••• The New York Times takes several looks at the Tribeca Film Festival: Critic Stephen Holden on the films that caught his eye; Mike Hale on the Tribeca/ESPN sports-film series; and service info on buying tickets.

••• Also in the New York Times: Ken Johnson reviews a show of work by Freddie Brice at K S Art: “Using wide brushes and mostly black and white house paint on thin pieces of plywood, Freddie Brice made paintings notable for their spontaneity, economy of means and comical, enigmatic imagery. Born in South Carolina in 1920, he moved to Harlem at 9, and he began painting in his early 60s at an art workshop after years of incarceration and psychiatric institutionalization. There is a childlike immediacy and simplicity about his self-taught style, a directness that appeals to eyes trained by Modernist painting. One magical picture is nothing but a white-spotted black snake about to bite its own tail. It seems unlikely that Mr. Brice would have known that this image—the uroboros—is frequently encountered in antique, mystical tomes.”

••• CB1 chair “Julie Menin is pushing the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to use a recently revealed pot of money to build the performing arts center at the World Trade Center site.” (Downtown Express)

••• “The city may grant at least a partial reprieve to the Brooklyn Banks skate park, which was supposed to close soon for the four-year renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge. ‘We’re working very hard not to have a full closure of the Banks,’ Joannene Kidder, with the city Dept. of Transportation’s division of bridges, told UnderCover this week.” (Downtown Express)

••• The Wall Street Journal‘s Lettie Teague likes Terroir Tribeca; Grub Street has a slideshow.

••• Noreen Doyle, a vice president at the Hudson River Park Trust, wrote a piece for the Villager about how things are shaping up.

“We can barely keep up with demand,” said designer and author Peter Buchanan-Smith (above), who is also a cofounder of Tribeca ax company—you read that right—Best Made Co., along with environmental entrepreneur Graeme Cameron. (The two met when they were kids, attending Camp Ahmek in Ontario.) They see the axes, which cost $250 to $500, as the first step in a Swiss Army–like lifestyle brand; they also already sell “ax art,” an ax bag, and a cashmere knit cap, and they’re about to introduce a whistle, followed by Nepalese farmer’s knives and a flagpole. But that’s another story: Let’s get back to the axes. I asked Peter to show me the production process, which takes place in two rooms (one’s an office, the other a studio) in a building at Broadway and Franklin, with help from two employees—Nam, the full-time production manager, and Chris, a part-time designer.

The bare axes—made from hand-forged fine-grain steel and Tennessee hickory—come from Maine. There are two sizes: The traditional 29-inch-long model, and a limited-edition extra-long one, called the National, made to celebrate the Canadian men’s hockey team’s recent Olympic victory; it’s what’s called a double-bit, but the Best Made guys prefer ”twibill,” a Southern Hemisphere term. All ax handles get sanded with a hand rotary sander.

If the handle is going to be painted, it has to be gessoed first; they use masking tape to create the even lines. The end of the handle—the “hoof”—might get dipped in paint, but for the rest of the handle, Best Made applies two thin coats of spray paint in a “booth” that they fabricated. “There are next to no fumes, thanks to the filters and the fan,” says Buchanan-Smith. “Also, each ax has only a tiny amount of surface area that gets painted.” For staining, Best Made uses water-based W.D. Lockwood stains, which come in powder form. (Buchanan-Smith turned the envelopes into labels for his jars.) Lockwood, it’s worth noting, has been in downtown Manhattan since 1895 and is currently based on Walker Street.

When the paint is dry, the painted or stained part of the handle gets two to three coats of H. Behlen Water White Restoration Varnish; stained handles, like the green one in the photo above, are sanded between coats. A coat of tung oil is applied to the upper, unpainted part of the handle; depending on the model, numbers or words might first be stamped on it with indelible ink.

After the blade gets protected with a leather sheath, also from Maine, the ax goes into a simple crate or, for $75 more, a clasped box. “Then it gets put in cardboard box and UPSed,” says Buchanan-Smith. (The axes are also sold at Partners & Spade on Great Jones Street.) What happens next is entirely up to you.

Previously:
• Made in Tribeca #1: Khushi

••• Cass Lilien‘s jewelry will also be sold at Kiva Cafe during April and May.

••• New York Vintners is the new home of Executive Wine Seminars. The next event—a tasting of thirteen 2000 Bordeaux that includes four 100-point wines—is April 6 ($425).

••• Maybe it finally truly is spring: Marc Forgione is serving ramps (a Facebook update touts “Green Eggs & Ham” with farm-fresh eggs, ramp puree, crispy prosciutto”).

••• And here’s an interesting blog post from Alycea Ungaro.

See something? Hear something? Email me at TribecaCitizen@gmail.com.

But first: Thanks, tipster! I owe you one. And for anyone new to Tribeca Citizen, please consider signing up for the twice-weekly newsletter (look for the “Subscribe” box on the right) or becoming a fan on Facebook. I promise I’ll never post about the weather.

From top: Hudson River Park boardwalk (pretty even when the grass is dead); White Street graffiti; Beekman Tower as seen from the east side; and—I want these!—a giant “rubbish” bag being used be a Verizon crew.

••• The New York Times‘s Joyce Wadler tries to make her apartment “smarter,” and enlists Tribeca-based CytexOne to help.

••• “Gov. David Paterson put far less money in the state budget for Hudson River Park than park advocates were hoping. While the city allocated $11 million for the park’s construction next fiscal year, Paterson allocated only $3 million in his budget, said Matthew Washington, deputy director of the Friends of Hudson River Park. The city and state allocations must match, so if the state only puts in $3 million, then the park will only get $3 million from the city. If the $3 million figure stands, Washington said there would still be enough money to open the new boathouse on Pier 26 in Tribeca in 2011, but the small budget would put some planned work farther north in jeopardy.” (Downtown Express)

••• The New York Post says that actress Blake Lively is shopping for an apartment in Tribeca, as is Beyoncé’s mom.

••• Landmarc‘s Marc Murphy is still fuming about the Board of Health’s letter-grade system. (Grub Street)

••• Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m., Marc Forgione is serving all-you-can-eat suckling pig sliders for $16, says Time Out New York: “The restaurant takes
 care of the roasting, then leaves you to build your own sammies [Hate that word. —Ed.] with
 toppings like green mustard, house-made pickles, and two-for-one
 bottles of beer.” Make that all-you-can-drink Brooklyn Lager For $13, says Wined and Dined.

••• “Inspired by the massive success of Taste of Tribeca, an annual event that brings in over $100,000 a year for P.S. 234 and P.S. 150, parents at the Spruce Street School are organizing a Taste of Front St. for this May or June. The idea came from Paul Hovitz, a longtime Seaport resident, and Spruce parents and Front St. restaurants immediately jumped on board. Fernando Dallorso, owner of Stella on Front St., said he has 14 restaurants signed up so far, all hoping to improve their faltering business by participating.” (Downtown Express)

••• Tamarind Tribeca set to open March 29—and is taking OpenTable reservations starting on that date (Feast, via Grub Street).

••• Video of Terroir Tribeca‘s Paul Grieco mocking food-blog-video—in the wine bar’s bathroom, no less. (Grub Street)

••• “City to re-examine waterfront usage and development.” (Broadsheet Daily)

••• “Tribeca’s Greenwich St. is so chi-chi that nearly half of the buildings don’t have visible addresses, according to a new report (minus our ‘chi-chi’ spin) by Manhattan Beep Scott Stringer. He says the lack of addresses not only violates city code and is annoying, it also poses a safety risk by delaying emergency responders.” (Downtown Express)

••• Hassan Nemazee, “A once-wealthy businessman and prominent donor to Democratic candidates pleaded guilty on Thursday to stealing hundreds of millions of dollars to buy property in Westchester County, donate to charity and give money to political campaigns,” reports the New York Times. “As part of his plea, he agreed to forfeit assets totaling $292 million, including bank accounts; his interest in properties on Park Avenue and in Katonah, N.Y., Rome and Tribeca; and a 2008 Maserati. The agreement included a sentencing guideline of 15 years and 8 months to 19 years and 7 months in prison.”

••• “No resolution yet on Manhattan Youth space for P.S. 234.” (Broadsheet Daily)

••• Curbed looks into businessman Edward Bazinet’s decision to put his 60 Warren penthouse back on the market for $28 million—down $500K from spring of 2006. He bought it in 2001 for $13.5 million. Check out the bathroom! Too sexy!

••• Also on Curbed: A model of unbuilt 56 Leonard sold for $1,136 on Ebay.

••• David Martin, CEO of Tribeca-based social-networking site Kontain was one of the folks stuck on the tarmac for six hours, courtesy of Virgin America; read his posts on the experience here. (WABC, though he made love to pretty much every media outlet)

••• New York mag’s Daily Intel blog goes gaga for the 8,200-square-foot space in the American Thread Building (the one with the Keith Haring mural); it’s $11.75 million. Note: It’s a video with a dopey Target commercial up front.

••• Grown & Sewn is “an American treasure of a spring-ready pants depot, open now in Tribeca,” says UrbanDaddy. “The gear is pretty simple and straightforward—handsome khakis in three shapes, a few colors and that’s about it. But you’ll want to check out the Kax—a crazy jean-khaki hybrid that combines the feel of khakis with the ‘attitude and guts’ of jeans. (We have no idea what this means, but we’ve yet to meet a pants hybrid we didn’t like—we’re looking at you, jorts.)” Also: “…you’ll want to discreetly ask to see the place’s basement. No, there’s not a fight club down there, but you’ll be able to peruse one of the cooler art galleries we’ve seen in awhile, home to work from famous American pop artists like Warhol, Haring and Peter Max.” Wait, there is? (See pic.) Huh.

••• Jonathan Reynolds’s Girls in Trouble, at the Flea, gets extended again—through April 11. (NYT)

••• The U.K.’s Telegraph reviews the Greenwich Hotel: “The entrance is tucked away on a street of red-brick apartment blocks [And Citigroup's behemoth. —Ed.] in a period building that perfectly matches the personality of the neighbourhood.”

••• Color Me Mine makes Mommy Poppins‘s roundup of paint-your-own-pottery joints: “Helpful staff here will offer your kids stamps (yep, you can stamp with ceramic glaze!) and tips they enjoy painting their chosen ceramic piece ($16 and up). They have over 400 pieces to choose from including specialty items just for holidays (yes, Virginia, you can paint your own Passover plate!).  They also offer a unique set-up-your-own “Paint Me A Story” pottery-painting workshop for tots; you need to round up 5 participants and you pick the time—they do the rest.”

••• Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel are said to be living together on Laight Street. I saw it on Showbiz Spy, so it must be true.

••• Mocca, on the ropes for a while now, appears to have closed. Says a neighbor: “Someone told me they closed for renovations last week but then later in the week the building super told me that Mocca’s workers came in one day to find the doors locked and bread delivered to the restaurant that morning sitting outside Mocca’s steps.” (Plus, the telephoned number is “temporarily disconnected,” according to the recording.) Certainly, the “cash only” sign and boarded window were bad omens (above).

••• Speaking of signs: According to one in the window at 104 Reade, FasTracKids/E.nopi—supplementary educational programs for kids—will be opening there in late spring. Between that, Body & Mind Builders, and Gymboree Play & Music, Reade is turning into a hotspot for the pre-tween set. Unclear what the difference is between FasTracKids and E.nopi, I called owner (and Tribeca resident) Ilysa Winick. “FasTracKids is designed to target kids 6 months to 7 years,” she said. “We help children develop their brains faster and stronger, teaching them communication skills and other tools, such as articulation, collaboration, and creativity, but in a fun, engaging way. E.nopi is more of an independent study program that teaches different learning strategies, and it’s geared to kids who are a little bit older, mostly kids in school. It was developed in Seoul about 30 years ago.” She’s hoping to open by May 15, and she promises that the space will be “really cool and creative.”

••• The monthly Tribeca Meet & Greet is tonight, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Tribeca Community School (use the  27 N. Moore entrance). For those who’ve never been, the Meet & Greet is an event, organized by BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center‘s David Cleaver, for locals and local business owners to network and chat—helped along with wine donated by Frankly Wines.

••• Church Street is getting a new deli (between Franklin and Leonard, where Delicioso used to be).

Got news? Email tribecacitizen@gmail.com.