The Lo-Down Magazine: September 2015 by The Lo-Down

News from the Lower East Side

2015

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Also inside: New restaurant roundup

SMALL-BUSINESS SURVIVAL ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE A Special Report

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Halstead Property, LLC We are pledged to the letter and spirit affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are information is from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, description. All measurements and square footages are approximate

Jeremy Bolger

Lic. R.E. Salesperson t: 212.381.6516 jbolger@halstead.com

YOUR LOWER EAST SIDE RESIDENT SPECIALISTS

of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. We encourage and support an no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. All omissions, changes in price, prior sale or withdrawal without notice. No representation is made as to the accuracy of any and all information should be confirmed by customer. All rights to content, photographs and graphics reserved to Broker.

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Claudia Barritt

Ed Litvak Editor-in-Chief

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David Klein Copy Editor

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Kim Sillen Art Director

Reach over 30,000 Customers on The Lower East Side

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letter from the Editor:

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A Perfect Time to Sell

GET MOVING. MANNY CANTOR FITNESS CENTER

in this issue

hat did we do during the summer? That’s easy. We spent much of July and August talking to all sorts of people on the Lower East Side about small-business survival. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign (a big thanks to all of our supporters), The Lo-Down launched a yearlong reporting project in search of solutions to sustaining the distinctive businesses we all love. You will find the first of eight in-depth stories in this magazine. Mostly what we have done so far is listen to lots of different voices in our community. The issues are complicated and solutions in the past have been elusive. We’re excited to dig into the topic month-by-month, looking for new perspectives and ideas along the way. Also in this issue, we have a whole slew of new restaurant and bar openings, plus updates on some of the big stories that happened over the summer and “My LES,” our regular feature profiling one of your neighbors. We hope you had a great summer. We look forward to connecting with you online at thelodownny.com.

Ed Litvak

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Cover Story

Small-Business Survival: Coping with rising rents

15 New Arrivals

Kansas Gallery, DaRucci Leather, Brian Wood, Sky Ting Yoga, John Brevard, Sourced Adventures

ured Events 16 Calendar/Feat Chambre at the New Museum, Communal Spaces, Justin Vivian Bond at Joe’s Pub

18 Neighborhood News

Manhattan Bridge changes, Essex Crossing, East River bridging berm

20 The Lo-Dine

Les Enfants de Bohème, Bar Goto, Mr. Fong’s

23 Cen sus Tracker

Who Lives on the L.E.S.?

24 My LES

Radio DJ George Nenadich

Lower East Side businesses, old and new, are in transition in the fall of 2015. Cover Design by Kim Sillen.

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3 Blocks! 15 Picklers! 50 Vendors!! Live Music + Home Pickling Contest Pickle Pooch Parade (BYOP) Pickle Relay Race and so much more!!

pickleday.nyc 4 September 2015

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Rent Escalation Retail Tenants & Landlords

Speak Out

Small-Business Survival: A Special Series

by Ed Litvak

EHIND THE COUNTER

of Ben Freedman Gent’s Furnishings hangs a fuzzy photograph taken from an April 1989 broadcast of the television program 60 Minutes. It shows the owner of the Orchard Street retailer, Mr. Freedman, alongside legendary entertainer George Burns, who was leading correspondent Ed Bradley on a tour of the old neighborhood where he was born and raised. Twenty-five years later, the store hangs on as a time capsule of an earlier era, while so much around it is unrecognizable. Today, George Burns might have a few choice zingers for the new generation consuming a $67 tasting menu across the street at Contra or snapping up a pair of limited-edition Air Jordans for $190 at sneaker haven Extra Butter. He might also spot a present-day funny6 September 2015

man, Dave Chappelle, a regular customer at East Coast MMA Fight Shop, one of the young-gun retailers carving out a new niche on Orchard Street. This year has not been a barrel of laughs for many of New York City’s iconic businesses. The long list of soul-crushing closures includes treasured spots such as the Edison Cafe, Pearl River Mart and even a corporate-owned NYC institution, FAO Schwarz. On the Lower East Side, 25 years of gentrification have exacted a heavy toll. Small businesses continue to shutter at a fast clip. Yet with the very big exception of the Streit’s Matzo factory, the neighborhood in the past 12 months has been spared the kind of cataclysmic closures plaguing many other parts of the city. One reason for this is the sad fact that many historic businesses vanished long ago. Another is that retail rents on the LES, while escalating, are still well behind the hottest downtown shopping neighborhoods, such as Soho and the Meatpacking District. These realities help explain why, at least for a little while, you can still buy a $10 shirt on Orchard Street. Beginning this month, The Lo-Down is launching a yearlong reporting project focused on smallbusiness survival on the Lower East Side. Far from being a nostalgic journey, it will seek solutions for strengthening new and old businesses alike in one of Manhattan’s last authentic neighborhoods. We begin by taking a hard look at the critical issue of rising commercial rents from the points of view of both tenant and landlord. During the summer months, both

About This Project

This is the first of an eight-part series focused on the survival of the Lower East Side’s independent businesses. From now through the spring of next year, The Lo-Down will be investigating the issues impacting mom-and-pops and evaluating potential solutions for preserving all of the neighborhood’s distinctive businesses. Throughout the project, we’ll be looking at the challenges posed by rapidly escalating commercial rents, government bureaucracy, competition from chain stores and online shopping. You will find coverage of this important topic in the pages of The Lo-Down Magazine, as well as weekly reporting online at www.thelodownny.com. There will be profiles of local businesses, daily coverage of small business-related topics, a local shopping guide published in December and a town hall-style meeting next year. This initiative was partially funded by a crowdfunding campaign conducted earlier this year. We would like to thank our readers, community partners and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation for their generous support.

"It would be great to have that mix of old and new, unlike places like Soho, where all of the old, cool places are gone and it’s like a big shopping mall now." new and established retailers, property owners, real estate brokers and local business leaders all weighed in on the mounting challenges. What emerged is a picture of a neighborhood in transition, still clinging to its small-scale roots yet very much in danger of losing what remains of its distinctive character. For this story, we focused on the six-block stretch of Orchard Street from Division Street to East Houston Street, the historic discount shopping district. Out of 217 total storefronts, 30 were vacant at the time of our mid-August survey. Only one national chain, American Apparel, and one big bank, Bank of America, had infiltrated the stretch. There were about a dozen remaining stores identified with Orchard Street’s Jewish past, including Ben Freedman, which opened in 1927. During a recent conversation in the cluttered office above the store, current owner Avi Saks said, “We used to be very busy. It’s getting slower all the time.” Sheila, his wife (and Ben Freedman’s daughter), explained during an earlier interview that 70 percent of their business comes from longtime customers who keep coming back year after year. But in an era in which shoppers can buy exactly the shirt they want with a few clicks of a mouse and have it delivered to their front door the next day, new business is sparse. Ben Freedman likely would already be closed if the Saks family had not purchased the building at 137 Orchard St. in the 1970s. But it’s still not easy. While similar buildings have sold for more than $8 The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

Left: Avi Saks, owner of Ben Freedman Gent’s Furnishings, a Lower East Side business since 1927. Right: David Zarin of Zarin Fabrics, his 80-year-old family business, which is thriving today. million in recent months, operating costs keep rising. The most recent quarterly property taxes were $43,000, up sharply from just a few years ago. To make matters worse, a hotel project next door has been stalled for eight long years. Scaffolding and plywood completely obscure the clothing store’s signage. “The city has no interest in preserving businesses like my business,” said Avi Saks. “At a point, tenants can’t stay in business. Maybe the future is bright, but the present is devastating.” While he’d love to persuade his son to take over one day, Saks knows it’s not possible to raise a modern family on the revenue the once-thriving shop is now producing. A few historic neighborhood businesses, including Russ & Daughters, Katz’s Deli, Moscot Eyewear and Zarin Fabrics, are thriving. The new generation has taken over these family businesses (or in the case of Moscot, joined the management team), diversifying products, implementing new marketing strategies and making the most of the Lower East Side’s new cachet. Business at Zarin’s has been strong during the past several years. David Zarin, who runs the 80-yearold family business and also sits on the board of the Lower East Side Business Improvement District 8 September 2015

(BID), is committed to the neighborhood but also concerned about its future. A couple of years ago, he gave up most of the designer fabric store’s first-floor space to make way for a TD Bank branch, one of two banks now occupying the ground floor of the historic building at 69 Orchard St. Earlier this year, a longtime Lower East Side landlord sold the property for $25.6 million to the Malachite Group, a large real estate firm that owns 4 million square feet in shopping centers across the country. Zarin’s is in no danger of losing the three floors it occupies, but rent escalation is a real concern. David Zarin said he hopes the Lower East Side can hold on to its “neighborhood feel” while adding exciting new retailers. But given the current real estate trends, he knows this vision might be wishful thinking. During an interview last month, Zarin said, “I would hate to see stores like mine [legacy businesses that have evolved with the times] get pushed out because they can’t afford to be here anymore. It would be great to have that mix of old and new, unlike places like Soho, where all of the old, cool places are gone and it’s like a big shopping mall now.” One of the biggest challenges for all types of retailers on the Lower East Side is the lack of daytime foot traffic. For this reason, any boutique without

multiple revenue streams (such as an online store), a built-in clientele and a robust marketing strategy is destined to struggle. Yet even some businesses that do everything right can’t escape the relentless pace of rent inflation. This year has brought big changes for The Cast, an edgy custom leather shop that’s been keeping the rebellious rock ’n’ roll spirit alive on the Lower East Side since 2004. Chuck Guarino and Elisa Maldonado operated out of a miniscule space in the Zarin’s building for more than five years. But in June they announced on Facebook, “Manhattan real estate has sunk its fangs into yet another victim. We’ve lost our lease.” When told that their old spot—little more than a closet before the DIY built out—had been listed online for $3,500 per month, Maldonado laughed, saying their landlord had actually wanted even more from them for a lease renewal. But the brand that started in a Ludlow Street basement has not given up on the LES. While some production has been moved to Los Angeles, The Cast this month is opening a new, larger store in the back of another Orchard Street boutique, The Great Frog, at 74 Orchard St. Maldonado said maintaining a presence in the neighborhood is important to the brand. “I feel [The Cast] is representative of the culture that was the Lower East Side,” she explained. “It’s about keeping that spirit, identifying with it and [making a statement that] “we do belong there!” Hip lifestyle and streetwear brands have been attracted to the Lower East Side for years. If anything, the appeal is growing. East Coast MMA Fight Shop opened a space at 131 Orchard St. as 2014 drew to a close. The shop, which stocks a line of “combat gear” plus T-shirts and other clothing items, started on Long Island in 2011. Owner Zach Lipari said he

This page, circular inset: One of many Orchard Street signs advertising sales with deep discounts; Right: Hotel Indigo; Above: The owners of The Cast, Chuck Guarino and Elisa Maldonado, outside the former site of their shop.

Orchard Street by the Numbers Total storefronts: 217 Vacant spaces: 30 Restaurants & Bars: 37 Contemporary boutiques: 34 Old-School Businesses: 12 Art Galleries: 22 Hotels: 7 Chains/Corporate Stores: 2 Tailors: 3 Dry Cleaners: 2 *Based on an August 2015 survey of the blocks between Division Street and East Houston Street.

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wanted to have a foothold in “a hip, up-and-coming” area of New York City. A Long Island neighbor, cutting- edge sneaker store Extra Butter, encouraged Lipari’s LES move, and they share a like-minded customer base of young men. “I’m super happy to be here,” he said. “We could not have made a better decision.” On the Lower East Side, commercial rents range from around $100 up to, in a few special cases, $250 per square foot. It seems crazy to call that affordable, but in relative terms, asking prices in the neighborhood are more manageable than in a lot of other places. In Soho, for example, the brokerage Cushman & Wakefield reported the average asking retail rent in the second quarter of this year was $508 per square foot. Across the city, commercial rents are skyrocketing as more private equity firms spend lavishly to acquire buildings and then must make their investments pay dividends. Some private equity has entered the Lower East Side market (below East Houston Street). But for the moment, the players are

relatively small compared with the types of heavyweight firms that have snapped up large numbers of properties in the East Village. One potential game changer on the LES is a gleaming new retail complex attached to the 296room Hotel Indigo at 180 Orchard St., between East Houston and Stanton streets. It sprawls over 10,600 square feet, with 23-foot-high ceilings and a 100-foot wall of glass at street level. In a neighborhood full of small commercial spaces in tenement buildings, it offers a rare opportunity for big players who have often overlooked the area. A lead broker at Cushman & Wakefield, Jesse Hutcher, said, “We’re seeing interest from people we never expected to consider the Lower East Side as an option.” Potential tenants, including high-end restaurant groups and national retailers identified with the Upper East Side and other high-dollar neighborhoods, have not balked at the $200-per-square-foot asking price, he said. The opening of the Ludlow Hotel last year, this fall’s debut of the Indigo and news

Dirty French is one of the high-end restaurants drawn to Orchard Street by the upscale hotels in the neighborhood.

10 September 2015

that Equinox health club is coming to a new project from developer Ben Shaoul at the top of Orchard Street are all playing into the LES’s “up-and-coming” storyline. If Hutcher gets his price, rents in the surrounding area are sure to escalate, putting even more pressure on independent businesses. But not everyone is convinced the Lower East Side is ready for a Soho-like transformation. Right across the street from the Hotel Indigo retail, a glassy commercial strip attached to another hotel, Sixty LES, has had its struggles. A storefront once leased to the short-lived Landbrot Bakery has been vacant since that business made its exit two years ago. A larger space, currently occupied by Claw Daddy’s, a casual seafood spot, has been a revolving door of restaurants. Josh Frank has handled commercial leasing for local firm Misrahi Realty for the past decade. Over the years, he’s done deals to bring nightlife establishments such as Inoteca, Hair of the Dog, the Slipper Room and Sauce to the Lower East Side. Nightlife has been the dominant force in the neighborhood’s commercial real estate game. As more hotels and art galleries open, he’s noticed an uptick in foot traffic. Frank expects that trend to continue, especially once the big Essex Crossing project on Delancey Street comes on line in a few years. But the bigger factor preventing national retail brands and “big box stores” from entering the neighborhood is the small scale of most spaces. “I don’t know that you’re going to see J. Crew here anytime soon,” he said Michael Forrest is a local property owner and the board chairman of the Lower East Side BID. He has a small portfolio of mixed-use apartment buildings including 98 Rivington St., where he opened the Italian restaurant Galli last year in the former Inoteca wine bar space. Forrest also co-owns 252 Broome St.,

a building that until last month was home to Jin Sushi. The Japanese restaurant closed Aug. 15, in part due to rising costs and frustrations with the city bureaucracy, and will soon be replaced with a Southeast Asian restaurant called The Lucky Bee. While there are obviously exceptions, Forrest believes most landlords try to keep longtime commercial tenants in place. When you own a building and you have mom-and-pop businesses on the ground floor, “there’s a lot of emotion involved,” he said in an interview at his Ludlow Street office. “But at the same time,” Forrest added, “I’m trying to run a business and I’m trying to be profitable, and that’s the reality of the world.” Another reality, he said, is that operating a century-old tenement building is not as lucrative as it might appear. He gave the example of a typical property with 16 apartments—14 of them rent stabilized—and one or two retail tenants. The community, of course, has a strong desire to see those affordable apartments preserved and mom-and-pop businesses kept in place. A rentstabilized residential tenant might be paying $500 per month; the same apartment could rent for eight times as much on the free market. Then you add in everescalating property taxes. (One tenement on upper Orchard Street, for example, has seen its annual taxes nearly double to $240,000 in the past five years.) It all amounts to a narrow profit margin in the building as a whole. A variety of government incentive programs exist for the construction of new, affordable housing. But Forrest, reflecting the longtime opinion of the BID, noted that there is zero support for owners of tenements to preserve existing affordable apartments. “For the Lower East Side owner who has a 25-footer with rent-stabilized tenants,” he asserted, “there is no tax credit, there is no subsidy. There is nothing... I think there’s a lack of appreciation, some-

“For the Lower East Side owner who has a 25-footer with rent-stabilized tenants, there is no tax credit, there is no subsidy. There is nothing... I think there’s a lack of appreciation, sometimes, in the actual dynamics of what it means to run a building and a business.”

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A luxury building will soon rise on the former site of cheap-eats haven Bereket.

times, in the actual dynamics of what it means to run a building and a business.” So what’s the solution? Tim Laughlin, executive director of the BID, offered one answer. “We would like the city to look at potentially setting a tax rate for small tenement buildings that is different from their larger counterparts,” he said. “If owners agree to preserve rent-stabilized apartments and to maintain affordable rents for mom-and-pop stores, they’d be eligible for the lower rate.” If the goal is to preserve affordable housing and at the same time to protect independent businesses, Laughlin argued, “we need to provide incentives for property owners to continue to operate their buildings.” It seems like a straightforward proposal, but this being New York City, it is, of course, complicated. City and state officials have talked for decades about reforming the property tax system, which has been called one of the worst in the country. Mayor de Blasio, who has promised to take on the thorny issue, has warned that coming up with a realistic proposal will “not happen quickly or easily.” When we resume our special series next month, The Lo-Down will take a closer look at the idea of property tax relief as a strategy to save small business. We’ll also explore other ways to moderate commercial rents, including dueling proposals in the City Council for rent renewal mediation and/or arbitration. n

When you own a building and you have mom-andpop businesses on the ground floor, “there’s a lot of emotion involved.” 4. Above: 1.) Rendering of the proposed retail space at 180 Orchard St., at Hotel Indigo. 2.) The thriving Moscot Eyewear store, which has become a sought-after brand. 3.) A security gate announces a former tenant's relocation. 4.) A rare Orchard Street chain store, American Apparel.

12 September 2015

May 2015

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new arrivals

KANSAS GALLERY (210 Rivington St. at Pitt

Street., kansasgallery.com) The well-known Tribeca Gallery is taking a corner spot on the eastern end of Rivington Street in a space formerly occupied by a bodega. “We find ourselves needing more flexible exhibition space along with a better location to make it all more visible, and 210 Rivington definitely offers both,” dealer Steven Stewart told the New York Observer. “My plan is to step up the programming with bigger group exhibitions and events as well as to add some new talent to the roster.” The first show in the new location, featuring painter Jessica Sanders, opens Sept. 12.

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Rivington Street.) Orchard Street’s leather vendors have been fading away for several years, but there’s a new kid on the block. DaRucci Leather opened a few weeks ago with a mission, manager Justin Jordan told us: to revitalize the genre. The store is an offshoot of a leather manufacturer and exporter that, Jordan said, supplies many of the neighborhood’s boutiques with jackets and other leather goods. The store will be aimed at a higher-end segment of the market.

BRIAN WOOD

(147 Orchard St., near Rivington Street., brianwoodon line.com) The streetwear designer recently opened a small shop on a rapidly changing stretch of Orchard Street. where he showcases what he describes as a “rebellious alternative clothing brand whose innovative designs are a play on popular culture, injected with a whimsical sense of humor.” There’s a revolving selection of T-shirts, hoodies and outerwear.

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DARUCCI LEATHER (145 Orchard St., near

Street, skytingyoga.com) Krissy Jones, a favorite instructor of fashion models and actors, has opened a yoga studio in a 2,000-square-foot-space across from Sara D. Roosevelt Park. She specializes in a hybrid form of Katonah and vinyasa yoga. There’s a roof deck where meditation sessions and workshops take place, a shop selling high-end yoga gear, and Dimes, the health-conscious Canal Street eatery, is providing snacks.

ington Street., johnbrevard.com) The artist and designer has opened his first permanent brickand-mortar store in the space where the hair salons Ludlow Blunt and Tommy Guns were once located. In the past few years, Brevard has been focusing on his luxury jewelry line, which features geometric designs in gold and silver.

SOURCED ADVENTURES (85 Delancey St., at Allen Street, sourcedadventure.com) You may

have noticed the takeout window on Delancey Street, but there’s more to the Adventure Cafe than caffeine and snacking. It’s part of Sourced Adventures, a company that organizes all types of trips away from the urban jungle of New York City. There are wine tours in the Lehigh Valley, paintball excursions, whitewater rafting and even a five-day getaway to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. n The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

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

Thurs.

Tues.

Thee Oh Sees at Bowery Ballroom: Frontman John Dwyer leads his prolific San Francisco- based garage rock band on a tour in support of their latest album, the highly rated Mutilator Defeated At Last. After the band took a hiatus in 2013, fans worried that the band, and its legendary live shows, would be no more. Dwyer moved to L.A., but now they’re back in NYC (with two other shows in Brooklyn) and have added a second, groove-locked drum set to their Fri. current mix. 6 Delancey St., 9 p.m., $20, boweryballroom.com.

Marc Dendy Projects’

Whistleblower

at Dixon Place: Catch the latest socially conscious dance-theater work from choreographer Marc Dendy’s group, helmed by longtime collaborator Stephen Donovan. The piece takes place in the mind of Chelsea Manning at the moment of her sentencing for leaking proof of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and utilizes transcripts from her actual trial. Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 26, 161A Chrystie St., 7:30 p.m., $16 adv/$20 door, dixonplace.org.

16 September 2015

Thurs.

Featured

EVENT

Jack Ferver and Marc Swanson’s

Chambre at the New Museum Don’t miss writer, choreographer and director Jack Ferver and visual artist Marc Swanson’s take on Jean Genet’s The Maids as a point of departure for a farcical and haunting attack on our culture of celebrity and greed. Tackling the timeless tension and widening gap between the haves and have-nots, the work is a hybrid performance and art installation drawing from Jean Genet’s iconic play Les Bonnes and the real-life Papin murder case which inspired it. Swanson’s mythic and evocative sculptures—on view as an installation during museum hours—function as both freestanding artworks and a theatrical set. The duo refracts Genet through many lenses, including Lady Gaga’s infamous courtroom deposition speech, role-play and a manic fantasy escape to the City of Lights. Through Sun., Oct. 4, 235 Bowery, Thurs/Fri at 7 p.m., Sat/Sun. at 3 p.m., $20, newmuseum.org.

The Visionaries Series — Hilton Als at The New Museum: Listen to

author and renowned New Yorker critic Hilton Als read from his new, unpublished essay about photographer Diane Arbus and her passionate engagement with New York City. Als is featured as this year’s Visionary speaker in the annual series that honors forward-thinking leaders and spotlights innovators who “shape intellectual life and define the future of culture.” 235 Bowery, 7 p.m., $25, newmuseum.org..

Wed.

Queer New York International Arts Festival at Abrons Arts Center: Broadening the traditional

concept of “queer” (in) art, the Queer New York International Festival returns to Abrons for a fourth year with a diverse slate of artists from around the world, including Ivo Dimchev (Bulgaria), Joshua Monten (Switzerland), Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens (US) and Bruno Isakovic (Croatia). Curated by Zvonimir Dobrović. Through Sept. 26 at various venues, headquartered at Abrons, 466 Grand St. Ticket prices and showtimes vary, abronsartscenter.org.

Communal Spaces: A Garden Play Festival: See two short plays inspired by and presented in a LES commuSat. nity garden. This inspired theatrical team is celebrating five years of plays in local gardens around the city. You can even do a garden play “crawl” this year. They are providing maps, with notes on where to get food or drinks or coffee, to encourage exploration of new neighborhoods. Weekends through September at the Green Oasis Community Garden, 372 E. 8th St. bet. Aves. C & D, Catfight at the Oasis @ 2:30pm, Welcome to The Fall @ 3:30pm, Free, communitygardenproject.wordpress.com

SEPTEMBER

Justin Vivian Bond—Dixie McCall's Patterns for Living at Joe’s Pub: Celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mx Justin Vivian Bond’s prolific and trailblazing career with this revival of v’s cabaret debut, accompanied by Thomas Bartlett. Mx Bond and longtime collaborator Kenny Mellman first brought Dixie to San Francisco on September 9, 1990, at Athens By Night, a hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant, laying the groundwork for what became the pair’s legendary signature act, Kiki and Herb. Fri./Sat. (and one Sun.) through Oct. 4, 425 Lafayette St., 9 p.m., $25, joespub.publictheater.org.

Fri.

Sat.

Mid-Autumn Moon Family Festival at the Museum of Chinese in America: Join MOCA for a fun-filled afternoon of activities exploring the customs and traditions behind this full moon harvest festival. Make your own mooncake, go on a scavenger hunt, create a Jade Rabbit lantern and pose in a photo corner that will send you to the moon and back. 215 Centre St., noon to 4 p.m., $10 ($8 MOCA members), mocanyc.org. n

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neighborhood news

edited by Ed Litvak

crime

The Lower East Side’s 7th Precinct has a new commanding officer. He’s Capt. Steven Hellman, who was previously stationed at Midtown South. Hellman also did a tour of duty at the 9th precinct, which covers the area above East Houston Street, so he’s familiar with the neighborhood. The previous commanding officer, Capt. Joseph Simonetti, was transferred to the 6th Precinct in the West Village. He was on the LES for a little more than one year, having been assigned to the 7th in the spring of 2014.

Captain Hellman with Assemblyman Sheldon Silver and Precinct Council President Don West.

crime

Police arrested a suspect Aug. 6 in connection with the attack on a Pakistani woman on East Broadway near Pike Street. Nineteen-year-old Am-

ina Razvi had just gotten off a bus from Maryland with her brother the evening of July 11. She was wearing a traditional Muslim head scarf and speaking Urdu. A man approached, accusing them of talking about him in a foreign language. After launching into an anti-Muslim rant, police said, the suspect punched Razvi in the face. She required surgery at Beth Israel Hospital for a broken jaw. Cops arrested 29-year-old Zin McDade at Eldridge and Division streets, charging him with felony hate-crime assault and aggravated harassment. Investigators said McDade is homeless and has a history of emotional problems.

transportation

The Department of Transportation has begun making safety improvements around the Manhattan Bridge. Beginning in early August, the city stopped reversing the direction of the lower roadway during the afternoon rush hour. In an effort to decrease driver and pedestrian confusion, it’s now Manhattan-bound at all times. Motorists can still take the upper roadway to Brooklyn. By the end of October, the city will have fully implemented the plan, which also calls for creating a new pedestrian refuge/plaza at Bowery and Canal streets and adding a signal and crosswalk in an area they call “Bowery Slip.” Last month, 83-year-old Ka Chor Yau was struck and killed by the driver of a dump truck as he attempted to cross Canal Street at Bowery. From 2009–2013, there were 133 crashes from vehicles making left turns from Bowery onto the Manhattan Bridge, and 40 crashes from vehicles exiting the Manhattan Bridge from the upper roadway onto Chrystie Street or Canal Street. essex crossing

Construction has shifted into high gear on the former Seward Park urban renewal site. During the summer, Delancey Street Associates (the development consortium) secured $250 million in financing for parcels 2 and 5 from Wells Fargo and Citibank. By the middle of last month, crews had begun demolition of 400-402 Grand Street, two tenement buildings on site 5. When complete in three years, the parcel will include a 15-story tower with 200 apartments, a grocery store and a publicly accessible park on Broome Street. On site 2, at Delancey and Essex streets, a 24-story building will include 195 apartments, a new Essex Street Market and a 14-screen movie theater. Financing is expected to be locked in during the fall for two remaining sites in the first phase of construction. The development project, Essex Crossing, includes 1,000 apartments, half affordable, and 600,000 square feet of commercial space. 18 September 2015

A model shows the propsed flood barriers along the East River on the Lower East Side. flood protection

A $335 million proposal inching closer to fruition could not only protect low-lying areas from future storms, but also dramatically improve access and amenities along the East River. Planners offered a glimpse of the future during three community visioning sessions held during the summer. Thanks to a federal initiative called “Rebuild by Design,” a new flood barrier is in the works from East 23rd Street to Montgomery Street. The project is being overseen by the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency. The designers will finalize their concept by the end of the year and hope to begin construction in 2017. Using 3-D models, the designers sought feedback from local residents about the crossings at Delancey Street, East Houston Street, East 6th Street and East 10th Street. Different types of flood barriers will be used along the river, depending how much room is available in specific spots. A berm (or levee) featuring rolling hills and varied greenery is likely to be built in the widest areas of the park. Meanwhile, floodwalls will be employed where it’s narrower. A combination of the two types of flood devices, plus removable barriers, are all part of the plan. The most extravagant proposals involve completely reconstructing the bridges, creating wide pathways over the highway with gentle inclines. Designers are studying the idea of relocating the Delancey Street bridge span several hundred feet to the south, away from the Williamsburg Bridge. Under this scenario, an entrance would be added leading from Grand Street, while maintaining a Delancey Street entrance. real estate

We now know what Lower East Side developer Samy Mahfar has in mind for 255 East Houston St., the former Action for Progress Day Care building. Mahfar’s SMA Equities purchased 255 East Houston St. and 177 Suffolk St. last year for $16.5 million. According to Buildings Department documents, he plans to build a 10-story residential project totaling more than 51,000 square feet with 53 apartments. About 4,600 square feet will be set aside for a “community facility,” and a rooftop terrace is planned. The architect of record is the Stephen B. Jacobs Group. In 2010, the day care center was evacuated after construction at 255 East Houston St. a neighboring construction site destabilized the building. That other project, at 179 Suffolk St., is also a 10-story tower. It’s nearing completion after being stalled for several years. Mahfar, of course, is a controversial figure on the Lower East Side for his dealings with tenants in the rent-stabilized tenements he owns across the neighborhood. He’s a frequent target of tenant activists and local elected officials. n The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

THE

LO-DINE

natown’s unlikely new ‘It’ bar” on account of the well-connected owners’ knack for drawing a trendy crowd from fashion and entertainment circles. 40 Market St. Noted cocktail master Kanta Goto has opened a sleek izakaya on Eldridge Street. At Bar Goto, there are Japanese-accented cocktails ($15) using ingredients like sake and miso, as well as a variety of small plates. The star of the food menu is okonomiyaki, savory Japanese pancakes stuffed with items such as rock shrimp and pork belly. This is the first solo venture from Goto, who once presided over the bar at Soho’s Pegu Club.

Stefan Jonot, an owner of the old Les Enfants Terribles on Canal Street, has opened a new restaurant a few blocks away from the original spot. In June, Les Enfants de Bohème revealed itself on the northwest corner of Henry and Jefferson streets, diagonally across from Gouverneur Hospital. While the food at Terribles was known for its AfroBrazilian accents, the new restaurant is a straightup French bistro concept. In the past few weeks, the seasonal dinner menu featured dishes such as gazpacho, mussels with chorizo and tomato, steak with chimichurri sauce and skate with lemon, tomatoes and capers. There are also charcuterie and cheese plates served with warm bread baked in house. Les Enfants de Bohème is one of the few places in the neighborhood serving breakfast. The restaurant opens at 7:45 a.m. and doesn’t close until 2 or 3 in the morning. 177 Henry St. at Jefferson Street, lesenfantsdeboheme.com.

Mr. Fong’s, billed as an “unassuming watering hole” below the Manhattan Bridge, became an instant hit upon opening during the summer. The corner spot at Madison and Market streets walks that line between neighborhood beer hall and highdesign cocktail den. The place draws an eclectic crowd and offers relatively inexpensive drinks (beers are no more than $7; cocktails are $9). A few weeks ago, The New York Times dubbed Mr. Fong’s “Chi20 September 2015

The Comfort, a restaurant at 399 Grand St. that’s struggled to find its footing, took an extended summer vacation. A sign went up on the front door in July, announcing, “We are closed for vacation. We apologize for any inconvenience. We’ll see you after Labor Day.” When it first opened, The Comfort was a diner, but soon rebranded as a restaurant and bar. The owner of the 11-month-old establishment told The Lo-Down, “The goal is to re-open ... with a menu that totally distances itself from the diner image. I felt that would be more easily accomplished by taking a month off and relaunching.”

CLOSED: Seoul Kitchen, 71 Clinton St.; Calexico, 153 Rivington St.

The old Motor City space on Ludlow Street completed its upscale transformation over the summer when S.E.T. LES opened in the former dive bar venue. The new spot features a wall of windows that open onto the street, distressed wood paneling, $12 specialty cocktails and a small-plates menu built around a variety of skewers and sliders. The skewers ($3 each) include lemongrass chicken and soy-glazed pork belly. Sliders (banh mi-buttered steak, dry-aged beef, sweet Italian sausage among other options) are three for $12. 127 Ludlow St., near Rivington Street. Moscow 57, the Russian restaurant and performance venue alongside the Williamsburg Bridge, is taking a new name and tweaking its concept. After temporarily closing at the end of July, the year-and-a-half-old establishment will reopen as Kapowski’s on Sept. 10. Partners Ellen Kaye, Seth Goldman and Ethan Fein will now be joined in the endeavor by Tony Powe, who recently sold Clinton Street bars Barramundi and 2nd Floor on Clinton. Moscow 57, which debuted in February 2014, was forced to make do without gas for its first eight months in business and never benefited from the kind of momentum a full scale opening can provide. Upon reopening, there will be a new small-plates menu inspired by both Central Asian and European cuisine. The cocktail menu and wine lists will be elevated, and the nightly cabaret performances will begin at a later hour. 168 1/2 Delancey St., near Clinton Street, moscow57.com.

Round K Cafe is a new coffee shop and Korean restaurant on Allen Street, below Delancey Street. The owner, Ock Hyeon Byeon, who’s only been in this country a few months, has patterned the new spot after South Korean coffee houses of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. He was a barista back home for six years (he also has an engineering degree). The coffee is made from high-quality beans sourced from around the world, including beans grown by a friend in Guatemala. There are specialty teas and delicate Korean-style homemade pastries. A stilldeveloping food menu includes home-style Korean baskets with different meats and tofu over rice with a fried egg, as well as soup and a variety of kimchi. 99 Allen St., roundk.com.

A Southeast Asian restaurant, The Lucky Bee, is coming to a Broome Street space that for nine years was home to Jin Sushi. The popular Japanese spot closed in mid-August. Two Australians, Matty Bennett and Rupert Noffs, have already begun light renovations and plan a fall opening. One distinctive feature of the new restaurant will be several beehives on the roof of the building at 252 Broome St. Local honey will become a prominent ingredient in the menu. Bennett formerly worked in the kitchen at the Orchard Street farm-to-table restaurant The Fat Radish.

A Thai-inspired, hand-rolled ice cream shop has opened on Mott Street in Chinatown. 10Below is the brainchild of brothers Wilson and Richard Tam and partner David Chen. They start by pouring cream or custard into chilled metal containers. Trowels work the raw ingredients until they freeze and become creamy, and then fruit and other ingredients are added. The ice cream is scooped into a cup and served with a variety of toppings. 10 Mott St., at Mosco Street, 10belowicecream.com. n The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

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Who Lives on the

Lower East Side?

he Lower East Side is often portrayed in the mainstream media as a neighborhood in an

advanced stage of gentrification. Over the past 25 years, no doubt, many low- and middleincome residents have been displaced as the community has become more affluent and less ethnically diverse. But an analysis of U.S. Census data offers an interesting perspective on who lives in the neighborhood today. The Department of City Planning last month launched an updated Census Fact Finder application, making it easier to access neighborhood-specific information. We pulled up the Lower East Side profile and have highlighted some of the results here. The data offers a “deep dive” from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which is conducted every year. The “Lower East Side” is defined roughly by the borders of Community District 3, encompassing the East Village, the LES below East Houston Street and most of Chinatown.

* Total population:

75,660

* Under the age of 20:

About 18 percent

* Over the age of 65:

17.5 percent

* Residents with a college degree:

39.5 percent 25.4 percent 22.2 percent 9.6 percent 34 percent

* Residents lacking a high school diploma:

32 percent

* Foreign-born population:

31 percent

* Language other than English spoken at home:

60 percent

* Population 16 and older not in labor force:

46.8 percent

* Annual income:

less than $10,000 between $14,000-$24,999 $100,000+ * Families/people whose income fell below the poverty level:

17.5 percent 11 percent 17.6 percent 28.5 percent

* Homes valued above $1 million:

9 percent (426 units)

* Renters paying less than $500/month:

35.2 percent

* Renters paying $1,500 or more/month:

18.7 percent

* Ethnic breakdown:

Latino: Asian: White: Black:

If you would like to have a look at the data for yourself, visit maps.nyc.gov/census.

The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

George NENADICH

1050 a.m. called “Fusion Deportiva.” I’m also an event manager for Track Marketing, a top-100 event agency. Tell us about your apartment—the good, the bad and the ugly. The Good: I feel we have a great place, when we finally decided this is where we’re staying, I decided this apartment has to be a home for my family. Some of the great perks are a nice-sized terrace and a parking space, which makes things very convenient. The Bad: Unfortunately when you’re dealing with apartment living, your walls are also someone else’s walls, and your floors are somebody’s ceiling as well as your ceiling being someone else’s floor, etc. The Ugly: Not all neighbors are clean, considerate and sane! You have to deal with neighbors that have social and personal issues, plus you have to stay on alert at all times, being that there’s always someone in the shadows that’s up to no good—anywhere and everywhere! What’s your favorite spot on the LES and why? We love walking or biking along the East River up to 23rd Street, enjoying good conversation and good music over drinks at some of the local spots like Eastwood or Les Enfants de Bohème.

For our regular feature spotlighting the people who live and work on the Lower East Side, we talked with LES resident and radio DJ George Nenadich.

How long have you lived on the LES? I have had the pleasure of living in the LES for the last 17 years. Why did you move here, or (if you were born here) why did you stay? My wife is originally from the LES and I have always been fascinated by the neighborhood since I was a child. I was born in Paterson, N.J., but my mother would shop in the old LES, where you could buy great clothing for cheap and she would resell them in Paterson. When I was a teen back in ’80s we would come to the LES to buy jewelry, leather bombers and sheepskin coats. Although we were married at St. Mary’s church on Grand Street, my wife and I lived in Puerto Rico the first years of our marriage, and when we returned to 24 September 2015

NYC we moved to Brooklyn, which was nice, but finally the opportunity to move back to my wife’s old LES neighborhood was an option and we jumped at the chance. By far it has been one of the greatest decisions we have ever made. When we had our daughter in ’03 we were considering moving out to N.J., but then we realized that we truly love this neighborhood, and the only way to make it better is to add to the improvement and contribute to its beauty. It’s easy to abandon and criticize something that you feel you can’t control, but we accepted the challenge and decided to stay here for the rest of our lives, or as long as we possibly can. To my family, the LES is the garden spot of the world! What do you do? I work as an on-air personality at Sirius XM on two channels. I have a classic salsa program, “La Vieja Escuela,” on Caliente, Ch. 69 and on Rumbon, Ch. 533. I host a talk show on ESPN Deportes

Favorite cheap eats? Any of the Castillo joints! The one on Grand Street, the one on Madison Street or the one on Rivington Street. Cabalito on Essex Street, for some great pupusas, or North Dumpling, also on Essex, for super cheap and filling eats. [I like] Café Petisco. I also love to venture deep into Chinatown and find hidden gems all along East Broadway. Favorite place for a special night? When we want to splurge we’ll have drinks and dinner at some of the great hotels like the Rivington or the Thompson. On my birthday we went to a great spot on Hester Street called Louie and Chang’s, then drinks at Tequileria on Ludlow, then to New York Sushi Ko. We dropped a nice piece of change that night. How have you seen the neighborhood change? Progress is always important to any community, but along the way you have to maintain the integrity of certain things in a neighborhood because it can’t be built or designed; it’s something that

comes with time and the character of the people from that area. The small merchants keep disappearing with the development of new apartment buildings and new spaces. More recent transplants have also moved into my neighborhood of Madison and Montgomery Street, which is OK, but many don’t share the same passion for neighborhood. The only reasonably priced supermarket, Pathmark, is gone, and the ones that are left are extremely overpriced. I assume they have to be because of the rent that they have to pay. What do you miss from the old LES? Without skipping a beat, I have to say I miss the old merchants that made the LES famous. It’s still a great melting pot, but back then it was magnifique! I mean the old LES was a shining example of diversification every 10 feet back in the ’80s. You would see Chinese restaurants next to Spanish jewelry stores next to a bialy store next to a pizza shop. You would get a great sandwich at Ratner’s and some good frituras at the Puerto Rican spot on Clinton and Delancey. Great Chinese and Spanish food at the Apollo and go drink at some real dive bars that had no name! Is there a new arrival you love? I like Cabalito, the pupusa spot on Essex, and my wife and I really like Les Enfants de Bohème, because the staff is awesome, in particular the bartender, I believe his name is “East.” I’ve always like the way they fixed up the Essex Market and all the great little shops that make up that location. There’s a cool shop on East Broadway called Malt & Mold that specializes in cheese and beer, two of my favorite things. Every time I walk in there it’s like winning the lottery! What drives you crazy about the neighborhood? It drives me crazy the way some people who have lived here all their lives just take it for granted. I can’t believe the way they treat the great parks and the playgrounds, the way they pollute right where they live. The fact that so many people don’t even take the time to learn the history of their own community. You don’t have to know everything, but you should know a few historical things that occurred in the area where you live. It doesn’t matter whether you come from a milliondollar condo or from the projects, in the LES we all (Continued on p. 27) The Lo-Down | TheLoDownNY.com

(Continued from p. 25) have an obligation to do something for the benefit of community, no matter how big or small. The increasing amount of homeless people in my neighborhood is sad, some of the public benches have been occupied by homeless people, and they have been there for months, in some cases years. Where were these people before? Where is the help? Tell us your best LES memory. I’ve had the pleasure of working in conjunction with the City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage for the last few years. I wanted to do something special for Tito Nieves, who has never performed at our East River Bandshell venue. I knew he would draw a large crowd, if not the largest so far. I decided a plaque would be in order to commemorate his appearance, but it had to say something special. We gave him a plaque at his show that says, “Presented to Tito Nieves from the people of the Lower East Side. Thanks for all the wonderful music. 8/4/15.” n

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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.

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