Kevin White

The new location will have a shaded seating area.

After three summers in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Smorgasburg will kiss Brooklyn Heights goodbye and head up the hill to Prospect Park at the end of this month. "We're sad to leave Brooklyn Bridge Park, but it's hard to complain when our new home is literally Brooklyn's backyard," Brooklyn Flea co-founder Eric Demby told Gothamist. The 100 vendors will set up on the east side of the park in Breeze Hill. And there will be a shaded seating area to dine in — a nice change from the baking sun at the current location. The area in Brooklyn Bridge Park won't remain empty for long — it will be parkland come next summer.

Smorgasburg Prospect Park will open August 30 and run on Sundays through October 11.

It could have been Tuvan throat singers or Laura Dern's Jurassic Park scream, but the deconstructive elegance of a Fart makes for a successful parody of James Murphy's Subway Symphony project. "The turnstile has to make a sound, it might as well be a fart." Well? [ more › ]

Chick-Fil-A devotees take note: the fried chicken chain has revealed that October 3rd will mark the debut of their first (fully stocked) store in New York City. The new franchise—set to open north of Herald Square at 1000 Sixth Avenue at West 37th Street—will be owned and operated by Oscar Fittipaldi, an Argentine native who previously ran a Philly outpost of the chicken franchise, reports Crains. With past experience under his belt, Fittipaldi already has big plans to make waffle fries available to New Yorkers past normal fast food business hours. [ more › ]

For six hours on Saturday, the DOT banned cars from a seven-mile stretch of Manhattan, and New Yorkers rejoiced. [ more › ]

Many people run to balance out what they eat (we're ignoring you, people who claim to run for "fun") and then there are people who eat while they run, like the group of daring individuals who participate in the annual NYC Pizza Run, which returns to Tompkins Square Park on September 19th at 11 a.m. Each year, runners with stomachs of steel and eaters with decent sneakers participate in the charity-driven event, which asks people to run two miles while downing three slices of pizza along the way. [ more › ]

Koneko is already taking reservations for "catnaps."

For all of those cat people who have struggled to snag a reservation at the city's first white hot cat cafe Meow Parlour, there will soon be another option. A cat cafe called Koneko, which means kitten in Japanese, is planning to open next month on the Lower East Side, reports Bowery Boogie, and is already taking $15 reservations for hour-long "catnaps." "We think there should be a place where people can relax, be inspired, and celebrate cats and their inner Cat Person," says the team on their website. They're not the only ones. More than 20 cat cafes have opened around the country since the first stateside one appeared on the scene in Oakland in October 2014. When Meow Parlour opened in last winter, reservations were booked months ahead of time.

At Koneko, the space will have a few tables and a bar and what the site calls "a first-of-its-kind outdoor Cat Garden." Unlike at Meow Parlour, food will be served on the premises (at Meow it's purchased in a separate space nearby). The owners plan to offer coffee and pastries in the morning and Japanese fare like chilled tofu, and chirashi, in the afternoon — though it's unclear how this will work with DOH regulations.

For patrons who simply can't say goodbye to the kitties, keep in mind, they're all looking for a nice home.

Many moons ago, Citi Bike promised the good people of Queens their slice of the bike share pie—it would take a few years, they said, but it would happen. Today's the day. [ more › ]

If you've ever wanted to see a taping of Saturday Night Live, now is your best shot to get into a seat during the upcoming 41st season. The SNL ticket lottery is going on now through September 1st. [ more › ]

First and foremost, this will be a real cafe (Meow Parlour doesn't technically sell food on-site), with what founder Benjamin Kalb describes as Japanese bar snacks and pastries; "kind of a little bit izakaya, but not really," he says. "It's kind of my own take on that culture of food in Japan." He certainly knows food; besides trips to the country to experience cat cafes first hand, Kalb also spent time on the line at David Bouley's eponymous eatery in addition to a front of house gig at Momofuku. As required by the DOH, the cafe section will be separate from the "Cattery," but customers can take their meals with them to visit the kitties. [ more › ]

Apparently someone made off this evening with the Super Mario statue outside VideoGamesNewYork at 202 E. Sixth St. at Cooper Square...

Car drives away with #Mario #coopersq at the #cooper bldg... you know the statue, you've probably got a pic. #whereismario #nyc #eastvillage

— brianna daley okada (@briannadaley) July 30, 2015

We don't know too much else about this at the moment. The statue was last seen wearing a long-sleeved red shirt and royal blue overalls and a red hat with an "M" in the middle. He is known for his jumping and stomping powers.

[Image via the VideoGamesNewYork website]

Photo this afternoon by Grant Shaffer

Whole Foods customer and Los Angeles Magazine editor Marielle Wakim Instagrammed a picture of this $6 bottle of “Asparagus Water” from Whole Foods, which is literally just water with some stalks of asparagus in it. We’re not experts, but this doesn’t seem like…

The post Whole Foods Tests the Limits of Yuppie Diet Fads with $6 Asparagus Water appeared first on First We Feast.

While Americans enjoy lettuce-wrapped protein style burgers from In-N-Out, Japan is out here silently changing the low-carb burger game. Japanese fast-food chain Mos Burger introduced the first-ever bun made from a whole tomato cut in half. The new low-carb tomato burger joins the likes…

The post Thinking Outside the Bun: Mos Burger Swaps Traditional Burger Bun With Giant Tomato Cut in Half appeared first on First We Feast.

Agnes Fenton was born on August 1, 1905 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. The 110-year-old woman, who currently resides in Englewood, New Jersey, says she’s drank three Miller High Lifes and a shot of scotch every day for almost 70 years. Shout out to the Champagne of…

The post Jersey Woman Turns 110, Credits Her Long Life to Drinking Three Miller High Lifes a Day appeared first on First We Feast.

[UPDATES BELOW]Southbound lanes on the New Jersey Turnpike are still backed up this afternoon, after a dump truck overturned and caught fire under an overpass near Exit 13A at Wood Avenue in Linden around 10:30 this morning, stranding thousands. Southbound passengers can expect to be stranded or at least delayed "through the afternoon rush." [ more › ]

Breaking: There Are Sharks in the Water. Even OUR water. Let's revise. Breaking: Sharks Live In The Water, Even On Long Island, Where Wealthy People Swim. [ more › ]

Hundreds of pitches flush through my inbox every day—some are useful, and some tout a New! Hilarious! Comedy! Web Series! that I will certainly hate. But last week, I was blessed with a beautiful gift in electronic mail form: "You’re Invited to Hot Yoga with Nick and Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees." The pitch was part of a Bud Light-sponsored "Summer Bucket List" gimmick, but no matter—I accepted, of course, and yesterday I found myself in an (insubstantially) heated Bikram yoga studio with several dozen journalists, a whole lot of #BudLight-branded paraphernalia, and one-half of 98 Degrees. [ more › ]

Get the pastrami pasta while you still can.

Sweet, sweet Alder, say it ain't so. After two and a half years of business on Second Avenue, Wylie Dufresne and his team have decided to close their casual, unusual, frequently excellent restaurant Alder at the end of August. Dufresne breaks the news on Twitter:

Sad to report that after 2.5 great years on 2nd Ave, we’ve decided to close Alder at the end of August. The search for a new home begins...

— Wylie Dufresne (@wyliedufresne) July 31, 2015

No word yet on the exact reasons for the closure, but it sounds like a rent hike might have something to do with it. Eater has reached out to the team for more information.

Alder opened in April 2013 to a lot of buzz. This was, after all, Wylie's first new restaurant since the opening of wd~50 almost a decade prior. The reviews were generally great, and the bar developed a following of its own. The restaurant went through a staff shuffle last fall when opening executive chef Jon Bignelli left, and Alder switched to a prix fixe only format in the dining room in April. At the very least, Alder was a place where wd~50 fans could go to enjoy Dufresne's food after the Clinton Street restaurant closed.  But Alder very much had its own identity apart from that other legendary establishment.  The French onion soup rings, clam chowder, and pastrami pasta were all slam dunk dishes.

Back in June, Dufresne announced plans to open a new restaurant in the the AKA Wall Street in 2016. Stay tuned for more details on the closure of Alder and Dufresne's future plans as they become available.

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Eater Video: How To Make Eggs Benedict with Chef Wylie Dufresne

Google searches just keep getting better (and simultaneously creepier). TechCrunch reports that the newest update just added “Popular Times” to search results for millions of businesses around the world—including many of your favorite bars and restaurants. You know what that means? No more waiting…

The post Hate Lines? Google Search Now Shows You When Your Favorite Restaurant or Bar Is Busiest appeared first on First We Feast.

It’s been quite the year for Ayesha and Stephen Curry, the newest addition to NBA royalty. With a NBA championship trophy and MVP title under his belt, plus a shout out in a Drake hit single, it seemed as though life…

The post Ayesha and Steph Curry Celebrate Their Anniversary With Chick-fil-A, Should Always Be Your #RelationshipGoals appeared first on First We Feast.

A record 5,000 picnickers and francophiles—all elegantly dressed in white from head-to-toe—came together Tuesday night for New York's fifth annual Diner En Blanc at Tribeca's Hudson River Park. The dull concrete of Pier 26 was swiftly transformed into a dazzling dance floor, while flowers, paper lanterns, strings of lights, and other DIY decorations covered the rows upon rows of tables. While the early evening heat was almost unbearable, the breeze from the river and magnificent sunset views kept diners from feeling suffocated. [ more › ]

The "breast is best" movement took over Times Square briefly yesterday, as more than 100 babies and toddlers breastfed from their mothers at the same time. [ more › ]

Yesterday, the NY State Department of Health announced that NYC was getting four medical marijuana dispensaries, with two operating in Manhattan and another two located in the Bronx and Queens. Turns out one of these dispensaries will be located on East 14th Street, —but one elected official is urging the companies permitted to run these dispensaries to open one uptown. [ more › ]

Pigeons—pervasive as pizzerias, insatiable as stockbrokers—are NYC's unofficial avian mascots, and it is every New Yorker's job to protect them just as emphatically as they must avoid feeding them. And now, our precious pigeons are under attack—Washington Square Park Blog reports that nearly 300 pigeons have been birdnapped from Washington Square Park, and the blog fears they're being sent to Pennsylvania for a live pigeon shoot this weekend. Reports suggest pigeons weren't stolen at all, but who are you going to believe, die-hard pigeon-lovers or cops in the pocket of Big...Bird? [ more › ]

So we’re having a little debate at the studio this morning…are these checks or are they plaids?

If you've never circumnavigated Manhattan in a kayak at night, well, this Saturday, August 1st, is your big chance: HarborLAB leading a night circumnavigation, with all proceeds going to a good cause. [ more › ]

A 43-bed shelter for homeless women on Lafayette Street at Bond Street has been sold for $26 million, The Real Deal first reported.

Aby Rosen's RFR Holding is reportedly the new owner.

Per The Real Deal:

The shelter is operated by the Center of Urban Community Services. The organization has run the facility, which it calls “the first ever dedicated to helping homeless NYC women suffering from mental illness to obtain permanent housing,” since 1988.

But the property’s days as a shelter appear to be numbered, with an RKF listing indicating the space is available for a “single tenant” retail opportunity in the third quarter of this year.

The 15,000-square-foot building is in the Noho Historic District.

Rosen is also the new owner of 190 Bowery. Perhaps there will be an art show here too.

H/T Curbed