You may be aware of the upzoning plan that De Blasio has for Soho – to bring more affordable housing into a neighborhood that is rarely affordable today. You may also know that the landmarking of many properties in Soho was done to call out the use of gorgeous cast iron that allowed builders to admit more light with lighter (and less brick-ey) facades. It also, of course, helped that it was faster and cheaper.
You don’t, however, need to go to Soho to see cast iron used in construction. These photos were taken at a pedestrian building on Madison Avenue at 132, where beautiful pillars hold up the upper floors so the lower one (ground floor) could be a more economically viable commercial space with plenty of space and the potential for plenty of light and doorways.
Cafe Ollin, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, has opened an annex on 2nd Avenue.
While the standout item at the 339 E 108th St, New York, NY 10029 location is the massive cemitas, the annex (on 2nd Ave, between 108/109 Streets) is focused on smaller fare and desserts in particular.
Thinking About Solar? Want to Join A Community Internet Provider?
Our neighbor, John McGuinness (a broker with Compass [email protected]) invites you to join an info session about installing solar panels on private homes in the city and breaking free from the major internet providers. The event will be held on December 9th at 6:30 PM at the Monkey Cup coffee shop on 7th Ave and 118th Street. This session is free and will be led by Brooklyn Solar Works who will be on hand to talk logistics and answer questions from the audience. Also speaking that evening is the non-profit NYC Mesh, which will bring valuable information about how to gain access to a new community-owned internet network.
Refreshments will be served. Please see more info and sign up at the event page HERE. Space is limited to 30 guests.
If you’re curious about art and interested in visiting a consistently good gallery, head over to the David Richard Gallery at 211 E 121st St, New York, NY 10035 (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues).
The gallery leans to hard-edge abstraction painting but never ceases to surprise.
And, while they currently occupy 2 floors, plans are afoot to open the basement as exhibition space as well. Check their hours and make sure to take in their ~6 week rotating exhibits.
Chaiwali Closing
Very sad news. The innovative Indian restaurant Chaiwali on Lenox/124 is closing.
Chef Anita Trehan writes:
I Love Chaiwali,
And to love is to hold on.
Truly I have done everything that I could do to keep it going but I am writing with the sad news that we are no longer able to stay open since I find that for several weeks now, we are not meeting our expenses.
To set up this restaurant it took substantial personal investment, sweat and tears, today it is recognized as a jewel. Many of you know that I am the sole investor, owner, and Chef of Chaiwali, a hard job but one that gave me great joy, from innovating “My Indian” food and drinks, creating a beautiful setting, working to create a harmonious team and genuinely nourishing customers with loving food and caring about their health and well-being.
This has not been enough.
I am not sure what the reason for reduced customer traffic is; we keep hoping that every week it will be better, but it’s not. I have been told that we are still in a Covid related lag or that there are not enough businesses in the area to support my kind of cuisine, or other reasons?
It’s hard to put these words in writing. I am hoping that Chaiwali is not gone forever and that this is a hard RESET, but in all honesty, it is too early to focus on next steps. I am grateful for your support and your love, and I hope our friendship and respect for each other will continue in a new journey. Finally, I do not have enough words for the strong foundation and rock that Natalie and my team has been for me, without her and them I would not have gotten this far. Our last day will be December 12th, and if you are in the neighborhood stop by before that and be on the lookout for a later date to be posted for our “yard sale” as we clear out our inventory closets.
Join the Greater Harlem Coalition’s look at the intersection of Harlem and East Harlem’s quality of life issues and the 2021 NYC elections. Click here to learn more tonight.
City Comptroller
The person who oversees City Hall’s wallet is called the comptroller, a position currently filled by Scott Stringer.
Four contenders are vying to replace the term-limited Stringer (who is running for mayor). And while the ultra-crowded mayor’s race will undoubtedly steal most of the attention this election cycle, choosing our next comptroller is critical for city voters.
The primary vote is set for June 22 of this year. Given New York’s firmly Democratic lean, whichever comptroller candidate nabs a win then will have a strong advantage heading into November’s general election. A Republican has not been elected comptroller since 1938.
New York City’s comptroller is our municipal auditor and fiduciary.
The Office of the Comptroller does several things, but its chief responsibilities are to prepare audits and oversee how city agencies are spending their money, manage the city’s public pension funds — the largest in the world at $224.8 billion as of October, Stringer’s office says — and issue bonds to help pay for large projects. The comptroller also reviews city contracts.
To do all this and more, the comptroller employs a staff of about 800. The comptroller has another important role: serving as second in line of succession to the mayor, after the Public Advocate.Here’s a comprehensive list of duties from the comptroller’s office.
Benjamin, our Harlem neighbor and State Senator represents Harlem, East Harlem and the Upper West Side. The former investment banker and affordable housing developer pledged to return some donations in early January after THE CITY found donors named in campaign records who said they’d never given money to his campaign.
Lander currently serves as the City Council member representing Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Kensington. Previous to government work, he directed a community planning center at Pratt Institute.
Parker, a Brooklyn native, is the current State Senator representing Flatbush and surrounding neighborhoods from Ditmas Park to Park Slope. Before taking elected office, Parker worked for local officials, including the then-state Comptroller H. Carl McCall and then-Flatbush Council member Una Clarke.
Weprin, a native of Queens, currently serves as the State Assembly member representing northeast Queens. He previously represented the area in the City Council, worked in the financial services industry and, in the 1980s, served on the state’s Banking Board.
As Seen on 2nd Avenue in East Harlem
Unfortunately, no, the 2nd Avenue Subway isn’t yet in East Harlem. This remnant of an earlier attempt to build the 2nd Avenue Subway is at 117th Street, and was part of the “cut and cover” trenching done in the 1970s
The new 2nd Avenue Subway will incorporate some of this earlier tunneling into the project.
Cayuga will be hosting a pop-up COVID vaccine clinic at our location on Third ave location. Here are the details: When: Thursday 05/06 and Friday 05/07
When: 8:30 am – 5:30 pm
Where: Cayuga Centers (2183 Third Ave, New York, NY 10035)
Brand: Moderna Walk-ins will be accepted on a limited basis. If interested in being vaccinated at our clinic please email Yiseily De Los Santos at [email protected]g or call at (646) 988-6718 to secure an appointment.
More on Redlining
The digitized versions of the 1930’s redlining maps are fairly ubiquitous these days.
What is often not discussed is that in the early 20th century the white men who drew these maps predicted that the waterfront of the Upper East Side (then with breweries, warehouses, factories, and a mostly German and Slavic immigrant community) was going to go downhill. We also need to recall that the presence of the 2nd and 3rd Avenue Els were also a source of class-panic in that the depressed land values under the Els and the sorts of businesses that located there, seemed to portend a dark future.
In the illustration, above, you can see the almost complete expectation (by the redlining teams) that the Financial District and the LES + Chinatown, would invariably become ‘hazardous’ investment locations.
Redlining, however, did more than predict a community’s viability as a site of investment, it also determined community’s futures by starving them of capital and slowly consigning any existing property owners in ‘hazardous’ areas to insolvency or bankruptcy.
FDNY and High Winds
Last week with the high winds, the FDNY was called to investigate loose metal flashing that appeared unsafe on the Church of All Saints.
Nothing major was discovered at this recently sold building.
If you’ve ever considered putting your money in a Credit Union, the LES People’s Credit Union which has for years worked out of the Union Settlement House on East 104th Street, is moving closer to us at the north-west corner of 117th and 2nd Avenue.
The credit union has low fees, flexible terms, and is a great place to bank at.
