
Butter Lane is back on docket. (It was scratched from last month's agenda.)Iggy's, which is taking over the Five Rose's space, is applying for a license. A few interesting transfers (maybe!) at 40C and Cafe DeVille...
Upon entering, confronted with a wall of noise. It's *incredibly* loud. You can't make anything out — total wall of noise.
Near the door are some mini kegs stuck in ice. By the window are guys filling mugs from a mini kegerator. Very fratty, all around. Fratty smell, especially.
We try to figure out the bar situation. Confusing. It looks like there is no bar and patrons are just doing whatever, but really there is a bar. It's just surrounded by patrons. We eventually get drinks. My mixed drink is quite strong. This is good, as it took an eternity to get it. It was served by a bartender wearing legwarmers on her arms. As we're trying to secure drinks, we're hit by a blast of flatulence. Did I mention this place is fratty? We get our drinks and head toward the front. The girls here are CUTE.
There is a live band in the back, playing under an enormous lit sign that reads APPLAUSE. The sign is always lit. I do not clap. There is a guy on piano, trying to sing over the noise, and he's accompanied by a drummer. They're playing "When a Man Loves a Woman."
There are plastic cups everywhere.
We go for another round of drinks. We ask how much, and the bartender says "Ummm.... 30?" as if we're bartering. We pay. It seems fair for the amount of drink we're walking away with.
A cringing girlfriend leading her man away from his friends.
A group of girls enter, high-fiving each other. They are cute.
A guy in a yellow shirt starts to lose composure, head in hands. He's had enough beer.
"Thriller" is played (the pianist/drummer are done now). There is cheering, dancing.
And that's about it. We get bored and go for pizza.
The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors (BAN) last week presented a plan to limit the size of new buildings and preserve traditional commercial uses on the east side of the Bowery between Canal and E. Ninth Sts.
The alliance, which includes artists, loft dwellers and local merchants, has been calling for preservation of the east side of the thoroughfare for the past three years as new high-rise residential and hotel towers have been threatening to overwhelm the low-rise character of Bowery.
“This is the first step in gathering support for the plan,” said Anna Sawaryn, president of BAN, who led the group’s June 16 forum. “We intend to present it eventually to Community Board 3 and ultimately to City Planning.”
“We felt it was important to preserve the wholesale lighting, restaurant-supply and jewelry businesses that remain on the Bowery,” said Mitchell Grubler, a member of BAN. “Rezoning was the only way to do that before those businesses are forced out by expensive high-rise development.”