BY JANEL BLADOW
Showers and flowers. We’re seeing the first few crocuses and daffodils popping up following last week’s miserable rain. Ah, April!
CHICKEN SHACK… Here’s a fun turn of events. Look for an iconic institution from “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” to take up residence in the Seaport next weekend. “Los Pollos Hermanos” the chain of Albuquerque chicken joints used as a front to distribute meth by cartel mobster Gus Fring on the hit TV show will set up shop at 243 Pearl St. in the parking lot between Fulton and John streets on Sunday, April 9 (11 a.m.–8 p.m.) and Monday, April 10 (10 a.m.–8 p.m.). As “BB” and “Saul” fans know, Fring is a prominent Southwestern US methamphetamine distributor who uses his successful fried chicken chain and his industrial laundry company, Lavanderia Brillante, as fronts. Meanwhile, he’s a bigtime supporter of the local DEA. A cunning and deceitful character expertly played by Giancarlo Esposito. Let’s hope the chicken is just as juicy as the backstory.
BREW NEWS… We’ll be getting a lot more beer and burgers the rest of the year. Beginning in early June, Clinton Hall, a craft-beer bar on Washington Street, plans to open a two-story suds heaven at the corner of Fulton and Front streets. Along with a rotation of 20 craft beers and 20 styles of burgers, this joint will also house a floor for dedicated gamers – including a giant-sized Jenga. It encompasses 40,000 square feet of space – around 7,000 indoors – and another 30,000 outdoors for 50 picnic tables. It will also feature a smaller restaurant, Food Lab, where a rotation of chefs will create a new menu every two weeks. Dale Talde, of TV’s “Top Chef” and owner of Park Slope’s Talde, is one of the food mavens now in talks. Plus, inside will be a “speakeasy” cocktail bar. The indoor restaurants/bars will be open through New Year’s Eve.
DAIRY QUEENS… And the iceman cometh. Big Gay Ice Cream is in talks too with Howard Hughes Corp. to open a pop-up stall in the Seaport for the summer, then probably move into a more permanent location. The quirkily named soft-serve confections include cones and pints, like the “Salty Pimp” — Dulce de Leche spiced with sea salt. Started as a whimsical food truck in 2009 by Bryan Petroff and Douglas Qunit, BGIC now has shops in both the East and West Village, Gansevoort Market and Philadelphia. Next stop, the Seaport!
HAPPY HOUNDS… Salty Paw celebrated its 10th year last month. Congrats to Amanda Zink and Team Salty.
FUNNY PICTURES… More free fun at Animation Nights New York. April Animation, Wednesday, April 12, 8 pm, feature more short freestyle films from around the world. ANNY HQs are at 180 Maiden Lane. RSVP at https://www.animationnights.com/upcomingscreening/.
NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW — REALLY?… The United State Postal Service can just can its age-old motto. My mail isn’t getting through no matter the weather! I spent the last three months trying to find a check mailed from Los Angeles in January, a credit card shipped from Florida and fending off late fees and cut-off notices from creditors, utilities and more. All because the mail — bills, checks and statements — never made it to my Water Street door. W2s and other important mail haven’t arrived but I sure do get a lot of notices from State Senator Daniel Squadron and City Councilmember Margaret Chin plus all the credit card promotions! This has gone on periodically for more than five years, starting when the PO was still on Peck Slip. Calls to the manager only get a recording. Visits to the office get a piece of paper to call the manager or suggestions to open a PO box. Anyone else having issues? I would love to hear from you. Leave a message at the end of the column at www.downtownexpress.com. Oh, and when the check was reissued and mailed from LA to a PO box in a small village Upstate, it arrived in two days! Go figure!
BAD DOGGIE PARENTS… It’s time to rub some noses in a huge problem of our own creation. If you have a dog, you are REQUIRED BY LAW to pick up after your baby ANYWHERE in NYC – that includes dog runs, sidewalks, the front steps of chic Fidi, and Seaport buildings. No one else is supposed to do it for you! I’ve gotten lots of complaints lately from neighbors as far south as Old Slip and north as Southbridge Towers and about how filthy our streets have become. More importantly, The Wall Street dog run at South Street is a doggie-doo horror show. Karen Warren — who moved here a couple weeks ago with her husband, two Shelties, and some cats — photographed at least five piles there on Saturday. “It’s disgusting,” she said. The area smells of urine said another long time neighbor.
I went over on Sunday. About 10 dogs were running around. It looked better than I expected, but Ben — a neighbor and new puppy parent to Effie, a 3-month-old Boston terrier —pointed out that it could be cleaner. I couldn’t agree more. I saw pee not rinsed off, and another local noted that someone just put a traffic cone over a pile rather than pick it up.
The dog run is not a bathroom — it’s a place for dogs to socialize and play. Please, if you see something… you know what to do. And call 311 to log complaints. The Parks Department is supposed to keep that run clean, but they can’t do it if you don’t clean up after your pooch.
Tonto scrutinizes 3-month old Effie at the Wall Street Dog Run, which has been turned into a doggie-doo mine field by negligent puppy parents.
SETTING SAIL FROM THE SEAPORT… If you’ve lived in the Seaport as long as I have, then you know these “kids.” Kathleen Aisha Joyce grew up hanging around the place her dad (Tommy Joyce) made a neighborhood institution for more than 20 years: Radio Mexico (at the site of the current Cowgirl Seahorse on Front Street). She went on to tend bar at Meade’s, Jeremey’s Ale House, and Paris Café. She and bartending buddy Chano Morales, joined forces with Damien Prudente, her dad’s longtime head chef at both Radio Mexico and Prairie Fire to help revamp Long Island City’s Holy Gaucamole. You can go say hi at their new haunt at 3555 31st St., Astoria, right off the “N” train.
