Well, at least according to the Times. Meet Edward Skyler! (Kind of like Skywalker!)
(And that's NOT Mr. Skyler in the photo.)
Friday, April 10, 2009
A 35-year-old former Ivy League fencer and “Star Wars” buff is pretty much running the city
Well, at least according to the Times. Meet Edward Skyler! (Kind of like Skywalker!)
(And that's NOT Mr. Skyler in the photo.)
Nostalgia for 1980s New York in Beijing
From the Times:
What’s interesting about “Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983-1993” at the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, in Beijing, is that the Americans I know who have visited the exhibit, particularly those born and raised in New York, tend to focus on the location photos: the raw, grimy East Village sidewalks; Tompkins Square Park with its anti-gentrification protesters and drag queens; shirtless students at St. Marks Place; the bums on the Bowery and the gritty sidewalks and graffiti-covered subway cars that inspired “Stranger Than Paradise,” Jim Jarmusch’s 1984 film set partially in New York City. They are drawn to them precisely because they induce feelings of nostalgia for 1980s New York.
But Chinese visitors viewing the exhibit, most of whom have never been to New York (or America, for that matter), tend to focus on the Chinese people in the photos. Where the typical American will focus on how much Times Square has changed from the 1980s to now, the typical Chinese viewer looking at that same photo will focus on what looks like a Chinese immigrant sitting on top of a taxi.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Hummus Place expanding on St. Mark's Place?
Yesterday morning, I noted that Sympathy for the Kettle had closed at 109 St. Mark's Place.
Hummus Place shares the address on the west side of the building. Word on the street is that Hummus Place is taking over the former Kettle space. Which is one reason why Hummus Place on St. Mark's was closed today and workers were coming in and out of the space. There's an outgoing phone message at the St. Mark's store stating that all the NYC Hummus Place locations (four in total) will be closed for the holiday from April 8-17. Sounds like a good time for an expansion.
Hummus Place shares the address on the west side of the building. Word on the street is that Hummus Place is taking over the former Kettle space. Which is one reason why Hummus Place on St. Mark's was closed today and workers were coming in and out of the space. There's an outgoing phone message at the St. Mark's store stating that all the NYC Hummus Place locations (four in total) will be closed for the holiday from April 8-17. Sounds like a good time for an expansion.
The Holiday expands its hours
After Stefan's death earlier this year, the Holiday was only open on the weekends. Now, though, as this flier on St. Mark's shows, the Holiday is expanding its hours. Which is a good thing.
An award for navigating "the wilds of don’t-ruin-my-neighborhood blogosphere resentment"
In Time Out's Eat Out Awards this week, the magazine's critics bestow the Best Sweet Revenge award upon Bespoke Chocolates. Why?
As if the seven levels of city-permit hell weren’t enough, chocolatier and former Union Square Cafe pastry staffer Rachel Zoe Insler also had to navigate the wilds of don’t-ruin-my-neighborhood blogosphere resentment before she even opened the doors of her unassuming bonbon shop. Insler placated the haters with patience and warmth — and won over everyone else with her pretzel-covered sea-salted caramels, cardamom-scented Turkish coffee truffles and the rest of her handmade sweets. 6 Extra Pl at E 1st St (212-260-7103)
Well, now. I hope you haters are happy now! Got your just dessert!
Hell yeah, it's HoJo's
Thanks to reader/frequent commenter Mick for passing along the url to HoJoLand, a comprehensive Web site devoted to the history of Howard Johnson's. The last HoJo's closed on Times Square on July 9, 2005 (first photo below). As HoJoLand points out, there were 10 HoJo's in Manhattan at one point...
...like this one on 53rd and Lexington...
...uh, somewhere on Broadway...
and at 1551 Broadway...
Meanwhile...you'll find the world's largest repository on the last HoJo's in the city on the site...
...like this one on 53rd and Lexington...
...uh, somewhere on Broadway...
and at 1551 Broadway...
Meanwhile...you'll find the world's largest repository on the last HoJo's in the city on the site...
A quick look inside DBGB
Sometime this spring, DaBo's brasserie/diner place -- DBGB (ugh, sorry) -- will open at 299 Bowery between Houston and First Street. (Latest projection has it opening in May.)
The doors to the location, a block south of you-know-what, were open last night... the fans were blowing out toward the Bowery to provide ventilation for the paint job that was happening inside. I went to step inside for a better look when Mr. Unamused Supervisor did one of those, Halt!-who-goes-there moves. Anyway, opening in May? Maybe late May!
The doors to the location, a block south of you-know-what, were open last night... the fans were blowing out toward the Bowery to provide ventilation for the paint job that was happening inside. I went to step inside for a better look when Mr. Unamused Supervisor did one of those, Halt!-who-goes-there moves. Anyway, opening in May? Maybe late May!
The NYC housing slump is now A1 New York Times serious
A few excerpts from the Page 1 article today in the Times:
In this year’s first quarter, sales of co-ops and condominiums in Manhattan plunged nearly 60 percent from the first quarter of 2008. Average co-op prices fell as much as 24 percent in the same period, according to various market reports released last week.
And...
The stress is most severe at the high end of the market. There are 350 apartments and town houses for sale in Manhattan with asking prices of more than $10 million, and inventory has been growing. It would take about six years at the current sales rate to absorb all those listings.
And...
Jonathan J. Miller, an appraiser who prepares quarterly reports on Manhattan, said the market could continue to fall through this year and next, especially if credit remained tight for most buyers. After that, he said, it could take several more years to work through the excess inventory.
And...
Mr. Miller said that during the last big real estate downtown, when studio apartments were so cheap that he considered buying one on a credit card, people thought the luxury market would never come back. “Conspicuous consumption was out of vogue in 1991,” he said. “The market was back by 1997 or 1998.”
And finally...
In the newest issue of Us Weekly, Lindsay Lohan opens up about her heartbreaking split from Samantha Ronson, the "humiliating" weekend showdown with Ronson's family, and says that friends' fears she is suicidal are unfounded.
Oh, sorry. That's not from the article.
Avenue B is no longer a dead end
A few weeks back we mentioned how someone placed a "dead end" sign for those driving south down Avenue B to see...
The sign came down this past week...Order has been restored!
The sign came down this past week...Order has been restored!
Just in time for Easter...
The Christmas decorations are still up outside Villaggio on Avenue C. near 11th Street.
What's left of Lou
A few of the Lou Reed/Supreme ads are left hanging around...Such as this one on East Seventh Street near First Avenue...
...and this one on East Third Street near Avenue C.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Top that, Kermit
...and this one on East Third Street near Avenue C.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Top that, Kermit
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition
ATM card skimmers found in the East Village (Gizmodo)
Biker Bill is on the mend (Slum Goddess)
CBGB in the funny pages (This Ain't the Summer of Love)
Ruby's lives for another season (Kinetic Carnival)
Jeremiah continues his Crown Heights tour (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)
One day it will please us to remember even this: The New York Dolls will play at John Varvatos (Flaming Pablum)
Beer bargains at Key (Hunter-Gatherer)
Tap city (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)
Stephen Merritt hitting Off-Broadway (Pitchfork)
A coffee shop closes, and the owner offers an honest reason why
Klatch, an artsy little coffee shop at 9 Maiden Lane just east of Broadway, is now closed....and the owner, Pam Chmiel, a former film editor, is open about what happened...
Lower rents mean more NYU students will soon be your neighbors
As the Washington Square News reports, "The cost to live in many NYU dorms will increase next year — and at the same time, rental prices around the city are dropping rapidly."
The article goes on to discuss the Real Estate Group’s Manhattan Rental Market Report. And what does all this mean...? Simple. Let's go back to the article.
Because of lowered prices, more students have begun to use the Off-Campus Housing Office’s housing registry to look for apartments or a roommate.
“Many students are doing more comparative shopping and are evaluating the benefits of off-campus housing versus on-campus housing,” said Jennifer Brown, assistant vice president of Housing and Strategic Planning. “Most notable in the outside market is the increase in availability of the smaller types of accommodations such as studios and one-bedroom apartments.”
Despite fees such as security deposits and utilities, many students still find it beneficial to move off campus.
“I’m going abroad, but when I get back, I’m moving off-campus, hopefully the East Village, because you can find comparable prices to NYU,” CAS junior Joe Haldeman said. “If you can get the same price for something you would have to share at NYU, why not?”
Why not? Hmm. We must start a list...
What's new around the Cooper Square Hotel: Sidewalk, lack of trees
After looking at E2E4 the other day, I swung by to check in on the progress of the Cooper Square Hotel. (I usually only go by for free ice.) Well! For starters, the sidewalk alongside the hotel's coming-soon garden (outdoor bar?) space on East Fifth Street is done....
...but not at the cost of a few trees.
And what is going on with this one?
Meanwhile, it's looking really glassy....
...and close to the neighbors.
Curbed had an update yesterday on the hotel and the ominous Wolverine claw....
P.S.
The hotel's VIP entrance still needs a little work...
...but not at the cost of a few trees.
And what is going on with this one?
Meanwhile, it's looking really glassy....
...and close to the neighbors.
Curbed had an update yesterday on the hotel and the ominous Wolverine claw....
P.S.
The hotel's VIP entrance still needs a little work...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)