••• Speaking of nail salons: The new i-Plaza Nail & Spa in the Zinc Building (at Greenwich and Watts) opens today.

••• Ed Burns is speaking at 92YTribeca on Jan. 31—I didn’t put it in a Coming Up round-up because his new film, Newlyweds, wasn’t being screened, but now it is, so there you go.

••• Twin Café, the deli at Greenwich and Murray, is closing after tomorrow.

••• Gruyere with roasted onions is among the sandwiches returning (and being added) to Wichcraft‘s menu, starting Jan. 31

••• The new-build at 482 Greenwich (northwest corner of Greenwich and Canal) is going up fast. There’s more on it here, including a rendering of the finished building.

••• From Downtown Alliance: “A romantic dinner at a neighborhood restaurant. A walk along the promenade in Battery Park City. A blind date that led to a lifetime of happiness. So many special moments can be captured in the one-square mile that is Lower Manhattan. So why not share the love—and be eligible to win a prize? The Downtown Alliance proudly announces the Lower Manhattan Love Story, a chance for anyone to tell the Downtown Alliance how they feel in love in—or with—Lower Manhattan.” I was having a beer at New York Dolls when true love—and a great rack—stared me in the eyes….

••• Tribeca Clayworks is holding an open house on January 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.: “Meet our instructors, check out the studio and play with some clay. Enjoy ongoing demonstrations with some snacks and a glass of  wine.” It’s at the Downtown Community Center, 120 Warren.

••• Something finally appears to be happening at the OTB space on Murray (and presumably Park, because it goes through).

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.

Liss started working for interior designers about 12 years ago; after a couple years, he went out on his own as Damon Liss Design. (His work can be seen in this Loft Peeping post—that’s one page pictured below—as well as on his website.) Eventually he decided to get his real estate license, partnering with the Upper East Side’s Fox Residential Group. His wife, Lisa, joined him five years ago, and they switched to Corcoran.

Now they’ve gone out on their own again, this time as the Liss Real Estate Group. That meant renting a storefront at 51 Hudson (next to Torly Kid), formerly home to William B. May real estate, and before that, Tabak is Tribeca. They actually moved into the space six months ago, but for various reasons, they only just hung the sign and made it official. “We’ve lived in Tribeca for eight years, and our two daughters go to Washington Market School,” says Damon. “With this space, we really feel like part of the community. And our kids can come by in the afternoons.”

Damon Liss Design/Liss Real Estate Group is at 51a Hudson, 212-307-0430; damonliss.com.

Recent New Kid on the Block articles:
• French Kiss Boudoir Photography
• CrossFit 212
• Polarn O. Pyret
• Ristorante Aglio
• Kutsher’s Tribeca
• Artsee
• Tribeca Tap House
• Cheryl McGinnis Gallery

••• “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).

••• From the Downtown Alliance: “[We] will host a MulchFest and Electronic Waste Recycling Event to help New Yorkers avoid a post-holiday headache by collecting holiday trees and unwanted electronic goods on Saturday, January 7, 2012. The event [...] will take place at the south end of Bowling Green Park starting at 10 a.m.” There’s also a special Downtown Connection bus that’ll pick up your tree that day. Here are the stops (every half hour): Wall and William, John and Gold, Pearl between Fulton and Beekman, W. Thames between Battery Place and South End, South and and Albany. What, no Tribeca?

••• You may recall that the New York Law School is taking over more of the ground floor 40 Worth—specifically the southeast corner of Worth and W. Broadway, which used to be government offices. I should be happy the space isn’t vacant, but now that the windows are uncovered, I have to wonder if this really needed to be at street level.

••• Blue Smoke is on track to open “in some capacity” this week, “but may not be serving food at that time.” (That means it’ll be serving drinks and bar snacks.) Actually, for all I know, it opened yesterday. If you walk by and see anything, let me know at tribecacitizen@gmail.com. North End Grill, meanwhile, should follow in a week or two. UPDATE: Reader Hudson River popped by and reports that Blue Smoke isn’t open yet, but Beans and Greens is, next to the movie theater: “It’s one of those salad bars where they do it for you, with some muffins and pastries. Very nice, cheery interior.”

••• Ed “Burnsie” Burns’s latest film, Newlyweds, is now available on DVD and as a download. Judging from the trailer—I haven’t grown comfortable with paying $15 for a download yet—it’s possibly the Tribeckiest movie ever made.

[Subsequent Progress Reports: Northwest Tribeca, Southeast Tribeca, Southwest Tribeca]

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THE ELEVENS
Scott Kester and David Lefkowitz are opening a restaurant at 58 Lispenard, in the old Pearl Paint frame shop. While anyone will be able to eat there, The Elevens is funding the endeavor by selling memberships for $500. The full details are here. As for when it might open, The Elevens’s Scott Kester emails, “Summer or fall. We will apply for building permit in January. Liquor license in February. As soon as we raise more money we can start construction. Not likely before March 1.”

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ARTISTS SPACE BOOKS & TALKS
Artists Space, the 40-year-old non-profit exhibition space in Soho, is opening an annex at 55 Walker. As you might gather from the name, it’ll be an artists’ bookstore where talks, symposia, and screenings are held. The current plan is for it to open March 1.

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TRIBECA CANVAS
No news since the last update: “In September 2009, Masaharu Morimoto presented the CB1 Tribeca committee with a sample menu that included ‘fish and chips, homemade bagels, and fried bananas’ for a restaurant, to close at 4 a.m., at 313 Church (between Lispenard and Walker). In March 2011, a rep said it’d open this summer, but when I checked back in, I was told, ‘We have no news at this stage.’” And that was  the same answer on December 19.

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LITTLE ONE
Per the last update: “Jesse Eidsness is planning a two-level restaurant in the old Columbine space at 1 White (at W. Broadway). The tasty-looking menu and floor plans are here.” I emailed Eidsness for an update, and she wrote this back: “In complete design/development stages and expected to finish work within the next 6-8 months.”

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225 W. BROADWAY
I heard a rumor that the lease for the old Barzinho space had been signed; anyone knowing by whom should email me posthaste at tribecacitizen@gmail.com.

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ANCIENT BATH
From the last update: “In May, a Spanish company went before CB1 Tribeca about its plans for a ‘relaxation spa’ called Ancient Bath at 86-88 Franklin. There’s more on what to expect here and here. Given the amount of work that must be required, we can reasonably assume it’s not opening soon.” From what I can tell by peeking in, it’s moving forward but not quickly enough to start looking for your swimsuit.

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NEAR AND FAR FOOD COMPANY
There was a liquor-license application to turn 54 Franklin into a restaurant and bar called Near and Far Food Company, but it went before CB1 back in September, and Lafayette Grill and Bar is still open. I didn’t have the stomach to walk in and ask if they were closing anytime soon; we’ll have to just keep an eye on it. The background on Near and Far, from my recap of the September meeting of CB1′s Tribeca Committee, “Robert M. Epstein, Christopher R. Miller, and Caspar S. Ouvaroff (only the latter two were there) are planning a restaurant at 54–56 Franklin, where it hits Cortlandt Alley. Miller is a principal in Warren 77 [....] Miller and Ouvaroff [...] swore it wouldn’t be a sports bar, and that the ratio of food to alcohol would be 70/30; Ouvaroff even said it’d be a ‘family restaurant.’ (Er, like Denny’s?) The lawyer’s position was that they should get a 4 a.m. closing every night of the week because the current tenant, Lafayette Grill & Bar, has had 4 a.m. for 15 years and there have been no complaints. [...] Best moment was when much was made of Ouvaroff’s having graduated from the French Culinary Institute, only to have a member say, ‘I don’t see anything French on the menu.’ (On one hand, that’s not the point of the French Culinary Institute; on the other, did he go there so he could make burgers, fried chicken, nachos, and hot dogs? The menu reads like a list of Foods You Eat to Sop Up Liquor.) They got 1 a.m. on weeknights and 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, with the assurance that if they prove to be good neighbors they’ll get more in six months.”

Props include a bed inspired by one at Soho House (“I wanted to duplicate the entire room”), a red settee, a mirror, and a fake-fur throw to lie on. I asked about the boas hanging by the door, but Mednik says they can be cheesy: “And I try to avoid the cheesy.” She also has some jewelry and sheer and off-the-shoulder garments. (As for the stuffed animals in the corner, they’re for maternity and baby photography. I asked because you never know.)

The trick to this kind of intimate photography is making the subject feel comfortable enough to shed her inhibitions. Before a model comes in for the shoot, Mednik sends an email with suggestions of what to wear for three levels of comfort. “The first one is, ‘I don’t want to show much.’ The second one is, ‘Flaunt it a little.’ And the third is, ‘Ta-da!‘”

French Kiss Boudoir Photography is at 85 Franklin (between Church and Broadway), 917-975-6573; frenchkissny.com.

Recent New Kid on the Block articles:
• CrossFit 212
• Polarn O. Pyret
• Ristorante Aglio
• Kutsher’s Tribeca
• Artsee
• Tribeca Tap House
• Cheryl McGinnis Gallery
• François Payard Bakery

••• Downtown Alliance tweeted that “Manhattan Sailing Club’s Holiday Train Garden open 5-8 p.m. through Dec. 24 at floating clubhouse Honorable William Wall, North Cove, BPC.”

••• Kutsher’s Tribeca tweeted that the restaurant its “Jewish-Chinese Supper starts on Christmas Eve and is available all day on Christmas (3 p.m. to 10.p.m.) and then every Sunday night!”

••• Grant Wahlquist tweeted wrote on Tribeca Citizen’s Facebook page: “Anybody got a recommendation for a dog-friendly housecleaning service that will come to Tribeca?” Answer him here or there.