Via Gothamist, word that Pies ‘n’ Thighs is, as of tomorrow (the 16th), no more. Seems they were unable to withstand the juggernaut that is the Department of Health, and are throwing in the towel.

DOH has been on a rampage ever since those rats showed up in that KFC in the Village – unfortunately, their standards seem wholly incompatible with good esoteric restaurants such as this (and such as Brick Oven Gallery, which lost a lot of business to a DOH closure). At some point, we’re going to be left with nothing but industrial food purveyors, and there will be nothing left to eat in this city.

(By the way – its interesting to watch the vigor with which DOH has pursued restaurant food safety since the KFC rat attack incident, and compare that to the Department of Buildings and the rash of worker deaths and adjacent building collapses a year or so ago. But then DOH is there to protect the public, whereas DOB is there to protect development.)

More election quirks – in addition to allowing crossover votes, Michigan also allows people to vote “uncommitted”. I think its pretty remarkable that almost 15,000 would go out of their way to pull the lever for “uncommitted”. That’s almost as many people as went out of their way to vote for Rudy (who is making a career of sixth place).

And for those of you playing along at home, Romney won (and handily, at that). So the six ring circus moves on to South Carolina and Florida. Rudy better hope “uncommitted” isn’t on the ballot in Florida.

From yesterday’s Post, news that the New York Water Taxi is still running – to Yonkers. With the help of $1.2 million from a State and Federally-funded grant to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, NYWT is running daily commuter service to Yonkers (Westchester County) and Haverstraw (Rockland County). The larger grant, which totals $4.2 million, is intended to expand ferry service between Lower Manhattan and the suburbs. Its not clear from the article, but presumably most of the rest of the grant is going to New Jersey service. Rockland county is also contributing an additional $1.2 million subsidy to ensure that service goes as far Haverstraw.

The Rockland County subsidy runs through April, 2008. Based on past experience, the passengers to Haverstraw should enjoy the ride while it lasts. Come May, its back to the rails (or roads) for you.

Today’s Brownstoner report that the rates at Hotel Le Bleu in Gowanus prompted me to see what was going on at our own Le Jolie (on the BQE). Looks like more of the same – a room for two this weekend starts at $169 per night – a fair drop from the opening day rates of $250 and up.

(European and Canadian visitors are getting a double bargain, given the huge drop in the value of the dollar lately…)

No details in this Post article, but it has long been rumored that one of Brooklyn’s four new charter schools would be at PS 84. There is certainly plenty of room for one there.

I spoke too soon – today’s Times has a somewhat detailed analysis of Spitzer’s new affordable housing proposal (of which, so far, few details have been released). Not surprisingly, Senate Republicans are reserving judgement.

Podres pitched Brooklyn to its first (and only) World Series win.

[Tommy] Byrne, his pitching opponent in Game 7 of the ’55 World Series, died last month at 87.

Everyone who cares about making housing affordable should be excited by this historic announcement. We finally have a Governor who understands just how serious the housing crisis has become in all regions of the state. Building affordable housing is one of the most effective economic development strategies available to government. [Ted Houghton, SHNNY]

It seems the press has not been that excited. Instead, Spitzer’s proposal for a $400 million Housing Opportunity Fund seems to have been met with a collective yawn. Too bad – if the state Senate can be convinced o sign on (a big if), this would be the biggest investment in affordable and supportive housing in more than half a century.

[Nice work, Ted.]

[Behavior] is not the fundamental issue when rent for a two-bedroom is $1,100 and someone is making minimum wage… It’s a housing problem, and you need a housing solution,” he said. “At the end of the day, the working poor in this city do not make enough without some sort of subsidized housing.

Indeed – do the math. At $7.15 an hour, Guzman’s full-time job grosses only $13,728 (figuring 48 work weeks at 40 hours per). That alone doesn’t cover his rent of $1,170 per month in Bushwick (and that’s before taxes). A second income gets the family to 50% of their income going towards rent.