Nutella Cafe Opens: A Hazelnut Explosion

The annual shareholder’s meeting will take place on Wednesday June 30th at 7PM at the Seafarers’ and Interational House at 123 East 15th St, second floor.

At the meeting, the Board of Directors will be seeking at least one new member. If you wish to become a candidate for the Board and have your name placed on the ballot, please feel free to provide a short biography of yourself via fax (212) 986-0002 or e-mail to ymartinez@akam.com. The Board will also welcome nominations at the meeting itself.

Even if NYU adds space by building at the World Trade Center as was recently reported, it still wants to build big in the Village. How big is big? The Greeenwich Village Society For Historical Preservation has brought the plans to animated life so we can all see.

Are you aware of the proposed MTA/DOT “L” train closure plans?

The MTA/DOT plans include a vehicular ban on 14^th Street (between 3^rd Ave & 9^th Ave) for 16-21 hours a day:

 The ban will seriously impede the daily activities of thousands of 14^th St. residents and businesses and will divert cars and trucks to residential side streets – with a 50% projected increase in traffic

The increase will be felt by the West Village, Village, East Village, Chelsea and the Flatiron Districts.

The proposed plans also includes a radical re-design of 13th Street with a two-way Bikeway:

MTA/DOT projects 2,000 – 5,000 cyclists DAILY on 13^th Street 

The bikeway, coupled with a 50% increase in traffic, will seriously impede residential, educational, and emergency services on the street placing pedestrians and bicyclists at risk

The 14th Street Coalition is a growing group of residents and business that was formed in response to the MTA/DOT plans.

We ask the MTA/DOT to balance residential and transportation needs in a more equal way. They MUST consider the impact that will be felt on the quality of life concerns including air pollution, noise, congested streets and increased risks to pedestrians and bicyclists. 

We understand that the Canarsie Tunnel must be repaired.  We seek a temporary solution that is EQUALLY fair to residents, businesses and commuters. 

It’s Time to Take Action – Sign our petition (go to www.change.org and browse: 14^th Street Coalition), join the 14^th Street Coalition on Facebook for links to sample letters to send to our elected officials,

Email us at  14thstcoalition@gmail.com for more information.

Eater reports:

The 40-year-old icon Gotham Bar and Grill has shuttered again — this time for good. Earlier this year, it was the victim of a cyberattack in which it lost $45,000. “The restaurant could not claw back from the theft,” owner Cassandra Csencsitz said of the decision not to reopen. “The goal was to go back to our investors to reopen this fall, and time just kept going by until it became clear we could not reopen this fall or for the holidays. It is over,” she told writer Andrea Strong. This is the second permanent shutter since 2020, with Gotham closing permanently the first round in 2020 — after 36 years — before reopening in 2021. In 2019, Victoria Blamey took over the kitchen from longtime chef Alfred Portale. Chef Ron Paprocki, a former Gotham pastry chef, most recently led the kitchen.

Have a browse through Idlewild Books, on West 19th St. just west of 5th Ave. on the south side of the street. This travel specialist arranges all its books, no matter what kind they are–fiction, essay, guide–by location, so that E.B. White’s “Here Is New York” is right next to “Fodor’s New York.” It’s a novel idea that makes for great browsing. This is one of the city’s most pleasant independent bookstores. Good luck to them.

Awful news: the building replacing Bowlmor Lanes will be 23 stories high. Here are the terrible details.