André Soltner of Lutèce Fame Talks About Food

Soltner, originally from the Alsace region of France has been cooking for 60 years, and is known for his simple approach to food. He abhors using using frozen or canned goods and wisely advised: “I always say, you better [off] eat grated carrots which are fresh, then frozen caviar.” He doesn’t need or desire fancy equipment in his kitchen, and uses a small gas stove, the right knife for the right job, and a good pan. ”The fancy stuff, that’s for amateur chefs,” he told the New York Times in 2004, ”they need gadgets. I have 50 or 60 knives and I use just one.”

Read more here.

Related: The New York Times talks with Andre in 1995: Andre Soltner; Life After Lutece Is Just Fine. Delicious, in Fact.

Jeffrey Byrnes Photographs New York City

On Oct 30 of 2009, photographer Jeffrey Byrnes spent the weekend in New York City with two Nikon cameras, one point and shoot, 4 rolls of film, and a tripod. See the full series here.

Kelly Cutrone: If You Have to Cry, Go Outside

Kelly Cutrone: If You Have to Cry, Go Outside
Author Event, Author Signing
Tuesday February 02, 2010 7:00 PM
Lincoln Triangle
1972 Broadway, New York, NY 10023, 212-595-6859

[via]

Subway Singer Daniel Small With Empro Express At Connolly's In Times Square

A tipster sent this YouTube video in the other week, featuring Daniel Small singing with the band Empro Express at Connolly's in Times Square. Commuters passing through the ABCD station at 59th Street will recognize Daniel, as he can often be found there singing Motown songs to the delight of those waiting for a train.

NYC The Blog spoke to Danny on camera in the summer of '08. He showed off a few dance steps, sang a few songs, and offered a brief history of his travels. He explained that he is originally from South Carolina and has been in New York City since he was about 18 years of age, a descendant of the Geechee people.

And according to this flyer, Danny and Empro Express will be performing at Connolly's once again on Feb 19.

Previously: Daniel Small AKA Geechee Dan: 59th St ABCD Subway Station

Looking For Affordable Housing In Manhattan? The City Recommends Going Somewhere Else

From the New York City Rent Guidelines Board website, housingnyc.com:

How Can I Find Affordable Housing?

Look Outside of "Core" Manhattan - Bear in mind that New York City has many housing sub-markets. If you are looking for moderately priced apartments, very little will be found in Manhattan south of 96th Street on the East Side and below 110th Street on the West Side. Nonetheless, parts of the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, upper Manhattan and Staten Island offer more affordable apartments. The median rent for a newly vacant apartment in Core Manhattan is typically double that found in the rest of the city.

What Every New Yorker Needs to Know About Rental Housing [Housingnyc.com]

Ca$h For Guns! Nets 1,186 Guns

Guns brought to Bronx churches Saturday by citizens participating in the NYPD buy back program / Credit: NYPD Twitter
New York City held a gun buy-back program last Saturday in the Bronx --Ca$h For Guns!-- that offered $200 for each gun returned. The total tally was $184,000 for 1,186 guns, including handguns, semi-automatic weapons and sawed-off shotguns. NYPD Commissioner Ray "Rolex" Kelly asserted that the guns would be melted down and turned into coat hangers, a point he seems to enjoy making at every event. BNN reports there were 13 shootings in the borough that weekend.

Paul Richard - NW Corner of Elizabeth at Prince

Previously:
Paul Richard - SE Corner of Spring and Mulberry
Paul Richard - Spring and Broadway

The Muscular Stained Glass Of Joseph Cavalieri

Commuters coming into Manhattan on the Metro-North Hudson Line might have seen Joseph Cavalieri's work in the Philipse Manor station. Known for his creative stained glass, Cavalieri currently has multiple pieces on display at Think Coffee (map) on the corner of Bowery and Bleeker until Feb 19. The installation includes Cavalieri's unusual Simpson's Missing Episode series, the Muscle Man series, and "a few surprises."

Reached via Facebook, NYC The Blog asked Joseph, a finalist for the the 4th International Arte Laguna Prize, about his inspiration for the Muscle Man series.  The works are "tributes," he said, "to the muscle men featured on the covers of [bodybuilding] magazines from the 1940s through the 1960," such as Robert Roy seen in the work at right.

Read more »

On Nice Asses

Discuss.

Little Italy's Lombardi's Pizza Receives Truckload Of Coal

Early one morning last week, Lombardi's Pizza on the corner of Spring and Mott St, "America's First Pizzeria," received a shipment of coal for it's coal fired oven. Check out the photo below for an up close view right before the coal was released and  dumped into it's holding bin.

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Man In The Window

Painting the interior of a display window at The 1929, one of Nolita's numerous storefronts seemingly being permanently used as temporary space for pop-up stores, galleries, or parties.

Previously: What's Going On At The 1929?

Jessica Delfino on Gavin McInnes

“I shot my small but fun part in the video, also featuring Gavin McInnes who I appreciate deeply and fear slightly. I observed when shirtless, he has a 30s board walk beach man body. The bartender moustache also really helps seal the deal. He conceded, saying he loves that look.”

Jessica Delfino on Avatar in 3-D, auditioning to be Lady Gaga back up singer, video with TV Carnage, and a Kong Mag party.

Corner of Grand And Bowery Gets It's Very Own Halal Food Cart

Last night at 10pm, two gentleman were nudging their Halal food cart into place on the corner of Grand and Bowery, for the very first time. Having never before eaten food from a food cart, I bit the bullet last night and ordered the first item this food cart has ever sold on this spot; a falafel sandwich for $5 that was good. Not bad, not excellent.

The proprietor informed me he moved his cart here after having a rough day with the police in Queens where he was previously, receiving four tickets for undisclosed violations, and being told to "Move here, no you can't be here, move there..." He seemed to think the corner of Grand and Bowery is as good as any.

As he set up his cart, he had a tape measure out and was responsibly measuring the distance from his cart to the bank at the other edge of the sidewalk, a nearby fire hydrant, and the corner. He was at a legally acceptable distance from all. With a lack of Halal food carts in this area, he might have a niche here, and certainly won't need to worry about turf wars.

City Room Blog Approves 99.7% Of Comments In 2009

At the end of it's post noting that City Room's "bureau chief" Sewell Chan will be leaving to report from Washington D.C., the New York Times made mention of an interesting number count:

City Room mixes original reporting with reader conversations. Among nytimes.com’s most active blogs, it posted 3,314 items and received 82,535 comments (82,256 of which were approved) in 2009. Since inception, it has consistently ranked among the top five most popular blogs on nytimes.com.

Are you part of the exclusive club of commenters making up only 1/3 of 1% of people whose comments were not approved?