Rebuilding community on the Lower East Side

It's never easy to take on real estate developers with a group of rent stab tenants, and its not going to be easy to stall the influx of bars because they are so popular (and they will continue to be popular for at least another 2 to 3 years). There's an indignant and furrowed brow in that last parenthetical. Maybe "Rent" is to blame. Maybe trust funder aviator wearing faux losers are to blame. Maybe, just maybe, the nimby effect is to blame. I do believe that the recent mayoral election was bad for the neighborhood. Bloomberg rules by iron stats, and financial stats at that. Ferrer, quite possibly my least favorite politician, maybe even least favorite mustachioed person in general, hurts progressive causes more than he helps them. I've never seen such an ineffectual campaign. Strike that. The Ferrer campaign was brilliant at highlighting the abilities of Ferrer.
Won't somebody stick up for people who actually work for a living? I'm two miles north in Burberry Hill, and there are more bars, Starbucks, and rowdy frat boys than you can imagine.

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Hey –

Nice note and nice quotes (and pic), in Time Out, no less. TONY has, for better or for worse, contributed to the proliferation of bars. My uptown friends are constantly complaining about the downtown bias –esp LES – when TONY ranks NYC bars. The point is: there are plenty plenty of excellent bars and cafes in the area. We really don’t need more. I mean, say we were on Murray Hill or in the east 20s – or even Chelsea – I could see the argument that there was a need for a bar. – but, man, I got 3 bars w/in like 100 feet of me on my block at E 7th near 1st and another one downstairs raring to go. Worst of all, the new guys next door have chopped down a beautiful old tree – very healthy, lots of birds and squirrels for my gal’s cat to watch – and these new bar owners just chopped it down. Probably at least 75 years old or maybe as old as our 100 year old buildings. Unbelievable. They say it was sick. Bullshit – and I got pictures to prove it.

Like so many other things we need to strike a balance here. Not sure it’ll solve the outdoor smoking / talking issues but think some of the comments re noise my letter to C-board 3 may help us articulate a good argument. [will send in separate posting]

I’m writing all this to you, hoping you can either forward it on to the barproliferation.org folks – saw web address somewhere on a poster – or hit me back with address of person(s) to send it to.

Thanks for getting involved. Keep up the good work.

TF

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As a follow-up to last posting, here's note to CB3 from 2/2005:
As next-door neighbors to the space at 81 East 7th Street (between 1st and 2nd avenues), we are concerned about our neighbor’s proposal for a backyard café.

Our concern is that the noise from the backyard café will cut into our sleep and, in general, our quality of life. We’re not talking about only a few people, but several dozens (as many as a hundred? ) of residents living on the north side of East 7th Street, the south side of St. Marks and, to a certain extent, the upper floors of buildings on the east side of 1st avenue between 7th and St. Marks. These are residential buildings -- collectively, a lot of sleep would be lost.

Even if strict hours were imposed and observed, the late night/ early morning clean up routine (involving the stacking, moving and washing of chairs and tables) would likely ruin the peace and quiet that has graced our common courtyard area for the last hundred years or so.

Another concern is that the cigarette smoke wafting up from the café would be most irritating: affecting our sleep, the smell of our apartments, the smell of our clothes, and, if bad enough, even our health.

In addition, food scraps would attract rats, roaches and other vermin.

Please also note that the east village is not lacking for backyard cafes. Thus, it is difficult to understand how such a café would serve the people. Nevertheless, we want to be good neighbors and would love to see Café 81 become successful – but not at the expense of our quality of life. On behalf of other neighbors elsewhere on the block, we are also concerned about establishing a precedent – and again, an unnecessary one given the plethora of outdoor cafes in the neighborhood.

Finally, regardless of what happens with the backyard café, please impress upon restaurant and bar owners the need to keep the music down. We love music as much as anyone, and understand that good music can make or break a bar or restaurant. That said, we also know that most great bars and restaurants don’t have the music turned up so loud that one has to shout to be heard. Furthermore, keeping the bass down doesn’t detract from the listening enjoyment of those in the bar but goes a long way towards keeping the neighbors happy.

Thanks for your help.
Yours truly,
Residents of 83 East 7th Street

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