Nabe News: February 23

Architect Gene Kaufman is defending his design of a new Bowery hotel to replace the vacant Salvation Army building. “His goal is to create a structure that is forward-looking rather than an allusion to the 19th-century architecture of the Bowery, which he said ‘seems extremely remote.’” They plan to break ground in the fall [The Local]

Remembering the Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken at the embattled Chinatown Fair Arcade [Vanishing NY; Previously]

An anti-abortion billboard arrives on Sixth Avenue in SoHo, and has already stirred plenty of controversy.  It’s located three blocks from a Planned Parenthood location [Cityroom]

Many believe that low- and middle-income units in the SPURA development will be unaffordable to the target demographic [Curbed; Previously]

Uggs go New York with a pair boasting a crystallized skyline [Racked]

A peanut butter pop-up museum just opened at the Openhouse Gallery on Mulberry Street [Fork in the Road]

The esteemed economists at Vanessa’s Dumplings on 14th Street proclaim the end of the recession [EV Grieve]

How all public school water fountains should look [Scouting NY]

Stellina get some attention from the New York Times today [NY Times; Previously]