Check out that lovely little patch of green pictured above. It's just so darn...tranquil. How could something so calming be so controversial? But controversial, it is, because this is one of the outdoor spaces at the Cooper Square Hotel, aka Dubai on the Bowery, and it comes from the still-under-construction hotel's new website. The tower that neighbors love to hate is also open for business, kinda. Down By The Hipster reports that the hotel is pitching itself for Fashion Week events in September, and some renderings are making the rounds in an effort to entice party planners. Have a peek at the NEXT BIG THING after the jump.
When the Times asked Cooper Square Hotel co-developer Matt Moss what hotel guests will think of the grimy old tenement building left standing on the hotel's property, he famously responded that peering down on residents hanging laundry out to dry is "the kind of thing people want to see." Apparently so! Over at the Hotel Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District, some guests have decided to take rich folks' fascination with laundry even further, converting their balcony to a drying rack. Well, gritty does seem to be the trend in hotels these days.
· Everyday Chatter [Vanishing New York]
In New York magazine this week, Justin Davidson files an architectural survey on the new-look Astor Place/Cooper Square area, and the headline says it all: "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". The ugly, of course, in part referring to Gwathmey Siegel's much-reviled Sculpture for Living. Ugly, sure, but hey: it has its uses.
· The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly [NYM]
· Exclusive Opportunity 4 Small boobs Asian - m4w - 39 [Craigslist]
The Cooper Square Hotel, no stranger to controversy, is enmeshed in various internal wars amongst its partners and investors. One would think that the end of the liquor license problems would have created clear skies for the 21-story East Village menace, but perhaps the strain of fighting so many community complaints and protests has gotten to CSH developers Adam Moss and Gregory Peck. The Observer's Chris Shott reports that the relationship between the two high school friends has devolved to the point where they each have their own separate publicists representing the hotel, and Moss intends to run the it (Peck is the one with the Schrager/Balazs pedigree) with a new partner under the moniker MK Hotels. And then there's the matter of the property the group acquired on East Fifth Street Cooper Square, for reasons as yet unclear. Will the "next phase" be a restaurant/lounge extension of the Cooper Square Hotel brand? Hotel investor Robert Becker sure wants to know. In fact, he feels so left out of the decision-making process that he posted an angry letter to Adam Moss on a website. Fun times at Dubai on the Bowery, indeed!
· Two High School Friends + One Hotel = Trouble [NYO]
· Inside the Cooper Square Hotel's Deal on The Bowery [Eater]
· When Signs Collide in Cooper Square [Curbed]
For those who didn't get the message about the new-look, glammed-up Bowery with the opening of the Bowery Hotel and the New Museum, as well as the hot Dubai injection, we present you with the above: a fresh rendering of the entrance of architect Robert Scarano's condo tower rising at 52 East 4th Street. May I assist you with your bags, madame? But the building—which the Real Dealreports is technically 22 stories, not 15—is not all gated driveways (icky Bowery!) and $175,000 parking spots. Interior designer Andres Escobar is aboard, and TRD claims the innards "will be comparable to Ian Schrager's luxurious 40 Bond." The 14 units hit the market today(!) for $795,000 to $4.7 million. Jeremiah's Vanishing New York points us to the Wired New York thread on the building, where a deliciously deceptive rendering is posted.
The big question along the Bowery these days is "Who the hell is YUO?" And how could YUO have any influence over the way somebody feels about the new cocoon-ish Cooper Square Hotel rising there? We don't know who this mysterious YUO is, nor do we have a clue where YUO lays his weary head. Locals have made it very clear that YUO doesn't reside near this soon-to-be hot spot from the Peck Moss gang, which can be seen for miles rising on 5th Street at the edge of the East Village. Rest assured, however, that if YUO did live anywhere near these Bowery blocks he would be very confused. The cacophony of signage in that vicinity is enough to drive even the sanest of the Bowery Boys out of his friggin' mind. We can only imagine what it would do to a seemingly sensitive soul like YUO.
Last night was poised to be a legendary East Village showdown, as the much-anticipatedCooper Square Hotel protest was planned to lead right up to the hotel's liquor license hearing. Unfortunately, Cooper Square developer Peck/Moss Group withdrew the application at the eleventh hour (again!), so the battle was delayed until further notice. But like good little activists, the protest went on. For those who doubted neighbors' claims that the hotel's outdoor bar would be mere inches from their windows, we present you with the above. Yikes. But will some lost nights of sleep be worth the chance to snap some photos of celebs behaving badly—photos that can in turn be sold to TMZ? We think so. Eater has promised some fun video of the protest, so do check in over there in a bit.
While it may be a little late to board the hey-let's-protest-the-Cooper-Square-Hotel train, the Bowery tends to follow its own set of rules. The sticky matter is the outdoor bar that developer the Peck Moss Group wants to set up just 30 inches from neighbors' windows. Residents were offered new windows and air conditioners as compensation, but these are the front lines of the Noise Wars, so apparently that wasn't enough. In advance of the Community Board 3 liquor license meeting on Monday at 6:30 p.m., a group of East Villagers will rally outside the hotel starting at 5:45. Reads the note making the rounds:
Los Angeles luxury developers Peck/Moss want to turn the Bowery into Bourbon Street with the Cooper Square Hotel.
Peck/Moss demands that the state liquor authority give them everything they want and ignore their neighbors. Peck/Moss demands approval for 3 indoor bars plus an outdoor bar/restaurant that abuts 10 apartments and is feet from about 50 others. Peck/Moss demands a door on 5th Street that will disturb the JASA Home for the Elderly and Disabled.
There's no doubting that the Cooper Square Hotel and its 73 bars will turn a quaint East Village block into a satellite version of West 27th Street, but hey, it's going to be a very entertaining downward spiral for us curious onlookers. Unfortunately, the neighbors are less than enthused about having an outdoor party deck just 30 inches from their windows. Surprise! The Intelligencer has an update on the continuing negotiations between the two sides, and an interesting tidbit is that hotel developer the Peck Moss Group has agreed to install soundproof windows and air conditioners in neighbors' apartments to help curtail the noise, but the tenants' landlord has held up the installation for some dumb reason. Even so, there's a whole other list of concerns that the sides still have to work through before a November 17 liquor-license deadline passes. And given the concessions so far, if the block association doesn't come away with covered electricity costs for two years and a lifetime 30% room discount, they should really hire a new lawyer.
· Dubai on the Bowery [NYM]
· Cooper Square Hotel Update #2: Bowery Grab-Bag! [Curbed]
· Cooper Square Hotel Update #1: Indecent Exposures [Curbed]
Comments
The Cooper Square Hotel, no stranger to controversy, is enmeshed in various internal wars amongst its partners and investors. One would think that the 
While it may be a little late to board the hey-let's-protest-the-Cooper-Square-Hotel train, the Bowery tends to follow its own set of rules. The sticky matter is the outdoor bar that developer the Peck Moss Group wants to set up just 30 inches from neighbors' windows. Residents were offered 
There's no doubting that the Cooper Square Hotel and its 
