Tennis Snowden unveiled! People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Or something like that. This Snowden wannabe aka Seamus McBleary turns out to be a tennis "pro" (initials BS -- yes, really) who has been using the WMP court as his own private teaching court, even though he has no concession from the Parks Dept permitting him to do so and the posted rules prohibit "commercial activity" and also limit the number of tennis balls on the court at any time (to prevent lessons). He charges an hourly fee and the City gets none of it. Do all his student have Parks permits? Who knows? Between him and this students, how many hours of court time does he sign up for per week? So as far as I can tell, Mr BS seems to be complaining that folks with permits are getting up early and signing up to play tennis with other permit holders in time slots that BS wants for lessons. Hmmmm. A legitimate public use of the court vs a prohibited commercial use of the court... And hurling words around like Mafia and corruption is just disgusting. If folks are interested in what kind of person is launching this attack, check out this blog posted by Mr BS: http://mcbleary.blogspot.com/2012/12/why-im-buying-beer-at-1015-am-at.html?m=1 — SW on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

Heard that Kin's cleaners leaving also. Moving North to Canal. — Marla on Ashiya Sushi Has Closed

I knew I was setting mysef up for a reply. Thanks for the laugh! — Claudine on Museum of Modern Graffiti | June 2014

The Parks employees are decent, honest people; who enforce the rules fairly. It is irresponsible to call them corrupt. — Lane Warren on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

Thanks for the good news about the high chairs at Brookfield! — KLG on Seen & Heard: More on the Tennis Court Complaint

It's great that the Friends of Wash. Market Park is "hopeful" that the corrupt situation at the court in their park will improve. I bet they feel the same abt prospects for peace in the Middle East with equal ability to influence events in either place. Their main interest in that court is to have cute pictures to post of their free lessons for neighborhood kids. It's true there there are limits to possible solutions because it's only one court. The Parks Dept. changes have had little effect and the cheaters cheated merrily along this Wed. and Thurs. The permits cop sent by Parks was only there for one morning. Anyone interested in fixing the situation needn't file an FOIA request for documents. The incriminating sheet hangs on the door of the park house from 7pm to closing. — Brent Shearer on Seen & Heard: More on the Tennis Court Complaint

Nope :-) — KP on Where in Tribeca…?

@goldsmith if you were to ask every single one of the vendors why they left, off the record, it wouldn't be because of the customers that came (or didn't), it would be 100% because of Kyle. The rent was fine but the utilities they were charged and the arbitrary purchases that Kyle decided to make and then assign to them were astronomical. Verbal harassment was a daily occurrence. Refusal to promote the space and refusal to make the space a comfortable place to shop were also part of the downfall. Honestly, he is a spoiled rotten rich kid that doesn't realize that most people have to work for what they are given. — pwned on All Good Things Is Coming to an End

The park folks take 'gifts' from the mafia. Don't you know how city corruption works? — Concerned on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

Not sure why the tennis court dispute has become such an big issue, the rules are very simple and clear - first come, first serve. Why can't the park personnel enforce the rules? — Sean L on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

The Sumo space is beautiful. Went inside yesterday to see the artworks. Gorgeous design and cool art. The guy in there was super friendly. Nice to see that area of Walker St start to come to life. — Megan H. on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

Up early every morning, just not always awake enough. Are you a fellow Canadian, eh? — Andrea on Where in Tribeca…?

Up early this morning, eh? — KP on Where in Tribeca…?

The old Lily O'Brians at 67 Murray — Andrea on Where in Tribeca…?

Here's Ryan Tate in an interview on Eater Ny: It's still relatively uncommon for the cooks to serve the food. When and why did you decide to do that? Ryan: When I stopped working at my last job. To be transparent, it was out of an utter disdain for waitstaff. I just don't understand them. I like them, they're good people, but they're freelancers, they're there for the money. Service at ATG was the worst I think I've ever seen. The crazy cheese shop people were the worst of the bunch, so no surprise they were the last ones left besides the actual restaurant, which received a great review for food but brutal review for service by Pete Wells in the Times. These guys (esp. wittels) never cared at all about being friendly or nice, projecting an extremely off-putting appearance of not caring about the customer at all. Utterly self-absorbed in their own smug "brilliance". Disdain for waitstaff clearly carried over to disdain for the customer. That doesn't fly in this neighborhood, this city, or anywhere else for that matter. Good riddance. — matthieu on All Good Things Is Coming to an End

Thanks for the clarification! — Erik Torkells on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

Actually, Goldsmith is not Kyle. — Erik Torkells on All Good Things Is Coming to an End

Good business owners know how to run good businesses. Full stop. The world is full of great, local businesses, so I don't subscribe to your theory whatsoever. — Max on All Good Things Is Coming to an End

The SUMO gallery is owned by Esotetic. I was at the opening. Both share the space. — James on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

So let me get this straight, AGT failed because of US, the "brilliant" local customers at AGT, and not management, who didn't give them enough business, with no mention of exorbitant prices that they charged that was clearly not competitive with other local grocery outlets. Not to mention the "smart mouth" employees, that AGT mgmt. claimed also contributed to their decline. Personally, I can't wait for the Franklin St. Gourmet Garage to open.. By the way, if you haven't noticed, Goldsmith IS Kyle Wittels.. — SRJ on All Good Things Is Coming to an End

I'm a foodie , with 30 yrs. and two restaurants in Manhattan. The truth is Tribeca is not the best place of this type of adventure, Tribeca lacks the palette and loyalty, I met many nice people working the different food stations. I admit that in the beginning it was confusing with the seating, not all vendor had seating, it could have been more of a share seating arrangement. Marketing is a must in these destination locations. Sad it didn’t last, the concept was a good one. I will miss AGT. — LILLY on All Good Things Is Coming to an End

Too bad. I had such high hopes for this place and loved the concept. It never clicked for me either. The people weren't terribly friendly - especially one guy at the cheese place. — TriBeCa cit on All Good Things Is Coming to an End

The tennis court mafia is true. Those guys are major a-holes and definitely game the system to make it hard for anyone else to get time on the court. — Brian on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

This tennis court drama sounds pretty interesting. Much more so than the Eastern Athletic drama. — lowphat on Seen & Heard: Corruption Alleged at the Tennis Court

When I moved to NYC in 1979 my first meal was at Delphi. Miss it and really miss Ruby's. Thanks for posting these photos. — Huck's Mom on The Way Tribeca Was