One of those store with band T-shirts, thumb rings, water pipes, etc. Big with the kids and tourists. But you knew that. (And how long was this here? I can't remember...)
The Post has the story today about Redrum, the clipped-wing red lorikeet that belongs to Lucky Cheng's owner Hayne Suthon. According to the paper, Suthon was standing on the deck of her apartment above the First Avenue club. The bird got spooked and fell three stories to a tree below around 6:30. Luckily, this occurred before the stretch limos and bachelorette parties rolled in...
About an hour later, the bird fell into the busy street. That's when waiter Christopher Kelly, 33, sprung into action.
"I ran out and put my arms out to slow the traffic down and, luckily, I was able to jump on it," he said.
Redrum was safe and sound last night, and Suthon thanked the bird's savior.
"That was so brave," she said.
Which reminds me that I haven't seen "The Shining" in a long time.
"The place is dingy as all hell. First thought upon entry: how to leave. One of the great con-job sell-jobs of our time." Phrases also used to describe it: "disgusting" and "should be condemned."
"Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch and Marc Jacobs have applied their creative savvy to a new kind of line: Local 138's summer cocktail menu. Fashionistas will be flocking to the LES bar this summer to sip Lauren’s Ralph Raspberry Rum Punch, made with crushed raspberries, rum, lemon and lime juice, and Tory Burch’s Tory Tikki Tini, made with grapefruit, mango, strawberry and pineapple. Jacobs — ever the classic — created a modern spin on the timeless mint julep: the Marc Mint Martini." (Gatecrasher via The Cut)
As V.A. Musetto wrote in the Post yesterday: Stanley Kubrick was an upstart kid from The Bronx when, in 1955, he borrowed $40,000 from an uncle and directed, wrote, edited and photographed a movie thriller called "Killer's Kiss."
An ex-boxer finds love in the arms of a Times Square taxi dancer, but her boss just won’t let them be. Strikingly shot on NYC locations, a film noir featuring several notable set pieces, including an unforgettable battle among mannequins.
Someone also chopped it into parts and placed it on YouTube.... Here's the first 10 minutes...
From the Zagat Nightlife survey press release: Hot Blocks: Voted NYC's hottest nightlife neighborhood, the Lower East Side had a banner year, with the most buzz-worthy newcomers. Exclusivity came downtown with the opening of Eldridge, and Thompson LES Hotel introduced Above Allen, a rooftop bar with a retractable roof and chic furniture. Further downtown, Santos Party House opened its double-decker dance floors to throngs of partygoers and a rotating list of celeb-DJs. (PR Newswire)
"Yeah, I thought being anorexic would be hot" (Esquared)
Lots of people buy second homes in Manhattan. Why? "[R]ecent developments have made New York even more tempting. Once-marginal neighborhoods such as the Meatpacking District and Times Square are not just gentrified but leading hot spots. The 10-year-old Hudson River Park has transformed the entire West Side shoreline, once full of rail yards and crumbling piers, into a sports, recreation and relaxation zone." (USA Today)
10 ten ways to get drunk on the cheap. Notable quotes: "I like my bars how I like my men: grungy and cheap" and "The roof is wonderfully enchanting for a spot on the less-attractive edge of the LES" and "Promoter Ruben Araneta told me the real secret: Go on a Monday, say his name at the door, then find him inside to cop a free vodka cran from his bottle — especially if you are female (duh!) and attractive (double duh!)" (Black Book)
Woody Allen: "New York itself is very inspiring. If I take a walk in the morning on Madison Avenue and I look at people going to work and kids going to school, I'm full of ideas about wanting to do stories about the city." (USA Today)
On May 9, Bob Arihood reported that a young woman died, possibly from a wilding incident that occurred the night before in Tompkins Square Park. (Bob has had several follow-ups to this incident. If you haven't already, you may read the posts here... and here.)
In a cover story in this week's issue of The Villager, Lincoln Anderson further explores the case in the death of Lesia Pupshaw, who was 26. (That's Lesia in the photo.) There was speculation that she may have died from a drug overdose.
First, according to the article, the cause of her death has yet to be determined. Test results are pending.
An excerpt from Anderson's article:
[C]iting indications police received early on from the M.E., the Ninth Precinct’s commanding officer said police don’t believe Pupshaw’s death was a murder, and are proceeding accordingly.
"There is no evidence to support" that Pupshaw was killed, said Deputy Inspector Dennis De Quatro. "At this point, it’s not being investigated as a homicide, but as an assault."
But some of the Tompkins Square Park "crusties" . . . say Pupshaw’s head was badly injured in the attack and that police aren’t investigating as thoroughly as if the victim had been a "yuppie."
De Quatro, however, said making things more difficult, witnesses aren’t cooperating.
"There seems to be a reluctance on the part of those in the park to talk to us," the deputy inspector said. "They can come into the precinct” and tell police what they know," he said.
Anderson also interviews Melissa Bishop, who says that at one point she was a suspect in Pupshaw's death.
According to the article:
May 8 was Bishop’s birthday. She and Pupshaw weren’t on good terms because Bishop’s ex-boyfriend, Greg, had broken up with her to go out with Pupshaw. Bishop had been pregnant by Greg, but miscarried. Bishop has a tattoo on her forearm in memory of her lost baby.
"She didn’t like me because I was carrying [Greg’s child]," Bishop said of Pupshaw.
Bishop, 29, already has two children, 15 years old and 11 years old.
Pupshaw’s presence in the park on Bishop’s birthday was not welcome. The two had words.
Bishop said she cursed out Pupshaw, then turned on her heel and started to walk off. Immediately afterward, she said, she heard glass breaking. Turning back around, she said she saw Pupshaw getting up off the ground and heard her say, "Look at my eye. Look at my eye."
She also said that police weren't taking "Pupshaw’s death as seriously as if she was some yuppie-ass rich woman."
"Absurd" was De Quatro’s response to that accusation. "It’s our duty to investigate the assault. If you are assaulted today and you die in an automobile crash in New Jersey tomorrow, we still investigate. One’s got nothing to do with the other."
De Quatro also disputed accounts that a roving gang of local teens is responsible for the recent attacks in the neighborhood. "As for documented incidents, we have that one weekend back in the beginning of May involving this group," De Quatro told Anderson.
Thanks to reader Mick for passing along this link to 12oz. Prophet that features shots from photographer Paul Binzen's book "Tenth Street." The book, published in 1968, documents life on the street from the east side to the west side.
Now, according to the Post, Bob Novogratz (of the super-awesome family fame!) is "designing and developing a 3,000-square-foot Alphabet City penthouse that should hit the market at $4 million in the next week or so. The penthouse is part of a six-story, 25-foot-wide townhouse at 238 E. Fourth St., between avenues A and B. It was a former industrial space that has been rezoned."
What!
"The townhouse's owner is design writer Sue Hostetler, who plans to live with her family in the first four floors of the townhouse while selling the top two. The Novogratz family is developing the two-floor home through their firm Sixx Design, which is also the name of a Bravo reality TV show they are working on.
"The penthouse comes with a private elevator and a 1,200-square-foot roof garden. Because it is a custom home, Bob says it could be three bedrooms or more (or less) depending on the configuration. Wendy Maitland from Brown Harris Stevens will market the listing."
Here's a progress report. The foundation is coming along...
A few details about the long-vacated Waldorf Hysteria space at 165 Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street... a reliable source on that block said the groundfloor has been gutted, and will become office space -- most likely for a medical practice.
"Rob Pattinson ... was hit by a taxi cab on Thursday while running away from hysterical fans. RadarOnline.com witnessed the Twilight star get clipped by a cab around noon in front of the Strand Bookstore on Broadway and 12th Street."
Somehow I missed this... Thanks to Eater for reporting on this... they linked to an UrbanDaddy article on the bar that's opening at the former site of Rapture on Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.
You are about to enter a world of crazy—an all-out, raucous, beautiful disaster of a bar that will eat you alive if you let it.
Let's get right to it: meet Superdive, now taking keg service (yes, seriously) reservations for their grand East Village opening next week. Enter at your own risk…
Now, the first rule of Superdive is that there are no rules. You can mix your own cocktail behind the bar if you like. There's no door policy — anyone can come in. You can order a round of beers or a keg of beer, and a cocktail waitress will deliver the keg to your table in a rolling kegerator. You can even sit down and play their Steinway piano underneath a large applause sign.
It's total lawlessness in bar form. You'll know you're in the right place when you walk into quite possibly one of the least adorned bars you'll ever see—the walls are maroon, the banquettes have floral patterns and there's even a row of protected seats for ladies who don't want to deal with gentlemanly advances, delicately dubbed the "f*ck off seats."
Just drop in with a few (or more) friends, carve out one of the booths along the wall, order up a keg (more exotic orders, like Hitachino or Chimay, take 48 hours, but they have regular kegs in stock), take over the iPod and walk out eight hours later not recalling much of what just happened.
In other words, just like a good dive bar experience, only supersized.
I walk by the former Amato Opera on Bowery near Second Street fairly often. The Amato closed May 31 after a 61-year run. As Curbed noted, the building sold for $3.7 million.
Each time I walk by, I expect to see the Amato letters removed from the building...
...and all the costumes boxed up...
Still, I have some hope for this space. The Real Deal reported in late January that the building's new owner wants another theater to occupy the ground floor.
Plus! I find this encouraging: This commemorative plaque went up at the Amato this week.
Would anyone bother with a plaque if the building was going to turn into, say, a condo?
Spotted Jimmy McMillan in action last night. I saw him on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue ... telling people that "rent is too damn high" from the soundsystem that he has hooked up...
