Seen & Heard: Tasteless Advertising at Razzledazzle

••• Adam and I walked by the Dirty Lemon store, where you check out via text. I told him he should buy one, as research for TC. Two other people were already inside the tiny space—I’m not sure I’d even call it a kiosk—and they were clearly frustrated with the process. (We all wondered why you couldn’t just swipe a card or use Apple Pay.) Adam got miffed and bailed when Dirty Lemon, on top of the $10+ price tag for the drink, also insisted on an email address.

••• I submitted a notice via 311 to the Department of Transportation that the “sidewalk closed ahead” sign at Greenwich and Watts was inaccurate. The response: “The Department of Transportation inspected the condition and opened a repair order. Repairs of this type are corrected within 180 (120 Biz) days from the date of inspection.” I’ll try to check back in six months.

••• The Razzledazzle barbershop looks very close to opening, if it hasn’t already. I was amazed they kept the diamond awning from the former jewelry store, but I suppose it works with the general theme. One reader, however, questioned the joke about getting “whacked,” given that a) a man was killed outside the Miami Beach outpost in 2015 after threatening cops with a razor he grabbed inside; and b) a co-owner of the jewelry store was murdered in the Church Street space. Anyway, the advertising is clearly in poor taste—the text in the second photo says, “Come back when it gets longer”—but that’s on brand for Razzledazzle.

••• Someone from the NYPD ticked me off yesterday with this parking job on Thomas. The Placard Corruption folks pointed out that a sign on the building warns against parking there because of the vaults underneath.

••• And then the FDNY showed that it’s no better. I just don’t think it’s too much to ask that people not park on the sidewalk—and that goes double for people paid to keep the city safe.

 

8 Comments

  1. Bets on if RazzleDazzle makes it vs. Gentleman’s Barber Spa (opening up a block a way)? I could be wrong, but I’m guessing one of the two missed the mark on the Tribeca demographic.

  2. Feels like NYPD gives placard to just about anyone in the dept. Last week, ran into an acquaintance who works there as a photographer near the Tombs. Asked how the commute is since she lives out in Coney Island. The response was “I can park any where”. I just can’t believe how NYPD is abusing the placard system.

    • I have heard similar stories like this as well.

      I know of one guy who works at a retail store in Tribeca. His wife is a secretary at an NYPD building and he uses a placard from this.

      At the same time, delivery trucks have nowhere to load and unload as these spots are all taken by placards and so the delivery trucks just park in the street. This causes tremendous traffic buildup. It really is frustrating.

  3. The parking on sidewalks is not only inconvenient to pedestrians (not to mention those on wheelchairs or with baby carriages, or delivery carts, etc.), but dangerous. There have been a couple sidewalk vault collapses recently (SoHo and TriBeCa) when vehicles drove up onto the sidewalk.

  4. I really hope the Gentleman’s Barber comes out the winner!

  5. Really wish that someone filed a 311 report with photos on the cop car

  6. Who cares if NYPD supporting staff have placards? What is this obsession? I hate all the huge Land Rovers in the neighborhood whose drivers go too fast, can’t park very well and buy vehicles are bad for the environment but so what? I say let the city employees, NYPD and FDNY have the placards – it is a perk of the job. As long as there is plenty of room for emergency vehicles, delivery trucks and maintenance and construction – who cares?
    And stop with the 311 hysteria. Geez.

    • I hope that TG’s comment was actually a satirical, tongue-in-cheek comment.

      Failing that…

      Do you know that a good number of these placards are fictitious, or counterfeit or meaningless unauthorized placards distributed by municipal unions with no force of law? By definition that is not a perk of the job when these permits are not lawful (or are used to park unlawfully).

      Furthermore people who are supposed to enforce the law but break the law publicly and flagrantly only show their contempt for the law. They undermine their department’s authority to enforce the law.

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