The lower east side may be the breeding ground of hipsters, but that wasn’t always the case. If you want to get to know the old Jewish side of the neighborhood, I recommend eating your way through.
You can start at Streit’s for matzo. Not only do they make it on the premises, but they’ll let you try it for free (nice and hot!). A whole box is only $1.50
Next move on to Shapiro’s Kosher Wines. The sign can still be seen from Essex (on Rivington) but the store isn’t there anymore (it’s now Sugar Sweet Sunshine, also worth a stop).
But if you go into the Essex market (between Stanton and Rivington) Mr. Shapiro is still there and will not only give you as many free samples as you want, but is willing to talk with you all day about his grandfather’s business. A bottle of wine is only $5.00.
This past Tuesday night I hit up the weekly artists group hosted by Naked Angels. The first thing I noticed was that the outside of the Tribeca Screening Room is now plastered with Tribeca Film Festival signs, like wrapping paper for the great gifts that must lie within if Robert DeNiro has anything to do with it. Major improvements have been made to the interior as well. The bar area is more spacious than I last remembered it, with cozy leather booths semi-circled around candle-lit tables.
There were only three people at the bar, but after several minutes, more began to trickle in. I used to joke that for an offbeat theatre group, the ensemble was city-fiably beautiful, with a handful of eternally wounded types mixed in…but to my surprise Tuesday’s crowd seemed approachable. Joe Danisi, one of the directors of Tuesdays@9, mingled with the crowd. He looked tanned and handsome as usual, in that is-he-or-isn’t-he-gay sort of way.
A man sat down at my table, in the chair to my right, without speaking. He looked alot like a larger Vern Troyer. (“Mini-Me”, for those not familiar with the actor’s name.) He removed a hardcover copy of American Democracy from his green messenger bag and began to read…and shift…and fidget…and squirm some more.
“Vern” grabbed his green messenger bag and rummaged through it, then turned it over and shook it furiously. Finally, a packet of Raisenettes spilled out of the bag and onto the table. But he had not found what he was looking for. He ran his hand throughout his bag again and started to curse. Then he turned to me.
These days, it’s pretty easy to get bored of the same old indie rock scene. That’s why I’m grateful for bands like Ansambl Mastika.
Put together by Greg Squared (Zagnut Orkestar, Hungry Marching Band), Ansambl Mastika is best listened to while watching belly dancers and smoking a hooka. Luckily, such a place exists, Maia Meyhane in the East Village. I won’t pretend to know anything about Balkan music; so I don’t really feel qualified to critique the CD. But I can tell you that the show was great. There was no pretention, anyone, even a complete outsider to the scene like me, could walk in and enjoy.
A dollar can’t buy a lot of things these days; a soda, a newspaper. But if 75,000 people all pitch in, those dollars can go to a completely useless yet hilarious cause: Get Hasselhoff to Number 1
“Sign up to our campaign to get the Hoff to number one in the UK download chart by first registering your e-mail address to show your support. When we have 75000 sign ups, The Hoff Alert will be sent, tipping you the wink that it’s time… Time to buy David Hasselhoff’s awesome masterpiece “Looking for Freedom” from iTunes. This will then shoot his single deep into the download charts, thus generating musical history.”
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