TODAY
“Today, at 1 p.m., there will be a hearing in City Council Chambers at City Hall to discuss the impact that the terror trials would have on Lower Manhattan. […] The public is also invited to attend, and to comment.” (Broadsheet Daily)

COMING UP
••• “The Fist Clenched Round My Heart: An Exhibition of Love Poetry at Poets House” opens tomorrow; it’ll be up through Mar. 13.
••• On Sunday, Kiva Cafe celebrates V-Day with a two-for-one deal on its “organic loose leaf teas, delicious sweet treats, decadent hot chocolate, and international selection smooth red wines.”
••• On Fat Tuesday, Feb. 16, Duane Park restaurant will celebrate Mardi Gras with music by Queen Esther (above), classic New Orleans cocktails—Sazeracs, Hurricanes, etc.—and a special $40, three-course “Southern-style” menu.
••• Author Anne Nelson’s appearance at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, originally scheduled for last Wednesday, will now be on Wednesday, Feb. 17 ($5). She’ll be discussing Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler.
••• A bunch of events arranged around “The Incidental Person,” the current show at Apexart, have been announced, including two opportunities to get creative with with artist Lexa Walsh: chance to write and record jingles about New York  (Wednesday, Feb 17, 7–8 p.m.), and a cheerleading workshop (Thursday, Feb. 18, 11 a.m.–noon). I’m partial to Walsh’s work because, as part of the Apexart show, anyone could submit a request for a cheer, and I did. (That week, too many people hadn’t been returning my calls fast enough.) Here it is….

RESTAURANTS
••• Terroir Tribeca said to open by April 1, maybe earlier. (Eater)
••• Benvenuto Café, the deli opening in the Greenwich Steak & Burger space, should open in the next few weeks, said the owner. It’ll be along the lines of the Madison Square Park location.

IN THE NEWS
••• The New York Post looks at “whatever happened” to Tribeca and Soho real estate—and includes, on the third page, this list of the status of various high-profile projects:
—34 Leonard: Foreclosed
—56 Leonard: On hold
—Five Franklin Place: On hold
—Trump SoHo: Opening TBD
—Pearline Soap Factory: 7 units, sold out and fully occupied
—Fairchild: 13 of 21 units sold, ready in March
—V33: 7 units, 5 sold and a contract out for a deal to combine 2
—TriBeCa Lofts: 29 units, all but 1 in contract or closed, occupied
—TriBeCa Summit: 62 units, about 80 percent sold, occupied
—The Smyth Upstairs: 15 units, 11 units sold or in contract, ready next week
—SoHo Mews: 68 units, 31 units sold and another in contract, already occupied
—One York: 33 units, 25 sold or in contract, already occupied
—350 West Broadway: 7 units, all available, ready for occupancy in 60 days
—211 Elizabeth: 15 units, 10 closed and another in contract, already occupied
••• “The battle among Tribeca parents of kindergartners vying for seats at P.S. 234 next fall did not end with the recent selection of a zoning option. A lottery is in store for those parents who do not already have children in the school.” (Tribeca Trib)
••• Details emerge on the Asphalt Green/Battery Park City partnership: “The 50,000-square-foot center, in the base of Milstein Properties’ residential towers on N. End Ave., will include two pools, a gym and a theater. Asphalt Green will bring many of its well-known programs down from the Upper East Side, including free learn-to-swim classes for children. The center will also include cultural and community programming that Asphalt Green has not yet finalized.” (Downtown Express)
••• The New York Times reviews Barefoot to Timbuktu, a new movies about “a Swiss-American artist named Ernst Aebi, who made a killing in Soho and Tribeca real estate and has spent much of the time since as a globe-trotting ‘adventurer.'”