••• While snapping this pic (through a scratched off spot in the whitewashed windows of the former Blaue Gans space on Duane) I met Noam Langleib, the new owner, who said he plans to open a Mediterranean seafood restaurant in what was also formerly Le Zinc. No name yet, and no significant intel: he said he ran restaurants in his home country (which he refused to name) but none here in NYC. And as pointed out by a recent reader, the interior is indeed white-washed too. Gone are the art and rock posters, the giant drum chandeliers, and it looks like…the zinc.

••• Restaurant Week starts January 21 (and runs through February 8), with two-course lunches for $26 and three-course dinners for $42. Downtown establishments you might want to check out: 10 Corso Como (below), American Cut, Augustine, Bâtard, El Vez, Gran Morsi, Il Mulino Tribeca, Khe-Yo, Little Park, Mr. Chow, Nobu, The Palm, Rosa Mexicano, Sarabeth’s Tribeca, Schilling, Tamarind, Temple Court, and Thalassa.

••• The answers to the final Dead Restaurants quiz were posted. Most of them were stumpers.

••• I hear that the Schnippers space at 120 Church is on the market, which doesn’t mean the restaurant is closing, only that it will if someone signs a lease. The asking rent is $56,000 per month.

••• Now up at Ortuzar Projects: David Robilliard’s Works 1984-1988. “The exhibition will include paintings and works on paper, as well as a large selection of archival materials, that uniquely illuminate the pleasures and frustrations of love and life in 1980s queer London. This is the first exhibition of Robilliard’s work in New York since 1990.” Below: A detail from “Are You a 3 Second Thrill.”

••• The governor promised an additional $23 million for Hudson River Park in his state of the state address yesterday, funds that will go towards finishing the esplanade between 33rd and 44th streets. The gov also has congestion pricing, marijuana legalization and a Green New Deal on his agenda.

••• Press release: “New York Law School’s CityLaw Breakfast Series continues with featured guest Hon. Jonathan Lippman, former Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. His topic will be: The Closing of Rikers Island as a Catalyst for Criminal Justice Reform in New York. […] Free and open to the public; however, donations are welcome. An audience Q&A follows each speaker’s remarks.” Good. Someone can ask his thoughts on the plan to build a huge jail tower on White Street.