Thursday, May 20, 2010

*Everyday Chatter

More Potemkin Village, as Greenwich Village "has become like a theme park of the past, as these restored standards offer a vision of a lost bohemian New York — albeit with a well-heeled clientele and prices to match." [NYT]

A guide to the last of the old guard restaurants. Go before it's too late. [Eater]

Who "gets" Eisenberg's? New Yorkers do, says the owner, so do New York-loving tourists. Watch the video at Ozersky.tv.

Behind the life and death of the Empire Diner: "The kids who went to the Empire during the late 1970s, when it first opened, genuinely thought they were the coolest kids in New York City." [NYO]


Empire Diner photo, courtesy of Seena Liff

CBGB bathroom recreated in Connecticut. [WSJ]

Bloomberg approves tour bus headset bill and Charlie is out of a job. [Curbed]

Finding the ghosts of Grand Street after the fire. [BB]

And have we really lost Neither More Nor Less, Bob Arihood's invaluable East Village blog? [NMNL]

5 comments:

Suburban Guy said...

I'm really sad to see NMNL go, I hope Bob is okay. Maybe he just got a little burned out. Perhaps, he chose to end the run after things with Ray's SS status was finally cleared up.

It was part of my morning read.

All good things must eventually end.

Nathan said...

I've always really enjoyed Bob's reporting work at NMNL, and I'm sad to see him go. Hope he's off to other great things.

Laura Goggin Photography said...

I hope Bob hasn't given up, but he's hinted at this before. The blog is such a wonderful tribute to the people who live in and around TSP, who might otherwise be forgotten.

Ken Mac said...

spoke with the owner of Empire Diner today. Said they raised his rent of course, but the landlord wanted 250k just to give him a new lease. Owner of new lease? Same group that owns Union Square Coffee Shop and Gotham. Ugh. The current Empire owner has em by the balls though, he has a two year liquor license which the new owner must buy as he was turned down for liquor license. Touche.

Suburban Guy said...

I forgot to add...

Oh man, it breaks my heart about the closing of the Empire.

So many late nights, so many meals, so many memories.

What a crime. All the good diners are being bloomberged.

I still remember a meal I had there years ago. A gorgonzola ravioli. Holy crap, that was good. I still think about it from time to time. I've tried making it myself, but it's just not the same.

A diner-less NYC, that is a crime.