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Maison Premiere, Williamsburg’s New Orleans-inspired cocktail bar, has opened a Manhattan sibling. Tigre is located at 105 Rivington Street, at Ludlow Street, on the Lower East Side. William Elliott, bar director at Maison Premiere, will likewise oversee the beverage menu — which pulled ideas from Playboy’s Host & Bar Book — at Tigre. Cocktails have names like the Rolls Royce and Mister Softee, there are also “Martinis by Ratio” which allows guests to “tailor their martini preferences with precision, with options ranging from 4:1 to 16:1.” The space features a horseshoe-shaped bar, in a space that hopes to evoke “residential sexiness in New York from the 1970s, ’80s, and maybe even ’90s,” according to Grub Street. Co-founders Joshua Boissy and Krystof Zizka’s Maison Premiere has been heaped with accolades since opening in 2011. This spring, they published The Maison Premiere Almanac, a cocktail book. Financial troubles have also hung above the group. In 2019, Eater reported the Williamsburg bar and its now-closed restaurant Sauvage were millions of dollars in debt and had filed for bankruptcy protection. In Manhattan, Tigre is open Sundays through Wednesdays, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Thursdays through Saturday, until 2 a.m.

Gran Electrica couple opens a Greenpoint restaurant

Rick Curi and Itir Aloba, owners of Gran Electrica, a Dumbo Mexican restaurant, are opening a new spot. The Noble opens this weekend with cuisine referencing the Aegean region like chilled shrimp with lemon crushed fava, zucchini fritters, grilled octopus, and seared halloumi. Josh Lucio Lasso, who previously worked at Public Records and Ensenada, is leading the kitchen as executive chef. He’s joined by general manager and sommelier Miles Meltz, previously of Ci Siamo. The Noble is located at 148 Noble Street, at Lorimer Street in Greenpoint.

Silver Apricot team expands in the West Village

Figure Eight opens today, from the team behind neighboring Silver Apricot. The new restaurant pulls from owner Emmeline Zhao’s heritage, mixing Chinese and American Southern cuisines. Figure Eight’s kitchen is led by Calvin Hwang (formerly of Saga and Crown Shy). The menu lists turnip tots, a “breakfast chowder” with youtiao, and a crab pimento dip. A mini tempura lobster roll pays homage to the restaurant’s former tenant: Pearl Oyster Bar. Figure Eight is located at 18 Cornelia Street, near Bleecker Street, in the West Village. It opens tonight, November 15.

Manhattan now has an outpost of this Brooklyn pizzeria

Things are heating up in the Downtown Manhattan slice shop scene. Just as L’Industrie has opened its first Manhattan outpost, so, too, has Lucia Pizza. The slice shop, which first opened last year from Salvatore Carlino in Sheepshead Bay, opens today at 375 Canal Street, at West Broadway, in Soho.

Part of the Food Policy Community Spotlight Series

Name: Lower East Side Ecology Center

What they do: The Lower East Side (LES) Ecology Center is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering environmental awareness and sustainability in urban communities, with a particular focus on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They strive to promote ecological responsibility through recycling initiatives, educational programs, and community engagement, working to create a greener, more resilient, and equitable city.

How they do it: The LES Ecology Center implements a range of initiatives to achieve their goals. They operate 20 food scrap drop-off sites across the city, where residents can drop-off their food scraps for composting which then turn into finished compost for local parks, gardens and urban farming projects. They also offer electronics recycling opportunities to protect the city’s land, water and air from pollution. Additionally, the center conducts environmental education workshops and training programs, advocating for waste reduction, recycling best practices, and sustainable living choices.

Latest project/campaign: The Ecology Center’s Food Justice Program was launched in 2021 to create an educational and food-producing garden in partnership with the Henry Street Settlement. At the Food Justice Garden, participants learn about food systems and how food access impacts individual, community, and environmental health. Additionally, participants practice skills in growing and cooking food to prepare nutritious and seasonal meals. All food produced in this space is used in education workshops or shared in the local community fridges.

Major Funding: Government

Profit/nonprofit: Nonprofit

Annual Budget: $2.4 million

Interesting fact about how it is working to positively affect the food system: The Ecology Center’s Food Justice Program is impacting the food systems by empowering Lower East Side youth with awareness to make healthy, sustainable consumer food choices. For example, the 2023 summer youth cohort partnered with Chefs for Impact to learn how to source local and seasonal produce from the farmers market while getting to know the vendors and farmers, and turn the ingredients into homemade meals such as pesto pasta, curries, fruit salad, corn cakes, and more!

FACT SHEET:

Location: New York City, NY, USA

Core Programs:

Number of staff: 18

Number of volunteers: 900

Areas served: Primarily focuses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, while also collaborating with other neighborhoods and communities within New York City.

Year Started: 1987

Director: Christine Datz-Romero

Contact Information: [email protected]; (212) 477-4022

December 3, 2023

BY KATHRYN FREED | Congestion pricing is coming. Most people either love it or hate it. Most of us acknowledge the need to reduce traffic and pollution, but are not sure the current proposal does that. This op-ed will examine the plan’s impacts on the Lower East Side, specifically the area next to the F.D.R. Drive from the Brooklyn Bridge to E. 10th Street.

Congestion pricing (CP) was passed by the New York State Legislature and signed into effect in April 2019. The intent was to raise money, about $1 billion per year, up to at least $15 billion, for the transit system, and devise a scheme to cut the number of vehicles in the Central Business District by tolling vehicles that enter it. The CBD is Manhattan from the Battery to 60th Street, minus the F.D.R. Drive, the West Side Highway and the Hugh Carey (Brooklyn-Battery) Tunnel.

In June, after fast-tracking by the Biden administration, New York State got the go-ahead to proceed with CP, after an Environmental Assessment rather than a more stringent Environmental Impact Statement. Several federal lawsuits have been filed contesting this determination, most notably by New Jersey. Several more are in the works. One group is actively exploring suing based on what it calls a tax on city residents, especially those living in or near the CBD. For more information on that group, check stopcongestionpricing.com.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, recognizing the projected additional pollution CP would cause in the South Bronx, has agreed to provide around $130 million in mitigation measures, including an asthma center, to try to reduce pollution or its impact on South Bronx residents. The M.T.A. has represented that it has about $20 million to deal with the effects of pollution in Manhattan, especially in the CBD.

But the M.T.A. has not indicated it’s willing to make any special efforts to reduce pollution on the Lower East Side, even though its own projections show CP will drastically increase traffic and pollution in parts of our community. The E.A. established seven alternative-pricing schemes and one “No Action” proposal. Each scheme, according to the M.T.A.’s own figures, would raise congestion and pollution amounts in the area — along the F.D.R. Drive, Brooklyn Bridge to 10th Street — at least 5 percent or greater. And, incredibly, in at least three alternatives, pollution and congestion in the F.D.R.’s southbound traffic would increase from 19 percent to 26 percent.

So, while the rest of the CBD will see fewer vehicles and less pollution, our area will get an increase. Even more outrageous, this area by the F.D.R. is an Environmental Justice Area (E.J.A.). An E.J.A. is defined as a place where at least 51 percent of the population is minority and at least 23.5 percent of that group has an income lower than the rest of the population. In fact, every census tract but one in this area is an E.J.A. According to Community Board 3, roughly 42 percent of the population in the C.B. 3 district is below the poverty level, 46 percent of seniors are below the poverty level, and about 44 percent are minorities, the latter comprising 81 percent of the population below the poverty level. (Normally, I would say “People of Color,” but the tables specifically use the term “minority.”)

We need fewer cars — not an asthma center.

There is an almost solid wall of limited-income or low-income buildings next to the F.D.R. Drive here, mostly New York City Housing Authority. The one census tract (including East River Houses co-ops) not considered an E.J.A. was built as limited-income, and today many of its original residents are on limited incomes. It’s also a NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community), like much of the rest of the area. Finally, at least 18 percent of area residents have a disability.

Most appalling, this area already has among Manhattan’s highest levels of asthma and respiratory disease and heart disease. It also had an above-average rate of COVID and COVID deaths. Plus, a general medical study (not just for our area) released last month found there are greater premature births and low birth rates in highly polluted zones.

In other words, high pollution is not compatible with human health. So, you could hardly find a worse area on which to inflict more pollution, given residents’ already diminished health and welfare.

Making the situation worse, we are on track to lose 55 acres of mature parkland and well more than 1,000 trees due to the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan. We’ve already lost half of the park in the project’s phase one. It’s a cruel irony that residents next to this project are also being subjected to additional dust and pollution as that construction occurs.

I am totally outraged. Why is no one else screaming about this appalling situation? We need real mitigation — and I don’t mean an asthma center. We won’t accept additional pollution when the rest of the CBD is getting less. This will damage our health and our children’s health. The time to demand change is now, before the final plans are made.

We also should demand that more trees, specifically, more mature trees, be planted in the East River Park area. Right now, only saplings are proposed; it will take 20 to 30 years to get both pollution protection and shade from these saplings equal to that of the old East River Park. We also need more grass and natural surfaces for the park. Plants soak up water and capture carbon; they actually produce oxygen while lowering pollution and greenhouse gasses. Currently, park plans call for 62 percent hard and artificial surfaces, which do none of these things. (I could go on about artificial turf’s dangers and disadvantages, and why pro sports teams are demanding natural turf, or why many American cities are banning fake turf.)

Finally, here’s the best thing that could be done for this neighborhood: decking over portions of the F.D.R. Drive and installing air filters to remove the highway’s pollution — pollution that’s already too high. We could put playing fields on top, maybe even connect it to the reconstructed East River Park.

This deck could possibly even house surface mass transportation, like a Second Avenue subway extension. If you’re worried about your view next to the former park, remember, there will be a new floodwall there 8 feet to 10 feet tall anyway.

Also, as long as the F.D.R. Drive is subject to flooding, it is more and more likely that its infrastructure is eroding and will need replacement. Yet, the park coastal resiliency project does nothing to alleviate the impact of heavy rainfall.

After September’s downpour, three of four buildings in my co-op, which is right next to the F.D.R., flooded. It was worse than what happened during Hurricane Sandy. Adding larger catch basins next to and under the F.D.R. could help prevent flooding. Why not make real change? Just an idea.

Furthermore, our district is a “transit desert,” roughly described as any area where it takes more than 15 minutes to reach a bus or a subway. I can say from personal experience that it takes at least 15 minutes to get to a subway from my block next to the F.D.R. Drive. Although the bus stops are closer, a look at the Manhattan subway or bus maps, shows that we have far fewer buses, and the ones that we have tend to stick to the periphery of heavily populated areas. Most of us must walk to a bus to get to the subway. Not to mention, if you use the bus, you know how sporadic the service is. This does nothing to help the mobility disadvantaged. On top of which, we have absolutely no accessible subways. Were we promised them? Yes. Did we get it? No.

Freed is a retired State Supreme Court justice and former city councilmember representing Lower Manhattan’s District 1 from 1992 to 2001. She was co-counsel on a community lawsuit seeking to block East River Park’s destruction for the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan.

LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- This week's Neighborhood Eats travels to Kopitiam on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

It's where Chef Kyo Pang makes the Baba Nonya cuisine she ate growing up, a hybrid of Chinese and Malaysian flavors.

It's her homage to the coffee shops of Malaysia and Kopitiam means coffee shop.

It has a warmth and menu that extend far beyond its delicious cup of salted white coffee.

Chef Kyo, who is from Penang, shared with us that in Malaysia, they don't have separate breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods, you can have soup and rice dishes in the morning and toast at night, there's no category.

So they serve up all those dishes, the kaya toast, Nasi Lemak, and fish ball soup, all day long.

"Everything in the restaurant is basically everything that I love," Pang said. "This is a taste that I was eating when I was growing up and every single dish has a story."

She described some of her favorite dishes.

"The Nasi Lemak is the national dish of Malaysia. Anchovies, peanuts, coconut rice, cucumbers, eggs, and a side of sambal," she said. "Nothing simpler than that but when they all mix together, you would be amazed, they actually work so well with each other."

She says the key to their success, is keeping it simple, yet beautiful.

"Our cuisine is colorful, flavorful, and we try to work with the simple ingredients and try to bring out the most harmonious relationship with one another," Pang said.

Our cuisine is colorful, flavorful, and we try to work with the simple ingredients and try to bring out the most harmonious relationship with one another.Chef Kyo Pang

One dish in her mind reigns supreme.

"The Kaya Toast is actually my favorite. We make our own jam, the kaya jam, and also the bread we make from our own recipe. It's crunchy on the outside, fluffy in the middle and the jam is green because we use pandang leaves," she said. "We don't use any food coloring so we use the natural ingredients, natural colors put into our thing."

Another of their featured items has a special meaning: "The blue sticky rice with the grated coconut we call it pulut inti, because pulu means wrapped," she said. "We express a lot of philosophies and also life lessons through our cooking so this is the feelings that was wrapped inside this sticky rice."

If you are looking for a beverage to pair with any of these items, they are known for their white coffee.

"This is our white coffee, the white coffee that we do exclusively here is salted white coffee. In South East Asia all of our to-go drinks are served in bags," Pang said. "The truck driver would hang this in front of the mirror so when they drive they saw this thing and it reminded them to drink water. Or people cycling, they cannot hold a cup so they hang it on the bike and they can do their job, this is how it is, it's one of the Malaysian traditions, yes."

When you visit the restaurant, they want you to feel like you are family.

"I think the vibe that we carry here at Kopitiam is like a grandparent's house," Pang said. "Always welcoming you with the same, warming heart, no matter you have a good day, bad day, come in, nobody judge you."

Always welcoming you with the same, warming heart, no matter you have a good day, bad day, come in, nobody judge you.Chef Kyo Pang

Below, listen and subscribe to the "Mornings @ 10" podcast!

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For a city that claims to never sleep, there are hundreds – over 500 according to Booking.com – of places to rest your head for the night. Some are much more than just places to sleep; a special few are even integral to the city’s identity, with historic addresses such as the Plaza and the Waldorf Astoria playing starring roles in New York’s cityscape, plus some of the most beloved TV shows and films. The grand dames may last the test of time, but much of New York’s hotel scene is in a state of constant flux. New addresses pop up regularly and old ones are revamped to keep up with the changing trends. The scope of the best hotels in New York grows wider too, branching out well beyond the usual Time Square addresses, venturing downtown and even over the bridges.

What’s the best part of New York to stay in?

Locals will tell you to skip staying near Time Square, the soulless midtown monstrosity is a classic tourist trap with much hype but little to offer. If it’s your first time in New York or a whistle-stop trip, a hotel in midtown could be your best option for ease of getting around. But if you’re looking for a glimpse of real New York and its many personalities, some of the best hotels in New York are found outside of Midtown, like The Carlyle on the Upper East Side or PUBLIC hotel on the Lower East. Some of the city’s hottest addresses have even started to pop up outside of Manhattan, with Ace Hotel and 1 Hotel now with locations in Brooklyn and even Boro Hotel in Long Island City.

How we choose the best hotels in New York

Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveller journalist who knows the destination and has stayed at that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider both luxury properties and boutique and lesser-known boltholes that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination. We’re always looking for beautiful design, a great location and warm service – as well as serious sustainability credentials. We update this list regularly as new hotels open and existing ones evolve.

See more of our New York recommendations: