State Liquor Authority Chair Jokes About Shooting Up West Village Restaurant

Hudson Clearwater gets a shooting threat from the SLA

Just weeks after the Parkland high school shooting, the New York State Liquor Authority chairman joked about shooting up West Village restaurant Hudson Clearwater. In a meeting where the New American restaurant was trying to secure extra hours for its sidewalk cafe, Vincent Bradley said, “If my neighbor did that to me ... I’d shoot him.” Bradley then said he was “kidding” after remembering he was on camera, and an SLA spokesperson later told the Post it was an “off-the-cuff remark that should not, and was not taken literally.”

Photo via Rice & Gold

Comedian Chris Rock brunches in Chinatown

Chris Rock spent his pre-Oscars Sunday having brunch at pan-Asian restaurant Rice & Gold. The comedian attended with members of A Tribe Called Quest and Black Sheep and ate mapo tofu dumplings; bacon, egg, and cheese fried rice’ corn pancakes with coconut brown butter; and sticky pork ribs.

Union workers allegedly fleece Hudson Yards

In a new lawsuit, Hudson Yards is reportedly claiming that its union construction workers deliberately assigned its highest-paid workers to do entry-level work of fetching coffee in order to inflate construction costs by more than $100 million. Other allegations include inflating hours by 10 to 20 percent and time sheet fraud. Hudson Yards is seeking $75 million in damages, the Post reports.

7 longtime NYC restaurateurs offer restaurant-running advice

“If you open a restaurant in the community, you have to do more than feed its people: You also have to be part of the fabric of that community. One of the ways you do that as a small business is by employing the people there,” says Minton’s owner Alexander Smalls. It’s one piece of advice among many from the owners of Barbetta, Nobu, Melba’s, Le Bernardin, Daniel, and Felidia — all longtime NYC restaurants — in a sweet Man Repeller article.

Australian cafe eyes Orchard Street

An Australian cafe has applied for a beer-and-wine license at 131 Orchard St., between Rivington and Delancey streets, on the Lower East Side. Good Thanks would serve smoothies and salads, coffee, and natural wine if approved.

Grand Central Oyster Bar cuts out beloved caviar sandwich

For nearly its entire life, the venerable Grand Central Oyster Bar served a sub-$15 caviar sandwich, but due to rising caviar costs, the seafood restaurant was forced to remove it from the menu, choosing to prioritize affordability over accessibility. One New Yorker eulogizes the dish in The New Yorker. With the loss of the well-priced sandwich, here’s where to indulge caviar cravings while keeping things affordable instead: