Results tagged “southstreetseaport”

A sushi chef who tried to "hold" a parking space for his manager by standing in the street ended up with a broken foot and other injuries after an irate driver tried to claim the space. Ke Hai Du says it all started around 5 p.m. on October 9th, when he noticed the space become available in front of the Peck Slip restaurant Suteishi. He dashed outside to save the space while his manager got her car, but before she arrived driver Paul Todd pulled up with plans of his own.

In August, a man was killed in a South Street Seaport parking lot, apparently after a dispute that occurred on a party boat that had been docked at Pier 17. Now the NYPD says they have arrested a suspect.

Early yesterday morning, a fight broke out on a party yacht at the South Street Seaport and spilled onto land, leading to a man being killed in a parking lot. Now more details have emerged: The ship's co-owner told the Daily News, "I've heard 20 different versions for how this started, and they all start the same, that it was over a woman."

Early this morning, a fight turned deadly and one man was fatally shot at the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan. The incident occurred around 4:30 a.m.—the AP reports, "Police say an argument escalated into bottle-throwing and gunshots... A 31-year-old man was shot in the head and died at the scene... Police couldn't immediately say how many people were involved or what they were doing at the complex. Much of it closes at 9 p.m. on Fridays, though eateries and bars are open later." No arrests have been made and the police investigation is ongoing. Update: According to the Daily News, the "fight erupted as dozens of people left a party boat called the Atlantica Yacht"—it started on the boat and continued into a parking lot.

Back in March the South Street Seaport's Water Taxi Beach was just a mirage, but as of this weekend it's real.

Water Taxi Beach is dropping more details about its expansion to the South Street Seaport and Governors Island. Down at the Seaport, set to open in early June, the boozy sandbox and seafood shack will emphasize a family-friendly feel with miniature golf, skeeball and ping pong; come nightfall, the DJs take over for the grown ups. The Governors Island location, opening July 4th weekend, will host beach volleyball, basketball, two restaurants, and live concerts every weekend presented by The Highline Ballroom. Meanwhile, visitors to the flagship Long Island City beach, which boasts 44,000 square feet of sand, will be lured with free Water Taxi Beach shuttles from East 35th Street in Manhattan every Friday and Saturday night. But the best news is that for the first time New York Water Taxi will operate ferries to actual beaches where swimming is allowed. On weekends, service from Pier 11 at Wall Street will whisk ocean-lovers to their choice of two locations: the Rockaways' Jacob Riis Park, and the more remote Sandy Hook on the Jersey shore, which Florent Morellet highly recommends.

Yesterday, Parks Department officials, school children and many others helped break ground on the Imagination Playground at Burling Slip in the South Street Seaport area. The new space "is the product of over five years of David Rockwell’s extensive research on play and playgrounds. It is a progressive concept in children’s play that offers a rich environment of diverse materials that encourage unstructured, child-directed free play, where children determine their own activities, alone and with their peers." In other words, there's no massive Tom Otterness sliding statue.

General Growth Properties, the 2nd largest mall operator in the country, and city officials tell the NY Times that GGP's bankruptcy filing will not affect the South Street Seaport. However, GGP "is not rushing forward with its redevelopment plan for the South Street Seaport or with a planned $700 million project in East Harlem"; its CEO Adam Metz said, "We think South Street is terrific, but ultimately, it has to make good business sense.” Funny, industry watchers tell the Star-Ledger part of GGP's problem is that it never paid down the debt from borrowing $7 billion to buy the company operated the South Street Seaport and Boston's Faneuil Hall—and then the credit markets froze! At any rate, Metz said of the ambitious seaport plans, "It has the potential to be something fabulous. We’re trying to figure out what makes most sense and what’s the right timing.”

General Growth Properties, the country's 2nd biggest mall operator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a New York court today. Bloomberg News called the filing the "biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history after amassing $27 billion in debt." Dealbook explains that GGP "has been severely wounded by the recession, which has wreaked havoc upon the retailers who inhabit its more than 200 malls in 44 states. Many stores have shuttered, depriving mall operators like General Growth of revenue." The company, which points out some subsidiaries aren't part of the bankruptcy filing, will spend the time to restructure its debt and points out on its website, "Our properties will continue to operate, our employees will continue to come to work and get paid, and shoppers will continue to shop." Last December, GGP considered selling the South Street Seaport, if there was interest.

How many glorified sandboxes can one city sustain? The folks who made Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City a fratastic destination for the volleyball and burger crowd is betting on three. In addition to a second location previously announced for Governors Island, Down By the Hipster hears word that the faux-beach trilogy will be complete at the South Street Seaport this summer. Whatever your feelings about the Seaport tourist trap—to say nothing of visiting a beach where there's no swimming—it's a safe bet that recession-minded New Yorkers and visitors alike will be fine with a conveniently-located solution to their sand and beer needs. According to Eater, next week the Water Taxi Beach company will seek Community Board 1's blessing in its quest for a liquor license and general approval for a beach, restaurant and bar. Watch your back, Uno Pizzeria.

Robert LaValva, a former city planner-turned-founder of New Amsterdam Market, has been working four years to establish a food destination that will reconnect modern, regional agriculture to the civic tradition of the city’s bygone markets. One of the group’s underlying ideas is that an integrated market can be fundamentally different than a greenmarket; that is, a market fosters closer connections between farmers and bakers, or butchers and cheesemongers, for example, and drives down prices, creating a public space and a revitalized food community in the process.

Onda: Raymond Mohan (Plantain in Midtown, Colors on Lafayette) has brought his "refined Latin comfort food" to the South Street Seaport, where he's cooking up Mushroom Ceviche ($9), Churrasco grilled skirt steak with chimichurri ($23), Lima-style chicken ($18), yucca fries ($6), etc. We stopped in Onda (Spanish for vibe) the other night and liked the warm, dimly-lit lounge ambiance, accented by light fixtures constructed of colored wine glasses and bottles. Though we were too late to try much of the food, we highly recommend their superb Peruvian Pisco Sour at the bar to start things off (or finish things off). Pizzeria Uno, our usual Seaport go-to, will definitely have some competition come spring. 229 Front Street, (212) 513-0770

South Street Seaport may be amidst some redevelopment confusion, but at least their ice rink is finally open to the public! Housed on Pier 17, Seaport Ice should remain open til sometime in March depending on the weather (admission is 5 bucks, with an extra 7 if you're renting). It will welcome your skates seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on top of that, there's even a 3,500 square-foot tented warming area that includes a snack bar. The best part is still yet to come, however, we hear that the Seaport Music Festival folks will be bringing bands to the rink!

Just what is going on at South Street Seaport? First it's getting redeveloped (with much resistance from the locals), and then it's being sold by the development company. Curbed explains: "Yes, troubled South Street Seaport leaseholder General Growth Properties put the Lower Manhattan megamall/tourist trap up for sale last week, seemingly putting an end to the company's desire to redevelop the historic port into a massive retail/hotel/residential thingamajig. But don't scrape together your down payment just yet! General Growth has no real plans to sell the darn thing." The Downtown Express got word from an insider, who says "the firm has been looking for investors for the Seaport for several months, and the company intends to retain the property. But since General Growth would consider selling the property if the right offer came in, the company had to say that the sale is an option, even if it’s not likely." Sounds like they're really attached to the project.

The South Street Seaport redevelopment plan proposed by General Growth Properties and SHoP Architects has been panned by the community since day one, though favored by the Bloomberg administration. Curbed reports the Landmarks Preservation Commission "slapped the proposal around like an abusive drunk stepfather. The massing, scale and height of the new buildings (especially that 42-story condo/hotel on the waterfront) were deemed inappropriate for the Seaport Historic District, and the LPC was also against moving the century-old Tin Building to the end of Pier 17." There was no vote, so the application is still considered active, and the GGP declared they were "undeterred," and "remain committed to our plan to revitalize the seaport district, add necessary amenities and open space, and respect the unique historical character of this cherished neighborhood."

Clearly jealous of all the media attention bestowed upon the forthcoming ice rink at the Natural History Museum, the South Street Seaport has announced today that they're going to have an awesome ice rink too, you know. The Seaport Ice rink will be opening on November 28th (running through February 28th). 8,000 square-feet of ice will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, with admission rates at $5 and rentals at $7. So for $12 you can skate in circles while overlooking the East River, which used to have free ice skating once upon a time.

     

On Monday a live wheat field, approximately one quarter of an acre in size, sprouted at South Street Seaport. The Wheat Foods Council brought what they're dubbing the “Urban Wheat Field Experience” to the area, and it's only up through today. You can learn about "the lifecycle of the wheat kernel, functioning mills, bread-baking, nutrition" and more...but mostly it just seems fun to frolic in.

Unfortunately, there are no clear answers, but a number of hypotheses were posed to the NY Post. They include rotting fish (ghosts of the Fulton Fish Market?), bodies from the Bodies Exhibit, illegal dumping, the NYC Waterfalls--and the smells reek like "dead rat," "stinky cheese" and "raw sewage." Mmm, and naturally that hurts some restaurants in the neighborhood. A smell scientist put his olfactory nerves to the test and told the Post, "Yes that is fish. But it's also yeasty, like bread." Like Subway's bread?

The firm attached to the South Street Seaport makeover, SHoP Architects, has released some new images of their vision. Curbed approves, and gets "a better feel for the layout of the proposed new Seaport" through the images of the model -- they also urge community members to ditch the mall and get on board, though it's likely many fear the waterview-blocking 42-story tower in the proposal.

                

Yesterday was a big, belt-busting day for food lovers in New York City. City noshers were able to hit two great events featuring local artisanal purveyors -- both the New Amsterdam Public Market by the South Street Seaport and the UnFancy Food Show, just a short J/M/Z ride away in Williamsburg.

The South Street Seaport redevelopment plan, released yesterday, is unsurprisingly being met with immediate backlash. Councilman Alan J. Gerson, who the NY Times reports has a significant voice in the approval, has stated with confidence that the plan is “certainly not going to pass in its present form.”

General Growth Properties released the details of their redevelopment plan for South Street Seaport today. GGP's CEO John Bucksbaum said, "Our vision for the transformation of the Seaport is the centerpiece of GGP's commitment to New York and its residents. We are proud to work closely with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to preserve and restore the unique character of this historic area while addressing the immediate and long-term needs of Lower Manhattan's growing community."

Aside from the concerts, there isn't much reason to go to the Southstreet Seaport unless you're 14 and need to hit Abercrombie & Fitch. The NY Sun reports that General Growth Properties, the developer who owns the rights to the area (the Seaport and Fulton Fish Market), is on a mission to turn that all around; but is their mission misguided? With a commercial and residential project that promises a floating pool and a community center...it also looks to bring in more stores! The big retail names are mostly big bucks shops: Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Barneys New York. Though Target is also rumored to be interested.

Inhabiting what used to be an old retail shop near South Street Seaport is a new DIY space brought to you by the producers of the Seaport Music Festival. The venue is simply called @Seaport, and it's now up and running. The space will host a wide range of events, from art to music to comedy to readings; from the press release:

The producers behind the acclaimed Seaport Music series of outdoor indie music concerts at South Street Seaport, are bringing a bit of summer, indoors for select shows dubbed “On-the-Side” at the new DIY venue “@SEAPORT.”

Continue reading "New Venue Alert: @Seaport"

MUSIC: Come enjoy the Whitney after dark tonight as the museum's live showcase series invites Dan Deacon (pictured) to the stage. If you haven't seen Deacon before, get ready for some Casio keyboard electro-rock compositions and an art dance party.

We got a tip today saying that The Peking had gone missing from the South Street Seaport. The 1911 four-masted barque is part of the fleet owned by the South Street Seaport Museum...and it's huge, so it's sort of tough to misplace.

As violence continues in Pakistan in the wake of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination, New York City's Pakistani population was shocked by the news, watching news coverage and holding vigils. One woman said to the Daily News, "For us, this is like losing [President John] Kennedy. She wanted peace. She wanted democracy. And she lost her life for these things." And a man told the NY Times, “I think there will be a lot of violence after this, and chances are pretty slim for democracy."

A 29-year-old Chinatown resident was charged with murdering his new girlfriend in the apartment he shares with his grandmother. Michael Chin Lenahan allegedly called his brother in NJ to say "I screwed up." His mother later went to the apartment and found a woman's body on her son's bed, under clothes.

READING: It's the first Tuesday of the month, which means...there's a Sci-Fi reading! "Now In its 19th year, the New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series has showcased some of the most prominent and upcoming authors in the genre. However, the series' commitment to providing a venue as an ongoing science fiction reading series in New York City, is open to all works of speculative fiction, whether they be works of fantasy, magical realism, horror, or science fiction." 40 years ago, Samuel R. Delany narrated a radio adaptation of his novella, The Star Pit, for The Mind's Eye Theatre, Baird Searles' ongoing series of radio dramas at New York's listener-sponsored WBAI-FM. Tonight the anniversary of the broadcast is celebrated with Delany himself.