Local Comix Artist Goes On A Bar Scrawl

Bill Roundy is a writer/comix artist who also sometimes writes for NEXT magazine's online nightlife blog, The Nexus (as I do).  He also does a regular feature for the Brooklyn Paper called "Bar Scrawl" where he does a "draw-up" of a neighborhood boit in the BK with his thoughts on what he sees and hears when he checks out the joints. It's one of my favorite local features in the paper as it introduces me to new and noteworthy nightspots while also having having a sly sense of humor.

This weeks Bar Scrawl is great in that he captures a moment of New York realness--the unforutnately timed arrival of a NYC health inspector. Fortunately, it all turns out OK and the bar is not shut down.  But it's still a nice touch of reality in his drawings which I always enjoy. Check it out and maybe you'll be inspired to check out the actual bar! Happy weekend....

The Lower East River Side

Williamsburg is starting to look like Jersey City these days with it's new skyscraper themed waterfront.  Now stage two is being planned on the southern end of the 'Burg, centered around what used to be the Domino Sugar Factory (pictured above).


There is a current exhibit at the American Institute of Architects space on LaGuardia Place showing a potential future for the landmarked site.  Rafael Viñoly Architects has designed a plan to remake the 125-year-old industrial complex into an 11.2 acre, mixed-income residential and mixed-use development.  What's nice is that they've preserved the Domino Factory at the center of it all. What's not so nice is that, other than some street amenities,  it looks just as bland as the Trump West Side Railyard development.


If development continues like this, Williamsburg is soon going to resemble the Upper West Side.  Maybe that's the plan, at least for Bloomberg who likes to turn every unique neighborhood into a generic super-hi-rise, vertical version of suburbia.  But it would be a shame to see the quirkiness of the 'Burg blanded out like this.  

William Shakespeare & Williamsburg

It's official....after 400-some years, we now know that this is what William Shakespeare really looked like. And you know what? He doesn't look that bad. Certainly a lot cuter than that pic in my high school English text book which basically had him looking like my high school English teacher. Yeek!

But seriously, the thing that struck me the most was that, confirming all those rumors, Shakespeare looks kinda gay. Maybe some of that is because he is sporting the classic look of the Williamsburg hipster homosexual. If you remove the frilliness of ole England and just consider the face, the guy's a total mod Mary. Check it out; he is ridiculously pale, he has a huge geeky forehead, and, most importantly, he is sporting some trendy facial hair.

I mean really....I think I saw this guy at Sugarland last Saturday, wearing a skinny tie & dancing his ass off to "If You Seek Amy". Maybe that's why they call it Wiliams-burg?