••• Yesterday, a gathering on the Broadway sidewalk by a religious group—it doesn’t matter which one—ranted and raved into a microphone for 3.5 hours. I live near City Hall, so I expect some of this, but a) 3.5 hours is an extremely long time; b) the speakers were pointed at the residential buildings across the street, with the volume way out of proportion to the number of attendees; c) there was no advance notice about this disruption; d) the permit isn’t available online, so the only way to find out how long the event was going to last was by waiting for the NYPD to finally show up so I could ask an officer. No one’s home should have to have loudspeakers blaring at it for 3.5 hours, especially not on a weekend; if the point was to be near government buildings, the group could’ve gathered in Foley Square (or even pushed it a block south, where the buildings across Broadway are commercial, not residential). My husband and I each made calls to 311, and the 1st Precinct called him back to say that there was nothing they could do—the permits all get approved unless the event might be unsafe in some way. Be that as it may, there should be constraints on this kind of thing: on duration and sound level, first and foremost, but there should also be postings in advance to warn people who live or work nearby, and there should be a point person stationed to address complaints about the noise. (And why on earth would they allow it on the sidewalk, rather than in a plaza somewhere? It blocked the entire way, which certainly seems unsafe, and then the cops shut down a lane of Broadway by double-parking.) I support the right of people to gather, but not to blast noise at my home. I had planned on bringing it up with Community Board 1, but now I realize that I’m going to have to go to the 1st Precinct’s Community Council meeting this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. If you live on City Hall Park, please come. And I started a petition in my building; if you’d like a copy for yours, let me know at tribecacitizen@gmail.com. P.S. In the elevator this morning, one of my neighbors said he wasn’t bothered because it was a one-off. As someone who works from home, I assured him that rallies—usually more political than religious—happen all the time. This was just the one that pushed me over the edge.

••• There’s a new shoe repair store called The Heeler at 50 Walker, where Indigo Design used to be. I couldn’t find anything online about it yet, but the sign has more style than your run-of-the-mill shoe repair place.

••• Tracy Anderson’s new studio (at Church and Franklin) opens this week. From the release: “The space will include a street level 3 Green Hearts food and juice cafe […] While membership at the Church Street studio is already on a wait-list basis, you may still be able to score a spot at Tracy Anderson’s 59th Street studio scheduled to be opening later this year.” I recently heard that TA isn’t taking the whole space—that part of the ground floor is a separate storefront, tenant TBD, although if that’s true it would appear to share the door. UPDATE: A rep confirms that there’s still a street-level storefront available: “Our street level retail/juice bar space is about 500 sq ft. The remainder of the studio extends two levels below. ”

••• “I stopped by CUT today and they’re open for breakfast, lunch and dinner!” reports M. “Opened last Wednesday. Serving until 10 p.m. weekdays and until 11 p.m. on weekends. Also, the spa at the Four Seasons will open to the public in mid-October.” The hotel’s website recommends reservations, but the restaurant isn’t on OpenTable, so I guess you have to call. Below: a photo of the bar from the hotel’s website.

••• The commissary kitchen at 56 Reade, which has been seen on Seamless as Authentic and ‘Leafage, disappoints me because I’d always rather see a real restaurant; it’s good for street life. (The gate always being pulled down is pretty unwelcoming, too.) When I walked by it yesterday, I wondered whether delivery-only establishments—such as this and Maple, Ando, and so on—have Health Department grades. I don’t value the grades much, but I see no reason why traditional restaurants should have to deal with the grades and non-traditional ones shouldn’t. And if they are graded, shouldn’t they have to display them wherever people are ordering from?