vip in the city

Under the FDR

I had planned to attend the opening reception for Scott Alger’s: (un)Fashion at the PhotoGraphic Gallery on Front Street, but by the time I made it over to the Seaport after work, I couldn’t bring myself to head back indoors. As Autumn approaches, there’s just a little less sunlight to enjoy after work each day.

Also, the NY Brewfest was taking place at Pier 16 & 17. The festival is a celebration to recognize the Empire State Brewery Trail. On hand to showcase samplings of their craft were representatives from the 58 breweries, microbreweries and brew pubs around the state.

I didn’t have a Brewfest ticket – and really wasn’t in the mood for so much brew – but I did stick around to catch the performance on the Seaport stage by Bernie Clarke and the Rhythm Sharks.

I strolled uptown along the East River and noted the dramatic changes taking place on this once forlorn and desolate stretch. In early 2003, New York City laid the groundwork for an ambitious new effort to redesign the East River waterfront from Battery Park to East River Park – complementing the West Side piers redevelopment project. Check out the ambitious plans for the East River Waterfront Esplanade, which were unveiled last May.

Passed the Old, Peck, Catherine and Market Slips, remnants of the area’s ship haven history. But what to call these cobblestoned streets that run under and alongside the FDR Drive, North of the Seaport, East of TriBeCa? The runner-up in Curbed’s 2005 “‘Hoodwinked contest” (in which participants were invited to submit neighborhood names of their own creation) suggested “The Nightie Drawer.” After all the “slips” – get it?

Though I have to admit that the contest winner, RAMBO (Right After the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), is pretty brilliant:

Name: RAMBO
Submitted By: Heath Binder & Adam Wills
Boundaries: Right After the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The neighborhood stretching between Tillary Street and York Steet, north of the Manhattan Bridge
Description: Ever been to DUMBO? Nice, isn’t it, with all of the fancy restaurants, the waterfront views, the arts scene. If you cross north over the Manhattan Bridge, however, you’re still in the same zip code (11201), and people (realtors) still refer to the neighborhood as DUMBO, but it’s, well, a little different from the high-priced condo haven. For starters, Fresh Direct won’t deliver to “our part” of the zip code. Two, our closest 24-hour store is the McDonalds on Tillary Street. Three, we’ve got the projects. The neighborhood is nice and green and hell, my rent is great compared to what I’d be paying for space on the South side of the bridge, considering that I’m literally a three-minute walk from it, but I think it deserves a moniker which appropriately reflects its grittiness. We are still industrial, you know.