the lo-down magazine - november 2013

8/14/2019 The Lo-Down Magazine - November 2013

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LO-DOWNTHE

Ed LitvakEditor-in-Chief

Traven RiceGeneral Manager/Arts Editor

Jen nif er Str omAssociate Editor

Kim SillenArt Director

Ale x M . S mit hContributing Photographer

Evan ForschCartoonist

Adv ert is ing inqui rie s:[email protected]

Story tips: [email protected]

Contact us: 646-861-1805

The Lo-Down is a publication of Lo-Down Productions LLC, 2013.

LO-DOWNTHE

November 2013

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We all know the Lower East Side is rapidlychanging. Businesses open and close so quicklyits tough to keep up with the comings andgoings. But a few things are constant: thecontinued presence of the beloved KatzsDelicatessen is one of them. In this monthsissue, we take a look at this one-of-a-kindinstitution thats been feeding locals and visitorsalike for 125 years. Katzs wont be aroundforever nothing will be but today its thriving.So as the deli celebrates a major milestone, ourcover story pays tribute to a place wheretradition still prevails. Speaking of longevity,weve been following the effort to rescuepossible Revolutionary War relics from a buildingon the Bowery. If you havent been following thisintriguing story on our website, we have a recapin the magazine. Also in this issue, we look atsome of the new vendors at the Essex StreetMarket and review the month of Banksy in NewYork. Here at The Lo-Down, were alreadyworking on a special edition for December/January. Its a Best of the LES, issue,highlighting some of our (and our readers)favorite restaurants and food purveyors. Happy

holidays from all of us at TLD.

in this issue

!"#$% '("%)Katzs at 125

*$+ ,%%-#./0Faded Royalty, Contra, El Rey Coffee bar

*$-123"%2"" 4 *$+0Cocaine bust, real estate deals,Noahs Ark update

5-0("% -6./ 7%$.08%$0Possible Colonial-era tavern unearthed onBowery

9: !.0$ ;"8 $.(8%$4 ?#$:(0Load OUT!, Jonathan Richman,!"# %&''( )&*# +&,(

,% (0 @.(62Banksys big splash

72$ A"B C-:$Fresh faces at the Essex Street Market

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Photos from around the neighborhood


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www.thelodownny.com 11

FADED ROYALTY(57 Clinton St., fadedroyalty.com) is the third location andthe new flagship for the mensstreetwear brand, which alsohas stores in Jersey City andBergenfield, N.J. After launch-ing inside Coat of Arms justdown the street, the boutique

expanded into its own space at the end of September.Headwear and T-shirts for the millennial set start at $20for knit beanies, with a wide variety of cap designs run-ning around $35. Shop hours are noon to 8 p.m. daily.

Meet Marilyn Karpoff

A Lower East Side native,

Marilyn is a baby boomer who

understands the inherent chal-

lenges of an aging population.

Moving On NYC is the natural

outgrowth of her successful real

estate company, Karpoff

Affiliates. Moving On NYC

offers seniors individualized

transition planning. We can as-

sess your current living situation

to determine how to live safely

and independently in your own

home. If you choose not to stay

in your home, we can help you

pack, move, and sell your apart-

ment. If youre a baby boomer

who has lost a parent, you may

need help evaluating furnish-

ings and finding a buyer. No

maer what your circumstance,

we provide expertise that will

give you peace of mind and en-

sure that each project is handled

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Real Estate Broker & Senior Citizen TransitionYourone-stopsolution!

Well help you make the best decisions tosimplify and enhance your lifestyle with

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THEMOVING ON NYCADVANTAGE

;., 29


8/17


real estate

Five commercial buildings changed hands recently on the LESs hot real estate

market. In one high-profile transaction, an apartment building at 193-195 Stanton St. sold for

$20.3 million in early October, closing one part of an original four-property, $40-million dealbetween buyer Croman Real Estate and Jane Holzer, an Andy Warhol muse. Elsewhere on theLES, a 12,000-square-foot residential building with 21 apartments and three ground-floor retailspaces at 85 Pitt St., near Rivington, sold for $7.4 million. Two five-story tenement properties,40 E. Broadway in Chinatown and 281 Grand St., also sold, at $5.9 million and $8.5 million,respectively. The building at 40 E. Broadway is just over 10,000 square feet and has retail spaceson the first two floors; it last changed hands in 2002 for $2.7 million. The Grand Street buildingis 15,600 square feet, and is right next to 283-285 Grand St., a glassy new commercial buildingthat was built on the site of a tenement building destroyed by fire in 2010. And over on AllenStreet, real estate magnate Samy Mahfar of SMA Equities in Great Neck acquired yet anotherLower East Side building, purchasing 99 Allen St. for $4.4 million. (Companies controlled byMahfar have been picking up commercial real estate all over the neighborhood, including buyingthe building at 210 Rivington St., right next door to 85 Pitt St., this summer for $7.6 million.)

Eleven people were indicted following a 21-monthdrug investigation at the Jacob Riis Houses, DistrictAttorney Cy Vance announced Oct. 15. The narcoticstrafficking organization possessed and sold street-levelcrack cocaine, as well as larger, resale quantities of thedrug, according to the DAs statement. The indictmentsresulted from undercover operations, physical surveillanceand court-authorized electronic eavesdropping at locations

in and around the Riis Houses, located at East Eighth Street and Avenue D. Dwayne Mitchell, 35, isaccused of leading the organization, having bought wholesale quantities of crack cocaine fromanother suspect, Sabed Rahman, 29, who was the chief supplier, according to the indictment. Thetwo men are charged with conspiracy, criminal sale of a controlled substance and money laundering,

among other charges. The other nine suspects charged in connection with the case are: Felix Benitez,Edith Gutierrez, Charles Laboy, Anthony Martin, Jason Martin, Fatima Owens, Eric Ray, Ronald Williamsand Craig Witter, all Manhattan residents.

www.thelodownny.com

neighborhood newsedited by Jennifer Strom

crime

nightlife

food

Noahs Ark Deli, a kosher mainstay at 399 Grand St., isfacing eviction. The deli had closed for the Jewish holidays inearly September, and the staffwas cautioned then that it may notreopen. On Oct. 11, a notice was posted on the front door by courtofficials, ordering the restaurant to vacate the premises. The deli,which opened in 2003, was the only full-service kosher restaurantremaining on the Lower East Side. Its landlord is the Seward ParkCooperative, which had struggled during the past few years tocollect rent from the business. The owner of Noahs Ark, NoamSokolow, who also operates restaurants in Teaneck, N.J., had beenattempting to sell the LES restaurant for some time. Sokolow didnot respond to requests for comment by The Lo-Down.

State authorities have given a green light for the private global members club Soho Houseto open a Lower East Side location, to be known as Ludlow House, at 139 Ludlow St. TheOct. 22 decision effectively ended a battle that spanned most of this year and pitted the club ownersagainst a group of neighborhood residents. It means Soho House can now begin construction to restorea building it purchased in 2012; the renovations are expected to take about a year. The organizationsattorney intimated that Soho House is willing to work with local preservationists to secure landmarkstatus for the 1930 property, which features a beautiful Gothic-style facade. The State Liquor Authority,responding to one primary concern of the neighbors, declined to approve the consumption of liquor onthe outdoor portion of a proposed fifth-floor roof deck. The authority also imposed a 6 p.m. closing timefor the space. Throughout the yearlong debate, Soho House representatives touted the club as a placewhere creative people can interact and network. Highlighting support from the Lower East Side BID, theclubs attorney also talked up its potential as a daytime destination that would benefit struggling localbusinesses. The club agreed to donate a 4,300-square-foot space in the basement to the EducationalAlliance. Ludlow Houses approval was the largest of several other developments on Ludlow Street lastmonth. In related news, veteran music venue The Living Room closed at the end of October, while newsbroke that the new hotel at 180 Ludlow St. would include a restaurant from the high-profile team behind

Torrisi and Parm.

Traffic backs up on Grand Street.

85 Pitt St. 99 Allen St.193-195 Stanton St.

The future home of Ludlow House at 139 Ludlow St.

Noahs Ark


9/17


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Bowery Demolition Reveals Ruins,Possibly of Bulls Head Tavern

All photos by Adam Woodward.

Opposite page:Wooden beams line the ceilingbelow 50 Bowery, possibleevidence of a significant discovery.

This page, clockwise:1.A 1783 lithograph of the BullsHead Tavern. 2.The roof of 50Bowery. 3. The demolition site,as seem from the ground level.


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15/17


pushed our residents to stay active on the tenantsassociation and community board.

Whats your favorite spot on the LES andwhy?My favorite meeting spot has always been Tomp-kins Square Park. I remember swimming in the poolthere as a kid. Taking my boys there on playdatesand having lunch with friends.

Favorite cheap eats?My favorite cheap eats and reading zone is the Na-tive Bean on Avenue A and East Third Street.

Favorite place for a special night?My favorite place to hang has been BOHO Kara-oke on Orchard. I can unwind and sing some oldschool tunes without judgments. Im no AmericanIdol, but I can hold my own. Oh, and the wings atOne and One are yummy.

How have you seen the neighborhoodchange?I have seen so many changes in this community!The buildings are a lot taller. The supermarkets arevery expensive. Most of the mom-and-pop storesare gone (due to rent increases). I have seen an in-crease in nightlife activity; meaning every blockseems to house a bar or lounge. Youth involvement,especially teens, has decreased. There are very lim-ited Friday and Saturday night safe spaces for ourteens. Housing is no longer affordable; rent goes upbut not income. Churches are being knocked down.There are overcrowded clinics that dont provideenough extended hours or affordable prices forlow-income, working people. And 7-Eleven hascome to the LES!

What do you miss from the old LES?

What I miss most are the family-style restaurants anddiners.

Is there a new arrival you love?There is a new boutique that just opened up downthe street from me: Curvaceous K on Stanton off Clin-ton Street. Hip, fresh clothing for the plus-size ladies.Im a big girl and I like to look fresh! Lol!

What drives you crazy about the neighbor-hood?I dont like people that disrespect our community.I dont like the people that use us and throw usaway, the ones that vomit and urinate on our

streets and leave. I dont like people that block thesidewalks while they wait in line for a bar or restau-rants. Lastly, I dont like people that dont get in-volved in something; if youve live here and havekids here, it affects you.

Whats the strangest thing youve ever

seen on the LES?Whats the strangest thing Ive ever seen? Please,its the Lower East Side, and its all strange! Gottalove it!Whos the best neighborhood character

youve met and why?I actually have two characters: Mr. Purple: heowned a building and garden on Forsyth Streetand lost it to the city developers. He taught me toappreciate the gardens in my community. Every

time we went into his garden, we had to hug thebig tree. My friend and mentor: Marie Christo-pher, tenants association president of 210 Stan-ton and community activist. She taught me how tofight without using my fist. She told me the onlyway to get my landlord to respect me was to geteducated on the HUD rules and regulations. Welost her this year.

Tell us your best LES memory.My mom, Brenda Lewis, worked on what wasgoing to be our home at 66 Ave. C. She was ahomesteader. My mom couldnt afford childcare,so she found an older woman, Sara Farley, to su-pervise us. Ms. Sara was an African-Americanwoman that held the history of the LES down onEast Sixth Street. She would come up with creativeways to keep me and my brothers busy. One wasworking on Jesse Jacksons campaign for presi-dent. Me and my brothers rode on his float andhanded out flyers all over the LES. We felt like ce-

lebrities.

nosed with stage-two breast cancer in 2010. Lostboth breasts and underwent a year of chemother-apy. I am still on a daily med for five years, but inremission. I was a site coordinator for UniversitySettlement (a Lower East Side nonprofit), after-school/summer camp, which was one of their firstsites in Brooklyn.

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

I have lived in the Thelma Burdick Apartments (aka10 Stanton St.) since August, 1985. We are a Sec-tion 8 project, which means the rent goes accord-ing to 30 percent of your household income.When we moved into our building, it was likeheaven However, times got hard and manage-ment changed. We (tenants association and resi-dents) have to fight for every little thing. Its downto the basic necessities at times: stoves, refrigera-tors, heat and hot water. Repairs take months tocomplete. Our community rooms had to be nego-tiated to be returned for use of the residents... Welost our backyard to developers. However, it has

How long have you lived on the Lower

East Side?I have lived on the LES for more than 30 years.

Why did you move here or (if you wereborn here) why did you stay?My parents moved here in the 70s because, as mymom said, its a community that accepts you asyou are. My mom was mixed, so she felt comfort-able down here more so than in the predomi-nately African-American communities where myother family members lived. I stayed for my sib-lings; they have special needs and this neighbor-hood is a familiar place to call home.

What do you do?I am currently in the healing process. I was diag-

AlyshaCOLEMAN

For our regular feature spotlighting thepeople who live and work on the Lower EastSide, we talked with tenants rights activistand long-time resident Alysha Coleman.

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the lo-down magazine - november 2013

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