Grand Street News

AN EAGLE ON MY AIR CONDITIONER

2010-11-19T05:54:00.000-08:00

There’s an unexpected sense of majesty you receive from suddenly coming across large birds of prey in the city. So you grab your smartphone and shoot, feeling blessed for this moment of natural reality. (Shot by waterman159)

COLLAGE LADY

2010-11-16T03:54:00.000-08:00

For the past 40 years or so, Nancy J. Kramer has been collecting magazine pages, bits of fabric, and strange little household objects. A few years ago she started to paste them together in colorful and whimsical collages. See her entire collection on line at NJK Collages.

PARKING, BIKING, DINING, QUIDDITCHING, DRINKING, TRICKING

2010-11-11T05:07:00.000-08:00

Vacca to Bloomberg: Stop the mad ticketing! With alternate-side parking-ticket revenue up fourfold since 2003, City Council Transportation Committee Chairman James Vacca is asking, "How do we give people a break who have been deluged with tickets for 10 years?" The City Council is launching a full-scale attack on maddening alternate-side parking rules, saying drivers have been saddled with scores of unnecessary tickets for far too long. Three bills debated at a hearing Tuesday would drastically reduce the number of times that millions of New Yorkers have to move their cars each week – and make it legal to park as soon as street sweepers pass. (NY Post, Meter is running on alt-side parking laws)

Kavanagh to Bloomberg: Finish the bike lane job! "We're calling on the city to finish what they started," said East Side Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, whose district stretches from the Lower East Side to Midtown East. "We don't want lanes to nowhere," he added. The protected bike lanes that were installed this summer on both avenues in the East Village currently stretch up to 34th Street, but the city has not yet followed through on its promise to run the lanes all the way to 125th Street in East Harlem. The city needs to extend new bike lanes on First and Second avenues along the entire East Side to help improve the safety and health of residents in underserved communities, a group of transportation advocates said at a rally Wednesday. (DNAinfo, City Needs to Extend Bike Lanes Up East Side to Harlem, Advocates Say at Rally)

Half-Jewish-half-Catholic pair launching Global Jewish Cuisine. Chef alum Nikki Cascone told Celebrity Baby Scoop (Top Chef's Nikki Cascone On Her Struggles With Endometriosis) she and her husband Brad Grossman " are doing a restaurant on the lower East Side of Manhattan called Octavia's Porch that will feature Global Jewish Cuisine. We both have one Jewish parent and one Catholic which made for interesting upbringings in NYC - especially when it came to the food cultures! We plan on opening in the next few weeks and it has been very crazy going through this together and balancing the pregnancy. I wouldn't have it any other way." In this context, you may wish to consult The Geneva Convention Biohazard Advisory Re Jewish Food…

NYU Quidditch here to stay. Mounted on broomsticks, about twenty college students dart around the field, throwing balls called quaffles and bludgers as their opponents nosedive to the ground to catch them. The game, based on the "Harry Potter" books, is a sort of airborne field hockey played astride magical flying broomsticks. But unlike the players in the book, these players will only be able to fly as high as their imagination takes them. "It's pretty awesome," Sarah Landis, the Freshman NYU Quidditch team organizer said after practice in the Lower East Side Sara D. Roosevelt Park Tuesday. "It's admittedly silly but it's super fun to play, and it brings a lot of people together who wouldn't normally hang out." The Fourth Annual Quidditch World Cup will be held this weekend at the DeWitt Clinton Fields near the West Side Highway between West 52nd and 54th Streets. (DNAinfo, Harry Potter Fans Warm Up for Quidditch World Cup)

Boys just gotta’ get drunk. Eddie Huang, owner of Xiao Ye, on Orchard Street, was pushing an all-you-can-drink deal for Four Loko — a controversial drink that's 12 percent alcohol combined with the equivalent of two cups of coffee. But all-you-can-drink deals are against the State Liquor Authority rules, so now he’s pushing the same drinks at a cheaper rate. "For the record, Four Loko Thursday is still goin down," Huang tweeted Tuesday, under the fitting Twitter handle GeneralLoko. "SLA won't allow all-u-can-drank so its now $3 a can of four loko 6 to 11pm." (DNAinfo, Lower East Side Chef Defends Controversial Cocktail 'Four Loko'). On his blog, Topchef Huang writes: Four Loko gets you crunk for $2.50 and most people only drink 1 or 2. We think if you’re crunk after 2 drinks, why make it all-you-can-crink?

Drink till you drop is more like it… Meanwhile, in Albany, Sen. Charles Schumer is urging the state Liquor Authority to ban sales of flavored alcoholic beverages with caffeine, saying they are dangerous and appeal to young drinkers. Claiming frustration with the pace of pending investigations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, Schumer says the caffeine-infused beverages prevent drinkers from getting so tired they stop. He says recent incidents included alcohol poisoning, blackouts and a death. (NY Post, Schumer urges NY to ban alcohol energy drinks)

The Voice got it right...

Yes, Shelly, Cuomo fights dirty. The NT2 folks were eager to find out what was behind the story in the New York Post about a possible coup in the Assembly against Sheldon Silver (The First Mistake). Here’s what they found out:
Q: Was Andrew Cuomo responsible for the story?
A: Yes. People close to Cuomo confirmed it. Top staffers were said to have expressed reservations about idea, but Cuomo wanted to do it.
Q: But Cuomo’s spokesman denied it. What gives?
A: Cuomo routinely issues directives for his media people to say things that are untrue. Reporters now talk openly about what they call "the Cuomo misdirect."

Q: What comes next?

A: Cuomo’s style is to quickly dial back on his missteps. He’ll talk publicly about the need for collegiality in Albany. He’ll reach out to Silver and try to act as though it never happened. Silver’s style is take due note of the exchange and wait, and wait.

GRIPES: GRAND STREET BIKE PATH EXPOSED

2010-11-10T05:21:00.001-08:00

Over the past few months I’ve started using my bike extensively, and I have to tell you, the bike paths leave a lot to be desired. But I already have a reputation as a bike hater, so I figured I won’t complain too much about it. Now I discovered a fresh You Tube upload by a Brooklyn Juggler user-named ElJuglar31, and I’ll let him do the griping for me.

THE L.E.S. PERFUME AND OTHER ODOROUS NEWS

2010-11-09T06:15:00.000-08:00

The city smells and now you can, too. Funniest recent LES news item, bar none: Scent of a City: Worst Perfume Idea Ever? by Amy Keyishian. Holy marketing department! Something sure stank up my inbox today. Know what it was? An announcement for the latest batch of perfumes by Bond No. 9 from their "Scents of New York" line. Each scent is named for a neighborhood. In New York. Apparently, the company adds a new set of scents every year. To this, I say: Have you ever been to New York? Who approved this idea? And most of all, seriously? Keyishian then offers her suggestions on which odors to associate with which product line, like Washington Square: Skunky pot smoke, pizza, and sweaty NYU students. The Lower East Side gets away with Notes of knishes, sushi, and overpriced beer. We can live with that.

Told ya… Remember the Post stuff about a coup emerging against Speaker Shelly Silver? So the Daily News asked him about it and he said: It's All Garbage. You can click to the story and read more, but the headline so tells it like it is…

Maloney doing the stability thing. The outgoing chairwoman of the Joint Economic Committee, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.), told The Hill she was supporting Hoyer for whip but she wanted Clyburn to remain in the leadership as caucus chairman, along with Pelosi as minority leader. "I think everybody should take a step down," Maloney said. "I think we need all three of them in the leadership. I feel strongly about that." (The Hill, Democrats aim to head off fight as Hoyer launches leadership bid)

Unlimited drinking, limited liquor license. Culinary provocateur Eddie Huang was going to charge $15 for unlimited amounts of Four Loko - an alcohol-caffeine cocktail - blended with Hennessey cognac. But he canceled the Thursday event at his Xiao Ye restaurant after the Daily News told him it violates a state rule barring all-you-can-drink specials. "I don't want to lose my liquor license," Huang said. "This is horrible. I was excited about this." (NY Daily News, Four Loko 'All-you-can-drink' event canceled when bar owner learns it would be illegal) Talk about the media as the message!

My rapid, animated Spanish is a little rusty… My gosh, but this Denis Hamill does tough prose like the best of them, except he’s a few decades too late. Still, who won’t love stuff like: Mike Codella strides down Avenue D aware of every eye on him. Locals stand in tight knots at the entrance to the Lillian Ward projects at the corner of Third St. here in Alphabet City speaking in rapid, animated Spanish, as I follow Codella past the playground into the lion's mouth of what was in the late 1980s the heroin capital of New York. (NY Daily News, Mike Codella, narcotics officer 'Rambo,' writes memoir about battle against heroin in Alphabet City) And you can check out Michael Codella’s and Bruce Bennett’s Alphaville: 1988, Crime, Punishment, and the Battle for New York City's Lower East Side.

I’m Jewish therefore I eat. Gil Marks’ new Encyclopedia of Jewish Food is an exhaustively researched, 656-page compendium that spans time and geography—from the capers that flourished in biblical Judea to the colonial American tomatoes that Thomas Jefferson’s Sephardic physician urged him to eat. Marks gives historical resonance to totemic dishes. Happily, Marks doesn’t limit himself to foods eaten on the Sabbath and holidays. His inclusion of the egg cream, for example, proves that some foods are Jewish by virtue of who created them and who consumed them. Marks traces the history of the drink, first concocted in 1890 on the Lower East Side by Jewish candy store owner Louis Auster, using Fox’s U-bet Syrup (the brainchild of Herman and Ida Fox in Brooklyn), to rocker Lou Reed memorializing the drink in a song. (Beyond Bagels, by Abby Wisse Schachter, Tablet Magazine)

BLANK CITY

2010-11-09T04:25:00.000-08:00

A new documentary by Celine Danhier. NYC underground film movements, 1977-1987. Punk, no wave and the cinema of transgression. Financial ruin and artistic vitality are hardly strangers. But in the Lower Manhattan of the '70s and '80s, their confluence produced an underground culture of lasting impact.

There’s been no shortage of films about the era, and the music scene, centered on CBGB, has been much chronicled. Focusing on the loosely defined No Wave movement -- guerrilla moviemaking that took place in a nearly bankrupt New York’s desolate streets and abandoned buildings -- Blank City may not be groundbreaking, but it’s vibrant and well researched. With its ample excerpts from rarely seen films, Céline Danhier’s debut documentary, which screened at AFI Fest, is a natural for continued festival exposure and select art-house playdates.

Read the full review by Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter.

SAM GREENFIELD: THE RICH NEED TAX CUTS LIKE A HOLE IN THE HEAD

2010-11-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

Sam is getting angrier these days, which adds energy to his shares. Don’t miss the walk-on by disgruntled cat Snow Ball (never work with children or animals). Bottom line is: if you’re not rich but you support a tax policy that favors the rich, you are a moron. But Sam says it so much more colorfully…

BARUCH HERZFELD: ESSEX MARKET NOW OPEN SUNDAYS

2010-11-08T04:57:00.000-08:00

It was Nancy’s idea to take Baruch down to the Essex Street Market, and I’m very grateful that we went. I haven’t seen these folks up close for interviews since the December, 2007 issue (Mysteries of the Essex Street Market Revealed, Grand Street News). We should probably do many more of these outings, with or without Baruch. I have to tell you one thing, though – Baruch makes it much easier. People seem to drop all kinds of barriers when he approaches them. Anyway, watch the clip which celebrates the very logical move of letting shoppers get into the Essex Street Market on Sundays – and it only took about 80 years to do it!

SHELLY, ANDREW, FLU SHOTS, BED BUGS, EX-GUV, COPS & CATS

2010-11-08T04:54:00.000-08:00

It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship. Don’t trust anything you read in the Post, but look how they manage to make a simple, inconsequential gesture of good will into something sinister: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, in a powerful signal to Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo, says he is ready to hold the line on state spending next year -- as well as rule out any new taxes or fees. "I have spoken with Gov.-elect Cuomo and asked him to have a session with the conference to talk about the issues and the realities of what we face and put us together on a path of resolving it," Silver said. A spokesman for Cuomo told The Post, "The governor-elect welcomes the speaker's statements and looks forward to working closely with him and his conference." (NY Post, 'No new taxes' as Shel freezes over)

Shot full of flu. It’s time to get your flu shot — after all, state Sen. Daniel Squadron has gotten his. The Brooklyn Heights Democrat will co-sponsor another round of gratis vaccinations next Monday, Nov. 18, at Long Islannd College Hospital. Ever the influenza enforcer, Squadron recently headed to the Eileen Dugan Senior Center in Carroll Gardens to oversee a round of injections, smiling as Carol Rembert screamed as she got jabbed by Nurse Judy Farrell. In the end, she was happy, Squadron said. (The Brooklyn Paper, Here it is: Our annual ‘free flu shot’ story!) Gratis Vaccination – didn’t she dance at the Belasco in 1947?

If they’re in our schools, shouldn’t we name them school bugs? Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is on a rampage against the Dept. of Education. He reprimanded the DOE at a news conference for taking up to two weeks to respond to suspected infestations. He wants the city to rehire inspectors and for the DOE to ensure it takes no more than 24 hours from when a bedbug complaint is made to exterminators visiting the school. (am New York, Official: NY not prepared against bedbugs in city schools)For the record: Bedbug complaints totaled 336 in the first two months of this school year, up from 135 a year ago, according to the DOE.

Some of us are relevant, some aren’t, some never were. With the leadership of the State Senate still up in the air, Governor David Paterson tells NY1 he may not hold a special session of the legislature as planned later this month. Initially, Paterson said he would bring lawmakers back before the election to have them vote a property tax cap up or down. But Thursday, while in Puerto Rico, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said it’s unlikely lawmakers will be back in Albany by November 15 because the State Senate is in the middle of recounting races that will determine who will control the majority. (NY1, Paterson: Special Session Likely To Be Postponed)

It’s the LES, it’s got parking tickets, it’s got cops, it’s got cats – perfect GSN story! Dear Diary: My 10-year-old cat, Buddy, and I had just arrived on the Lower East Side after a seven-day cross-country drive. The closest parking spot to my new city home was three blocks away. Buddy hated the cat carrier. Could I hold on to him, or would he claw his way free and make a dash for it? A nearby police officer was ticketing an illegally parked car, as his partner watched. Could they, I asked, give my cat and me a lift? They could, indeed. And so Buddy and I climbed into the back seat, accompanied home by two of New York’s finest. (NY Times Metropolitan Diary)

BARUCH HERZFELD: DOUBLE CHINS, PARKING & BIKE LANES

2010-11-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

We were on our way to the Essex Street market which started opening on Sundays (it was Nancy’s suggestion and it paid off, we got good stuff there with the colorful vendors, stay tuned). But before we arrived, Baruch started talking about his favorite topic, Urban Transportation, and he had a few nuggets which I felt deserved their own separate clip. Oh, and before he started the transportation diatribe, Baruch was complaining that I shoot his face in an uncomplimentary fashion, but I swear it’s not my fault. When he fixes his broken passenger car seat, I won’t have to shoot him from below. That’s all I have to say. Oh, oh, and did you know that Baruch got a parking spot in the East River Co-op garage? Talk about being among the privileged few!

FASCISTS ON CLINTON ST., CUOMO THREATENS SHELLY, MARATHON SKIPS L.E.S., STRINGER DOES BEDBUGS

2010-11-07T03:34:00.000-08:00

Troopers in the storm? You’d think the Republicans won the last election or something – just check out this story from the NY Post: Fed up with drunken antics on the Lower East Side, a neighborhood business association hopes to get off-duty cops to walk what would essentially be the city's first booze beat. If approved by the NYPD, the moonlighting crime fighters – in uniform – would patrol the beer-soaked lanes between Houston and Delancey streets Thursday nights and on weekends. They wouldn't be permitted to work inside or at the front doors of the many local gin mills, but they could lasso sidewalk lushes. ('Peace & quiet' officers). Fascism is in again! Yeah!

Silver & Cuomo. Are we in for rough times?

Post wants blood. It’s just marvelous to watch the NY Post delivering those "rumors" about coming rifts between the new Guv and the Speaker. Except, if it’s the Cuomo folks doing the shot across the bow thing for Shelly’s benefit, this should get very interesting, very fast. A few rank-and-file legislators -- some of whom have Andrew Cuomo's ear -- have mused about a move against Silver if he becomes an obstacle to the governor-elect's agenda. No clear candidate has emerged, but the likeliest scenario for a coup, insiders say, is that the 31-member Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian caucus would join with an outer-borough delegation and a few upstate Democrats to plot an ouster. And here’s the punchline: Sources close to Cuomo said he's not willing to back any coup against Silver and actually wants to keep him around – as long as the veteran pol stays cooperative. All we can say is, from past experience, it don’t look like Shelly scares easy. (NY Post, Sheldon hears a coup among Andy backers).

Are you kidding me? State Senate going Republican? Well, not quite yet, but it might. Control of the Senate will depend on the results of three undecided races, in Long Island, Westchester and Erie counties. The victors may not be known for weeks, and a split of power in the 62 seat Senate — where Democrats now hold a 32-30 majority — could leave it gridlocked, like it was in the summer of 2009. (RecordOnline.com, Gridlock in state Senate could slow Cuomo's new agenda). According to E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a Republican Senate might serve the fiscally conservative Democrat Cuomo better than one from his own more liberal party. McMahon suggests Cuomo is "probably rooting hard for Republicans, who are saying they'll hold the line on spending and cut taxes." How far down the rabbit hole are we so far, Alice?

Why do Marathon officials hate us? Take a look at the NYC Marathon map and see for yourselves: the whole thing takes place totally outside the Lower East Side, the Civic center, Tribeca, or the Village (East or West). They go up to Harlem, sure they do, so it’s not like it’s a racial or economic bias. It has to be something else. Could be anti-Semitism…

We love you, Dr. Farley! Out of all of Mayor Bloomberg’s commissioners, most of whom we’d like to meet in some dark alley with a sock full of nickels, Dr. Thomas A. Farley is one huge exception. He’s the city’s health commissioner. He exercises seven days a week, loves his vegetables and has never smoked a cigarette. He has barely a ripple of fat and has run 15 marathons over the past 34 years. Dr. Farley has the mind of a Madison Avenue advertising executive, or a master propagandist, to the dismay of some who think he puts ideological zeal above science. Asked whether he ever feels like a killjoy, Dr. Farley said, "When I see someone who’s 45 years old with obesity and diabetes and hypertension taking five pills a day and struggling to walk around because of their arthritis from their obesity, that doesn’t seem like a lot of fun to me." (NY Times, Running for Your Life)

Politics makes for strange bedbugs. "I'm calling for a full on war against bedbugs starting in the public school system," Scott Stringer told the Daily News. "We should deal with bedbugs the way we deal with crime spikes, and we need to do it before it gets out of control." Stringer said the evidence of the problem is everywhere. Bedbug complaints to 311 in Manhattan jumped 21% from 2004 to 2009, and 19% citywide during that time, he said. One thing’s for sure –the choice of the word "jumped" to describe bedbug complaints is at least a bit off-putting. (NY Daily News, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer calls for the eradication of bedbugs) By the way, at 1 pm today, the BP will be holding a press conference responding to skyrocketing number of bed bug incidents in New York public schools, and will outline a plan of action, at PS 75, SW corner of 96th St. and West End Ave. Better he should hold it up there…

ON THE BOWERY

2010-11-07T01:57:00.000-07:00

Our friend Rob Hollander sent us this entry for the GSN Calendar of Events:

On the Bowery, the groundbreaking 1957 realist film directed by Lionel Rogosin (founder of the Bleecker Street Cinema) IS BACK at the Film Forum, November 11 through Thanksgiving (and beyond?). It played for a week in September and was so packed they held it over and now brought it back. The newly mastered B&W movie is accompanied with a documentary about its historic significance and the remarkable story of its making. (I'll be speaking at the November 20 7:40 screening, in case you hadn't had enough of me.)

Watch the trailer:

Here's some of the Film Forum promo copy:

(1956) New York, the 50s, stark, sharp, beautiful black and white; men sleeping on the street, on park benches, in doorways — one reading an old Esquire stretched out on a pushcart — men being rousted by the cops, being kicked out of bars, arguing at the top of their lungs; men listening to patently sincere pep talks from recovered drunks at the mission, marking out their spots on the floor for the night with newspapers, looking up through the chicken wire ceilings over their beds at the flophouse: three days in the life of straight-from-the-road Ray Salyer, still good-looking and well spoken, a new arrival on the Bowery, America’s #1 Skid row (which then included parts of today’s SoHo).

Taken in hand by old-timer Gorman Hendricks, a puckishly charming bull slinger, Salyer goes on two benders, quits twice, hops on a truck for a day job, but finally states, “Me, I only care for one thing.” Wealthy scion of a major fabrics firm (and later owner/operator of the Bleecker Street Cinema), Rogosin found himself drawn to world injustice, then, starting close to home, spent six months hanging out on the Bowery, often under the tutelage of Hendricks, a cirrhosis of the liver sufferer who held off from a fatal last bender until the end of shooting.

Shooting for four months with cameraman Richard Bagley (The Quiet One), Rogosin staged scenes improvised from a sketchy story line, alternating with sequences taken by hidden cameras — all with non-pro Bowery denizens. The result: Best Documentary, Venice Film Festival and Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature, along with critical attacks from the likes of Bosley Crowther and Clare Booth Luce for showing the dark side of America. On the Bowery will be shown with THE PERFECT TEAM, a 45-minute account of the making of the film by Rogosin’s son Michael, with new and archival footage, and visits to The Bowery then and now.

EMPTY CLASSROOMS, NO REPUBLICANS, LAWMAKERS ON VACATION

2010-11-05T04:45:00.000-07:00

In classroom war, everybody loses. A girls' charter school, the city Department of Education and the parents of autistic children battled over classroom space this summer in a Lower East Side school building at 442 East Houston st., but today those rooms sit empty or cluttered with boxes. Six classrooms on the fifth floor of the building, which had previously been used by P.S. 94, a school for autistic children, were earmarked by the DOE for expansion of Girls Prep, which added sixth grade this year. But that plan unraveled in August because of a lawsuit filed by Advocates for Children, charging the DOE did not follow the law by failing to take into account the needs of the autistic children. Advocates prevailed when the state education commissioner agreed. Public Prep went scrambling to find and renovate space for 125 mostly black and Hispanic fifth- and sixth-grade girls at 51 Astor Pl. And the space at 442 E. Houston now stands empty. (WSJ, No Winner in Space Spat)

Republicans capture under 25% of local vote. It’s official: the Tea Party’s reach stops west of the Hudson River. For committed Democrats, we suggest reading only these figures, staying away from national news for a while and going to bed early. So, in keeping with this lifestyle advise, we’ll have you know that U.S. Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside), Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria/Lower East Side), Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), and Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) easily won their races in a political climate that has been hostile to other Democrats across the country. Maloney received 75.2 percent of the vote, while her GOP challenger David Brumberg drew 21.3 percent, Independent Dino LaVerghetta got 2.03 percent and Conservative candidate Timothy Healy netted 1.4 percent. (Yournabe.com, Ackerman, Weiner prevail against Republican rivals)

Keep your legislative seat, spend your winter in Puerto Rico. The Somos Winter Conference in Puerto Rico is a tradition that many NY lawmakers hope will not be broken by Governor-Elect Andrew Cuomo. There have been rumors either way about whether Cuomo will attend. This year’s conference, which will explore healthcare and education issues facing the Latino community, was organized by Assemblyman Felix Ortiz. He says Cuomo will show up. Still, others say there will be no hard feelings if the governor-elect doesn’t make it to Puerto Rico. "Give him a break the guy got elected the other night. He deserves to have vacation, you know? Being here or not being here doesn’t make or break what he intends to do," said Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez. To summarize: if the Guv elect stays it’s a vacation, if he goes it’s also a vacation (it’s not like they’re meeting in downtown Hempstead), either way, it’s good to be the king. (NY1, State Lawmakers Head To Puerto Rico For Annual Conference)

LEFTY DILEMMAS: SAM IS ANGRY AT REPUBLICANS, YORI AT DEMOCRATS, WHAT TO DO?

2010-11-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

I’ve always known that Sam Greenfield is at his best when he’s angry. This morning he was livid. And I’ve been pretty upset, too, but I’m such an easy going guy, it hardly shows. Still, we were both—still are—wondering why Americans continue to vote against their own self-interest. What a strange country my parents sent me to…

NEW BIKE LANES CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR MANY NEW YORKERS

2010-11-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

The new bike lanes are dumb the way they are designed against the curbside. Also bike lanes throughout New York are causing trouble with bikers who think they own this city. The bikers believe, as does Mayor Bloomberg, that New York should be for bikes only, no cars that cause environmental problems. This is building a lot of anger against bikers from drivers, small business owners that lose customers from outside Manhattan, who can no longer find parking spots. On the Lower East Side, you don't even see that many bikes that drivers are supposed to share narrow traffic lanes with. What a waste of money to create all these bike lanes, when the City is in such bad shape.

Leslie Siclick

BASKETBALL, FASHION, REAL ESTATE AND OTHER GAMES WE ONLY MARGINALLY UNDERSTAND

2010-11-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

Playing for Keeps. Construction on the 65,000-square-foot, seven-court Basketball City sports center on Pier 36 (at Montgomery St.), formerly occupied by the city Office of Emergency Management, is expected to begin within 30 days. Completion is expected in six to nine months (to compare: construction on the renovated East River Park began in the late 1890s and completion is expected after the 2025 alien invasion). Our Waterfront, a coalition of Lower East Side neighborhood groups, has opposed the project on the grounds that the fees for a private sports center would keep out low-income residents, Community Board 3 approved the project after Basketball City's president Bruce Radler agreed to provide reduced fees for neighborhood residents and free court time for nonprofit neighborhood groups and local schools. (Downtown Express, B’ball City scores its financing)

We know nothing about fashion, but this must be good. Farasha Style announces launch of New York City couture pop-up boutique in the Lower East Side at a Grand Opening, November 4th-7th, featuring exclusive collections from 25 remarkable designers – 139 Norfolk Street, NY, between Rivington & Stanton. The list of remarkable designers includes Chako, Chak Chel, Elly Clay, Jess Rizutti, Lara Miller, M. Brulee Inc, Maleku, Miriam Cecilia Carlson, Nora del Busto and Serpico. (Fibre2fashion.com, Nolcha designers selected for New York City Pop Up Store)

Is there a story behind this story? Time and again we run into these news items that seem to make a lot of sense to other people, but we have no clue why. So, instead, we use our imagination. Like this story in the WSJ, Townhouse Sells Without Broker. It relates that Richard Price, the gritty urban novelist and screenwriter, sold his four-story townhouse on East 19th Street for $9.95 million, without—and that’s apparently the newsy part—without listing it with a real-estate firm. OK, now background: Price grew up in a housing project in the Bronx, and wrote a series of novels about Bronx drug gangs (The Wanderers), and crime on the Lower East Side (Lush Life). But those books didn’t make him rich enough to buy a town house – it was Clockers, which was made into a Spike Lee movie, that finally afforded Price and his artist wife, Judith Hudson, the $1.625 million brick house off Irving Place. But all of the above leaves our appetite sadly unsatiated. We can appreciate the fact that Price cleaned up, and did it all by himself, no brokers – but why? Does he dislike brokers? Did he try it with a couple of brokers and they all let him down? Reporter Josh Barbanel says Price didn't respond to several messages, and his lawyer, Robert Markfield, declined to comment. Darn.

Don’t do drugs. Luis Chevres, 40, and Maria Zabala, 52, of the Hernandez Houses at 189 Allen St., were arrested about 10 p.m. Monday after police executed a search warrant and found an undisclosed amount and type of drugs. Both were charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (that means with intent to sell). It’s a class B felony, meaning 1-9 years. If you’re looking to rent, there might be an opening right about now at 189 Allen. Check with the super. (DNAinfo, Police Arrest Two for Drug Possession on the Lower East Side)

The Times is sick and tired of the way we vote. It appears that we the people have disappointed the NY Times once again, by voting in the bums the Times wished we’d have thrown out. It’s unforgivable, really: Democrats will continue to control the Assembly, and, so far, it appears as though Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, will continue to control the Democrats. At this point (not all races have been decided), the Silver crowd has lost a few seats but will have enough Democrats to override Mr. Cuomo’s vetoes. That limits their desire to negotiate. (NY Times, Meanwhile, in Albany) Negotiate with whom, with the times? Here’s what Silver had to say on this topic: "A mandate only lasts as long as the press allows it to last," Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said Wednesday. "It's not going to be about mandates. It's going to be about his leadership. It's going to be about his vision for New York, ... and I'm confident that on the tough issues facing New York, we will be able to forge a consensus on where we have to go." (Buffalo News, Budget gap is worst headache as Cuomo faces harsh realities). Not exactly an obstructionist, won’t you say? Still, it drives the Times bonkers that we down here continue to defy them. We bad.

Ethnic to a fault. The Indian press (the sub continent, not the casino folks) was following with interest the seven Indian candidates who were running for office this election season. Which is why it was heart breaking to see the Hindustan Times headline this morning: Six Indian Americans bite the dust in US polls. Even as Republican Nikki Haley, a daughter of Sikh immigrant parents from Amritsar, became the first woman to win the governor's race in South Carolina, six other Indian-Americans, all Democrats, bit the dust in the face of an anti-establishment vote. The list includes hedge fund lawyer Reshma Saujani, who lost in her primary challenge to nine-term Representative Carolyn Maloney in New York, but has vowed to run again in 2012. Ah, well, tenacity is a good quality in hedge funding, one would suppose.

SAM GREENFIELD TO BLUE DOG DEMS: GOOD RIDDANCE

2010-11-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

It was the morning after the midterm vote of November, 2010, and Sam Greenfield and I felt a bit relieved for two reasons: One – that NY State and City remained the old Socialist hunting grounds we’ve known and loved, including, I believe, the state senate (phew). So, while elsewhere in the country Republicans are in again, over here on the right coast we won’t have any of that (likewise on the left coast, I’m told). And, Two – those DINO Blue Dogs are almost all gone and the Democratic Party can go back to being itself. Maybe Obama will learn the lesson and start being a Democrat himself, who knows. The clip is worth watching for the Obama and Clinton lake swimming story Sam told in the end – but don’t you go fast forwarding now!

POLL COPS & ROBBERS, DAILY NEWS LIP FROTHING, SHOTS FIRED, NOT DEADLY – AND NY STAYS DEM

2010-11-03T01:10:00.000-07:00

Vote cop catches unarmed bank robber. There was one feelgood story on Bloody Tuesday: It started at 8:40 a.m., when Terence Flynn, 46, of SoHo, passed a note demanding money to a teller at the HSBC Bank at 769 Broadway at East 9th Street, and made off with $8,000 in cash. A police officer working a polling site around 2 Washington Square Village, on West 3rd Street near Mercer, heard the call about the robbery, then spotted the suspect and tussled with him until police in the area arrived and helped apprehend the guy (DNAinfo, NYPD 'Hero' Working at Polling Station Stops Bank Robber). You know what’s missing from the story? Maybe this will give you a hint: Flynn faces charges of robbery, criminal possession of stolen property and resisting arrest. That’s right, no gun possession charge. He walked away with 8 grand using a note as a weapon. Talk about the pen being mightier than the sword.

Pushing back: locals voted straight Dem line. Voters in the East Village and Lower East Side cited the sweeping push from conservative candidates locally and nationwide as their reason for voting strictly down the Democratic line. One beneficiary, apparently, was State Senator Daniel Squadron, according to DNAinfo (Voters Say They Support Daniel Squadron, Despite Not Hearing of Him). This is why, according to News Editor Patrick Hedlund, voters in left-leaning District 25, which covers the majority of lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, said they pulled the lever the 30-year-old Brooklynite over GOP challenger Joseph Nardiello because Squadron simply sits on their preferred side of the aisle. Which leaves one question unanswered: Who the heck is Joseph Nardiello?

The facts, ma’am, only the facts. We’ve heard about the biased media, but this is freaking outrageous. The NY Daily News reported on Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s win with the following headline: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wins unopposed, but NY loses if he does not step down. Do you really need to read the rest of it? Bill Hammond runs a familiar litany of Silver’s sins (he works in Albany, see, where everybody is either a nun or a eunuch), but after frothing at the mouth for two screens, the hate piece does a bizarre morph into a love note: Silver can take credit - as the official with most influence in appointing the state Board of Regents - for supporting important effort to raise academic standards in New York. He also provided a much-needed steady hand during the past two years of chaos in the Senate and the governor's office. And he's the one top legislative leader not currently under criminal investigation. Except Hammond recovers from all this positive crap to conclude: Still, that's not a rationale for staying as speaker. Oh, really? Looks to me like this is exactly why you hold on to a speaker. It’s a problem when writers are unfamiliar with their own text—while still writing it!

For the politiholics among you, here’s the NY1 immense, inclusive, complete roundup of Tuesday’s vote scores. Thomas DiNapoli kept the comptroller’s seat by a relatively small margin (49.92% over GOP candidate Harry Wilson’s 46.98%). Andrew Cuomo beat the other guy 62%-34%, give or take. The term limits proposition won – I voted against it because I don’t want anyone to stop me from picking whomever I want to represent me, and if they’re doing a good job I don’t mind keeping them on. But my side lost by 74%-26%. Nobody listens.

Strangest election day story comes with weirdest headline: a campaign volunteer for Democratic New York State Senator Brian Foley has filed a police report claiming he was shot in the leg with a pellet gun while putting out campaign signs Monday night, according to Suffolk County Police. Police are investigating but there's no clear evidence this shooting occurred, a department spokesperson said. Investigators are now checking specifically for any surveillance video that captured the shooting. And the headline goes: Shots Fired in Long Island State Senate Race – Maybe (NBC NY). The claim was first made public to NBCNewYork by Senator Foley himself, who said it was evidence of campaign passions gone too far. "TheTea Party has been very active in my opponent's campaign and has undertaken many underhanded tactics," said Foley. I’m thinking, if the worker was making up the story, wouldn’t he have used something bigger than a pellet gun?

BOWERY EXHIBIT AT WHOLE FOODS WITH ROB HOLLANDER

2010-11-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Indians, Dutch settlers, showbiz folks, poets, slaves, hookers and hobos have all considered the Bowery to be their hottest gathering place, at one time or another. Now the LES History Project's Rob Hollander and the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors are worried that this jewel of untouched architecture might be disappearing, to be replaced by developer footprints.

Check out their exhibit At Whole Foods Market
95 East Houston St at Bowery (2nd Floor, east wing)
Open daily, 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM
October 29, 2010 through Winter 2011
FREE

CHEATING SCHOOLS, FIRE-FLEEING TENANTS, PRIVILEGED LESBIANS, NASTY PARENTS – AND IT’S ONLY TUESDAY

2010-11-02T04:53:00.000-07:00

Margarita Lopez bought apt. for $250 -- Post

Margarita Lopez, same sex tenants, living high off the hog. God bless the NY Post – some days they just spell it right (other days they can’t spell at all). This one is precious, not just because it exposes corruption in high places (ah, well, par for the course) but because it involves our former City Councilmember (NY Post, No boys allowed City officials among $250 'gal only' tenants). An East Village co-op that's home to one of the city's top housing officials has become a women-only building where dirt-cheap units are marketed only by word of mouth to the residents' pals. Intended as low-income housing, the five-story tenement has become a destination for well-to-do lesbians, including Margarita Lopez, the $187,000-per-year Housing Authority board member and one-time city councilwoman, and Rosie Mendez, a current councilwoman. Despite the area's gentrification, units sell for an astoundingly low $250 apiece plus capital improvement fees, with the caveat that the owner cannot sell for a profit, according to a contract with the city.

Shuang Wen doing well, and under 9 investigations. The Shuang Wen Academy is the target of nine city investigations stemming from allegations that it compelled families to pay for after-school instruction, tampered with the city enrollment process, mismanaged its finances and manipulated surveys on parents’ satisfaction with the school. In addition, a series of anonymous, threatening letters directed at the principal and parent leaders prompted the parents association to budget $20,000 for legal assistance and stepped-up security. (NY Times, At English-Mandarin Public School, High Test Scores, but Also Strife) The most intriguing investigation, according to the Times, is of the afternoon Chinese language classes for which parents are charged $1000 per student. It’s a problem, because the school was founded as an English/Mandarin program (Shuang Wen means Double Language), so why pay extra for what was supposed to be basic curriculum? Good question.

Is CB3 a killjoy? Welcome to Community Board 3. The restaurant and night-life industry may be buzzing downtown, but some of the biggest fireworks take place in dreary meeting rooms where tempers flare, tears are shed and the back and forth can stretch on for up to eight hours. Confrontations have gotten so bad that some businesses have just given up and withdrawn applications. (WSJ, Clubs, Eateries Target Local Boards)

We’re New Yorkers, we’re self righteous, get used to it. A new website, PassiveAggressiveNotes.com, has been showcasing some of the meanest, funniest, or just plain weirdest messages left to neighbors and co-workers around the world, many of which come from New Yorkers, who are no strangers to the occasional nasty message. Kerry Miller, the creator of the website, said favorite types of notes are the ones that get self-righteous, such as a letter from some Lower East Side parents who had plants stolen from their 4-year-old. "A child helped to plant the flowers you stole," it read. "She is 4-years-old and loves puzzles, nature, and learning new things. You have introduced the concept of ‘stealing’ into out conversation." (NBC NY, Website Shows Off New Yorkers Best Notes, Rants)

Grand Street fire forced tenants out, now they’re suing. Six months after a deadly blaze swept through four Chinatown buildings, a court battle is raging over the fate of the only structure left standing. The beleaguered tenants of 289 Grand St. have been homeless since the April 11 inferno. Forced to live in city shelters or temporary housing, the 11 tenants say most of their belongings remain inside the shuttered building as the owner fights to bring in the wrecking ball. "They've taken my life," said Steven Vendola, 81, a rent-controlled tenant in the building for more than 40 years. The blaze claimed the life of Sing Ho, 87, who lived at 285 Grand St., since razed along with two other buildings - including 283 Grand St., where the fire started. (NY Daily News, Homeless tenants fight Chinatown landlord to get belongings, homes, 6 months after deadly fire)

IF YOU VOTE TOMORROW YOU WON'T HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN FOR 2 YEARS

2010-11-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

2 Cuomos

Hedge that bet. Cuomo told reporters Sunday he was "officially neutral" in the race for comptroller, where Democrat Tom DiNapoli, a former state lawmaker and ally of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver appointed to the post after Hevesi stepped down, faces a strong challenge from Republican hedge fund executive Harry Wilson. But at a rally, Cuomo urged voters to support Democrats across the ballot, including DiNapoli. (CBS New York, Cuomo, Paladino Dismiss Polls Showing Big Lead)

(L) Cuomo, Bruno, Silver

When Andrew met Shelly. Andrew Cuomo’s win on Tuesday has been all but assured for almost two years. The question that remains between now and when polls close is: by how much? Cuomo will have to convince those people, especially Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, to come along, said political consultant Joe Mercurio. (City Hall, The Mandate Question: How Big Does Cuomo’s Win Need To Be?) "The obstacle any governor in New York has is that the margin that the Assembly has is so big, even if they lose a few seats, that they operate in a much more powerful way than you might expect—and Shelly knows how to use it," Mercurio said. "You can spin all you want how he’s got a mandate, but when it comes down to it, the rest of them are elected officials too, and most of them are pretty invulnerable." Plus, Mercurio added, "The mandate didn’t do Spitzer very much good." How was the mandate supposed to help a guy who couldn’t keep his zipper shut? No idea.

Paladino: If you vote for him, he'll kill you (Hmmm...)

Galvanize, shmalvanize, I can tell a scare tactic when I see it. Why does the NY Times propose that the election of Carl Paladino as guv (which isn’t happening in a million years) will turn gay folks’ lives into instant Auschwitz? Recent hate crimes, the same-sex marriage debate and anti-gay statements from gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino have galvanized lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual voters in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill — as well as straight voters who support them — to go to the polls on Tuesday, and to cast their ballots for Andrew Cuomo. "This election, I consider so dangerous," said Dierdre Ann, a lesbian from Brooklyn Heights. "It’s far too dangerous not to vote." (NY Times, Gay Voters Mobilized by Gubernatorial Race) In other words, we can’t say much good about Andrew Cuomo, let’s face it, the man is mediocre at best at what he does, but you should know that the other guy will kill you.

With friends like these… Will this item bolster DiNapoli’s chances Tuesday? Not sure: Rep. Charles Rangel offered a new job description for Comptroller Tom DiNapoli while the two were making "a lucky walk" up St. Nicholas Avenue in Washington Heights. "This is the comptroller that sets the moral standard for our state," Rangel said. (Spin Cycle, Newsday, Comp race: Rangel declares DiNapoli 'moral standard' setter) Oh boy, to rent a minute inside Tom’s head just then…

Nikki Haley

Indian Americans becoming a force in US elections. In case you didn’t notice, a record seven Indian-Americans, six of them Democrats, are running in Tuesday’s elections, including Republican Nikki Haley, born Nimrata (Nikki) Randhawa to Sikh immigrant parents from Amritsar, who is favoured to win the governor’s race of South Carolina. (Thaindian News, Nikki Haley may win South Carolina governor race) As you may recall, Hedge fund lawyer Reshma Saujani lost in her primary challenge to nine-term Represenative Carolyn Maloney in New York. Maloney won the primary with 81%. Saujani received 6,231 votes.

SEWARD PARK HALLOWEEN FABULOUS

2010-10-31T21:40:00.001-07:00

They did a fabulous job this year at the Seward Park Co-op, spreading the spirit of spook and fun generously. It was loud and cheerful and the children couldn’t have enough of the rides – which were few, but absolutely amazing. We went a little surreal with this video – because someone had to.

MY TRAVELS WITH BARUCH II – HALLOWEEN AT S.P.

2010-10-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

It was Halloween at the Seward Park Co-op and I was determined to be there, with Baruch. But Baruch wanted to check on his namesake, Baruch Houses, where there has been a report of sewage flowing in the street. Now, you tell me, which would you rather watch on Halloween, sweet, scary kiddies playing on the grass lawn with their fun parents, or runaway sewage? I thought so.

SEWARD PARK HALLOWEEN PICS

2010-10-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

Just came back from shooting stills and videos at the most fabulous kids/adults Halloween party in the city where drinks were not on the menu (but a lot of rich food was). Stay tuned for the video as soon as I'm done editing. Meanwhile, if any of these images are on interest to you and you wish to get the high resolution version, email us at grandstreetnews@gmail.com and we'll be happy to email it back to you. For the complete collection (38 images) visit the Seward Park Hollween Album.

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SEX, GRAFT, OVERFLOWING TOILETS, CUPCAKES AND PIZZA: WELCOME TO MY NEIGHBORHOOD

2010-10-31T03:55:00.000-07:00

Sex for LES. I've also had the chance to go out and enjoy myself a little bit. That's right, I'm getting all Sex and the City up in here. Except for the sex part. I went to a delightful restaurant called Pala in the Lower East Side. Um, pizza with zucchini, goat cheese and roma tomatoes? I think so. My visit to Pala also proved informative on the New York fashion scene. I've realized that the Lower East Side (LES) is a PFZ (Pants Free Zone). Yes, it's a world where women have turned leggings, tights, even panty hose into pants. Now I'm all for cute leggings with a shirt. However, the shirt needs to cover the goods ladies. Otherwise the crotch/booty emphasis is just too overwhelming. But apparently ladies of the LES are too hip for pants. Lesson learned LES. (Grab life by the Kim, Where's my DeLorean?)

It Stinks at Baruch. A group of residents on Manhattan's Lower East Side say a broken pipe at Baruch Houses, 70 Baruch Drive to be exact, has been leaking raw sewage in front of their building for months. Sewage, human waste, toilet paper, and other garbage is seeping out of a pipe and onto the sidewalk and street. "Everybody's toilet backs up in the front of the building, you have toilet paper, you have excrement, you have all kinds of stuff coming out the front of the building, it's ridiculous," said Baruch Houses resident Sam Flavors. (NY1, LES Residents Upset Over Repeated Sewage Leak)

They caught the guy from the Stanton shooting. Police arrested a suspect in connection with a triple shooting on Stanton Street Tuesday night, NYPD sources said. The incident occurred near the intersection of Attorney and Stanton streets, just around the corner from the elementary school P.S. 140 and almost directly in front of the Stanton Street Shul. Rabbi Josh Yuter was giving a class on the history of the Talmud, but they finished at 8:45 and went home safely. Despite what the Daily News surmised, the shooting does not appear to be drug-related, but a police source told DNAinfo (Suspect Arrested in Lower East Side Triple Shooting) that there is drug-dealing activity in the area "every day." This is very silly, of course, because whatever drug-dealing activity is over there, I can’t see it when I walk by several times a week. You think I scare away the pushers?

Guv venting behind Shelly’s back. Gov. David Paterson secretly accused Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of "collusion" after complaints of corruption surfaced over the selection of Aqueduct Entertainment Group to operate 4,500-video slot casino at the Queens Aqueduct race track. Paterson's claim was laid out in never-published "off-the-record" statements the governor made during a recorded interview with The New York Times and recounted in explosive internal staff e-mails. Both the tape of the interview and e-mails were obtained by state Inspector General Joseph Fisch as part of his probe. In the interview, Paterson vents that he made the choice with Senate Democratic leader John Sampson and Silver, but Paterson Silver was trying to sabotage the AEG deal on behalf of another unnamed bidder by attaching additional financial and criminal background conditions on its investors in return for his support. (NY Post, Paterson accuses Shel Silver of 'collusion').

The pizza is too doughy, and the mushroomyness – don’t get me started (second Pala plug, should I start worrying about food ideations?). Pala on Allen Street riffs on Roman-style pizzas sold by the foot and served on pizza peels. The pizza was well-salted and had a delicate hit of hot pepper. The woodsy flavor of the mushrooms seeped into the crust, imbuing it with mushroomyness. My only complaint was that the crust will only appeal to bread lovers who want their pizza soft and pillowy. For me, it was too close to doughy. (Slice Pizza Blog, Daily Slice: Pala, Lower East Side)

How I became morbidly obese – and you can, too! It’s no secret that Manhattanites love them some cupcakes, and everyone has an argument of why one is better than the other. Sugar Sweet, owned by two sweet and enthusiastic ex-Magnolia ladies, is probably not for you if you are into the Crumbs-style "eat all of your daily intake of calories in one bite and then feel kind of like you might throw up," because it keeps it simple. The cupcakes are normal in size as is the icing to cake ratio, but every bite explodes with perfected flavor–whether it’s pumpkin cake with cream cheese ice cream, red velvet cake with chocolate almond buttercream, or vanilla with vanilla buttercream– and they’re only $1.50. (Yes, that means you can eat two.) And! Milk, coffee, teas and more are available alongside for right around $1.50 as well. (Broke-Ass Stuart's Goddamn Website, Is Sugar Sweet Sunshine NYC's Best Cupcake?)

WHO'S AFRAID OF TUESDAY, 11/2 ?

2010-10-29T04:54:00.000-07:00

Maloney (with several friends). Stop winning already!

A bit early to sell the farm, don't you think?

Crain's Greg David lists all of NYC's liberal Congressmembers, and their seats of influence, and at the top there are our downtowners: Rep. Carolyn Maloney--chair of Joint Economic Committee and fourth ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee; Rep. Nydia Velazquez--chair of House Small Business Committee; and Rep. Jerry Nadler--ranks fourth among Dems on House Judiciary Committee and fifth on Transportation Committee. But that's a bad thing, according to Greg (Crain's, There goes NYC's clout). Because now that the Republicans are certain to take over the House, all this clout will go down with the baby and the bathwater. And Greg adds ominously: If the Democrats retain control in the Senate, the state will benefit from Sen. Charles Schumer's considerable power. If not, the consequences will be even more severe. See? You lousy liberals, by winning all these years you just cost us influence in Washington. What you should have done is lose, lose, lose, and then you'd be winners come Tuesday. I have no idea what their smoking over at Crain's, but I'm sure Bloomberg has banned it long ago.

Yanover interviewing Bowery exhibit Curator Hollander

Whole Foods does Bowery. The exhibit, held in Whole Foods' second-floor auditorium space, traces the Bowery's early days as a hub for theater, nightlife and politics through its transition into New York's skid row, housing both the indigent and a crop of rising artists. I’m bringing you the link to what’s basically a copy of the press release (DNAinfo, Bowery's History on Display in New Exhibition — at Whole Foods) but I was there last night and shot an interview with Curator Rob Hollander, of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, which I know you’ll enjoy. Just give me a few hours to edit for heaven’s sake, I’m not a machine.

District 2 City Council Member Rosie Mendez

Rosie on the side of sanity. I’ve always liked my City Council Member Rosie Mendez, but usually had to separate my personal fondness from the politics, which I haven’t always seen eye to eye with her. But on the issue of the ban on smoking in public places, Rosie is the woman! (The Villager, Mendez says proposed public-smoking ban a real drag). The new legislation, named Intro 332, was introduced on Sept. 15 by Mayor Bloomberg and various members of the City Council. It would affect more than 1,700 parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities, as well as the city’s seven beaches, which span 14 miles of shoreline. An aide to Mendez appeared before Community Board 3 on Tues., Oct. 26, to urge the full board to join the council member in opposing the proposed ban on smoking in New York City parks, beaches and other city-operated recreational facilities. The measure is currently under discussion by the City Council. The aide, Michele Burger, told the board “Rosie believes that this new proposal infringes on civil liberties. Besides, how can it be enforced?” Acting C.B. 3 Chairperson Gigi Li said the board would take up the matter at a later date before making a decision on whether to support Mendez’s position. Interesting choice. Why not just declare, everybody who thinks Bloomberg is off his freaking rocker, say aye?

Margaret Chin (Harassed by her husband & son)

Street harassment is sexual terrorism? I suppose only the victims can say. But like anything PC that’s pushed by public officials, it’s probably more likely to cause harm than good. Our District 1 City Council Member Margaret Chin participated in the first City Council hearing on street harassment (Gothamist, Street Harassment Finally Gets City Council's Attention). Armed with suggestions on how the city can combat the problem, one expert said, "Street harassment is a form of sexual terrorism" and an activist called it a "gateway crime, creating a culture in our city that makes other forms of violence against women okay." Council Member Margaret Chin stated that the issue was simply “unacceptable.” Convened by Council Member Julissa Ferreras, who chairs the Women’s Issues Committee, the hearing's goal was stress the importance of joining forces in order to take action specifically in New York City. I suppose it's telling that the only voice not recommending an immediate jihad against the evil lip smackers and hubba hubba sayers was Charles Barron, the only male Council Member (and gubernatorial candidate) to speak at the hearing, who stressed that many times the intention of such instances is simply to harass, not engage the victim. But I'm married to a woman and am the father of a teenage daughter, so I say, You harass a woman on the street - we cut off your penis. Next?

FOLLOWING PROTOCOL ON THE M-14A

2010-10-29T03:38:00.000-07:00

It's protocol: you racial slur, we stop the bus

It's 10 p.m., a couple nights before Halloween, and I'm sitting on the M-14A bus headed east. I'm trying to meditate away some anxiety, but can't push away the noise around me. I try reading, but it's not really taking off either. I'm tired and hungry and anxious. 14th Street is crowded beyond belief, like a rush hour that just kept going.

Suddenly, as the bus stops on the corner of 14th and 3rd, a fight erupts. From later exchanges I deduced it was over race. Somebody either said he hated people darker or lighter than himself. A woman screamed, “Apologize! Apologize right now!” with the dramatic flare of a Roman senator or an Aaron Burr type right after Hamilton called him Baldy for the umpteenth time. Other people hollered for and against this demand for satisfaction. Then a few heavy steps pounded across the bus aisle and I believe the offending person or persons fled. From way in the rear that was all I got.
I expected that the bus next resume its course and the promise of a warm supper made me almost dizzy with yearning. But instead the driver shut down the motor, put on the Out of Service sign and dispensed transfers for the next bus. Protocol dictated this, he insisted. We, his flock, were puzzled by all the changes in our routine, but he repeated that he could not leave before the cops arrived at the crime scene.

MTA crack team of investigators on the scene

Just then two MTA Land Rovers arrived, with their well trained teams, which immediately took action, double parking so that traffic—and supposedly the next M-14A—was reduced to an even crawlier crawl. Then they began to interview the driver, then a few excitable passengers also demanded interview time, which they were granted. It was all by the book, it was protocol: passenger lets out a racial slur on a city bus, all traffic must be stopped and a report must be filed in quadruplicates. It’s the way our founding fathers would have wanted it, if they only had time to think with all their slaves running around cracking corn and generally making hey. But I digress.

When I asked the MTA official with the biggest officer’s visor hat why we couldn’t get back on the bus and resume the task of going home to our loved ones and our dinner, he practically yelled at me that he had to follow protocol, he’s very sorry, but that’s just the way it must be.

The next bus arrived eventually, but the driver saw there was such a crowd around a disabled bus, he figured it was best to avoid the whole thing and tried to just drive on. We, the group of passengers who mattered the least in this entire affair, chased him down the street like a pack of Mel Gibson post-apocalyptic extras, banging on the side of the bus with our fists, yelling at him to stop and, yes, some of us, admittedly, mentioned the possibility of a liaison, perhaps in the distant past, between him, the driver, and his mother; I’m not proud of it.

This other driver finally did stop and let us in. The bus was extremely packed – I’ve no idea why there are so many people out on the street after 10 on a Thursday night. I found a seat, though, at that circular middle section that connect the two parts of the articulated bus, so the rest of the ride felt like a real ride in an urban Disneyland – Yuupeee…

Dinner was acceptable.

Yori Yanover

SAM GREENFIELD: I WAS A GUEST ON FOX BIZ NEWS AND YOU WASN’T

2010-10-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

Sam and I are still working on our concepts, trying to figure out what and how to serve up every morning, or many mornings each week. It's a work in progress, and, actually, this is still the beta phase, so we're allowed not to be so funny now and again. like today. Although Sam claims it's the subject matter that robs him of the funny. No, not Fox Biz News - Sharon Angle.

MY TRAVELS WITH BARUCH I

2010-10-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

Watch our first videostroll with one of the most loved figures on the Lower East Side, Baruch Hartzfeld. The Stanton Street Shul was having its semi-annual volunteer day on Sunday, 10/14/10, and we followed Baruch in his little British car to the event and caught a flavor of him and of the shul folks (disclosure: we also go there, a lot, a lot more than Baruch, actually). You’ll see the shul rabbi, treasurer and VP taking part in the cleanup. And, best of all, you’ll see two 9th graders from uptown who speak in perfect sync.

SAM GREENFIELD: IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD I GET TO GO SHOPPING IN MY PAJAMAS

2010-10-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Sam Greenfield is my neighbor and yours, and a fine comedian and radio host. You can share his Liberal views and commentary several mornings a week on the Grand Street News Daily Edition. You don’t have to agree with him, but it’s highly encouraged.

A HAIL OF BULLETS OUTSIDE MY SHUL

2010-10-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

A gunman squeezed off a handful of shots at Stanton and Attorney Streets at about 9 Tuesday night and hit three victims, a woman, 53, and two men, 35 and 43, before speeding away. A passer-by, Stephanie Dominguez, said she was walking along Stanton Street when a half-dozen shots were fired in quick succession, sending her and others running and scrambling for cover. "It was very scary," she said. "I was screaming." (3 Are Wounded in a Shooting on a Lower East Side Street, NY Times)

It also happened to be just when the Rabbi’s class was being held inside the Stanton Street Shul, at 180 Stanton Street (Who’s Who in the Talmud, taught by Rabbi Josh Yuter). I’m going there this morning for the 6:45 service, because Phil Gold has a yahrzeit. I’ll ask the rabbi for details.

The Daily News said it had to be drugs. I think it was too much white flour and sugar.

CAN GRAFFITI ARTISTS USE A KNIFE TO SETTLE DISPUTES?

Two graffiti writers fighting over a girl wanted to settle the dispute "like men" in the streets of the East Village, reports DNAinfo (East Village Stabbing Death Sparked by Dispute Over Ex-Girlfriend, Prosecutors Say). So 25-year-old Jairo Pastoressa and 21-year-old Christopher Jusko, who friends said tagged city streets together in the same graffiti crew, met early Monday morning on the second floor landing of an East 7th Street apartment building. Pastoressa brought an 8-and-a-half-inch kitchen knife, prosecutors said, and Jusko died after being slashed in the neck and stabbed in the back.

OK, this is not exactly a laughing matter, but two things jump right at you from the text. First is "graffiti writers." They’re not artists any more? Is this a promotion or a demotion? Hard to say. Is this a new literary genre? How many buildings it must take them to finish even a very short story? And the other thing is "graffiti crew." Seriously? It takes a production crew to paint that stuff? Are we going to start seeing notes from the police on the curb: No parking here tomorrow, they’re making a graffiti?

CHINATOWN MUST HAVE MORE, TALLER BUILDINGS

It’s none of my business, but the notion of investing the leftover LMDC funds to build affordable housing in Chinatown (and elsewhere downtown) makes me wonder if folks who grew up in Hong Kong might not have a different idea of personal space than their neighbors. This is not a racist diatribe, it could just be a simple fact, a different set of psychological needs (I’ll probably fry for it anyway). The Downtown Express (Downtown groups hoping for financial support turn to the L.M.D.C.) reports about a public forum held by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. The event was initiated to solicit feedback concerning the allocation of $158 million in funds available to various Lower Manhattan groups. Chinatown is the second densest community citywide, according to Christopher Kui, executive director of Asian Americans for Equality, prompting a critical need for affordable housing. "The lack of affordable housing options, coupled with a growing population in an extremely dense neighborhood, has forced tenants to live in overcrowded conditions where a single unit can be shared with as many as four households," Kui said.

So, what’s the solution? Encourage people to move to less dense areas? Create attractive conditions in the towns just outside NYC, where foreclosures and gated businesses are rampant? Not at all. The A.A.F.E., which has already used LMDC money to restore more than 100 units of low-income housing for its constituents, hopes to receive an additional $50 million in L.M.D.C. grant money to restore another 400 Lower Manhattan units. Do I care? It’s not my neighborhood, it’s just outside my neighborhood. But when the same folks start making decisions about housing density on my side of Allen Street, I should probably do something. I could, like, bitch about it and stuff.

At the same forum, State Senator Daniel Squadron spoke on behalf of the East River waterfront, which he deems an iconic project. Rebuilding the Lower Manhattan waterfront, he said, is "incredibly important to a community that doesn’t have waterfront access in the same way you do in other parts of the city."

Squadron is advocating for the creation of a central "harbor" park that would connect Governors Island with the Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfronts. I would just settle for the East River Park project being completed in my lifetime.

AMERICANS STINK AT GEOGRAPHY

2010-10-27T08:17:00.001-07:00

And if you needed another proof, there’s the item titled JFK Jr Played Softball on the Lower East Side (in a blog titled Pure Opinion News and Society), which goes: The late John F. Kennedy Jr. not only jogged down Monroe Street by Knickerbocker Village, and all around the Lower East Side, but he also played softball in a co-ed softball league from the court buildings around Centre Street. Now, how does Centre Street qualify as Lower East Side? No idea!

Can’t smoke outdoors either. Man, are we glad we gave up our 4-pack-a-day habit 20 years ago. The Man is out to mess with smokers’ lives, big time. By The Man I mean our City Council, which is battling over proposed legislation that would ban smoking in public parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas. (Tribune, Park Smoke Plan Comes Under Fire) Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), whose district includes Rockaway Beach, has been a leading opponent of the plan to ban smoking in parks and beaches. Ulrich is teaming up with Councilwoman Rosie Mendez (D-Manhattan) to offer a compromise bill of his own. The Ulrich/Mendez bill, which has not yet been introduced, would allow the Parks Department to designate an eighth of parks or property owned by the Parks Department as "smoke-free" areas.

Sex sells absolutely anything. It’s guaranteed. Including sushi. Last weekend, Lower East Siders observed the spectacle of eight black clad women tied with brightly colored rope into various positions along Rivington Street. This guerilla take on Shibari, the Japanese art of erotic rope bondage, was sponsored by the sushi restaurant Uo (151 Rivington St.) to announce the introduction of their Shibari Bomb Sake Cocktails, available on their new menu. Two weekends ago residents of the LES were gawking as three young beauties clad in latex and posing with a giant red snapper and six-foot long octopus tentacles took over the neighborhood. (Eater, The Newly Sexed Up Sushi Uo)

It’s all in the spelling. NY1’s George Whipple (Society Reporter) reported a couple days ago about Sahara Smith, who played at The Living Room on the Lower East Side in support of her new CD, "Myth of The Heart" (Sahara Smith Brings Country Revival To The Lower East Side). No problem so far, except for this line: It's an amalgamation of New England fold and Texas twang. We searched the web for New England fold, and the best definition we came up with was: The Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous volcanosedimentary rocks of the Yarrol terrane of the northern New England Fold Belt have previously been ascribed to a forearc basin setting. (Yarrol terrane of the northern New England Fold Belt: forearc or backarc?) We can only imagine what happens when you mix all that with a Texas twang.

Talk about the power of leadership! We don’t know the daily News’ Albor Ruiz, and we mean him no disrespect, and we know the topic he opines about is deadly serious, but still, we were taken aback by the headline: Community leaders and pols called upon to stop suicides among city's teen Latinas (NY Daily News). Ruiz cites what he suggests are the complex reasons for the epidemic of teen Latina suicides: the Hispanic population has gone up, but services haven't. Also, there are language and cultural barriers in clinics and schools. Poverty, unemployment, domestic violence and inadequate housing can also aggravate the girls' stress and depression. Ruiz does not mention unusually hot summers and very cold winters, but he might as well add those two to the list of things community leaders and pols must fix at once, or those suicides will just go on and on.