Volume 1, No. 29  Feb. 19, 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

* Meade's going out of business on Sunday
*Good food and drink, good vibes and history at The Paris Caf�
* Bits & Bytes: West Street closed because of falling ice; Capoccia named BPCA vice chairman
* Downtown weather: Snow people
* Community Board 1 meetings, week of Feb. 17
* Calendar

Masthead photo: Ranunculus from Emily Thompson Flowers at 142 Beekman St., Feb. 18, 2014.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Meade's, a beloved neighborhood bar and restaurant at 22 Peck Slip, announced Monday on its Facebook page that it would close at the end of business on Sunday, Feb. 23. "Manhattan progress has reached the Seaport," the announcement said.

"OMG, I am in tears at my desk," wrote Bridget Schuy, a Seaport resident and one of the regulars, in response to the announcement. "I don't like this kind of progress," said Tracy Spinney, another of the Meade's faithful. "Kathleen, Izzy and Chano are all such dear people - and such good friends - that this is not good news," said Beth Childs, referring to the people who work at Meade's.

Meade's is closing because the landlord has greatly increased the rent, but Lee Holin, one of the owners, said, "In no way am I making any kind of indictment of the landlord. The landlord is a friend of mine and they did what was best for them. What really destroyed us was the construction [on Peck Slip]. In all honesty, we couldn't pay the rent during the years the construction was going on. The landlord was more than accommodating to us. We just owed too much back rent and they got a better offer from a Tribeca restaurant. It's really not the landlord's fault."

Meade's opened on July 1, 2006 and suffered through Peck Slip construction and six feet of water and mud left behind by Superstorm Sandy.

"The hurricane did less damage to us than the construction and the change in New York," said Holin. "This city has become an Epcot Center for the wealthy. I'm from Queens. The thing I wanted to do my entire life was to move into Manhattan. That meant something. That meant something more than 'I can afford to live there.' That's what it means now."

 

Holin's father, Jeremy, owns Jeremy's Ale House at 228 Front Street, around the corner from Meade's. Jeremy's Ale House has been in the Seaport since the early 1970's.   

 

"I grew up in that neighborhood," Lee said. "I was four years old walking through the Jeremy's Ale House that is now Cowgirl's Seahorse. Back in the day, it was cool to go to dive bars. All the Wall Street guys thought it was hilarious - this kid being walked through a bar at 8 o'clock at night. And one of them said, 'Hey, kid! Are you going to come here when you grow up?' And I said, 'When I grow up, I'm going to own it.'"

 

Lee will go to work at the Ale House along with two of the eight Meade's employees. The others are looking for jobs. "They were my family," he said.

 

 

In the Old Seaport, The Paris Caf� on the ground floor of a building at 119 South St. that dates from 1863, is one of the landmarks.

Its cheery yellow and white exterior is visible from afar. Inside, a handsome, carved and mirrored Victorian bar is a marvel. It dates from 1873, when a restaurant first opened on this site on the ground floor of what was then Meyer's Hotel. Miraculously, the bar survived Superstorm Sandy, though the water reached a height of 11 feet and destroyed almost everything else.

Diurmuid Hackett has spent a lot of time behind that bar. He was a bartender at The Paris Caf� for years before becoming a co-owner of the restaurant in 2013. A native of Tipperary, Ireland, he has great respect and affection for the place and for its history. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid dined there. So did Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Cody and Teddy Roosevelt when he headed the New York City Police Department.

"We are stewards," Hackett said.

His partner is Peter O'Connell, who bought The Paris Caf� in 2000. O'Connell also owns Molly's Pub and The Bluebell Caf�, both on Third Avenue.

After Superstorm Sandy, The Paris Caf� closed for 51 weeks. When it finally reopened, it was better than ever. Scott Hawley, the chef at the Bluebell Caf�, revamped the menu. Hackett came up with an assortment of cocktails.

The food is excellent, the portions are large, the prices are moderate, the hours are long. The Paris Caf� is open from 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily, with food served daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Those who wish to sit at the bar and punctuate their drinks with some food can choose from an ample bar menu that includes a lobster "mac" and cheese ($13), beef sliders that are enhanced with cheese, bacon and a pickle and served with fries or a salad ($12) and spicy chipotle nachos ($12).

Main courses at lunch or dinner might include lamb shank braised in red wine ($18), mussels and chips ($15), three bean chili ($9) or a hearty salad. The fish comes from the Fulton Fish Market, as it always did, even though that market is now in the Bronx.

A newly added "thirty minute working lunch" promises to sate hunger and get people back to their desks before anyone notices they're missing.

Eggs Benedict. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

On Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Paris Caf� offers a terrific brunch menu with eggs, French toast, pancakes, oatmeal and more. The price of $14 or $15 includes the choice of a Mimosa, Bellini, Bloody Mary or Screwdriver.

The service is friendly, the place is comfortable and unpretentious.

"People don't know we've reopened!" lamented Annette Jackman, who has been a waitress at The Paris Caf� for 12 years, minus the 51 weeks that were lost to Superstorm Sandy.

They should know. The Paris Caf� is a delightful find.

Bar food at The Paris Cafe: Chipotle nachos and beef sliders with fries, $12 each. Hanky Panky cocktail, Beefeater gin, sweet vermouth and fernet branca, also $12. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Dinner at The Paris Cafe: lamb shank braised in red wine with whipped potatos and saut�ed greens ($18), a roasted beet salad with blue cheese and candied walnuts ($10) and wine ($8 to $10 a glass).

The New York Police Department closed West Street between Albany and Murray Streets around 8:30 a.m. this morning (Feb. 19) because of falling ice, an NYPD spokesman confirmed. He said that the ice was falling from 1 World Trade Center.

"There were no disruptions to the World Trade Center PATH station," said Anthony Hayes, a Port Authority spokesman. He would not confirm that the ice had fallen from 1 World Trade Center, either today or on previous days. "There's ice falling from buildings throughout Manhattan," he said, "so I'm sure there have been small instances of ice coming off of 1 World Trade Center, but we built a temporary work shed so that it would protect the public."

Hayes said that an underground connection between the PATH station and the Fulton Street Transit Hub that will eventually protect pedestrians in inclement weather is "part of the entire World Trade Center transportation hub complex, and right now we have a completion date on that in 2015. If we can open things early, we will."

Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said, "Our piece - the Fulton Center - will be done in June 2014."

Battery Park City Authority names Donald Capoccia as vice chairman
At yesterday's meeting of the Battery Park City Authority board of directors, chairman Dennis Mehiel nominated real estate developer Donald Capoccia to serve as the BPCA's vice chairman. Capoccia was not present at the meeting, at which his nomination was unanimously approved by the board.

"If you make the mistake of not being present, this is what happens," Mehiel quipped.

Mehiel has come to increasingly rely on Capoccia's expertise in construction. Capoccia has reviewed many of the BPCA's recent contracts and has made recommendations as to whether there were potential issues and whether the fees were appropriate.

As managing principal and founder of BFC Partners, he has developed thousands of housing units throughout the New York area.

At yesterday's meeting, the restrooms in Wagner Park were discussed. They are supposed to be refurbished but the amount of time proposed to complete the project and the amount of money it would cost seemed excessive to the board. Capoccia and another board member, Lester Petracca, are reviewing the project, which has been awarded to Deborah Bradley Construction & Management Services. It was approved provisionally for a sum just over $1 million pending Petracca and Capoccia's final report.

66 John St. lawsuit falters
An attempt by Pace University, Century 21 and several residents of John Street to get a temporary restraining order that would have kept the New York City Department of Probation from seeing adult probationers at 66 John St. was denied on Feb. 11, 2014 by Justice Helen E. Freedman, Associate Justice of the New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division.

"Now we wait for Justice [Carol] Huff, our assigned judge in the Supreme Court, to issue a decision on our entire case," said Patrick Kennell, a resident of 80 John St. and one of the plaintiffs.

Meanwhile, the Department of Probation has already moved in to 66 John St. and is starting to see probationers there.

"There's additional security at that building that didn't exist there before," said Kennell. "They have a wand metal detector that wasn't there before."

He and the other plaintiffs feared that the presence of the Department of Probation on John Street would bring a criminal element to the community, where around 24,000 people currently live. The 66 John St. building is directly across from a pre-school and from a Pace University dormitory. More than 800 children go to pre-school within a three block radius of the building.

Before rain and warmer weather melt them away, there's still time to admire the creativity that 14 snowfalls, one after the other, elicited. Snow people dotted the landscape. There was even one snow dog. Expect rain for the next few days, temperatures in the 40s and 50s, a partly cloudy weekend and maybe a few flowers. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer


 

All meetings take place at 49-51 Chambers St., Room 709, at 6 p.m. unless otherwise indicated. All meetings are open to the public. Highlighted in red are some topics that may prove to be particularly interesting or contentious.

Feb. 20: Quality of Life Committee
* RoadRunners Half Marathon - Discussion with RoadRunners
* Community District 1 subway station survey by Pace University students - presentation
*  Police misconduct and citizen rights - Presentation by Carlmais Johnson, Manager, Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB)
* Rodent Academy - preparations
* Fire Safety Forum - discussion
* Concerns regarding radon levels in gas delivered to NYC home - discussion
 

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Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer

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