Seen & Heard: Whitmans Restaurant Is Open

••• The Whitmans burger restaurant at 261 Hudson (above Canal) is open, reports K. Below: The Hound.

••• Added to the agenda for tonight’s meeting of the Community Board 1 Land Use Committee:

Borough Based Jail System Plan & Manhattan Detention Complex – Discussion with Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit and Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice

••• The Cast Iron House conversion has taken a long time, but the Franklin Street sidewalk is finally open, and they did a nice job with it. Thanks to T. for the photos.

••• Press release about the forthcoming rezoning of Soho and Noho: “Department of City Planning Director Marisa Lago, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Council Member Margaret Chin today announced the launch of a public engagement process to inform future planning efforts in the Manhattan neighborhoods of SoHo and NoHo. Beginning in early 2019 and continuing through the spring, DCP, the Borough President, and the Council Member will convene a series of public sessions to hear from the local community on topics including housing, jobs, retail, and creative industries. The first public meeting is set for Wednesday, February 6, with time and location to follow.” Why announce a meeting without that info? “In consultation with stakeholders, insights and findings from the public discussions will be distilled into a report. The report will express values and community priorities for the future of SoHo and NoHo. The report, which is expected to be released this summer, will be compiled in direct consultation with a stakeholder group that includes residents, arts and culture organizations, businesses and property owners, and historic preservation advocates. […] A website with information on the planning process will be launched soon at sohonohoplan.nyc.”

••• Beyond the general tiredness of demonizing hedge funds and mocking yoga, there’s more than a whiff of misogyny in Paul Rudnick’s weak attempt at a joke. The punchline, after all, is that a woman can’t find the kitchen because she’s been too busy running a business. Such a joke would never be made about a man.

 

7 Comments

  1. I hope people can attend tonight’s’ Community Board 1 Land Use Committee meeting as DeBlasio’s 50 story prison will destroy parts of Chinatown and Northern Tribeca.

  2. Whitman’s Burger is finally opened. Super nice spot for casual dining and good for kids too. So happy.

  3. “Added to the agenda for tonight’s meeting of the Community Board 1 Land Use Committee: Borough Based Jail System Plan & Manhattan Detention Complex ”

    Finding out about this late for me to plan to attend, unfortunately, as I’m out of town. I hope others can attend and get involved in this issue.

    We all deserve to know the potential effects on the neighborhood(s), the city, our tax dollars, and evidence that this very expensive ($20 billion?) project would really correct the problems of the current system. Our communities should have a real say (as in influence on the decision, not just a chance to vent frustration) in the course of events.

  4. At the risk of being attacked for not being sufficiently sensitive, it’s not clear to me that “such a joke would never be made about a man” – though I agree that it is tired and weak… For example:

    “In the new thriller Birdbrain, Manhattan hedge fund manager George Kellner is left alone in his Tribeca penthouse when his housekeeper, nanny and three personal assistants are delayed by a transit strike, and George is forced to find the kitchen and his yoga mat by himself”

    As a matter of fact, Gary Shteyngart’s latest novel is basically a longer version of that joke and the antihero is a man.

    We may consider saving our outrage and offense for graver cases of bigotry.

  5. I’m just going to come out and say I love Paul Rudnick and I thought it was funny. He’s poking fun at “Tribeca wives” and I’m sure he’d poke fun at Tribeca finance bro types with equal gusto. Yes, they’re broad brush stereotypes…but that means there’s just enough truth in them for a chuckle, right?

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