Photo by Robert Ripps, courtesy Taste of Tribeca

••• Taste of Tribeca is today from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Don’t miss the American Lamb Chef Challenge (they’re making meatballs) at 12:30 p.m. or the Tang’s Natural Dumplings Challenge at 2:00 p.m. Pictured: Top Chef contestant Leah Cohen at last year’s cook-off.

••• And from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Torly Kid is hosting a Me-Tee crafting event in honor of Taste of Tribeca.

••• Hudson River Park news: “Night tennis is back! All three courts are lit and will be open every night until midnight. The courts are located between Houston and Canal streets and are free and open to the public.”

••• In a cab commercial for Bing’s new app, TV host Sherri Shepherd visits Bar Artisanal. I wanted to dislike it—she’s the one from The View who thinks the earth is flat—but it’s pretty funny. (It’s on Bar Artisanal’s Facebook page.)

••• Best Made, our local ax company, has a new product: “The Stacks Lamp is inspired by the stacks of flagging tape—used by arborists and loggers to mark trees—that lie around the Best Made workshop. The lamp consists of removable wood rings painted with graphic, bold colorful patterns that are stacked up. The user can modify the stacks by taking the rings off and in restacking them they redesign their lamp.” It’ll debut at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and then be available for purchase.

••• This isn’t news, but it happened to me last week. If there’s one thing my pug, Howard, hates above all else—except the pair of big, white, fluffy dogs who live on the block (and the feeling is mutual)—it’s skateboarders. He has pulled the leash right out of my hand before, chasing after them and trying to nip their legs. So you can understand how, while walking up Church Street today, I was dismayed to see a pack of skateboarders up ahead, careering along the sidewalk. A line of people stood waiting for a bus, unhappy about the situation. I watched as a skateboarder placed his board on the ground, preparing to come my direction, and I thought, Screw you, this is a sidewalk. Howard and I marched forward. The guy started skating in wide curves, right up next to the bus people—clearly scaring them—and then zoomed toward Howard and me. Sure enough, Howard went ballistic, barking and screeching and straining at the leash. “This is unacceptable!” I said, all but clutching my pearls as the skateboarder buzzed by. I continued on, and another one of the troupe came out of a crouch. “That was perfect!” he said. “Thanks!” Thanks? And that’s when I saw that he had a video camera in his hand. I was the uptight comic relief.