Results tagged “grandst”

The cast iron facades, high ceilings, and wide-open floor plans that made the neighborhood so desirable as a place for artists, and later well-heeled residents, are rooted in SoHo's industrial past. It was a neighborhood of factories and manufacturing. That era has passed, however, and after more than a century in business, John De Lorenzo and Bro., Iron and Sheet Metal Contractor closed their shop this week. It will be converted to a building housing luxury condos.

ART: The Bronx Museum of Art is getting on board the First Friday bandwagon. They'll be opening their doors every first Friday of the month for free, and add a little something extra each time. Tonight their theme is “Say it Loud! I’m Black & I’m Proud” in celebration of Black History Month. There will be a tribute to the late James Brown, and a showcase of independent artists paying tribute to black music.

THEATER: Blogging playwright Brooke Berman’s new satire, Hunting and Gathering, starts with a homage to all the apartments she’s occupied in New York – twenty in all. What follows is a story of “four interconnected New Yorkers and their thwarted attempts to find their place – without compromise. Jesse has his first date since his divorce, his ex-lover Ruth is living a fantasy, his brother Astor is the 'man with the van,' and Bess has a plan to come out on top.” Produced by Primary Stages, you can enrich your theatergoing experience with these Hunting and Gathering webisodes. – John Del Signore

THEATER: The salty, electric dynamo that is Elaine Stritch shows no sign of waning – about to turn 83-years-young, the show biz legend has kicked off 2008 with a reprise of her Tony-winning cabaret show. Backed by a six-piece band and performed in two acts for a dining audience at the newly restored Café Carlyle, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, co-written with the New Yorker’s John Lahr, is a hilarious, old-fashioned ride through star-studded post-war Broadway, bursting with stories from her roles in such legendary productions as Company, Bus Stop, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Times raves: “Every story in her arsenal of seamlessly stitched personal anecdotes is illustrated with body language that erupts like lightning out of words spoken in the gravelly voice of a tough old dame with a tender heart. Because she has the gift of gab, this loudmouthed life of the party could go on forever.” It’s an expensive night, but worth it. Dining reservations are almost booked through the end of the run on Jan 19th, but they do accept walk-ins for the bar seating. – John Del Signore

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted yesterday to landmark eight new sites in four of the city's boroughs - the Bronx loses out. City Room details the new landmarks, which include the Lord & Taylor building, the white brick Manhattan House, two homes on Grand St., the Standard Varnish Works Factory building (its owner thinks the designation is bad for business) and the Greek-Revival style Fillette Tyler Mansion in Staten Island and the Voelker-Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden in Queens. There's a more detailed account of LPC's hearing on Monday here. East Village institutions like Webster Hall and the brick and terra-cotta 11th St. bathhouse, among others, are proposed for designation. The Sun's Eliot Brown has more.

The Critical Mass Halloween Ride is tonight! If you go, get some good pictures!

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water rescue off the beach at 105th St. and Shore Front Parkway in Queens, a person struck by a train at 77th St. and 4th Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting at Martin Luther King Pl. and Tompkins Ave. in Brooklyn.
• A middle-aged man was arrested Sunday evening after attempting to rob a McDonald's on Staten Island, but settling for ripping the clear acrylic box of donations for charity from the counter and making off with it.
• Cemusa, the Spanish company that brought us the city's new bus stop shelters, will be installing a new Grimshaw Architects-designed uniform replacement for New York's eclectic newsstand designs.
• The city will begin notifying pedicab applicants by mail today who has been granted, via a lottery where existing pedicab owners received preference, a license to operate their vehicles. Nonetheless, there will be a number of existing pedicab drivers who will be prohibited from continuing working as pedal-powered transit.
• There is currently no credible threat against Jewish targets, but as Rosh Hashanah begins tonight and marks the start of the Jewish high holy days, the NYPD will be stepping up security around possible targets of terrorism.
• Former NY Jet Curtis Martin may be the purchaser of Brooklyn's priciest condo: the $7.25 million penthouse triplex on Brooklyn Bridge State Park with 360 degree views of the city.
• The Travel section of the Times acknowledges that cool Brooklyn does not end at Bedford Ave., and ventures as far as Havermeyer and Berry St. along Grand St. Get there before it's totally played out.
• The ink is still drying on Rupert Murdoch's purchase of Dow Jones, but New York Post editor and alleged strip club afficionado Col Allan dropped by the offices of The Wall Street Journal, probably trying to pacify the upset reporters who are already seeing their pay cut through decreased health insurance contributions.

PARTY: Nostalgic for the Blackout of 2003? Someone has put together an event that will recapture the night of no lights so we can all enjoy it once again (with reassuring knowledge that the contents of the fridge aren't melting back at home). Stain's blackout party will be complete with candles, canned goods, beer, a battery-run boombox, board games, grilling and other non-electricity-dependent activities.

HAPPY HOUR: You read the Onion, and you probably drink whiskey...so why not combine the two tonight? The Onion crew enjoys the simple pleasures of life in WIlliamsburg with some free Jameson Irish Whiskey in the name of alcohol preservation.

MUSIC: You know summer is just around the corner when the Seaport Music Festival has their first show of the season. Tonight Animal Collective, Danielson and XXXChange (Spank Rock) will all be on Pier 17 for a FREE show! Come, drink, listen.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a large sinkhole at University Ave. in the Bronx, a carjacking on Foch Blvd. in Queens, and a hanging on Park Ave. in Manhattan.
• Not only was Gov. Corzine not wearing his seatbelt, his state trooper driver was doing 91 m.p.h.(!) right before the crash. The speed limit on the Garden State Parkway is 65 m.p.h.
• Nine people were injured this afternoon when the Staten Island Ferry made a "heavy landing" at the St. George terminal. Neither the boat nor dock was damaged and the incident is being attributed to the weather and currents.
• Mayor Bloomberg's appointment as head of the Word Trade Center Memorial Foundation last October is proving very profitable. Fundraising had stalled before his appointment, but the organization's fund has more than doubled since Bloomberg came aboard, to more than $300 million.
• A 16-year-old was fatally shot in the neck yesterday afternoon in Brooklyn. Police are searching for another teenager, but there is no known motivation for the killling.
• Site onNYTurf has a map titled "Pedicouncil or Pettycouncil" that shows where City Council members stand on a law restricting pedicabs in the city.
• The Brooklyn bookstore owner who plead guilty to helping fund terrorist organizations was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
• Brownstoner salivates at real estate porn involving a limestone mansion in Fort Greene.
• Curbed reports on the Chinatown apartment on Grand St. that suffered an impromptu demolition party as a hipster describes [we] "Tore the place down." There's also a crazy video of the incident taken by a passerby wondering why glass was flying out the window.
• Authorities are wondering how an off-duty parole officer staying late after a party in Asbury Park, NJ managed to accidentally discharge his weapon and shoot three restaurant workers with a single shot.

DISCUSSION: Is New York losing it's New York charm? Tonight contributors to the new tome "The Suburbanization of New York" will talk about just that (and is conveniently located down the street from H&M and Pottery Barn). The panel includes Marshall Berman, Eric Darton, Francis Morrone, Matthew Schuerman, Neil Smith, Michael Sorkin, and Suzanne Wasserman.

January 13: Seasonal Game Cooking Class

ART: Yesterday we mentioned a few friends who spend their time making hamster nests, art and apparently making people very upset by merely existing. Anyway, one of them, Ryan McGinley, had an opening last night for his new show Irregular Regulars. His photographs of Morrissey were taken at shows from the past two years, and seem to depict Moz as God.

The cold weather may have you in the mood for a little holiday entertainment - and this weekend, The Urban Ballet Theater has brought back their twist on Tchaikovsky's classic ballet, The Nutcracker. This year their performace is called "Nutcracker in the Lower Continues..." (we're guessing a continuation of last years performance, some of which you can watch above).

Tofu is like chopped liver in the world of haute cuisine—overlooked and undervalued. A handful of restaurants are challenging that attitude though by presenting dishes with tofu front and center. A few even take the next step and make tofu from scratch. At En Japanese Brasserie in the West Village, the menu makes a big deal over the homemade tofu, listing the timeslots that the kitchen makes up a batch each evening. It may seem like a silly touch, but on the other hand, you’d wait for a risotto or a soufflé, wouldn’t you? The white stuff here is surprisingly rich; you’d swear it’s laced with cream. You can order it warm or chilled ($7), but warm is better. And douse it liberally with the flavorful dashi broth on the side. You’ll be tempted to slurp the last morsel from the bowl. It only makes sense that tofu would be a signature dish at Morimoto, the latest restaurant created by the eponymous Iron Chef. Everything here is glimmering white; walking in feels like entering Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. The menu’s Yose Dofu ($16) is prepared tableside with the kind of panache you used to find only in fancy French places. The waiter sets down an earthenware vessel of warm soy milk, pours in a little salt mixture, and uses a little paddle to slowly stir in a most mesmerizing way. The pot is then covered and you’re instructed not to peek. Ten minutes later, ta-da—a solid pristine block of tofu. The accompanying sauce varies seasonally and recently included octopus and mushrooms. This represents a key principle in bean curd enjoyment: Tofu doesn’t have to be a strictly vegetarian food. In fact it’s most interesting when combined with meat or fish. Its allure (especially with soft tofu) is more in its texture than its taste.

Wow, Halloween and the start of CMJ all in one night. There will be lots of ear candy, and of course regular candy, all over the city tonight. So if you aren't checking out the Halloween Parade, here are some other options:

READING: Get a drink at the Half King tonight in some good company - Anthony Bourdain will be there with Bill Buford, to celebrate Buford's new book, Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany. - Krissa Corbett Cavouras

FILM: Dutch animator Paul Driessen (who you know even if you don't realize it - he did the Beatles' Yellow Submarine movie), will have films from the last 30 years screened at BAM - as part of their Animation Festival. Step into his socially conscious fantasy world!

- Get your seersucker suits and sun dresses out! Tomorrow evening is the 138th running of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown and horse racing's "Test of the Champion." Races on stakes day begin at noon with post time for the Belmont Stakes at 6:33 pm Television coverage starts at noon on ESPN with coverage on ABC starting at 5. The current favorite for the race is Bluegrass Cat, but the winners of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness will both be absent from the race. Barbaro was injured at the Preakness and the owner of Preakness winner Bernardini decided to rest him. Pre-Derby favorite Brother Derek will also be absent. But that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of fun at Belmont, especially since general admission is only $5.

SPORTS: Does it seem like everyone you know is suddenly wrapped up in their fantasy leagues? If you're fully engullfed in your own, or if you're feeling left out because you just don't "get it" - head over to Housing Works for a discussion on fantasy baseball. Experts Ron Shandler (Baseball Forecaster), Sam Walker (Fantasyland), and Nate Silver (Baseball Prospectus) will let you know what it's all about.

FILM: The Fusion Film Festival runs thoughout the weekend. The festival was founded in 2004 by NYU students and aims to "highlight the excellence of female filmmakers within the student body and the industry" as well as to inspire future filmmakers. The event is comprised of student screenplay readings, film screenings and in competition, a Master Class, Industry Screening, Retrospective, Industry Panel, and of course...the after party.

THEATER (sort of): Point Break LIVE! We're not kidding. The unecessary, but totally appreciated, absurdist stage adaptation of the 1992 Keanu Reeves blockbuster, hits Galapagos for a month. The show has become an instant cult classic across the nation, and start practicing your Keanu-isms, because the starring role will be selected at random from the audience each night, and will read their entire script off of cue-cards!

Kick-Off Party with DJ L’il Shalimar

Of course, after the storm of '06 hits we suggest snowball fights. Prior to the snowfall, however, we offer up the following...

Exiting the Grand Street stop on the B or D train will put you in the heart of Chinatown’s light industrial NE district – indoor lumber yards and metal shops up Chrystie, lighting shops on Bowery, as well as signage and printing shops further Northeast. Bustle is everywhere on the sidewalks with old men fixing shoes for waiting customers, vendors selling food from shopping carts and makeshift booths, and shoppers scurrying from one market storefront to the next buying provisions to cook meals at home.

Momus, one of our favorite almost-famous rockers from the mid-1990s, has lately been blogging up a storm on Livejournal. He's been living outside NYC, but has been planning to return. Only one problem: he needs a place to stay:

It's not a great week for the slim of pocketbook, as we've dug up some gems that will cost you. We hope they're worth it, though! There's funny, slightly arty, and just plain bookish. Take your pick.

Considering all of the Fatty Crab craziness going on at the edge of Manhattan's Meatpacking district, one would think that Chef Zak Pelaccio is the first to introduce the city to the wonders of Malaysian cuisine.