John Holtzman, bartender at Fish Market on South Street — and a Shakespearean actor — will be back serving drinks next week.
BY JANEL BLADOW
Lion or lamb — any way you look at it, March leaps forward with Daylight Savings Time and we, hopefully, enjoy more daylight hours! Yay Spring!
SHAKESPEARE ON SOUTH STREET… Okay, not exactly, but our own local Shakespearean actor, John Holtzman, will be back tending bar on at Fish Market (111 South St.) on March 16 after touring. Most recently he’s been performing as Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” While in North Carolina in October, his company went on with the show for families displaced by Hurricane Matthew. “Hey, we were staying at the hotel,” he told me. “They lost their homes, everything.” The actors, staying at the same hotel as many of the evacuees, performed the show in the hotel lobby. “The least we could do,” he humbly said. Good peeps!
SWEET MUSIC… Our own Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra peeks into the window of three legendary composers’ creative process. In a special, behind-the-scenes soiree on Thursday, March 16, KCO takes the audience into the world of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven where they can experience their music from the musician’s view. Enjoy these timeless melodies performed by these top New York musicians. But the beautiful music isn’t all that’s on offer. Also partake in fine wine and genial company! It’s at the South Street Seaport’s Melville Gallery (213 Water St.) 6–8 p.m. Tickets start at $20. To order yours: https://www.knickerbocker-orchestra.org/
CB1 BOARD CHANGES… Not sure if you are aware of the changes coming to Community Board 1, but they’ve abolished the neighborhood community committees — meaning no more Seaport/Civic Center Committee to discuss matters relevant to our ’hood. Seems the neighborhood committees were getting bogged down by liquor license applications, or at least that’s what they contend — too many issues were the same in each neighborhood. CB1 was one of the only Community Board with neighborhood committees. But this has been status quo for 30 years. A special CB1 public meeting is set for Thursday, March 9, at 6 p.m., at the Manhattan Borough President’s office (1 Centre St., 19th floor) to discuss the new committee structure (also, see our news story on page 1 for more details).
BOOK PARTY… For 10 years, author Brian Floca’s award-winning children’s book “Lightship” has been wowing little ones and delighting their parents. Come celebrate with the author and the South Street Seaport Museum on Saturday, March 25, 10 a.m.–noon with his talk, “From Book to Boat.” The best-selling author and illustrator will share slides and stories of his inspiration — the museum’s Ambrose lightship — and how he researched, wrote and illustrated his celebrated picture book. And there will be time for a Q&A afterward. Tickets available at www.seaportmuseum.org/lightship-book-talk.
YUCKY RATS… Hey, I’ve been saying for months now… we’ve got rats! The ’hood is full of them. Just the other day, I was walking along Peck Slip thinking “Hey, I haven’t seen a rat all week,” when two vermin suddenly scurried out from under a parked car and chased one another down the street. About the same time, news broke that two people died from Leptospirosis. This is a bacteria excreted in animal urine. It survives in warm, moist environments. Dogs and humans can become infected through contact with urine from infected animals, or water, soil or food contaminated by infected animals. The bacteria gets into the body through open wounds or mucous membranes.
So why do we care? Because in NYC, 10 canine leptospirosis cases are reported every year. The doctors at Seaport Animal Hospital (80 Beekman St.) are concerned enough about this problem that they’ve issued a bulletin for Seaport dog owners to check with their vets for testing and vaccinations.
The Best Western at the Seaport shuttered, but the site will be resurrected as a 66-key hotel dubbed “Mr. C. Seaport” run by the Cipriani brothers.
CHIC SLEEP… So as we reported in an earlier column, the Best Western Hotel at 33 Peck Slip is no more. Howard Hughes got the building at auction but now they’ve worked out a deal with the Cipriani family, owners of the chain of chi-chi restaurants, to open its first New York City hotel.
According to “The Real Deal,” the 66-key hotel dubbed Mr. C. Seaport (huh?), “is being developed by Bob Ghassemieh and Alex Ghassemieh — the same duo behind the Mr. C Beverly Hills, which debuted the Mr. C Hotels brand in 2011. Just like the Beverly Hills location, the Seaport hotel will be operated by brothers Ignazio and Maggio Cipriani.”
They say the “rebirth taking place in the Seaport District as a dining, retail, and entertainment destination makes it a perfect home for Mr. C’s only New York hotel.” The brothers jointly own the property with Howard Hughes Corp., and expect the hotel to open before the end of the year.
