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The Lo-Down NY

The Lower East Side's most influential online news source. We are Ed Litvak and Traven Rice, a reformed television news producer and filmmaker (in that order).

The Lo-Down is a local news site dedicated to covering news, events and – most significantly – the people who live and work in one of the world’s greatest neighborhoods, the Lower East Side. We are Lower East Side residents who launched The Lo-Down to help provide our community with a constant source of information about current events, culture, real estate, food and entertainment. We are featured

in the Columbia Journalism Review’s News Frontier Database. You can also read a profile of us in the Village Voice article, “I Blog New York: Your Guide to Gotham’s Best” here. http://bit.ly/1JWybRU The Lo-Down is a member of the Local Independent Online Publishers Association (LION). Rather than serve a single segment of our diverse neighborhood, we are a resource for all cultures and groups on the LES to share information and ideas and to engage in a meaningful dialogue about issues that unite and divide us. We are not a blog that espouses a particular point of view or has an agenda. We work hard to reach out to people and organizations that are not often heard from – and to solicit multiple points of view and new perspectives. It is most important to us that everyone has an opportunity to tell their own story.

18/06/2025

Dora Grossman-Weir speaks with Culture Cast host Traven Rice about making wine fun and accessible at two new delicious spots in the neighborhood.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Dora Grossman-Weir is a hospitality professional with a focus on wine. After spending two and a half years working at the online wine shop and start-up, , she left to work with the wine team at Momofuku Ko before returning to the group to open , a Chinese restaurant from chef Ron Yan (28 Canal St.) and later , a Korean spot from chef Sunny Lee (139 Division St.). She also oversees (West 4th and MacDougal St.) as their General Manager and Wine Director.

Growing up with a family that loved food, she has always been enamored with great restaurants, exploring different cultures by way of their cuisines, and the intersection of wine and history.

Grant Reynolds is the founder behind Parcelle, an independent New York City-based online wine business that began in 2019. He then opened a brick and mortar wine bar in 2022 on Division Street with Chinese chef Ron Yan. The team then opened Tolo (28 Canal) in 2023.

13/06/2025

Lower East Side artist and activist spoke with The Lo-Down Culture Cast host Traven Rice about creating inter-generational projects with a wide array of people from the Lower East Side neighborhood.

Nova is an artist, educator, and activist who creates festive, absurdist spectacles that unite generations and diverse communities. The first Public Artist in Residence to be embedded in New York City’s Department for the Aging, Nova brings expertise and empathy to her projects and actions, designing each element to enhance social wellness and decrease social isolation. Listen at our Linktree above.

25/05/2025

After popping up at Partybus Bakeshop on Essex Street last summer, ice cream maker Ayanna Quint has found an official brick and mortar location for at 202 Clinton Street. Quint was a baker at Partybus during the pandemic, before learning how to make ice cream. She recently told Eater that after learning to bake desserts, her goal quickly became focused on ice cream, and offering “a nearby spot where we could go for ice cream for an after-school or after-dinner treat.”

The shop specializes in classic sundaes, scoops, ice cream sandwiches and shakes. On a recent visit, we found the sorbet to be particularly tasty as well.

As per their Instagram account, you can currently stop in at Julia Jean’s (named after her mother) for a treat on Thursdays and Fridays, 3-11pm, Saturdays, 1-11pm and Sundays, 1-10pm. So far, the other three days are for making the ice cream, in the back of the shop.

05/05/2025

It’s a great book and a worthy celebration!

03/05/2025

Summer isn’t just a season. It’s a launchpad for the wildest adventures and the best memories. At the Y, every splash is a thrill, every moment a story, and every friendship a bond to last a lifetime. It’s a place where imaginations soar, curiosity reigns, and every child discovers a summer made just for them.

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The Chinatown YMCA is now enrolling for Summer 2025! We’re offering Kinder Camp for ages 4–5 and Traditional Day Camp for ages 6–11. Camps are available in two-week sessions from June 30 to August 22, 2025. Learn More Today:https://ymcanyc.org/locations/chinatown-ymca/chinatown-summer-camps

email: [email protected]

*This is a paid advertisement.

02/05/2025

After featuring Coss Marte in The Lo-Down’s “My LES” column ten years ago, host Traven Rice connected with him again to catch up on all he has accomplished with his two innovative businesses, both of which have social justice missions at their core.

30/04/2025

returns for its 15th year tomorrow - Monday, May 5th.

Touting “5 Days of Cinema, Culture and Chaos in the Lower East Side,” this year’s jury members include actor and downtown fashion icon Julia Fox, Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live), Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets and Disney’s The Book of Boba Fett) and Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning director, writer, and rapper Slick Naim.

In a fun tribute to their 15th anniversary, the lineup includes a screening of TRUE CRIME, TRUE BEGINNINGS: The Catfish 15-Year Retrospective with Nev Schulman. They write, “In 2011, Catfish made its New York Premiere at the very first Lower East Side Film Festival in a small pop-up storefront on Norfolk Street. Fast forward 15 years, and we’re celebrating this groundbreaking documentary with a special 15th Anniversary screening and a live conversation with the film’s subject Nev Schulman.” Find out more and see the full lineup in our linktree 👆

24/04/2025

Earlier this week, a joint session of Community Board 3’s transportation and liquor licensing committees was convened to consider 13 applications for “Open Streets” on the Lower East Side. People showed up in droves for one application in particular – Canal Street between Orchard and Essex streets. When it was all over, committee members chose to support the application, taking into account that restaurant owners and other stakeholders had already agreed to cut back days and hours. The ultimate authority for approving the application rests with the city’s Department of Transportation.

In the past, restaurants on Canal Street operated seven days a week. But when the program begins its 2025 season on April 25, they will only utilize the street for outdoor dining four days a week (Thursday-Sunday), and shut down outdoor operations by 10 p.m. The street will re-open at 10:30 p.m. Also, the season will be cut short by seven weeks, ending on October 31.

Lots of people spoke for and against the application. Opponents – neighbors tired of the noise, crowds and overall party atmosphere on their block – said their once quiet corner of the Lower East Side/Chinatown had become unrecognizable. Many of these residents successfully pushed for the City Council’s rejection of a separate sidewalk dining application for Le Dive (“Could This Be the End of the Party in Dimes Square?”). They were also the inspiration for this item in the Post: “NYC Chinatown residents demand end to open streets program that turns neighborhood into a ‘s–tshow’.“

08/04/2025

The local community has been advocating for many years for an elevator at the Delancey Street/Essex Street subway station. They’re finally getting their wish. At a press conference Friday (4/4/2025), MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber gathered with officials from the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and local elected officials to announce the long-awaited upgrades.

Three elevators will be installed in conjunction with another long-stalled project: a 99-unit mixed-use housing development on the northeast corner of Essex and Delancey streets as part of the sprawling Essex Crossing complex. The private developer, Delancey Street Associates, will provide an easement to the MTA. As explained in the transit authority’s press release, “The MTA announced that it is commencing design… (of) a comprehensive set of accessibility upgrades needed to make the station complex fully ADA-accessible. This will include three elevators to ensure that all connections and transfers within the station can be made step-free. These accessibility improvements will be supported by proceeds from the Congestion Relief Zone.” The NYCEDC, MTA and Delancey Street Associates “will enter into a binding agreement and advance the new station entrance design.” Construction on the housing project is expected to begin next year.…read more at LoDown.nyc

07/04/2025

Spring arriving in Seward Park.

25/03/2025

Morning on Orchard Street - looking south, with aglow in the distance.

20/03/2025

Roger Bultot sent along this photo of the Brooklyn Bridge floating above the East River in the mist. Send your neighborhood photos to: [email protected] or tag us here.

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The Lo-Down is a local news site dedicated to covering news, events and – most significantly – the people who live and work in one of the world’s greatest neighborhoods, the Lower East Side.