Jerry’s Chambers
When you’re used to Soho, Chambers St. is a whole different world.
Jerry Joseph closed his star-studded Jerry’s Cafe on Prince St. in 2007 and reopened it just north of City Hall last fall.
“It was a real struggle in the beginning until everyone got to know us,” Joseph told UnderCover. “This place is really off the beaten track…. It’s a completely different crowd.”
But word is spreading and Joseph said he’s attracting more people, especially the middle management types at lunchtime.
Asked if any celebrities have wandered in lately, Joseph said he doesn’t get as many as he did in Soho, but sometimes actors are shooting movies nearby.
Joseph paused, then added, “Hey, does this count? Michael Bloomberg was in here yesterday.”
We’ve heard of him Jerry, so we’ll count it.
Watch out 123
Community Board 1 is not happy with The Moinian Group, which is building the new W Hotel at 123 Washington St., and the developer may have us to thank for it.
Moinian made a big presentation to C.B. 1’s Financial District Committee April 1 on the W Hotel and also requested liquor licenses for the hotel’s restaurants. But in the course of their presentation on the progress of the job, they neglected to mention that all work on the project was stopped because a piece of plywood had fallen 44 stories just the day before, as we reported last week. No one was hurt.
Community board members were surprised to read Downtown Express’s report, and now they are second-guessing their decision to approve Moinian’s liquor licenses. The license applications will go before the full board on Tuesday.
“They never mentioned a word [about the accident],” said Pat Moore, a Financial District Committee member. “We might have dealt with [the license] differently.”
Noah Pfefferblit, C.B. 1’s district manager, predicted that at the full board meeting, “People will be upset.”
Authority auctions
The public authority that runs Governors Island isn’t the only state group using eBay to unload unwanted items. The news that the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp. sold a ferry in need of millions of repairs on eBay earlier this year got us curious — and it turns out that the Battery Park City Authority has been using eBay as well.
The biggest moneymaker in the past couple years was a diesel bobcat with a snowblower, which went for $12,150.87 to William Caldwell of Troy, N.Y. The authority has also unloaded a power broom, a wood chipper, a few mowers and a scooter, all through eBay.
A few items didn’t attract any bids and were chucked earlier this year, including two basketball hoops and six office chairs.
Asphalt Green
We’ve been hearing some rumblings in the neighborhood against Asphalt Green, the group the Battery Park City Authority is leaning toward to operate the new B.P.C. community center. Several people told us the authority was having some trouble closing the deal with Asphalt because the financials weren’t working out.
Jim Cavanaugh, president of the B.P.C.A., told UnderCover nothing could be further from the truth. He still wouldn’t confirm that the authority is in close talks with Asphalt Green over the YMCA, the other contender, but he said the group he is focusing on has no financial issues. He expects to name the operator soon.
Baby Mihok
Congratulations to Jeff Mihok, Community Board 1 member, and his wife Leslie Overton on the birth of their son Fergus James Mihok on April 9. Fergus weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces and joined his two older sisters in the Mihoks’ Battery Park City apartment.
“It’s very exciting,” said a tired-looking Mihok as he passed around a picture of his son at a community board meeting Tuesday.
