••• The New York Times looks at the work of artist James Nares, which I kvelled over here: “‘It’s about things in motion and motion in things’ he said of his early work, during the show’s installation this week [at the Paul Kasmin Gallery (515 W. 27th St.) through Feb. 11]. Recalling his time on Staple Street, when a covered pedestrian bridge across it was his bedroom, he described some of what he spied when people below thought no one was looking: pimps and hookers exchanging money, guys dumping stripped cars. ‘There were always a lot of abandoned cars,’ he said. A notebook also displayed in the show is open to a page where he scrawled the phrase ‘Pendulum into movie.’ He shot it from a catwalk above the alley that is no longer there, simultaneously swinging the pendulum by a cable. First, we see the ball swoop down to the cracked, garbage-strewn pavement—in 1976, much of Lower Manhattan was quite desolate—and soar toward the sky. Midway through, we see the street from the ball’s point of view and vicariously feel its weight and its pleasure in the movement. It’s hypnotic.” The image above is courtesy James Nares and Paul Kasmin Gallery.

••• A New York Times article about people who live above restaurants includes the thoughts of Jimmy “The Harrison” Bradley and Cathrine Redmond, who lived (lives?) on Chambers, above where Taylor’s bakery used to be (and before that, a fried-chicken restaurant).

••• Also in the New York Times Real Estate section: A chat with Nancy Sheppard, who lives in Gateway Plaza.

••• A penthouse apartment in the Smyth went up in price after the Kardashians stayed in the hotel. —Wall Street Journal

••• “The owner of the popular downtown diner George’s—where Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly have dined—wound up in hot water after he tried to skewer a city health inspector by recording his visit on an iPhone.
When the inspector spotted owner Bill Koulmentas’ cellphone scheme, he quickly hit George’s with a slew of violations — totaling 65 points.” George’s is at Greenwich and Rector. —New York Post