Results tagged “columbusave”

Back in September, 77-year-old Charlie Campbell learned that The Emerald Inn—the beloved Columbus Avenue dive bar that's been in his family since the '30s—was finally doomed when he saw the location advertised for lease on a website. At the time, the landlord was demanding more than double the $15,700 monthly rent. Fast-forward to 2009, and suddenly Campbell has been allowed to stay on because, as the property manager puts it, "of the kind of people the Campbells are." Oh, and also the economy. One Emerald regular speaks for all of us when she tells the Times, "Columbus Avenue has been turning into a strip mall, with chain stores and restaurants. Maybe the recession will help the mom-and-pops stay in business." But has the meltdown come too late to save indispensable St. Mark's Place dive Holiday Cocktail Lounge?

Pinch & S’MAC: Dejected fans of Pinch, the defunct Park Avenue South “pizza by the inch” joint, will not only be reunited with their favorite Pinch pizza, but they can even slather it with the incredible mac-n-cheese from East Village favorite S’MAC. The new cheese and carb cartel will bring the best of both menus together on the Upper West Side, forming a single, unified, belt-busting celebration of starch. If you’ve never tried S’MAC, you’re best off staying away; those who’ve tasted their mac-n-cheese speak of it with glazed-over eyes befitting a Shake Shack devotee. Opening “soft” on Monday, Pinch & S’MAC promises a casual environment with take out, delivery, catering and a separate room for private parties. 474 Columbus Ave., between 82nd and 83rd, (646) 438-9494.

MUSIC: When we talked to Jonny Greenwood (pictured) back in October, Radiohead's In Rainbows wasn't the only focus. His composition titled Popcorn Superhet Receiver will be performed tonight by The Wordless Music Orchestra with Brad Lubman as conductor. When we asked Greenwood if he would be in attendance, he said "I’d love to but I can’t really justify the flight just to come to that. I’d feel a bit weird about it. If I was in America already for touring or something I’d love to go but I can’t really justify it. It’s a shame." Since you won't be using as many carbon emissions to get there, we suggest you go.

THEATER: Without uttering a single line of dialogue, theater company Parallel Exit has crammed an hour of stage time with an abundance of zany physical comedy. Accompanied by live music provided by various percussion instruments, ukulele and piano, a hapless troupe of vaudevillians stumbles though “a backstage adventure filled with comic chaos and fast-paced action, incorporating music, magic, tap, and slapstick.” Everything that can go wrong does in their little variety show, and Martin Denton says “there's enough slapstick and silliness to please the small fry and enough sophistication and acumen to ensure that grown-ups are constantly diverted as well, making this a well-nigh perfect family entertainment.” – John Del Signore

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: Hostages(!) on Geranium and Kissena Blvds. in Queens, a pedestrian struck at Stillwell and Mermaid Aves. in Brooklyn, and a bank robbery on Columbus Ave. and 72nd St. in Manhattan. Knicks coach Isiah Thomas says that the stress of lawsuits are no distraction. He can keep doing what he's doing regardless of legal problems. A boat full of gadget-minded men. There was a stop-off at Liberty Island; and slide...

Today, all over the city, ordinary parking spaces will be transformed into temporary public "parks." The Trust for Public Land has organized a nationwide Park(ing) Day, and there are a number of these Park(ing) projects all over the city - Open Plans has the details on the NYC locations.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 5th Ave. in Brooklyn, an electric shock at 25th Ave. and 49th St. in Queens, and a shooting on 101st St. and Columbus Ave. in Manhattan.
• Chazz Palminteri's stage and screen bildungsroman A Bronx Tale will appear again onstage this fall. The off-Broadway play was adapted to a 1993 movie featuring Palminteri, Robert De Niro, and screen newcomer Lillo Brancato. The latter is now facing a murder charge over a botched robbery in 2005 that ended in a cop-killing.
• Mayors Bloomberg's daughter, Georgina, is dating an Irish equestrian rider , who's also an Olympic gold medalist.
• The Clarett Group submitted plans to the Building Dept. to build the largest building in Brooklyn, topping the Williamsburgh Bank Building by two feet.
• Give a hoot and don't pollute. The Gowanus Lounge is publicizing an E-Waste Recycling Drive sponsored by the East Side Ecology Center that's an opportunity to drop off hardware that may harm the environment if just chucked in the trash.
• One-time good Samaritan Junior Suarez is now suing ConEd for the trauma he experienced comforting the severely burned tow-truck driver Gregory McCullough.
• A very interesting piece in the Times on the evolution of Elvis Presley as racial barrier-breaker to unfairly perceived racist.
• Privacy is for hitchhikers: Divorce lawyers are using E-Z Pass to nail philandering spouses in court.

THEATER: The annual Soho Think Tank Ice Factory, arguably New York’s most impeccably curated theater festival, has been hosting an exhilarating array of new shows every weekend since July 4th . Starting tonight you can sink your teeth into Vampire University, in which “a struggling vampire family descends on an evangelical college in the Midwest, the dad’s mid-life crisis of immortality triggers a desire to come back to life and the gulf between first and second generations vampires has never seemed greater.” Scored to live Theremin! John Del Signore

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a possible abduction at 39th St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn, falling debris from 820 Columbus Ave. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on East 214th St. in the Bronx.
• Queens Councilman James Gennaro was fined $2,000 after admitting to the Conflict of Interest Board that he asked a staffer to volunteer on his campaign, although he says he has no recollection of the 2003 incident
• MTA CEO Elliot Sander has instructed his division heads to only cut costs by 1.5% next year, after concluding that there is no more fat to trim or inefficiencies to reduce at the agency.
• Madonna spent two hours at Bill Clinton's Harlem offices yesterday, possibly discussing an endorsement of his wife's run for President. She has yet to visit Hillary Clinton's offices.
• A GoogleMaps mashup illustrating the geography of Seinfeld.
• Free alt-weekly New York Press changes ownership hands again. It was sold by Avalon Equity Partners to Manhattan Media for an undisclosed sum.
• Whoopi Goldberg was chosen as Rosie O'Donnell's replacement on the female chat-show The View.
• The New York Times looks at bad behavior at four star restaurants, when well-heeled diners can't wait until they get home to vomit, get naked, or have sex.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: missing children on Lenox Rd. in Brooklyn, shots fired at Columbus Ave. and West 104th St. in Manhattan, and a water rescue at the Stepping Stone Lighthouse off City Island in the Bronx.
• The chief of a volunteer fire company in the Bronx is scrambling to explain how the firehouse is now broke, after receiving a half-million dollars in donations after 9/11/01.
• A pair of 15-year-olds will be tried as adults after breaking into a woman's Central Park West home and allegedly raping her four times each before fleeing.
• The Daily News reports on the progress of Reid Stowe and his girlfriend Soanya Ahmad, who are attempting to sail 1,000 consecutive days without making landfall. They left New York Harbor 100 days ago, so only 900 days left.
• Complaints about rude police officers have risen dramatically over the past six years, so programs are being instituted to improve and chronicle relations between cops and the public. Critics of the new programs say that cops have to be rude and mean to do their jobs effectively.
• Some reports claim that the area around South Street Seaport is being overrun by rats, as construction to replace a 150-year-old water main on Fulton St. have driven the pests into the street.
• The New York Times has a short video piece on the replacement of hot dog sidewalk pushcarts with halal food carts.
• A 30" alligator was found in a pillowcase on a Long Island beach this morning. The person who found the pillowcase was forewarned of its contents by the message written on the outside, which read "Live gator, please find him a home."

ABC personnel were forced to evacuate parts of their building yesterday after an ABC employee received a letter with a mention of anthrax. There was no powder included in the letter, but officials sent out an office-wide email telling employees to evacuate the building, located at 147 Columbus Ave. A "rambling diatribe" that arrived in an envelope containing white powder at Bill Clinton's Harlem office last year caused a similar panic.

Two men died early this morning while in the city's subway system; both are believed to have been homeless. The first incident occurred around 2 a.m., when a man passing from one car to another while the train was in motion at 145th St. and Columbus Ave. fell and slipped between them. He died at the scene. The second incident reportedly occurred around 5:20 a.m. at the Bowling Green station in downtown Manhattan. Police responding to a reported stabbing found a man bleeding from his chest, although health causes have not been ruled out. He was declared dead on the scene at 5:28 a.m.

Bruni goes to Lidia Bastianich’s Felidia (last reviewed and three-starred by Ruth Reichl in 1995) and reaffirms the three-stars. He’s crazy about the risotto, and calls its food “surprisingly distinctive in a city infatuated with, and just about saturated by, various kinds of Italian cuisine.”

And the drinks are on them! We can't think of a better way to celebrate, really. Time Out New York and the IN:NYC Card will treat patrons to a complimentary cocktail during dinner service at nine select IN:NYC restaurants: Calle Ocho (212-873-5025; 446 Columbus Ave between 81st & 82nd Sts), 6-11pm; Django (212-871-6600; 480 Lexington Ave @ 46th St), 5:30-10:30pm; Kitchen 22 (212-228-4399; 36 E 22nd St between Broadway & Park Ave S), 5-10:30pm; Kitchen 82 (212-875-1619; 461 Columbus Ave @ 82nd St), 5-10:30pm; Ono (212-660-6766;18 Ninth Ave at Gansevoort St), 5-11pm; 66 (212- 925-0202; 241 Church St @ Leonard St), 5:30-11pm; SushiSamba 7 (212-691-7885; 87 Seventh Ave S between Grove & Barrow Sts), 5:30-11pm; Underbar (212-358-1560; 201 Park Ave S @ 17th St), 6-8pm; and Brasserio: Caviar & Banana (212-353-0500; 12 E 22nd St), 5-10pm.

Looking for a change of pace from our routine of heavy, indiscriminate drinking, Gothamist was browsing the aisles of 67 Wine & Liquor when we came across these curiosities. At top is a bottle of litchi wine from Taiwan, a sweet, aromatic brew redolent of the delicate fruit. Given the glut of litchis on the market these days, Gothamist will be happy to shore up demand by keeping a bottle of this stuff handy.