Diahann Billings-Burford, Kenneth Cole, Peter Vallone and John Liu (Getty Images)

This morning on the cold, bright steps of City Hall, several photographers huddled, shivering, waiting for the Two Ten Footwear Foundation conference to begin. The charitable foundation of the U.S. footwear industry was gathered to kick off Two Ten's Footwear Cares National Footwear Community Service Week (whoof, what a title) in New York, where 14 shoe companies would be dedicating their time and resources to packing meals for the New York Food NYC, God's Love We Deliver, GrowNYC, and the Occupy Sandy Recovery group.

A smattering of unlikely bedfellows trickled in: Kenneth Cole, Katie Butler of Nine West, two mayoral candidates--Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu--former Council speaker Peter Vallone, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer, along with several other representatitves from the fashionable footwear industry.

Before the press conference, The Observer had asked Mr. Cole what it was like coming together with some of his contemporaries like Steve Madden, who was also involved with the program but was unable to make Monday's event. Were they friendly competitors, or was this a rivalry that only a good deeds photo opp could bridge.

"No, no," Mr. Cole said, who kept his sunglasses on throughout our conversation. "Steve and I, we're old friends."

"I feel funny being singled out," I slightly laconic Mr. Cole said after opening remarks by Two Ten president Neal Newman. "Because everyone here does a lot, and the industry does a lot." Mr. Cole went on to say that the nonprofit was an organization to "be looked at with envy" because the footwear industry "takes care of its own." It should be noted that for 75 years, Two Ten's purpose has been to provide service to those in need...provided they have been employed by a shoe company for a certain amount of time.

Mr. de Blasio was full of accolades for the iniative, saying "This is arguably our most fabulous industry here in New York City. Fabulous not just for its creativity or for what it does for the economy, but for it's heart." To Mr. Cole, he had even higher praise, calling him a template for what entrepreneurs can do to raise awareness and help their community.

Mr. Liu had a slightly different take. While praising Two Ten's and the organization's Hurricane Sandy relief effort, which provided $290,000 to over 250 footwear families, he added that the people who were getting the assistance were "some of the hardest working and some of the lowest paid workers in this city and this country."

Catching up with Mr. de Blasio after the conference, we asked who he was wearing on his feet that day. He took off his shoes, to study the label. "You know, I don't know what they are," he told The Observer, "But I know I got them at Eneslow on Park Avenue and 33rd."

Councilwoman Brewer also didn't know the name brand of her black flats with the flowers, but exclaimed: "I got them at Harry's! Always Harry's!"

The Chinese New Year was off with a bang on Sunday, Feb. 10, in Sara D. Roosevelt Park.

The Observer welcomed the Year of the Snake on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 10, leaning over railings and standing atop park benches to get as close as legally possible to 500,000 rounds of firecrackers, noisemakers and a snake-shaped firecracker display.

According to Chinese tradition, firecrackers frighten away evil spirits at the beginning of each year. Rest assured, no evil spirits remain in Sara D. Roosevelt Park, where thousands buzzed through a cloud of smoke and confetti at the 14th Lunar New Year Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival, presented by the Better Chinatown Society.

This year, the society set out to engage younger generations of Chinese-Americans and the larger New York community in the celebration of traditional Chinese culture.

Longtime organizer Steven Tin spoke with The Observer on the eve of the New Year to explain just how far the organization has come in its endeavor. “This year it really jumped,” he said. “It really jumped to new heights.”

“The newest technology really helped us expand and get the word out,” explained Mr. Tin. “The last two to three years, we’ve attracted a lot of mainstream, a lot of the younger generation into our event.”

One example: 24-year-old Jessie Zheng, a first-time participant, who told The Observer that she first heard about the event through a friend. Since last June, Ms. Zheng has joined high school and college-age volunteers, who network online, in planning the Lunar New Year celebration. Ms. Zheng is this year’s volunteer coordinator and head of public relations.

Before the first firecracker exploded on Sunday, a full roster of community leaders took turns at the microphone to pay tribute to one of the fastest-growing communities in the city. Councilwoman Margaret Chin and City Comptroller John Liu joined judges and police officers in wishing the crowd a happy New Year in their best Mandarin and Cantonese. And Councilwoman Gale Brewer, of the Upper West Side, made sure to thank Chinatown for helping to attract tourists to the city.

Maybe it was the adrenaline from the pyrotechnics and the sparkling confetti, but throughout the morning’s celebration, a sense of optimism radiated through the crowd.

Children and families in the park were busy trading lucky red envelopes as the Chinese and American national anthems resounded over the loudspeakers. On the far end of the basketball court, young dancers and acrobats sporting traditional red and yellow garb practiced their routine for the highly anticipated dragon dance. Even a jovial Ronald McDonald was there to celebrate with youngsters in the crowd.

The New Year was off with a bang, and the new generation was there to carry it forward.

Affordable or not affordable, that is the question. (Durst/Fetner)

Tomorrow, Durst/Fetner will go before the Zoning and Franchise Subcommittee of the City Council, one of the final stops in the months-long public approval process for the developer's angular apartment building at the western edge of 57th Street. Councilwoman Gale Brewer has sent a letter to the developer outlining her demands ahead of the hearing. They largely follow concerns she has had from the start, namely the affordability of the project, community space and an enticing streetscape for the project.

The development, designed by Danish wunderkind Bjarke Ingels and his firm BIG, has drawn international attention for its unusual design, but lingering issues continue to anger the community, including Ms. Brewer. Last month, the project was approved by the City Planning Commission after some minor modifications.

The biggest remaining issue is clearly permanent affordability for the 20 percent of the project's 753 units that are to be set aside for low- and moderate-income residents. "It has been my strong preference that affordable units be designated as permanently affordable," Ms. Brewer writes. "Without permanently affordable units, the city would not be able to maintain its mixed-income residential character."

Currently, the affordability mandate is set to expire after 35 years because the Durst/Fetner does not own the land but instead has a 99-year lease on it from a family whose descendants now number more than a hundred, making negotiations very difficult. To extend affordability beyond 35 years, the developers argue, would be to risk the project's future.

Jordan Barwotiz, a spokesman for the developer, said, without getting into specifics, that the firm is hopeful it can can reach a deal at the council to get the project approved. "We look forward to working with Councilmember Brewer and her colleagues to make the best project possible," he said.

Here is the full letter.

Enough is enough of this stuff! (West Side Rag)

The storefront crusade, which has gained immense support and traction over the past few weeks, might be spreading to a few other neighborhoods in the city.

Community boards in the East Village, Tribeca, and on the Upper East Side have looked into expanding the anti-big box policies in their own territory, Crain's reports:

Lower Manhattan's CB1 intends to examine the Upper West Side proposal as it contemplates storefront restrictions in north TriBeCa. Discussions held by the Upper East Side's CB8 in February have led the board to plan to examine potential zoning changes aimed at protecting mom-and-pops.

Businesses are not quite as happy and claim that the legislation is "endangering not just chain stores but small businesses looking to expand." Some have suggested compromises that will only limit new or expanding buildings, but Gale Brewer, councilwoman on the Upper West Side pushing the bill, said that such a compromise will not protect small stores, Crain's noted.

But critics stand firm that such legislation is harmful to the city. A real estate industry source commented to Crain's that "The Department of City Planning is going to have difficulty putting this genie back in the bottle. Squelching the growth of successful small retailers may be a lasting legacy of the Bloomberg administration."

Smaller storefronts? Smaller profits! Or something like that.

mewing@observer.com

Full steam ahead! (Courtesy of New York Historical Society/Columbia)

In light of the recent news that the former New York IRT Powerhouse has joined the "Seven to Save" preservation list, notable builders and community members have spoken out about the historic value of the building.

Robert A. M. Stern, the Yale architecture dean, dean of classicist architects and godhead of luxury throwback apartments noted:

By virtue of its vast interior spaces, its location, and its compelling industrial beauty, the powerhouse has the potential to serve us in many ways. Should Con Edison move on, it’s easy to imagine the building entering a new phase of life as an amenity for the entire city—a museum, a mixed-use center—who can predict?  But one thing is certain: it needs to be preserved.

The Durst Organization, those daring developers working on an unusual apartment pyramid just next door, commented:

The IRT Powerhouse is beautiful, compelling and historically significant building that deserves preservation and protection.

Local Councilwoman Gale Brewer, lady of the Upper West Side, only had the highest regards and joy to hear that the building was selected:

I am delighted that the Preservation League of New York State has chosen the Powerhouse as one of it's 2012 Seven to Save buildings.  This masterpiece of Beaux Arts design by Stanford White is a landmark by every measure; an icon of modernity and industrial history, architecturally superb, pleasing to the eye, and it stands at a prominent site on the Hudson shore.  We should no more destroy it than we would Grand Central, and we cannot afford to lose it as we Penn Station. Once preserved for adaptive use, it will become as iconic a symbol of New York as the Muss d’Orsay is of Paris and Tate Powerhouse of London. Let’s get serious about preserving the very best of our heritage, and save the powerhouse as a legacy for generations to come.

The full list of supportive quotes can be found on the Save the IRT Powerhouse blog.

mewing@observer.com

Down boy! We're clean.

To combat the city's growing bed bug problem, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development has gone to the dogs. Say hello to Nemo and Mickey, the latest members of the department's Maintenance Code inspection team. And rather than the vet, the two Beagles were fortunate enough to get their tags—we mean badges—from Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Housing Commissioner Mathew Wambua.

"Awww, look at their little jackets," cooed Ms. Quinn when she first set eyes on the dogs.

Indeed, there was so much baby talk and photo snapping, the scene shared more than a passing resemblance to a new-borns room in a maternity ward, as much as a City Hall press conference.

City Hall is clean.

Behind all the joie de pooch was the serious and very nasty issue of actually being bitten by those pesky bugs. Commissioner Wambua revealed how in the last fiscal year the department had received some 13,000 complaints and 3,500 violations.

"After you use the dogs you will really feel good about sleeping and you won’t have any mental health anguish," said Council Member Gale Brewer. The dogs, she said, have a 98% success rate, which should help put New Yorkers' minds at ease. "Bed bugs create, not a physical, but a major mental health problem," Ms. Brewer said.

With just two dogs, private contractors can also sleep soundly tonight. They have had the bed-bug-sniffing market pretty much cornered, but there is only so much the department can do. "I want to make clear that there is more that needs to be done," Speaker Quinn said. "Two dogs is clearly not enough for 8.4 million people, and god knows how many bed bugs.”

On the topic of private firms Ms. Brewer added, “Unfortunately some dogs aren’t highly trained when you call a private contractor. These dogs the HPD have are very highly trained.”

Speaker Quinn tags the dog.

Today’s announcement has been a long time coming—cities like Seattle and Chicago already have sniffer beagles in place. “In 2009, 1,000 people showed up in Washington Heights for the first meeting with the HBD to talk about this,” Ms. Brewer said. For the representatives at City Hall and residence of New York City, it’s a case of better late than never.

After thanking Commissioner Wambua, Ms. Brewer and everyone who has been part of the bed bug advisory board Ms. Quinn paused, giving her voice an air of gravitas, “Mickey and Nemo, thank you very much.” Mickey had nodded off by this stage. “Mickeys still asleep, I won't take personal offense."

Just resting up for a tough weeks of sniffing ahead, no doubt.

realestate@observer.com

Curbed has a letter sent out by the church's pastor, Rev. Robert Brashear, who asks Council members to oppose the designation, saying it "would represent a victory for those who have often advanced their cause through misrepresentation and misinformation," and claiming recent vandalism of his church.

Below is a letter sent Tuesday by the local councilwoman and landmarking supporter, Gale Brewer, asking her colleagues to support her in tomorrow's vote.

Typically, the Council defers to local members on the issue, but the church apparently has been hoping that the broader issue—landmarking a religious institution against that institution's will—might inspire members to vote against it. The financially troubled church has said it cannot afford the maintenance for it, and had proposed selling off some of the land to apartment developers.

Here's an excerpt of Ms. Brewer's letter:

"By preserving a living church in a historic building, let us affirm that a religious mission and civic duty are not incompatible. They are alike in their care for public good and the role of the church within the community," she wrote. "Based on the architectural and historic importance of West Park, the exceptional level of declared support from community and preservation organizations, their large financial and technical commitments, and in light of .... I urge my colleagues to support LU No. 7, landmark designation for the West Park Presbyterian Church."

2010-05-11 Dear Colleague on West Park Presbyter Ian Church Land Marking (1)

They include: State Senator Liz Krueger, Council Members Gale Brewer and Julissa Ferras, as well as former public advocate Betsy Gotbaum, former Council member Ronnie Eldridge, and major Democratic donor Susan Patricof.

The only officially declared woman in the AG race is Kathleen Rice, who critisized Schneiderman for not quickly enough calling for State Senate colleague Pedro Espda to be ousted from his leadership role. Also considering entering the race is Liz Holtzman, a former city comptroller and congresswoman who commissioned a poll by Doug Schoen showing she enjoys a good deal of name recognition.

The first lady recently embraced paid sick days in a talk with the business leaders, according to the Times.

In the November 12 letter, the lawmakers said, “We believe that with the leadership of women like you all Americans will no longer have to make the choice between going to work or taking care of a loved one." It went on to say “we are inviting you to attend the New York City Council hearing on Tuesday, November 17th, at 1 PM to address the importance of cities like New York leading the way for the rest of the nation.”

Locally, the battle over paid sick days is one of the top priorities for the Working Families Party, and is proving to be a thorny issue for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose allies in labor support it, but whose friends in the business community oppose it. Whether or not Obama accepts the invitation, making the invitation public helps spread the impression that the White House backs this kind of legislation. And that's a notion advocates are likely to remind critics about.

The letter was co-signed by City Council members Gale Brewer, Letitia James, Melissa Mark Viverito, Annabel Palma, Jessica Lappin and Helen Foster.

Duane, the state senator from Chelsea, didn't attend the event, but has officially come out in support of Thompson, a fellow Democrat.

Duane was among the notable absences from another endorsement event recently on the Upper West Side, which featured Representative Jerry Nadler, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Assembly member Linda Rosenthall and City Councilwoman Gale Brewer.

Through a spokesman, Duane, said, "From LGBT issues to his oversight of New York's Mitchell-Lama housing program, Bill Thompson has been a consistently effective and progressive advocate for the people of this city. He represents strong Democratic values and I wholeheartedly endorse him for Mayor."

Now, the only Democrats on the West Side who have not endorsed Thompson are City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Borough President Scott Stringer.

Both employ a consultant, Josh Isay, who also advises Bloomberg.