Tag: nyc

The Evolution of Cycling

Cycling in the City: A 200-Year History, “reveals the complex, creative, and often contentious relationship between New York and the bicycle” and examines the important role of cycling as the city faces challenges due to climate change, energy scarcity, and population growth. This new exhibit marks the 200th anniversary of the introduction of the bicycle to New York City in 1819.

Rice Cakes Fundido

At Haenyeo, a new corner restaurant in Park Slope, the menu description “saucy and spicy rice cake fundido” is intriguing, but it cannot entirely prepare a diner for the dish that will arrive: a deeply flavored bowl of ingredients topped with a bubbling sheath of cheese. Somehow, this shared appetizer manages to be Korean, Mexican, Spanish, Swiss, and maybe even a little Japanese, all at once.

Chongqing Lao Zao

The oil in the broth is important, but so is the oil they serve as a dipping sauce for this style of hot pot. Our group of 6 all found the sesame-based blend that you are supposed to dip in after the broth to be too thick and not of value. They will bring the ingredients for this to the table and serve everyone their own dish automatically, but do note that a $1.95/person charge will show up on the bill. Maybe get 2 made for the table so you can try it and then go from there.

In addition to this sauce presentation, there is an enjoyable theatre to everything they do. It is all very organized. Multi-tiered trays show up beside your table to hold all the small plates of each order before it gets put in the hot pot. They will watch over the progress and move dishes up for you and remove used ones. I found the service excellent. Are you not really a hot pot person? Have you been underwhelmed with it to this point in your life? I think this is the right place to try and see if you can have your mind changed.

KC Gourmet Empanadas

Now a chef has decided to open up a small restaurant in the far reaches of Alphabet City, a surprising place outside of the Brooklyn parts that normally cater to Panamanians. Possibly to compensate for this, they do offer standard NY deli favorites like egg sandwiches for breakfast. Beyond this, the tiny place has a very large menu, proving it is not the size of the kitchen but how you use it.

It is unclear whether the operation is a family affair, but it certainly has the feel of one. The chef and proprietor of the place has what could be her granddaughters run the register and interact with customers, sending orders and instruction back to her in Spanish. She has a presence back there that makes you feel like the food will be good before it comes out.

Big Alice Barrel Room

The new outpost is significantly larger than their original taproom in Long Island City, offering lots of seating to enjoy more than 12 draft beers with a wide variety of Big Alice’s brews, plus cider for the non-beer drinkers. The space will also give Big Alice an opportunity to expand their barrel aging program without taking up the precious space they have in their current Queens location.

Where to Eat in Flushing

The Chinatown you now see is buttressed by Korean and Indian communities, and now constitutes one of the city’s most active commercial centers, linked to the rest of the city by the Long Island Railroad and the 7 subway line. The streets are bustling with shoppers seeking out dumpling shops, bakeries, sprawling fish and vegetable stands, beauty shops, apothecaries, and restaurants. And walking down Main Street from the terminus of the 7 train is as close to being in Beijing or Taipei as one is likely to get in New York City.

  • Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot
  • DaXi
  • Szechwan Absolute
  • Asian Jewels
  • Miss Li Henan Cuisine

NY Budget Dir on Amazon

Make no mistake, at the end of the day we lost $27 billion, 25K-40K jobs and a blow to our reputation of being ‘open for business.’ The union that opposed the project gained nothing and cost other union members 11K good, high-paying jobs. The local politicians that catered to the hyper-political opposition hurt their own government colleagues and the economic interest of every constituent in their district. The true local residents who actually supported the project and its benefits for their community are badly hurt. Nothing was gained and much was lost. This should never happen again.

Svendale taproom

Svendale Brewing Co. has planted new roots in Brooklyn in the form of a taproom. The small Carroll Gardens venue will end the need to hunt for their beer at bars in the city, and will feature over 12 drafts from the brewery’s own 10-barrel brewhouse in Millerton, 45km northeast of Poughkeepsie. The taproom is located at 486 Court Street near the corner of Luquer Street, just a short walk from both Folksbier and Other Half Brewing.

The 5 Families of Feces

Former drivers remain furious over years of abuse. “Who does this fuckin’ scumbag think he is? He looks like he crawled out of a dumpster.” And now the drivers are an existential threat to the business. In June 2015, more of them sued, seeking more unpaid overtime. But this suit has class-action status; more than 1300 pump-truck drivers are currently represented. Charlie has always settled, but not now. “This is the case where I have had it, and I want to fight back to the end. And now the drivers have to, you know, pay.” If Charlie goes to trial and loses, the damages could be in the 10s of millions of $. Call-a-Head would be finished. Charlie has new competition, too: Private equity is making a porta-potty play. In July 2017, Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills–based investment firm, bought United Site Services, the nation’s largest portable-toilet conglomerate. Charlie frequently fields calls encouraging him to sell. His payday would be enormous, perhaps as much as $40M. He always refuses. And then, in December, Gary Weiner dropped a bombshell. He had just sold himself to United Site Services. Mr. John was throwing in the towel. Within days, the toilet giant was calling Call-a-Head’s clients, offering a 30% discount on rentals. (Weiner disputes this.) A battle with Wall Street and “a lot of college-educated people from Harvard” loomed, but Charlie saw only “bean counters” who didn’t understand the industry. “This is my life. I love it. I’ll always be doin’ it.”