Since I don’t often cross the border unless it’s something big, here’s a little roundup of some Soho happenings that might pique interest:

PARAJUMPERS STORE ON BROOME
Parajumpers, the Italian winter gear brand, opened a 2,000-square-foot store at 464 Broome, its first in the US. “The store is part of the company’s strategy to grow its business in the U.S. where it already has a robust wholesale and e-commerce presence, according to Cristina Paulon, global marketing director and a member of the family that owns the brand,” according to WWD.

 

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NEW TORRISI FROM THE CARBONE TEAM
Torrisi Bar & Restaurant, from the folks behind Carbone, has opened on Mulberry and Jersey. “This is personal, this is home,” he said. The Times describes it as “grander, layered with atmosphere with a 35-seat bar area that faces a swath of open kitchen, and a 40-seat dining room with a geometric marble floor and tablecloths beyond. The menu’s take on Italian American is not cookie-cutter red sauce, the group has the Parm restaurants for that; here the food has a strong New York focus. Stuffed peppers, hand-pulled mozzarella, linguine with Manhattan clams, tortellini pomodoro, cucumbers New Yorkese, short ribs with pastrami spices and, for drama, whole turbot.”

ATHLETA OPENS SOHO STORE
Activewear brand Athleta and Athleta Girl opened a new multi-level store at 594 Broadway. There are three other locations in Manhattan including in Hudson Yards, at 1517 Third Avenue on the Upper East Side, and at 126 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron neighborhood and the brand is planning to add another 30 stores in 2023.

SOHO SHELL GAME
The Post had a funny story about a shell game going on next door to Patagonia — one where thousands of dollars were being gambled away, according to local merchants and residents. From The Post: “A man dressed in tight white jeans and a shirt with the Dior logo proffered a felt-topped rectangular surface in one hand. With the other, he quickly shuffled around three plastic bottle caps. Underneath one was a pebble-sized plastic ball — an efficient, micro spin on the age-old shell game. And well-heeled retailers and loft dwellers on the famous cobblestoned street are up in arms over it — saying the well-organized illegal game, complete with shills and lookouts, has brought a sometimes violent seediness to this cobblestoned street.”

SOHO THROUGH THE 1970 LENS
New York Magazine went to the vault and pulled out a story on the neighborhood from August 1970 titled “Soho: Artists’ Bohemia Imperiled.” Little did they know…