☞ SEE: The Gallery at La Maison d'Art

Friday, September 21st, 6:00PM-8:00PM, Indie Short Films at La Maison d'Art Gallery, 229 West 132nd Street, between ACP and FDB. La Maison d'Art is a Central Harlem brownstone bed and breakfast which also has an art gallery with curated events. The above short film by Add Rey was a collaborative past effort that features one of the rooms in La Maison d'Art.  New films from various other directors will now be shown in September which are all free to attend. In a couple of weeks, The Bronx Belletomane will have a screening with director at hand. There will also be live Jazz throughout the month with a $10 suggested donation.  See the full schedule for the gallery at La Maison d'Art: LINK

☞ REVIVE: What's Up with 5 West 125th Street?

We received the following tip sent to our inbox that mentions some possible future activity for the open lot of the stalled former hotel project on 125th Street and Fifth Avenue:

"On my way home last week there were a couple of gentleman standing outside the opened gate of the 126th entrance to where that hotel was supposed to go (near 5th Ave). They said a Burlington Coat Factory is being built and supposedly completed in 18 months. Shouldn't be any taller than the neighboring 4 story brownstones."

The plywood fence that surrounds this parcel just west of Fifth Avenue still has a 2012 complete date posted up on the 125th Street side so we checked current DOB permits to see if there have been any updates. Currently, a new pavement permit in conjunction with the hotel plans was just filed last month but was rejected.  This new permit request is still in conjunction with the original 14-story hotel building and thus some of the pieces do not add up here. So something still seems to in store for the empty lot but it is still unclear what will happen. Check out our past post for previous plans: LINK

☞ REVIVE: The Business of Tourism in Harlem

Harlem is such an international destination these days and it actually is a bit odd that an outwardly present tourism center of some sort has not been established uptown in the past decade (there is a desk inside the Studio Museum).  Even a small kiosk of with maps or directions probably would help out a lot of visitors and even direct traffic to some of the businesses that are not as visible or obvious. Most tour manuals become outdated very quickly (look at all the restaurants that have opened, closed or will open in recent months) so having material on hand that is current and translated in French, Spanish and Japanese would probably help out everyone involved. This year saw the first jazz festival finally arrive uptown so progress for the obvious is starting to happen albeit at a slow pace.  

☞ LISTEN: Jake Smith at W XYZ Bar

Wednesday, February 2nd, 7:00 PM at Aloft's W XYZ Bar, 2296 FDB/8th Avenue at 123rd Street. The newly opened Aloft hotel's W XYZ Bar will also be a venue for up-and-coming music acts as part of its "Live at Aloft" series.  First up is New Orleans singer-songwriter Jake Smith (a recent finalist of Project: Aloft Stars) who has opened for the Dave Matthews Band and sold out shows at the House of Blues.  The W Hotel chain previously had a talent search in 2010 and the selected musicians will be touring the big cities and performing at the Aloft lounges this year. Check out the Aloft W XYZ Bar site for more details on this upcoming event: LINK

☞ READ: Last Week's Most Viewed Posts

Here's the list of last week's most viewed topics with comment count.

1. Lido to Replace Frizzante (14)
2. Aloft Fully Booked New Years Eve (8)
3. Construction Begins on M&G Diner Site (2) 
4. Harlem Voted as Best of the Year (3)
5. Red Rooster Harlem Officially Opens (12) 

☞ SLEEP: Aloft Fully Booked New Years Eve

The Hotel Chatter blog recently reported that the newly opened Aloft Harlem was fully booked for New Years Eve at $239 per night: LINK.  Walking by the spinoff branch of the W Hotel this past Friday, we noticed that yellow cabs were indeed pulling up in front of the Aloft entrance on FDB/8th Avenue (between 123rd and 124th Street) and dropping off tourists with luggage in tow. Anyone who has ever tried to shack up relatives in a New York hotel for the holidays know that most are usually booked so it's nice to have a decent one uptown as an option.  In addition to stowing away visiting parents, this part of Harlem will probably become an international hub since the European and Japanese tourists should be arriving en masse in the upcoming months.

☞ SLEEP: The Aloft Opening & Inclement Weather

Aloft Harlem at West 124th Street and FDB/8th Avenue apparently will have guests arriving today based on the hotel's twitter comment this past weekend: LINK.  The top photo shows the work being done at the entrance on Thursday and we are now wondering if all the snow that hit town last night might delay things a little bit further. Reports in the past have also intimated the official opening will be sometimes in January and that the December dates would be considered a soft opening.  With all the delayed dates and various news reports, we are not quite sure what today's event actually falls under. Any tips out there?

☞ READ: Harlem Hyatt Misses Crucial Deadline

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that the Harlem Hyatt project will officially miss the deadline to receive $20 million in tax-exempt federal financing but the developers still plan to move forward.  As most following the story know by now, Hall of Fame football star Emmitt Smith's company ESmith Legacy Inc. had previously been granted the bonds that would have moved along the $81 million hotel project at 125th Street and Lenox but only if the official ground breaking makes the December 31, 2010 deadline.   Since the federal money could  be used by another New York City project, the developers announced last night that they decided to withdraw the fund request. Even though this is a major blow to the Harlem Hyatt development, Brian Morris, one of the firms co-founder has stated that all other financing to get the project started will be in place by the end of the first quarter of 2011.  Read more details on the article at the Wall Street Journal site: LINK

☞ READ: Last Week's Most Viewed Posts

This past week's most viewed posts along with comment count

1. New Window Signs at the Red Rooster (21) 
2. Aloft Harlem Closed Again? (5)
3. The BLVD Condos Big Reveal (3) 
4. Frederick Douglass Blvd Booming...FYI (2) 
5. Aloft Harlem's Soft Opening (12) 

☞ SLEEP: Aloft Harlem Closed Again?

When walking by Aloft Harlem this past weekend at West 124th Street and FDB/8th Avenue, we noticed that the entrance was open for folks to walk through but the fences were apparently up again this afternoon.    There's still construction on the site but we did hear that a couple of folks had checked in last week.  Anyone know what's going on with all the new constuction?

☞ READ: Last Week's Most Viewed Posts

Last week's most viewed posts and comment count.  Aloft Harlem front desk was seen partially open at the end of week and checking in a couple of guests but there's still construction on site.

1. Aloft Harlem's Soft Opening (10)
2. The Douglass Nearly Sold Out (10)
3. Aloft Harlem Opening Delayed Again? (9)
4. 321 West 116th Street (5)
5. Hamilton Heights Thai Opens (12)

☞ SLEEP: Aloft Harlem's Soft Opening

Today's is apparently the soft opening of Aloft Harlem on 124th and FDB/8th Avenue but a reader found out in our past post that reservations will not be taken until December 9th: LINK.  The above photos were from this afternoon and fences along with some road barriers are still up out front. From what we can gather, some major flag poles have been installed and some sort of banner should be arriving soon.  So folks, it's kind of open but nobody can check in at this point from what we understand.

☞ SLEEP: Aloft Harlem Opening Delayed Again?

The December 2nd debut date for Aloft Harlem at 124th Street and FDB/8th Avenue is just a couple of days away but now the hotel's website has removed that announcement.  We've seen this happen a dozen times before so this highly anticipated opening may be once more delayed.  Check out the Aloft Harlem site for details: LINK

☞ REVIVE: The West 124th Street Carriage House

When all the foundation work for Aloft Harlem over a year ago, the carriage house condos at 264 West 124th Street probably wasn't having such a good time with all the construction racket.  The top photo from our original post back in September 2009 shows the foundation crack that started to creep up to the 2nd level of the 5-story building as a result of all the work going on around it.  A snapshot of the facade taken yesterday (lower image) after support scaffolding on the front of the building had all been taken down now shows that everything has been patched up.  The Apex condo's main entrance is to the right of the carriage house and Aloft's main entrance looks strategically placed further away on the FDB/8th Avenue side.

☞ READ: Last Week's Most Talked About Posts

Last week's most talked about posts along with comment count.

1.Clinton Leases and Causes Renaissance (18)
2. Maybe in December for Aloft (13)
3. Harlem Hyatt Moves Forward (12)
4. 12 Mount Morris Park West Off Market (10)
5. Help Light Up 125th Street (9)

☞ READ: Harlem Hyatt Moves Forward

There seems to be some hope for the proposed Harlem Hyatt at the corner of Lenox and 125th Street as reported by the Uptowner (a Columbia grad paper): LINK.  When we were photographing the drilling at the open lot yesterday, Emmitt Smith's development group received full approval of the project from the New York City Capital Resource Corporation. As previously reported, "groundbreaking" has to happen by December 31st but this apparently is a ceremonial event since a New York City Economic Development Corporation official stated at the meeting that the actual construction will not begin until early 2011. Mr. Smith's organization proved to the board that gains were made by reaching an agreement with the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council and that the final negotiations with MWB General Construction was at hand.

Another project in Brooklyn had been approved for the $15 million in tax exempt bonds by the EDC (just in case the Hyatt deal falls through) but today's Wall Street Journal reports that there's enough money to go around for the December 31 deadline. New York City was allocated $121 million in Recovery Zone Bonds that had to be used by the end of the year or the money will go back to the federal government. The Harlem Hyatt was scheduled to receive the last of the tax-exempt bonds and many thought that when the Brooklyn project received the approval that there would not be any funds left.  Today's WSJ article reveals that another development deal has since collapsed and this will allow the Harlem Hyatt to move forward if all the paperwork is completed on time: LINK. Top photo is of the August drilling on the proposed site.

☞ SLEEP: Maybe in December for Aloft Harlem

When a reader last week mentioned that Aloft Harlem has delayed their opening date to December 2nd, we just had to take a breather for the week.  There probably has now been a dozen delayed opening dates for the highly anticipated affordable Harlem branch of the notable W Hotel chain that will debut on the corner of 124th Street and FDB/8th Avenue. Keep checking the officials website for updates but we think waiting for the final press release might be the best bet at this point: LINK.  Even if Aloft opens at the end of December, there should be enough folks traveling to New York City for New Years to drum up some business.  Keeping our fingers crossed (they at least removed the plywood on the upper windows!). Curbed just added photos of the interior shots from the Aloft preview party this past Monday: LINK

☞ INTRODUCING: Aloft Harlem in the News

Another day, another delay and another news story on Aloft Harlem. NY1 gets a better look at the inside of the new Aloft Harlem hotel and announces that the opening date is now November 11th (last update was the 4th). The good news is that they hired 72% of the staff locally based on interviews at the Apollo and decided not to have a restaurant in house because they did not want to compete with the local eateries. Check out the video on the NY1 site: LINK

☞ INTRODUCING: Aloft Opening Now in November

Okay folks, the opening of a new building can be difficult to predict and we just got news in our inbox that November 4th is the new date for the Aloft Harlem hotel to debut.  If you have been following, there probably has been about a half dozen opening date announcements since spring on the W Hotel chain's more affordable spinoff.  From the top photo, one can at least see some progress at the site just south of FDB/8th Avenue and 124th Street.  The W XYZ Lounge sign is up and one can see the Aloft logo just peeking around the corner (click image to enlarge).  Let's hope this is the last announcement!  There isn't any updated info on the Aloft site but here it is anyways: LINK

☞ READ: Last Week's Most Viewed Posts

Doug E. Fresh's new chicken joint was last week's most read post.

1. Doug E.'s Chicken and Waffles Opens (2)
2. The Dover Condominiums (9)
3. The Red Rooster Takes Form (5)
4. Aloft Interior Sneak Peak (3)
5. 146 West 130th Sold in September (10)