A short time ago, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney made a brief appearance at the Hester Street Fair, one stop in a full day of campaigning across the 14th Congressional District, which includes the Lower East Side.  Maloney is being challenged in September’s Democratic Primary by Reshma Saujani.

Maloney made a point of telling me she’s determined [...]]]>

A short time ago, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney made a brief appearance at the Hester Street Fair, one stop in a full day of campaigning across the 14th Congressional District, which includes the Lower East Side.  Maloney is being challenged in September’s Democratic Primary by Reshma Saujani.

Maloney made a point of telling me she’s determined to try again in September to push the 9/11 aid bill through Congress. She is a chief sponsor of the legislation, which was blocked by Republicans in the House last week. Maloney, accompanied by District Leader Paul Newell, greeted voters and stopped at several booths, including a couple of vintage jewelry vendors.

She was tempted by the lobster rolls at Luke’s but did not succumb.

Maloney with community activist Rocky Chin.

Maloney with Hester Street Fair organizer SuChin Pak.

We spoke briefly with actress Kim Katzberg last April when she was debuting her show (a work-in-progress), Penetrating the Space, at Dixon Place. The piece is described as “a tragicomic send-up of a one-woman show in which a kooky bisexual performance artist and incest survivor mistakenly believes that theatricalizing her psychological fragmentation [...]]]>

We spoke briefly with actress Kim Katzberg last April when she was debuting her show (a work-in-progress), Penetrating the Space, at Dixon Place. The piece is described as “a tragicomic send-up of a one-woman show in which a kooky bisexual performance artist and incest survivor mistakenly believes that theatricalizing her psychological fragmentation and integration in front of an audience will lead to mainstream acceptance in the acting industry and a big-time agent.” Katzberg is performing her latest version of the show tomorrow night, for one night only, as part of the Hot! Festival. I asked her how the piece has evolved over the last few months. She reported back:

After the show in April, I wanted to take Penetrating the Space to the next level and delve deeper. I wanted to get more vulnerable, create new material, deepen the story and the characters. In the newest installment of “Penetrating the Space” there are some new characters. There’s Terry, a stripper in her thirties with a mud-flapish white-trash rock and roll frosted on the edges hair-do. She dances to a smooth jazz mix as she works the late night shift at a suicide prevention hotline. She wears a velveteen tight leopard one-piece outfit and has long-ass fake nails and says she is newly sober but is high as a kite on some kind of sedatives…

Directed by John Harlacher With original animation by Maia Cruz Palileo. Tickets are $10 (advance sale), $15 (at door) // Saturday, July 31 // 9:30p // 161A Chrystie Street

This week’s Midnight Movie at the Sunshine Cinema is the East Coast premier of Joshua Grannell’s feature film debut, All About Evil.  Grannell, better known as midnight movie impresario Peaches Christ, will appear with horror filmmaker Alan Rowe Kelly and the film’s star, actress Natasha Lyonne (American Pie, Slums of Beverly Hills), in person, before the [...]]]>

This week’s Midnight Movie at the Sunshine Cinema is the East Coast premier of Joshua Grannell’s feature film debut, All About Evil.  Grannell, better known as midnight movie impresario Peaches Christ, will appear with horror filmmaker Alan Rowe Kelly and the film’s star, actress Natasha Lyonne (American Pie, Slums of Beverly Hills), in person, before the film for a “gore-worthy spectacular pre-show filled with surprises galore.”  // $15, advance tix here // Friday, July 30 and Saturday, July 31 // 143 E. Houston Street

August 1 Gompers Houses (4-6pm) 90 Pitt Street August 2 Riis Houses (1-3pm) 465 East 10th [...]]]> Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh has announced an August schedule for his “mobile district office.”  Staffers will be available to help constituents with specific problems they might be having and to answer questions about legislation and local issues. Here are the details:

August 1 Gompers Houses (4-6pm) 90 Pitt Street
August 2 Riis Houses (1-3pm) 465 East 10th Street
August 7 Baruch Houses Family Day 100 Columbia Street
August 19 Riis Family Day 454 East 10th Street
August 26 LES II (1-3pm) 628 East 5th Street

Kavanagh represents the 74th Assembly District, which includes the area above Houston Street and extending up the East Side, but oddly also includes Pitt Street between Delancey and Houston.   By the way, he’s also co-sponsoring free dental checkups for kids (6months-14 years). The checkups will take place in the Baruch Houses’ community room August 2-6, 9am-2:30pm. See more info here.

Silver, out of respect for the elderly, will not criticize Ed Koch (Capital Tonight).

Gearing up for the new battle over community gardens (East Villager).

Expert backs up alleged Chinatown strangler’s accidental death defense (DNA Info).

115 Norfolk revealed (Bowery Boogie, Curbed).

Jamming goes with your punjabi on East 1st Street (NYC [...]]]>

Silver, out of respect for the elderly, will not criticize Ed Koch (Capital Tonight).

Gearing up for the new battle over community gardens (East Villager).

Expert backs up alleged Chinatown strangler’s accidental death defense (DNA Info).

115 Norfolk revealed (Bowery Boogie, Curbed).

Jamming goes with your punjabi on East 1st Street (NYC The Blog).

Look for a break in the heat today with a high of 82 degrees. It should be pleasant and less humid, with sunshine mixing with clouds, as the weekend takes us in to August.  Later today, we’ll have our Weekend Guide and a briefing on [...]]]>

Rainbow Over Williamsburg Bridge by Hamburger Helper via Flickr

Look for a break in the heat today with a high of 82 degrees. It should be pleasant and less humid, with sunshine mixing with clouds, as the weekend takes us in to August.  Later today, we’ll have our Weekend Guide and a briefing on last night’s CB3 meeting on SPURA.  Enjoy your weekend!

Last month, we reported the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy is preparing to open a new Visitor Center at 400 Grand Street later this summer.  If you walk by the storefront, formerly Ruby’s Fruits, you might notice a poster promoting the Conservancy’s new “Insider Tours,” abbreviated versions of [...]]]>

Conservancy's new visitor center, 400 Grand Street.

Last month, we reported the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy is preparing to open a new Visitor Center at 400 Grand Street later this summer.  If you walk by the storefront, formerly Ruby’s Fruits, you might notice a poster promoting the Conservancy’s new “Insider Tours,” abbreviated versions of their more detailed neighborhood walking excursions. Recently, we were invited to experience the tours for ourselves.

The first tour, “Crossing Delancey” is offered Thursday afternoons. Participants see the Angel Orensanz Center, Congregation Chasam Sopher (on Clinton Street), as well as Streit’s Matzoh Factory and Economy Candy. “Bialystoker the Beautiful,” a Sunday morning tour,” includes (of course) the Bialystoker Synagogue, the padlocked Beth Hamedrash Hagadol and East Broadway’s Shtiebl Row.

Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, 60 Norfolk Street.

Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, 60 Norfolk Street, is an important stop on the tours, but also the focal point of the Conservancy’s preservation efforts. The synagogue, which has occupied the building since 1885, is the oldest orthodox congregation of Russian Jews in the United States.  Rabbi Ephraim Oshry, who headed the congregation for 50 years, was also the religious leader of the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania during WWII. A hidden archive of the ghetto’s history is featured at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Conservancy has been raising money for the past several years to restore the synagogue, which suffered serious water damage in a 2001 fire.  While the Grand Street Visitor outpost will provide much-needed visibility in the near-term, the long-range goal is to establish a permanent Visitor Center inside Beth Hamedrash Hagadol. Laurie Tobias Cohen, the Conservancy’s executive director, said there’s also been talk of setting up a kosher catering facility in the building.  The first phase of the restoration – stabilizing the 1200 seat synagogue, is expected to begin soon.

Angel Orensanz Center.

There are, of course, quite a few walking tours offered on the Lower East Side.  The Conservancy, part of the United Jewish Council of the East Side, highlights its strong relationships with the neighborhood’s synagogues and cultural institutions. On the Thursday tour, visitors are able to walk inside the Orensanz Center, the oldest surviving building in the city built specifically as a synagogue. If you’re lucky, as I was, you might even get to chat with Al Orensanz, who’s tender loving care keeps the Gothic Revival-style event space in pristine condition.

Bialystoker Synagogue

On Sundays, your guide will take you inside the Bialystoker, where you’ll see the synagogue’s intricately painted ceiling, restored in 1988.

Stanton Street Shul.

Preservation and renewal are constant themes on the tours.  In some cases, the Conservancy has helped pay for synagogue restoration. The Stanton Street Shul, which came close to extinction a few years ago, has undergone a remarkable transformation thanks, in part, to Conservancy funding.  In other instances, private donors have saved sacred sites (Chasam Sopher, for example).

That’s not to say synagogues are not in danger on the Lower East Side. The roof collapse of the First Roumanian-American Congregation on Rivington Street in 2006 was proof of that.  The plight of Young Israel on East Broadway illustrates the pressures many cash strapped congregations are under due to gentrification.

However, Joel Kaplan, UJC executive director, told me earlier this week he believes the situation has stabilized. Nearly all congregations on the LES are financially burdened with the costs of maintaining large, aging buildings. But preservation efforts in the past decade, he said, have relieved a lot of pressure. In spite of perceptions to the contrary, there’s still a significant Jewish population downtown (in excess of 50,000 people, according to some estimates).  This means there are a lot of people in the neighborhood determined to protect what the Conservancy calls “the cradle of American Jewish civilization.”

Cohen said the “insider tours” are meant to make the Conservancy accessible to a wider variety of people – whether they live in the neighborhood or are visiting from out of town. She hopes the 90 minute mini-versions will entice visitors to try a full scale 3-hour tour. They cost $12 and will be offered through December 30th. Right now there’s a coupon available on the Conservancy’s web site offering any two insider tours for the price of one.