All’onda is Done
Two and a half years after opening, All’onda, on East 13th St., is done. It burned hot and bright, but the fire couldn’t last forever.
The flowers are back on sale at the corner deli on 13th. Problem solved.
A New York City street artist known for fighting restrictions regarding how to display and sell his work in Union Square lost a fight Wednesday in the 2nd Circuit, where decades earlier he had licensing requirements declared unconstitutional.
Robert Lederman, the founder of Artists’ Resistance to Illegal State Tactics (ARTIST), said one year ago police arrested him 44 times for challenging policies he calls unconstitutional.
Prosecutors have allegedly never been able to convict him. In a challenge to former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s “quality of life” campaign, for example, Lederman once won the right to hawk art on the steps of the Capitol Building without a permit.
Lederman and his colleague Jack Nesbitt also filed a lawsuit in 2010 that claimed New York City had “waged a counter-movement to quash” the advances they had made in their First Amendment battles.
The suit accused New York City of showing favor to city-sanctioned vendors around Central Park, the Union Square Greenmarket, and Holiday Markets at Columbus Circle and Union Square.
Union Square Wines at the corner of 4th Ave. and 13th St. is having one of its periodic 30% off sales. Buy 12 bottles, and you get the discount. If you choose carefully, this can be an amazingly good way to restock your wine cellar.
Grub Street reports the not incredibly surprising news that Union Square restaurant Irving Mill will close on January 1. The restaurant, known for its chef turnover, a major lawsuit, and its one-time super porky menu, has been, how shall we say, underpopulated of late (or, the last year of its life really). Regardless, the owners—two brothers and one’s wife—meant well and it’s a beautiful, large space. And that Ryan Skeen burger had some serious potential back in the day. Life goes on, and this space will go on, reopening as a Brother Jimmy’s BBQ, the fratty barbecue chain, in March. Just think: a new TGI Friday’s and a Brother Jimmy’s? Union Square is looking like the place to be in 2010.
