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Rent Hike Forces Häagen-Dazs Out of Chinatown After 41 Years
Posted September 20, 2018 at 5:00 am
The longstanding Häagen-Dazs ice creamery in Chinatown will soon close its doors at the corner of Bayard and Mott Streets. The store has been at 53 Mott Street since 1977. A purported rent hike is the culprit, ending the decades-long tenure. The $10,000-per-month lease is up November 30, which doubles as the final day in […]
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International Center of Photography at Essex Crossing Takes Shape, Seeks Liquor License
Posted September 19, 2018 at 5:00 am
Its brief stint on the Bowery is limited. Come next year, the International Center of Photography will consolidate operations at Essex Crossing. The new headquarters has gradually taken shape over the last several months, and the boxy building finally resembles the initial rendering. Installation of exterior “aluminum screen” paneling recently completed, and most of the […]
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Chinatown Locals ‘Erase the Hate’ of Insensitive Gate Murals
Last modified September 19, 2018 at 1:43 pm
One Los Angeles-based street artist angered residents in Chinatown for racially-insensitive caricatures across the neighborhood this weekend. Someone with the tag name Sickid1 imparted the controversial images on at least three store gates over the weekend – 34 Mott, 81 Allen, and 38 Allen Street. Outspoken Chinatown activist Karlin Chan took it upon himself to […]
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It’s the ‘Same Old Gallery’ at Basquiat’s Former Studio on Great Jones Street
Posted September 17, 2018 at 5:00 am
Andy Warhol once owned it. Jean-Michel Basquiat lived, worked, and died in it. Now, the ground level of 57 Great Jones Street is under conversion to a temporary gallery concept inspired by the late artist. (It was previously occupied by Japan Premium Beef.) Indeed, one need only scope the name – The Same Old Gallery – […]
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With El Luchador Gone, it’s More Fries for Ludlow Street
Posted September 14, 2018 at 5:00 am
Over at 132 Ludlow Street, it’s one fast-food concept to another. With the two-year-old El Luchador outpost dead and gone, a new Belgian fries joint is about to get cookin. A tipster happened upon the store earlier this week, and gleaned that something called Belles Frites (name might be best guess) is poised to open here. […]
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At Mahfar’s 113 Stanton Street, Workers Fall Through the Ceiling [PHOTOS]
Last modified September 13, 2018 at 9:23 am
Renovations are again heating up at 113 Stanton Street, a notorious SMA Equities (Samy Mahfar) property with a history of tenant revolt. The tenement was one of several Lower East Side properties at the center of a civil lawsuit against SMA that eventually settled in March 2016. (It included a settlement sum to 23 tenants plus […]
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Cocktail Lounge Eyes Former ‘Suffolk Arms’ on East Houston
Last modified September 12, 2018 at 12:46 pm
Dead and buried for five months, the former home of Suffolk Arms is again under consideration. An as-yet-named restaurant-slash-cocktail bar is on the Community Board 3 docket this month for full liquor license approval. According to paperwork filed, the potential proprietors of the new establishment – Antonio Martinez, Awilda Martinez, and Rachel Bocatto (269 Bar […]
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More Drilling on Forsyth Street Ahead of Proposed Subway ‘Ventilation Plant’
Posted September 11, 2018 at 5:00 am
Another Davey Drill was spotted on Forsyth Street last week (above Delancey), but as before, it’s not related to the controversial Rivington House condo conversion. But rather, an infrastructure project by the MTA. Indeed, the transit agency remains committed, despite prior community opposition, to constructing a new subway ventilation plant beneath Forsyth Street. Installing this […]
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New Signage for Trader Joe’s at Essex Crossing, Opening Next Month
Posted September 10, 2018 at 5:03 am
While Target’s much-ballyhooed opening date on Grand Street already came to pass, its big-box neighbor is still on the horizon. Timetable to completion for the Trader Joe’s at Essex Crossing (i.e. The Rollins building on Site 5) reverted back to fall 2018. Wait longer. Back in March, the official word was that Trader Joe’s would debut […]
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‘Aeon’ Basement Bookshop Opens on East Broadway
Posted September 7, 2018 at 5:00 am
This one’s a page-turner… Today in a surprising turn of events, a new, independent bookseller just opened on East Broadway. The Aeon Bookstore debuted earlier this week here at the confluence of Chinatown and the Lower East Side. The newcomer business took the sub-level commercial space at 151 East Broadway, beneath the revived Kopitiam Malaysian […]
