Village Options for Super Bowl Watching

Where will you be on Super Bowl Sunday?

You don’t have to be a football fan to love the Super Bowl. Watching the game has become an American tradition almost as sacred as Thanksgiving, and probably a lot more fun. If you have been wondering where to go to enjoy the game in the company of some really rowdy revelers, then you have come to the right place:

•    How about watching the game on a screen two stories high? For only $7 you will get pizza, snacks and at least one drink plus the privilege of seeing the game bigger than life. Check it out at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café at 236 East 3rd Street. Make your reservations on-line here.

•    Pizza not your style for the Super Bowl? Well, how about buffalo wings, which will be served for free at half-time in the Chandelier Room of Fontana’s. The big screen there, plus $3 shots and happy hour prices should make the game an unforgettable experience. Fontana’s Bar is located at 105 Eldridge Street.

•    At half-time Tammany Hall at 152 Orchard Street will present a DJ for the crowd’s listening and dancing pleasure. While watching the great game they will serve drink specials, wings and sliders. Sounds like fun to me.

It seems that no matter who actually comes up on top of the Super Bowl, everyone watching is a winner.

New Hindrances in ElderCare Pain Relief?

There are many challenges in caring for those with chronic pain.  One of them is drug monitoring.  While such patients do require strong painkillers, there is a balance that has to be achieved between providing pain medication and overprescribing.  Those in the health care industry – like Dry Harbor – are often involved in this type of delicate medication management.

The recent recommendation by the FDA to add restrictions on widely-used hydrocodone-based painkillers could be challenging for caretakers in nursing homes.  In all likelihood the FDA will follow this recommendation which will make it much harder to prescribe these drugs.  On the other hand, the argument is that it could lessen the increasing problem of painkiller addiction that peaked in the late 1990s and is still an issue today.

Thus, at the recent hearing at FDA headquarters, many people spoke out against the change.  Advocates for nursing home patients argued that frail residents experiencing chronic pain would have to go to a doctor’s office for a prescription.  This is challenging when they are already so weak.  In addition, PAs and NPs might no longer be able to prescribe the drugs which makes the situation much harder for those in need living in less central areas.

Historic Romanian Synagogue on Lower East Side is Sold

First Romanian American Congregation

Originally built in 1860 as the home of the First Romanian-American Congregation, the building at 70 Hester Street on the Lower East Side has been sold for an undisclosed purchase price.

The last 45 years this venerable building has been the home and studio of artists Thomas Nozkowski and Joyce Robins. It was their primary residence for most of those years, until recently. The couple and other tenants in the building have been given eviction orders since the sale was finalized.

Realtors Brown Harris Stevens had the property listed on its web site for $3.9 million, and included the following description of the building:

“After the congregation moved to a new location, 70 Hester went through a number of uses, including a speak-easy. This commercially zoned building offers many opportunities. Located outside of the historical district, zoned C6-2, the max allowed FAR is 6.02 with maximum usable floor area of 11,288 square feet makes this desirable for a developer. But for the buyer who wants to renovate and own a piece of significant New York history, this dramatic synagogue is worth the restoration and would make a remarkable space for residential, business or commercial use.”

What can New Yorkers expect for the future of this building? We will just have to wait and see.