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Sarah Grothjan

By Sarah Grothjan 8/06/12 5:25pm

Making History

(Flickr)

Frederick Law Olmsted’s Staten Island Farm Is Crumbling as Parks Department Lies Fallow

A dilapidated farmhouse bedecked with exterior virtues from the same hands that influenced many of the city’s greatest parks might soon become available to the public.

Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for Central and Prospect parks, among so many others, once remade a Staten Island farm to fit his vision of urban pastoral, according to The Times. Perhaps that claim to fame alone is enough to yield renovations from the city. But then again, probably not. Read More

By Sarah Grothjan 7/23/12 11:48am

Naked Neighbor

You talkin' to me? (Paul Lowry/Flickr)

Italian-American Group Thinks Slight of Sexist Civic Virtue Statue Is Insult to Their Heritage

Some are pulling for the dismissal of the somewhat sexist Civic Virtue, but an immigrant group in Queens is defending the bare-bottomed statue in the name of its Italian-American heritage.

The Piccirilli Brothers, a New York City-based Italian group who has worked on various monuments erected throughout the country, apparently collaborated back in the day with Frederick MacMonnies, the sculptor of Civic Virtue, according to the blog Queens Crap. Read More

By Sarah Grothjan 7/18/12 5:26pm

Metro Makeover

20 Photos

metrocard2

MTA Swipes for Money: Agency Bringing Back Metrocard Ads

The MTA is soon going out with the old (and overpriced) in an attempt to maximize its ad space. The old we’re referring to is the signature face of the MetroCard, which will be cashing in its blue and gold aesthetics in lieu of an ad from any number of advertisers.

Companies can now purchase space on the front of the card at a premium, and the ad space on the back will be available at a lower rate–18 to 51 cents per card, varying by quantity (this works out to about $25,500 to $450,000 a pop). Read More

By Sarah Grothjan 7/18/12 11:19am

Shindigger

PARRISH ART MUSEUM MIDSUMMER PARTY

Eastern Promises: The Parrish Art Museum’s Midsummer Party in Southampton

“We get everything from the real housewives to real chic,” Deborah Bancroft, co-chair of the Parrish Art Museum, told The Observer Saturday evening, noting the varied attire of guests at the museum’s annual Midsummer Party in Southampton.

She stealthily surveyed the room for prying ears that might take offense to her cheeky observation. Laughing it off and shifting her attention back to us, she continued, “That’s the fun thing about the Parrish. I think because it leans artsy, you can get everything from moo moos to hula skirts.” Read More

By Sarah Grothjan 7/16/12 11:25am

Road Rage

Yeesh—where's your helmet, pal? (Getty)

Cold Food v. Traffic Laws: City Fights to Get Delivery Bikers to Follow the Rules

A group of men stood outside Lenny’s sandwich shop on Columbus Avenue Friday, tugging at their neon vests and ringing their bicycle bells that read “I heart my bike” for curious bystanders. Save for the intermittent prod from a higher up to keep their vests on, the delivery cyclists were well versed on the bicycle laws (and speedy delivery of New York grub) that they were summoned to demonstrate. Read More

By Sarah Grothjan 7/11/12 4:43pm

Food You Can Use

The McClures—from their kitchen to yours. (AwesomePickle.com)

Food Chain: City Council and Pratt Helping Locavores Bring Their Food to Markets (and Bodegas, Too)

Small-scale artisan food is all the rage in New York, from emu mayonnaise to jams in a rainbow of colors and flavors. But besides the farmer’s market, it is not always easy to find such goods at the local bodega or grocery store, given the expense of distribution.

Bob McClure’s, purveyor of his eponymous pickles began a delivery cooperative back in December with the intention to consolidate the time it takes for small food businesses to quickly and affordable bring their goods to store shelves. Pallets of pickled products, jarred provisions and food service items destined for restaurant kitchens and retail outlets packed McClure’s truck, with deliveries to more than 100 different locations.

“Every time we would try to deliver, we would try to deliver a full truck,” Bob McClure, co-founder of Bob McClure’s Pickles, told The Observer. “How the cooperative would’ve worked is that most of the same manufacturers were going to the same location at any given time.”

McClure’s cooperative came to an end only a few months after it started, but the City Council is hoping to learn from it and similar projects, making it easier for local food purveyors to sell their wares across the five boroughs. Read More

By Sarah Grothjan 7/11/12 4:27pm

Cola Wars

3 Photos

Fighting for the Right

Protestors and City Councilman Dan Halloran Demanded Beverage Choices at Monday’s Million Big Gulp March

“What’re they going to tell us next? Are they going to get in the bedroom?” asked 19-year-old Zach Huff. The spokesperson for NYC Liberty HQ, barely tall enough to reach the microphone, was cheekily addressing a small group of rather tame demonstrators amassed in front of City Hall Monday for the Million Big Gulp March, a rally protesting Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large sodas.

If passed, the ban would prevent restaurants, delis, movie theaters and street carts from selling sugar-laden drinks that exceed 16 ounces. The protesters were, in a sense, advocating on behalf of beverages that contain 25 percent of one’s recommended daily caloric intake.

We stood waiting for some small eruption of jeering or whistling from the crowd in reaction to Mr. Huff’s aside. Nothing. Perhaps the lackluster response was a result of his bizarre logic leap from soda ban to bedroom play. Or maybe he hadn’t quite lowered the microphone enough to be heard above the slurping. Read More