NEW GALLERY ON FRANKLIN
Clara Ha spent 20 years working for art gallery owner Paul Kasmin, three years as an art consultant after that, and has now opened Chart Gallery at 74 Franklin. The gallery opened May 2 with a group show of 16 artists titled “Reductive Seductive.” —Observer

BUILDING THE WALL
Who doesn’t love a snarky story from The New York Times? And a few downtown business owners chime in. “In the next few months, the city’s Office of Emergency Management plans to oversee the installation of four-foot-tall sacks of soil along the East River esplanade, from Wall Street to just north of the Brooklyn Bridge.” The idea does seem a bit primitive…

AU CHEVAL GETS THUMBS DOWN
Adam Platt, in his review on Grubstreet, doesn’t hold back in his disappointment with Au Cheval: “The shiny brioche bun had an edge of staleness to it here, and after a bite of my messily constructed hors d’oeuvre portion of fried egg, bacon, and overcooked, oversalted beef (yes, we portioned it out with our Viking knife), I pushed it aside.”

NEW HOTEL SUITES AT 70 PINE
Crain’s reports that a hospitality startup backed by Airbnb will launch its first hotel suites at 70 Pine, the building with Crown Shy. Lyric has signed a long-term lease to open 132 suites on the third through sixth floors of the 67-story art deco tower.

BPC INVESTIGATES AFFORDABILITY
The Broadsheet reports that the Battery Park City Authority has a half million dollars put aside to find ways to preserve affordability in the community. This funding will be divided among a panel of five different firms over the next five years.