Lower East Side Wisdom

This week two old friends of mine, Jennifer Armstrong (no relation to Louis) and Heather Wood Rudulph, released their book, Sexy Feminism. I see Jen all the time, but Heather less so, since she lives out in California and is married with a toddler.

Their reading was down at the Bluestockings bookstore, on the Lower East Side, and then we all retired to Lolita bar, just down the block. Heather lived in New York City back in 2003-2006, when The Lower East Side was still considered edgy, and there was nary a glass and steel tower in sight. We liked to think that we owned the place. The lot where The Ludlow apartment building is now was still a parking lot, and the paint was barely dry on The Hotel on Rivington. Who would want to stay on the Lower East Side? Progressive!

As someone who has lived in Manhattan since 1999, the speed at which the Lower East Side has become clean and mainstream boggles my mind. The neighborhood's charm was always that it was an other, a place where actual working class New Yorkers lived. It was authentic and sometimes legitimately scary. My opinions about the sanitization of the area are complicated.

Anyhow, here we all are. Haven't aged a day.

I also learned that 16 First Avenue, right in front of the bus stop, used to be an Artists Rec Center. The sign is still there.

And A Good Weekend Was Had By All

, originally uploaded by La Pauline.

I love a busy weekend. Whether it's busy because of clients or due to social obligations, I'd rather be out and about than in the house.

This weekend was overbooked with karaoke with a friend's mother who was in town as well as birthday brunch on Clinton Street on the Lower East Side. I remember when Clinton Street was sketchy -- now there are tourists down there. The Lower East Side is so sanitized. I constantly seek out people who remember it in 2001, 2003 -- long before there were fancy hotels or even legitimate ATMs. And when I do, we all nod in agreement, as if we're part of some pre-gentrification club. We went to to the Luna Lounge. We remember when there was a parking lot where the Ludlow apartment complex now stands. We want it back.

The photo above was taken at Tapeo 29, a really wonderful tapas restaurant. It's won awards for actually serving real Spanish food. In a neighborhood that has become riddled with poseurs, it's nice to find something that's real, at least according to Zagats.

An Afternoon On The Lower East Side

It was a good day in the East Village trying to find a new place for a client. We ended up finding a sick two bedroom for $2600, which totally made his day.

Along the way there was all sorts of neat stuff to see. Naturally, I took some snaps.

I think these two are the Waldorf and Statler of Clinton Street


You know you've arrived as a barber when you have your own bi-colored neon sign.


I want this on a T-shirt


Sign of the times?

$1850 Ludlow Street One Bedroom

I know I said I was going to move all the real estate stuff to another blog, but there's a great one bedroom available on Ludlow and Rivington for $1850. It's gut renovated with great light, hardwood floors, large closets and lots of closets. Perfect for one person, but prob not two. It's a great space and a great deal. The owner wants to rent it soon.

New kitchen


As you can see, everything is new

This is what happens when urban planners get their hands on downtown. They called The Bowery "Bowery Street." Tsk, tsk.

Jill Turns 30!

I've known Jill since we were freshmen at Syracuse. I kind of moved myself into her room after I realized that she and her roommate, Cara, had a freezer attached to their mini fridge and I had popsicles that were melting. We've been friends ever since.

First, pre-game shots, as always. I actually sat still long enough to get a proper haircut on Saturday.


Jen, another survivor of Dall Hall, third floor, circa 1996, was there.


Lookin' extra fly.


No party is complete without an eggnog cheesecake.


Jill is the only person I know who was excited about turning 30.


Seriously.


Two old ladies in the corner. Total cougars.


A drunk Santa that I found on Orchard Street

Wag of the Finger: The Seward Park Library

Many of the branches have free Wi-Fi, which is great since by nature libraries should be quiet and therefore ideal for getting work done.

Not so for the Seward Park branch. At first I was excited to come down to this part of the Lower East Side, even though it's raining cats and trees outside. Inside it was well lit and cozy, kind of like what I imagined NYC libraries to be like when I was a kid. I quickly settled on the third floor, had a nice view of East Broadway and got to work.

About twenety minutes later a security guard came up to me and told me that I had to unplug my laptop. Even though the chord was against the wall, he said someone could trip on it. Incidently, I could count on one hand all the people who weren in the library at that time, and almost all of them were reading the newspaper. I should also add that the library rent-a-cop was about 5'3 and skinny and even with one arm I could probably kick his ass.

I went back down to the first floor, to the "approved" section for laptops and was told that there was one laptop station for plugging in. The security guard and I exchanged words, and I told him exactly how ridiculous the rules were, because I know for a fact other libraries don't force people to sit in special areas just to plug in their laptops.

After all: New York Public Libraries are funded in large part by taxpayer dollars. As a taxpayer, I should be able to log on where ever I feel like. Furthermore, who takes their job as library security guard so seriously that they have to pick on nice girls with shiny new laptops?

Seward Park Library: Our relationship is over. I'm taking my business to the Ottendorfer Branch.

Here is a link to a piece about new Wi-Fi routers which apparently can flood an entire McMansion, plus the neighbors', with a signal.