Results tagged “rivingtonstreet”

The against-all-odds LES mainstay, artist collective ABC No Rio, is back on top with news of money coming in for their rebuilding costs. Three years ago the deed of the Rivington Street tenement that's housed the group for 30 years, was sold to them for $1 by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Soon after they were told they'd need about $2.4 million to rebuild what was beyond repiar, and now the NY Times reports that $1.65 million has come in. Last week "the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, and City Councilman Alan J. Gerson allocated $1.65 million for a new building. Mr. Stringer arranged for a capital grant of $750,000, citing ABC No Rio’s resilience and cultural value. The rest of the money came in the form of a grant of $450,000 from Mr. Gerson’s discretionary budget, which was matched with another $450,000 by the City Council. The money will be controlled by the Department of Cultural Affairs." Demolition is slated to begin around next Spring.

The Streit's Matzo company is leaving the Lower East Side location where it opened in 1925 and since occupied as a mainstay of a neighborhood of tenements and a sizable Jewish population. One can still walk down Rivington St. and peer through levered windows to see rotating metal racks where the company produces its unleavened bread. Aron Streit founded the matzoh company in 1914, revived it in 1923, and moved it into a red brick building on Rivington St. in Manhattan in 1925.

Today marks the grand opening of the Moscot Museum. You know Sol Moscot, the lens shop with giant yellow bespectacled signs that look over the streets of New York like Dr. Eckleburg's eyes? Apparently they're not much less symbolic -- sticking around New York for the past 100 years is no small feat, and must stand for something. But a museum, really?The Moscot Museum will showcase never before released, historic black & white photographs of...

We were recently asked about recommendations for good first date spots: "she's allergic to shellfish, I hate TexMex - any thoughts?" We have plenty of thoughts. The first is that a first date, depending on how well you know the person, should be limited to drinks or coffee. This way, if things become clear that you don't want to stick around, you can leave politely without having to suffer through appetizers, an entree, and possibly a dessert. If the conversation is flowing and you're feeling a connection, you do want to have the option of eating available to you -- no need to get bombed before you get to know each other a little better.

Just like Factory Girl, Across the Universe, the $45 million hippie, trippy love story set to the music of 35 Beatles songs, is going through some rough times. Seems the director Julie Taymor and the studio are battling it out.

Remember when Rivington Street was painted all sorts of colors for a musical being filmed? Well, it looks like the movie won't be in in theaters until September, but the trailer is already floating around out there. Check it out:

THEATER: A one-of-a-kind theatrical event is happening this weekend only in a clothing store and barbershop on the edge of Chinatown. Called American Standard, this solo, seven character ‘sideshow’ is the work of Canadian-American troupe bluemouth,inc., which has been building a reputation for staging innovative theater in bizarre locales. (Other productions have taken place in hotel rooms and the basement of an office building.) In their latest foray, “a preacher, a tourist, a politician, an entertainer, an immigrant, a poet and a terrorist inhabit a storefront installation, spilling onto the street and lurking within the basement.” Martin Denton praises the show as “dense, artful, absorbing, and fun. The penultimate scene is so thrillingly unexpected that to say anything about it risks spoiling American Standard's neatest surprise; suffice to say that you've almost certainly never witnessed anything like it in any theatre of any description.”

Our favorite bouncy souled upbeat Austin rockers, Voxtrot, are back with a new release and a few shows in our fine city. And since we "like you, like you" we have two tickets for you to their Monday November 6th show at The Bowery Ballroom.

Back in April Gawker reported that the 126 Rivington kids (the ones the NY Times wrote about earlier in the year) would indeed be filming a show. A Melrose Place of the Lower East Side, complete with real life "star" and neighbor Piper Perabo.

Start talking about concord grapes and thoughts often quickly turn to jelly, juice and Jewish wine. Products made with concord grapes often have an inky tint so dark that they are sometimes mistaken for containing artificial colorings.

In 1979 a collective of artists occupied a vacant city- owned building on Delancey Street and mounted an exhibition. The police padlocked the show but after community and media support of the artists the city offered use of a building at 156 Rivington Street as a compromise.

THEATER: Though some might balk at an outdoor performance in this muggy, thunderstormy weather, The Drilling CompaNY's version of As You Like It, the next installment of Shakespeare in the Park(ing) Lot (directed by Jesse Ontiveros), is bound to exude enough cool to counteract the waves of heat rising from the asphalt. It also helps if you show up with your own chair so you don't have to exert yourself in a scuffle to nab one of the limited number available there. - Mallory Jensen

If They Come For You In The Morning: A Benefit Art Show for Daniel McGowan, will be held tonight at ABC No Rio (who now own their building!). The show will raise money for the legal defense of local activist Daniel McGowan, who was arrested last December during Operation Backfire, a multi-state sweep of environmental activists who have now been charged with virtually every unsolved earth and animal liberation case in the Northwest. He is currently facing life plus 335 years in prison on federal charges of arson, property destruction, and conspiracy - he has pled not guilty to all charges.

Savoy is bringing the beach to the city with their three course Summer Clam Bake. Enjoy littleneck clams on the half shell, a traditional boil with lobster, mussels, kielbasa, potatoes, and corn, and finish off with dessert, a peach and blueberry crumble topped with house made buttermilk ice cream. $40 per person, or an extra $15 will give you a bottomless glass of rose. Every evening during the month of July; 70 Prince Street, at Crosby, 212-219-8570.

Bands in New York need to be creative to stand out amongst the masses. A year ago we were on an Indie Night School panel discussing how to get your band reviewed and noticed. The general consensus was that a cd will quickly find it's way into a cd player if a friend has recommended the band. Word of mouth from people with similar music taste speaks volumes over, say, receiving fifteen emails from a band in one week promoting their shows.

According to the album, Paul's Boutique is in Brooklyn...but we all know this photo was taken in the Lower East Side. With a Paul's Boutique sign hanging up on the Lee's Sportswear storefront, the shot was taken at 99 Rivington Street, where Rivington and Ludlow intersect. Currently residing in this exact spot is a restaurant called Paul's Boutique, named in honor of the album.

Sad news from Curbed today: the giant Star of David from the Rivington Street synagogue was stolen last night, and and before the thieves abandoned it, they broke it in half. According to the talmud, that's like 10000 years of bad luck! The people in charge of the temple should probably be charged with criminal architectural neglect, because they were the ones who left the star sitting in front of the construction site for the last two weeks. Does anyone recognize the location (clues include that Borf face and LES-style red door)-- please write in so we can let the authorities know where the can pick up (and presumably repair) the star. [Related: The Villager is reporting that Curbed's sighting of the temple lot for sale online last week was a hoax-- and the rabbi is now saying that they will rebuild a modest sized temple on the site for $2-3m.]

Just yesterday we were discussing the destruction of the Rivington Street Temple. That was a real loss for the Lower East Side. The building was a classic: arguably beautiful, with real historic value. Contrast that to the Catholic Center at NYU at 58 Washington Square South. This is an ugly building, styled in the conventions of the post-war brutalism movement. The interior is slightly more pleasing to the eye, but the overall, the structure is a blight on the neighborhood. As such, we were glad to hear news that the Archdiosese has decided to knock it down. Washington Square News reports:

Everyone in LES is still pretty stunned by the demolition of the Rivington Street temple that took place last week. We walked by over the weekend, and tons of people were still gathering on the sidewalk, staring into the ruined shell of a building that was once described as "Carnegie Hall for Cantors." Everyone had their cameras out-- snapping pictures of the remaining back wall, which still had the stained glass and undamaged bema. Yesterday the Times had a good article on the collapse of the Temple-- along with some bad news-- sounds like the lot is zoned up to 12 stories, and the temple might rebuild as part of a larger building:

Remember last October, when Rivington Street got transformed with a psychadelic paint job? Well this weekend some of New York’s top street artists take on Times Square in Lies 2006, a month-long gallery show at the chashama center gallery. We hoped this would mean the tourist spot would get a similar treatment that Rivington Street got. However, in this case there is no painting storefronts and fire escapes for a movie set, this is an actual gallery show.

Ask.Metafilter is our favorite answer site-- the NYC tag provides a weekly dose of New York questions and answers. This week, the theme seems to be food:

We were walking on Rivington Street this afternoon when we noticed this message printed on a bag and taped to the fence opposite Teany, the tea shop owned by electronic music star Moby. Anyone know the story behind it? Was the dog just abandoned there? What happened to the owner? So many questions!

December 1: Ports and Madeira at Camaje

One for the "The NYPD must have a ticket quota to fulfill" file: The Daily News highlights a middle-aged woman who was given a summons for being at the Rivington Street playground without a child. Now, most people are generally familiar with the Parks Department rule that prohibits adults from entering playgrounds without a child, if only by reading signs or the accusing sneers from parents, but in this case, belly dancer Sandra Catena didn't notice a sign and sought out a bench to sit on. Then two police officers approached her, telling her she was breaking the law because she was not accompanied by a child. They even called backup on her! Though one cop told her the judge would probably throw out the summons, Catena did them one better by going to the Daily News.

Some more details on yesterday's stabbing murder of George Drescher on Rivington Street. According to the police, Drescher got into an argument with a homeless man who had been rummaging through the garbage; the homeless man then stabbed him once. Drescher stumbled along Rivington and collapsed in front of Moby's healthy tea shop, teany. The Post says one teany employee said people were just walking over the body: "I asked the cops to tape the front of the restaurant because people were like, 'Can we get lattes?' We're like, 'No, you can't get anything.' People in New York just don't care." Another employee said, "People were just walking by with their iPod headphones on. That was tripping me out, that they kept on walking." Moby himself wrote on his website, "i don't know any of the details regarding this awful, random, and horrifying act of violence, although i do know that it had nothing to do with teany or any of teany's employees." So keep going to teany! Moby also expressed his deep condolences to Drescher's family and friends, and said he hoped the murderer would be brought to justice.

When was the last time you had Fun Dip, or those wax candy lips . . . or what about a Cadbury Crunchie bar? Whatever your candy craving, you'll most likely find it at Economy Candy, a Lower East Side institution since 1937. If you haven't made it down there, it's certainly worth the trip, whether you're looking to stroll down a sugar-paved memory lane or you just want a new way to get your carb fix. Sugar-free? They've got it. Bulk candy? Sure. Giant Pez dispensers and Pixy Stix? Yup.

There's a lot going on this weekend, as per usual. While we didn't celebrate Cinco de Mayo last night, nor were we at the New Order show...we are finding ourselves a little bit tired today. We blame the weather and lack of caffeine in our system, so we're hoping the sun will come out and we'll be able to motivate to some of these events:

. Okay, maybe we have a few suggestions up our sleeve...

Peg Williams & Deb Weiner, sugar Sweet sunshine bakery owners

I would rather serve beer and wine, because it's harder to get uncontrollably wasted -- it just takes more effort.