Archive for June, 2007
| June 29th, 2007 |
 SP Treasurer Terry MacAvery |
Last night the Seward Park Housing board of directors met and elected its new officers:
President - Karen Wolfson
1st Vice President - Carlos Rosado
2nd Vice President - Fran Marino
Treasurer -Terry MacAvery
Secretary - Pietro Filardo
Back in November, 2004, I interviewed then SP Treasurer Terry MacAvery for the Grand Street News for a story we titled “Facing Seward’s Realities.” A while later, MacAvery resigned his office, although he remained on the board, this unlike some other, like-minded directors who just threw up their hands and walked away. It’s fascinating to see how just about all the issues he was describing almost three years ago are still begging resolution, except with greater urgency. We congratulate the new president and officers and wish them much success in, at last, getting to the business of straightening out Seward’s business.
| June 29th, 2007 |
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That’s it, I’ve had enough with privileged parking in my neighborhood. I announce officially that I am now becoming the crazy old bastard who bothers officials, elected and otherwise, demanding that they start obeying the law like the rest of us. I know it’s a tall order and I know it’s the kind of mission that usually ends up with the protagonist standing on a street corner with an empty Styrofoam cup, drooling through broken teeth, asking for a quarter. All I can say is it’s for a good cause, and when you do see me at the light with my cup – roll down your window and drop me a coin, for Pete’s sake.
So, here is our hall of shame photos of the day. These cars were parked all night at the curb on Madison Street near Grand (573 Grand Street), next to a big, red sign that reads “No parking any time.” That means that you may be able to stand there for a while, waiting at the wheel for your wife and kids, but you certainly would be ticketed should you leave your car. These there were there the whole night!
NY State License No. DHT-7721
The car had a Correction Department permit No. 78 on its dashboard. Please tell me why working for the prison system, demanding as it may be, gives a person permission to leave their car at a no parking any time curb? To the best of my knowledge there was no prison-related event taking place at East River during the night. Why would I be ticketed $65 for standing where a person working on Rikers gets to park for free?
NY State License No. DFC-2692
NYPD Missing Persons Permit that looked like it was Xeroxed, and had NO NUMBER AT ALL. This one is a fake, and yet no policeman bothered to issue a ticket. Perhaps we should inquire with Missing Persons about the missing cops…
NY State License No. DWT-4477
Another Correction Dept. Access Parking permit. Access to what? Is East River Housing running a shadow prison at Gertel’s cake factory? Perhaps we’re the location of last resort for those infamous CIA inmates that even the Rumanians refuse to torture? Why does working as a prison official entitle you to park on my block where I get ticketed?
| June 29th, 2007 |
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I went to my local Lower East Side CVS (cr Grand & Willet) this morning. At the check out counter there were within the 1 foot of me 6 magazines that had a picture of Suri Cruise on its cover. Yes six magazines - if that’s what you want to call this trash - had a picture of Suri, some with her famous mother Katie Holmes, and some with her even more famous (infamous) Tom Cruise. The current, on-display magazine referred to OK!, Star, Life & Style, In Touch, People, Us Weekly. We have nothing better to do than publish magazine after magazine of this crap.
Can someone please stop the madness…
| June 29th, 2007 |
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The Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting are the folks who invade your block on occasion, telling you to scram with your car for the day (or more) while some heavy movie making equipment parks in front of your house, with crews turning your sidewalk into a sound stage. You’d think, at least the City charges those production for the right to intrude so rudely on your life. But that’s not the case. It turns out those productions get your home for free for a day. It’s very good this, they say, because it creates many jobs for folks who may or may not be living and paying taxes here. It appears that if we charged the $200 million budget of Die Hard 14, say, $10 thousand a day they would go shoot their NY City car chase scene in Guadalajara.
This morning the NYT is reporting that those same able promoters of your and my budget, the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting, are planning to force “tourists, amateur photographers, even would-be filmmakers hoping to make it big on YouTube… to obtain a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance before taking pictures or filming on city property, including sidewalks.”
The rule could also apply to people waiting in line to enter the Empire State Building or other tourist attractions. The rules define a “single site” as any area within 100 feet of where filming begins. Under the rules, the two or more people would not actually have to be filming, but could simply be holding an ordinary camera and talking to each other. The rules are intended to set standards for professional filmmakers and photographers, said Ms. Cho, assistant commissioner of the film office, but the language of the draft makes no such distinction.
Here’s another zinger: The film office held a public hearing on the proposed rules yesterday, but no one attended.
Did you get a press release about the hearing? Did you see it mentioned anywhere, online, in print, anywhere? You know we all didn’t. Clever, clever boys at the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting.
They give away our natural assets for free in exchange for full employment to some grips from Union City and Massapequa, and now they want the rest of us to go stand in line at City Hall every time we feel like shooting our camcorder.
Folks, we gotta’ disable this monkey.
| June 28th, 2007 |
 Vladeck Houses |
The NYPD has broken up two major drug rings operating out of housing complexes - and one of them is the Brooklyn project recently purchased by ex-Met Mo Vaughn. Cops arrested more than 50 people involved in the operations at Noble Drew Ali Plaza in Brownsville, which Vaughn and partner Eugene Schneur purchased last week, and the Vladeck Housing Development on the Lower East Side. The two drug operations were not connected, cops said. At Noble Drew, police busted 35 people and seized 400 glassine bags of heroin, 100 rocks of crack, marijuana, weapons and ammunition, police sources said. Several of the drug suspects allegedly used pit bulls to intimidate residents of the complex.
Cops Bag Dozens in Drug Raids at Projects (NY Post)
NO from Vladeck Houses emails: This has been what the residents in the vladeck houses have had to endure for quite some time which should also include quite a number of victim(s) random shootings, robberies and assaults on the residents and their families. The last shooting occurred this pass Monday, June 25 at 3am. Several weeks ago an innocent man was shot thank god not seriously while walking in front of his building - he was not the intended target. this was done in full daylight while children were outside playing.
The need for the cameras has not just become a vital instrument here at vladeck it is now become a desperate need. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the NYPD for their undercover operation which led to all the arrests - had this not taken place - what would the summer be like in the vladeck when no one would be able to come outside. I ask that you write to Commissioner Kelly not only thanking them for their outstanding job but their dedication and relentless efforts within the vladeck houses and the surrounding area. This operation has made a serious impact on the quality of life here - we only hope it remains this way, where we can walk and sit within the area we live without fear for the safety of our families. I hope that NYCHA takes immediate action against those arrested.
| June 28th, 2007 |
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Time Out New York asks the question we have been dying to know: what’s going on in women’s head? We are very clueless. Actually, correct that, TONY asks “what’s going on in the head of the solo New York woman?” That, too, we are clueless about. Of the fifty women that ask, two are from our hood. Here is what they say:
DEBBIE
Have you ever had more than one date in an evening?
Yes!
How did you orchestrate that?
It basically just happened. I was out with one guy and then ran into an old buddy, and we kind of made out. Then I left the first guy.
When was your last relationship?
I was with my last for a long time, but he was cheating. We tried to get back together, but I couldn’t get past it. We’re still friends.
How can you still be friends with someone who cheated on you?
Well, we were always friends, but he’s with someone new now, and he’s still a cheater. He’s cheated on her with me, even. He lied to me about being with her, and I found out later that they were still together. So he’ll never change.
Do you have any advice for women in NYC?
Keep it tight. Don’t just give it up.
| June 28th, 2007 |
[ June 30, 2007; July 1, 2007; ] One tube of the Battery Park Underpass between Joe DiMaggio Highway and the FDR Drive will be fully closed (usually southbound Joe DiMaggio to FDR) Sunday nights to Friday mornings from 10pm to 5am to install electrical conduit by NY State DOT until the end of July.
One lane of the Queens Midtown Tunnel will […]
| June 28th, 2007 |
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We have two new listings to share with you this week.
Please give us a call at 212-388-1115 (x100 or x101) to schedule an appointment to view these or any of our listings.
1BR Hi Floor w/Balcony and River View!
New to Market, FDR Drive and Grand St. (East River), #E44474, 1 bed, 1 bath, 800 s.f., Balcony, $565,000, Maint. $566
Northern Skies!
New to Market, Grand & Lewis (Hillman), #H22267, 1 bed, 1 bath, 620 s.f., $450,000, Maint. $510
Doris Elpin, 212.388.1115 x101
| June 27th, 2007 |
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We just received this very friendly note from Council Member John C. Liu, urging us to conserve energy “as the hottest days of the summer approach and our fragile electrical infrastructure continues to be vulnerable to outages.”
To back up his polite warning, Liu offers this roundup notes of blackouts and near-blackouts in the past few weeks. If you think we’re getting through this summer with our power intact you may want to ponder these babies…
Power Restored After Outage In Queens, NY1, June 01, 2007
Con Edison officials said power was restored around 10 o’clock Friday night to thousands of Queens residents who lost power earlier in the evening due to a feeder problem. Queens City Councilman John Liu said an estimated 10,000 Queens residents were without power throughout the night. Con Edison officials say the number was far less, around 2,000. The utility said power was restored by 10:05 p.m. to the area by Kissena Boulevard, 45th Avenue, Parsons Boulevard and Oak Avenue in Flushing, Queens. Liu said it is hard not to make comparisons to last summer’s power outage.
| June 27th, 2007 |
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This morning’s gridskipper.com reports: On the way to work this morning, I stopped by what someday will be the East Houston Hotel. Yes, another hotel in the LES. This one is of modest scope. On the corner of Houston and Eldridge, the hotel maintains the facade of the tenement building it once was. Co-owner Jinsup An accosted me as I was snapping covert pics and invited me inside. The hotel, he says, will be a 43-room 6-story boutique hotel opening in 2 months. I believe his claim to the number of rooms, his assertion of the hotel’s height is verifiably true but all signs point to an irrational hope in having the place open in 2 months.
gridskipper.com thinks the East Houston Hotel faces an uphill battle. However, they say, there is a gap between the anonymity of HoJo’s and the luxury of THOR et al, if EHH can target that market, it should succeed.
| June 27th, 2007 |
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Back in the early ’80s and ’70s (that’s the limit of my personal recall on this matter), the line outside Gertel’s was literally around the block on the eve of major holidays, and on Fridays you had to hold on to your number and struggle against the multitudes to get served. Not because of nostalgia but because the pastry was amazing.
Now Stern has milked the story of closing the store so brilliantly, he should put up his PR services for hire. I hear Dick Cheney is looking for help. He began last year by floating a rumor that the new owner of his building would likely close down the store. Oh, he didn’t exactly say it, but he was coy enough with the NY Magazine reporter at the time, that it bought him great copy. Then he told everyone how irate he was, and that the store would remain open forever.
I suspect he already knew he was closing, and going all angry and hurt just meant more promotion.
| June 27th, 2007 |
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Oh, sure, Christie Whitman quit over principle, but ahe announced that she was leaving “to spend more time with her family,” gripes blogger M.J. Rosenberg on TPC Cafe. In other words, she lied about her reasons for quitting to protect an administration that she knew was intentionally damaging the health of the American people to please campaign donors who owned dirty industrial plants.
Why in God’s name would she admit that now? Rosenberg asks and answers, I guess she hopes that revealing the real story - when it no longer matters - will enhance her reputation at a time when she is being attacked, rightfully, for her deception about the true quality of New York’s air following 9/11. For that she is on the Congressional hotseat, with Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Jerry Nadler (D-NY) really letting her have it!
Whitman’s behavior, he points out, while certainly deplorable, is standard operating procedure in America today.
| June 27th, 2007 |
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We have 2 open houses scheduled for this Wednesday evening, June 27, from 6pm - 7:30pm.
If Wednesday evening is not convenient for you, please give us a call to schedule a private appointment. You can reach us as 212-388-1115 (x100 or x101).
Better Than Winning at Monopoly!
Grand & Willet (Hillman), #H22257, Open House Wednesday Jun 27, 6pm-7:30pm, 500 Grand St. (cr. Bialystoker/Willett) #C12C, 1 bed, 1 bath, 620 s.f., $450,000, Maint. $510
American Gothic With River Views!
Grand & Madison (East River), #E44467, Open House Wednesday Jun 27, 6pm-7:30pm, 573 Grand St. (cr. Madison St.) #D803, 1 bed, 1 bath, 800 s.f., balcony, $545,000, Maint. $551
Doris Elpin, 212.388.1115 x101
| June 26th, 2007 |
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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that she has joined with a bipartisan coalition of Senators in co-sponsoring two pieces of legislation to address the recent rapid decline of the honey bee population. Senator Clinton is co-sponsoring Senator Boxer’s Pollinator Protection Act that directly applies research funding to identify factors causing the decline of honey bees. Senator Clinton has also co-sponsored Senator Max Baucus’ Pollinator Habitat Protection Act, which utilizes existing farm bill conservation programs to strengthen both the native and managed pollinator habitats.
“These bills are important steps in helping to address the dramatic decline in the pollinator population. The honey industry and other specialty crop producers who depend on bees for pollination in New York and across the nation are struggling with the harmful effects caused by this rapid decline. We must take whatever action is needed to help our beekeepers and prevent this situation from becoming even worse,” said Senator Clinton.
| June 26th, 2007 |
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For the next three days the heat index in New York City is predicted to be in the 90s. With this increase in heat and humidity, OEM stresses the need for New Yorkers to limit their time outdoors and keep cool.
During this hot and humid week, New Yorkers should hydrate, avoid strenuous outdoor activity, and stay in the shade when outside. Remember to check on neighbors who may need assistance. Seniors, young children, and people with special needs are particularly susceptible to heat-related illnesses.
Other ways New Yorkers can stay cool:
- Wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothes
- Keep body temperature low by taking cool baths or showers, but avoid extreme temperature changes
- Use an air conditioner if you have one
New Yorkers can also expect high ozone levels, which make air quality poor. Ozone can cause breathing problems, especially among those with respiratory conditions. To avoid ozone-related respiratory problems, people should limit outdoor activity particularly during afternoon and early evening hours.
| June 26th, 2007 |
 Jill Coccaro, aka Phoenix Feeley |
As you may know, we are hooked on stats, here at LoHo10002.com. Not because we carry advertising, but because, you never know, maybe some day we’ll carry advertising and then every unique ip counts. One of the features of our stats program is requests entered in our search function by visitors, and which are turned down with a cool, “Oh no! You’re looking for something which just isn’t here! Fear not however, errors are to be expected, and luckily there are tools on the sidebar for you to use in your search for what you need.”
Our friend, Larry the programmer, put this language in. We think it’s quaint. Also, we have no idea how to change the text right now, so it stays. Anyway, the most popular request for something that’s not here is “Topless + Woman + LES.” Why, you’re asking? Perhaps the second most popular search request will provide the clue: “Jill + Coccaro + Pics,” followed closely by “Phoenix + Feeley.”
Jill Coccaro, aka Phoenix Feeley, 27, is the New York artist who was arrested by police when she went on a topless stroll on Delancey Street two years ago., and was recently again in the news, after she has accepted a $29,000 settlement from the City.
This resident of East River Housing was charged with indecent exposure despite a 1992 state appeals court ruling that concluded women had the right to be topless if men were allowed to take off their shirts. She bared her breasts on Aug. 4, 2005 and remained in custody for 12 hours before she was told prosecutors were not going to pursue charges.
Feeley told the New York Post that she was not treated well after her arrest. Her lawsuit charged that a police officer yanked her out of a patrol car by her hair and police took her to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
So now we have a page for all you seekers out there. May your searches be rewarding and may your mouse never slide uncontrollably.
| June 26th, 2007 |
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Friends and neighbors,
Important events this week, please spread the word:
Tonight, Tuesday, June 26, 6:30 pm
Community Board 3
166 Essex Street (just south of Houston)
The CB is slated to approve a sidewalk cafe at the new, huge Bowery Hotel in an area already congested with nightlife. Join community opposition.
Wednesday, June 27, 1 pm
Steps of City Hall
Anti-displacement groups throughout the city join to protest eminent domain abuse, marking the second-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision which allowed cities to use eminent domain to evict residents and destroy their homes to benefit a private development. Demonstration organized by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the neighborhood group opposing Ratner’s Atlantic Yards development plan.
Thursday, June 28, 3-8 pm
The NYU Strategic Plan Open House
Hemmerdinger Hall
100 Washington Square East
Learn about NYU’s strategy for 40% residential growth in the next 25 years.
| June 25th, 2007 |
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This urgent note came via email this morning:
To: New York City Council, New York Department of City Planning.
We respectfully request that:
- The Department of City Planning include the Bowery in the current 197C Plan being drafted for the Lower East Side
- The Department of City Planning and City Council pass immediate legislation to ensure that this “as of right” development does not continue
- The Department of City Planning perform an Environmental Impact Study and take measures to mitigate the negative impact of this development on our community
Sincerely, The Undersigned
Now please go and sign the online petition, before there are so many high risers on the Bowery, you won’t be able to see the Empire State Building.
| June 25th, 2007 |
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What’s wrong with this LoHo picture? Try your hand at the Games Issue of Time Out NY, where they stymie readers with an old fashioned puzzle, challenging them to look at an illustration closely and pick out 14 things that are a little off about it.
We say one thing for sure: the last time we saw Ratner’s on the Lower East Side was in a rerun of The French Connection on cable a few months back. And the nice folks at LoHo realty will tell you that you cannot get apartment for $450-$750. Also, the Dinkins for Mayor banner was a bad idea back when it was real. Ah, but did you notice that Ratner, a kosher joint, is serving both meat and dairy?
we didn’t get 14, though. We got about 10, and felt they really dummed it down with the dog-walking-man thing. Whassa matta? Run out of dead LES relics?
| June 25th, 2007 |
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First, this news: The aNYthing Store has just released their highly anticipated New Era caps. Their LES cap pay homage to New York City’s Lower East Side and is available in black and white or rainbow gradient, while the Denim Logo New Era features the classic aNYthing logo on a choice of either black or blue denim material.
Now for the gripes. This morning my friend JG emails me this URL to a truly incomprehensible website that sells hats that say “aNYthing” on them, with the amazing trick being that they cap the NY part and then they add NY stuff to it and it’s all on a hat, and I’m feeling that familiar horrified chill up the spine, because I know that JG is right and this thing will sell by the billions, and I also know that this may mark yet another point of decline for our civilization which, along with the story of Murdoch purchasing the WSJ, could be the point of no return.
Also, quite naturally, if I’m so smart, how come I don’t come up with ideas like the aNYthing hat?
These New Era caps are now available exclusively at The aNYthing Store, 51 Hester St. and online at The Score. Don’t tell them I sent you.
| June 25th, 2007 |
 Sion Misrahi |
Y’all remember the NYT item that sang the praise of developer Sion Mishrahi so loudly, it almost drowned out the sounds of anguish coming from gentrified tenants and horrified community board folks who’ve long since given up on the NYT’s ability to view real estate reality without their pink nightvisions. But one man, and a Man of God at that, was impressed. Rev. Matthew Paul Buccheri blogs: The NYT article “described how one man single-handedly changed the Lower East Side.”
He continues, for the uninitiated: “Now the Lower East Side when I was a kid was a neighborhood in steep decline. And the only reason you’d find yourself down there was to get a pastrami on rye from Katz’s Deli on Houston Street (pronounced House-ton; not pronounced like the city in Texas).
“But Sion Mishrahi has found a way to breathe new life into that community. He has single-handedly restored the things that were once broken; he has brought beauty to a place where beauty was once hard to find; and he has given new hope to a community that once felt abandoned by the powers that be in the city. Sound familiar? It should! Because this story is merely a faint echo of the story that the Bible tells us.
“You see, the God we come to worship this morning; the God we come to sing praises to has also brought restoration and new life to a community–except this community is not defined by geography, but by those who believe in the death and resurrection of the Son of God.”
I swear to Sion Mishrahi, if I hadn’t seen the deadpan photograph of the rev., I would have considered this the most screamingly funny parody of the NYT take on NYC real estate. But deep inside I know it’s screaming, but not with laughter…
| June 24th, 2007 |
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Sure, the kosher Jewish community got hit big time recently, what with the closing of Gertel’s kosher bakery, the closing of Young Israel for the construction of condos and a new synagoue in the future, and now there are rumors about the local funeral home building, Adas, going on the seller block… but no worries because we’re getting kosher sushi.
Starting tomorrow, Monday, June 25, Kossar’s, the world renowned bialy store, is having kosher sushi delivered daily (better be daily, or you’ll smell it) from Eden Wok.
What does sushi have to do with bialys? No one quite knows, but I can go for some fresh tuna right now. Yeah, baby, we give up synagogues and funeral homes - we get sashimi!
| June 24th, 2007 |
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We have 3 open houses scheduled for this Sunday, June 24, from 11:30am - 1:30pm. If Sunday is not convenient for you, please give us a call to schedule a private appointment. You can reach us as 212-388-1115 (x100 or x101). Also, we have 2 evening open houses scheduled for this coming Wednesday, June 27. Check our web site on Monday for more information about the Wednesday evening open houses. You can reach us as 212-388-1115 (x100 or x101).
Howzabout the Chrysler Building Out Your Living Room Window?
Grand & Columbia (Hillman), #H22258, Open House Sunday Jun 24, 11:30am-1:30pm, 530 Grand St (cr. Columbia) #F9C, 1 bed, 1 bath, 620 s.f., $430,000, Maint. $510
A Real Grownup’s Apartment
Grand & Willet (Hillman), #H22266, Open House Sunday Jun 24, 11:30am-1:30pm, 500 Grand St (cr. Willet) #B9G, 1 bed, 1 bath, 700 s.f., $479,000, Maint. $514
1BR, Balcony, Garden Views, Handicapped Accessible!
FDR Drive and Grand St. (East River), #E44468, Open House Sunday Jun 24, 11:30am-1:30pm, 475 FDR Drive (cr. Grand) #L404, 1 bed, 1 bath, 800 s.f., Balcony, $499,000, Maint. $542
Doris Elpin, 212.388.1115 x101
| June 24th, 2007 |
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WTC Community-Labor Coalition Sends Bus Load of New Yorkers from Lower Manhattan to Wash DC for June 25 9/11 Environmental Hearing Where US Rep Jerry Nadler Will Question Former EPA Adminstrator Whitman, Under Oath. They demand: “Christie Whitman must come clean about her role in EPA’s denials of the dangers in the WTC dust and smoke.”
The oversight hearing on 9/11 environmental health issues is set for 1pm by the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, chaired by US Rep Jerrold Nadler of New York.
Monday, June 25, departure from 125 Barclay St. at 7 AM. Arrival in Washington DC at approximately 11 AM.
