The Lo-Down : News from the Lower East Side

Morning Reads: Avenue D Attack, “The Immigrant” at Cannes, Brooklyn Bridge Birthday

Ed Litvak — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:14:47 +0000

The man arrested for allegedly assaulting a gay man on Avenue D will not face hate crime charges (NY1).

Cannes review: “The Immigrant” reflects the Lower East Side experience in the 1920′s in “quietly wrenching terms.” (Hollywood Reporter)

Special projects planned to mark the 130th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge (NY1).

On 2nd Avenue: scrap(ing) up the few traces of gentility amid the falafel and the fraternity crowds (NYT).

Sakamai on Ludlow Street; “A Japanese restaurant filtered through an American consciousness, respectful of tradition but not bound by it.” (NYT)

Good Morning!

Ed Litvak — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:09:33 +0000

145 Ludlow St.

Happy Memorial Day weekend. Showers this morning – some clearing in the afternoon with a chance of thunderstorms and a high of 65. Tomorrow, more rain and a high of 54. Partly cloudy and windy Sunday with a high of 65. For Memorial Day, Monday, partly cloudy and 73. Enjoy the holiday!

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LES Bites: Arlene’s is Missing Something, Leah Cohen’s Favorites, Bowery Station Pop Ups

Ed Litvak — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:55:11 +0000

Arlene’s Grocery, 95 Stanton St. Image via Facebook.

Today’s food notes and a sign of the times at an LES music venue:

Notice anything different outside Arlene’s Grocery? The awning is gone but via Facebook, they advise: “stay tuned for a fresh new look.”

Serious Eats asks Pig & Khao’s Leah Cohen what she likes to eat on the Lower East Side.

Openhouse has two new pop ups at Bowery Station. Sunday night, Chef Marie Aflak of Grapvine in Bay Ridge is bringing home style Lebanese classics to the Lower East Side. On May 30, Sean John of Spur Tree on Orchard Street will be preparing an “Asian inspired Jamaican” feast. Click the links for ticket info.

A few updates from Fatta Cuckoo on Clinton Street; the boozy weekend brunch, known as “Drunch,” has been expanded to Fridays; they’re now keeping the kitchen open on weekends from 11 a.m. to closing, rather than closing in the late afternoons; and there are new menu items. More info on Fatta Cuckoo’s web site.

Blue Ribbon has opened a beer garden at the Thompson LES Hotel. We popped in last night and found there’s plenty of space for you on the Allen Street patio. Eater has the details.

Celebrities Come to Bowery Hotel For Fortune Society Soiree

Helaina Hovitz — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:59:35 +0000

Thursday evening’s event at the Bowery Hotel. Photos by Pasha Kalachev photography.

Last week the Fortune Society hosted its Third Annual Spring Soiree at the Bowery Hotel. The non-profit, which helps previously incarcerated men and women re-enter their communities, operates its program out of a castle in Harlem. Yep, a castle. Big names in attendance included designer Charlotte Ronson, former Fugee-turned-inmate-turned-solo-artist John Forte, and Director Eugene Jarecki.

Jarecki’s 2012 Sundance hit “The House I Live In,” a film about the war on drugs and its impact on poor Americans, “particularly Americans of color,” was honored with the Foundation’s Spotlight Award. In the spirit of the movie, everyone seemed interested in keeping the spotlight on the campaign for drug law reform.

JoAnne Page, Eugene Jarecki.

“Drugs are cheaper and more widely used by young people than ever before. The people we put away are nonviolent nobodies, poor young people who get addicted, have no money, get a strike on their record, and can only work in the underground economy—then we punish them for it. That’s the disgrace here,” Jarecki said. “The Fortune Society is a long distance runner for justice. They help rebuild lives shattered by these inappropriate laws.”

In addition to providing substance abuse, mental health, and HIV/AIDS treatment, career development and job retention programs, and family services to 3,000 people each year, the organization actively participates in the movement to change drug sentencing laws. “I grew up in a white suburban community and none of my friends got arrested or spent time in prison,” said Fortune Society president and CEO JoAnne Page.

Majority opinion at the event was that the ‘drug problem’ is a public health issue and, therefore, should be dealt with through the health system. Both Page and Jarecki would like to see sentences dealt with “a little more even-handedly.”

“We’re seeing young black and Hispanic kids on Rikers Island for a joint,” she said. Jarecki echoed her statement with his own personal convictions. “We don’t put away big-time drug dealers. We never have. Should we? Yeah, probably,” he said, adding that he’s lost family members, “particularly lately,” to addiction. “I want proper approaches to it led by treatment and compassion, not by punishment,” he finished. According to Jarecki, who has also gained praise for his films, “Why We Fight,” “Reagan” and “The Trials of Henry Kissinger,” his new project has played a role in changing laws in several states. “What we’ve seen in Colorado, Washington, and California was echoed today in Vermont, which decriminalized marijuana,” Jarecki said. “Connecticut is planning to revisit the sentences of people incarcerated as minors for adult sentences, and we expect the governor of Oklahoma to revisit sentences of lifers.”

Jarecki and John Forte.

John Forte, who performed at last year’s Soiree, recently joined the Fortune Society’s board in order to “help spread the message.” After living what some might consider a charmed life, he was busted with 31 pounds of liquid cocaine at Newark Airport, which he calls, “ a very unfortunate mistake.” That mistake came at a price: a 14-year prison sentence. However, that’s not what he ultimately served, because former president George W. Bush redacted seven years from his sentence.

“I am about the second chance, because people believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” Forte said.

Why was it important for designer Charlotte Ronson to be involved? “John Forte is an old, old, old, old family friend of mine,” she answered. When pressed for a more specific reason to be involved with the cause, she said, “Because every little bit counts. Surely, she knows all about the Society’s work and was just being shy.

One of the event’s sponsors, Runa, a beverage company that supports roughly 2,000 indigenous farming families in Ecuador through their Guayasa leaf tea, got involved with the cause because “drug policy affects America daily and is one of the greatest injustices we face.”

“If you’re not causing harm to others, you should be able to ingest what you want,” said Dan MacCombie, co-founder of Runa. “Our criminal justice system is broken. We need a comprehensive reform of how we look at certain crimes, if they should be crimes, and how we make prisons into effective tools of solving society’s needs, instead of just locking people up and assuming the problem is solved.”

He went on to say that since the “system isn’t changing tomorrow,” the Fortune Society’s work is essential for those who have gone through it and want to get back on their feet.

Towards the end of the night, three ladies huddled together in one stall of the women’s bathroom, and were joined by two men soon after; all were escorted out of the lavatory, but not asked to leave. They apparently fit the profile of the type who never gets arrested.

On a brighter note, the event raised $100,000 for the Fortune Society—legally.

“We struggle to get restricted funds because the level of need greatly exceeds resources we have,” said Page. “This usually isn’t the type of crowd we get for our events, normally, so I’m thankful for this party!”

Morning Reads: Another Silver Foe Speaks Out, Church Preservation Campaign, Samuel Dickstein’s Soviet Ties

Ed Litvak — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:56:34 +0000

A former State Assembly aid, who claimed she was raped, says “the most powerful man in the state Assembly (Sheldon Silver) blew her off, then his aides tried to shut her up.” (Daily News)

Sheldon Silver is very good at keeping both his Lower East Side as well as his Albany constituents happy (The Jewish Week).

An arrest is made after a gay man is attacked near Avenue D and East 4th Street (NY1).

Preservationists try to save the Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church (EV Grieve).

A street on the Lower East Side is named after Samuel Dickstein, a Soviet spy (NYT).

Bike Share is Almost Ready to Roll

Ed Litvak — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:54:01 +0000

The first bike share user! Well, no, not really — but Citi Bike staffers did let LES resident Jac Zagoory pose for a photo in front of the docking station alongside Sara D. Roosevelt Park. The program launches for annual members Monday, Memorial Day. Jac rides his own bike to work every day, but says he’s probably going to become a bike share member for the convenience. EV Grieve has details from the bike roll-out above Houston Street. See a couple more photos after the jump.

Good Morning!

Ed Litvak — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:30:59 +0000

Finishing touches are put on the new Moscot store at 108 Orchard before the grand opening. Photo by Dave Mendoza.

Scattered thunderstorms today, becoming more severe in the afternoon, and a high of 74.

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Loisaida Festival 2013 Comes to Avenue C This Sunday

Traven Rice — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:54:43 +0000

The Loisaida Festival 2010 on Avenue C

The Lower East Side’s biggest annual “Latino pride” celebration, Loisaida Festival, returns to Avenue C this weekend. On Sunday, May 26, we are told, “hundreds of community supporters, Little Leaguers and notables, led by a 45 member marching band with ‘batuteras’” will kick off the festival by circling around the Loisaida/East Village neighborhood, gathering at the New Loisaida Community Center on 9^th Street, and culminate at the Festival’s main stage on 12^th Street and Avenue C, at 12:30 p.m. There will be live music throughout the day, with local organizations and vendors will be on hand to provide fun for the whole family. This will be the festival’s 26th year of outreach and festivities for the local community.

Here’s the Entertainment Line-up and Program:

Children’s Victory Parade:

12:00pm Kick-off/Staging site: Avenue C and 11^th Street. Parade Route:

East on 10^th Street to Avenue D, south on D to 6^th Street, west on 6th to Avenue C, right on C, north to 12^th Street and Festival’s Main Stage by 12:30.

Main Stage Line-up:

12:30pm Parade concludes at Stage (12^th Street) – Performance by NY Twirling & Marching Band

12:45pm Zumba at the Main Stage as part of the Ser Saludable/Be Healthy Hispanic Federation Pavilion

1:00pm Festival Introductions –Opening Ceremony

1:05pm 1^st Musical Performance: Los Soneros de Oriente

2:05pm Festival Announcements

2:15pm 2^nd Musical Performance: Papi Shank – Urban Latin Pop

2:30pm 3^rd Musical Performance: Avenida B

3:45pm Zumba at the Main Stage

3:45pm 4^th Musical Performance: YeraSon Orquesta Charanga

4:55pm Festival Closing remarks

5:00pm Festival ends

Max Fish Closes on Ludlow Street at the End of July

Ed Litvak — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:25:25 +0000

Max Fish, 178 Ludlow St. Photo by Alex M. Smith.

As the whole world knows by now, legendary Lower East Side bar Max Fish is moving to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. During an impromptu chat the other afternoon, Max Fish owner Ulli Rimkus told us she’ll be closing the Ludlow Street location at the end of July. She’s anticipating a big farewell party before packing up for the move to the new space at 130 Metropolitan Avenue.

Max Fish became the epicenter of the neighborhood’s underground, bohemian arts scene shortly after opening in 1989. Rimkus said she loves the idea of the old New York business that endures in one spot decade after decade and she dreamed that she could stay at 178 Ludlow St. forever. Eye-popping rent increases, of course, made that impossible. When Max Fish first opened, Rimkus was paying scarcely more than $2,000 month. Arwen Properties, her landlord, is reportedly seeking $20,000/month for the space next door, which was the home of Pink Pony, another local favorite that was forced out in January.

Rimkus said she looked at a large number of spaces in the neighborhood but could not find anything that felt right. The money was an issue, but it wasn’t the only factor. The neighborhood has changed so much, she explained, it just didn’t feel as though a bar built around artists and other creative people fit the new LES dynamic. A new, upscale hotel, just to the north of Max Fish, has been in development for the past seven years. It was stalled for a long period after the economy cratered. Rimkus said the scaffolding was definitely a problem for her business.

The new location in Williamsburg will have a much different feel. For one thing, it’s a lot bigger. But Rimkus said she really wants to create something new — not necessarily a replica of the LES classic. At the same time, she’ll be taking the art and other artifacts collected over the years across the river. It might be a little tough, however, to retain those famous bathroom walls!

We’ll let you know when we hear details about Max Fish’s final farewell.

On Cherry Street: Some Activity at the Former Pathmark Site

Ed Litvak — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:32:21 +0000

Cherry Street near Pike Street. Photo by Dave Mendoza.

Here’s the scene on Cherry Street, where the former Pathmark store is located. No details yet concerning Extell Development’s plans for a residential tower alongside the Manhattan Bridge. Thanks to Dave Mendoza for this photo.