The growth of tent settlements in California and elsewhere is one of the saddest developments in this season of sadness. As President Barack Obama recently observed, “It is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours.” Here in New York City successive Read More
The ever quotable Chuck Hunt, executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association, posed an interesting question to The Observer in response to Governor Paterson's proposed plan to hike taxes on "sugary" soft drinks -- that is, the non-diet kind:
How are they going handle it at McDonald’s, where they hand you an Read More
In early December I moderated a panel discussion at Columbia University titled "Energy Efficiency: What Really Works." The panel featured five terrific experts on this issue: Bridgett Neely, Vice President of Energy Efficiency at New York City's Economic Development Corporation; Lloyd Kass, Director of the Energy Department at the New York City Housing Read More
Mr. Batali's three-star eatery on 10th Avenue flunked a city health inspection this past June, racking up a total of Read More
Gowanus Lounge is reporting that the various rides and attractions touted by controversial developer Joe Sitt back in April are currently being dismantled, apparently headed to some other carnival site in Tennessee.
"Think ol' Dale [Hemmerdinger, M.T.A. chairman and also Damon's father] can Read More
Dapper restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani (ranked No. 97) had offered up $500,000 to settle his dispute with the State Liquor Authority (S.L.A.). The state agency intends to Read More
Mr. Freid's lawyer chimed in this week to make a point -- those hotels aren't actually illegal:
The accusations against Read MoreA new city rule requiring chain restaurants to post the calorie content of their menu items actually takes effect on Friday, April 25--not today, as other news outlets are reporting.
"Every station has been misreporting that that the calorie listing mandate goes into effect today," according to an email from the city's legal department. Read More
Still reeling from the fallout of its highly publicized 2007 prostitution bust, embattled Manhattan strip club Scores West has filed for bankruptcy.
Court papers filed on Friday point to "mounting tax debt" and a "loss in sales" at the voluptuous 10,000-square-foot venue at 536 W. 28th St. "as a result of the actions by Read More
A documentary on the city's waterfront fights, City of Water, premieres this Saturday, April 19, at 1:30 p.m. on local PBS Channel 13. (Check out the trailer here.)
According to the Municipal Art Society:
Two years in the making, the documentary includes scenes from the New Jersey Gold Coast, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Jamaica Bay, and Read More
Assemblyman Richard Gottfried has come out against Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel’s tower planned to rise next to the Museum of Modern Art, joining neighbors and State Senator Liz Krueger in their opposition to the project.
The tower, which has received much praise in the architectural world, needs approval from Read More
The Parks Department, which erected the fence a day earlier, issued the following explanation via email to The Observer:
The Parks Department is currently Read More
And some say the city's latest attempt to address the situation isn't really helping:
"Instead of fixing the boardwalk in front of the businesses that go from Stillwell [Avenue] to 12th Street, the Parks Department decided to build this enormous barricade in Read More
One of his complaints involves my use of the term "bar" to describe his business.
He prefers the term "restaurant lounge," partly because it's more accurate but, perhaps Read More
