Dining in the dark soon to be a reality on the LES

We've talked a little about last night's CB3/SLA meeting.... The Lo-Down has the scoop on more action, including a new eatery that will generate a good 10,000 or so blog posts among all of us...:

The most intriguing concept of the night came from the team behind “Dans Le Noir,” the “blind dining” franchise from Paris. Having just flown in from France yesterday, the owners walked community board members through an impressive proposal for the former “Tonic” space on Norfolk Street. The idea, they said, is simple: “Diners eat in the pitch dark and are served by blind people, creating an interesting sensory experience.”

Dans Le Noir co-founder Etienne Boisrond, elaborating on the concept, said, “you become the blind and they (the servers) become your eyes.” It’s a fusion menu with french accents. The owners noted that 10-percent of the profits go to charities around the world.

Read The Lo-Down's full report here.

Meanwhile, several people have asked me... I did not get to play the Community Board/State Liquor Authority Drinking Game last night. But these babies are flying off the shelves....

A memorial for Merlin

There's now a tribute to Merlin here on Avenue A at Sixth Street by the ConEd substation.... marking the anniversary of his death.





Per the Times:

There are few certainties in this changeable city. But on Avenue A and Sixth Street, a place that has been convulsed by change in recent years, one thing has remained constant through the riots and real-estate booms: Merlin, a 41-year-old homeless man who uses only one name, has made the intersection's southeast corner his residence for eight years. Neither blizzards nor blistering heat have routed him from atop a set of wooden pallets in front of a Con Edison substation.

"People move in and out of the neighborhood, but I never budge," he said last week, lounging beneath a pair of tattered umbrellas, his only guard against the sting of the sun. A stroke has left him partly paralyzed, and frostbite cost him several toes three winters ago.

To strangers, he is but another intrusion on the East Village's gritty streetscape, a reason to avert their eyes. But to many local residents, he is a cherished asset: a timekeeper, a message center, a town crier and a source of good, solid conversation. "Merlin is a social hub," said Tatiana Bliss, 25, a local artist. "If you're looking for someone, Merlin probably knows where they are. If you want to leave something for a friend, he'll make sure they get it. He makes this crazy city feel like a small town."

[Thanks to EV Grieve reader Anna for the photos]

CBS 2 finds that some bicyclists ride through red lights and stuff in the East Village

CBS 2 camped out in the East Village to find some outlaw bicyclists. And they did! It's Bike Bedlam! (Catchy!)

NEW YORK (CBS 2) – The NYPD is on a ticket blitz, giving cyclists more than 15,000 violations so far this year. Many pedestrians say it’s about time and fear the city’s push to get people pedaling has led to danger on the streets and sidewalks. Some have even dubbed it “bike bedlam.”

The Big Apple is racing to become the bike capital of the world and the Bloomberg administration has added more bike racks, paths and lanes.

However, as CBS 2’s Tony Aiello found out, spending a few minutes along the new bike lane on First Avenue makes clear that plenty of New Yorkers have little liking for the biking.

“It would be one thing if the bike riders obeyed the lights and things — they don’t,” Lower East Side resident Amber Rogers told Aiello.

In a recent 20 minute period at First Avenue and Sixth Street, CBS 2 counted 17 bike riders running red lights and more than two dozen riding the wrong way and against traffic.

There's video, but CBS embedded the wrong code....

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Creature for the tip.

StreetsBlog discussed some of CBS2's week-long report here.

Cheap Shots — sans truck bombs and graffiti — gets the OK for a license renewal

Cheap Shots was first up last night on the CB3/SLA docket.... Back in June, the fuzz busted the First Avenue joint for allegedly serving minors... (and I thought the new incarnation was to be called Spanky and Darla's? Well, no matter... this wasn't mentioned... )

The bar's attorney was there, as was the newish owner ... she also owns the lost bra parlor the Patriot Saloon down on Chambers (where they were hiring "shameless slut bartenders" — woo!) ... anyway, the kindly lawyer, who struck me as a little grandfatherly, discussed how the bar has been trying to change its image.... with a straight face, the lawyer said Cheap Shots had a reputation for being "a young person's bar."

So! The management:
• Removed all the video games
• Cleaned off all the graffiti from the interior
• Changed the jukebox
• Added soundproofing
• Removed the all-you-can-drink-for-free special for people who were celebrating their birthday
• Stopped serving pitchers of beer with shots in them (truck bombs! Woo!)

(I haven't been here since the spring or so, so I can't independently verify any of these claims...)

And so on... There have been four recent complaints under the new ownership....one in December, two in March and one in June... But the owner said that they've had friendly discussions with neighbors... and helped rectify noise problems... Per the underage bust, they now have two bouncers working on weekends and an ID scanner... two residents spoke out against the bar... one resident said that she felt uncomfortable walking by the bar when the patrons are outside smoking. She said she found their body language — unpleasant.

The owner seemed genuenly concerned upon hearing this... A CB3 board member suggested that the bar figure out a sidewalk traffic control system, perhaps adding a corral to keep people more separated from passersby....

In the end, the committee approved a license renewal for Cheap Shots...

After hearing about the bar's efforts to be less youth friendly, I decided to walk by after the meeting... and here's the sign greeting folks on the sidewalk...

The East Village gets two new sidewalk cafes

Also on the CB3/SLA agenda last night — two applications for sidewalk cafes..... First up, Penny Farthing on Third Avenue and 13th Street.... The former restaurant here, Cafe DeVille, had a sidewalk cafe...In addition to nine tables (18 seats) on Third Avenue, Penny Farthing will have four tables (eight seats) on 13th Street.... The hours: Noon to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursdays; to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Not much discussion... People seem to like this place... and it was quickly approved....

Then! Team DBGB took the stand, the lawyers with by far the best-looking suits in the audience. (Actually only one lawyer took the stand; the other two sat in the back.) Head DBGBer Daniel Boulud was not in attendance, by the way... So the DBGB sidewalk cafe plans to have 15 tables (30 seats) on the Bowery... with some kind of self-supporting grates as barriers... Hours of operation: Noon to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; till midnight on Friday and Saturday; and 10 p.m. on Sunday.

The committee quickly gave their approval, with someone even throwing in a gratuitous Daniel Boulud compliment...

Westville East debuts its sidewalk cafe

Speaking of sidewalk cafes...



As you may recall, Westville East (WE) applied for a sidewalk cafe in the spring... and it didn't go so well.... the drama included posting a note on their door calling out their "mean-spiritied neighbors." (Doing so in a 29-word run-on sentence, no less!)

Anyway! Long story! And now WE has debuted the tables....



Oh, and there was more drama... we heard that Councilwoman Rosie Mendez intervened to help get the number of tables reduced for neighbors who are upset over the sidewalk cafe... (Updated 9:29 a.m.: Mendez's office confirmed this.)

Perhaps with fewer tables, WE can spring for some barriers to block out the ample pedestrian and vehicular traffic...

Avenue B loft with Corinthian columns is apparently "every hipster's dream"

Oh, disregard that top photo. Those are the Corinthian columns out front of my apartment, which were given to me by late great-great grandfather, Zeus Grieve...

Now back to the post....

Well, when we last checked in at the former Newsboys' and Bootblacks' Lodging House and Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys and Industrial School, Children's Aid Society .... Jeez, OK — you know, that place where Matt Dillon has been living on Avenue B and Eighth Street...



...we were checking out a loft with a stage ...

Now, another milestone loft is on the market in the building, which was erected in 1887...

Per the listing:

Live and work in this huge, open loft . Facing Tompkins Square Park, on Avenue B, in the most incredible landmark East Village building. 12 foot ceilings and huge windows, this 2 bedroom corner loft apartment is every hipster's dream! Live totally "outside the box" in every way and wow your friends as they enter this one-of-a-kind space. Corinthian columns. Great south and west light. Steps to the best of the East Village. Nothing else like it. Video intercom system. Sorry no shares.

And hipsters — keep dreaming... the rent is $7,000.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Remembering the Revolutionary

Or if that dump on East Eighth Street is too fancy for you, then try this one...

Religion and weather together on the 8's

On 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

One rather lousy photo from this evening's monsoon

On First Avenue.

Madonna and Sean Penn got married on this date in 1985

Just felt like mentioning that...



And you may already know this story... Andy Warhol and Keith Haring collaborated on this painting as a wedding gift...


[©The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts]

By the way, three years later, someone stole the painting from one of Madonna's homes... The FBI was on the case... The Smoking Gun posted all the details on the case back in 1999.

Anyway, happy 25th anniversary!