The Weirdest Steak House in Town

On lower Stone Street (not the cool section lined with bars and favored by brokers), under some scaffolding, there is a narrow operation that I've always considered the weirdest steak house in New York. Most steak houses are huge and spacious. This one's a sliver, but fire-engine red. It's also pretty sad and decrepit looking, and bears what I consider an odd name: Nebraska Steakhouse. I guess there are a lot of cows in Nebraska. Or were, historically. But in a town where most steak houses proudly trumpet the names of their founders or owners (Peter Luger, Smith & Wollensky, Ruth's Chris, Keen's), it seems strange to crow about another state.

The menu's the usual array of large cuts of meat, with a chicken and lamb dish thrown in. (Though they do have something called "Mona's Health and Wellness Menu," which included tilapia and turkey meatballs and such.) The prices at—again, as usual—sky high. Judging by the largely positive Internet reviews, it seems the food is appreciated by the customers. Also appreciated, apparently, are the shapely, mainly Russian, female bartenders. At the annual Christmas party, they all dress up like sexy little Santa's helpers. I guess that's one way to keep your male clientele coming back.

The joint's curious personality may have something to do with its owner, one Mona Muresan, who is a Romanian-born body-building champ. She moved to the U.S. in 1992, when she was teenager. She began as a coat check girl and worked her way up the chain of command until she eventually bought the place from its previous owner in 2006. Real Horatio Alger story.

There has been an eating establishment at this address at least since 1930. In 1932, it was the Satin Coffee House, which sounds intriguing.

The Bloomberg Legacy

The Center for an Urban Future has come out with its second annual ranking of national retailers in New York City. It found that, while we're all reeling from the recession, trying to pick up the pieces, the big chains have been going on a plot-buying spree. More than "30 percent of the retailers from last year’s report actually expanded their presence in the city in the past year, despite the sour economy. Dunkin' Donuts tops our list for the second straight year, with a staggering 429 stores."

(Uh. I hate Dunkin' Donuts. Hate their vile food. Hate their nauseating pink and brown color scheme. When the rest of the world pictures The Ugly American, they picture them standing in line at a Dunkin' Donuts.)

Here are the top 10 in 2009. As we all know, each and every franchise was welcomed with open arms by Mayor Mike as A Good Thing For New York. (Yeah! More crap food! More low-paying jobs! More destruction of neighborhood character! More suburban personality!):

Dunkin' Donuts: 429 (up 88!!)
Subway: 361 (up 26)
McDonald's: 258 (up 10)
Starbucks: 258 (up 24)
Duane Reade: 229 (up 13)
Baskin-Robbins: 207 (down 8)
Rite Aid: 195 (down 14)
Radio Shack: 115 (down 1)
GNC: 110 (down 5)
Sleepy's: 108 (up 3)
CVS: 107 (down 1)
Payless: 106 (down 3)
T-Mobile: 96 (up 14)
Burger King: 94 (up 2)
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service: 92 (up 9)
GameStop: 75 (up 6)
Domino's Pizza: 71 (down 3)
Golden Krust: 70 (down 2)
KFC: 69 (down 1)
Walgreen's: 64 (up 16)
Staples: 63 (up 2)

To which we can only say, "Golden Krust?" Also, "Walgreen's means business!"

The above map tells you which neighborhoods are the most saturated with chains. As you can see, much of the chain love goes to Manhattan, because that's the only borough Bloomberg really cares about, and he wants to reward it with beautiful, wonderful outdoor malls.

Some Stuff That's Interesting

Some good folks have launched the new Bloomberg Watch, the title of which site says it all. It's organizer is Neil Fabricant. Sez they: "We’ve just launched www.bloombergwatch.com to add our voice to those who feel that Michael Bloomberg’s term limits override and his ensuing candidacy represent a radical departure from and a challenge to the fundamental principles of democratic government: the rule of law and the consent of the governed. True, the city council had the legal power to do what it did, and there will be an election in November. The forms have been observed; that is why we use the word “challenge.” We see this election is a watershed moment in our political history; a teaching moment much like the 1975 fiscal crises or the election and administration of Barack Obama." They also plan to run a lot of juicy cartoons, like the Nast-like contribution above. (This is great news for me, since I'm standing by my pledge never to post a picture of Mike's nasty face again. But cartoons? Yes!)

Times Square when it wasn't full of people sitting on their asses in lawn chairs. [Greenwich Village Daily Photo]

The historic Tower Buildings (their real name, not Cobble Hill Towers) in Cobble Hill, built to serve working-class people, are going condo, putting them out of the reach of most working people. [Brownstoner]

The Empire State Building is going to get a super swanky cocktail lounge, The Empire Room. Could be great. Could be cheesy. [Eater]

Restless offers a fair analysis of the new monstrosities along the Bowery. (Guess how I feel about them?) [Restless]

Forgotten New York walks across five NYC bridges that cross the Harlem River. All I've got to say is "All Persons Must Leave When Draw Gong Sounds."

The Queensboro Bridge Knows Where Four-Fifths of You Live

On the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge, on the south side of the entrance, there's a towering metal lamppost on a sold stone pedestal holding up five glass globes. (There's no sign of a similar post on the north side.)

It's a beautiful thing, even if it renders the visual effect of the whole bridge a little lopsided. The best part are metal carvings on each side of the post which honor the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens, each word pointed basically in the direction of said borough.

Staten Island, apparently, can go suck a lemon.