BY JANEL BLADOW | Summer has kicked off in grand style. From the sidewalk cafes filled with suppin’ patrons to the street rocking with music lovin’ hipsters at the 4Knots Music Festival with Kurt Vile & The Violators to The Babies and Fat Tony…the nabe was alive and thriving once again.
Feeling the progress… With the cobblestones laid on Front St. and a few people moving into the buildings between Beekman St. and Peck Slip, we see signs of recovery around us more and more. Repair work continues all the way to Dover St. now, so while driving and walking our neighborhood streets still suck, at least we know it’s only a matter of time.
New dining spot… Four neighbors have banded together to open a new hangout restaurant, The Trading Post, at 170 John St., where the old Yankee Clipper once lived. Partners Deirdre Stone, Sam O’Connor, John Higgins and Richard Sheridan live in the area. They are striving for something clasically American, with a neighborhood vibe.
Restaurant reincarnation… Employees were out in force this week scrubbing and scouring The Paris Café on South St. The stalwart establishment which survived a night with the notorious outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid — not to overlook that Thomas Edison conducted business there — can’t be defeated by a little storm called Sandy. The electricity is being rewired, the mold scrubbed off and the doors expect to open to patrons before August. Yippee!
Rumor has it… I’m working on a confirmation, but I hear the Bridge Café may no longer be with us unless it can get some grand patrons with very deep pockets. Workers were there last week assessing the damages. I hear it will take between $250,000 and $500,000 to bring the wooden building built in 1794 back to code.
Sad loss… Jose Rivera, a long-standing staffer of Jeremy’s Ale House, lost his beloved sister Nancy McDowell last week. The wake was held Thursday at Provenzano Lanza Funeral Home on Second Ave. A group of Seaporters and Ale House staff attended to pay their respects to the family. Our thoughts are with you!
Pick up please… Jeremy’s and Meade’s are both getting a dog waste disposal system and will be supplying local dog owners with bags to keep our streets clean. According to Jeremy Holin, this has become a hot topic at local community meetings, so he decided to take action. The bag dispensers should be installed within the month.
Giving peace a chance… Thursday night, a fundraiser was held at Fish Market, 111 South St., for the Tayshana “Chicken” Murphy Foundation and it drew quite a crowd. In case you don’t remember this horrific story, Tayshana, or Chicken as she was nicknamed, was gunned down in her Harlem building on Sept. 11, 2011, the tragic victim of a rivalry between the young men of two public housing projects.
The promising 18-year-old senior at Murry Bergtraum High School, 411 Pearl St., was ranked number 16 in the nation as a rising basketball star. She had offers and scholarships and a bright future ahead.
Her father, Taylonn, who is instrumental in running the foundation, is anxious to stop the senseless violence that is taking the city’s kids. He spoke about the goals of the organization: to educate, motivate, build self-esteem and offer mediation.
“We want them to learn there is an alternative to violence to deal with their anger, to give them a chance at entrepreneurship and education,” he said.
They have 49 kids in a poetry class and several designing their own fashion lines, he offered as examples. He is also trying to mediate a peace between the two groups street fighting in Morningside Heights. “More love out there takes away the hate.”
(Oh and P.S., the kitchen at Fish Market is up and running again. Mama Lynn is back with her incredible dumplings and scallion pancakes.)
Watch your children… With summer here and kids out of school and many families visiting the Seaport or just wandering the hood, we want to offer a word of warning: please watch your kids and teach them to speak up. On Tuesday, June 25, a 12-year-old boy was sexually assaulted in a Pier 17 bathroom as he visited with his grandmother. About an hour later, he told his grandmother that a man lured him into a bathroom stall. Cops responded but there’s an unsatisfactory outcome: police said the video cameras on the pier were never replaced after being damaged during Hurricane Sandy. Really?
