I never heard a native New Yorker refer to New York as Manhattan Island! Or college as university! Just sayin'! I passed that by my LES born & bred husband & his response isn't fit to print. Ah, old New York! — TG on This One Is Going to Hurt

Jammy Sod is wrong on this one: it's the landlord. — TG on Pookie & Sebastian Is Closing

I'd like to buy the principals of Cape Advisors a beer in the old Raccoon Lodge. Then punch them in the face. — Andy on In the News: Scotch & Soda Is Opening a Seaport Store

This is probably less to do with the landlord and more to do with lack of sales — Jammy sod on Pookie & Sebastian Is Closing

what else is new. everything is closing. There should be rules for Landlords who have been getting rid of our Mom & Pop stores and tenants for years now. — AMD on Pookie & Sebastian Is Closing

That's too bad! It always seemed weird to me that it closed at 6:30. I tried to go a couple times and was too late. Seems like if they wanted to get anyone shopping after work they should stay open until 7. Though I guess it probably wouldn't have helped enough to keep them running — Tribeca Mama on Pookie & Sebastian Is Closing

This place is outstanding: http://losier.shiseido.co.jp/e/index.html — JH on Seen & Heard: Another GrubHub Seamless Scheme

Les Creations de Narisawa was absolutely insane - we went for lunch when the price was much cheaper than dinner. Best ramen EVER: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1066457-d1686998-r153931741-Menya_Musashi-Shinjuku_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html\ — OS on Seen & Heard: Another GrubHub Seamless Scheme

Guilty! I do find the company's actions fascinating! Which explains the four posts on the company in seven years. As for "free marketing," that's certainly one way to look at it. For the record, however, Yaar has its own website—on which it chose, for whatever reason, not to use Seamless. So Seamless went and built a website of its own, optimized to appear high in search results, to compete with it. All orders ultimately go to Yaar, of course, but it's still a shady move. Moreover, it seems to me that the restaurants least likely to have their own websites are the ones owned by people who probably don't understand the legalese in the contract—let alone the word "nitrosite." — Erik Torkells on Seen & Heard: Another GrubHub Seamless Scheme

TriBeCa Citizen is almost on the verge of obsessed with Grubhub Seamless. Latest beef? That they are creating free marketing for restaurants that didn't otherwise have it. OH NO!!!! — JZ on Seen & Heard: Another GrubHub Seamless Scheme

Sad to see ordinarily sensible (and often far-sighted on traffic issues) CM's Chin & Rodriguez backing/pushing the exemption of press vehicles from parking and standing regs. The real "nightmare" isn't that NYPD won't administer the exemption even-handedly, but the exemption, period. There's little justification for handing out precious street (and sidewalk, and plaza) space for this perk. In an era of miniaturized A/V equipment and vehicles-on-demand (Uber, anyone?), why should hulking media trucks and vans, and their corporate owners, enjoy a gift probably worth several million bucks a year (at fair-value rates for curb space). Plus, the free parking further incentivizes excessive and unnecessary driving in gridlocked Manhattan. Yes, this giveaway is already de facto in force, but codifying it is a step in the wrong direction and makes it even harder to go after placard-abusing gov't employees. Let the media function like the rest of us. Who knows, limiting their "windshield perspective" might lead to more balanced and penetrating coverage of transportation and traffic issues. — Charles Komanoff on Seen & Heard: Wagner Park Redesign Survey

I was in Barcelona recently and was very impressed by the garbage collection system--large plastic bins every few blocks. The bins are a single piece of molded plastic with an attached lid that opens during the pick up process. Of course, that would mean giving up parking spaces and we all know that's not going to happen. — JD on Seen & Heard: Look What They’ve Done to the Municipal Building

the loss of the hawk is tragic. isn't it obvious that if we are serious about reducing the rat population, we need to go after their food supply. i work at night and when i come home the rats are feasting on all the garbage bags left out for collection. that's the real problem. the pile on thomas next to the mcdonalds is just an insane rat party every night. can't the sanitation department come up with a better solution for putting out the garbage? — j on Seen & Heard: Look What They’ve Done to the Municipal Building

Re partial vs full demolition, DOB approved a construction code waiver for this building project in 2015 which states: "We propose to maintain all perimeter foundations and remove the existing basement slab and interior footings. "All perimeter foundations are being retained to maintain the structural stability of the adjacent building and sidewalk. "The perimeter foundations provide vertical support for the adjacent building and sidewalk. [...] "The portion of existing 118 Duane Street structure from the 3rd floor down to sub-cellar grade that provides existing emergency egress for the adjacent 116 Duane Street at the 2nd floor is to be maintained." — James on Demolition on Duane

Sounds like they're not fully up-to-speed on the details of the classic "demolition scam" just yet. Might be a while until they get to the court precedents. I lived in 120 briefly in the mid-seventies. Nice, solid building. — David G. Imber on Demolition on Duane

It's possible that this is a service GrubHub offers to restaurants (it'll set up a secondary website as long as orders to go it). I'll contact Yaar and see what I can find out. — Erik Torkells on Why Restaurants Hate GrubHub Seamless

That is crazy! I checked whois.com and sure enough, GrubHub owns this domain. I feel a class action lawsuit coming at some point in the future. Despicable. http://www.whois.com/whois/yaarindianrestaurant.net — C.J on Why Restaurants Hate GrubHub Seamless

That's insane! Has anyone seen this for another restaurant? (To be fair, it's not clear that GrubHub paid Google for a higher search ranking; it's likely just better SEO optimization.) — Erik Torkells on Why Restaurants Hate GrubHub Seamless

I agree with Anne. It looks so elegant when they just use plain white light (and get all the bulbs working at once). And I'd love to see the tweed courthouse lights turned on again but they've out for nearly a decade now.... — Adam on Seen & Heard: Look What They’ve Done to the Municipal Building

Ok, here's some craziness I just found: One of my favorite local restaurants is Yaar, which recently opened in Astoria. It's rare that I order for delivery, and Seamless has always left a bad taste in my mouth, so I like to go to a restaurant's website and see what they link to for ordering delivery. I did a quick search for Yaar's website. Google's first result was http://www.yaarindianrestaurant.net The site didn't look like a site, though. There was no real information, just menu items and a link to order online. Then I scrolled to the bottom of the main page and saw: "© 2015 GrubHub Holdings Inc." I went back to Google and found Yaar's true website, http://www.yaarindianrestaurant.com - which linked to Eat24. But seriously, how screwed up is it for Seamless to buy the .net version of Yaar's website address and pretend that it's Yaar's official website? And then pay Google to be listed before Yaar's actual website? They're seriously tiptoeing the line between self-advertisement and fraud. — TGRbass on Why Restaurants Hate GrubHub Seamless

Hi, Luis, I think my problem with the colored lights on the Municipal Building - though I like them on Empire State Building -- is that they are too modern for a 1914 McKim Meade White - designed building and turn the sculpture "Civic Fame" at the top into a bit of a chorus girl. — Anne Baxter on Seen & Heard: Look What They’ve Done to the Municipal Building

Jane, I invite you to please join us at the next meeting of the Financial District Neighborhood Association. One of the committees we are putting together is one to identify buildings in FiDi that are not landmarked, but deserve to be considered. I wouldn't have included 112 Fulton on that list :-), but there are others that should be considered and identified. The next meeting is April 14th at 180 Maiden Lane, I believe it will be from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. — Luis Vazquez (FiDi Fan Page) on In the News: Garage Attendant Won the Lottery

Thanks for reposting the Red-Tailed Hawk info, Eric and linking -- as I should have -- to info on how best to complain about the rat poison and how to contact Margaret Chin's office. NYC Audubon posted about the incident and there's quite a debate going on in the comments section - for those who are interested: https://www.facebook.com/nycaudubon/?fref=nf — Anne Baxter on Seen & Heard: Look What They’ve Done to the Municipal Building

The loss of Walker Supply is particularly unfortunate for those of us around here who still build our own stuff. One could have lumber cut to fit for shelving, doors, framing, and so on. And they'd deliver. We're transitioning from being a neighborhood of makers toward being a neighborhood fully dependent upon outside contractors. — David G. Imber on Seen & Heard: A Rumor About 56 Leonard

Fulton St. may be getting more cheerful, but at a cost. A couple of years ago, 112 Fulton was torn down. This beautiful, five-story building was where Herman Melville set the type for Moby-Dick. The novel was first published by Harper & Bros., nearby. The first edition, titled The Whale, was shipped to England, but the last pages went missing, so the Brits didn't know for a long time what had become of Ishmael. — Jane Freeman on In the News: Garage Attendant Won the Lottery