••• As we knew already, what had been the check-in part of the lobby, to the left of the front door, is now North End Grill. As you can see if you walk up the glass façade on North End and peek inside, where there used to be a lobby sitting area is now a heck of a staircase. Its size isn’t the most dramatic factor; the whole thing is a bit askew, with railings that aren’t parallel. There’s even a chance that an inebriated guest—one too many single malts at NEG?—might wander in between two railings that end up converging in a V. There are escalators, too.

••• The hotels’ main public area is all on the second floor, and it’s still dominated by the giant Sol LeWitt mural, although what you’ll notice first—what you’ll notice before even the kooky railings—are the “veils,” organically-shaped lighting fixtures that hang from the ceiling (designed by the person/firm who did the lighting at the High Line). [Update: Roy sent over a better attribution: "L’Observatoire International in collaboration with MPDL Studio were the main designers of our public space, including the veils."] You can sort of see the veils—and a bit of those railings—in this rendering:

••• Click to enlarge that image for a better glimpse of the 150-foot-long (total) serpentine sofa. I was hoping it’d be bright green, an homage to the benches that used to be in Federal Plaza, but it appears not. The hotel’s three-meals-a-day restaurant and bar, Atrio, is to the near right as you walk up the stairs; the gym is to the far right, with windows on North End Vesey; the event spaces are to the rear left of the lobby. You can keep walking right through the lobby to another staircase—grander than before—that leads down to Goldman Alley. People leaving the Regal movie theater will still be able to enter the hotel on the second floor and scoot down the stairs. (“Or stay for a drink,” said Roy.)

••• The event spaces, much of which are where DSW was, sit around a great staircase that resembles a suspension bridge contracting in on itself. The ever-changing colored lights on Goldman Alley are in some of the meeting rooms. The lights’ purpose remains unclear.

••• The hotel will have 463 rooms, same as the Embassy Suites did. I was worried that the long, dark, low-ceilinged rooms of yore would be tough to turn high-end, but the 420-square-foot one we checked out, the smallest in the hotel, certainly felt nice. It felt more cozy than tight—a result of finer materials, I suppose. You enter the rooms from the hotel atrium into a living room, with the bathroom in the middle (most rooms will have two-room bathrooms, and the one we saw had a walk-in shower), and the bedroom is on the building’s perimeter. The windows along the atrium are gone, as one might have expected, and the new design makes the hallways much less motel-y. I assumed that noise from the atrium was a concern, but Roy said that the complaints on TripAdvisor about the Embassy Suites had been mainly about noise from adjacent rooms. The workers discovered only one layer of sheetrock in between many rooms; naturally, the Conrad added soundproofing. Two renderings:

••• Those make it look more boring, less cocoon-y than in real life. When we entered the room, I was surprised to see art by Elizabeth Peyton on the walls. It’s a remnant of the Embassy Suites days (who knew?). The Conrad will have around 2,000 pieces of contemporary art, said Roy—not just LeWitt and Peyton, but also Sara Sosnowy, Pat Steir, and Mary Heilman.

••• The rooftop bar isn’t ready for a peek yet.

••• The ground floor’s southwest corner remains undecided and/or unannounced.

••• As we knew, the hotel is taking reservations for March 1 and beyond. If they can swing it, they’ll open sooner—and with opening weekend rates of $229, it’s worth paying attention to see if that happens. Pajama party, anyone?

By Casey Kelbaugh (courtesy the New York Times)

••• The Clocktower Gallery emailed out a New York Times article on founder Alanna Heiss, but I can’t find the link. I guess it hasn’t been posted online just yet? I’ll add it when I find it.

••• Checking in with the Battery Conservancy’s plans for a carousel and Frank Gehry–designed playground in Battery Park. —Broadsheet

••• “The vacant 144-year-old cast-iron and stone buildings at 52 and 54 Lispenard Street are covered with rust and peeling paint. Community Board 1′s Landmarks Committee likes the idea of restoring the buildings—just not the way the developer is proposing. Last week, the committee condemned plans that would combine the two buildings into one condominium development.” —Tribeca Trib

••• “The luxurious Tribeca townhouse made famous during Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s extended stay as a criminal defendant in Manhattan has suffered the indignity of a third price cut—this time to $11.995 million.” —Wall Street Journal

••• Condé Nast is leasing three more floors at 1WTC. —The Real Deal (via Curbed)

••• “The developers of Manhattan’s Trump SoHo will put the hotel and its unsold condominium units up for sale [...]. The Sapir Organization, which developed the property with Bayrock Group, has hired brokers Eastdil Secured and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. to hold an auction for the unspecified number of unsold condominium units and the hotel’s common areas [...]. Prospective buyers will receive preliminary information about the sale as early as Wednesday and the auction probably will be held in March or April.” —Crain’s

STREET-FESTIVAL PERMIT
As part of the mayor’s awesome initiative to reduce the number of street fairs, the city is making various organizations with street fairs planned condense them into one event. So the Downtown Visiting Neighbors and the Downtown Independent Democrats, who were going to have separate events (on Broad and Murray, respectively), are now holding one event, together, on Lafayette between Canal and Leonard, on Sunday, April 22. Vote: 7–0.

Plein Sud's Frederic Lesort holding the plans for a sidewalk café; click to enlarge and you'll see where the tables will be

SIDEWALK-CAFÉ PERMIT FOR PLEIN SUD
Plein Sud wants to put ten tables (20 seats) on W. Broadway, south of the Smyth hotel’s entrance; the request was accompanied by a separate application for a liquor license to allow hooch in the café. There was discussion as to exactly how busy that part of W. Broadway is (not very), and how far the tables would be from the subway entrance (64 feet). Plein Sud wanted to serve liquor till midnight seven days a week, but the board voted unanimously for 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday (or maybe Thursday) and midnight Thursday through Saturday.

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: MARYANN’S
As mentioned here, MaryAnn’s has a private party space in its basement, and it wants a liquor license, but there’s no certificate of occupancy yet, so the board thinks it needs to wait. A neighbor asked if the rumor was true that MaryAnn’s would be turning it into an “after hours club.” The folks from the restaurant said no.

Susghi of Gari's plans for the ground floor (click to enlarge)

LIQUOR-LICENSE APPLICATION: SUSHI OF GARI
The mysterious Japanese restaurant coming to the old Bouley Studio/Upstairs/Bouley Bakery* space will be Sushi of Gari, which has outposts on the Upper East and West Sides and on W. 46th St., as well as one in Tokyo. (Or maybe it won’t be called that, as the application says “dba TBD,” even though the community petition says it’ll be Sushi of Gari and the menu submitted is Sushi of Gari’s.) Anyway, Gari’s Masatoshi Sugio is partnering with Manabu Nishigaki who has Ise Restaurant on E. 49th St. (which used to be near the WTC) and, according to the application, “Oni Corp” at 56 Pine, which I can’t find online. The first floor will be the kitchen and restaurant seating; upstairs will be the small bar and restaurant seating. They anticipate opening in the summer, with construction starting in a few months. The restaurant wanted to stay open till 2 a.m. weekdays/3:30 a.m. weekends, but the board went unanimously for 1 a.m./2 a.m. (*There was a humorous moment at the start when everyone tried to get a handle on which building was becoming Sushi of Gari. The one that used to be a Bouley restaurant? The white building?)

SIDEWALK-CAFÉ PERMIT: JEAN
Dr.  Michel Cohen was on hand to request 10 outdoor tables (with 21 seats) for Jean, his upcoming lunch spot/wine bar at 65 W. Broadway. The board was nervous about approving café seating for a restaurant before it had opened. For a while, it looked as if the chair’s enthusiasm for Cohen would push it through, but others worried that a precedent was being set. I had to leave before the vote, but my guess is that it did not pass. P.S. Jean is not opening until at least March.

WHAT I MISSED
ROC was there for to renew its sidewalk-café permit, and there was going to be a presentation by members of CB1′s State Liquor Authority Task Force Committee. And the final item on the agenda—the restaurant at 225 W. Broadway dropped, by the way—was “WTC Command Center at 1st Precinct.” My guess is that either CB1 is upset about the construction or the traffic/parking; whether the NYPD would care about its opinion is another matter entirely.

••• The buyer of the $17 million penthouse on Canal is a hedge-fund founder named Harsh Padia; his wife, Purvia, is an interior designer. —New York Observer

••• The New York Post goes foraging with Matthew Lightner, chef of the “soon-to-open” Atera, and learns this: “The intimate restaurant will feature a 12-seat, reservations-only dining bar, a five-seat table and an open kitchen, serving a single, set tasting menu each night at two seatings for about $150 per person.” And this: “A variety of herbs growing from a ‘living’ wall in the restaurant will also provide ingredients.” And this: “When the restaurant opens its doors, expect dishes containing wild licorice root, dried lichen, wintergreen, sassafras, monkfish roe and spruce. By early spring, ingredients such as wild ginger, birch water and shad roe will appear.” Eater thought the article read like a “Portlandia” skit.

••• According to amNY, partners in Super Linda include Serge Becker (The Box, La Esquina, Miss Lily’s Favourite Cakes) and Richard Ampudia (Bar Bruno).

••• “As word spread of the barricades at Zuccotti Park being taken down overnight, a slow stream of Occupy Wall Street protesters—who made the site their home for two months—began to trickle back. Several hundred activists made their way to the park by early Wednesday morning, with more expected later in the day, protestors said.” —DNAinfo

••• Eater summarizes the Demi Monde press release that came out this morning: “The front, street-level section of Demi Monde will indeed function as a coffee shop during the day, serving nearby locals and office workers. At night the bulk of the space, located via a winding staircase to a subterranean level, will open and will provide, press materials promise, ‘an underground nightlife experience like no other.’ The space will have a 200 person capacity with seating for 120 and will be divided into a series of connected rooms. There will be a sunken lounge filled with tables, a carpeted VIP area,”—Carpeted? Wowzapalooza!—”a bar, a DJ booth, and ‘places out of the action to sit or mingle.’ On the menu: serious cocktails—co-owners include bar man Alex Day and Death & Co’s David Kaplan after all—a wine list with a focus on sparkling wine, and share plates from Vandaag alum Phillip Kirschen-Clark. It opens to the public in mid-February.”

••• Cute gimmick: “Sign the lease on the 3,000 square foot 3BR/3.5BA loft at 165 William Street and the owners will let you name the entire 30,000 square foot building; this includes signage.” —Curbed

••• “Gray Line New York’s red double-decker tour buses have been making an appearance in Battery Park City’s north end, but the owner of CitySightseeing Cruises and Gray Line says the situation is only temporary.” —The Broadsheet. Related: The Battery Park City Broadsheet is now just The Broadsheet “because we serve more communities (including Tribeca, Fidi, and the Seaport) than the one that gave birth to us (and will always be our home base). So, how much would you care to bet that the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post follow our lead (as usual) by streamlining their brands and shedding their parochial roots?”

Previous Progress Reports:
••• Northeast Tribeca
••• Northwest Tribeca
••• Southeast Tribeca

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ANNELORE
The West Village women’s fashion boutique is opening at 18 Jay; a sign in the window says it’ll debut in January, and the word is they’re still hopeful that’ll happen, even if they don’t know exactly when.

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EMPORIO 50
I’m afraid I’m going to have to put this on the Not Happening list, based on the circumstantial evidence. There were plans for a café in what is now Crewcuts, and it got moved (and the plan rejiggered) to the old PB & Caviar space on Thomas. But there’s been no evidence of progress. I hope I’m wrong.

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ASPHALT GREEN BATTERY PARK CITY
The word seems to be April, but not even Houdini would hold his breath at this point. (I’m bitter because I want to swim!)

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GOLDMAN ALLEY
In the past few weeks, one restaurant after another has opened: Blue Smoke, North End Grill, Wei West, and Beans & Greens—and before that, François Payard Bakery, the Artsee eyewear boutique, and of course Shake Shack. Still coming: a florist called Bloom, Vintry Fine Wines, Harry’s Italian, Battery Place Market, and the Conrad hotel. Let’s start with the Conrad: I called the phone number on the website—what’s with the British voice on the recording? And saying the hotel is in FiDi?—and I was told reservations are being taken as of March 1. (It’ll have 463 rooms, 22,000 square feet of meeting space, a 5,800-square-foot ballroom, and a rooftop bar.) The PR rep for the hotel says the second-floor restaurant, Atrio, has hired a chef, whose name is yet to be announced. Vintry Fine Wines, located in Goldman Alley next to Artsee, appears to be next (the shelves are stocked and the website says January), but Harry’s Italian—they’re related—might be stalled, at least per BatteryPark.TV. Bloom, meanwhile, is a branch (intended!) of the florist at Lexington and E. 50th St.; it’ll open “in a few weeks” in Goldman Alley. Battery Place Market—there’s already in south BPC—will open “in a bout a week.” And there was talk of a Latin American restaurant. Fifteen bucks says it’ll be Mexican, all the better for after-work margaritas.

••• “Battery Park City residents may have noted the absence of the Postal Plaza mobile mail truck during the holiday package season. The van that parked most days on South End Avenue outside Gateway Plaza provided shipping services for several months in 2011 before disappearing due to what Postal Plaza’s owners describe as ‘parking issues.’” —Broadsheet Daily

••• From Metromix: “And an Italian restaurant cheffed by Luigi Celentano of Gigino Trattoria will drop in Tribeca. It’ll be called Piccola Positano and should open by the new year.” Turns out “in Tribeca” is a mistake; the restaurant will be in the East Village.

••• Kutsher’s gets a rave from the Village Voice.

••• “A tipster writes in about the former Off-Track Betting parlor on Lafayette Street with the news that it’s becoming a 7/11. We’re guessing the space in question is the one at 110 Lafayette [between Canal and Walker; and it's 7-Eleven, not 7/11]. Anyone know different?” —Curbed

••• “The owner of two mid-sized Downtown hotels overlooking the World Trade Center reconstruction site claims the deconstruction of the Deutsche Bank office tower and the placement of a large construction crane nearby have cost it at least $1 million in lost business, a new lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court says.” —Real Deal

••• Wall Street Journal interviews Edward “Burnsie” Burns. Speaking of whom: Burnsie on video talking about some of his Tribeca favorites (Walker’s, the Live Well Company, the Tribeca Film Festival).

••• “The artist Arman established himself as an early critic of consumerism by creating art from garbage and shattered objects. Now a lot in Tribeca used by the artist as a studio until his death will be transformed into luxury condominiums. Indeed, the condo project at 482 Greenwich St. [rendering at left] represents an unusual partnership between an artist and a real-estate developer—two groups that have often found themselves at odds over Tribeca’s rapid gentrification.” North of Canal ≠ Tribeca! — The Wall Street Journal

••• Coming soon: Weather Up Austin. —Eater

••• Blue Line Station recaps”’24-7 – Road to the NHL Winter Classic: “Later on, we are treated to [New York Ranger Martin Marion Marian] Gaborik’s purchase of a Christmas tree outside a Whole Foods in Tribeca.” Smart shopper! “A humorous scene shows Gaborik to be not unlike many other of his fellow New Yorkers as he picks up the tree and carries it back to his apartment on his own. As someone in a similar position who used a shopping cart to bring a tree home, you could not help but feel somewhat less masculine after the scene.”

••• Curbed on Skylofts now that it’s sold out: “The average recorded sale price thus far has been $2,105/square foot, which compares favorably to the average listing price of $2,050/square foot.”

••• “Repairs to a landmarked building have created another delay for the seemingly never-ending water main project on Fulton Street, city officials said last week.” Seemingly? —DNAinfo

••• “Ever since the Occupy Wall Street protests took off, the ["Wall Street"] bull statue [...] has been sequestered behind gun-metal gray barriers by the NYPD. And there it will stay, Mike made clear this week.” —New York Post

••• What the 31-story Fairfield Inn being built at 30 Fletcher will look like. (That’s south of the Seaport.) —Curbed

By Julie Shapiro (courtesy DNAinfo)

••• DNAinfo got a tour of the under-construction Fulton Street Transit Center*: “The $1.4 billion subway hub won’t open until 2014, but one of its most distinctive features is already in place: a yawning skylight, measuring 53 feet in diameter, which funnels natural light down into the station, brightening the darkest corners, even during the ongoing construction. Directly beneath the skylight, called an ‘oculus,’ a spiral staircase curves around the steel supports for a yet-to-be-installed elevator. The elevator will be made of glass, as will the staircase’s railing.” *Let’s come up with a new name. The FiDi Eye? The De Niro Oculus?

••• “If some members of Community Board 1 have their way, the building now housing the Syms store at 42 Trinity Pl. will one day help solve school overcrowding in Lower Manhattan.” —Tribeca Trib

••• Manhattan Loft Guy on 19 Beach (and apartments that “overlook St. John’s Park” in general).

••• “The sale of the iconic downtown skyscraper at 70 Pine St. closed yesterday for $205 million to Metro Loft Management. The company intends to convert the 1.1 million-square-foot landmark into luxury rentals and is negotiating to install [yet another FiDi] hotel in the lower portion.” —New York Post

••• New York Magazine critic Adam Platt’s list of the 101 best restaurants in New York City includes Corton (7), SHO Shaun Hergatt (36), Soto (up on Sixth Ave. in the Village but I’m including it because if you like Japanese food you really should go, and Platt’s right—the non-sushi dishes are what’s special), Locanda Verde (44),Brushstroke (59), Sushi Azabu (87). Dropped from the 2005 list because they closed: Bouley Upstairs, Chanterelle. Dropped because Platt no longer likes the cooking: Landmarc.

••• The Daily Mail wrote about Ninja as if it the restaurant were new. The photos are hilarious.

••• The never-open Gallery Viet Nam—one of the mysteries of Tribeca—appears to be leaving 345 Greenwich. There’s a “for rent” sign in the window.

••• Speaking of signs in windows: Annelore’s says it’ll open in January (at 18 Jay).

••• From Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center: “A new 32-story hotel is being built at 30 Fletcher Street, at the northeast corner of Front Street. Planned to be a Fairfield Marriott, the building will add another high-rise hotel to the South Street Seaport area. Developer Rinaldi Group mobilized initial foundation work in early December through approximately May 2012. Superstructure and faade work will follow, with the entire project slated for completion in late 2013. Fletcher Street between Front and South Streets will be closed for the projects duration.” I believe that makes 93 new hotels set to open in FiDi in the next two years.

••• The Maseratis have disappeared from Maserati of Manhattan because the showroom is undergoing some construction; it’ll be back open Monday. And I was going to buy one today!

••• My partner and I didn’t buy a Christmas tree this year, but we considered it, and for a while he said he was going to get one at Whole Foods, because he remembered a post on this site—I can’t find the link!—where someone explained what a rip-off the vendor at Chambers and Greenwich is. But I was wishy-washy on the idea, because going to the supermarket to get a tree just doesn’t have the same poetry to it, and I generally feel for the little guy. If you agree with me, this email I just received might change your mind:

This is regarding the Christmas tree stand that takes over the corner of Greenwich and Chambers every year. I was in a rush on the morning of Dec. 6 when I bought a 5-foot(ish) tree for $185. I paid that price assuming that the owner was honest and their pricing was on par with the other tree stands in the area. I have come to learn this is not the case.

Over time, I have witnessed the stand sell bigger, more robust trees at a much lesser price. I’ve also engaged salespeople in offering me the same tree for different prices depending on the time of day. Additionally, having started to speak to other parents and residents in the area (I am a ten-year resident of Tribeca with two children at P.S. 234). I also realize that they price according to how much they think they can get out of you. (I must have looked very very rich that day!!!)

I have tried numerous times to take this up with the management and all employees abdicate responsibility to the owner, George. They will not give me a last name. I have left him notes to call me, explained what my concerns are.  To no avail. Also, the employees will tell me that he will be there at a specific time and when I show up, he conveniently “just left.”

I’m not sure what you can do about this, but I feel it’s time that the citizens of Tribeca are aware of this stand’s bad business practices and also that trees are half the price at all the other stands (I canvassed the neighborhood), and this type of price-gouging should be shunned in our neighborhood (and everywhere else for that matter). For the holiday season, this is ugly behavior.

••• “A rotating group of five trucks per day—possibly including the popular Wafels & Dinges, Mexicue, Frites ‘N’ Meats and more —will soon park near the World Financial Center to serve lunch crowds hungry for more dining options.” Maybe the methadone clinic could go the truck route…. —DNAinfo

••• “W New York Downtown [had] its first-ever rock concert on Wednesday evening, but raised more than a few hackles among local residents kept awake by noise levels during sound testing on Tuesday and the concert on Wednesday. The event [...] took place in a temporary, plastic tent behind the hotel without more than a few hours advance notification.” —Broadsheet Daily

••• Regarding that last item, there was this fascinating bit from BatteryPark.TV: “The Financial District, Tribeca, and Battery Park City have few places for the citizens to enjoy good music, drinks, and New York class society. The main problem is that the local press consists of Fuddy-duddy people who have zero interest in promoting this culture.” I prefer curmudgeonly.