RIP Dunn's Loft Redux

Ocean's 211 and Dunn's Loft are closed and have an eviction notice posted on the door.

Joey K, what's the inside word?

Chop the Trees!

Enter the Cherry Tree Backlash. The Stamford Advocate ran an article on Sunday about this being the last year before the Cherry Trees are removed from Mill River Park as part of a larger renovation. The trees were a gift from a Japanese immigrant & businessman 50 years ago.

The Advocate article was half assed and almost looking to stir up indignation. It stated the trees weren’t that healthy would be expensive to transplant, and would be replaced on the projects completion in 2010. Of course you are going to rile up the mob like that, both the reasonable and the ridiculous among them. To the reasonable, it looks like the city is chopping 20-odd trees down in a park and maybe they can consider tweaks in the plan to save them.

What the article didn’t go into is the details of the work slated for the park that will require the trees to come down. This is one of the first stages in creating a park/ greenway that will stretch from the sound to Scalzi Park. Central to the plan is the middle section of the park where the cherry tress line a man made pond created by the dammed river The dam stops natural flow of the river, contributes to flooding upstream, stops fish from swimming upriver, and creates scum filled stagnate water enjoyed primarily by Canadian Geese and the occasional shopping cart. The concrete walls that surround the pond stop wildlife from reaching the stream and people from getting anywhere close to the water. The Army Corp of Engineers have completed plans to remove the dam and the concrete walls and return the stream to it’s natural state, with native vegetation and trails.

In short you are replacing this…

with this…

and this…


The Mill River Collaborative explains this further on their website. $4MM of the costs are offset with federal funding. Removing the walls and the dam unfortunately bring down the cherry trees that are planted too close to their edge, but new ones will be planted in the reconfigured park. I think if the public was aware of this, they’d understand and probably fully support a plan that helps create a central park that replaces an unnatural design with an environmentally sensitive one.

There’s a group who won’t be happy knowing the broader implications anyways. You can already see that in some of the letters to the Advocate. It’s a Donald Trump plot! It’s trying to make Stamford New York! Yeah, keep your nice public parks New York, we want shitty ones that only look decent when driving past at 30 mph!

Removal of the trees isn’t any disrespect to their deceased giver. It doesn’t erase the 50 years the city had with them. They served the park then, the new & improved Mill River park will serve the city going forward.

The City That Builds: The Luxe

With all the more high profile construction in Stamford, here’s one you may not have been aware of. “The Luxe” is planned for the empty lot cornered in by the AT&T building on Greyrock & Main. If you can’t picture that, this is the long, lonely corridor along the east side of the Town Center Mall. You can read ADK Architects describe their design on their site. (Go to Projects- Greyrock Corner & click T in the photo line-up. The site’s flash design is a pain in the ass for linking)

I like the project, it brings residential, office, and commercial space to a dead nook downtown. I read in the Advocate awhile back that the residential space incorporates mostly smaller studio units, which brings welcome variety to the mostly two-three bedroom units under construction in the surrounding area. While, I’m sure Starbucks is nothing more than a placeholder for the commercial space in the drawing, I’m sure it’s probably a safe bet that’s what would go in there. You can insert your own lame humor about another Starbucks. I won’t stoop to such clichés.

Why Do You Have To Give Me the Roundabout

The Stamford Traffic Calming Workshops are back. There is only a handful of neighborhoods left, most completed back in 2007. If you have gripes about the need for bike lanes, improved sidewalks, and better traffic flow, this is an opportunity to see your suggestions built into a city-wide plan.

Fatty Fatty Fat Fat

Whenever the news does a story about how fat Americans have become you get the inevitable b-roll of hefty people waddling around the street filmed from the neck down. Sometimes I wonder if some fat guy eating his diner in front of the tube shouts out “Hey, that’s my fanny pack and sweat pants!”

No overweight stock footage filming in Stamford, we’ll keep the filming to A-List Hollywood films (that is until NY enacts the same tax credit). On July 1st Connecticut’s first transfat ban goes into affect in Stamford.

The New York Times has an article today outlining the upcoming ban that would affect public school cafeterias and local restaurants. Malloy put the ban into an interesting class perspective.

“What we’re seeing, quite honestly, are a lot of places in the city that serve less affluent people still cooking Latino foods, or other ethnic foods, using trans fats,” Mr. Malloy said. “That’s created a disparity of the health factor of food along economic lines, and we need to address that.”

Aside from one city rep, everyone else quoted in the article reacts positively, with some resistance to quick timeframe for the mid summer switch.

Digital Parking Tickets

If you pile up as many orange envelopes as me you’ll find this helpful. You can now pay your Stamford parking tickets online here. The feature that allows you to enter your license plate and see all your outstanding violations is helpful for taking care of those that you may loose or rip up as if that solves the issue.

I can maneuver the no meters windows and still rack up 5 tickets a month parking around my building before the math bites me. $75 for the monthly garage pass = 5 x $15 tickets. Now if the city had a deal on buying say a yearly pass of several months at once I may have an incentive to not park illegally. No such luck though because just as it is all the same pay out to me, it's the same intake for them whether they get me monthly in the garage or catch me a handful of times in the street.

Live@Five Lineup 2008

We have our Live@Five lineup:

Blues Traveler
Blind Melon
Gato Barbieri
Eve 6
Southside Johnny
Billy Vera
Boys II Men

Shouldn't they be fully transitioned to men by this point?

The Hook Brings You Back

SPY REPORT 2: Rumored bands on tap for Live@Five...

Band #1

Band #2

Everybody is Fine at Columbus Park

SPY REPORT: Everybody's Fine is filming by Columbus Park outside a West Park Place building from 10a - 10p today (The one with Thirsty Turtle & Kujuku) No word on if any of the principles are involved yet.

Bobby's Back in Town

Robert De Niro will be back in town soon filming scenes from Everybody’s Fine at the crappy 1960’s office tower turned luxury condos The Metropolitan on Summer St. The penthouse suite is the stand in for Drew Barrymore’s digs. Drew dates Justin “I’m a Mac” Long who grew up in nearby Fairfield. She was seen out with him at the SBC in Fairfield over Thanksgiving, what’s the chance she’ll be down for some Thursday karaoke at the SBC Downtown?

I believe this is De Niro’s third recent flick filming here. The first was What Just Happened? with locations at YouGotNails on Bedford St and an office building on Atlantic St. The second was with Al Pacino in the model kitchen of the Trump sales office below Target for Righteous Kill.

There’s still some considerable debate over what if any lasting economic impact they’ll be from the influx of movie production in the area lured in by state tax credits. Did any man feel safe the day Steven Seagal roamed our streets?

Skateboard World Cup Curbed

According to StamdfordSkatePark.com, the CTW was recently offered to host a World Cup of Skateboarding event at the skate park in Scalzi, a first of it’s kind for the East Coast. Stamford Rec passed on it, citing opposition from the neighbors. That’s a given, by definition neighbors hate anything that happens in their vicinity.

The city is very sensitive about the skate park becoming an area draw. I’m curious if any skaters coming into town for the park spend money with local business. Bikers are notorious not only for freaking out the squares when they roll into a town for an event but throwing tons of money around also. Has the skatepark brought an uptick in business for anyone other than the hot dog dude in the park?

Fill in the Blank

Since I put down the mall plaza in my last post I'll make it up to them with this one. Just because I've experienced mostly bad service doesn't mean the move to open up the mall to the street isn't a great idea.

When the new plaza opened last last year all six slots were set to be filled with restaurants. Cosi, PF Changs, Kona Grill, Mitchell's & Capitol Grill have all since opened but Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que dropped out before construction was finished. Their abandoned bid is the yellow box wedged between Barnes & Noble& PF Changs. Anyone have an opinion as to what should fill the void? It's pretty safe to assume it will be chain. My vote is for the Fresh-Mex chain Chipolte. Sit down joints are pretty covered in the plaza, I think it needs another fast/casual destination like Cosi.

Diner Dash

Since it can sometimes feel like the only two entertainment options available in Stamford are eating and drinking I’d like to see the town get those down pat. I'm proposing all locale eateries force their staff to sit down at a computer and play 24 consecutive hours of Diner Dash. If you’re not familiar, Diner Dash is the charming tale of Flo, a stockbroker who quits her job to run a diner… told thru an online casual game. It’s the modern equivalent of the arcade classic Burgertime, only with turning tables as the goal instead avoiding anthropomorphic pickles & eggs as you assemble massive burgers by stomping each element loose from stacked platforms.

In any case, Diner Dash covers off on all the simple basics many Stamford restaurants can’t grasp.

1. Seat your customers.
2. Give them a menu. Even if the place is busy this takes all of 5 seconds and keeps customers calm until you can get to them.
3. Take a drink order. Again, place could be busy and waitress can’t give you full attention yet, but I’m enjoying a delicious beverage and I’m happy.
4. Bring drinks/ Take the main order
5. Bring food. As ordered is often appreciated.
6. Bring bill.

Now no one expects the Mall restaurants to pull these steps off, with some of those establishments you’re lucky if they don’t take a dump on your plate and hit you with it. You’d be surprised though how many of the local stalwarts struggle with the basics as well.

Watch Your Nutmegs on the Crossbar

Their is an opinion piece in in the Stamford Advocate today that argues the Nutmeg State should go further in promoting the use of bikes as a mode of transportation. Kind of puts Blog Stamford on the cutting edge of civil discourse.

So far the goodwill from the 4th Estate isn't translating into any state action. Fairfield County Weekly reported this week that while the new rail cars on the Metro North will accommodate bikes, they won't be allowed on during the peek hours.

A set back, but it's my feeling that biking won't pick up in the area at first with commuting to work so much as it will with recreation. I think someone biking to Capriccio for lunch on a Saturday is an easier sell for a community not accustomed to the biking culture of European city than showing up to the office with pit stains and Rorschach blot of sweat your shirt back.

What's Your Major

I have a reconnaissance update for the single gentlemen and cougars about Stamford. Your ice cream truck has come to town. While out at the Fairfield County Happy Hour Club’s stop thru at the Thirsty Turtle last night I noticed the Dattco bus pull up. Up until this point I thought this was just the bus service that carried Fairfield U students between campus and Old Navy. I was informed however, that the bus also shuttles Fairfield U and Sacred Heart students into Stamford & Norwalk for night out reprieves from the Seagrape. If you’re in the market for the barely legal, conversations about The Hills, and feeling old keep your eyes peeled.

Trump Rising

Trump Parc has completed the frame of the parking garage section of the building and is begun work on the residence floors. Four or five are already up. Look for this thing to start growing fast. According to the construction team, they'll compete the concrete frame of one story every three days. That means by summer it should be close to claiming it's prize (albeit a short lived one) of the tallest building in the CTW.

Bike Stamford

For a city its size, Stamford should really put an emphasis on biking as a way to get around. Not only in commuting to work, but recreation and general bumming around. A city interconnected with a series of functioning bike lanes could be something to really distinguish Stamford throughout the entire region. While we seem to be inching towards more progressive development with downtown density, a call to redevelop Glenbrook and Springdale neighborhood centers, and push back on backward development such as the Lord & Taylor site, improved bike transportation seems the next logical step.

To my knowledge, there is not a single bike lane in Stamford. Some of that is slated to change on a small scale with individual projects. RBS will add bike lanes to the revamped stretch of Richmond Hill Ave running next to their building and the Urban Transitway, a mile stretch under construction to connect the East Side to the Train Station, will include bike lanes as well.

Stamford also began a city-wide traffic calming project last year that sought to improve the pedestrian and biker experience as one of their goals. Each neighborhood would get an opening meeting with an independent urban engineering firm hired to develop plans for each community and a final meeting to review their recommendations. From the looks of their website, which lists the last meeting in October 07, they’ve gone on hiatus.

Improving bike flow in individual neighborhoods as well as interconnecting those neighborhoods together with bike lanes should be an immediate goal. One opponent seems to be one of the groups who could stand the most to gain, local business. They see bike lanes as a threat to on-street parking. While in many areas both can be accommodated, cutting back on some on-street parking can help create a potentially whole new dynamic for many of the city retail cores.

In a city undergoing such major development it would be a missed opportunity to not work towards moving people out of their cars and onto the street now. Mayor Malloy was inspired on a trip to Europe to consider light rail for Stamford. Not a bad idead, but if he’d only noticed all the bikes, we may be on the way to a more feasible and immediate goal.

Beware the Cougar

Word is the recently closed Zinc will be replaced with a Barcelona. No word on whether it will be an infamous cougar den like the Fairfield location.

Live@Five Preview?

Some polls from the Downtown Special Services Blog. These could be the bands under consideration for Live@Five this summer. (Click Pic to enlarge)

I'm surprised to see some up & comers like Jimmy Eat World, The Bravery, & Nada Surf (they are more than a 90's one hit wonder, they have had a sucessful Indie run since then). I hope the earth opens and swallows Stamford if Nick Lachey comes to town.