So the big news last month was that Lawrence Page was opening The Pink Heifer at 200 Lenox but now it seems the name has caused some controversy. According to DNAinfo, the new restaurant planned at the corner of Lenox and 120th Street that gave a nod to the nonprofit organization called
Heifer International made folks uncomfortable so the restaurant will just be called The Pink Teacup:
LINK. The iconic West Village Southern eatery will now basically have a second location in the Mount Morris Park Historic District of Harlem that will mirror the one further downtown. Check out our original post that broke the news:
LINK
I am 1.—a vegetarian and 2.—willing to take offense at almost anything but damned if I can figure out what is offensive about Pink Heiffer. A heiffer is a young cow. Am I missing something here?
ReplyDeleteYay!! Where I grew up, heifer is what women called young girls who were getting too big for their britches. So glad for this change.
ReplyDeleteand there’s only one f in heifer. oops.
ReplyDeleteOf all the dopey things to be offended about. A hiefer is a COW for goshsakes.
ReplyDeleteThe owner is a better man than i am to be certain.
Had it been me faced with this kind of sillyness, I probably would have renamed the place the Pink Floozy out of spite. :)
Saying in England, "bit of a heifer!", which is completely derogatory! Not sure if it is used over here though.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what is wrong with Harlem and it's politics. Here is a business owner trying to bring a new establishment to the community, he goes out and partners with a very worthy organization and agrees to include their name in his new venture. The outcome? A bunch of narrow minded clowns tell him that he cannot name his business the name that he wants because they don't like it!!! This to me is utter BS!!!
ReplyDeleteThis community board needs to get it's priorities straight, the sidewalks of Harlem are filled with trash and are they doing anything nope. Do they try to partner with Robin Hood and the businesses in Harlem to get them to keep the streets clean? Nope!!
Do they try to get the businesses to keep the graffiti off the walls? Nope!!!
What are they worried about? The word Heifer!! This is such a joke!!!!
I'm with you Vic on your comments and I wish Lawrence the best of luck, I will be frequenting the place as I did the Pink Teacup downtown.
Harlem BBC, I completely agree. The sad thing is, it isn't only the community boards that appear to focus their attention on ridiculous details. I still see kids racing around Harlem on ATVs and dirt bikes with the NYPD seemingly oblivious. Yet, they will ticket a cyclist for going through a red light with zero traffic/pedestrians in sight.
ReplyDeleteI for one am just glad the Pink Teacup is alive. My father took my mom on a date there back in the day. Way back in the day and then went to hear Jazz at the Village Gate. I just wish both of them were still alive so that instead of taking the subway to the Pink Teacup now, they could walk and then walk somewhere for Jazz.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Chris. I'm the proud recipient of a ticket for not coming to a complete stop in a deserted Central Park at 6:15am as I cycled (slowly) over the top of Harlem Hill (in the north part of the park) on a frigid winter day. Meanwhile, I'm dodging unlicensed scooters on the SIDEWALKS and ATVs/motorcycles running lights and weaving through crosswalks while no one does anything.
ReplyDeletePriorities, indeed.
I guess I don't need to say how silly it is that the name is changing. Still looking forward to it though!
Chris you are totally correct, I did hear a story about why the cops do not chase those kids; I found out that a few times they did and the kids jumped off the bikes and ran. The bikes did not stop though but went ploughing through a crowd to injure a pedestrian and the cops were sued so now they will only try and get them when they are stopped.
ReplyDeleteIt makes no sense to me but then again I am not that bright :)
Sounds like a bunch of people here need to start attending the local community board meetings.
ReplyDeleteIn every VOTE is power!
ReplyDeleteGet Involved,
ReplyDeleteThese meeting are at 6 pm in the evening usually from what I have heard, I like most I am sure work at that time. However, I will be trying to free sometime for this because I am sick of this nonsense from this community board!!!
Might be a daft question, but is there one community board for Harlem, or is it on a block by block basis?
ReplyDeleteThere are 3 community boards in Harlem: CB9 for West Harlem, CB10 for Central Harlem and CB11 for East Harlem. Go to the neighborhood map tab at the top of this page to get an overview of each along with links to each community board.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, people should get involved in CB10 and in shaping the future of their neighborhood, especially when we see CB10 enforcing some bizarre political correctness while ignoring other more pressing issues.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't CB10 that asked them to change the name, at least not according to the link to DNA Info, but a decision based on an informal survey by the owner. CB10 is quoted as saying they are happy the name was changed but that would appear to be as far as their influence went.
ReplyDeleteFacts are Our Friends.
I have no problem with the name Pink Heifer, especially since we have other farmyard shades of red like the Red Rooster, however, in my opinion the Pink Teacup is a cool name, hope they have some fun signage.
ReplyDeleteThere's a place in Brooklyn called Fette Sau, translated from German to mean, Fat Pig. Maybe if the owner of the Pink Heifer named it in German he could have got away with it. Ridiculous indeed.
ReplyDeleteHow about The Spotted Pig in the West Village?? One of the most popular restaurants in the city.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that making an issue out of the word heifer is one of the stupidest things I've heard in years. People should focus on real issues and problems instead of trying so desperately to be offended.
I would be interested yo know how many of the posters above who are lambasting others for being offended by the name Pink Heifer are either African Americans of Southern descent, or have mentioned this to any of their neighbors who are. The word heifer definitely has a derogatory slang meaning. A bitch is a female dog. Would you find the Pink Bitch an inoffensive name? If so, please accept my apologies. Otherwise get off your high horses, please.
ReplyDeleteI'm from the South. Not offended by it at all. Does the word "cow" cause you anguish? How about "pig"? Come on! When people act like children, it's just silly.
ReplyDeleteThe man who is behind the restaurant (an African American business owner) seemed to be fine with it.
@Christopher: We should just agreed to disagree. The word cow does not cause me anguish, and that is not the point. Obviously, enough people were bothered by the name to persuade Lawrence Evans to change it, and I was not one of those who contacted him. What is bothersome to me is the arrogance of those who presume to tell others what should offend them, (including men who tell women what should offend them) and there is plenty of that on this thread. Enough said on my part.
ReplyDeleteSorry, the Teacup owner is Lawrence PAGE, not Evans.
ReplyDeleteFair enough valgb. Being culturally or regionally sensitive is one thing, but accusing others of being arrogant for not feeling the same rage as you about a word is just silly, and a real waste of time, given all the other problems in the world (and right in our fair city).
ReplyDeleteI find unpoliced gas scooters and motorcycles far more insensitive and offensive.
Black man here and I have no issues with this word at all as I believe I made clear in my above statements. I wonder if these same folks who are so sensitive to heifer also bust the people who so readily throw around the word "nigga", "nigger" and any form there of of this most offensive of words? I for one know that I do.
ReplyDeleteAlso valgb I am not being arrogant but simply stating like Christopher that we have so many more pressing issues in the neighbourhood, such as the trash issue, the graffiti issue, the kids having kids issue and then cursing them in the middle of the street daily. So when a young man puts up his cash, partners with a non profit and decides to put their name in the name of the establishment I welcome him with open arms. He is bringing jobs and improvement to the neighbourhood both of which continue to be sorely needed.
We can agree to disagree. My thoughts!!!!
By the way like Chis I also find idiots riding their dirt bikes and atvs recklessly almost hitting innocent pedestrians all summer long a much more pressing issue. Chris I am willing to start videoing these clowns and sending to the mayor's office, 1 police plaza and our representatives to see if we can get something done; it is only a matter of time before someone gets seriously injured by one of these fools.
ReplyDeleteI know this might sound harsh but I feel very strongly about this one.
I never expressed rage about this name; I simply didn't care for it. The arrogance I referenced doesn't have to do with not sharing my dislike; it is about denying people their right to be offended. People on this thread went off about all their own personal gripes, called other people silly, etc. For not sharing THEIR priorities, and took the opportunity to rage about all the issues that bother them about the Harlem community that they chose to move into, and several of those comments carry the tinge of disdain for the poor and underprivileged of Harlem. I am not easily offended, silly or racially touchy, and I love this blog, but there are times when the know-it-all, elitist tone of some of the regular posters is a pain. Just because one is ignorant -yes, ignorant- of the fact that a word has more than one meaning doesn't mean that person is right. And just because one or two African Americans aren't offended doesn't change the fact that others obviosly are. Ladtly, why make it seem that anyone attacked the owner- whom by the way I know and like- when no such thing happened? Now, I really am through with this topic. There are certainly more important things to talk about.
ReplyDeleteEVERYONE is offended by something. This guy is opening a restaurant with his own (and his investors') money, and was giving a nod to a charity that obviously moved him. He could call it Cracker Barrel and I wouldn't care. And if I was? I suppose I'd eat someplace else. If this was being done with public dollars, you might have a point, but carrying on about the "right" of people to be offended is a just plain silly.
ReplyDeleteBecause people want better things for themselves and their community (some chose to move here, some remain here by choice, some remain here by circumstance, and some are probably passing through) doesn't make a person elitist. Turning a blind eye to bad behavior, whether it's the behavior of the poor or of the rich, doesn't uphold any "traditions" or make a community more livable.
I'm finished with this, too. Let's move on to something more constructive.
Hope to see you at the Pink Teacup in the future :)
If memory serves the Pink Teacup in Chelsea was a popular hangout for the gay community. Hopefully that will bring in more gay-oriented businesses to Harlem. Also, the controversy about the name change from the Pink Heifer makes me wonder if the people who think it's all silliness would think so if the owner had named it the Pink Faggot or the Pink Bitch or the Pink Swastika.
ReplyDeleteBookmaven, I respect your ideas, however the point should once again be made that this choice of name did not come from a place of insensitivity but from a place of philanthropy; The young man partnered with a very worthy organization Heifer International, I have done some research on them and they do everything the can to empower women world wide by teaching them how they can farm and provided for themselves rather than waiting for international aid.
ReplyDeleteHe decided to give them a nod of approval by putting their name in the new eatery and all of a sudden the whole world comes yelling about offensive names.
I'll tell you what offends me preachers who drive around in brand new cars, wearing slick suits and tons of jewelry while their congregation goes hungry.