Seen & Heard: Schoolkid Gallery Show

••• The cobblestones on Greenwich have been bad for a long time now, but the patches (between Hubert and Laight) where utility workers did work and them haphazardly replaced them are a new low.

••• The “D2 Downtown Art Show: Celebrating Artwork of District 2 Public School Children” is next week: “Please join us Tuesday, June 20 (5-7 p.m.) or Wednesday, June 21 (5-7 p.m.), for the inaugural District 2 Downtown Art Show. This is a unique and important opportunity to showcase our children’s artwork created in the public schools. Seventeen pre-k, elementary and middle schools located in lower Manhattan will be participating. There will be a short reception on Wednesday, June 21 at 5:30. The New York Academy of Art, at 111 Franklin Street, has generously donated their spectacular gallery to display the art.”

••• From M.: “This is a long shot but do you have any information about whether the Crave Espresso Bar team has relocated anywhere else? It’s odd to say but Crave was actually the closest continuer of an older Soho-based coffee shop called Cafe Cafe, which closed a few years back when the gallery next door (which used to sell giant mosaic pin-ups and flower-shaped chairs) needed to expand. The Crave guys bought a bunch of Cafe Cafe furniture, and hired several of the Cafe Cafe workers. I miss them and was wondering if they’ve landed elsewhere in the area.” Anyone know?

••• During a nice visit with the folks at the Hudson Square Connection, I snapped a pic of this map showing the proposed expansion of the Business Improvement District, which would help cement the idea of the neighborhood. (The current BID is gray, and the proposed expansion is blue.) They said it’s about a year from being done.

••• They also pointed out that there’s a new Isamu Noguchi sculpture at the Freeman Plaza on Varick. Enlarge the and you’ll get to see someone splayed out behind it.

••• And I asked about 288 Spring (southeast corner of Hudson), where a parking lot recently closed: Is something happening there? They explained that the Holland Tunnel runs directly underneath it, so no foundation can be dug there. The question, then, is whether the Port Authority might agree to allow some public use on the lot….

 

4 Comments

  1. Thank you for your coverage of the unsafe conditions and sloppy work by DOT. Their vendor used grout that dissolves in water. Please call DOT Manhattan office at 212-839-6210 and ask for Manhattan Borough Commissioner’s Office to respond to ref. # DOT-335480-D9X3.

    • I called the DOT Manhattan office phone: 212-839-6210 and asked about case # DOT-335480-D9X3…. they promised a phone response but no phone call was received….nor have any of the unsafe conditions caused by missing cobblestones been remedied. The City spent $millions on this cobblestone restoration (Greenwich Street between Canal Street and Hubert Street) which is now an unsafe condition for pedestrians and vehicular traffic alike.

      http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/11-01pr.shtml#.WVD9zhMrK3A

  2. Hey, my husband says he saw a work stoppage order posted at the construction site on the east side of Church Street between Warren and Chambers. Any idea what’s going on or how long the delay will be? They seem to have fallen way behind the *other* construction site on that block, across the street on the southwest corner of Church & Chambers.

    • DOB website shows last SWO was rescinded 2 weeks ago.

      “NYC Department of Buildings
      Overview for Complaint #:1451506 = RESOLVED
      Complaint at: 149 CHURCH STREET

      […]

      “Last Inspection: 06/02/2017 – – BY BADGE # 2555
      Disposition: 06/05/2017 – L2 – STOP WORK ORDER FULLY RESCINDED N
      DOB Violation #: 053017BS01BG01/02/03 #2342
      ECB Violation #: 35238932H 35238933J 35238934L
      Comments: COMPLIED WITH VIOLATIONS BY PROVIDING G-RAILS, SAFETY MEASURES & CONSTRUCTION SUPERINTENDENT AS REQUIRED. #2342

      Complaint Disposition History

      […]

      ” COMPLAINT ASSIGNED TO BEST SQUAD 2633 05/25/2017 “

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