Can Regina Spektor Make Murray Hill Cool?Regina Spektor moves into Murray Hill, Carroll Gardens’ Ivy League hipster types strike back against last week’s maudlin anti-yuppie video, and a celeb hip-hop stylist’s body turns up in the Bronx. Plus, news from Red Hook, Long Island City, Dumbo, and Coney in today’s boroughs roundup.
Coney Island High Jinks: This Summer, Adorably Tame!Doing your business in a shiny “pod” in Chelsea’s new Jade, sailing the lifeguard chairs at Coney, independent media going corporate in Riverdale, and more, in our daily boroughs dispatch!
Some Old CBGB Punks Think the John Varvatos Store Isn’t That BadFancy cornices aim to redeem Fedders homes in Carroll Gardens, aging rockers defend CBGB’s new retail use on the Bowery, and a Billyburg record store faces shutdown. Oh yeah, the boroughs are alive and well in our handy-dandy Neighborhood Watch!
Even Store That Sold CBGB Items Will Be ShutteredJust because it’s April 1 is no reason to doubt reports that a Trump luxury tower is coming to Bay Ridge, right? That and more, in our daily roundup of borough news.
Neighborhood Watch
Pelaccio Focusing on Fatty ‘Cue; Bruni Gets the Fiamma MemoAstoria: Leng Thai’s brown rice is delicious; they mix in red grains. [Joey in Astoria]
Clinton Hill: A new bakery is supposed to open around June on Fulton near the Met. Baker: “When I was young, we’d go to the bakery every Sunday after church for a fresh loaf of French bread, soft and still warm from the oven. I’d love to re-create that here.” Blogger: “OMGYAY!” [Clinton Hill Blog]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: A former Sapa chef will head the kitchen at a new Pan-Asian restaurant called Prana, set to open in June in the old Scopa space. [Zagat]
Soho: Fabio Trabocchi has written a personal note to Bruni and has worked with B.R. Guest to lower prices across the board at Fiamma (including dropping the price of the seven-course menu from $138 to $125). Sorry to those who ate at Fiamma last week. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Williamsburg: Zak Pelaccio’s project with Robbie Richter might be called Fatty ‘Cue. [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Related: Breaking: Zak Pelaccio and Robbie Richter to Collaborate on Asian Barbecue in Williamsburg
West Village: If you want to celebrate the Irish all next week, August will be “toasting the Irish” through March 21 by serving Guinness Extra Stout and specials like house-made corned beef and cabbage. [Strong Buzz]
NewsFeed
Tonic East Forks Over $35,000 for Partying Like It’s 1959When we wrote that Tonic East “has sucked in Murray Hill’s young exec set with a force that has almost ruffled their Polos and untucked their J. Crews,” we wondered how exactly the megabar could have such a soul-crushingly homogeneous crowd. Apparently it was carefully cultivated: A suit brought by the New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo claims that black investigators acting on patron complaints were denied entrance to the club for violating its dress code while white investigators were not. Tonic has settled the suit for $35,000 but insists it doesn’t discriminate — in fact, its bouncers are black! Given what a douchetination this place is, maybe the bouncers were doing barred patrons a favor.
NY Bar Settles Dress Code Complaint [Newsday]
Neighborhood Watch
Cool Bar With a Cheesy Pedigree in Carroll Gardens; Terroir Set to OpenAstoria: Ovelia’s another stellar, cheap brunch option with a mix of Greek and American cooking: “Think French toast stuffed with Greek yogurt and honey or pancakes paired with homemade sausage — made from a family recipe.” [Foodista]
Brooklyn: Domino’s has started a marketing campaign that “offers speech lessons to Brooklynites who want to rid themselves of ‘annoying, fake’ accents” meant to appeal to “male college students across the country,” and the borough is pissed. [NYDN]
Carroll Gardens: The owners of Smith & Vine and Stinky Brooklyn are opening a bar-cum-café called the Jake Walk at 282 Smith Street this Friday. [NYS]
East Village: Terroir opens tonight. [NYT]
West Village: Mama’s Mudsliders’ beignets filled with chocolate cream “are light, ungreasy, deep-fried dough balls of delight.” [Bottomless Dish/Citysearch]
Neighborhood Watch
Soul Food Comes to Bed-Stuy!; 2nd Avenue Deli’s Not Really KosherBedford-Stuyvesant: A “family-run seafood/soul food take-out spot” called 71.Ate has opened at 417 Nostrand Avenue, and while the fried whiting is tasty, the house-made banana pudding will definitely make you want to come back. [Eat for Victory/VV]
East Village: Ruhlman’s hosting a nose-to-tail dinner with “gut man” Chris Cosentino on Tuesday, March 4, at Astor Center. [Ruhlman]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: Can the 2nd Avenue Deli really be called kosher if it’s open on the Sabbath? Many observant Jews, whom Frank Bruni has chatted with, say no. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Tribeca: Bouley has been denied a liquor license for his proposed Japanese restaurant and cooking school, Brushstrokes, “based on the history of the owner, having problems with the community in the past, and the way he runs his establishments.” [Eater]
Upper East Side: Mia Dona is currently BYOB until the liquor license comes through next week. [Eater]
Neighborhood Watch
Discount Wine in LIC; Find Love at the Park Slope Co-opClinton Hill: Some rejoice to find that the rumor of a Starbucks on Myrtle will not become reality. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Long Island City: Vine Wine is discounting cases by 15 percent. [Joey in Astoria]
Murray Hill: Lines are still out the door at the 2nd Avenue Deli. [Eater] Video: Overheard at the 2nd Avenue Deli [Grub Street]
Park Slope: Co-op members are getting frisky on Craigslist. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Upper East Side: At Alice’s Tea Cup, the waitress will give you wings to wear while you sip, if you’re into that sort of thing. [The Upper East Side Scene]
White Plains: BLT Steak just opened at the Ritz-Carlton here, so no need to come to Manhattan for dinner anymore. [Journal News]
VideoFeed
Video: Overheard at the 2nd Avenue Deli
At the 2nd Avenue Deli yesterday it was even more jammed and chaotic than you may have heard — a kind of Fall of Saigon in reverse, with pastrami sandwiches standing in for helicopters. But we were there on the spot, to see how the new place fared when measured against its legendary progenitor — especially in the minds of the city’s most ferociously loyal customers.
Video: Overheard at the 2nd Avenue Deli
Neighborhood Watch
New Kosher Bistro Drops in Midtown West; Gribene Lovers Wanted on the East SideChelsea: Ellisa Cooper returns to Bottlerocket on January 8 to kick off her Tuesday-night Explore Wine Series. [Bottlerocket]
East Village: Pyramid Club might become the city’s first “drag landmark.” [Villager]
Midtown West: The owner of Le Marais and “Bourdain’s former boss at Les Halles,” Jose Meireilles, has transformed his Spanish joint Tintol into a kosher bistro called the Clubhouse Cafe. (Tapas lovers can expect Tintol to make a comeback at an undisclosed downtown location.) [Eater]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: 2nd Avenue Deli is hiring! So lovers of gribenes may have found their dream job. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Lower East Side: Two thieves stole $50,000 from a safe in the Hotel Rivington but were later apprehended. [NYP]
NewsFeed
A Sneak Preview of the 2nd Avenue Deli
There’s been plenty of coverage of the new 2nd Avenue Deli, but our feeling on Grub Street is that there just can’t be enough. Into the Box TV, a real-estate video site, has an advanced tour of the deli. We like the finished interior, especially a mural depicting the old restaurant in its heyday that’s an instant classic. And while there’s a good video of owner Jeremy Lebewhol, we suggest reading Rob and Robin’s more detailed one in this week’s magazine.
Having Seconds at The Second Avenue Deli [Into The Box]
Related: You Can Take the Deli Out of Second Avenue [NYM]
neighborhood watch
Goldman Invading the Heights, Making It Bank-yBrooklyn Heights: With Goldman Sachs unscathed by the subprime mess, its execs are buying property in the pricey hood. Let’s hope Goldman hater Ben Stein isn’t brunching anywhere nearby. [Brownstoner]
Clinton Hill: Wow, Paul Giamatti and “the black model from all the Maybelline commercials” spotted in one day! Clinton Hill is HOT HOT HOT! Or something. [Clinton Hill]
Greenpoint: The lemur in the Franklin Street store window that was mounting E.T. from behind is now in isolation, with E.T. in the custody of Mickey Mouse, Santa, and the Hulk. OMG, did we just write that trippy sentence? [Newyorkshitty]
NewsFeed
Go Sushi Dies in Murray Hill, But Delivery Lives OnThe Third Avenue outpost of Go Sushi has closed, leaving Murray Hillers lost, confused, and desperately seeking sashimi. Remain. Calm. We’re told the midtown restaurant is valiantly picking up slack and covering the shuttered outpost’s delivery area. A clerk at that location assures, “Delivery is still 25 to 30 minutes, unless it’s extremely far and the order is extremely large.” So, easy on the dragon boats.
Neighborhood Watch
Bruni Down With Lunch at Craft; Blue Ribbon to Open This Week in Columbus CircleClinton Hill: A Nigerian restaurant, EN of Africa, is opening on the corner of Cumberland and Lafayette, and there’s relief that it’s not another French spot. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Flatiron: Frank Bruni finds the newly instated lunch at Craft a good, logical fit, in that “Craft doesn’t project the kind of fussiness — on the plate or in terms of décor — that can feel more stilted and constraining at lunch than at dinner.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Hell’s Kitchen: Xai Xai, a new wine bar, has opened up. [Endless Simmer]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: From November 7 to 10, the Champagne room at Country will be transformed into a bonbon shop where you can pair pastry chef Hsing Chen’s house-made chocolates with specialty cocktails or order a chocolate tasting menu as part of a collaboration with the upcoming Chocolate Show. [Grub Street]
Park Slope: Katina’s seems to have been taken over by super Greek diner Purity and may now be called Little Purity. [Grub Street]
Upper West Side: Blue Ribbon Six Columbus is poised to open this week, and here’s a sneak peak of the interior. [Zagat]
West Village: Mary’s Dairy has closed both of its locations supposedly because the shops weren’t making enough money. Can ice-cream-only stores no longer cut it? Mary’s comes on the heels of Emack & Bolio’s Seventh Avenue closure and Ben & Jerry’s Bleecker Street failure. [Eater]
Williamsburg: Three of the ten-plus restaurants that serve sushi in the nabe made the cut in this Brooklyn raw-fish roundup. [Gridskipper]
neighborhood watch
Will Trader Joe’s Be Haunted?Cobble Hill: Trader Joe’s is coming to an old bank building that may be haunted. Did those frozen tofu tamales just fly through the air? [McBrooklyn]
East Village: An artist makes T-shirts lamenting the hood’s new megadevelopments. [Vanishing New York]
Elmhurst: Controversial architect Robert Scarano, detested by many in Brooklyn, now hits Queens. [Queens Crap]
Neighborhood Watch
Pamplona Debuts Lunch; Bed-Stuy Gentrifiers SlackingAstoria: Il Bambino at 34-08 31st Avenue has a new, yummy-looking menu. [Joey in Astoria]
Bedford-Stuyvesant: The area’s gentrification isn’t happening fast enough, as illustrated by such dining options as standard-issue Indian and spit-out sushi. [Eat for Victory/VV]
East Village: A new spot called Senor Pollo will open on First Avenue at 13th Street. [Eater]
Midtown: L’Impero has started Sunday suppers, homey four-course meals featuring more rustic cooking than you would usually find on the menu, from 4:30 to 9:30, for $42 a person. [Grub Street]
Murray Hill/Kips Bay: Pamplona is now open for lunch and serving plates of truffle-oil-poached egg on white-asparagus salad, not to mention confit of suckling pig with caramelized apples. [Grub Street]
Soho: Bun opens October 29, and 4-Foodies is hosting an event on the 30th with a chance to sample a variety of the dishes including short ribs wrapped on lemongrass skewers and Berkshire belly with nem sausage. [Grub Street]
Mediavore
Madman Runs Amok With BBQ Knives; Traci Des Jardins Overboard on ‘NextA madman grabbed knives from the Texas Smokehouse Barbecue and started slashing people in Murray Hill until he was gunned down. [NYP]
Traci Des Jardins is the first one overboard at The Next Iron Chef. [Serious Eats]
A lot of good restaurants have failed health inspections, leading to: “You’ll pay $90 for a prix-fixe meal complete with foie gras and lobster at celebrity chef David Bouley’s namesake restaurant — just watch out for eight-legged appetizers.” [NYP]
neighborhood watch
Domino Sugar Factory: Double Your Hipster, Double Your Fun?Greenpoint: Got a crack problem? Call the Crack Pros! [Newyorkshitty]
Highbridge: After it demolished Macombs Dam Park to make way for the new Yankee Stadium, the city put up a replacement — but it’s not easy to get to and pretty nasty once you get there. [VV via West Bronx Blog]
Murray Hill: Looks like the SUNY-Binghamton biz-major girls with the blowouts finally have their very own East Side bar(f) guide. [East Village Idiot]
South Slope: That Enrique Norten condo slated for Fourth Avenue and 6th Street won’t happen after all … but another Norten proceeds apace nearby on Carroll. [Brownstoner]
Upper East Side: Buttercream or vanilla-bean icing on that wedding cake? Roasted cod at Café D’Alsace? This poor UES gal faces hard choices that make Sophie’s look silly. [Sex and the Upper East Side]
West Village: Thanks to a new street plaza, you can lounge in the meatpacking district without spending $20 on a drink … if you don’t mind mainlining car-exhaust fumes. [Streetsblog]
Williamsburg: Redevelopment of the Domino Sugar plant could double the population within a quarter-mile radius. Twice the pseudo-hipsters, twice the fun! [Gowanus Lounge]
photo op
Murray Hill: From Deer to Drunks
To think, 400 years ago, instead of drunken ex–frat boys from Penn puking up Wild Turkey, there were actual wild turkeys roving around Murray Hill. The New Yorker’s Website today has some very cool computer-generated images of Manhattan circa 1609, to go with a long story that you will probably never get around to reading on the Wildlife Conservation Society’s effort to figure out what Manhattan might have looked like in the days before skyscrapers and fake Irish bars. (Or, we should say, “Mannahatta,” as the Lenape called it. It means the “land of many hills.” Oh wise Lenape, early adopters of real-estate broker-speak.)
Mapping Mannahatta [NYer]
A Day at the Races, With Drunken I-Banking Ivy Leaguers
We were offered “party-bus” rides to the Belmont. We knew what we were getting into, or thought we did, and we were okay with that. As scheduled, we arrive at 11:30 Saturday morning at a rooftop bar in Murray Hill. There are the requisite young investment bankers, from the requisite smatter of Ivy League schools, dressed in the requisite popped pastel collars. There is talk of bets, of mixed drinks, of the two buses charted by Dartmouth-alum Deutsche Bankers. It is as expected.
Neighborhood Watch
Brooklyn Heights Resident Could Be ‘The Next Food Network Star’Brooklyn Heights: Resident Michael “Wild” Salmon, former host of a food radio show on Air America, could be named The Next Food Network Star. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Flatiron: Newly-opened Southern Italian joint Bar Stuzzichini is looking for a baker to join its team. [Eat For Victory/VV]
Murray Hill: A tipster has spotted signage imploring visitors to savor their last drinks at Third and Long; the bar has lost its lease. [Grub Street]
Tribeca: Brandy Library is hosting a single-malt scotch tasting tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. [Brandy Library]
West Village: Chumley’s doesn’t look like it will be reopening any time soon; meanwhile, tourists are still struggling to find its entrance, not realizing that the former speakeasy is truly closed. [NewYorkology]
neighborhood watch
Murray Hill Is Tragically MisunderstoodBrooklyn Heights: A couple moved into a new building in 1901 and later passed the apartment on to their son. When he died in March, he was paying $451 a month for a two-bedroom. [Brooklyn Eagle via Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Clinton Hill: Depending on which typo you follow, dumping at this building on Emerson will cost you either $3,000 or $3 million in fines. [Clinton Hill Blog]
Fort Greene: Does a plywood fence at Carlton Mews mean work will finally begin there? [Brownstoner]
Greenpoint: Oversize ads drilled into vinyl siding wouldn’t last a second in Williamsburg or Park Slope. So why here? [newyorkshitty]
Murray Hill: Unless the frat boys have all moved away, this is no “lagoon of calm.” [Curbed]
Prospect Lefferts Gardens: Miss the PLG house tours over the weekend? There’s a slideshow to keep you sated. [Planet PLG]
Upper West Side: Tonight, take a rare chance to complain about how cruddy the subway station is at 96th and Broadway. [Second Avenue Sagas]
Neighborhood Watch
Dumbo to Land Williamsburg’s GalapagosAmagansett: Pacific East has amped up its cocktail menu with such specialty additions as the Havana Mojito, which combines rum, mint, and sugar. [Hamptons.com]
Brooklyn Heights: Five Guys burger shop still working on renovations of its Montague Street space. [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Dumbo: Twelve-year-old art bar Galapagos will move from Williamsburg to a building over 100 years old at 16 Main Street. [Dumbo NYC]
East Village: “Frozen Yorgurt” coming soon to 34½ St. Marks near newly opened Good Dog. [Grub Street]
Murray Hill: The Kitano’s roof decks are now open for catered clambakes and cookouts. [NYT]
Park Slope: Fifth Avenue has a lineup of new restaurants, including A La Turka, whose Turkish sandwiches come on home-baked sesame-dappled bread. [NYS]
buy low
A Deluxe Apartment in the Murray Hill Sky This 4,343-square-foot four-bedroom at 45 East 30th Street in Murray Hill is billed as a “townhouse in the sky.” Surprisingly, the phrase isn’t typical broker hyperbole: Comprising four floors (a quadruplex?) stacked atop one another, it’s more like a modern-day brownstone than an apartment, only with views the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center, for starters usually only attainable from a penthouse. “If it was on ground [level], you’d be walking into a house,” says listing broker Yury Holohan. Lest millionaire bargain-hunters think it not luxe enough, this trophy property also comes with seven terraces and a pool, just in time for the summer entertaining season. It didn’t sell at the original price of $12 million, so now the asking’s been reduced to $9.99 million after almost two months on the market, according to Streeteasy.com. That’s about $2,300 per square foot, which, for a new construction, is a shade less than what a top-floor aerie in another prewar conversion just ten blocks south is commanding. S. Jhoanna Robledo
buy low
Enduring the Assessment in Murray Hill Don’t be afraid of the big, bad assessment: Others may fear paying $182.93 a month on top of the costs for a $390,000 studio at 34 East 38th Street, but the enterprising few could benefit from what may be a bona fide deal. Sometimes, buildings have to raise funds for renovations and upkeep and, rather than increase the maintenance permanently, they divide the cost among residents by issuing an assessment. It’s a drain on the wallet, but only for a specific period. And it’s likely that refurbishments will increase the value of the property in the long run, because the building will be in better shape. (Calls to the listing agent were not returned, but according to the city’s Department of Buildings, a permit has been issued for roof and masonry work.) It’s best to check with your broker and attorney on the specifics of this apartment, but if the assessment’s due to expire in a year or two, it could be worth the investment. S. Jhoanna Robledo
Clarification: According to Lillian Seidman-Davis, board treasurer of 34 E. 38th St., the permits were issued for roof and masonry work in 2003. The work has since been completed. Also, the assessment has since been lowered by 25 percent “due to the self-management policies administered,” Seidman-Davis says.
vu.
Murray Hill: Not Just for Recent GradsGood old reliable Murray Hill. If bargain-hunters wanted an apartment in a central Manhattan location that didn’t cost too much, it was the place to be. The trade-off was settling for a neighborhood that was neither prime nor seedy, neither edgy nor staid. It just was there. These days, though, more buyers are rethinking their position on Murray Hill. They’re snapping up brownstones, swarming condo sales offices and bidding against each other for co-ops. They’re actively choosing to be there, and not simply because they lucked out elsewhere. (As a consequence, it’s not that undervalued anymore.) And why not? It’s close to all the hot spots Union Square, anyone? it’s quiet, and it’s got homes of all configurations. Public transportation’s plentiful, and local schools are stellar. Naomi or Gwyneth won’t likely be crowding the sidewalk, but that’s probably a blessing. Perhaps those who’ve underestimated it all this time are simply missing out. After the jump, a list of open houses for buyers who want to give it another chance.
S. Jhoanna Robledo
Back of the House
K-Fed Demeans Fast-Food Workers; David Blaine’s Zagat StuntRestaurant-industry representatives want a K-Fed Super Bowl ad in which he’s a fast-food worker pulled, because it “leaves the impression that working in a restaurant is demeaning and unpleasant.“ Being associated with K-Fed is demeaning enough, no? [MSNBC]
Meanwhile, McDonald’s announces its strongest year in three decades. [NYT]
Related: Food Network Accused of (Subliminal) Advertising
David Blaine, in his most grueling stunt yet, chats with the Zagats at Babbo, calling Tim Zagat “a saint.” [NYP]
Related: Junior Zagat Resigns
Three Blocks
Lower–Murray Hill LunchesNobody wants to walk more than three blocks for lunch during the workday. We comb the city’s micro-micro-neighborhoods in search of affordable spots for dining with co-workers, eating solo, or just getting takeout.
Today: The area around the intersection of 27th Street and Third Avenue.