NoHo-News_Mar

www.NohoManhattan.org

NOHO NEWS
March 2009

This is an archive page. The current issue of the NoHo News is here

(Click on any underlined text to see announcement or link to further information)

Visit the NEW CB#2 Website
Calendar - Resolution Archives - Committees

Current CB#3 Calendar

LEAD STORIES
Editors Note: An updated NoHo News will be posted soon. Thanks for your patience.

You should visit the Ninth Precinct Community Council Site. Very Helpful !

Public Theater's Plaza Proposal - CB#2 Full Board Meeting - Thursday, March 19th.
OUTCOME: CB#2 to NoHo....."We don't care what you say! What you need is a giant plaza with lots of advertising, but the message will be, "what we're voting for is handicapped ramps!"
In a nutshell this proposal gives maximum attention to The Public Theater, to the detriment of the overall contextuality of Lafayette St. and the planning of Astor Place: a 30' plaza extending mid-block into the Lafayette St roadbed, an 18' by 75' stoop with stairs on three sides and six billboards permanently set into the sidewalk at 12' intervals, of 7' 7" height and 3' width AND a cantilevered glass canopy, inscribed with the Theatre's name, highlighted with lights, and five additional advertising banners hanging from the second story.
Yes, readers, that's exactly what happened. In an announced vote on Friday, March 20th, of 19-17, CB#2 approved the ENTIRE plaza plan. The majority, who evidently didn't notice the 111 petitioners, or read the 15 letters, or listen to the five speakers and 17 Board Members who unequivocally endorsed the handicapped ramps, decided that handicapped ramps aren't nearly as effective without 6 free-standing mid-sidewalk billboards, an 18' X 75' Stoop, and a 13' bump out onto Lafayette St! ..in spite of a reasonable alternative presented.in advance of the voting. Oh, and precedents? Billboards in historic districts? Gratuitous bump-outs? 4,500 cubic foot stoops? Fogetaboudit! The City loves them so much they'll contribute more than $4,000,000 to get them installed !

We certainly hope that all those deserving folks with wheelchairs won't be too worn out by navigating around the billboards, the stoop and the bump-out to make it up those beautiful ramps!

For your support of A.C.E. for the Homeless and for the NoHo/Bowery Partnership.

For your interest in neighbors – new and old

Photos: Zella Jones

Photos: Aaron Zebrook

Thank you Councilman Alan Gerson
Thank you – Andy Fisher and The Astor Center
Thank you – George Schwarz and Julie Lisowski and the NoHo Star
Thank you – Adam and Brad Farmerie and Double Crown
Thank you – Jaime Reixach Arias, Jay Rodriguez and Mercat
Thank you – Richard Born, Sean MacPherson, Chris D’Amico and the Bowery Hotel and Gemma
Thank you – Brett Traussi, Jim Leiken and DBGB Kitchen and Bar (Daniel Boulud NYC)
Thank you – Mark Amadei, Michael Ferraro and Delicatessen
Thank you – Henry Buhl, Jennifer Joyce, Ashley Harrell, Jim Martin and A.C.E. for the Homeless

…For a night we will never forget

ADD ME TO THE NOHO E-MAIL LIST - -
Totally free, confidential and helpful if you have an interest in the neighborhood.

What do you know about "hydrofracking ?" No it is not another Guantanamo practice. It is, however,
an immediate threat to New York City's water supply. Read, and hopefully sign,
the New York City Council petition to Governor Paterson.

Keep asking your neighbors to sign the ONLINE PETITION regarding liquor licenses in NoHo

The City May Be Sleeping, But NoHo Definately Is Not.....

STREET ACTIVITY & FILM PERMITS - Mulberry Street Festivals and Mall permits from May 1 thru end of September. NoHo worked with Little Italy, Chinatown and Cleveland Circle to help modify many aspects that have aggravated co-existence with the 90-plus days of festivals and street closures, aided considerably by Councilman Gerson. Meetings are being scheduled between the community, Little Italy Merchants and the Street Activities Permit Office (SAPO) regarding adjustments to sidewalk access rules, sanitation and traffic control, among other things.

SAPO MEETING PLANNED FOR APRIL..Watch for updates.

SLA LICENSING - PLEASE sign the ONLINE PETITION regarding the granting of future licenses to NoHo addresses not previously licensed...this may seem obscure, but it IS important. 312 Bowery, 334 Bowery, 49 Bond St. have been subjects of new licensing hearings. All of these locations have NOT previously been licensed, and as such, have received particular attention for the additional load they would present to our already overly dense licensed business environment. 312 Bowery has withdrawn their application. 334 Bowery was denied an OP license, but returned, again, in March to request a beer & wine only license. UPDATE: The Wine & Beer license application was defeated, thanks to all you NoHo petitioners.
26 Bond Street - We need to back off on the alarms we have raised regarding this retail store with coffee and wine bar. Actually, we need to encourage you to visit what is a remarkable restoration of this space, pretty accurately reflecting the kitchen/back room areas (minus the finished plaster) at The Merchants House Museum, built at about the same time on East 4th St. Certainly, at this writing, it is quite clear that the owners of The Smile have every intention of living by the intense negotiations in December, with tight restrictions on "method of operation," surrounding its Wine & Beer, only, license. And, should you have a particular hankering for Bigelow hand soaps and skin creams and do not care to traipse over to the only other place you can get them on Sixth Ave., help yourself. Actually – though a much smaller space, the atmosphere here is much more similar to The Point Knitting Café on Bedford St. – minus the wine. The SMILE, at the moment, has a HUGE inventory of imported organically dyed yarn and hopes to have knitting classes 3-hours a week.
ZONING - the BSA variance for the proposed hotel at 8-10 Bond St. was heard in February.
It has previously been before the board for a landmark application when it was to be a residential co-op and still reflects that architecture. The variance is for uses below the level of the second floor that are not allowed in an M1-5B zone. The six-story building, plus penthouse and mechanicals also has two below grade floors, one of which is proposed as a physical culture facility, the ground floor with a 2900 sq ft restaurant, a second floor restaurant with a terrace for outside dining and a roof for entertaining, food and beverage service. We were able to prohibit the granting of any liquor licenses to the below grade space (currenty slated for a health club); prohibit use of the second floor terrace, which directly abutted two buildings on Great Jones St. for any service and prohibit the roof top for any food, beverage or catering service. See the resolution.
LANDMARKS - 338 Bowery, The White House, Application for Hardship in a Landmarked District.

The first of several anticipated meetings occurred on Friday Feb. 20th between the developer, McSam Hotels, NoHo property owners, Councilman Gerson's office, and members of CB#2's Landmarks Committee to review this application which asserts that the owner cannot realize the required 6% return on investment on this property unless it is demolished.

Traffic & Transportation - Houston St construction continues with the new MTA incursion at Lafayette Street. This project will last for four years affecting the Lafayette/Houston intersection and Lafayette St. and all subway entrances. We will keep you posted as we can - the MTA is not terribly open to conversation - but the resulting connected #6 uptown and downtown stations, elevators and better connection with the Broadway/Lafayette station should be an improvement when it is all done.

NYU Purchased 726 Broadway, former home of The Wiz. This building will relocate administrative offices from the core area around Washington Square. The groundfloor retail is planned for a consumer book store.
383 Lafayette - Still planned for a small complex of fly-loft theaters as part of the Tisch School of the Arts. Planning sessions with community stakeholders are anticipated in early April.

200 and 500 ft Rule - New SLA Definitions

New Blogs in Town: Or maybe not new, but we just found them anyway....Bowery Boogie and Colonnade Row. A tad eclectic, which for NoHo, makes them just right. Oh, and one more, Greenwich Village Daily Photo.

More Property UPDATES...click here
Regularly updated details on properties in development in NoHo

If you have additional suggestions, are an artist living in NoHo, have any professional photography of our neighborhood, or slides of your artwork, please forward them to zella at nohomanhattan.org. Forgive the spell-out here but spamming robots have been stealing the actually linked address.

Don't forget to use the Activist Links page

You can also visit NoHo at i-neighborhoods.org - look for NoHo Manhattan. I-neighbors is run by a team of faculty and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I-neighbors was designed to encourage neighborhood participation and to help people form local social ties.

Managing Editor
Zella Jones
Citizen