By Janel Bladow
Sun’s out, tulips and daffodils are in bloom…harbingers that spring has surely arrived!
Movies…movies…movies… It’s the season of film fests. Are we getting burned out yet? GenArt and the New York African Film Festival just wrapped this weekend. Tribeca Film Fest gears up next week (Downtowners can get their tickets the day before the masses (www.tribecafilm.com). Nearly none of those include movies that celebrate New York City, and especially Downtown. But one screen celebration has some gems that scream “Only in New York City.”
Old-time movie mavens and ink-stained wretches like Seaport Report are getting their celluloid kicks with the current fest at Film Forum, The Newspaper Picture, (www.filmforum.org) through May 6. What’s great about these flicks are many are set right here, Downtown. Part of the fun is finding old sites that still stand. Check out “Park Row” on Sunday with its gritty side of the one-time jurno-strip (now home to J & R multi-stores) and a Brooklyn Bridge jumper. “Nothing Sacred” centers on a free trip to Gotham and a tabloid headline-hungry reporter. “Sweet Smell of Success” digs into the underbelly of the Great White Way.
But if going out to a crowded movie palace to see a flick shot around town (currently “Date Night” stars Tina Fey and Steve Carrell dine in Tribeca) is not your box of popcorn, then settle in front of the TV set with a couple favs on DVD like “French Connection” which features Peck Slip/Dover/South St. and the underside of the F.D.R. Drive. Or, you can always watch “Law & Order” reruns (on more channels than “CSI”!) which cover the ‘hood from the courthouses to the East River in nearly every episode.
Walking for a cause… If you haven’t signed up to slip on your sneakers and hike three miles round-trip to Rector St. or six miles across the Brooklyn Bridge and back on Sunday’s Walk Multiple Sclerosis, then watch and cheer ‘em on (www.walkmsny.org). The hike happens at 9:30 a.m. Or, you can always join the fun at the after walk finish line festival on Pier 17 at 2 p.m. With live music, food and fun for all ages, it promises party time!
Sweet or savory, that’s the rub… Here’s something to lick your lips over! A new French-Scandinavian creperie and wine bar opened last month to mouth-watering success. Crepes du Nord, 17 South William St. (www.crepesdunord.com) is the little backroom of Smorgas Chef and only seats 18 at a time. The menu has one item: crepes, but how creative they are! Delectable too!
For the last few hundred years in Brittany, says executive chef and owner Morten Sohlberg, crepes were made on large, one-inch thick cast iron “stones,” “the secret element to an even, golden crepe.” The Oslo, Norway, native also tells S.R. that she was pleasantly surprised that the hit skinny pancakes are the Scandinavian ones, including the Norwegian smoked salmon and her personal favorite, the herring crepe. “A brilliant combination of flavors.”
While the savory ones are made of a buckwheat batter, the sweet crepes are traditional but expect more than just the usual Crepe Suzette. Other yummy stuffing include white chocolate and fresh raspberries.
You can linger over a glass of wine at night or order take-out but don’t expect delivery. “A cold crepe is like old bread,” says Sohlberg.
So why a creperie in FiDi? “No similar food items are on the menus in the area,” says the owner of three other N.Y.C. restaurants. “I think the crepe is back. This is the first and I hope to open many, many more.”
Bust the budget blues… Hey Mayor Bloomberg, want to save money — even make some – and have city employees set a good example for all New Yorkers? Get rid of all the Priuses and other city/state owned cars flooding our streets in the Seaport and taking up valuable money-making parking spaces. Parking meters will bring more coins, sell the cars and make even more bucks. Then have the civil servants – heaven forbid! — take public transportation like the rest of us do! They will set a better example as well as participate in your get healthy agenda, and maybe even lose some weight as they actually walk for a change! This also means less pollution. Fresher air! Yippee! If you like this idea, let us know.
Silent skies… Bummed by the growing number of whirlybirds flying out of the Downtown Heliport? Sick of the noise that has filled our airspace since so many new tourist copters are now landing and taking off here? Well, just this week the city said it would look into limiting the problem. Loud voices get action!
Meanwhile, S.R. is surrounded by construction… The building to the west is spackling and men are hanging out the windows on their cell phones…the lot to the east is drilling pilings starting at 7 a.m. — isn’t there a law against that in residential nabes? And on the ground floor, workmen are sealing a doorway to the hall as they prep for another café/bar (we really need it???) in the ‘hood! How’s you’re week going?
SeaportReport@Downtownexpress.com
