EAST RIVER PARK
“2011 will be a big year for the East River Waterfront, the city’s $150 million renovation of a gritty two-mile walkway. That year, the city plans to open the first sections of the rebuilt esplanade and bikeway on the East Side of Lower Manhattan, stretching from the Battery Maritime Building up to Maiden Lane. As work on that section continues, the city this week showed new designs for the southernmost portion of the esplanade, south of Wall St., featuring maritime foliage, wooden furniture, bike racks and an undulating railing.” (Downtown Express) ••• Tribeca Trib also has a rundown on the renovation.

RESTAURANTS
Is Danny Meyer interested in the food kiosks behind the Municipal Building? Perhaps for a Shake Shack? Eater thinks so. ••• Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Patterson showed up at City Hall Restaurant on Dec. 24 to serve meals to people in need. Cute photo, eh? (NY1) ••• Popeye’s opens at Canal near Greene, though why Grub Street cares is unclear.

AROUND THE WEB
New York philanthropist Carol Tambor (left) “chooses one entry from nearly 2,000 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland each year and presents it with the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award. The prize is a fully mounted production in New York, with travel, hotel and other expenses included.” Last year’s winner was Little Gem, “a drama about three generations of women in an Irish family will begin performances on Jan. 5 at the Flea Theatre in Tribeca.” (New York Times) ••• Jake Gyllenhaal partied at the Smyth Hotel with Matt Dillon, a.k.a. the ghost of Christmas future (People) ••• Dr. Timnah Lee of the Tribeca Soho Animal Hospital appeared on Fox’s Good Day NY to talk about “winterizing” your dog so he/she doesn’t get aggravated by salt. ••• Page Six says that Susan Sarandon, who just announced her split with Tim Robbins, is rumored to be involved with 31-year-old Jonathan Brinklin, “known” for “hosting Naked Ping Pong, an occasional party at a Tribeca loft attended by models, hipsters, and celebs as diverse as 50 Cent and Salman Rushdie.”

REAL ESTATE
Anyone who thinks the $6.1 million, 5,500-square-foot apartment in 157 Hudson is too much might find the cheaper, smaller option—4,500 square feet, $4.975 million—more likable. (Curbed) ••• “Allison L. Gollust and William Hult sold condo Unit #2E at 66 Leonard St. in Tribeca to Daniel Levene for $2,301,750 on Nov. 12. The condo is one of the 47 units in the 14-story Textile Building. Gollust is executive VP for corporate communications with NBC Universal in New York.” (Blockshopper) ••• “Laurie Jill Slosberg and Howard Stephen Kaminsky bought a four-bedroom, 2.5-bath condo at 25 N. Moore St. in Tribeca from David J. Fiszel for $5.13 million on Nov. 30. Unit #8B/C is one of the 60 in the 17-story Atalanta Condominiums, built in 1924. Slosberg is the principal at LJS Legal in New York. She concentrates her practice in real estate matters in the New York metropolitan area, where she advises purchasers and sellers in connection with real estate transactions.” (Blockshopper)

MISCELLANY
“After more than a year as a one-way arterial, Warren Street will once again serve two-way traffic in Battery Park City. The state Department of Transportation will restore the two-way pattern between West Street and North End Avenue on or before Monday, January 4, 2010. At that time, the P.S.89/I.S.89 dedicated school bus lane will be removed from the north curb of Warren Street.” (Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center)

COMING UP
92YTribeca has added the following to its January schedule: Cinema 16, in which a band called Crown the Invisible plays along to four silent-era films (Jan. 23); The New Year Parade, a film about a divorce, I think (Jan. 29); and Damon and Naomi’s 1001 Nights, which seems to involve a movie screening and then a concert (Jan. 30).