Latest news with #Queens-born
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pecking House in Brooklyn forced to close for ‘foreseeable future'
PROSPECT HEIGHT, Brooklyn (PIX11) — A popular eatery that recently expanded to Brooklyn may be forced to close for good. Pecking House, a restaurant known for its Sichuan chili country fried chicken, closed its location in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn in early May because of mandated construction. The team shared the news in an email to subscribers on Tuesday. More Local News 'It's been both a long time coming and incredibly unexpected. Such is life, and such is the nature of the world of food, especially these days,' the email read. The Queens-born restaurant expanded to Brooklyn in September 2022 and later to Chinatown. Restaurant owners say construction wasn't required at the time they moved into 244 Flatbush Ave but things have since changed. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State The building owner needed full access to the Pecking House basement to complete the mandated construction, the restaurant's team said. As a result, they made way for the construction team but lost a space to prep food, according to the email. PIX11 reached out to the building owner for a statement but did not hear back at the time of publishing. More Brooklyn News 'Shutting down a restaurant, even temporarily, launches a domino effect that swiftly becomes an avalanche,' the email said. 'It takes time and a lot of coordination – and a lot of money – to both end and start again all the things that keep a restaurant churning.' While it's possible the store could reopen in a month or two if construction goes as planned, the restaurant also faces the challenge of having to find and hire an entirely new team to reopen, representatives explained. 'Maybe there are still a lot of questions, but we're still figuring out a lot of answers. We will keep you updated as we figure them out,' the team said. In the meantime, Pecking House says they will focus on their Chinatown location for the time being. The Manhattan store will also close temporarily on Wednesday and Thursday to prepare for the launch of a new menu on Friday. Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Fine Jewelry Inspired by Centuries-Old Paintings at the Met
Venice's Hotel Cipriani Gets a Glamorous Renovation by Peter Marino Since it opened in 1958, Venice's historic Hotel Cipriani — set away from the crowds on Giudecca Island, with great views of the floating city and its waterways — has long been a paragon of life well lived, the sort of place where you might've seen creative luminaries like Sofia Loren, Catherine Deneuve and Yves Saint Laurent hanging around. But like all good old hotels, the 67-room property eventually needed a refresh, one that reflected Venice's more contemporary architectural and artistic character and a new era of luxury; as far as its owners at Belmond saw it, the person to do that was the Queens-born architect Peter Marino, who first started renovating projects in Venice some three decades ago. 'You see pictures of Gloria Guinness at the hotel, her hair teased up past heaven, and I wanted to get that feeling here of almost impossible glamour,' he says. 'It's not palazzo glamour or old Venetian glamour but a very 1960s look.' Indeed, unlike many of the city's other esteemed hotels, this one was installed not into a former palace but was built from the ground up, with squarer proportions that Marino wanted to loosen up with graphic midcentury paintings by the likes of the Italian American artist Conrad Marca-Relli and handblown Venetian vanity mirrors. Although he kept the handsome original lobby intact — 'Over 50 people grabbed my arm in town and said, 'Please don't change it,'' he says — Marino will fully reconceive the interiors during the off-season over the next few years. The first phase of it, including a new airy, double-height lobby and 13 suites that feature lots of glass and gold-toned detailing, will open May 27, just in time for summer. 'I'm not doing walls of brocade,' he says, 'but hopefully people in Venice will think it's hip.' From about $2,000 a night, The Abstract Work of Two Pioneering Japanese Artists, on View in New York 'Atsuko Tanaka, Yayoi Kusama,' a recently opened exhibit at Paula Cooper Gallery in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, features a selection of works on paper and canvas by the two Japanese artists. They're from the same generation — Kusama was born in 1929, Tanaka in 1932 — and both 'hit their stride with abstract painting using repetitive motifs,' says Anthony Allen, a partner at the gallery who organized the show, but 'they likely never met.' Kusama, who is famous for her polka dots and weblike 'Infinity Nets' series, arrived in New York's downtown art scene in her late 20s, whereas Tanaka, who fixated on circles and lines (which were prominent shapes in her 1956 'Electric Dress' performance), stayed in Japan and became a core member of the avant-garde Gutai movement. Both used performance, textiles and installations in their oeuvres and 'dealt with similar obstacles,' Allen says. By showing Tanaka and Kusama together, he hopes to 'dislodge each artist from the context in which they're usually presented.' On display are several of Kusama's early career pieces, including one of her lesser-known sticker collages, and a broader selection of Tanaka's works spanning 1956 through 2001. The show also includes three short films — two of Tanaka's, one of Kusama's — and a series of documentary photos that capture each artist at work. 'Atsuko Tanaka, Yayoi Kusama' is on view through June 14, The Jewelry Designer Reimagining Renaissance Accessories For the Los Angeles jewelry designer Jess Hannah Révész, a stroll through the painting galleries at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is a treasure hunt. Where some might linger over the blue silk dress in Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's 'Princesse de Broglie' (1851-53), Révész zooms in on the subject's stack of gold rings. One of these, a weighty band like coiled rope, has now been reimagined in wearable form as part of a new J. Hannah jewelry collaboration with the Met. 'I've always taken inspiration from the past,' says Révész, who previously created a capsule collection for the museum focused on the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut. In addition to the Princesse ring — offered in brushed 14-karat gold or polished silver, as well as a hoop earring version — Révész has reinterpreted jewelry from three additional masterworks. 'Judith With the Head of Holofernes' (circa 1530), Lucas Cranach the Elder's dressed-up take on the biblical tale, sees the heroine in a gilded collar decorated with tiny pearls, one of which Révész transposed onto her Quatrefoil pendant. The pile-up of rings in 'Portrait of a Woman of the Slosgin Family of Cologne' (1557), by Barthel Bruyn the Younger, manifests as two designs: the dainty two-gem Diptych and the Quatrefoil, available as an engravable signet or with a single rectangular stone — 'unisexy,' the designer quips. Hans Memling's wedding portraits of Tommaso and Maria Portinari (circa 1470), who are shown with hands clasped in prayer, inspired J. Hannah's Devotion rings, with puffy gold bands and one or two prong-set stones. The pieces in the collection are made to order with era-appropriate carnelian cabochons or faceted sapphires. Révész added recycled diamonds as a third option — for fun, she says. 'That was a me thing.' The Subjects of Adornment collection launches May 25; from $440, The Musician Swamp Dogg Collects Recipes and Memories in a New Book When his peers were playing football, Swamp Dogg — the 82-year-old singer, songwriter and producer — was in the kitchen. 'The first thing I remember is wanting to lick the bowl,' says the man formerly known as Little Jerry and born Jerry Williams Jr. That early appetite finds new expression in 'If You Can Kill It I Can Cook It,' a cookbook that he started drafting in the 1970s and whose publication now coincides with the release of a documentary on his life. Swamp Dogg shares childhood recipes, all of which he's given playful names — T-Bone (Steak) Walker, referring to the blues musician, and the Devil Went Down to Georgia for Eggs, a nod to the 1979 country song — in tribute to the fellow artists, record executives and family members who have shaped his life. 'Mostly good things, good times and good people that I've met,' he says. 'At least two were complete downers.' The recipe for Bo-Diddley Baked Beans, for instance, is sparse and short on seasonings, reflective of his unfriendly meeting with the singer that Swamp Dogg recounts in the headnotes. Old photos and archival materials — concert fliers, newspaper clippings and even a Cadillac registration — are interspersed with Swamp Dogg's writing, making the book more of a visual autobiography or scrapbook than a standard cookbook. The musician hopes it will influence others to live with the same sense of purpose and creativity, in the kitchen and beyond. 'When I'm cooking, just like when I'm making music, I'm in my own little world,' he says. 'If You Can Kill It I Can Cook It' will be released May 20; $45, Curvy, Colorful Furniture, on View for New York's Design Week Hundreds of events are scheduled during this year's NYCxDesign Festival, which takes place throughout the city from May 15 through 21. A number of exhibitions highlight colorful, curvilinear pieces that feel apt for spring. At TriBeCa's R & Company gallery, the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based ceramic artist Jolie Ngo is showing vibrant 3-D-printed lamps that resemble psychedelic trees, as well as mirrors and side tables made from plastic in addition to her usual medium of extruded clay. The London-based designer Faye Toogood has installed her hand-painted pieces across two galleries: at the Future Perfect's West Village townhouse, furniture includes a quartet of raw fiberglass dining chairs, each one splashed with gestural brushstrokes, while Tiwa Select, in TriBeCa, features lighting crafted from wrought iron and crumpled paper adorned with fluid line drawings done in Japanese ink. At the New York designer Danny Kaplan's recently opened showroom in NoHo, the collection on display includes the whimsical resin Divot mirror, a collaboration between Kaplan and the interdisciplinary designer Joseph Algieri that's lined with bonbon-like spheres. And in a Sutton Place penthouse, Galerie Gabriel presents an exhibition that reconvenes pieces from the 1980s by the designers who were once represented by the pioneering gallery Néotù — one standout is Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti's red velvet-and-bronze Corbeille sofa, which debuted in 1989. A Luxury Resort Opens on a Low-Key Greek Island The Cycladic island of Folegandros is often described as what Santorini must have felt like 50 years ago — a collection of whitewashed cliff-top villages overlooking the Aegean Sea where a visitor might get swept up in a festival spilling into the main square. The island has no airport, and much of its land is classified as a protected forest. But its relative remoteness has also meant that there aren't many places to stay, and the existing small hotels book up quickly, which is why island-hoppers are so excited about Gundari, Folegandros's first luxury hotel. After a soft opening last summer, the 30-room property is now complete with a trio of new villas and a three-seat wine bar with a picture window overlooking the ocean. Rising from the copper-red cliffs on the southeastern coast of the island, the resort is designed to reflect its surroundings, with unpolished marble floors and an earthy palette. Each of the rooms has a pool that's solar heated, and over 600 indigenous seedlings, including olive and fig trees, were planted on the 100-acre property. On-site, guests can visit the subterranean spa for facials and massages, wade to the sunken swim-up bar, then sample produce from the hotel's organic farm at Orizon restaurant. But they're encouraged to explore Folegandros by borrowing one of Gundari's electric bikes or the electric Mini Moke to visit churches and coves, chartering the speedboat for a sunset sail or hiking the 35 miles of trails. Still, the highlight of a trip just might be a visit to Chora, the capital village two miles from the resort, to soak up the ambience or take a cooking class with Yia Yia Irene, the owner of Irene's Restaurant, which has fed the island for over 70 years. Rooms from $540 a night, The Chiffon Cake Is Standing Tall Again
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
L.A. bar reaches settlement with alleged Ron Jeremy assault victims
The Los Angeles bar where Ron Jeremy allegedly assaulted multiple women, and which has been a defendant in several lawsuits, has reached a settlement with at least nine victims. The Rainbow Bar & Grill on the Sunset Strip was accused of knowing the porn star was preying on its female patrons and turning a blind eye. 'This is pretty much as close to closure as we can get for our victims,' attorney Aaron Osten, who represents two of the women, told Rolling Stone. He said the settlement amounts would remain confidential. The Queens-born adult film star was charged in 2021 with 34 counts of sexual assault on more than 20 victims between the ages of 15 and 51, with the attacks dating back to 1996. However, in 2023, he was ruled incompetent to stand trial because of 'incurable neurocognitive decline,' from which he's unlikely to recover. He was released from a California mental facility later that year due to his declining health. Jeremy, 72, is still the subject of a civil lawsuit from a victim who claims he drugged her at the Rainbow Bar and led her out before assaulting her at an apartment. The negligence lawsuits against the bar, which is owned by parent company Rockin' Horse, proceeded and the settlements were announced on Tuesday ahead of a pre-trial hearing. 'There were so many victims out there. I don't think Rockin' Horse had any argument to make that they didn't know this was going on at their establishment,' Osten said.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Go beyond Charleston's King Street to explore the working-class neighborhood redefining southern cool
New Yorkers aren't afraid of a little schmutz. When Queens-born Chef Shuai Wang and his wife Corrie went hunting for a spot to open their new Charleston restaurant, they wanted a place that was both affordable and authentically homegrown—a tall order in a city where home prices frequently soar past $2 million and two-bedroom apartments cost $4,000 to rent a month. The couple found their answer in Park Circle, a 110-year-old historic garden neighborhood in a fast-changing, working-class community called North Charleston with a gritty heritage standing in stark contrast to the genteel, steeple-stippled skyline, expensive boutiques, and luxury hotels further south. For Wang, who starred in the most recent season of Bravo's Top Chef, that difference felt right. "Park Circle is Charleston's Williamsburg," he says, drawing parallels to Brooklyn's once-scruffy creative enclave. The couple opened Jackrabbit Filly on Spruill Avenue five years ago (recently relocating it to nearby East Montague Avenue). They weren't alone. Only a 16-minute Uber ride from downtown Charleston's Marion Square, Park Circle has quietly become the Holy City's vibrant magnet, drawing residents priced out of living "below the neck"—the stretch of peninsula wedged between the Ashley and Cooper rivers and separating North Charleston from the bourgeois world of the historic city. No such airs are on display in Jackrabbit Filly, the 1970s wood-paneled walls furnished with quixotic thrift-store finds contrast with intricate wood screens imported from China. There's a clatter of plates and the hum of conversation coming from the 44 tables, all booked. The air is filled with aromas of soy vinegar and chili oil, and there is anticipation for dishes such as glass noodles and the Japanese fried chicken known as karaage, so popular devotees drive from miles around to enjoy the food and atmosphere. That's no surprise to Pearce Fleming, whose airy microbrewery Commonhouse Aleworks sits around the corner. "Park Circle's a place that fosters community," he says. 'It's what we try to do at our brewery. We exist to bring people together to celebrate over a pint of social lubricant." To encourage that conviviality, Fleming, whose brews include IPAs 'Navy Town' and 'Park Circle' named for his neighborhood, helped establish one of the community's biggest festivals. In 2010, Park Circle was the first to celebrate Pride in Charleston, which it continues to do to this day with more than 40 participating organizations. Now, other annual events like the musically minded Riverfront Revival and Rockabillaque, featuring rockabilly music, classic cars, and barbecue, draw thousands of people. Music is center stage throughout the year at other venues including Holy City Brewing and the Firefly Distillery, famous for its sweet tea vodka. Visitors can sample the lemony-flavored drink, and its bourbons and whiskeys, in its tasting room. Outside, Firefly's five-acre music space regularly hosts bands. Past performers included Chappell Roan and Willie Nelson. While a Roan concert wasn't what its founders could ever imagine, Park Circle is finally fulfilling its original intention in some ways. The neighborhood began as a genteel gamble in the 1910s when city businessmen envisioned a streetcar suburb that would lure young professionals and their families north of Charleston's traditional boundaries. "They couldn't kick start interest in moving there," says Brittany Lavelle Tulla, an architectural historian at BVL Historic Preservation Research. "It couldn't just get off its feet." Instead, the US Navy took center stage. Its base, the Naval Complex, employed 25,000 workers at its World War II peak. Workers performed a variety of duties from disassembling Nazi U-boats to maintaining Cold War fleets. Their communities—which would incorporate as the city of North Charleston in 1972—earned a brawling, blue-collar reputation immortalized in Pat Conroy's novel "The Lords of Discipline." (Related: Charleston's newest museum reckons with the city's role in the slave trade.) Yet Park Circle's original garden city design endured. The central circular park, that gave the neighborhood its name, still anchored streets that radiated outward like spokes. When the base closed in 1996, that historic blueprint, combined with the bungalows, worker cottages, and mid-century buildings left behind, created perfect conditions for renewal. Young entrepreneurs and artists soon discovered East Montague Avenue's wide, herringbone-bricked sidewalks—perfect for outdoor cafes, kids, and dogs—and a new chapter began. The avenue's shops reflect the neighborhood's eclectic spirit. Neighborly modern furniture shares space with local artisans' work. Odd Duck Market sells food and coffee, while Black Octopus Mercantile transformed surf wear into streetwear. The shop is a cheery place, probably due to the ebullience of owner Missy Johnson, who designs most of the merchandise herself. Some of it is regularly featured on the hit teen drama The Outer Banks. 'I love being in Park Circle,' she says. 'We may be off the beaten track but we're quite the gem of the realm sitting between the pine trees and the river.' The river that Johnson is referring to is Cooper River, where the old naval facilities are also undergoing a 140-acre Riverfront Park now occupies part of the former base, including grounds initially landscaped in 1896 by the famed Olmsted Brothers firm for a project predating the naval yards. Walking paths crisscross beneath century-old live oaks, leading to a 1,200-foot boardwalk jutting into the water. The former base commander's Colonial Revival mansion and its columned porches, or 'piazzas' in local parlance, is now an event space overlooking the river where anglers cast for red drum, spotted sea trout, and flounder. The graceful Noisette Creek Pedestrian Bridge and its two 55-foot-tall steel arches connect the park to the River District North development, an ambitious plan where 70 acres of former naval land will become a mixed-used village with housing, offices, and retail spaces. While the River District North promises a glossy future, Park Circle's past isn't forgotten. Kelsey Bacon, a floral designer at Roadside Blooms, bridges both. Her great 'grand mamie' Virginia Kirkland toiled in the naval factories during WWII. Bacon thinks she would have been amazed to see the transformations that have turned the community into the one now on travelers' itineraries. 'It's a melting pot of different lives and different people, says Bacon. 'As long as I'm in Charleston I'll be in Park Circle.' (Related: Discover the best of Charleston with these top 10 things to do.) Where to eat: The tide-to-table Walrus Raw Bar inside Holy City Brewing offers the chance to slurp local oysters and quaff an array of artisanal beers. On East Montague, Southern Roots Smokehouse features brisket, chicken wings, and traditional barbecue sides. Across the street, EVO Pizza offers wood-fired pies like pistachio pesto or the pork trifecta with a farmer's salad. Where to stay: Airbnbs on offer in the neighborhood. Something new in North Charleston: The Starlight Motor Inn, an authentic 1961 motel with strong mid-century modern design vibes and live music in its upstairs bar The Burgundy Lounge (Rates from $100). Downtown, The Ryder, which opened in 2021, offers a contemporary vibe different than many of the traditional hotels (Rates from $203) What to do: New last year, The Park Circle Playground is the country's largest inclusive playground designed to allow full accessibility to children with autism, sensory issues, or in wheelchairs full accessibility. For playful adults, retro Pinky and Clyde's Arcade Bar on East Montague lets patrons play vintage video games like Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. On Spruill Avenue, the Station offers shoppers vintage housewares and clothing as well as new art and fashions curated by a changing mix of some 30 artists, designers, and thrifters. (Related: 10 of the best hotels in Charleston, from historic landmarks to hipster hotspots.) Andrew Nelson is the author of National Geographic's recently published travel book Here Not There. Follow him on Instagram.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hip Hop Exec Irv Gotti, Dead At 54, Leaves Behind A Real Estate Legacy With His Upscale Californian Property Portfolio
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Irv Gotti, the music executive best known for founding Murder Inc. and signing artists such as Ja Rule and Ashanti, died last week, leaving three children, a musical legacy, and an expansive Californian property portfolio. Gotti worked with a who's who of R&B and hip-hop artists in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including the aforementioned rappers and singers on his label, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, and DMX. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gotti died from a stroke after suffering from diabetes for many years. His family announced his passing with a statement on Instagram: 'It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Irving 'Irv Gotti' Lorenzo, on February 5, 2025. Surrounded by family and friends, he departed this world, leaving behind a legacy that will forever resonate in the hearts of those who knew him and the countless lives he touched.' Don't Miss: Many don't know there are tax benefits when buying a unit as an investment — Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Gotti pacted with the legendary hip-hop label Def Jam, where he received his own imprint after bringing rapper DMX to the company. Amid hit records and Grammy awards, the Hollis, Queens-born mogul (born Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr.) became a multi-millionaire. However, he attained generational wealth long after his label's heyday and close to the end of his life, when in 2022, he sold his label's master recordings to the music management firm Iconoclast for $300 million. Gotti told WorldStarHipHop in an interview that the deal allowed him to net $100 million and receive $300 million in a line of credit for future film and TV projects. Trending: These five entrepreneurs are worth $223 billion – After securing the deal, Gotti bolstered his real estate portfolio by buying two homes in Encino, California. According to he paid $10.2 million for a 10,325-square-foot residence with eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and $4.8 million for a 6,600-square-foot home with five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Previously, Gotti owned a five-bedroom, five-bathroom property in a cul-de-sac in Sherman Oaks, California which he sold for $1.85 million in 2021. He purchased the house for $1.43 million in 2016 and then listed it for rent three years later for $12,500 a month. At the peak of Murder Inc.'s success, Gotti told VladTV in 2019 that the label generated $100 million per year before the infamous raid by FBI and New York Police Department investigators in January 2003. 'The government stopped me from making the money,' Gotti said in the interview. 'When the government came in at that time, Murder Inc. was doing like over $100 million in billing for like two years in a row.'The raid coincided with Gotti being given a check for $65 million from Universal Music, his partner in a 50/50 deal. 'They was [sic] giving me a check for like $65 million, and that's why the government came in,' Gotti claimed. 'It was a chess move to destroy me and take all of my money.' The label was charged with money laundering. Eventually, in 2005, Gotti was acquitted after spending close to $10 million in legal fees. 'They took my life from me for three years,' Gotti said at the time. 'But it's all good. I'm not mad. I love this country. But from Day One, they had it wrong with me and my brother. I'm no criminal.' Read Next:'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. This article Hip Hop Exec Irv Gotti, Dead At 54, Leaves Behind A Real Estate Legacy With His Upscale Californian Property Portfolio originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
