Now that Mercato 55 has piqued New Yorkers’ taste for African cuisine, Time Out has some suggestions for some off-the-beaten track (and cheaper) spots. [Time Out New York]
Opponents of the Trump Soho hope advertisements boasting "owner’s closets" might be the smoking gun that brings the hotel-condo tower down, literally and metaphorically. Read More
The Plaza Hotel re-opens this Saturday, welcoming the first official guests since its renovation, and charging $715 a night. [NewYorkology]
The author of The Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City on the best outdoor excursions for all you nature-starved urbanites. [City Room]
Subprime woes forced further Read More
The Daily News and the Post both ran profiles of a bitter, bigoted Bay Ridge super who likes to write his (predominately Arab) tenants abusive notes with racial slurs. Creepier still, he has a doggie named Pretty Girl. [Gawker]
Some photos of the future Gowanus Whole Foods. [Gowanus Lounge]
The Read More
Even the shameless campaign to brand a neighborhood "So-Ya" is not going to make Yonkers cool. [Jeramiah's Vanishing New York]
Will a two-acre vineyard in Staten Island transform New York’s most blue-collar borough? [NYDN]
Another relic of Harlem’s grittier past is set to disappear when a notorious shooting gallery goes Read More
A New York-based nonprofit created a video game called ICED to teach students about immigration laws. Each player chooses between five teens of different ethnicities and varying immigration status to learn "how immigration laws deny due process and violate human rights to all immigrants." [Gothamist]
"Don’t kill Dutch Kills": In the damned if Read More
A legendary Bronx subway graffiti artist (aka Jee 2) goes legit (sort of) with a train mural class beginning Friday. [Gothamist]
The best bike shops in New York. [Gridskipper]
The world’s first self-proclaimed vegan stripclub opens in Portland. [Buzz Feed]
To combat real estate fraud, a Brooklyn Read More
Since the penthouse of Julian Schnabel’s Palazzo was not "Chupiriffic" enough for Bono, the artist has listed the $27 million penthouse in the New York Times. [Curbed]
Madonna justifies snubbing a Chupi condo in her old friend Julian’s building. [Daily Intelligencer]
The editor of the Urban Baby Web site takes questions Read More
Here are renderings of another plan to expand the Brooklyn prison on Atlantic and Smith by turning it into a "Jail with Retail" and condos. This one was rejected by the Department of Corrections before investors even had time to scoff. [Curbed]
An aspiring writer managed to grab a piece of the city’s Read More
Even the progeny of the nation’s largest homebuilder is reeling in the current housing market. The daughter of Toll Brothers’ founder Bruce Toll skipped out on her contract to purchase a $2.47 million home. Frank Bruni gives the new Second Avenue daily one star. The location may have changed, but it’s still all about kibitzing Read More
Say what? The New Yorker’s architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, is "fascinated by the extent to which provincial places in the country are willing to take more risks than cities like New York and LA." [BusinessWeek]
Williamsburg’s most ubiquitous (and maligned) architect, Karl Fischer, is building a luxury condo development in Harlem. Like Read More
