Seen & Heard: New “Modern Asian” Restaurant

••• “Has any place come close to replacing the great Raccoon Lodge in the area?” asked JT on Twitter. I said we’d have to ask folks who had done more research on the topic. Any thoughts?

••• It looks like the Warren Street reconstruction project has kicked off, with Con Edison getting the opening slot. Crews are digging up Greenwich Street from Warren to Reade. The signage says the repair work will be done in early March, but that must just be for this particular section, because the entire project will take 2.5 years.

••• The Roxy Hotel is working on an oyster bar. That might be what the agenda item on last night’s Community Board 1 Tribeca Committee was about: “application for alteration of liquor license to add one stand-up bar.” (It was listed among the items unlikely to be discussed.)

••• The broker trying to rent the former home of the Flea theater at 41 White has put up a display outside, with a bunch of old photos, such as this one.

••• “For years now the Shigeru Ban development on Franklin and Broadway [a.k.a. the Cast Iron House] has monopolized half the street and you’d think we would be seeing the end of this nuisance,” emailed A. “But no—today they are using both sidewalks! It’s not the first time and probably not the last. It’s dangerous to pedestrians and causes a lot of honking by trucks and cars caught in the bottleneck. When will this endless project be done?” That is pretty outrageous, but I think that, indeed, there’s more hope in the project being done than in the possibility of the NYPD suddenly giving a whit. I could try asking, but honestly, I wouldn’t necessarily assume that anyone knows and/or would tell the truth. Those photos I posted recently made it seem like the lower floors might be well on their way, with only the rooftop addition with a long way to go. The addition is shrouded, so it’s hard to know.

••• Restaurant Ato at 28 Grand, just east of Sixth Ave., has opened. The last pic is from its Facebook page.

 

3 Comments

  1. There was a serious gas leak in the first floor of the cast iron house as well yesterday – Franklin was closed up for a good hour, and the entire street smelled of gas.

  2. I’d say the closest thing to replacing Raccoon is The Patriot.

  3. Nothing can replace the Raccoon Lodge! Sadly. But Puffy’s is a great, and simple, bar.

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