Three workers were carrying crap out of the Holland basement and tossing it into the dumpster. Nothing was left inside the space where the bar was. And the workers didn't seem all that pleased that I was nosing around.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Happening by the Holland
Since Jeremiah broke the news on Nov. 4 that the Holland may be gone for good, there has been plenty of chitchat among my circle of friends about the bar. Meanwhile, Brooks paid a visit to the getting-gutted bar and passed along some possibly good news that the Holland may reopen in the new year. By pure randomness, I happened to be by the ass-end of Port Authority Friday after work. I walked by the Holland on Ninth Avenue. It wasn't pretty.
Three workers were carrying crap out of the Holland basement and tossing it into the dumpster. Nothing was left inside the space where the bar was. And the workers didn't seem all that pleased that I was nosing around.
Three workers were carrying crap out of the Holland basement and tossing it into the dumpster. Nothing was left inside the space where the bar was. And the workers didn't seem all that pleased that I was nosing around.
I kind of like Bass Plucked Lute for a restaurant name
One of the many vacant storefronts along East Ninth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue will soon be a Moroccan restaurant. (OK, we're assuming Moroccan given that Sintir is "a three stringed skin-covered bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people of Morocco.")
Noted
On the side of the Sheen Brothers bodega on 10th Street and Avenue B. This was not here the other day. The graffiti, not the bodega.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Looking at the South Bronx 1982-1984
The Museum of the City of New York has a new exhibition of interest.
Broken Glass: Photographs of the South Bronx by Ray Mortenson
Nov. 14 through March 9
Made between 1982 and 1984, the photographs in Broken Glass: Photographs of the South Bronx by Ray Mortenson focus on the burned out, abandoned, and razed structures of entire city blocks in the South Bronx, documenting the aftermath of a widespread urban economic crisis that plagued the United States in the 1970s.
Now and then at the Rainbow Room
The Rainbow Room, where the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie entertained well-dressed crowds on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, is now in its 75th year of operations. The Post made note of what the United States was like when it opened:
When the Rainbow Room first struck up the band in 1934, the Great Depression was in full swing. Bank closings and home foreclosures were rampant and unemployment rates soared. The Giants had won the NFL championship by spoiling a foe’s otherwise perfect season. A Harvard-educated lawyer from the Democratic party had recently wrestled the presidency from the Republican incumbent with a message of hope — and, in doing so, secured House and Senate majorities. And, by no coincidence, strong yet fancy cocktails were all the rage.
Sound familiar?
The club, which is now only open two weekends a month, is awaiting word to see if they will get landmark status from the city.
Not ready for any of this
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Last call for the P & G
Brooks has the bad/sad news that the P & G Cafe will close at the end of the year. There's talk of another P & G at another location some day.
Previously on EV Grieve:
The P & G Cafe: An appreciation
Related:
Alex has some more NYC-related videos...including one from Depeche Mode that features the P & G.
"Poison"
The Times checks in today with a piece on the East Village/LES rezoning battle. “I implore you to see the plan for what it is — poison,” said Malcolm Lam, who spoke on behalf of the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Condo bender
Where oh where to begin. From the Times today:
Here’s one mistake that stressed out financial workers may want to avoid right now: Don’t get so drunk over the bear market that you dial up your broker and buy a luxury Manhattan condo on a boozy whim.
But Kipton Davis, a Prudential Douglas Elliman broker from Virginia, thinks a little bourbon could be good for sales.
Just as a few drinks may coax timid traders onto a dance floor, it could help them muster the courage to buy multimillion-dollar apartments.
That’s why on Wednesday night, Ms. Davis lured a half-dozen bankers, traders and friends on a condo tour of four TriBeCa buildings by offering wine and whiskey at every stop.
“Alcohol brings everyone together,” said Ms. Davis, after showing the group a $9.9 million penthouse at 16 Warren Street with an eight-seat hot tub. As the crowd debated whether they valued the hot tub over the layout of the $2.25 million unit downstairs, they sipped Chardonnay and a Chinon.
But they did not deliberate for long. There was tippling to be done. The pack headed to a $3.3 million bachelor loft at 132 Duane Street, where they were greeted by another Elliman broker, Francine Hunter McGivern, and a small spread.
“Have some food. Don’t be shy,” Ms. McGivern said.
They helped themselves to chicken satay and samosas and washed the snacks down with Sancerre wine, and Lagavulin ($77 a bottle) and Talisker ($60 a bottle) whiskeys. They sipped and listened while Ms. McGivern stressed that her client, a banker, did not need to sell. He will hold out for a buyer willing to pay for his meticulous renovation featuring Miele fixtures and wood floors imported from Austria. The crowd seemed pleased.
“The thing I dig is the bar across from the powder room,” said Patrick Nichols. Twenty-seven and newly married, Mr. Nichols, a trader with Jane Street Capital, scribbled in a leather-bound notebook and snapped photos. He is looking to spend $2 million to $3 million on a two- or three-bedroom apartment. He said he did not know many people hurt by the slowdown, and he was not worried about losing his job.
East of Bowery
I've been spending time lately at East of Bowery, a site that features the work of writer Drew Hubner (or Huebner) and the photography (and mp3s!) of Ted Barron, who's behind Boogie Woogie Flu. Hubner writes about his misspent drug days circa 1980s East Village. Each post includes an iconic photo taken by Barron, like the one above of the International Bar in 1986. For the record, according to a post by Barron introducing East of Bowery: "I didn't know [Hubner] then, but it seems we were in the same place at the same time. Life is sweet."
James Bond in New York
As you read here exclusively, the new James Bond movie opens today -- The Quantum of Solace...Which reminds me there has only been one Bond film with scenes in New York -- 1972's Let and Let Die, the first one starring Roger Moore. Which I've seen now, oh, 10,000 times. Well, it's not the best Bond film...and a little, uh, dated, in terms of diversity. Still.
Did Felix Leiter really just say "Get me a make on a white pimp mobile"?
The Live and Let Die novel by Ian Fleming was published in 1954. In that, Bond stays at the St. Regis; he tries to make himself seem more "American" to throw off the enemy.
Bonus excerpt!
First!
"He was reminded to ask for the 'check' rather than the 'bill,' to say 'cab' instead of 'taxi' and to avoid words of more than two syllables."
Later!
"He spent the morning on Fifth Avenue and on Broadway, wandering aimlesly, gazing into the shop windows and watching the passing crowds. He gradually assimilated the casual gait and manners of a visitor from out of town...[Bond] had a typical American meal at an eating house called 'Gloryfied Ham-N-Eggs' ('The Eggs We Serve Tomorrow Are Still in the Hens') on Lexington Avenue."
Here are a few screenshots from the movie, filmed in part in Harlem:
Did Felix Leiter really just say "Get me a make on a white pimp mobile"?
The Live and Let Die novel by Ian Fleming was published in 1954. In that, Bond stays at the St. Regis; he tries to make himself seem more "American" to throw off the enemy.
Bonus excerpt!
First!
"He was reminded to ask for the 'check' rather than the 'bill,' to say 'cab' instead of 'taxi' and to avoid words of more than two syllables."
Later!
"He spent the morning on Fifth Avenue and on Broadway, wandering aimlesly, gazing into the shop windows and watching the passing crowds. He gradually assimilated the casual gait and manners of a visitor from out of town...[Bond] had a typical American meal at an eating house called 'Gloryfied Ham-N-Eggs' ('The Eggs We Serve Tomorrow Are Still in the Hens') on Lexington Avenue."
Here are a few screenshots from the movie, filmed in part in Harlem:
The Lung Block and other shots of NYC circa 1933
Jason Kottke had a post yesterday with many photos of New York from the 1930s. The top shot is from 1933...
More of the photos are here.
Also from 1933..."The Lung Block, Lower East Side, got its name from many cases of respiratory diseases."
More of the photos are here.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Peter Frampton called: He wants his van back
Oh my. Our friend Hunter-Gatherer took this shot (and others!) of this boss van (with Jersey plates, natch) in SoHo. He has been humming "Dream Weaver" ever since....
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