The Lo-Down Magazine: February 2015

News from the Lower East Side

LO-DOWN

THE

FEB. 2015

www.thelodownny.com

SHELDON SILVER ARRESTED

Relinquishes Power

Also Inside: ESSEX CROSSING:

Renderings Unveiled

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LO-DOWN Ed Litvak Editor-in-Chief Traven Rice Publisher/Arts Editor

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LO-DOWN February 2015

in this issue

letter from the Editor: We were pretty much finished writing and

editing our February issue when a bombshell dropped: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was about to be arrested on corruption charges. It was big statewide news, potentially impacting everything from the future of charter schools to rent regulated-apartments. But since Speaker Silver also happens to represent the Lower East Side in Albany, and has done so since 1976, it was also a huge local story. So we changed course, switched covers and cobbled together the latest details from a fast-moving narrative.

Friends and foes alike would have to agree that Sheldon Silver’s impact on the Lower East Side and the 65th Assembly District as a whole has been immense. The allegations against Speaker Silver are very serious. His guilt or innocence will obviously be determined in a court of law, and people in the neighborhood will make up their own minds about what he’s accused of doing.

But there’s no denying that one of the most enduring political figures in the history of New York politics is not just from the Lower East Side: Sheldon Silver is of the Lower East Side.

6

Cover Story

Sheldon Silver Faces Federal Corruption Charges

10 Meet Your New Neighborhood Final Essex Crossing Designs Revealed

14 New Arrivals

East Coast MMA Fight Shop, Manon Jewelry, Algus Gallery

16 Calendar/Feat ured Events

Black Footnotes at the Nuyorican, Preparing for New Year at MOCA, Danspace Project

18 Neighborhood News

Walter Kuehr, Streit's, Capital One Robbery

20 The Lo-Dine

Cabbie Favorite Punjabi Deli is Still Cheap and Delicious

22 Restaurant Roundup: Mission Chinese Food Meow Parlour, Pies & Thighs

24 Ar ts Watch Ed Litvak

Education Alliance, Henry Street Settlement, Transfiguration Church

25 My LES

Penny Arcade

On the Cover:

*

Sheldon Silver at the Masaryk Towers housing development on the Lower East Side in 2012.

Photo by TheLoDownNY.com

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Sheldon Silver Faces Federal Corruption Charges, Replaced as Assembly Speaker

By Ed Litvak

In speaking of his upbringing, Sheldon Silver often says everything meaningful in his life happened within five blocks on the Lower East Side. So when he was arrested Jan. 22 on federal corruption charges, the shockwaves were not just felt in the halls of political power, but here in the old neighborhood.

It was a startling image—the powerful assembly speaker in handcuffs, escorted to the courthouse in Lower Manhattan by agents of the F.B.I. The criminal prosecution threw New York state politics into chaos, potentially upsetting the balance of power in Albany and derailing the agendas of both Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio. The scandal also 6

February 2015

reverberated through the Lower East Side, where Silver has been a largerthan-life figure since his first election nearly 40 years ago.

“For many years,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, “New Yorkers have asked the question: How could Speaker Silver, one of the most powerful men in all of New York, earn millions of dollars in outside income without deeply compromising his ability to honestly serve his constituents? … Today, we provide the answer: He didn’t.”

In a 35-page criminal complaint, prosecutors alleged that Silver used his influential post to obtain $4 million in kickbacks and bribes over a 10-year pe-

Facing page: Sheldon Silver at a news conference in Chinatown earlier this year.

Left: Tabloid headlines the morning after his arrest.

Above: Silver speaks with reporters on Elizabeth Street in 2012.

riod. The five-count indictment charges him with wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy, and extortion. If convicted on all counts, the 70-year-old Silver could be sentenced to a maximum of 100 years in prison.

Silver was released on a $200,000 personal recognizance bond and required to surrender his passport. A federal magistrate issued seizure warrants, freezing $3.8 million deposited in eight accounts. “I’m confident that after a full hearing and a due process, I will be vindicated,” Silver said on his way out of the courthouse.

For the past decade, Silver has been employed by a prominent personal in-

jury law practice, Weitz & Luxenberg. In 2013, he reported earning $650,000 for his work there. Silver has always maintained that none of his clients has business before the state. But federal prosecutors argue otherwise.

According to the criminal complaint, Silver asked two real estate developers to hire another law firm, Goldberg & Iryami, to handle property tax reduction cases. The firm, the U.S. attorney alleged, then funneled $700,000 in payments to Speaker Silver. In return, he’s accused of finagling legislation that benefited the developers, one of which has been identified in news reports as Glenwood Management. Goldberg & Iryami has also The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

7

represented the East River and Hillman Cooperatives on the LES. Silver lives in Hillman and has a close relationship with Harold “Heshy” Jacob, longtime general manager of both co-ops. The complaint did not mention the Grand Street buildings.

In a separate scheme, investigators believe, Silver referred clients to Weitz & Luxenberg from Robert Taub, a Columbia University cancer doctor.

Prosecutors said Silver received more than $3 million after sending possible asbestos victims to the law firm.

He’s accused of secretly directing $500,000 in state grants to the doctor to fund his research.

Weitz & Luxenberg said it was oblivious to any wrongdoing and has been aiding the federal investigation.

Dr. Taub is also cooperating with the U.S. attorney’s office. He has been removed from his position as head of Columbia’s Mesothelioma Research Center.

As speaker of the New York Assembly, Silver wielded enormous influence over legislation and budget matters. His arrest came days after the new legislative session began in Albany. Following his initial court appearance, Assembly Democrats rushed to defend their longtime leader. Mayor de Blasio, depending on the speaker to advance his progressive agenda, said, “I’ve always known Shelly Silver to be a man of integrity, and he certainly has due-process rights.”

Local political officials were guarded in their reaction to Speaker Silver’s arrest. City Council member Margaret 8

February 2015

Chin released a statement saying she was “personally very troubled” by the allegations, but would “refrain from passing judgment ... until the judicial process is complete.”

Newspaper editorial boards, however, were incredulous. The New York Times, which broke the story of Speaker Silver’s arrest, called for his resignation.

“As astonishing as it was to see Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the New York Assembly, surrender to the F.B.I. on corruption charges,” an editorial asserted, “it is even more incredible that he can choose to go on serving in his job while he defends himself against bribery and kickback charges involving millions of dollars.”

As pressure built in the days after the scandal broke, Albany Democrats began to worry about the political consequences of keeping Silver in place. A deal had been in the works in which he would relinquish some of his powers temporarily, but it fizzled during marathon closed-door discussions. Ultimately, Silver was forced to step down so that a new speaker could be chosen for a body he controlled for more than two decades. He intends to keep his seat, representing the 65th Assembly District.

Meanwhile, community activists and the heads of nonprofit organizations on the Lower East Side expressed concerns about the impact on a neighborhood that has benefited financially and otherwise from Silver’s stature.

While few spoke on the record, num(Continued on page 28)

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Site Overview

1

Overhead image shows Essex Crossing development site, stretching from Grand Street to Stanton Street. The first phase of construction covers sites 1, 2, 5 and 6.

See key on page 13 for a synopsis of each development parcel.

Meet your new neighborhood: Fina 2

2

al Essex Crossing Designs Revealed

By Ed Litvak Sixteen months after winning a coveted contract to redevelop the former Seward Park urban renewal site, developers have revealed their final designs for the first four buildings. In two public meetings last month, architects unveiled renderings for Essex Crossing, the large mixed-use project expected to break ground alongside the Williamsburg Bridge by the middle of this year.

The six-acre site, which languished for nearly a half-century, will eventually contain one-thousand apartments and 650,000 square feet of commercial space.

The project is a collaboration among Taconic Investment Partners, L+M Development Partners and BFC Partners.

The four architectural firms they hired have taken many cues from the Seward Park master plan, the product of a painstaking three-year collaboration between Lower East Side community activists and city officials.

Among many other details, it called for using the new project to “stitch together” the neighborhood’s two jarring architectural styles—low-rise tenements and hulking mid-century residential towers.

During their presentations, the architects said they took that vision to heart.

“We have focused on building back the urban fabric that was lost over time,” said Richard Metsky of Beyer Blinder Belle. Another designer, Frank Fusaro The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

11

of Handel Architects, added, “We looked at the immediate surroundings for inspiration. We were inspired by the tenement buildings.”

The centerpiece of Essex Crossing is a 24-floor tower at the southeast corner of Essex and Delancey streets, which will feature a new Essex Street Market, a 14-screen movie theater from Regal Cinemas and 195 rental apartments. The building’s lower level will be the gateway for a small-scale retail concept called the Market Line that will eventually stretch all the way to Clinton Street.

The new Essex Market will take 30,000 square feet on the ground floor and feature a dramatic mezzanine looking out on Broome Street. An elevator on the southern end of the building will take people up to a rooftop urban farm.

Designers created a series of folded, twotone metallic panels for the facade of the second and third levels, where the theaters will be situated. They’re meant to simulate the idea of windows.

Across Essex Street to the west, visitors to the market will be able to look up at the galleries of the 10,000-square-foot Andy Warhol annex. The museum, complete with a rooftop sculpture garden, will adjoin a 14-story building containing 55 condominium apartments and ground-floor retail businesses, as well as a subterranean bowling alley.

The first phase also includes development of a parcel located at Clinton and Grand streets, where two tenements and a nearly 80-year-old former firehouse are located. The entrance to 211 apartments will be situated off Broome Street, alongside a public park that the developers are creating as a community amenity. Retail businesses, including a 30,000-square-foot grocery store, will be 12

February 2015

visible from Grand Street.

Finally, rental apartments for 100 low-income seniors and a community center run by Grand Street Settlement will be coming to a parcel at 175 Delancey St. The developers are close to signing a lease with the operator of a health care clinic. The apartments will all face either north or south to take full advantage of sunlight, and there will be separate roof decks for both the residents and for the settlement house.

One amenity that won’t be coming to Essex Crossing is parking. Back in 2011, the community board advocated for the replacement of all 400 public spaces that will be lost to make room for the development in the months and years ahead. The development team, however, never planned to create any more than 98 spaces, all located in a garage below site 5 on Clinton Street. Last month, the development team said it abandoned even that more modest plan due to concerns about congestion in the immediate area and pedestrian safety. A community board task force agreed that safety should be the higher priority.

Meanwhile, community leaders say they’ll be engaging with the MTA, making the point that bus and subway service on the Lower East Side must be improved to account for the large influx of expected new residents, as well as shoppers and visitors to Essex Crossing’s entertainment and cultural venues. The development consortium hoped the transit authority would be willing to build a new escalator leading from the subway platform into the shopping pavilion on Delancey Street. Unfortunately, that request was rejected.

Builders are making final plans to demolish buildings on the first con-

struction sites, including the vacant Essex Street Market structure on the south side of Delancey Street. (The market building on the north side of Delancey will remain open for business throughout construction.)

Groundbreaking for phase 1 is anticipated next summer. Construction will last about three years. People interested in applying for the 311 affordable apartments in the first phase will be able to do so through a lottery that will likely open in 2017. To sign up for housing notifications, visit essexcrossingnyc.com.

5

Essex Crossing (Phase 1)

Site 1: 242 Broome St. (Ludlow Street) Height: 14 floors/160 feet Housing: 55 condominiums/11 affordable Features: Andy Warhol Museum, bowling alley Projected groundbreaking: August 2015 Architect: SHoP Site 2: 80 Essex St./115 Delancey St. Height: 24 floors/285 feet Housing: 195 apartments/98 affordable Features: Essex Street Market, 14-screen theater, rooftop urban farm Projected groundbreaking: Summer 2015 Architect: Handel

6

Site 5: 145 Clinton St. (Grand Street) Height: 15 floors/160 feet Housing: 211 apartments, 104 affordable Features: Grocery store, public park, possible school Projected groundbreaking: Summer 2015 Architect: Beyer Blinder Belle Site 6: 175 Delancey St. (Clinton Street) Height: 14 floors/160 feet Housing: 100 apartments for low-income seniors Features: Grand Street Settlement, health care facility Projected groundbreaking: September 2015 Architect: Dattner The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

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new arrivals edited by Traven Rice

EAST COAST MMA FIGHT SHOP

(131 Orchard St., eastcoastmma.com) A mixed martial arts retailer joined the Orchard Street shopping scene in December. East Coast MMA was established in Rockville Center, Long Island, in 2011. The New York City store, relocated from Brooklyn, offers a full selection of fight gear (gloves, shoes, headgear, etc.), clothing for men and women and accessories. It also sells wrestling gear.

MANON JEWELRY

(113 Division St., manonjewelry.com) The German actress and model Manon von Gerkan has opened a jewelry shop on an increasingly happening stretch of Division Street, near Orchard Street. In a sleek, renovated space featuring exposed brick walls and polished wood floors, she’s showcasing her stylish designs, including sterling silver and gold hoop earrings, moon pendants and body chains.

ALGUS GALLERY

(132 Delancey St., mitchellalgusgallery.com) Mitchell Algus of the Algus Greenspon gallery in the West Village opened a new space on the second level of 132 Delancey, above Solid Gold, the discount jewelry store.

The debut show featured paintings and works on paper by Agustin Fernandez. It remains open until March 8.

14

February 2015

AVANT GARDE VAPE LOUNGE + ART GALLERY

(avantgardebymmc.com) This new business in the so-called Pink Building on Grand Street is riding the e-cigarette wave, but there’s a twist. The vaping lounge doubles as an art gallery. You can pull up a stool and try out a large selection of flavors, listen to some tunes and check out the latest art exhibition.

CAUSEY CONTEMPORARY

(29 Orchard St., causeycontemporary.com) Tracy Causey-Jeffery recently moved her long-established Williamsburg gallery to lower Orchard Street. She took over a space previously occupied by the Stephan Stoyanov Gallery. Causey has a core roster of 13 artists and showcases the work of other noteworthy contemporary artists in special exhibitions.

CITY BIRD GALLERY

(191 Henry St., citybirdgallery.com) Sarah Wang and Shaina Yang, two artists with close ties to Ludlow Street’s Con Artist Collective, opened up this new space as 2014 drew to a close. In addition to regular art exhibitions, the early programming has included musical performances and special pop-ups.

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calendar

what to do in

Visit our CALENDAR online at www.thelodownny.com/calendar for more details and to add your own events.

Edited by Traven Rice

Sun.

1

Wed.

11

Black Footnotes at the Nuyorican: Rebel Theater Company presents its world-premiere documentary play with music that chronicles the lives and achievements of African-American scientists. The production features 34 actors, most of them women of color. Through Feb. 14, 7 p.m. and 3 p.m. matinees, 236 East 3rd St., $20 online; $25 door, nuyorican.org.

Thurs.

7

7

16

February 2015

Danspace Project and The Poetry Project present: A Reading for Edwin Denby: The Poetry Project hosts an evening of readings dedicated to the American dance critic, essayist and poet. A screening of Rudy Burckhardt's film Remembering Edwin Denby will follow the readings.

Inside the Parish Hall at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, 131 East 10th St., 8 p.m., $8, danspaceproject.org.

Fri.

13

Preparing for the New Year in Chinatown at Museum of Chinese in America: MOCA’s walking tour takes visitors through Chinatown to learn about holiday traditions and customs observed by Chinese households. Witness how the neighborhood transforms itself in preparation for the New Year and discover the characteristics that make this holiday unique. Offered on Saturdays and Sundays in February through Sunday, Feb. 22, 215 Centre St., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., $8 to $15, mocanyc.org

Thurs.

FEBRUARY

“Surroundings” at the New Museum’s First Saturdays for Families: Join in a family workshop offered in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition 2015 Triennial: “Surround Audience,” on view from February 25 through May 24.

Investigate your urban surroundings and how you see yourself within it. 235 Bowery, 10 a.m., free, newmuseum.org.

Horseplay: or, The Fickle Mistress at La MaMa: Theatre Askew continues its celebration of the history of queer culture in New York City with a biographical reconstruction/ridiculous reimagining of the life of the 19th-century international superstar Adah Isaacs Menken.

Through March 1, Wed.–Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 4 p.m., $18, lamama.org.

Tues.

4

Featured

EVENT

PRETTYFILTHY at Abrons Arts Center:

Investigative theater company The Civilians kick off the 100thanniversary celebration of the historic playhouse at Abrons Arts Center with a musical about the porn industry. Inspired by the tradition of classic musicals about show business, Pretty Filthy is the untold showbiz musical, based on interviews with adult entertainers.

The Civilians crew listened and learned, conducting interviews and visiting sets to get an insider’s glimpse into a world that is far more than the sum of its (very) visible parts. Through March 1, 466 Grand St., 8:00 p.m. Tues.–Sat., 2:00 p.m. matinee and 7:00 p.m. on Sundays, $50, abronsartscenter.org.

Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra at Joe’s Pub: The Obie Award winner and selfdescribed “old-timey songwriter and playwright” returns to Joe’s Pub with his band for a yearlong residency. The witty and talented quartet will present new material from their upcoming fourth studio album as well as revisit fan favorites and collaborate with special guests. 425 Lafayette St., 9:30 p.m., $25, joespub.com.

Tues.

Sat.

24

21 International Women Artists Salon at Dixon Place: Curator and photographer Heidi Russell’s cross-disciplinary salon offers a showcase of performance, literature and video celebrating global artists in a casual setting. 161A Chrystie St., 7:30 p.m., free, dixonplace.org.

Sun.

22 Chinese Lunar New Year Parade and Festival: Don’t miss the chance to ring in the Year of the Goat. Catch the confettied display of dancing dragons, mythical Chinese royalty and floats parading their way through the streets of Chinatown and landing in Sara Roosevelt Park (Canal & Forsyth streets), 1 p.m., free, betterchinatown.com The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

17

neighborhood news edited by Ed Litvak

crime crime

Photo by Jesse Jiryu Davis

arts

Rashaun Nicholson, a 31-year-old father of four, was shot and killed on the sidewalk near the Alfred E. Smith Houses shortly before the new year. He was taking presents to his kids Dec. 28 at the public housing complex when a gunman opened fire on Catherine Street at about 7 p.m. Nicholson suffered a single gunshot to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police released surveillance photos showing two suspects wanted for the murder. One suspect was wearing a red hoodie; the other was wearing dark clothes and also had a hooded top. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).

Walter Kuehr, a popular musician, bandleader and shop owner, died last month at the age of 59. The German immigrant opened the Main Squeeze accordion shop at 19 Essex St. in 1996. He also was the visionary behind the Main Squeeze Orchestra, an all-female ensemble that plays throughout the city. Kuehr played with the Last of the International Playboys, a Latin ensemble he founded. He lost a seven-year battle with cancer in early January. In a Facebook message, Kuehr’s former wife, Claire Connors, wrote, “He was a talented musician, a true artist, and a lover of life. He had the ability to make everyone feel like they were the most special person in the world … He strived to be a better person and succeeded spectacularly. I tip my hat to this European gentleman.” The Essex Street store is now closed. real estate

After years of struggling to stay in business on the Lower East Side, Streit’s Matzos has made the decision to close its Rivington Street manufacturing plant. Co-owner Alan Adler said it was a difficult decision but a necessary one. Operations will be shifted later this year to an already-existing facility in New Jersey, ending a 90-year run on the LES. The four tenement buildings—148-154 Rivington St.—that make up the matzo factory are under contract to a developer. Adler declined to name the prospective owner or the purchase price. “The economic reality of running a modern manuOn the production line at Streit’s Matzo Factory. facturing facility in converted tenement buildings just caught up with us,” he said. New equipment wouldn’t fit in the production spaces, meaning Streit’s had to make do with old, lumbering machinery. “I’m very sad it has to come to this,” said Adler. “We are the last remaining connection a lot of Jews have to the Lower East Side.” There are about 30 workers on the line at the Lower East Side location, plus five or six rabbis who handle the kosher certification of Streit’s products. The workers will be offered jobs at the new location. The move will take place in the spring or early summer, when the Passover baking season wraps up.

Adler said he’s optimistic about the company’s future. In 1925, Aron Streit opened the Rivington Street factory, after moving from an original location on Pitt Street. Streit’s remains a family-owned business.

18

February 2015

Above: Capital One Bank on Grand Street, where the robbery occurred.

Inset: An image of Joseph Gibbons, captured on video. crime

In the hours before New Year’s Eve, a bank robber struck at the Capital One branch at 115 Grand St. As it turns out, the robbery was anything but routine. The heist was being videotaped and was part of an art project by a former MIT professor with a long history in experimental film. Joseph Gibbons, 61, was charged last month with robbery following the Dec. 31 stunt. Police say he made off with about $1,000. After fleeing the bank, he returned to his room at the swanky Bowery Hotel and began telling people about his exploit. A former student turned Gibbons in to police. A judge set his bail at $50,000. education

A public hearing on a controversial charter school proposal was abruptly canceled last month after the applicant, Success Academy, decided to withdraw its request for a new school on the Lower East Side. The application was originally approved in neighboring District 2 by the trustees of the State University of New York, but Success Academy later decided the school should be located in District 1, on the Lower East Side.

Although no hearing was required, local education activists and elected officials successfully lobbied for one. But at the last minute the school network pulled the application and announced it would not re-apply on the LES for two years. No location had been determined for the new school. In the past, local activists have fought decisions from the Department of Education to co-locate charters in traditional school buildings, citing the lack of adequate space.

Scenes from previous charter school battles on the Lower East Side.

The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

19

THE

LO-DINE

Photo by Cynthia Lamb

Cabbie Favorite Punjabi Deli is Still Cheap and Delicious

By JP Bowersock

Since Guru Nanak founded Sikhism in the Punjabi region of India in the 15th century, feeding the hungry has remained an admirable tenet of this young monotheistic religion. Meals are given away freely at Sikh temples, or gurdwaras, around the world. Happily, along with the gurdwara and homes of Sikh friends, the excellent vegetarian cooking of Punjab can be sampled at numerous small delis around the city that offer delicious curries at prices so low—for Manhattan—that they are practically giving the food away.

Punjabi Deli is a beloved example. While the backbone of its business has been cab drivers, the place is also a favorite of vegetarians, foodies and rock-and-rollers for two decades. It's my goto when I’m playing a show at Mercury Lounge, Rockwood Music Hall and other LES/EV venues.

A drummer friend used to say, "Play for love or money, preferably both, never neither." A meal here fits that ethos: It's the perfect place to eat when I find myself playing a gig for love, and not so much money. The place is always open, so it doesn't matter what time the gig is, or whether or not I want to eat before or after it. This is what my kind of fast food looks like: vibrantly spiced bean

and vegetable dishes served over rice, devoid of any sketchy meat to leave you wondering how the food can be so inexpensive. Those bothered by the microwave burning the edge of their meal into the styrofoam plate or bowl can pay an extra 50 cents for "eco-friendly" serving containers.

Given recent legislation, the styrofoam is likely to become a thing of the past soon anyway.

You order a small (two curries over rice in a bowl, $4) or large (three curries over rice on a plate, $6). The six or seven curry choices are laid out in trays behind a glass display, and you choose by number. Numbers one through three never change: a chickpea curry, saag (ground spinach, perfectly spiced) and a lentil curry (either black or yellow). Numbers four through seven change daily between various spiced vegetable dishes ranging from eggplant to potato to pumpkin and yogurt and paneer (homemade cheese) curries.

All are mildly spicy, meaning someone used to mild food might find them spicy, and someone used to spicy food will find them mild. All except the yogurt and paneer curries are vegan. They are filling, yet do not feel heavy. Even after a $6 plate I've never felt weighed down.

There's no seating, just a narrow counter where you stand and eat while listening to music from the Indian subcontinent, which just makes it above the steam of the espresso machine they use to make a milky chai. The environment is spartan but cheerful, and the restroom is clean. Other amenities include free water (serve yourself) and free spicy pickles in stainless steel pitchers along the bar-height counter.

Usually I'll do a two-item bowl of chickpeas and greens, sometimes substituting a vegetable curry for the greens. If I'm particularly hungry I'll round things out with a fried samosa filled with nicely spiced potatoes and green peas ($1.50).

A larger samosa made with chickpeas is sold in orders of two for $6. Numbers one through three (chickpea, greens and lentils) are the standouts, however. After trying them an English friend remarked, "Leave it to you to find not only the best curry I've had in America, but also the cheapest!” A young man I met while eating at Punjabi one night exclaimed, “I’m from Punjab, and this tastes just like my mother’s cooking."

Unfortunately things have not been as rosy as they could be for Punjabi Deli. Construction on East 1st Street has made parking near the

establishment difficult. This was an issue for a business for which cab drivers make up a large part of the clientele. I used to call it the Punjabi Cabbie Stand, but recently I took to calling it Punjabi Deli, because the line of yellow cabs parked in front had disappeared. Construction equipment occupied much of the nearby parking for years, and predictably, business slumped. An online petition aimed at prompting the TLC to create a taxi relief stand in front of Punjabi Deli garnered thousands of signatures.

That, along with a little legal wrangling, may have accomplished something. In front of the establishment is an area of parking spaces that bears a striking resemblance to a taxi relief area.

Drivers are currently using it as such, in spite of the “No Standing” temporary construction regulation sign posted there. The staff at Punjabi Deli are hopeful that this will allow them to remain in the neighborhood for years to come. I share that hope.

And I challenge you to find a tastier, healthier and cheaper meal in the neighborhood than what you get at Punjabi Deli for four bucks.

Visit the Punjabi Deli at 114 East 1st Street.

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THE

LO-DINE (continued) A Roundup of Restaurant Openings & Closings

now open Mission Chinese Food 171 East Broadway

Danny Bowien’s comeback on the Lower East Side looks to be a rousing success. On Dec. 19, he opened a second version of Mission Chinese Food at 171 East Broadway.

Wait times for tables in the 130-seat restaurant have averaged roughly two hours ever since. The original New York locale, on Orchard Street, shuttered in the aftermath of numerous health department violations and clashes with Bowien’s landlord. Unlike the rougharound-the-edges place a few blocks to the north, the Danny Bowien’s Instagram feed. new space has a more established, adult feel. Diners are encouraged to wait for their tables (no reservations accepted) at bars located in the front of the restaurant and on the lower level. Bowien’s irreverent personal take on Chinese American food is largely unchanged, although now he’s turning out pizzas from a wood-burning oven that also produces naan-like bread that can be ordered with a helping of caviar. Mission Chinese opens at 5:30 p.m., at which time diners begin lining up on East Broadway for the first crack at a table. The restaurant is closed on Mondays.

Pies & Thighs 46 Canal St.

Meow Parlour 46 Hester St.

A media frenzy surrounded the December opening of New York’s first permanent cat cafe. The business is operated by Christina Ha and Emilie Legrand of Macaron Parlour, which got its start at the Hester Street Fair. Visitors interested in spending some quality time with cats (who are all available for adoption) must book a reservation on Meow Parlour’s website (meowparlour.com). The cost is $4 a half hour or $30 for five hours. Health department rules do not allow food preparation in the space, but beverages and pastries are available at Meow Parlour’s patisserie, around the corner on Ludlow Street. As of press time, no reservations were available until the springtime.

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February 2015

A branch of the popular Williamsburg restaurant opened a lunch-counter-style spot in the increasingly food- and nightlife-centric area around Canal, Division and Ludlow streets. The diverse menu features fried chicken plates, fried catfish sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, burgers, a selection of salads and, of course, homemade pies. Pies & Thighs opens at 9 a.m. for breakfast, when freshly made doughnuts and coffee are ready for pickup. Lunch, dinner and weekend brunch are also served. Delivery service is scheduled to begin in February. One of the co-owners, Sarah Sanneh, is a Lower East Side resident. She recently moved to an apartment in the Grand Street co-ops after living for several years on Division Street.

Tijuana Picnic 151 Essex St.

The team behind Acme and Indochine opened this bi-level spot in the former Laugh Lounge space. The menu of small plates, tacos and family-size platters offers a reinterpretation of Mexican cuisine with Asian accents. Steps away from nightlife-focused spots such as Beauty & Essex and Sons of Essex, the restaurant is aimed at a younger crowd. Think “fun food” and creative cocktails. Food offerings include duck empanadas with foie gras and cognac, shrimp tempura tacos with fermented black beans, and pork neck marinated in coconut milk.

closed

The Derby 167 Orchard St.

Controversial nightlife operator Rob Shamlian closed his Southern-themed restaurant, The Derby, last month and put it up for sale. He has been battling neighborhood activists and the community board for many months over the use of a downstairs bar at the same address. Meanwhile, Shamlian is also moving to sell Los Feliz and Spitzer’s Corner, two other restaurants he operates in the neighborhood. Last month, a committee of Community Board 3 signed off on a new liquor license for Spitzer’s Corner. Alon Moskovitch, owner of Mezetto on East Houston Street, and Sarid Drory, who runs Artisanal in Murray Hill, want to convert it into a fine-dining establishment.details.

Les Jardins de la Duchesse 138 Orchard St.

In what may very well be a record for a small-business meltdown on the Lower East Side, the éclair shop that opened on Orchard Street in early December abruptly closed. In a Dec. 13 post on Facebook, the owners of Les Jardins de la Duchesse said they had closed temporarily “for renovations” but promised to return. Several days later, a Misrahi Realty sign popped up in the window advertising the space for rent.

Black Crescent 76 Clinton St.

The owners of the Clinton Street oyster bar are vowing to reopen after a fire tore through the restaurant just after the new year. The space was fully renovated in 2013 after the previous tenant— longtime Lower East Side favorite Alias—closed.

In recent weeks, they’ve been holding fundraisers around town in support of their rebuilding effort.

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arts watch

Clockwise: A ceramics class at Manny Cantor Center; Transfiguration Church; and Henry Street Settlement Playhouse

The Educational Alliance has reopened its arts school after a two-year hiatus. The new facility on the lower level of the organization’s flagship building at 197 East Broadway is the final piece of a $55 million renovation project. Classes were moved off-site while the construction work took place. The historic art school, established almost a century ago, now includes modern painting and drawing studios, a ceramic/sculpture studio, a multidisciplinary studio and two gallery spaces.

The winter semester goes through March 26. Class schedules are available at mannycantor.org/artclasses.

The Henry Street Settlement is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its playhouse. The red-brick, three-story structure at 466 Grand St. is a national historic landmark. The Neighborhood Playhouse opened Feb. 15, 1915, and has served as a training ground for an illustrious group of artists, including Martha Graham, Aaron Copland, John Cage, Alwin Nikolais, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Phil24

February 2015

ip Glass, Meredith Monk and John Zorn. In celebration of the centennial, the Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street’s cultural arm, is debuting an array of special theatrical and dance productions this year.

They include performances by Will Rawls, who will premiere his newest work, “Settlement House,” and the world premiere of “Playhouse Follies” from famed director Basil Twist.

At Transfiguration Church on Mott Street, a new sculpture surrounds the statue commemorating Father Felix Varela, the Cubanborn priest who founded the parish in 1827.

The “Mandorla of Felix Varela” was installed in November. It was commissioned by Rev. Raymond Nobiletti, Transfiguration’s pastor. Father Andrew O’Connor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Grand Street came up with the concept, along with architect Hans Roegle and Chris Knight, a Manchester, England-based sculptor. The almond-shaped piece is made of anodized aluminum. The base is fash(continued on page 28)

Pe n n y

ARCADE

Penny Arcade at The Clemente on Suffolk Street

For our regular feature spotlighting the people who live and work on the Lower East Side, we talked with avant-garde performance artist, documentarian and playwright Penny Arcade (aka Susana Ventura).

How long have you lived on the LES? I arrived in October 1967 at 17. In early 1971, I left New York for Europe with the Playhouse of the Ridiculous, protesting the police state and Vietnam War. I lived in Amsterdam and then the Spanish island of Formentera and Palma de Mallorca for four years. Then, after living in rural Maine for another six years, I returned to New York at Ellen Stewart’s invitation to do a play we had done in 1970, Night Club by Ken Bernard, for La MaMa’s 20th anniversary. I have been here ever since except when I tour.

Photo by Alex M. Smith

Why did you move here or (if you were born here) why did you stay?

I turned 17 in the Summer of Love 1967 in Provincetown. I met two East Village drag queens that hated P-Town and they gave me their number, saying, “You belong in New York.” After six weeks in Boston I took a $25 shuttle to New York with a 17-year-old boy named Mark McCarthy and called them from Bleecker and Thompson. They said, “No, all wrong. Come to East 7th St and Avenue C.” He stayed one night and went back to Boston the next day, saying, “This place is too crazy and too scary.” I stayed.

What do you do?

I am a poet and writer of experimental theater and essays, and a performance artist. I co-helm the Lower East Side Biography Project: Stemming the The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

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Tell us about your apartment—the good, the bad and the ugly.

I have lived in one of the LES’s oldest buildings, on Stanton Street, since 1981. When people asked me where I lived in the ’80s and ’90s, I used to say, “There’s Soho, there’s Noho, and I live in Uh Oh!’ I live on the top floor of the quiet back building, an old loft, manufacturing building built in 1829. It had 14 windows and front and back doors. There were only one-story mechanic shops behind it all the way to East Houston Street, so you heard only the wind and saw nothing but sky. In 1995 the old landlord bricked up five windows because he didn’t want to replace them. Now all you hear are the building sites drilling; soon those new tall buildings will block out the sky.

What’s your favorite spot on the LES and why (could be a block, garden, bar, building, etc)?

Clinton Street in the ’80s used to be a street of party favor stores and bridal shops with the most garish dresses. I called it Rue Des Reves, the street of dreams. The section from Stanton to Rivington is one story and has a corner garden where Dominicans play loud salsa music and dominoes long into the night. The trees that border it bend over onto the sidewalk, creating a feral overhang, a magical tunnel. Now they clip those trees, but they grow back and hang! This year those buildings will be torn down and built up. We will lose the sky and a great deal of charm.

Favorite cheap eats?

Cornerstone $4 breakfast with organic eggs. Gaia Café for lunch, $5 panini, my favorite: the Deliziano with anchovies. Pause Cafe on Clinton Street for juices, bagel and lox, soups. Takahashi on Avenue A for sushi. Ray’s on A for egg creams.

Favorite place for a special night?

Angelica’s for haute macrobiotic food. Angelina’s for steak au poivre. Ghost, the Woodward Gallery’s bar with paintings by the great LES artist Richard 26

February 2015

Hambleton. Art and Spirit, master mixologist Ektoras Binikos’s second-floor lounge on Clinton Street.

How have you seen the neighborhood change?

You are kidding, right? Like someplace? It will be gone in two years. There used to be a real difference between uptown and downtown. People used to come to New York to be part of it all, to reinvent themselves in the face of New York’s magnetic energy. Now they think they are fine just as they are and want New York to be like the suburbs where they’re from.

What do you miss from the old LES? The intact bohemia that had a lineage, made up of all ages and backgrounds. People chose to live here because of the shared countercultural values that were prized and valued; art, iconoclasm and resistance and opposition to the middle-class values of status, not rocking the boat and fitting in, and they measured their growth and success by standards outside of the mainstream.

Is there a new arrival you love? Why? I love Gaia Café because Gaia, the chef owner, ac-

Join the THE

Tide of Cultural Amnesia with my longtime collaborator of 22 years, Steve Zehentner. [It’s] a video project that has broadcast and cybercast weekly since 1999 that seeks to document and preserve the secret history of New York and the iconoclastic people who created the rich tapestry of art, politics and criminality that defined the LES for over 100 years.

LO-DOWN

team!

We’re now ac appliccepting ations for: *repo rter/w

riters *copy edito rs *mag assocazine desig iates n

*web site d e v elope *ad sa rs les re ps *phot ograp hers

Send your resume to: editor@thelodowny.com

(continued from page 26) tually stands for the kind of values the LES has always represented. She has a real political and social conscience actualized through both her excellent food and non-elitist prices, proving that the LES still attracts highly creative individualists who seek to become part of the community and to serve it.

What drives you crazy about the neighborhood?

The princess plague and frat boy invasion most nights of the week and the people who think the virtue of renting an overpriced apartment here makes them cool, without having any respect or even awareness of the living history both past and present that gives the EV/LES that reputation.

They resent those values because they mistake being cool with being elitist.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on the LES? Hard question! Three yuppie hipster girls getting angry when I asked them to stop yakking on their cellphones while we got pedicures in a 15 x 20 salon on East Houston Street, who responded,

“This is a public place.” And I replied, “No, this is a semi-public place, I have to PAY to be here and don’t want my peace of mind badgered by your inane conversations.” This definitely competes in my mind with the guy who shot up heroin at a red light on Houston and Ave A and then nodded out when the light turned green. The latter is preferable.

Who’s the best neighborhood character you’ve met and why?

The EV/LES was made up of characters. Peter Missing of Missing Foundation in the 1980s used to stencil an upside-down martini glass with three strikes on it and the words “Party’s Over,” and other anti-gentrification, anti-police brutality, anticorporation, pro-environmental slogans. Obviously he was a prophet and a visionary.

Tell us your best LES memory.

1982. The artist Jack Smith invited drag superstar playwright Jackie Curtis for a wedding shower at his house on 1st Ave. We rang the buzzer and Jackie stepped back to look up at Jack’s 7th story windows and Jack emptied a kitty litter box on her head. That was Jack’s idea of a wedding shower!

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LO-DOWN

THE

About

The Lo-Down is the Lower East Side’s essential community news source.

Founded in 2009, Lo-Down Productions LLC produces this monthly magazine as well as a website, thelodownny.com, which is updated daily with neighborhood news, arts coverage, restaurant information and more. The primary editorial coverage area is bounded by East Houston Street on the north and Bowery on the west, although some stories range above Houston Street, as far uptown as East 14th Street.

The print magazine is published 10 times each year, with double issues in July/August and December/January. Each month, 12,000 copies are distributed throughout the Lower East Side.

The Lo-Down is not aff iliated with any other company or organization.

This independent publication relies solely on advertising revenue and does not receive funding from any outside sources other than the various advertisers who are displayed in print and online.

Our sponsors sustain this publication as a vital outlet for community journalism and engagement.

A variety of advertising opportunities are available in the magazine and on the website.

Inquire by email at ads@thelodownny.com or by phone at 646-861-1805. Story tips, article submissions and letters to the editor are welcome via email at tips@thelodownny.com.

ONLINE EVERY DAY! Breaking news, community happenings, inside information

Visit us at TheLoDownNY.com for local news

as it happens

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February 2015

arts watch (continued from p. 24) ioned from black granite from the lot used to build the September 11th Memorial. According to a plaque that will be installed in the next few weeks, the mandorla “signifies to holiness of Varela” and “commands a three-block-long perspective by which the semblance of Chinese language signage gives way to English letters spelling out ‘Our Father.'” The plaque notes, “A symbol of political persecution and a beacon of religious freedom, the mandorla is intended to be a scrim for art projection to offer a voice to those who suffer religious and political persecution.” Father Varela was a tireless advocate for New York’s immigrant communities. In its 200-year history, Transfiguration has served Irish, Italian, Latino and now Chinese New Yorkers. A dedication ceremony will take place in the spring.

Got a tip?

A story submission?

Send your suggestions to: tips@thelodownny.com.

Continued from page 8

erous community organizers told The Lo-Down they are worried about the potential loss of state grants.

Even more significant, progressive activists said, Silver’s exit from the political stage would deprive New York of a fierce advocate of social programs and liberal ideals. At the same time, there’s significant anger among many locals, who are dismayed by the allegations of brazen influence peddling and profiteering. They are looking forward to a fresh start, with an emerging downtown leader who will, admittedly, have little clout but hopefully new energy and ideas for the future.

Silver is due back in court Feb. 23.

For the latest developments in this quickly changing story, connect with us online at thelodownny.com.

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February 2015

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