Bowery Boogie | A Lower East Side Chronicle

If the last American Apparel job call is any indication, then the corner of East Houston and Orchard Street will be packed next Wednesday.  The Lower East Side outpost, which recently removed five of its storied benches, is holding so-called hipster tryouts to fill “key holder positions” for both day and night shifts. Bonus points [...]

It’s really no secret that the leather vendors on Orchard Street are hanging on for dear life.  Their demise is gradual, but seemingly inevitable in the face of the gold rush.  Sunday pedestrian malls don’t attract so much foot traffic anymore, and many of the old-school storefronts are quietly shuttering.  One-by-one. And now another. Rita’s Leather [...]

For the last couple weeks, we’ve been watching a group of young folk prepare the latest installation inside the Bridge Gallery at 98 Orchard Street.  From early morning until late at night, the volunteers and artists toiled to assemble the extensive network of colorful panels into a trippy tube of psychedelia. At any given moment, [...]

Rob Shaliman is the man behind a number of Lower East Side nightlife institutions, including Mason Dixon, Spitzer’s Corner, Los Feliz, and Fat Baby.  He sat down with Metromix to discuss his string of bars and plans for future expansion. [Los Feliz Chalk]

17 Orchard Street has been under wraps since our previous checkup in September 2009, when the Silkstone catering company was seeking a full liquor license for the space; Community Board 3 subsequently denied their application. But now a year later, there are signs of life anew behind the cast iron facade.  The Silkstone founders – Britons [...]

As last winter drew to a close, Karl Lagerfeld and his posse of photographers and eye candy seized a piece of lower Orchard Street for a Chanel shoot.  At the time, scantily-clad models were seen perched on the decorative fire escapes above An Choi. Official photos, which will appear in their Fall/Winter 2010-11 catalog, were [...]