Anybody out of a job and looking knows it still sucks to be unemployed in NYC right now, but those seeking a glimmer of hope won’t find it in the latest assessment by state officials. For the third straight month, the unemployment rate in New York City is above 10% and areas of traditional strength, like financial services, are still going through layoffs. Same story in real estate, banking, professional/business services and construction. Even seasonally strong sectors like tourism and retail are looking mighty weak, despite the dollar’s supposed attractiveness to foreign buyers and visitors.
We’re eternal optimists, especially when it comes to NYC, but the economic news is still grim. Word to the wise, whether you’re gainfully employed or one cigarette short of being tossed on the streets, cut your spending, get your hustle on and bear down for a tough winter, we’re not out of the woods yet.
photo: Manhattan skyline as seen from Schaefer Landing in Williamsburg. credit:PSE
After Mayor Bloomberg announced the City would purchase $95.6 worth of Coney Island prime real estate from Joe Sitt, plans to develop Coney Island into something of a cross between it’s former glorious self and Las Vegas, are getting under way. And this time it’s under the Mayor’s direction. The Brooklyn Paper is reporting that the City is now aggressively courting developers other than Sitt, going as far as Las Vegas to make the pitch at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions exposition. According to the paper:
Mayor Bloomberg’s vision calls for a Coney Island amusement area reborn as a 24-7-365 destination featuring new hotels, restaurants, shopping, indoor attractions and, most important, a 12-acre open-air amusement park along the Boardwalk.
Amusement park ride owners wishing to bid for inclusion into the park must do so before Dec. 11th.
The Knitting Factory in Williamsburg (map) will be hosting comedy starting November 15th when Hannibal Burress, a writer for SNL, debuts as standup and host of the weekly series. In a not so funny coincidence, knitting will also be offered Sunday afternoons along with a monthly book reading series called “Largehearted Lit” to be hosted by author Jami Attenburg.
photo: Hannibal Burress by Mindy Tucker via BrooklynPaper
We love Vietnamese food, but in all honesty, if the setting isn’t high end, it often looks like just another Chinese restaurant, with Pho being the only real point of difference. When we saw a new Vietnamese restaurant putting itself together first as a quick Ban Mi sandwich shop on Bedford and N. 7th in Williamsburg, we were heartened by the interior design – dark wood, a chandelier! Now the restaurant version, An Nhau, has opened and has surprised many with its well appointed garden (heat lamps, cabanas) and excellent service. PlateoftheDay.com approves, calling the bowl of pho “just the right thing for chilly winter”
No doubt you’ve noticed that the Banh Mi, the humble hoagie of the Asian world, has taken its turn in the culinary spotlight. Not far behind is one Michael ‘Bao’ Huynh, a chef of Vietnamese descent who hasn’t heard that there’s a recession in town. In the past year, he’s opened numerous restaurants with BET meets Saigon monikers, such as “Pho Sure”, which of course serves the famous Vietnamese noodle soup. He’s also leaked out that he’s negotiating a lease on North 5th and Kent on Williamsburg’s emerging Riviera, that will be something of a seafood karaoke restaurant along the East River.
Michael Bao Huynh with Martha Stewart
Never mind that the East River is not where I want to imagine my prawns to be coming from, Michael Bao, as he’s recently changed his name to, does have a way of acting on his instincts. In interviews, he’s likened himself to a gambler, doubling down on a hot hand and has confessed that the recession has been great for negotiating leases without key deposits. New Yorkers respect a hustler but is the food any good? Stay tuned as our mystery diners explore Michael Bao’s empire.
Greenpoint foodies begrudgingly head over to the nabe next door, Williamsburg, if they’re looking for a culinary experience. That’s not changing anytime soon, but the ‘Point is getting hipper by the day. Case in point, the new Manhattan Inn, by the people behind subversive rock scene Glasslands, on Kent Ave. The place is now open so check them out.
Glasslands Gallery proprietors Rolyn Hu and Brooke Baxter are happy to announce the grand opening of their new bar and restaurant, Manhattan Inn on Wednesday.
Formerly Johnny’s Cafe, this large dining house and full bar located in Greenpoint on Manhattan Avenue (between Bedford and Nassau, one block from McCarren Park); will be serving new American cuisine with tapas-like fare. Daily specials will coincide with seasonal produce sourced from local suppliers, including Rooftop Farms and Farm to Chef. Specialty dishes will include: Berkshire Pie (slow cooked Berkshire pork topped with creamed roots) and Pumpkin Butternut Squash stew.
Seating around 75, Manhattan Inn houses a grand piano with stellar acoustics for live musical acts. The bar will serve new and old fashioned cocktails, as well as a unique wine and beer list selected by James Endicott, formerly of Per Se and Allen & Delancey.
Chef Jesse Carpenter will be at the helm. His cuisine combines the accessibility of southern comfort food he enjoyed while living in Kentucky, the rustic flavors he experienced on the West Coast, and the varied, sophisticated dishes he mastered in New York City kitchens. The owners will be working closely with him, sharing recipes from both our respective backgrounds– Brooke’s British family and Rolyn’s traditional Chinese upbringing.
Manhattan Inn is proud to display the design of hOmE, a collaborative effort of Evan and Oliver Haslegrave who redesigned the most current incarnation of Glasslands Gallery. Manhattan Inn was built with a nod to the current detailed woodwork and playful whimsy of the Gallery — repurposed doorknobs as tap handles, school desks as dining tables.
Come January, Manhattan Inn will be open for breakfast and lunch, and will serve a full menu of espresso beverages.
Hours of operation: Monday – Thursday: 4pm – 2:30am. Dinner served 6pm – 12:30am Friday: 4pm – 4am. Dinner served 6pm – 2:30am Saturday: 11am – 4am. Brunch served 11am – 4pm; Dinner served 6pm – 2:30am Sunday: 11am – 4am. Brunch served 11am – 4pm; Dinner served 6pm – 12:30am
Solange Knowles, baby sister of you know who, is making her own name in the pop landscape. Her official debut album, T.O.N.Y. showed the Knowles family’s funkier, more retro side and now comes word that she’s gone indie rock. Brooklyn indie rock to be exact. Solange recently unveiled her remake of the Dirty Projector’s “Stillness is in the Move” (original Dirty Projectors version below). MTV approves:
She takes the original’s trippy groove, lays in a sample of Sou Mann & the Brothers’ “Bumpy’s Lament” and throws her own smooth croon over it. The result is somehow simultaneously a futuristic exploration and a supercool throwback, full of smokey sexiness and after-hours pomp.
It’s being reported that there’s no planned official release for the song and the posted version on pitchfork.com has been removed as requested by Universal Music. Given MTV’s glowing review, there’s a good chance a deal will be worked out. Hopefully llamas will make it in her version of the video.
A bit hard to believe considering all of the stalled sights around town, especially in Brooklyn, but according to the Times, bidding wars are “breaking out” in some of the tonier NYC nabes like the Upper West Side and Brooklyn Heights. Even Williamsburg which has gone from sleepy industrial outpost to Miami to capital of stalled construction projects, is starting to heat up again.
In more and more cases bidding wars are causing prices to come in above asking. Case in point, an Upper West Side 2-bedroom went on the market at $1.595 and sold just two weeks later for a cool $1.8. Here’s the rub, five of the nine offers according to the broker, were all cash.
The Rialto, in Williamsburg, is also noted for creating a few bidding wars of its own. One strategy the pros mentioned stuck out – uderprice the market, which may give you more traffic than usual since everyone is bargain hunting, and that group of potential buyers may end up in a bidding war, raising your original asking to above market.
Mayor Bloomberg was in the awkward position of both defending his office for inviting Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a Muslim leader linked to the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, and suggesting that it was unintentional and would not have happened had the vetting process been more rigorous.
Imam-Siraj-Wahhaj
“If I had recognized his (Imam Siraj Wahhaj) background I probably should not have, and I probably wouldn’t have invited him,” Bloomberg said.
“But, look, the important thing is I’m going to keep the city open to everyone, one sick person in Texas is not representative of any ethnic group or any religious group, and it is important that everybody in New York City understand that they can live here and practice their religion and their culture and they will be respected and become honorable parts of our city.”
Bloomberg.com’s Ryan Sutton has just done the Brooklyn Bowl thing over in Williamsburg and gave it mixed results – he, like many of us, couldn’t help but get the sticker shock. Let’s see, $13 for a whiskey milkshake, $30-$50 for a bowling lane, $4 shoe rentals, yeah that would add up. He wasn’t too impressed with the Blue Ribbon chicken either, says he:
It’s semi-famous for fried chicken even though it shouldn’t be, at least not here, where it’s under-salted and dry, with a crumbly, insubstantial crust.
Of course, anyone bowling a 154 should be concentrating on other things besides the food. If you’re headed to Brooklyn Bowl, bring lots of cash or a hot credit card, don’t forget the socks, and if you’re feeling the munchies we recommend the fries, which even Ryan likes. If chicken is your thing, it’s still Brooklyn and we wouldn’t tell if you stuffed a bodega bird into your jacket pocket – it’ll cost you a fraction of the Blue Ribbon and we guarantee it won’t be “under-salted”.
Anybody out of a job and looking knows it still sucks to be unemployed in NYC right now, but those seeking a glimmer of hope won’t find it in the latest assessment by state officials. For the third straight month, the unemployment rate in New York City is above 10% and areas of traditional strength, like financial services, are still going through layoffs. Same story in real estate, banking, professional/business services and construction. Even seasonally strong sectors like tourism and retail are looking mighty weak, despite the dollar’s supposed attractiveness to foreign buyers and visitors.
