Month: March 2021

Up and Coming Local Performances

Posted on by harryhopbot

Entertainment is slowly coming back to our neighborhoods.  New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that from April 2nd, venues can reopen, following certain regulations such as only filling to 33 percent capacity and no more than 100 people indoors, 200 outdoors.  In cases where they take a negative test before entering the numbers can increase to 150 and 500 respectively. 

This, in addition to the NY PopUps that the Governor launched toward the end of February. These free events were established to “revitalize the spirit and emotional well-being of New York citizens with the energy of live performance while jumpstarting New York’s struggling live entertainment sector, is a private/public partnership overseen by producers Scott Rudin and Jane Rosenthal, in coordination with the New York State Council on the Arts and Empire State Development.”

The Pop-Up system was created as a pilot program in an attempt to see how live performances can return to the stage in a safe manner. Zack Winokur worked with a council of artistic advisors in the region to engineer the festival.

The Return of Le Figaro Café

Posted on by harryhopbot

While so many small businesses (which include local coffee stores and eateries) have been shuttered due to the local ‘safer at home’ order, there is one café that is actually making a comeback. 

Le Figaro Café had its time in Greenwich Village way back in the 1960s and boy did it enjoy the good times.  Patronized by famous people including Lou Reed and Sam Shepard, it was heralded as the place to be for beatniks in the area. It stayed opened for a while but in 2008 closed.  Backed by some investors, it is now set for a simplified relaunch, ditching the Le, under the name Figaro Café by partners Mario Skaric and Florence Zabokritsky.

Just before the pandemic hit the partners found a space to house the once much-loved café.  Now that they have returned to check it out they have been offered a great deal for the next two years.

With the culture of the sixties returning thanks to shows like The Queen’s Gambit and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, what better time to get back to that day with a renovated café that will still have its cultural ties in the 1960s.