After attending a bug banquet in the East Village, we were determined to preach the gospel of insect eating. So we stopped by Toloache in the South Village to get some grasshoppers, put them on toothpicks, and offered them to total strangers. Watch the video to see who jumped at the opportunity and who bugged out.Â
Lower East Side’s Black Tree Is Bringing a Chef’s Counter to Williamsburg
Black Tree’s Thanksgiving sandwich.
After a one-night stand in Bushwick, one of our favorite Lower East Side spots, Black Tree, is settling down in Williamsburg. The sandwich shop turned proper nose-to-tail, farm-to-table restaurant is aiming to open an outpost with chef’s counter at 261 Metropolitan Avenue this spring.
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Three Kings Travel to City Hall to Protest Dorming of P.S. 64 Building
District Leader Anthony Anthony Feliciano addresses the crowd. (Photo: Jaime Cone)
Mayor de Blasio received an unusual gift on Three King’s Day when picketers gathered outside City Hall to protest the loss of a beloved East Ninth Street community center. The protestors, backed by Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, collected more than 500 signatures to go along with nearly 2,000 holiday cards, all addressed to the mayor and asking for just one thing this holiday season: That the former CHARAS/El Bohio building be returned to the community.
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Weigh In On Newtown Barge Park; Mimi Cheng’s Does Breakfast Dumplings
(Photo: Scott Lynch)
After years of delays, Greenpoint residents will get to critique Newtown Barge Park’s final design drafts tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Dupont Street Senior Citizen Housing center. [Greenpointers]
Ella Lounge closed at the start of the year on Avenue A after a six-year run. [Bowery Boogie]
This time next week, Pies ‘n’ Thighs could be open for business on Canal Street. [Bowery Boogie]
Jane’s Closet Packs Up Its Short Shorts and Leaves North 6th
La Nonna isn’t the only Williamsburger that’s closing its original location. Jane is closing the North 6th Street location it opened as a pop-up in 2010 and moving over to its two-year-old store on Grand Street.
Manager Katie Brainer pointed to a shift in demographic similar to the one the owner of Lavai Maria observed when that store moved to Greenpoint in November. “With all the bigger retailers moving in – J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel — a lot of the smaller stores that were here when we first opened up, stores that we grew with, have closed,” said Brainer. “Which is kind of sad.” (Let’s not forget Madewell, which opened down the block in October.)
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La Nonna’s Bedford Avenue Location Is Finito
(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
Less than a couple of years after it was featured in Gothamist’s “Still Got It” column celebrating eateries that “continue to serve mouthwatering meals and drinks long after the buzz has faded,” La Nonna ain’t got it no more. We’re talking about the trattoria’s Bedford Avenue location, which opened in 2006 and closed this week.
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Man Shot During Robbery in Bushwick
A man was shot during an attempted robbery Monday afternoon in Bushwick, according to the police.
The 29-year-old victim was shot in the torso shortly before 5 p.m. at 1069 Halsey Street, on a residential block between Evergreen and Bushwick Avenues. The suspect, described as a black man in his 20s, wasn’t immediately apprehended, the police said.
The victim was rushed to Kings County Hospital with injuries that weren’t thought to be life-threatening.Â
Sweetleaf Is Opening a Roastery-Cafe in a Greenpoint Warehouse
(Photo courtesy of Sweetleaf)
Williamsburg just got a roastery-cafe specializing in Colombian beans, and now Greenpoint is getting one.
Sweetleaf is opening the dual operation off of Manhattan Avenue, and its owner, New York native Rich Nieto, says this one won’t be like some of the national and international operations that have landed in Brooklyn lately. “I think it’ll probably have more of a local feel,” he says of his roastery-cafe. “I don’t get a local feel from companies that have to cross the ocean to get here and then they open up and then say, ‘We’re your local coffee shop.'”
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Watch Reggie Watts (Among Others) Go On a Blind Karaoke Date
(Photo: Angelo Fabara)
Trust us, Desiree Akhavan’s Appropriate Behavior will bring a slew of hilariously awkward first dates to the screen when it opens later this month. But if that’s not enough second-hand embarrassment for you, head down to Parkside Lounge to watch another actress-on-the-rise, Bojana Novakovic (Rake), execute The Blind Date Project.
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Matzo Factory Leaves the LES; Blue Bottle Coffee Moves
(Photo: Scott Lynch)
Flames broke out late Friday evening at Two Northside Piers condominium on N. 4th Street in Williamsburg. No injuries were reported. [Curbed NY]
After nearly nine decades on Rivington Street, Streit’s Matzo Factory is set to shutter this spring. [Bowery Boogie]
Days are numbered for the LES bar/restaurant empire of Rob Shamlian. He’s currently seeking bidders for Spitzer’s Corner, Loz Feliz and now The Derby. [Eater NY]