Jean Nouvel’s Chelsea Tower Over Budget, Behind ScheduleJesus is waiting for followers in Sunset Park, lenders are waiting for Damon Dash in Tribeca, cute kitties are waiting for homes in Kingsbridge… and today’s boroughs report is waiting for you to click through!
Chowhounds, Heed Our Uzbek-Kebab Advice!
Is there anything more frustrating than seeing good people grope in the dark for something they already have? We feel it whenever a romantic-comedy heroine searches around for Mr. Right, while all the time the awkward but soulful male lead is mooning for her. Likewise with this thread on Chowhound, where the posters are striving to find the right place in Rego Park to eat Uzbek kebabs. Haven’t these guys ever heard of the Orange Line? Much of the discussion centers on Cheburechnaya, a big kebab house on 63rd Drive that always seems to have a couple of black Mercedes parked out front, contributing to the mobbed-up feeling. Forget that place — it’s all about Arzu. Read and learn, chowhounds: You have nothing to lose but your chebureks.
Out of this world central Asian in the FH/Rego Pk area? [Chowhound]
Related: Riding the V Line: Coming Back Around to Russia
The Orange Line
Riding the V Line: Coming Back Around to RussiaWe’re riding the B and V from Coney Island all the way to Forest Hills, jumping off frequently to rave about our favorite restaurants along the way.
As the V Line reaches its terminus along the vast, terrifying stretch of Queens Boulevard that dominates Rego Park, we find it poetically pleasing that it resumes the Russian atmosphere of its starting point in Brighton Beach. Our second favorite Uzbek kebab restaurant, Cheburechnaya, is at 63rd Drive, but our favorite, Café Arzu, is at 67th Avenue.
The Orange Line
Riding the V Line: Ben’s Best, the Pride of Rego ParkWe’re riding the B and V from Coney Island all the way to Forest Hills, jumping off frequently to rave about our favorite restaurants along the way.
Katz’s, the Carnegie, and the 2nd Avenue Deli are the pride of Manhattan, but Ben’s Best still belongs to Rego Park. Get off the V at 63rd Drive, walk past Wiggles strip club, and there you are.
neighborhood watch
Should Stuyvesant Heights Secede?Bushwick: This blogger hates on gritty Bed-Stuy, claiming that it’s nothing compared to its slicker, ‘shwick-er neighbor. That’s harsh, but maybe he’s right to suggest that pretty Stuy Heights secede from the rest of the hood. [BushwickBK]
Chelsea: Even before 100 Eleventh Avenue developers could obscure Knox Martin’s landmark mural next door, they’ve covered his signature with their ad. It’s a proto-dis! [Chelsea Blog]
Coney Island: An ice-skating rink at the base of the Wonder Wheel? That’s bigger than Wollman? That’s a summertime sailing pond? Yes, yes and yes! [NY1 via Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn]
neighborhood watch
Wait, We Kind of Want One of Those Full-Body UmbrellasBrooklyn Heights: The Fairway Shuttle made its first stop in the Heights today! What, you white people don’t want to walk through Red Hook? [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Chelsea: Straight and gay couples have been walking around the city handing out condoms — underneath condomlike umbrellas. Extra points for this blogger who titles his post “It’s Raining (Se)Men!” [Copyranter]
Clinton Hill: Because of inclement weather, tomorrow’s Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest in Clinton Hill will be delayed until Sunday, which gives you just that much more time on the “Dead Flower From Meerkat Manor” costume for your Chihuahua. [Clinton Hill Blog]
neighborhood watch
Stay Off the Grass. No, Really.Astoria: How cool would it be to rent an apartment in a house with secret passageways? (Scooby snacks not included.) [OuterB]
Brooklyn Heights: You might want to stay off that swank new Astroturf in Cadman Plaza Park on hot sunny days, when the turf (allegedly) hits 125 degrees. Talk about smokin’ grass! [McBrooklyn]
Chelsea: Condo-in-progress the Caledonia will sport fancy glass sheathing to help distinguish it from the nearby projects. [Blog Chelsea]
Long Island City: The guy who’d hold parking-lot spaces for folks in exchange for a cup of coffee, profiled recently in the Times, is being wedged out of that ad hoc job by — you guessed it — a condo. [Long Island City]
Lower East Side: That mesh-y cladding for the new New Museum on the Bowery was supposed to be zinc-plated steel. But workmen are saying it’s aluminum. What kind of a, uh, shell game is this? [Curbed]
Rego Park: Devotees of the area’s last kosher deli don’t care that the Health Department just closed it. Seems that it beats a Russian pharmacy or a Bukharian plumbing-fixtures shop any day. [Queens Central]
Washington Heights: Tonight, Da Heights becomes the latest hood to be sprayed down to prevent West Nile virus. Locals are warned to stay indoors and to clean their swimming pools and hot tubs. Because you know how many of those there are in these parts. [Gothamist]
neighborhood watch
Slopers to Ward Off Evil Spirits, Potential FriendsConey Island: Turn your bike into a seahorse for this Saturday’s 25th annual Mermaid Parade. [OnNYTurf]
Downtown Brooklyn: Were those Duffield Street houses really part of the Underground Railroad? You’ve heard the debate … now watch the mini-documentary. [McBrooklyn]
East Village: Peter Cooper Village touts itself as “eighty acres of tranquility,” but skips the part about expensive rents and distance to a subway. [Copyranter]
Kensington: An assisted-living center magically transformed itself into student housing. Pay $13,000 a year for a fancy dorm. [Courier via Kensington]
Park Slope: You might want to go out on Saturday night. Your neighbors plan on making lots of noise on their stoops at 8:31 p.m. [Dope on the Slope]
Rego Park: Loehmann’s joins Century 21 as yet another coming-soon destination for bargain-rate fashions here. [The Real Deal via QueensCentral]
Williamsburg: North 9th and 10th streets from Driggs to Roebling will sport a new development soon. But what will it look like? [Gowanus Lounge]
neighborhood watch
Scary Alpha Girls Terrorize Prospect HeightsBayside: No one’s angered residents of this pricey enclave more than violation-collecting developer Tommy Huang. [Queens Chronicle via Queens Crap]
Brooklyn: It’s the third annual Tour de Brooklyn on Sunday; register to bike through Park Slope, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Kensington. [Streetsblog]
Chelsea: What’s more disturbing about this poster ad of hot torsos — its antigay graffiti or that the torsos lack navels? [Towleroad]
Dumbo: Beware of attack dogs, poison, and deflated balloons if you’re thinking of living in the new luxury Bridgeview Towers. [McBrooklyn]
East Village: Will Cabrini Stuyvesant Polyclinic become an eatery, a dormitory, or a condo? Only developer Herbert Hirsch knows … and he ain’t sayin’. [Villager via Curbed]
Greenpoint: How can you protest this grocer’s $1.75 ATM fee when you get to watch a Bruce Lee clip while you wait for your money? [Newyorkshitty]
Prospect Heights: Set It Off meets the Bratz gang in this chilling tale of local marauding female tweens. [The Brooklyn Paper]
Rego Park: A developer says his new $550 million residential-retail complex will be an “architectural landmark.” How scared should we be? [Queens Times Ledger via OuterB]
Williamsburg: Preservation-minded hipsters (and the bands they listen to) will rally Sunday to save the Domino Sugar factory. [Waterfront Preservation Alliance via Newyorkshitty]
neighborhood watch
Whole Foods Brings Beetles; Are They Organic?Brooklyn Heights: The focus is not on area kiddies but rather on their hardworking nannies in a St. Francis College photo exhibit. [Brooklyn Eagle]
Chelsea: You’ve heard of slow food. Now get ready for a “slow park” — that is how starchitects Scofidio and Diller described their in-progress High Line last night. [Blog Chelsea]
Downtown Brooklyn: While an Underground Railroad site fights for its life on one side of Duffield Street, 500 new hotel units are going up on the other. [Brownstoner]
Dumbo: The streets are torn up because KeySpan is installing new power lines. But the utility company promises it’ll restore those prized Belgian blocks. Cobbly! [DumboNYC]
Lower East Side: Ever since Whole Foods moved in downstairs, residents of the glossy new Avalon Christie have been facing a beetle deluge, they say. [Racked]
Rego Park: A new shopping center in the shadow of Lefrak City will house a Kohl’s, a Century 21, and (yet another) Home Depot. [QueensCrap]
Williamsburg: Oil has mysteriously oozed from the ground at North 11th and Roebling Street, and for some reason that’s making folks think twice about buying a swank new condo there. [Gowanus Lounge]
