Featured
Sam Chang Plans 13-Story Hotel to Replace Chinatown Garage
Posted September 30, 2020 at 5:00 am
Another downtown parking garage is doomed for replacement, with a new hotel on the way. Down at 62 Mulberry Street, the five-floor car-park is ready for redevelopment. Prolific hotelier Sam Chang is gunning to construct a thirteen-story beast, with design by frequent collaborator Gene Kaufman Architect. The proposed hotel will boast 103 keys spread across […]
Filed Under
Streets
‘Friedmans’ Eyes Seward Park for Latest Outpost
Posted September 29, 2020 at 5:00 am
Friedmans, the local comfort food chain, has eyes for Seward Park. Specifically, the commercial space formerly occupied by Randall’s Barbecue. Indeed, it appears that 357 Grand Street – vacant since May – could be restaurant number eight for the Friedmans crew. Owner Alan Phillips is listed on the October docket of Community Board 3 to […]
Filed Under
Streets
It Appears Max Fish is Selling Rebooted Orchard Street Bar
Posted September 28, 2020 at 5:00 am
For the second time in years, obituaries are to be written for a Lower East Side classic. Max Fish, which defied the odds to reopen in a new location, might close down all over again. The first evidence of what’s to transpire here on Orchard Street is an application for a new liquor license at […]
Filed Under
Streets
Advertisement
Advertisement
And then There’s this Apartment with a Tub in the Kitchen
Posted September 25, 2020 at 5:00 am
The standard pre-war tenement layout included a bathtub in the kitchen. It made sense, as this was the central location of plumbing. The phenomenon began with the advent of plumbing in city tenements between 1901 and 1905. With bathhouses no longer necessary to wash up, the kitchen became central. The tub here made sense given […]
Secondhand Bookstore Comes to Orchard Street
Posted September 24, 2020 at 5:00 am
And today, in news out of left field… There is a secondhand bookstore coming to the Lower East Side. Down at 47 Orchard Street, the former home of Anna Sheffield’s eponymous jewelry boutique. The new store is as yet untitled, but will feature used books, vinyl records, and assorted antique. “I have a large collection […]
Filed Under
Streets
Moscot Heads Uptown with New UWS Store
Posted September 23, 2020 at 5:04 am
The Moscot eyewear empire is expanding, pandemic be damned. The multi-generational, family-owned business is headed to the Upper West Side. This news is dispatched just shy of a year from when the spectacle slinger announced a new outpost in Los Angeles. The latest location is scheduled to open this Friday in Lincoln Square (188 Columbus […]
Filed Under
Streets
Chinatown Fair Arcade in Danger of Eviction
Posted September 22, 2020 at 5:00 am
During pandemic times, sharing buttons on game cabinets and sweating over dance games poses a difficult challenge for the remaining brick-and-mortar arcades. Especially the Chinatown Fair Arcade down on Mott Street. No stranger to survival – the 77-year-old arcade had shut for over a year before its revival in 2012 – Chinatown Fair now faces […]
Streets
‘Sour Mouse’ Game Hall Launches on Delancey Street Next Week
Last modified September 21, 2020 at 4:09 pm
Six months delayed due to the coronavirus lockdown, a basement game hall is finally set to open on the Lower East Side. Headquartered beneath 110 Delancey Street (former home of discount retailer Rainbow), Sour Mouse relies on bar games with the hope of “revitalize community” in the neighborhood. To that end, the establishment boasts billiards, shuffleboard, […]
Filed Under
Streets
Mission Chinese to Shutter East Broadway Restaurant Due to Coronavirus Challenges
Posted September 18, 2020 at 5:00 am
Mission Chinese Food, the popular Nuevo-Chinese restaurant, is to close its flagship Lower East Side location at the end of the month. In a lengthy missive posted to Instagram, chef-owner Danny Bowien explained the challenge of operating during pandemic times and the ultimate decision to close. “We faced the difficult decision as a business to […]
Filed Under
Streets
3-Alarm Fire Tears Through Grand Street Building in Midnight Blaze
Last modified September 17, 2020 at 7:03 am
Shortly after midnight, a raging fire tore through 303 Grand Street, just west of Allen. A thick plume of smoke billowed into the sky. According to various scanner sources, the blaze started in the back of the store, and quickly escalated into a three-alarm fire. Firefighters battled for more than thirty minutes before the flames […]
