Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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The Parks Department can pick off late artist Eddie Boros' Toy Tower at any time, but luckily for the small crowd of East Village oldtimers and curious onlookers gathered on Sunday evening, the five-story structure was still standing in the community garden on East 6th Street and Avenue B for an informal celebration of the local landmark. The Times reports that Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said parts of the tower are rotting, so safety concerns are the main reason for the dismantling (no museum wanted it). The two-decade-old Toy Tower will be carefully taken apart this week, with pieces going to the volunteer gardeners as mementos. Curbed photo dude Will Femia was at the Toy Tower tribute on Sunday, and snapped the above photos.
· Creation of a Bygone Era, Soon to Be Demolished NYT
· East Village's Tower of Toys Can Be Picked Off at Any Time Curbed
Someone is playing very loud music in a car in the Burg. Two cops turn to see where it's coming from, and one says to the other in a 'deadpan and dismissive' way: 'We should arrest them for having really bad taste in music.' And so, 'hipster music snob cops in Williamsburg are a real thing now.' lindsayism.com
|
The worst kept secret in Harlem is no longer a secret. On the website of W Hotel parent company Starwood, under a list of new hotels planned for North America, an Aloft?the new Starwood spinoff brand?is listed as opening in June 2010 at 2296-2308 Frederick Douglass Boulevard. This is the location around and over an old carriage house on 124th Street that was converted to lofts, an odd lot long rumored to be a W. The design seen above turned up some time ago on the website of the construction manager for the project. That rendering has since been deemed outdated by some of the parties involved, and good lord, we hope they're right. Left unanswered: Will the Aloft Harlem be a condo-hotel, as also rumored?
· New Starwood Hotels & Resorts starwoodhotels.com
· Revealed: Harlem's W Condo-Hotel in All its Terrifying Glory Curbed
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This is the steel framework for one of Olafur Eliasson's waterfalls, which is now up on the Brooklyn Heights waterfront. It's north of the former location of the Floating Pool and One Brooklyn Bridge Park, next to a subway ventilation shaft. It is huge (120 feet tall) and also strange looking, although it will presumably look at lot better once the water is turned on from 7AM-10PM, seven days a week, with nighttime lighting. Alas, the view from Brooklyn itself will always be of the tower's backside, no matter how glorious the vista from the Circle Line tour boat.
· East River Waterfalls in Glorious Two-Dimensional Detail Curbed
· The New York City Waterfalls nycwaterfalls.org
So, a Park Slope Stroller Mom is pushing the little one down Seventh Avenue on her way to the Tea Lounge or, perhaps, Union Hall, when the unthinkable happens: the Maclaren has tire trouble. What to do? Apparently, go to a bike shop. Today's Post reports that Brooklyn nabes like Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights are on the cutting edge of a new trend: fixing stroller flats. Says the owner of a Slope shop: 'They come in usually with one or two babies crying and sometimes demand to cut the line...We try to fix the flat right out on the sidewalk so they don't have to come into the store.' One mom reports two blowouts and two flats on the mean street of the Baby Boom Brooklyn, including a nasty incident at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The bike shop owners say that 'they never imagined that they would be fixing several strollers a day and even more on the weekends.' Could all the flat fix shops on Fourth Avenue in Park Slope be a condo amenity marketing point, as in 'steps to the renowned 24-hour Flat Fix.'
· Bike Shops Now Stroller Pit Stops NYP
'Already, things inside Shvo have improved. The company is pursuing more projects in the Middle East, and his New York buildings — the Jade and Gramercy by Philippe Starck — are units away from being sold out. This move should also quiet critics who called Shvo controlling and egomaniacal. Hiring Press proves Shvo has matured as a businessman and puts the organization ahead of his ego. I, for one, like this hire.' NYDN
'In the last 30 days, prices were cut on about 17 percent of the co-ops and condos in Manhattan, according to an analysis of listings on Streeteasy.com, a Web site that compiles information from most brokerage firms. Prices rose on around 2 percent of all Streeteasy listings. Among the most expensive properties — those listed for $10 million or more — there were fewer price changes, but price cuts outnumbered price increases by a ratio of 10 to 1.' NYT
|
Are developers and buildings getting kicked around by a new, tough attitude by the Department of Buildings? They've been saying so, and statistics back up the fact that there are a lot more Stop Work Orders being taped up on building sites. Per Crain's, there were 1,403 stop-work orders on construction sites in April, versus 785 in January, which is nearly twice as many. The comparable increase last year was 10 percent. An official from a builder's group says that a lot of the violations are for technical things like paperwork that don't have anything to do with safety, but that inspectors seem to have gotten a new enforcement religion because they 'are all afraid of losing their jobs.' One DOB reform proposal floating around is to create a new agency that would be in charge of enforcement and inspections. Meanwhile, the Stop Work Orders keep popping up in heavy construction zones.
· Stop-work orders soar in building crackdown Crain's
· Builders rip crackdown NYDN
1) The Ariel West, one of a pair of new Extell condo buildings so beloved by their Upper West Side neighbors that the neighborhood was immediately downzoned, is scooping up always-pregnant View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck and her third-string QB husband as tenants. The couple bought a $3.25 million four-bedroom apartment in the 99th Street tower for their brood, which hopefully goes better than our last run-in with an Ariel 4BR. Manhattan Transfers/Max Abelson
2) After an initial burst of boldface buyers?Sting, Denzel Washington, Jeff Gordon?the roster at 15 Central Park West has been one boring banker after another. Now, finally, someone else we've heard of! Norman Lear closed on a 38th Floor condo in the 'Tower' for $10 million. The TV legend may be 86, but he'll be damned if he's kept out of the best show in town. The Real Deal
|· Real estate lists starting to love this internet thing NYT
· Port Authority could pay Goldman Sachs $321M because of WTC delays NYDN
· Orchestra buying part of Clinton building as its new 'hub' NYT
· Bronx bridge bites dust because it would cost $91M NYP
· Parks Dept. planting trees with left hand, cuts down with right Queens Crap
· The Crown Heights difference: 'private patrol' groups Intel/NYM
· Ikea to 'pacify' Red Hook with new ferry NYP
· Those Cobble Hill rooftop gardens and the views from them are pretty nice GL
· Atlantic Yards luxe suite sales start this week to help finance arena AYR
Foreclosures may not be piling up in Manhattan just yet, but the number of delinquent homeowners in the Hamptons is enough to set off the Post's air raid siren: 'In the first three months of this year, banks have launched preliminary foreclosure actions - known as lis pendens proceedings - against a record 120 borrowers in East Hampton and Southampton towns. Twenty percent of those borrowers live in homes that are worth more than $1 million, according to figures from the Suffolk County clerk. And the list gets longer every week.' NYP
1) The trend of Heal Estate?the conversion of churches and synagogues into residential and commercial developments?has claimed two dozen houses of worship in Manhattan and Brooklyn since the '80s, according to this report. The latest is the Sanctuary in Fort Greene (above), which, it turns out, is not a hoax. Here's the enlightened website. Posting/C.J. Hughes
2) In this real estate market of ours, where glorified storage lockers sell for $800,000, one of the few places to find a deal is on the top floor of a walk-up: 'While the average price last year for a first-floor unit in a walk-up was $680,940, the average price for one on the fifth floor was only $515,723, a discount of around 24 percent.' If there's no outdoor space, the price is even lower. Start working those calf muscles! 'Worth the Climb'/Vivian S. Toy
3) It wasn't long ago when the residents of Ridgewood entered into a love/hate relationship with the incoming waves of hipster gentrification. Now that the process is complete, here comes the next wave of pilgrims: well-to-do yuppie parents. Habitats/Stephen P. Williams
4) The Spence School bought the 29-foot-wide mansion at 17 East 90th Street for a price in the 'high 20s,' outbidding a private buyer in the process. The mansion backs onto the building housing Spence's middle and upper school, so the buildings will be connected. Surprisingly, Gossip Girl wasn't the first to report this. Big Deal/Josh Barbanel
5) An auction for a duplex condo at 593 President Street in Park Slope resulted in few bids, but an important lesson in auctioneering. Am I right? Am I right? Urban Studies/Gregory Beyer
6) An Upper West Side couple wants to upgrade to a two-bedroom in their neighborhood, but when push comes to shove, they just can't quite do it. Move west of Broadway, that is. So like a sniper waiting in the bushes to pick one off, they held out for an apartment in their current building, the Park Royal. And they bagged one. The Hunt/Joyce Cohen
7) There's a proposal on the table to extend the landmarking of West Broadway to the west side of the street (only the east side is protected right now, for some reason). Even though it has lacked landmark protection, some gems still stand. Streetscapes/Christopher Gray
|" blogTitles['Daily Gotham']="Come To The Drum Major Institute Party Tuesday May 20th, 6:30-8:30PM|Manhattan Fundraiser for Jimmy Dahroug for State Senate|Get On The Bike, Part Two|Pimping for Ratner?|2008: Challenging the Establishment in NYC|2008: Challenging the Establishment in NYC|Can I buy you a drink congressman? Perhaps a nice Cabernet?|Gas Tax 'Holiday'|Limited Memberhip|A Freewheelin’ Time by Suze Rotolo; Reading May 14 at Housing Works|DO NOT POST TO THE SITE!|Intimations of Mortality: Hanon Reznikov, 1950-2008|" blogLinks['Daily Gotham']="http://dailygotham.com/blog/daniel_millstone/come_to_the_drum_major_institute_party_tuesday_may_20th_6_30_8_30pm|http://dailygotham.com/blog/mole333/manhattan_fundraiser_for_jimmy_dahroug_for_state_senate_0|http://dailygotham.com/blog/daniel_millstone/get_on_the_bike_part_two|http://dailygotham.com/blog/mole333/pimping_for_ratner|http://dailygotham.com/blog/mole333/2008_challenging_the_establishment_in_nyc_0|http://dailygotham.com/blog/mole333/2008_challenging_the_establishment_in_nyc|http://dailygotham.com/blog/mole333/can_i_buy_you_a_drink_congressman_perhaps_a_nice_cabernet|http://dailygotham.com/blog/sen_liz_krueger/gas_tax_holiday|http://dailygotham.com/blog/dan_jacoby/limited_memberhip|http://dailygotham.com/blog/daniel_millstone/a_freewheelin_time_by_suze_rotolo_reading_may_14_at_housing_works|http://dailygotham.com/node/4880|http://dailygotham.com/blog/daniel_millstone/intimations_of_mortality_hanon_reznikov_1950_2008|" blogDescriptions['Daily Gotham']="It’s May and not only Bike Month but the time of the annual fundraiser for the Drum Major Institute , my favorite action-oriented think-tank.*
This year the Drum Major For Justice Awards will be held Tuesday May 20th 2008 6:30-8:30 PM at Cipriani 23rd Street. (at 5th Ave.). More Here
I went last year. It was fun: good food, good booze, -- most important-- good schmooze. I plan to go this time, too. You should consider it. If you do, come say “hi!”
Honorees, this year are
David Simon creator of HBO show “The Wire.”
Melissa Mark-Viverito, East Harlem NYC Council Member (people tell me she’s as smart and focused as my Council Member Rosie Mendez; she’s certainly as progressive) and
Steve Phillips California civil rights lawyer, donor and chair of PowerPAC.org.
Tickets are very expensive, but there are special lower rates for activists and bloggers. If you cannot bargain yourself into a price acceptable to you, you should go back to organizing school for retraining.
*Actually it would be a tie, in my book, between DMI and Demos but DMI wins because it has a great blog.
|I am on the host committee for a fundraiser for Jimmy Dahroug and I hope you can all attend, spread the word, and/or contribute. Jimmy's fundraisers are pretty damned good and this one includes special guest Jim Dean, brother of Howard Dean and head of Democracy for America.
From the Jimmy Dahroug Campaign:
Wed., May. 14, 2008
Manhattan Cocktail Reception
Campaign Co-Chair Dr. Bonnie Maslin and her Husband, Dr. Yehuda Nir are hosting a cocktail reception for our reform campaign. Democracy for America Chair Jim Dean will be the Guest speaker
Location: 1050 Park Avenue, at the corner of East 87th Street
When: 6:00 PM
Ends: 9:00 PM
Wherever you live in New York State, the upcoming election in my district will affect you, me, our friends, and our families for generations to come.
Today, we are only two seats away from gaining a Democratic majority in the New York State Senate. This will end the stagnation caused by four decades of Republican domination including the Republican gerrymandering which has prevented us from turning more of New York's congressional seats blue.
|Last Sunday last AM found me biking to the Battery where, with a few hundred others, I helped put on BikeNY’s Five Borough Bike Tour. My main job was to ride very slowly, fix flats, gears & chains, hand out water, snacks and encouragement to 30,000 riders. In a previous post I suggested low-key NYC rides you can still go on. Below, I suggest somewhat more adventuresome multi-day rides in order of their physical demands.
When I was a very young teen, I rode on multi-day bike trips organized by the 92nd Street Y and American Youth Hostels. We carried our gear and food; rode 30 or so miles a day on fairly unforgiving 3-speed English touring bikes. I loved it. Heavy duty exercise, lots of unsupervised time on the road for making out, group meals. My dream – never achieved – was to lead those trips.
Fifty years later, in the course of courting, I’ve been getting my wish. On a dare, a couple of years ago I signed up to help put on a multi-day bike ride in the Adirondack Mountains. I practiced and practiced until I could get up the steepest hill in Central Park without collapsing. (Of course, in the Adirondacks, most every hill was steeper and longer than those in Central Park.). Since then, I’ve been on a number of multi-day rides and I want to invite you along.
The following three rides – sponsored by non-profits --, in order of increasing difficulty,
|The Brooklyn Papers has an interesting revelation that one of the people leading the pro-Ratner counter rally to Community opposition to Ratner's Atlantic Yards is an admitted pimp:
One of Bruce Ratner’s boosters at the pro–Atlantic Yards rally on Saturday is a former strip club manager who used to arrange for dancers to have sex with NBA stars.
The Atlantic Yards supporter, Thomas “Ziggy” Sicignano, who now runs Brooklyn U.S.A., a youth basketball program in Park Slope, said that Ratner’s foundation gave his organization $10,000 in 2005.
That donation came four years after his stunning courtroom admission that he prostituted strippers to attract NBA stars to the Gold Club in Atlanta.
This comes as no surprise. After all, the counter-rally wasn't a community based rally, but were getting paid to be there. And many people suddenly become Ratner supporters after getting paid money by him. Sicignano had his price. Vito Lopez had his price. Ratner's whole scheme is about buying favors, so he and a pimp would get along just fine.
|Back in February, Bouldin observed that this year may be the year of challenging the entrenched and out of touch political establishment in NYC. Bouldin focused primarily on Paul Newell's challenge of perhaps the most entrenched politician in New York State, Shelly Silver. I want to expand upon what Bouldin wrote by covering some other races as well.
There is no question that Paul Newell is going up against the biggest bully in NY State, something that takes considerable guts. Let me let Paul introduce himself to you (though he has already done so here on Daily Gotham several times):
|Back in February, Bouldin observed that this year may be the year of challenging the entrenched and out of touch political establishment in NYC. Bouldin focused primarily on Paul Newell's challenge of perhaps the most entrenched politician in New York State, Shelly Silver. I want to expand upon what Bouldin wrote by covering some other races as well.
There is no question that Paul Newell is going up against the biggest bully in NY State, something that takes considerable guts. Let me let Paul introduce himself to you (though he has already done so here on Daily Gotham several times):
|Republican Congressman Vito 'Vino' Fossella is really not looking too good right now. His conduct the night of his drunk driving arrest is something he is going to have a hard time living down.
Mug Shot thanks to FossellaFive.org
Drunk driving AND a secret love child all revealed in one scandal. People are arguing over what to call this scandal. Simple 'Vinogate?' 'Double the Family Values?' 'A Congressman Walked into a Bar?' Or, a suggestion on Daily Kos, 'In-Vito Fertilization.'
The behavior of Vito Fossella leaves much to be desired, though perhaps by Republican standards where even pedophilia is accepted, maybe he isn't so bad.
|Earlier this week, Senate Republicans put forth legislation (S.7594-B) which would create a gas tax 'holiday' from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I and many of my Democratic colleagues voted against this legislation because it is bad fiscal and environmental policy that will only result in windfall profits for oil companies and no real relief for consumers. My colleagues and I understand New Yorkers have been hit hard by rising fuel costs. However, what we need are not gimmicks, but carefully thought out policies that will create long-term solutions to the growing energy crisis facing our state and decrease our dependence on foreign oil.
S.7594-B, introduced by Senator Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island), would exempt gasoline and diesel from the State's excise tax, Sales Tax, and Petroleum Business Tax, from May 23, 2008 to September 2, 2008. These taxes are currently used to provide funds for highways, roads, bridges, and mass transit. By suspending the taxes the Senate Republicans will create an estimated $600 million budget gap for these necessary services.
|Five weeks ago, the New York Post broke a story that millions of tax dollars were officially earmarked by the City Council to nonexistent accounts so that they could be allocated later to legitimate nonprofit organizations. The idea was that since all funding is required to be made at the beginning of a fiscal year, and many groups don’t know how much they’ll need six, eight, or ten months in advance, some system needed to be created to make that money available.
There’s not much new. Different kinds of phony allocations have been used for decades for the same purpose. It is becoming clear that there was never any intent to deceive, or to send money to groups that don’t meet whatever set of official criteria is in place for such “member items.”
Of course, the widening investigation has turned up a number of these earmarks that have at least the appearance of favoritism or conflict of interest, and two City Council staffers have been arrested for stealing some of this money. But that’s not the real problem, and until we identify and fully address the real problem, what we’re seeing now will reappear again and again.
The real problem is
|Suze Rotolo, the girl depicted with him on the cover of Bob Dylan’s first album, has, 45 years later written her memories of their life together and of the early 60’s NYC folk scene. Although it has a publication date of May 13, it has been widely circulated (See for example, this post and this LA Times review and this Gawker Gawk .) For Dylan fans or those with an unceasing yen for nostalgia, try these Dylan-Rotolo photos. It’s a good book about that time & place. I was there some (see last graph, below) and think her report catches well much of the flavor of the time. (Unlike, for example, “Positively 4th Street,” a book I found way too snarky.)
|We are in the final stages of the migration.
By tomorrow morning we should be in our new server with our new web host.
Thank you for your patience.
/ liza
|I am moved, perhaps too much, by the deaths and lives of people who were more or less of my parents’ generation. Grace Paley, Ralph DiGia (Remember Ralph's send-off this Saturday) , blacklisted film-maker Jules Dassin (More about Dassin’s remarkable life and work here), Spanish Civil War Veteran Abe Osheroff . (More about Osheroff here.)
In addition to feeling of loss, reports of the deaths of people in my own cohort bring also the sound of “time’s winged chariot hurrying near.” Hanon Reznikov,57, who died a few days ago, following a stroke in April, was a long-time co-director of TheLiving Theatre. A long-time lover of Judith Malina, he married her on the 1985 death her husband, Living Theatre co-founder Julian Beck. (See also this obit , This story from the Villager about The Living Theatre’s new home on Clinton Street, this interview with Reznikov and Judith Malina and this YouTube of the two of them.
|" blogTitles['Eater']="Pre-Plywood: Oh boy—this just in from Brownstoner:...|Board Wrap: Eating Lunch at the Office Desk|Previews: People has the preview for Gwyneth,...|Eater Inside: Scarpetta|The Shutter: Brooklyn Paper reports that 20 year-old...|Racing the Clock: Metromix runs a Q&A with Sam...|Meet the Contenders: Top Chef Season 5 Casting Call|Journalism Gone Wild: The premise of a poorly executed...|Listage|Best of the Eater Flickr Pool|The Week in Eater: Veniero's DOH'ed, Sparky's Shuttered, Ikea Sneak Peek, and More!|DOH Chronicles: Miracle Grill Rounds Out Record DOH'ing Week|" blogLinks['Eater']="http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/preplywood_1.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/board_wrap_46.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/previews.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/eater_inside_sc.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/the_shutter_17.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/race_against_th.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/meet_the_conten.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/adventures_in_j.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/listage_448.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/best_of_the_eat_6.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/the_week_in_eat_10.php|http://eater.com/archives/2008/05/doh_chronicles_18.php|" blogDescriptions['Eater']="Oh boy—this just in from Brownstoner: 'At 113 North 7th, which is between Berry and Wythe, East Village bar d.b.a. just signed a lease for its first Brooklyn outpost (there's one in New Orleans, as well). One of d.b.a.'s owners says the bar, which is known for its extensive beer selection, should be up and running in the Burg by the end of next month.' Brownstoner
|· The Strange and Sad Lunch Habits of SE Office Workers SE
· Early Word on Cabrito: Not Revelatory but Pretty Good eG
· Tavalon Tea Not Closed, Merged with Le Petit Belge Yelp
· Add Shopsin's Sliders to Best Burger List CH
· What 'Having No Food' Really Means for Older Middle Class Ladies SE
People has the preview for Gwyneth, Mario, and Mark 'the Minimalist' Bittman's new documentary 'Spain...on the Road Again'. We learn that the movie star and 'Batalz' are longtime friends, the group has a surprisingly great rapport, and Gwyneth is a 'good eater' despite her macrobiotic past. Bonus: the soundtrack is by Willie Nelson. People
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Krieger, 5/10/08
What we have here is Scarpetta, the highly anticipated project from Scott Conant, the former chef of Alto and L'Impero, opening tomorrow night. Formerly Gin Lane, the space has been gutted and totally redone as a rustic Italian dining room with an attached patio and cafe. The roof over the 70 seat main room is, of course, retractable, and according to press materials, the overall design reflects Conant's 'honest and personal approach' to Italian cuisine.
But what of that cuisine? It's Italian, it's seasonal, but most importantly, it's from Scott Conant. The man can do no wrong in this town, so we're going to bet on some positive feedback. Since it opens tomorrow, we expect the first Chowhound post to be up by Wednesday and preliminary critic visits by next week. Further reading here and here.
|Brooklyn Paper reports that 20 year-old Flatbush Avenue bar Mooney's Pub will close next month, much to the chagrin of old timey bar flies in the area: 'Owner Kevin Mooney had been mired in conflict since October when his landlord, Lina Fang, tried to evict her long-term tenant, who has not had a lease in 15 years.' BP
|Metromix runs a Q&A with Sam Talbot today about the opening of Surf Lodge in Montauk. Problem is, the team isn't even in place yet and the restaurant is supposedly two weeks out: 'As far as the crew in the kitchen, it’s still to be determined. Right now it’s kind of a one-man show' Metromix
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Yesterday, Astor Center packed in a slew of caterers, sous-chefs, stay-at-home-moms, PhD students and investment bankers anxiously awaiting their Top Chef audition at the show's open casting call. Chefs from notable restaurants including Daniel and La Grenouille went up against culinary students and beach resort line cooks for a chance to be the next Hung, Ilan, or Harold.
While they waited, potential contestants endured an endless loop of previous Top Chef episodes blaring at top volume, with Padma's grinning mug beaming down insistently. Most sat quietly, no knives in sight, just sidelong glances at the competition as they idly flipped through Bon Appetits and Gourmets provided by Bravo. Eater talked to a few of the hopefuls to find out just what drives someone to willingly strive for the opportunity to 'pack your knives and go.'
Reporting and photos by Erin Sikorsky and Adam Haas
· All Top Chef Coverage ~E~
The premise of a poorly executed Metro section article: how can the Cipriani chain can survive without liquor? One suggestion: 'Another point of inspiration might be called the Club Kalua strategy. Club Kalua is the nightspot in Queens where Sean Bell was shot to death by police officers in November 2006. The subsequent loss of the club’s liquor license became an opportunity to unburden the dancers of bikini tops, and it became a topless club.' NYT
|
Plywood: Falafel Star Going Into Former Dawgs On Park Space in East Village Flickr/TrespassersWill
· Senator Claims City Withheld Permits To Extort Money From Restaurateur NYP
· Home and Guest House Raided But Both Reopen on Saturday Guest of a Guest
· Pretending to Clean Up the Beatrice Inn Gawker
· Park Slope Turning Into Little Bangkok The Brooklyn Paper
· A Rare Rant From Lady Strongbuzz On Brooklyn's Bar Tabac Strong Buzz
· Top Downtown Bakeries Big City Little Kitchen
· Restaurants That You Could Live In Mouthing Off
· Grand Sichuan Founder on What’s Wrong with Chinese Food NYM
· Dan Barber on Going Green and Small Farms NYT
· Why You Probably Aren't Seeing Spoons on Restaurant Place Settings ZagatBuzz
· Park Slope Eats on 7th Ave NYT
Welcome to a new weekend feature, where we go through Eater Flickr Pool submissions and pick our favorite shots. Though we avoid it as much as possible, this is the one feature where food porn may sneak in from time to time. Consider yourself warned. If you'd like to contribute, feel free to join our pool, or email us images directly.
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It's time for the Week in Eater, where we review some of the week's most newsworthy stories.
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This week's stories: DOH Chronicles; Mice Droppings Found in Veniero's Chocolate, Sparky's Shuttered, Andrew Carmellini Discusses Future Projects, Eater Sneak Peek: Red Hook's Ikea, Song 7.2 Opens in Under Five Days!, Eater Inside: Savarona, and The Gatekeeper: The Stanton Social's Abbi Miller.
|
Emphasis on Mental
West Village: Man, the DOH does not mess around. Sparky's, Veniero's, and now the West Village's Miracle Grill. A tipster writes in: 'Some friends were eating there on Wednesday night and while they were there, the closing signs went up?health department style.' And the story is confirmed with a spot check. Let's hope the DOH doesn't shutter them for good a la Sparky's, as it was hard enough when the East Village to lost its branch. Perhaps it depends on whether the closure was due to vermin or a a lack of sinks.
· DOH Chronicles: La Vela ~E~
· DOH Chronicles: Mice Droppings Found in Veneiro's Chocolate ~E~
Ever since Rome elected a straight-up neo-fascist mayor, they've been a little on edge about things. So when Google sent their magic creepy photo-van around town to capture every block for their wonderful Street View feature, Italians naturally fled 'into shops and bars, hoping to be out of view of the camera's lens.' Because they thought it was government surveillance, not the good, benevolent private surveillance we Americans know and love. Or at least don't give a shit about. Silly Italians! Times of London
The Observer covered NBC's press conference anointing never-funny (but cute!) former SNLer Jimmy Fallon the new king of late-late night. They included this anecdote: 'Mr. Fallon claimed his kindergarten yearbook featured his photo above the caption 'Most Likely to Take Over David Letterman.' (Someone in the crowd, possibly auditioning to be Mr. Fallon's sidekick, let out an audible 'Wow' at this point.) When asked what kindergarten had yearbooks, much less ones with references to David Letterman, Mr. Fallon joked, 'It's a magical kindergarten. It's taught by a unicorn, a talking unicorn.'' See? He's doing some of that funny joking-around stuff the late-night comics do. But no one told the Associated Press, as you can see in the attached story. NYO, AP
Conscious intellectual hip hop star Common has announced the winner of his big 'Lincoln Spotlight' lyricist competition with Lincoln—the car manufacturer that represents hip hop culture. The winner wrote a song based on 'Lincoln's brand truths: advancing the American dream, exploring what it means to reach higher, daring to do more and taking pride in one's history.' That is so exactly Lincoln. And hey, just last week Common landed a role in the next Terminator movie! My irrational haterade judgment of him as a tool continues to be confirmed and re-confirmed. For those of you curious about what it takes to succeed in hip hop in 2008, the lyrics of the winning Lincoln Spotlight entry are after the jump. Feel the brand truths:Lyrics by Lincoln Spotlight Winner Jael Gadsen, Copywritten 2008Song Title: Your Season
Verse 1
Have you ever heard a voice in your head?
It's the voice of your heart telling you
'That you have a higher purpose,
Don't let your life be worthless,
Come on you deserve this!'Some say that your dreams can't come true
They laugh and they call you a fool
And then you get discouraged
And try to find excuses of why you can't do this!Oh! You gotta reach for your dreams and you'll see!
That everything you need is within your reach!
Your purpose will take you where you need to be!
Listen to your heart and believe.Verse 2
You decide to give your dreams a try
Deep inside you know it feels right
Then you start to make some headway!
Then all of a sudden road blocks
Keep landing in your pathway!People talking, money short and, time is wasting, keep the pace man
Cause you gotta be head strong, keep on pushing on
Cause you're a fighter!
Keep reaching higher!Oh! You gotta reach for your dreams and you'll see!
That everything you need is within your reach!
Your purpose will take you where you need to be!
Listen to your heart and believe.Keep reaching higher and higher
Don't ignore your desires
You feel this way for a reason
Soon it'll be your SEASON!Oh-oh-oh!
Listen to your Heart! Oh Oh oh! Within your reach! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!Oh you! Keep reaching higher and higher. Oh you! Keep reaching Higher!
h-i-g-h-e-r.
The internet has given us so many things, among them jargon which can dress up any brutal corporate maneuver in bland and progressive-sounding language. When Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation decided to seize full control of the Wall Street Journal, the Australian media mogul's chief lieutenant took the title of head of content, reducing the role of managing editor to a cipher and sidestepping the rules intended to protect the editorial independence of the newspaper. And now the new management at Bloomberg's financial information company has played the same trick on the bow-tied tyrant who rules over wire service's newsroom like a dapper Stalin, Matthew Winkler.Norman Pearlstine, a veteran of Time magazine, is to take on the role of chief content officer at Bloomberg News. He will 'partner' with the wire's editor-in-chief 'to seek growth opportunities' and 'make the most of the existing operations'—a nauseatingly mealy-mouthed a job description even by the despicable standards of modern corporation communications. Both Winkler and Pearlstine will report to Dan Doctoroff, the New York city official whom Bloomberg recently installed to run the business which made the mayor's multi-billion fortune. So, how to read the reorganization?
Winkler is the most widely hated media executive I have ever come across. We ran a tape of the bad-tempered newsroom boss yelling at subordinates who dared question a firing decision, which prompted more than 100 stories of the culture of terror and mind-numbing conformity that he had instilled at the Bloomberg wire service. (You must listen to the clip: 'The enemy is the human!') His employees will be hoping that Pearlstine's arrival is part of a plan to reduce Winkler's absolute power, and gradually ease him out of the position he has held for nearly two decades. Winkler is a long-standing sycophant of Bloomberg, who still retains ultimate control of the company he founded, so Doctoroff probably can't remove the newsroom chief in one clean cut.
One sign that it's a humiliation for Winkler: the press release went overboard in touting Winkler's role as founder of Bloomberg News, their reunion of two former colleagues and their 'mutual regard.' The only departure from implausible corporate boilerplate was Winkler's video message to staff, which accompanied the text of the release. In a widely ridiculed effort to show how with it he is, Winkler has been putting his messages to music. The latest went out with a background of that Beatles song, You say you want a revolution. An unwise question; Winkler would not like the answer. (Please, some brave soul over at Bloomberg HQ, send us the clip!)
NYC blogger-about-town Cajun Boy was minding his business on a bench outside of an American Apparel store on the Lower East Side last weekend, when 'a man with thick eyeglasses wearing a blue Member's Only jacket, carrying a denim murse, and generally carrying on like a crazy person' started pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, shouting into a headset. The man's erratic behavior had Cajun Boy convinced he was a maniac about to shoot up the store. Until he got a good look and discovered—spoiler alert—that it was just energetic American Apparel CEO Dov Charney, no doubt engaged in important corporate business! A scary, businesslike man. Not spotted: Dov's poor chihuahua. Cajun Boy In The City
Arianna Huffington's new book — Right Is Wrong — is as partisan a piece of political writing as any during this political season. The subtitle says it all: 'How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe.' At Friday night's book party at the Chambers hotel in Midtown however, the divide between the guests was anything but political. The Greek-born polemicist has herself made a mockery of political convictions by switching so effortlessly from conservative wife-of-convenience to liberal power woman. To be sure, the tycoons she had assembled — Mort Zuckerman of Boston Properties and the New York Daily News; Les Moonves of CBS; former Viacom boss Tom Freston; and Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone and US Weekly — were quintessential rich liberals. But any Marxist observer at the party would note that the guests true loyalty was less to a political ideology than to their class.Late in the evening a frisson rippled through the upper lobby as Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi came up the stairs. No matter that the Australian media mogul gave former Nixon aide Roger Ailes a cable news network to play with, nor that he publishes the neo-con rantings of the Wall Street Journal's opinion pages, and the nauseating moralizing of Andrea Peysner in the New York Post. Murdoch was immediately surrounded by friends and sycophants.
Best moment: Maer Roshan dragged photographer Nikola Tamindzic over to capture a moment of pretend intimacy with the 77-year-old tycoon. The move had all the subtlety of a high-school girl who was still trying to make her ex-boyfriend jealous: the intended audience was Mort Zuckerman of the Daily News, who let Roshan's magazine run out of money before he found a new benefactor.
But by the time Roshan managed to tap Murdoch's shoulder and extract him from his group, Nikola was distracted by some pretty girl; by the time the Radar editor refocused the Serbian photographer on the task at hand, a friend of Murdoch, Tom Freston, came over to have a tycoony chat; and by the time a slightly embarrassed Roshan finally got his photo opportunity, Zuckerman was distracted by a gold-digging Julia Allison. 'He's single, right?' she asked.
Hey girls! Mort Zuckerman — owner of the New York Daily News — is single.
Larry David — creator and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm — is si|p>
Yesterday, I finally received my advance copy of Hiding in Hip Hop, former closeted entertainment industry gadfly (pictured) Terrance Dean's much-hyped autobiography about all of the gays that are, well, hiding in hip hop. I've read about half of it so far. Dean has already proven himself eager to trot out blind items about male celebrities he says he's hooked up with, and the book doesn't disappoint in that regard. Today, an overview of what the book is and isn't, and then some of what you've been waiting for: three TV actors, a famous rapper, and a 'megastar,' anonymously outed.
When word of this book first got around, plenty of people hoped that Dean would just out some famous rappers outright, by name. Barring some unforeseen surprises later in the book, he's not going to do that. But he does like to tell salacious stories about people using pseudonyms, while giving enough identifiable details about them that it's certainly possible to make some very good educated guesses at their identities.
It should also be noted that this book is not just about hip hop. It starts off with Dean's life story—poverty, molestation, a heroin-addicted prostitute mother. He goes to college and moves to LA to break into the entertainment business. He socializes with a wide range of people from movies, television, and the random parts of the LA celebrity-industrial complex, as well as people from the music industry.
Finally, it's clear that this book is not a work of great literature. Nor is it intended to be, judging by the porny quote selected for the book jacket. It's basically an extended tease from a man who was deeply ensconced in the 'down low' culture.
And now, today's highlights—there are lots of gay scenes with anonymous people in this book, but these are the ones that seem to involve the most famous subjects:
The two are obviously a gay couple, which surprises Dean, although he says there has been much speculation about 'Junior.'
Yesterday's Dear Abby column featured the sad tale of a 38-year-old woman, five months pregnant, who is concerned that when she goes clubbing with her fiance (of five years) 'Troy,' he sticks her with his 'best friend' and disappears for hours. When she finds him, he is 'sweaty and has a weird look on his face.' He insists there's nothing up. Signed, 'Suspicious in New Jersey.' That is the most stereotypically Jersey advice column letter ever, right? Well, besides the one immediately following it:
DEAR ABBY: I have the most annoying laugh. It goes from a cackle to a loud screech. I have lost friends over this because people don't enjoy being seen in public with me. Is there anything I can do to solve this problem? — KRISTEN IN WAYNE, N.J.
Abby provides the ladies with her trademark solid, no-nonsense advice, but nowhere does she tell them to just get the hell out of New Jersey, so in the end she fails them both.
Dear Abby uExpress
We haven't read it yet (somebody please send!), but the NYT has totally fallen in love with reformed lying-memoirst James Frey's Bright Shiny Morning, set in Los Angeles. Times critic Janet Maslin writes, 'His publisher called it a dazzling tour de force. (Look, somebody had to, if only to create a comeback drama)... But that wasn't so far off the mark...' It's the 'captivating urban kaleidoscope that, most recently, Charles Bock's 'Beautiful Children' was supposed to be.' And what else?
Crisis, violence, redemption, whatever: that's what he knew about. That's what he wrote about. That's what he passed off as nonfiction. That's why he sounded as if he'd seen too many lousy movies.Maslin wrote her review in the style of Bright Shiny Morning (which you can see more of in this excerpt, about Perez Hilton). Awww, look! They love each other!
So the Bright Shiny Morning guy did it differently. He let the little vignette play out against a big, gaudy, dangerous Southern California backdrop, full of drug-dealing gang-bangers, full of schemers, phonies, rich with a history of robber barons, all of it listed here, all of it stacking the deck against any generosity of spirit. The son steals the maid's virtue? Been there, read that. They plot against the old lady? Been there too. This novelist wanted something else for Esperanza: he wanted to honor her, fall in love with her, do it with startling sincerity. He wanted to save her.And it worked.
That's how James Frey saved himself.
The Sex and the City/Golden Girls mash-up you joked about four years ago has finally been made real. I think I guffawed once! Funny or Die
Has anyone else out there found their New Yorker subscription arriving later and later in the week? We're pitifully elated if it's in our mailbox before Thursday, and on more than one occasion it hasn’t even been delivered until the following week. Sure, there's content online, but you can't bring that on the subway!
Apparently, we are not alone; even prominent Manhattan residents like Jessica Coen have been suffering – she wrote last week, 'It's Friday, and unless it arrived in my mailbox while I've been at the office, I have yet to receive the latest New Yorker. This is the second week this has happened in the past month, kindasortanotreally...'
Since complaining to friends hasn't yet resolved the crisis, we finally called in to the New Yorker’s customer service department, who promised us 4 free issues just for bitching, and suggested we take it up with our local postmaster. You can bet we’re going to get right on that. In the meantime, please let us know how late your issue usually comes.
Image of New Yorker cover courtesy Gary Amaro; designed for the Eustace Tilley cover contest.
Last year, after Stanley Bard was ousted by the board as manager of the Hotel Chelsea and replaced with BD Hotels -- who just got ousted themselves, filmmaker Abel Ferrara moved back in to his old digs. The NY Post reports that the move was to help in the making his documentary, Chelsea on the Rocks
'I lived on the floor with the ghosts,' Ferrara tells Page Six. 'I didn't come in with a point to it, so I just lived there and began filming. The result was the hotel from soup to nuts. It's about the people that lived there, the ghosts, and the people that live there now. These artists need help and support.'The documentary was just accepted in Cannes and includes fictionalized re-creations of events, interviews with former residents (Ethan Hawke, Dennis Hopper, Robert Crumb, Grace Jones and Milos Forman) as well as current residents.
The Hotel Chelsea bloggers were two of the current residents who had a camera crew setting up in their self-described 'tiny room'. They reported at the time that 'when the equipment was all set up and Abel finally swept into the room, the first thing he did was to complement us on, of all things, making our bed—apparently some of the people he had interviewed before us hadn’t bothered!'
Beyond the made beds, the film will delve into the messy truth -- that 'New York City has become a different place than what it was.' Using the hotel as an example, Ferrara commented on how 'it was a place that wasn't run like a machine, it was run with heart. It's still a vital happening place, it's not a museum, although maybe some people would like to turn it into one.'
Pictured: Ferrara and Bijou Phillips, playing the role of Nancy Spungen in a scene from 'Chelsea on the Rocks,' via Hotel Chelsea Blog.
Barbecue fans will want to start bracing their colons for the 6th Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, which has been announced for June 7th and 8th in Madison Square Park. Gothamist tore through the festival of regional barbecue last year, devouring everything from pork shoulder to Brunswick stew to candied ribs.
New York will be well represented this year by Hill Country, Rack and Soul, Blue Smoke, and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que; other purveyors range from L.A.’s Mr. Cecil’s California Ribs to The Pit, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. In addition to all the food (which usually goes for about $8 a plate), free seminars and cooking demonstrations by top pitmasters will be held, first-come, first-served.
Last year the long lines made us vow to take advantage of the FastPass available to American Express card members – it gets you $100 to redeem on food and access to those heavenly express lines, facilitating maximum ‘cue consumption. Check the website for details and additional vendor announcements.
The Bronx houseboat, measuring in at only 250-square-feet, really should have cleaned up ship and entered this contest.
Apartment Therapy's Smallest, Coolest Apartment Contest is underway for a fourth year, and below are some of the New York City entries, all under 850-square-feet. Design solutions for cramped living quarters never cease to amaze, and apparently a key factor to maximizing your minimal space is to add a sheepskin throw -- as just about every entrant has one in their apartment...
Representative Vito Fossella still has not uttered a peep about whether he's going to resign or stay on as a member of Congress in the wake of his DWI arrest and admission of having a love child and girlfriend in Virginia. But here's what's happening since yesterday!
If you're wondering what the hell's going on in Hell's Kitchen right now, reader Ed writes in to tell us that around 12:45 p.m. the water tower on top of the now defunct Sony Studios building on 54th & 10th, blew over.
The partial collapse (pictured) is on the roof of the four story building, and wasn't part of the demolition the building is currently undergoing -- but rather it appears to have blown over in the wind. No injuries have been reported.
Looks like more work for the old Rosenwach Tank company - unless their arch nemesis Isseks beats them to it.
Since it's suspected Mayor Bloomberg's favorite epithet is 'unconscionable,' why not keep track of his least-liked words? Based on this video taken by the Observer's Azi Paybarah, Bloomberg does not like the word 'maintain' that much..
According to Paybarah, Newsday reporter Michael Frazier used the word in a Sean Bell-shooting related question during a press conference about 'a new way of processing juvenile court cases.' Maybe the Mayor was still sore about only getting a London Underground button-down from London Mayor-elect Boris Johnson after giving him a crystal apple from Tiffany?
Now that an appeals court has ruled that the city can start requiring chain restaurants to prominently display their calorie information, Nathan’s has begun tossing up their stats just in time for summer at Coney Island. Kinetic Carnival notes that the Nathan’s basic hot dog has just half the calories packed into a Big Mac from McDonald’s.
Consumed one or two at a sitting, the “Original Frankfurter” won’t do much damage to one’s waistline. But will the newly in-your-face calorie info give competitive eaters like Joey Chesnut pause? Last year he won Nathan’s July 4th hot dog eating contest by consuming 66 of the dogs. That’s a grand total of 19,602 calories in 12 minutes!
Photo courtesy Captain Nemo.
Photograph by doseat on Flickr
State senator Carl Kruger, an outspoken critic of Mayor Bloomberg’s plans for Coney Island, is now accusing the city of “extorting” $68,000 from the owner of Tatiana Restaurant and Nightclub, a popular Russian nightspot on the Brighton Beach boardwalk. Tatiana Varzar lost her restaurant in a massive fire in 2003 that authorities believe was caused by homeless people living under the boardwalk.
The Post reports that Varzar has since used insurance money to reopen her establishment, but the city took her to court for the $231,401 it cost to rebuild the boardwalk. According to Kruger, Varzar’s boardwalk operating permit was withheld until she paid up – “even though the fire was caused by the city's inability to deal with a homeless crisis on the boardwalk.”
After threatening to shut her down for operating without a permit, Varzar finally agreed to settle, paying the city $68,000 out of pocket and another $50,000 through an insurance policy. But Kruger, who’s received $24,810 in donations from Varzar, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who accepted $5,450 from the restaurateur in 2007, both say it’s wrong for the city to neglect the homeless and then demand others clean up the mess. And for $231,401, that new boardwalk better be flame retardant.
Photo of stage show at Tatiana Restaurant and Nightclub courtesy rich awn.
Today, the fate of the West Side Rail Yards may be left in (near) limbo once again after the MTA meets with developer Tishman Speyer.
The MTA has announced on Thursday night that the deal with Tishman had basically collapsed (Tishman was asking for things the MTA deemed unacceptable). However on Friday, Mayor Bloomberg voiced hope the two sides could work things out and a Monday meeting was arranged.
MTA had selected Tishman's $1.004 billion bid after a public bidding process that attracted five developers to vie for the 26 acres a few blocks west of Penn Station. The Sun has an interesting article today, noting that if the MTA refused Tishman's deal and wants to approach past bidders, the MTA will has 'reduced bargaining leverage' and could lose out on many millions. A source said, “The MTA will not be in the greatest position if Tishman backs out. Obviously the bids would go down.” Well, anything would be more than the $100 million the Jets were offering back in 2005...wouldn't it?
Conductor: This is the shuttle to Times Square. This is not an express train. You are on the shuttle to Times Square, not an express train. Again, this is the shuttle to Times Square... Not an express train. Shuttle to Times Square...
Random thug: Shut the fuck up!
Conductor: ... Not the express train. And for the lovely person who just told me to shut up, I'm in the car right next to you. Merry Christmas to all.
Short pause.
Conductor: Except to the kid who told me to shut up.
--Shuttle to Times Square
Overheard by: Suburban Liz
Chick #1: Yea, I have a Bachelor's in Fine Arts...I'm a welder.
Chick #2: A what?
Chick #1: You know, with the mask and the blowtorch and all that.
Chick #2 waving her hand like a ribbon dancer: Oooooh, so it's a sport, right?
--G Train
Thuggish teen prances in front of taxi.
Cabbie: Are you really that poor that you need to walk and get hit by my cab for money?!
Thuggish teen, walking to taxi window: Thats what I do! Mmmhmmm Eats ice cream slowly at car window.
--10th St & 2nd Ave
Overheard by: Melissa Anne
Flamboyant black guy #1: That's what I love about being gay. All these bitches be loving on me so I get them to do my homework.
Flamboyant black guy #2: True.
--Washington Square North
Woman: Hola! Una wheatgrass con ginger... Por favor!
Latina girl behind counter: Excuse me? You wanted what, exactly?
Woman: Ummm... A wheatgrass shot with ginger?
Girl: You do realize we don't have that, don't you?
--Juicy Lucy's, Avenue A
Overheard by: JKS
At a Thurston Moore solo show
Girl in front of crowd: Thurston, who are you going to vote for?
Thurston Moore: The black dude or the chick. ... Actually, fuck 'em all.
--Knitting Factory
Customer: I don't think onions are vegetables.
Employee: You don't think onions are vegetables? Then what are they?
Customer: I think they should be listed separately, in the onion category.
--PAX, 57th St
Overheard by: Tech Support
Comedy guy: I like your accent. Where you from?
Tourist: Ohio.
Comedy guy: You sound disappointed.
Tourist: Have you ever been to Ohio?
Comedy guy: Good point.
--41st & Broadway
Obnoxious Latino #1: Man, that guy was such a faggot! With that mohawk and those gay-ass glasses.
Obnoxious Latino #2: Hey, I'm wearing the same glasses.
Silence.
--1 Train
Flyer guy, after trying to give suit a flyer: Hey man, nice tie.
Suit turns around: Thanks! Nice! Looks flyer guy up and down. Actually, you look like shit.
--71st & Continental, Forest Hills
Eight-year-old girl drinking margarita: My daddy taught me in kindergarten, if any boys treat me like s-h-i-t, kick them in the dick!
Five minutes later.
Eight-year-old girl: I'm gonna kill myself!
--Mexican Restaurant near Union Square
Lead singer of The Stitch Ups: What's your name, sir?
Audience member: Samantha.
Lead singer of The Stitch Ups: Holy shit!
--Blender Theater, Gramercy
Overheard by: we thought she was a dude, too...
And when the last cocktail blew into the sea, when the last sordid dune-nymph lay sated, when the last unctuous hunk of Berkshire pork was scraped from the grill (and greedily snarfed by the Guttersniper's loyal hound) an end to summer was decreed and a new season, in its tragic turn, commenced. Rejoice! The Gutter is back among you. And soon, if not just today, we'll be better than ever—as if you can imagine such a state of bliss. New voices, new features, new foibles. Fuck, we might even redesign the place. So shake off your logy summertime salt and join us, as we do every year, in hailing September.
You can count on grace pettiness. You can count on plenty blight. You can count on us working rocking whenever the fuck we want. And you can count on the folks obsessed with rebuilding the Twin Towers to be very, very angry. So angry, kids, they can't even read good. But they write brilliantly.
From our overbrimming inbox:
Alright your newsgroup or whatever the hell you call it (I simply call it a shithole.) freaking sucks! You guys are morons who do not even take the time to look into the facts BEFORE writing an article. I noticed that you claim that the Team Twin Towers wants to build 'replicas' of the original Twin Towers. That is an exaggerated lie on your behalf, and complete bullshit! Look at all the pictures of the entries on the contest page and notice that none of them are the exact originals! You would have to be blind to belief that they are! I don't fucking care if you guys delete this mail or not, however I just figured you should know why everybody wants to destroy your shitty excuse for a website.P.S. The Gutter is a great name for your shithole because, that must of been where you guys were spawned from.
And the beat goes on.
· Design Identical Twins or We Kill the Kids The Gutter
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Remember when the days started getting longer and the news queue started getting shorter and we posted a few empty posts, perhaps too subtle by half, suggesting it was going to be a slow summer? And then remember last Monday when we had a banner, red-letter day-of-days, deigned to share same with you, even, in our cups, then launched a truly impressive week-long debauche that was both much-needed and truly deserved? No, you couldn't remember that. We never told you. Still, it's amusing to see that so many of our Readers have mistaken the rising sun for a glorious dusk.
· The Gutter Salutes: The Glorious 10th of July! The Gutter
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Some people celebrate the Fourth. They are sheep. We prefer to celebrate this day, July 10. Not for its ample history (silent props to Meher Baba) or its gleesome associations for others (Happy Birthday Jessica!) but for its profound sense of possibility. For on no other day in the long and bloody history of The Gutter has freedom rung with quite the same happy clangor. So join us, if you will—and we do!—in setting aside things bilious and architectural. On 7.10, it's all good.
An image of future Freedom Tower leasing sublime from Reader FT opens and closes the festivities on this too-fine-for-blogging (read: last night was super fun!) Friday afternoon. A la prochaine.
· Rejoice! Freedom Tower 3.1 Revealed The Gutter
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...Some rich person's a-lovering? Oh, in our current soul-purging malaise we can do no justice—none at all—to the beauty we see before us. More brilliant machines—this one not at the expense of architects, but rather the result of one's genius. The mellifluously-named Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars has developed a mag-lev bed, and it's yours for only a million point five or so. Genius! But, as one commenter at the source site has already pointed out, 'this is Wolverine's deathbed.' No justice.
· Million Dollar Bed Floats on Magnets Engadget
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It's a lonely world, frenemies ours, and The Guttersniper is not immune. Indeed, there is an absence-brought sadness that no nationalist surge nor inspired pyromania can allay. Grieve with us. For a few seconds. Then marvel at the wonders of our world. Which are amazingly, abundantly, and unceasingly wonderful! Why, just now we've received, courtesy of a Reader with exceptional tastes and talents, a link to a wonderfully diverting Internet tool. Hie thee, one and all—o sweet happenstance!—to the Bile Machine.
Our Reader did, and he made some strangely wondrous discoveries:
Ch'ch'check it out...LMDC = Limp Meatheads, Define Crapulence
AIA = Asinine, Inanimate Asses
Truly minutes and minutes of fun.
Yours, Etc. (or is that Yours, Excitable, Troglodytic Crackhead...)
You'll want to follow the link below to see the true and secret meanings of FXFowle, SOM, KPF, HOK, OMA, AMO, and, perhaps best of all, DS&R.
FXFowle = Ferocious, gen-X Freakshow, Oblivious to Whoring and Licentious EmptinessSOM = Stupid, Obtuse Meathead
KPF = Knuckleheaded, Pernicious Freakshow
HOK = Horrific, Obtuse Killjoy
OMA = Ogrish, Maniacal Ass
AMO = Asinine, Maniacal Oddity
DS&R = Depraved, Stagnating, and Rube
Our tipster, after noting the above, added: 'Remember, these are computer generated semi-random acronyms, and yet is there hidden wisdom?' Hidden wisdom? Yes!!!! For the punchline, visit the Bile Machine right now and type in FAIA. We promise you'll be rotflyfao.
· Bile Machine UMOP
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Yup. We've grabbed the girl and we're heading out to sea. Big game this time—no crabbing, no crabs. Catch you Wednesday.
· Gone Fishin' The Gutter
· Gutter to World: We Went Fishing! The Gutter
As the good, clean rain falls on this otherwise inglorious day—has the town ever looked more dour? has there ever been such a superabundance of long faces?—we interrupt the current ellipsis with a grab at some extremely low-lying fruit. In an email plugging an arriving show, the Storefront for Art & Architecture has finally joined the Watch™.
The project FASCIA unfolds as a series of live performances, video recordings and drawings, that engage in a visual dialogue with Steven Holl's and Vito Acconci's renowned design of the Storefront for Art and Architecture facade. Like Acconci and Holl, she challenges the traditional notion of facade as constituting a membrane that simultaneously separates and erotically joins the inside with the outside. FASCIA departs from the definition of the membrane-wall as both a marker and an embodiment of space.
Not exceptionally stupid, we know. That's why we weep.
· Upcoming Shows Storefront
· Storefront for Art & Archispeak: Party On The Gutter
· Gutterland JargonWatch™: Precrime Edition The Gutter
Seems there's been a wee mishap at Libeskind & Libeskind. While we liked the hagiography-cum-cocksuck (masquerading as a Time article) that was sent out this afternoon by Danny's intra-office flacks (and immediately forwarded to us by like a million people), we loved the fact that, like Mark Strauss and Max Protetch before, the 394 recipients' email addresses were all right there in the 'cc' line. So, while Nina busies herself firing one unfortunate 'AM' in her employ, scan the list after the jump. We've already found a few treasures: all the current and former powerplayers downtown (as if they care), Frank Gehry (as if he needs his nose rubbed in Danny's good press), and poor sainted Sarah Crichton. Did she not already pay her dues?Cc: paarons@millenniumptrs.com, fachbar@jccgb.org, Craiga@plantco.com, craiga@plantconstructioncompany.com, pcclp@plantconstructioncompany.com, t.alpern@att.net, falvarez@rom.on.ca, cure@canfar.com, frontdesk@raany.com, Marad@handelarchitects.com, jbaerlein@rasky.com, tbanta@corporex.com, areed@corporex.com, neal.barkhurst@bharchitects.com, simeonHB@disputeResolve.com, rbeal@bealco.com, bell@aiany.org, info@aiany.org, tsipi@cityarts.org, abfamily@nyc.rr.com, abfamily@optonline.net, jberkovits@nyc.rr.com, jberkovits@blackdogam.com, jberkovits@mindspring.com, fredabernstein@aol.com, tbernstein@ifcwtc.org, bernst@chelseapiers.com, info@chelseapiers.com, bettsr@chelseapiers.com, bierut@pentagram.com, info@pentagram.com, ellen@parkavenuemortgage.com, blackwoodfilm@aol.com, doug.blais@chamber.state.ny.us, jdaly@ushmm.org, sbloomfield@ushmm.org, bollinger@columbia.edu, jr2487@columbia.edu, cbonacci@panynj.gov, mbond@davisbrody.com, sbos@cooper.edu, president@bard.edu, qbraithwaite@panynj.gov, dan@hummingbirdcentre.com, spitfire9@rogers.com, mitch_brill@glic.com, lbrown147@aol.com, aburden@planning.nyc.gov, chris.burns@cnn.com, kyeagle@corporex.com, cos@chamber.state.ny.us, admin.newyork@calatrava.com, cacciatl@cooper.edu, Robert@RCampbell.net, corice@armanstudio.com, IRWINGC@aol.com, caplang@home.com, caplang@rogers.com, timothy.carey@nypa.gov, leed@bpcauthor.org, bcarter@ap.buffalo.edu, gchong@ghcp.com, gchong@chongpartners.com, clarkb@claycorp.com, hunter_clayton@gensler.com, pcf@pcf-p.com, akirschner@pcf-p.com, jcockwell@brookfield.com, dhorton@brookfield.com, andy_cohen@gensler.com, rcohen@nytimes.com, rmprod@aol.com, anita.contini@cit.com, debbie@argsf.com, robertc@costaeng.com, dkoch@panynj.gov, acracchi@panynj.gov, ann_crane@glic.com, jwc8n@virginia.edu, SCrichton@fsgbooks.com, skcrichton@aol.com, josephd@artextureplus.com, d.doctoroff@cityhall.nyc.gov, nycdolman@aol.com, dcisd@aol.com, bonnie@dcicost.com, md@artx.info, festival@oyhoo.com, jrdruker@comcast.net, rdruker@drukerco.com, dboyle@drukerco.com, Nannette.DuFour@kaplanthaler.com, Nannette.Dufour@ny.ddb.com, dunlap@nytimes.com, gretchen@buildthememorial.org, see@ebpclaw.com, shtetlfoundation@prodigy.net, sfainer1644@rogers.com, cferer@vidicom.com, HFA2901@aol.com, forgeyb@comcast.net, fraker@berkeley.edu, alex.frangos@wsj.com, tfrieden@health.nyc.gov, bernard.frischer@gmail.com, jgalaviz@galaviz.com, jgalaviz@globalysis.com, asutton@empire.state.ny.us, garvin@alexgarvin.net, dparrot@RLRubens.com, sammy5m@aol.com, frankg@foga.com, cgladstone@glcdevelopment.com, glanz@nytimes.com, paul.gogan@bharchitects.com, pjg@newwschool.edu, richard.goldman@goldmanfund.org, sgoldman@nycopera.com, blairgolson@gmail.com, agorlin@gorlinarchitect.com, bgramann@gbbn.com, jgrau@|
Just when we were getting used to our August semi-slumber, we were compelled to sail back into wifi range, set the old Hitachi on the starboard toerail, unfurl the mizzen spanker, open all the seacocks, and dial up the ComLink protocols to GutterSat 1. And what did we find, oh our still so very very deeply Dearest Best Beloveds? Behold, ye mighty, the fruits of our inbox, and WTF?
Hi,Now, we're not journalists—never have been, never will be—but doesn't querying the Gutter (the idle summer Gutter, no less) strike one as a little, er... Land Ho!I'm a writer with Details magazine looking to feature a new (within the last three months) or soon-to-open (I'm working on the October issue) gorgeous architectural space, probably something commercial, such as a new building/restaurant space/etc.
Do you have any suggestions or anything I should look out for, anything the architectural community is excited about seeing completed?
Thanks very much for your help.
Has your staring at Dave Jones been as good for you as it's been for us? Alas, probably not. Didn't we mention that we're on a light posting schedule until after Labor Day?
Not to worry, Cook will remain all sorts of fucked in September.
|" blogTitles['Village Voice']="Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead: Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead|Bloodline: Bloodline|The Babysitters: The Babysitters|Refusenik: Refusenik|The Memory Thief: The Memory Thief|OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies: OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies|Noise: Noise|Turn the River: Turn the River|The Fall: The Fall|The Tracey Fragments: The Tracey Fragments|Unsettled: Unsettled|A Previous Engagement: A Previous Engagement|" blogLinks['Village Voice']="http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984480/0819,poultrygeist-night-of-the-chicken,433904,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984481/0819,bloodline,433908,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984482/0819,the-babysitters,433910,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984483/0819,refusenik,433911,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984484/0819,the-memory-thief,433912,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984485/0819,oss-117-cairo-nest-of-spies,433919,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984486/0819,noise,433923,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984487/0819,turn-the-river,433928,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984488/0819,the-fall,433929,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984489/0819,the-tracey-fragments,433930,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/284984490/0819,unsettled,433938,20.html|http://feeds.villagevoice.com/~r/most/current/~3/285624191/0819,a-previous-engagement-exposes-the-secret-than-older-women-like-sex-too,435411,20.html|" blogDescriptions['Village Voice']="Old exploitation meets new references
