Lower East Side | The New York Observer

The Grande Dame of New York City Land Use

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:52:35 -0400

The way Doris Diether tells it, she was the last holdout in her Waverly Place building a few years back, when the landlord moved in someone new to intimidate her.

“Every time he’d go by me, he growled. Then one night he banged on my door and said, ‘If you think you’re getting any money, forget it,’” recalled Ms. Diether, 80, who moved into her basement apartment in 1958 and, thanks to rent control,...

'09 To Bring Green Apartments, Girls Clubhouse to Avenue D

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:16:20 -0500

The landscape will look different in 2009, but girls will still be girls, and the Lower Eastside Girls Club, with development partner Dermot Company, is still moving forward with its plans to build a clubhouse/apartment building on the Lower East Side.

On Dec. 16, the 13-year-old girls club and Dermot filed plans with the Buildings Department for a stylish, 12-story, 90,000-square-foot building on Avenue D, between East 7th and 8th streets. The club has been...

So Long, Lower East Side Skyscrapers: Council OKs Area Rezoning

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:57:19 -0500

The City Council approved today a proposed rezoning of the Lower East Side, putting in height limits for new buildings throughout the area.

The Bloomberg administration has pushed the rezoning as necessary to both boost the amount of below-market-rate housing in the neighborhood and to scale back the incidences of skinny skyscrapers that have popped up. The rezoning, which covered 111 blocks, generally keeps densities similar to those that exist...

Lower East Side, Late In the Day: No Lines! Lots of Obama Votes

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:22:49 -0500

By late afternoon on Essex Street, the line to vote at Public School 20 was non-existent, and voters trickled out at five-minute intervals.

Which is not to say voting here was entirely seamless.

"The machines were weird," said neighborhood resident Nikki, 30, emerging from the gymnasium in a black puffy jacket after voting for Obama. (She asked that her last name not be used). "I've voted before, but I had to ask...

Apples and Light Bulbs on the Lower East Side: The way to a more eco-friendly New York City

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:25:45 -0400

We like to think greening is more than a passing style, and that the idea of sustainability is taking root in our values and becoming a real presence in our communities. One of the neighborhoods that is working hard to re-brand itself green is the lower east side of Manhattan. In fact, the environment will be big in that community this Sunday, when a street festival will feature everything from chocolate apple truffles to...

Lower East Side Apartment Buildings Trade for $170.8 M.

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:36:54 -0400

A firm called Endland LLC has purchased two 26-story apartment buildings at 251 Cherry Street on the Lower East Side for $170.8 million, according to city records.

Endland LLC, an entity affiliated with Pembroke Companies, bought the buildings from Helen Drew on Sept. 24.

On its Web site, Pembroke describes itself as "a privately held real estate investment, development and management firm. Pembroke makes significant, usually lead investments in both public and private...

Restaurant of the Week: Broadway East

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:52:39 -0400

Top 10 Newcomer Restaurants Beyond the Hype, #9

In the shadow of the old Jewish Forward building, Broadway East seeks to point the way toward the future of dining. The menu is vegetarian-focused, with organic fish and poultry slipped in among seasonal, sustainable, locally sourced ingredients. Water is filtered and carbonated in-house. The cooking oils live on as biodiesel. The sleek redwood ceiling, tabletops, and main bar are recycled from a neighborhood water tower....

Stringer Conditionally Green Lights Lower East Side Rezoning

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:18:36 -0400

Borough President Scott Stringer has endorsed the city's proposed rezoning of the Lower East Side, giving a boost to a plan that would allow for more residential development while adding restrictions to other types, including dorms.

His endorsement of the plan, issued today, comes as the City Planning Commission gears up for a mega-hearing Wednesday, with throngs of community members expected to deliver testimony on proposed rezonings of the Lower East Side, the...

An Evening of Mourning for the Lower East Side

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:53:43 -0400

On Tuesday, in the waning daylight, a small line formed outside Webster Hall in the East Village. The crowd, as likely to sport zebra-striped jeans and Mohawks as flannel shirts and grizzled beards, had come for a special screening of Captured--a film that examines the life and work of Canadian street photographer and artist Clayton Patterson as he followed the Lower East Side's transition from junkie-town to condo-city--to mark the twentieth anniversary...

Die Yuppie Scum! Not You, Pizza Guy

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:02:05 -0400

Folk singer David Peel was leading a crowd of protesters in a singalong of his charming ditty “Die Yuppie Scum” on Friday evening, when suddenly the rebellious crooner experienced a moment of clarity.

“What are we doing over here?” Mr. Peel asked. “Where are the apartments?”

A few doors down, it turned out.

Demonstrators had intended to gather outside an apartment...

Economakis-East Village Fight Gets Nastier

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:41:27 -0400

The aggrieved rent-stabilized tenants of 47 East 3rd Street are not giving up their fight against landlord Alistair Economakis, whose efforts since 2003 to convert his East Village building into a grand mansion for his family continue to be stymied by nine pesky renters who won't budge.

Earlier this month, in the third appeal since Mr. Economakis first began mass eviction proceedings five-a-half-years ago, the state's highest court sent the case back to housing court...

Re-Crossing Delancey

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:14:09 -0400

In a signed editorial by Francis X. Clines in today's New York Times, we learn that gentrification is changing the Lower East Side. While Mr. Clines concedes that this is an old story—"Hasn’t that been the case ever since this sliver of Manhattan was laid bare more than a century ago as the crammed tenement haven for immigrants?" he asks—he does seem to feel that the changes in the neighborhood are once again a...

Lower East Side Coney Island

Wed, 21 May 2008 16:14:13 -0400

For those of you who have always wanted to go see the Coney Island Circus Side Show or the Mermaid Parade but are too lazy to trek out to Brooklyn, tonight is your night.

The amusment park's motley crew of underbelly performance artists is coming to the Lower East Side from 7 to 11 p.m. for Coney Island USA’s annual Spring Gala at the Angel Orensanz Foundation....

Group to Try One More Time to Derail East Village Downzoning

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:47:38 -0400

At 6 tonight, the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side plans to rally against what now appears to be the inevitable rezoning of the East Village just to the north.

The group has labeled the rezoning a "racist" plan to limit building heights and essentially abolish the community benefits incentive in 110 blocks of the East Village and Lower East Side. Last week, the Department of City Planning certified the proposal,...

East Village Downzoning Moves Forward; Chinatown Activists Keep Up the Protesting

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:55:33 -0400

The Department of City Planning is forging ahead with its plan to rezone 114 blocks of the East Village and the Lower East Side to limit the height and density of future development, despite allegations of racism from community groups in the Bowery and Chinatown, which were not included in the rezoning.

The DCP released the Environmental Impact Statement for the rezoning on Friday and will certify the proposal today,...

John Varvatos Kicks Out The Jams, But What About The Bums?

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:24:16 -0400

"This is a venue with a lot of history," said Tom Morello, the Harlem-born guitarist for political rock-rap group Rage Against The Machine, standing onstage at 315 Bowery early Friday morning. He was referring to CBGB, the legendary rock club that used to occupy that address.

"We can take it higher than its ever been before," said Mr. Morello, who was joined onstage by a number of big-name musicians, including Jerry Cantrell, Perry...

Protesters Attack John Varvatos With 'More Humorous' Signage

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:29:10 -0400

Demonstrators who picketed the new John Varvatos boutique on the Bowery last week plan a second wave of protests tonight, as the fashion designer celebrates the store's grand opening with a splashy charity concert.

The shop is located on the site of the former legendary rock club CBGB, which shuttered in 2006 after a lengthly rent dispute with its landlord.

"We'll have more humorous (and pointed) neon pink signs..." e-mailed activist Rebecca Moore, who last...

Construction Turns Orchard Block Into 'Ghost Town'

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:05:48 -0500

What used to be a Lower East Side destination has become a no-man’s land of rats, dirty streets and prolonged high-rise construction projects.

“People look down here and see a ghost town,” said a man who works on the block of Orchard Street just south of Houston. “And they just keep walking.”

The block had been a quintessential part of the reincarnated neighborhood. Its designer fashion boutiques, old-world fabric store, discount retailers, bars...

STAT OF THE DAY: Is The Lower East Side a Deal Anymore?

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:04:08 -0500

I wrote in today's Observer about the drops in doorman-building rents. The stats for that story came from a new February market report by The Real Estate Group New York.

Some of the other stats in the report show a marked increase in Lower East Side rents. For instance, the average monthly rent in a two-bedroom in a non-doorman building increased 3.3 percent from March of last year to $3,273. The average for a...

R.E.M. Shoots New Video On the Lower East Side

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:52:02 -0500

Dear Lower East Side: The 1990s called and said they want their favorite band back. Yes, R.E.M., the iconic Athens four-piece (turned three-piece) that sort of went out of style around the same time as 120 Minutes and Alternative Nation was apparently all over Rivington Street earlier this week shooting a video for the first single off their soon-to-be-released, 14th album (and possible comeback?), Accelerate, which comes out April 1 on Warner Bros., Brooklyn...

Welcome to The '07 Manhattan Market: 'Just Put in Any Serious Offer'

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:41:10 -0500

I decided to do a little recreational house-hunting on Sunday afternoon to see if the Manhattan housing market is really as resilient as it's cracked up to be.

My experience hunting for a rental apartment downtown in August had been thoroughly depressing—I did not see a single inhabitable apartment for under $3,000 a month and even then, the choice was between living in a shoebox or in a grungy, amenity-free condo. After reading...

New Disc Commemorates Late New Wave Opera Star and L.E.S. Icon Klaus Nomi

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:57:28 -0500

Klaus Nomi, the influential New Wave opera singer, semi-alien, and early ‘80s Lower East Side performance icon, was one of the first gay artists to succumb to AIDS when he died in 1983, as documented in Andrew Horn’s tear-inducing, yet hilariously quirky, 2004 film The Nomi Song. Though Nomi’s career was short-lived, and his synth-infused opera music -- for lack of a better word -- bizarre, the eccentric, German-born singer’s influence was considerable, touching...

American Apparel Opens Virtual Lower East Side Store

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:27:37 -0500

You can still visit American Apparel’s much-hyped digital outpost in Second Life, the user-generated virtual Internet world, but the store has been chained shut since last summer when the hipster clothing chain announced it would close its doors on “Lerappa Island for now."

Was the company's departure triggered by a virtual terrorist attack? (a group called the Second Life Liberation Army gunned down virtual shoppers at American Apparel to protest the commercialization...

Lower East Side Rents Up, SoHo's Drop

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:30:01 -0500

If all the neighborhoods below 100th Street in Manhattan competed for an annual prize of best rental market (from the landlords' perspective), the 2007 winner would clearly be the Lower East Side. There, a spate of luxury residential development drove the average rent of a studio apartment in a doorman building up 32.8 percent to a peak of $3,034 in the fall, according to a report from brokerage The Real Estate Group New York....

Lower East Side Matzo Bakery Moving

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:29:53 -0500

The Lower East Side building housing Streit's matzo factory has been put on the sales market, Curbed reports. The building, at 148-154 Rivington Street, has been the home of Streit's since 1925; Massey Knakal's marketing it, and it can be torn down or converted into another use. Streit's itself is moving, though it's not clear where....

Vibe Rater: Blue Seats, 157 Ludlow Street

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:02:10 -0400

A Yankees bar packed with Red Sox fans?

It's Rudy Giuliani's new campaign headquarters!

Or it could be. With 72 screens crammed into such a narrow tavern, Blue Seats feels like a military command center, albeit one serving truffle-oiled mac 'n cheese for $16 a plate.

The inescapable and overwhelming TV exposure recalls that re-conditioning scene in Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange--only, combined with massive quantities of beer, it seems to have the opposite effect.

On...

We Didn't Have Ping-Pong Parlors Like This When I Was In High School

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:00:44 -0400

NYPD continues its crackdown on seedy retailers on the Lower East Side.

The Post reports that a purported ping-pong parlor, the so-called Robo-Pong Training Center, located at 39 Eldridge Street, was actually just a "front for a whorehouse," whose target market apparently consisted of horndog teenagers from nearby Pace High School.

A really cheap whorehouse, it turns out -- with prices ranging from just $35 to $60 a pop.

"It was obvious that they were targeting young...

No More Bridge & Tunnel! New Bar Slated for Broome Street

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:33:55 -0400

Finally, there is a bar for “the banker that goes to work with his guitar strapped to his back.”

That gem is from a press release The Observer received this morning announcing the opening of The Randolph at Broome, a new bar set for 354 Broome Street.

According to the release, a motley assortment of friends--including a hedge fund manager, a...

The Real Deal with The Blue Seats

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:53:48 -0400

In July, The Observer reported the impending (or so we were told) opening of Blue Seats, the Lower East Side’s first bonafide sports bar. The 2,000-square-foot bar, named after the famous seats in Madison Square Garden where loyal fans sit, was set to open on July 30 at 157 Ludlow Street.

Its goal, once it opens, is to appease every mold of sports fan—from those who prefer high-definition flat-screen TVs and...

New Allen Street Eatery Has Fish from Chile, Wine from Spain, and Bathroom Stones from Peru

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:48:42 -0400

The most prominent feature of Rayuela, the soon-to-open "freestyle Latino" eatery at 165 Allen Street, is the two-story olive tree that sits in the middle of the restaurant. Like most else in the establishment, the tree was imported.

"I spent three days without sleep looking for this tree in California," co-owner Hector Sanz told The Observer. "It is a menzanillo, a rare type of olive tree."

Rayuela, which means "hopscotch" in Spanish,...