Future of Ridgewood Theater on Myrtle Avenue looks mostly bright. [Post via Curbed]

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When I tell customers or vendors on the phone that my office is on Broadway, lights go on in their heads, literally. They frequently follow up with a question in order to establish if it is that Broadway. I assure them it is that Broadway, but not that part of Broadway (i.e. the Theater District).
Broadway is the longest street in Manhattan, going from the most southern tip of Manhattan at Bowling Green all the way to to the northern most neighborhood of Inwood - it then crosses Spuyten Duyvil Creek via the Broadway Bridge, continuing into the Bronx, keeping its signature name. And in that course of 12 miles, you will find some extraordinary variety of architecture and neighborhoods.
But you don’t need the longest street in New York City to find that kind of change. What is remarkable about Manhattan is the change in character over the shortest distances. And without crossing the proverbial railroad tracks. So when it comes to knowing the nature of a street in New York City, you need to know much more than what street, you need to know where on that street.
Take MacDougal Street which is only six blocks long. At one end near 8th Street, you have a quiet block intersecting charming MacDougal Alley. One beautiful home I have written about stands there - see Better When. The is also the location of the controversial Christian Science building. This photo was seen used recently in the New York Times - see here.
The next block abuts Washington Square Park with a number of tall prewar buildings. Two blocks further and you have one of the dirtiest, most touristy and tacky streets in New York City. This is the block where I recently featured Shwarma - see here.
The very next block becomes very residential, lined by landmark buildings on one side and a number of well know Italian businesses - Cafe Dante and their restaurant, Villa Marconi and Tiro A Segno, the private club with a rifle range I have previously written about - see Secret Society here. At the corner is the location of the recently closed landmark cafe - Le Figaro - see here.
Cross Houston on the next block and we are in SoHo and find a handful of French inspired cafes and restaurants. This is the block that during Bastille Day is closed for festivities including the construction of impromptu Petanque courts with competitions. See my posting here.
And this is the block where I took today’s photo of absolutely one of the loveliest Parisian style care/bistros in the city - Oscar. Everything is so pristine and well appointed. The colors chosen for their exterior was complemented by the setting sun - it exudes the character of an authentic French cafe - you have have to look hard to find this kind of place in such a bucolic setting.
Rapidly changing landscapes all over the brief distance of one kilometer. This is one of the greatest things about New York City - different worlds unfolding as you walk … Read the rest of this entry »

After my walk along Myrtle Avenue, I took a turn onto Wyckoff, into Bushwick’s industrial zone, an area like Gowanus or Red Hook, turning into art galleries and lofts, yet still functioning and buzzing with industry. Here you can still hear the grinding of sheet metal and clanking of mysterious machines.

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Found an interesting blog today on architecture, culture, and the city. Check out D.J. Huppatz’s Critical Cities and read about 21st Century New York Interiors and Meatpacking District design, where “wasted space” is equated with luxury.

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In August, 2007, I wrote an article, Lunch Limbo, about the perennial dilemma regarding lunch in the city - what to eat. We are spoiled with the plethora of foods here, but in time we still become bored with the choices: the deli counter, salad bar or perhaps the classic New York fall back - a “slice” (of pizza).
Restaurant delivery is an option but then you have all that planning, ordering by phone and the waiting. Bringing your own is an intelligent strategy - you get just what you want the way you want it and without paying wildly inflated prices. This however, requires advance planning, preparation and the schlepp.
Often, nothing seems really satisfying without foraging or the hunt in the concrete jungle. Enter the food cart - a great solution that satisfies these desires rather nicely. However, finding a quality food cart is not easy. There was a cap on vendor licenses instituted in the 1980s - permit holders typically have just held on to them and most vendors sublease their permits.
In Lunch Limbo, I did mention Calexico’s food cart in the heart of SoHo at the corner of Prince and Wooster Streets. Lines there quickly become extraordinarily long, so my experience with them in 2007 was singular. The cart was opened the summer of 2006 by three Vendley brothers: Jesse (an ad copywriter), Brian (a graphic designer) and David (a musician). They hail from Calexico, California where their experience growing up with carne asada inspired the venture. Original plans for a restaurant were derailed by a visit to the Vendy Awards competition and the Calexico cart was born. In 2008, Calexico won their own Vendy Award.
They have since opened a second cart at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway. Here they offer an abridged version of the the full menu of the Wooster Street cart. Although the lines at the new location can also get long, they have a very efficient system of collecting orders and giving you a time estimate. I typically take a stroll of some minutes, return and voila - my food is waiting.
I had been critical of the lines and overall hoopla until I started eating there regularly and found out why they won the Vendy award, not the Trendy award. The food is excellent and the guys have gone the extra mile or two to make a quality product. Like meat marinated overnight and the rub they had customized by a professional spice mixing company. That’s what their patrons are waiting for. See their website here.
These photos were taken a short time ago when there was still some snow on the ground. As you can see, frigid weather does not daunt the serious, hungry New Yorker from foraging or the hunt Read the rest of this entry »

A historic Red Hook sandwich shop crosses the river without losing its soul.

The financial analyst is slick, smart, and she sniffed out the sorry state of the banks before almost anyone else. And now shes trying to, yes, leverage all that.

There’s a new variation on yuppie and yunnie out there: “Yuggies”–those fresh grads emerging with shock and awe into the recession. “Give us something to do,” they say, to help pay off those “staggering loans”–like dog walking, typing, or moving furniture. They also do windows.

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As he stepped into my office, I recognized his gentle and polite manner. After exchanging how-are-yous, conversation quickly turned to his last show, Typo, some years ago in New York City at the New Victory Theater. I remarked how I had really liked it to which he responded, “Yes, and you had kind words.”
Kind words. Now that’s a phrase I don’t hear often in New York. Not that acts of kindness don’t exist. It’s just that choice of words has a gentle courteousness about it that left the phrase rolling in my head for days.
I have always contended that the cliche of a New Yorker stepping over a fallen body (rather than helping) is a bit of an exaggeration. Although New Yorkers can be perhaps harried or brusk, when there is genuine need, many will rise to the occasion. I have seen an attorney on Broadway draw a handgun on two individuals in a knife fight to keep if from escalating, while the crowd waited for the police to arrive.
I am not, however, likening New York City to a small rural town, where friendliness and helpfulness can often be disarming. I have the privilege of meeting many performers from outside New York City and their manner is often like a brief visit to another place and frequently a window to a more gentle world.
Jamie Adkins is an internationally recognized talent with many awards and credits.He started his performing career at age 13 on the streets of San Diego. Jamie currently resides in Montreal, where he has worked with Cirque loize in the show Excentricus, and with whom he collaborated to createTypo. He has worked with Cirque du Soleil inWintuk.
His new one-man show, which I saw Saturday afternoon, is entitled Circus INcognitus. In this essentially silent work, he showcases his many skills - juggling, mime, clowning, hand balancing, slack-rope walking and his routine with freestanding ladders. You can read more about him onhis website here.
Jamie’s affable character permeates his show and I am not the only one to notice. From a review of Typo in the New York Times:
“… throughout this pleasantly casual, mildly daffy homage to old-time acrobatics. The show, aimed at young audiences, gives Mr. Adkins a chance to show off an impressive array of juggling and ladder-walking and slack-wire balancing skills. Just as important, it gives him a chance to show off a breezy likability that can’t help but bring Charlie Chaplin to mind…. The show is so genial that you can’t quite tell if the occasional drop is intentional, and you don’t care anyway.”
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Berman lays it all out–the hits, misses, and continuing challenges of fighting rampant development. [Villager]

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