Photo courtesy of Jessie Mislavsky/MTA on Flickr
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has partnered with legendary New York City sandwich shops Katz’s Deli and Alidoro to create a limited-edition sandwich in celebration of the subway’s 118th anniversary. The sandwich is being sold at four Alidoro locations in Manhattan from September 29 through October 31.
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
While many families were unable to gather for Hanukkah in 2020, this year, with vaccination rates high, getting together is possible again. The Festival of Lights arrives early this year, running from November 28 to December 6. If you plan to cook a big meal for Thanksgiving just days before and don’t feel like doing it all over again, there are several New York City restaurants, bakeries, and specialty shops offering takeout holiday meals and treats. Leave the latkes and lox to the professionals and place a to-go order with a local business during Hanukkah this year.
Photo by ercwttmn via Flickr cc
Nothing says love like… pastrami? Lower East Side institution Katz’s Deli has teamed up with Williamsburg wedding chapel Sweet Hearts to offer couples the chance to get hitched inside the 133-year-old restaurant, as was first reported by Time Out NY. Those interested can reserve a 75-minute spot on August 28th, which allows a couple to bring up to six guests. The $2,500 package includes an officiant and witness, photos by the Edward Winter Photography team, and, of course, party platters of Katz’s legendary hand-carved pastrami and corned beef.
Photo courtesy of Lower East Side Partnership
Last month, Katz’s Delicatessen opened for outdoor dining for the first time in its 132-year history. And last week, the legendary Lower East Side eatery launched its own local delivery service, dodging the excessive fees charged by third-party companies. As first reported by the Bowery Boogie, diners can order from Katz’s classic menu directly from their website, including pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, matzoh ball soup, and square potato knishes.
Since Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out the open restaurants program last month, allowing eateries to serve diners on sidewalks and in adjacent parking spots, over 9,000 eateries have reopened for outdoor dining. Offering another lifeline to the struggling industry, especially now that indoor dining has been postponed indefinitely, the city has also closed more than 40 blocks to traffic for its weekend-only open streets dining program, overseen by community organizations and neighborhood Business Improvement Districts. With so many al fresco dining options available, we’re rounding up the most iconic New York City streets and establishments now open for outdoor dining, from the most photographed block in Brooklyn and New York’s oldest bar in Queens to open-air plazas with views of city landmarks.
Image: City Foodsters via Flickr.
Starting August 2, visitors at Manhattan’s venerable Metropolitan Museum of Art will be able to indulge in a taste of the iconic Lower East Side deli in a pop-up within the museum’s cafeteria, Food & Wine reports. Through the end of summer, hungry culture vultures can choose from turkey or pastrami sandwiches, potato salad, pickles and a selection of Dr. Brown’s soda. “Expert cutters” will even be on-site to serve up the hand-carved platters. The pop-up will occupy a temporary version of the downtown delicatessen, complete with a mini Katz’s lightbox on display. The pop-up will be open Thursday through Monday starting at 11:30 A.M.
Developer Ben Shaoul’s new Lower East Side condos adjacent to Katz’s famous deli at 196 Orchard Street have just hit the market. Definitely in line with the 21st century version of the storied neighborhood, the 96 newly-minted apartments have luxurious finishes, expansive views and enviable amenities, with units starting at $1.075 million for a studio.
By now many of you have probably seen this amazing video showing a changing Lower East Side circa 1995. While plenty of colorful characters and weirdness abound, let’s not forget that the area at the time was also one of the city’s most unsafe. As part of the new video series called “True Yorkers,” Katz’s Deli owner Alan Dell reflects on the Lower East Side that once was—well before it transformed into the bar crawl we know today. Sharing his own memories of the neighborhood as a kid, and more poignantly his opinion of what it has become, Dell’s recount really makes you think about just how severely pacified and homogenous today’s version of New York is.
“A lot of people from the neighborhood moved away…I just can’t get used to it,” Dell says in the episode. “I have customers talking about their million dollar penthouse on Rivington Street—it blows my mind. The Bowery was unsavory, there used to be bums, I don’t even know if kids know what a bum is…You know, they call it progress, I’m not really sure about that. It’s a mixed bag…15-20 years ago we were closing early. Unless you were coming to buy crack late at night over here, it was not safe…it’s just changed. It’s just different.”
Images: +Pool (L); Gowanus Canal via Steven Hirsch (R)
The Lower East Side’s iconic Katz’s Deli was the talk of the town recently when it came to light that the neighborhood institution had sold its air rights. It’s speculated that a parcel of adjacent buildings will be demolished to make way for a new cantilevered building. Jake Dell, the third-generation co-owner of the 126-year-old pastrami mainstay, has been quoted as saying that the sale will not affect the deli in any way, though he didn’t cite specifics of the deal. But regardless of the details, it looks like Dell made out pretty well for himself, as he’s just scooped up a $1,899,000 apartment at 808 Broadway in the heart of Greenwich Village. Just a short walk from Katz’s, his new pad is described as a “Park Avenue-inspired home.”
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