Seen & Heard: New Shoe Repair

••• 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.

ghadeer-day-of-hope-event-on-broadway••• 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.

the-heeler-shoe-repair-tribeca••• 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. ”

tracy-anderson••• “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.

Cut by Wolfgang Puck••• 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?

 

7 Comments

  1. If a food establishment/restaurant is graded by DOH, they are required by law to post the grade card. You can submit a 311 complaint.

    http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/2363/restaurant-letter-grading

  2. Was walking back home from SoHo yesterday and came upon the “gathering.” Really amazed at how crazy loud it was. They were legit screaming into already amplified microphones.

    Between this, the Baja East show, and the tunnel2towers run, seems like now is the time to have that conversation about permits and recourses. I get that we choose to live in this area and that comes with its consequences, but none of these events are for (or probably attended by) the residents, so why must we suffer through them?

    • In response to both John’s note and Erik’s original post: the common denominator in these quality-of-life abuses is noise. In this era of digital apps, which include reasonably accurate decibel readings, it ought to be possible to establish noise ceilings for permitted events and to devise and implement enforcement mechanisms. While that wouldn’t be trivial, it’s not rocket science either. It’s a question of political will.

      So Erik, while I commend you for your post and encourage you to speak out at the 1st PCT community council meeting, you’re not going to find any satisfaction there. Your neighbors will nod their heads, and the police officials will express sympathy and then ignore your points. Something needs to happen at a citywide, or at least boroughwide level, and it will have to entail organizing, lobbying and legislation.

      • No doubt. But first I need to go to this meeting so that I can say that I did, right? (Also, if we’re going to be honest, I don’t care if people yell their brains out somewhere far from my home. So I’m hopeful, foolish as it may be, that the 1sst Precinct can see that it’s in everyone’s interest to recommend that rally organizers bear in mind their surroundings.)

  3. Is there a phone number for the Heeler? Are they actually open yet?

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