I was at Target yesterday, and I smelled it near the restrooms. I thought it was just due to some bad Chipotle. — mruptight on Seen & Heard: Target’s Sewage Situation

Sadly calling 311 has proven to be nothing but a waste of time. I will try going into the precinct in person to see if that yields better results. But as Erik suggested, I will try to get some photos or video first. — Brett on Seen & Heard: Target’s Sewage Situation

As a long time resident of Washington Street, this situation is very real. Many cars also notice the traffic at Canal and speed backwards down the one way street - its terribly dangerous and the traffic cops are essentially worthless. My children and I have often dodged cars ignoring the traffic stop. Vehicles also speed up to make the light at Canal and Washington before it turns red. Sending more traffic cops will do nothing as they often just sit on my stoop and smoke and talk on the phone, or sleep in their cars. For the tipster - did calling the Precinct help? - I've called 311 too many times to count. — Beautiful on Seen & Heard: Target’s Sewage Situation

this is disgusting..... Please go to Yelp and post something and add this chat. Our country is a mess but I will not have NYC go through this....FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT — Lee on Yes, It Can Happen Here

Nicely said. — Erik Torkells on In the News: How People Around Here Voted

NYC DOHMH has a rat portal. Public can look up the address and see the inspection history. http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/template/?applicationName=DOH_RIP — TribecaMom on Seen & Heard: Rats

Erik, If there was a "like" button here, I would have deployed it for your response above. You should NOT be cowed by the vocal minority bashing you for raising the question of how members of our community could have voted for Trump and for everything that he represents. In my opinion, it is shameful. But that's my opinion. The important thing is that I (and I know many others) do not come to your site to avoid politics, because politics is embedded in absolutely everything that you report on here, in one way or another, no matter how directly or indirectly. So we should be informed about not only who our neighbors actually are, and what values they stand for, but what this means for us as a supposed community. Gentrification, real estate development, demolition of historic human-scaled building stock, commercial and economic shifts, schools, affluence and displacement, being residents just blocks from the 9/11 site and the centers of municipal and federal power in the city, the police and courts - ALL of this is political. Every baby boutique that opens, every nail salon or soul cycle, every hardware store or bodega that closes, is political. At such an unprecedented, historical turning point for this country, it is important NOT to avoid understanding the correlation between the macro and the micro in our little downtown bubble. And we should be looking at ourselves and our neighbors as who we really are. — james on In the News: How People Around Here Voted

Agree Susan. Thanks Erik for reporting this and keeping the contact with those so grossly harassed . Low lifes. Wolfgangs won't be getting a single of $ of mine, ever. — Bronwyn on Yes, It Can Happen Here

I've always preferred American Cut to Wolfgang's — lowphat on Yes, It Can Happen Here

Good idea to contact them, but I don't think we should treat Erik like a personal assistant. — Leo on Yes, It Can Happen Here

Long before you had Trump, a lot of the clientele at Wolfgang's has always consisted of large groups of very hard looking foreign men who are scary looking. I am convinced that some of them must be gangsters. This type of behavior is not surprising. Because of this clientele and poor treatment by management, we stopped going there long ago. — IJM on Yes, It Can Happen Here

Yes,thanks to Erik and everyone who reported and responded. While we like Wolfgang's, it's just as easy to go to American Cut. Re: the rats -- i have a terrier with a nose for vermin, and she used to drag me to the lot where that new building is going in. There were hundreds of rats living there. And, yes, they seem to have relocated to the sewer in front of TriBeCa Tavern and Wichcraft. The nose knows! — Meg on Yes, It Can Happen Here

"The Taylor Swift Experience"? You would think that a deity had descended from heaven and we poor mortals would give anything to touch the hem of his/her garment. (And I do like, but not love, some of her well-crafted pop songs) So I'll listen to Sam Cooke instead. — Marcus on Seen & Heard: New Semi-Public Sculptures

I'm curious to see how upper management deals with the staff who failed to appropriately address the women and the diners who verbally attacked them. The staff that night failed terribly to handle this situation in every way possible. It's too late to charge the male diners with any type of harassment and there is nothing more that can be done for the women either, unfortunately. Upper management needs to send a clear message to their staff that behavior like that will not be tolerated and if needed, police will be called in in cases of such harassment. — Emily Hoffman on Yes, It Can Happen Here

Absolutely, and telling friends to do the same. — CP on Yes, It Can Happen Here

I think you mean libel ("the act of publishing a false statement that causes people to have a bad opinion of someone," per Merriam-Webster), not slander ("to make a false spoken statement that causes people to have a bad opinion of someone"). Nothing I wrote, however, was directed at anyone specific, and none of it was false. If anything, by accusing me of slander, with no merit, you have now potentially committed libel. Proving intent to harm is always difficult, but that may change, since Trump has promised to "loosen" libel laws. Your point, of course, is that you disagree with my opinions. I'm not entirely prepared to stifle them simply because some readers disagree, but I do get that this site might be a useful break—for everyone—from the turmoil around us. I'll endeavor to keep political commentary to a minimum, unless of course it directly relates to this area. — Erik Torkells on In the News: How People Around Here Voted

Erik, the Tribeca Citizen keeps getting better. Thanks for your thoughtful posts making your readers aware of situations like this. — Susan Rosenberg Jones on Yes, It Can Happen Here

Where's the "like" button? — Makes you go "hmmm..." on In the News: How People Around Here Voted

Great. Now TC has become FB with politically biased and outrageously slanderous comments. You were better than that. Build a bridge and get over it. — Jrad on In the News: How People Around Here Voted

Some people would happily sign up to vote for Idi Amin if he said he'd lower their taxes. Shame on anyone who voted for that imbecile. — Will on In the News: How People Around Here Voted

Does it bother no one that the response from the restaurant was so poorly written? "Inconvenience"? "Time phrase"?? Canned words, totally insincere and devoid of any real humanity. — Chris Boals on Yes, It Can Happen Here

Thanks for this article. I never realized Seamless was so predatory. I'll call the restaurants henceforth. It doesn't take any longer, anyway, given the number of times I've had problems with the Seamless site. — John Wilson on Why Restaurants Hate GrubHub Seamless

A friend sent me a video about confronting racism (but relevant in many situations) that pointed out you can also be helpful, if you're not sure how to respond, by simply standing next to the people being harassed, letting them know they're not on their own. And then spending time with them afterward, making sure they're OK, helping them contact a friend, and so on. — Erik Torkells on Yes, It Can Happen Here

It IS De Niro's best work in years! Thank you. — Heide Fasnacht on Seen & Heard: Exterior Work at Serafina

If I were walking down the street and witnessed that behavior, I hope I would have the courage to stop, record a minute of video and then call the police. Street harassment is a misdemeanor. Specifically, disorderly conduct includes "abusive or obscene language or obscene gestures in a public place" and carries a fine of up to $250 and/or up to 15 days in jail. http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/SSH-KYR-NewYork.pdf Now, when the police stop responding and caring about this, we have a different problem. But for now, it's up to all of us to maintain the society we want to live in. — Dan Kohn on Yes, It Can Happen Here