolition of their neighbor, 5 Essex, had apparently destabilized a shared exterior wall. A Lo-Down reader noted...

This week Lower East Side residents vented their frustration at city housing officials, who struggled to explain why apartments in three NYCHA developments have been without gas for up to four months.  The tenants came to a meeting Wednesday...

Bill Morris, a novelist, freelance journalist and LES resident, noticed something peculiar near his apartment on East 5th Street. So he decided to do some sleuthing. Here's what he found: Taxpayers, rejoice!  Now that you've paid your state and federal...