New restaurant Marufuku
Ramen comes to East Village
BY DEAN JAMIESON
Turn off the stove and put away the
Top Ramen – a new ramen restaurant,
San-Francisco-renowned, is
coming to the East Village.
Known for their Hakata-style ramen,
which incorporates thin noodles and pork
broth, Marufuku Ramen is well known
in California, with locations across the
state. Now they’re expanding across the
country, to New York City’s East Village,
with a new location at 92 2nd Avenue.
“The entire Marufuku Ramen family is
excited about the opportunity to bring our
famous ramen across the country to New
York,” said Eiichi Mochizuki, co-founder.
“It’s truly a dream come true for all of us.”
Besides their Hakata-style ramen,
Marufuku also offers a wide variety of
Japanese culinary fare, from rice bowls,
to takoyaki, to gyoza. But their specialty
is their tonkatsu ramen, done in a traditional
style where the broth is “cooked for
The exterior of Marufuku Ramen
several hours to extract umami flavor,”
served with “ultra-thin artisanal noodles
and Cha-shu made from specially selected
pork.” Paitan, and vegetable ramens, are
also available.
PHOTO BY DEAN JAMIESON
Open Sunday to Thursday, from 5
p.m. to 10, Marufuku Ramen does both
dine-out and take-out. For more information,
visit www.marufukuramen.com/
eastvillage.
Dog squad: Furry NYPD detectives
graduate at One Police Plaza
BY DEAN MOSES
They’re ready to protect, serve and
comfort.
On Aug. 4 the NYPD headquarters
played host to the graduation ceremony
of two “paw-some” officers who will look
to aid with the mental health of both police
officials and members of the public alike.
Piper and Jenny are two Labrador
Retrievers who, along with their human
partners Detectives Ronald Thomas and
Efrain Hernandez respectively, make up the
NYPD’s first Dog Therapy unit. The goal
of the new initiative is to provide mental
health services to cops in crisis and civilians
who have undergone trauma.
The NYPD hopes the canines can reduce
stigma around feelings of post-traumatic
stress and even help comfort those undergoing
suicidal thoughts after occupational
hazards such as gun violence.
The dogs, who were already proving
“pup-ular” with friendly colleagues as they
waited to receive their shields on Wednesday
afternoon, were specifically trained
to help comfort and ease those dealing
with sensitive issues. Both the two and
four-legged officers underwent stringent
training.
Supervised by Puppies Behind Bars — an
Detectives Thomas and Piper
organization that employs prisoners to raise
service dogs for wounded war veterans and
first responders — the canines were tutored
alongside handlers in prisons with the help
of incarcerated individuals. This not only
created a meaningful connection between
officers and prisoners during the rehabilitation
process, but it also served to effectively
prepare the dogs for the work to come.
“The training was intense and that is
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
coming from someone who has been to the
New York City Police Academy. We started
at five in the morning and we didn’t really
get into bed until about 10 at night,” Detective
Thomas told Schneps Media. “We are
hoping these dogs bridge the gap between
us and the members of the department,
I mean police officers can be reluctant
to come forward and who doesn’t love a
Labrador?”
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
Lower Manhattan
shows high demand for
residential properties
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Lower Manhattan’s real estate
market saw an upswing in the
second quarter of 2021.
The Alliance for Downtown New York
recently released its Lower Manhattan
Real Estate Market Report, Q2 2021. According
to its findings, Lower Manhattan’s
residential market saw a demand for residential
units near office buildings drove
sales and median rents to pre-pandemic
levels during this time period.
The report found that median rents in
Lower Manhattan saw a 24% increase
to $3,722. Listing discounts were more
absent during the second quarter, shifting
from the previous quarter where the listing
discount was nearly 6%. With many
people expecting to be called back to the
office, the demand for residential units
near office buildings increased.
“Recoveries always take time and what
we’re seeing now in Lower Manhattan
are the slow and steady steps toward a
return,” said Jessica Lappin, president of
the Alliance for Downtown New York.
“Incrementally, we’re seeing an uptick in
activity, and we remain hopeful that that
will continue to grow.”
On the retail front, the report found
that 40 new businesses have opened their
doors so far, putting retail openings in the
second quarter of this year were on pace
with the rate in early 2019. Some new
businesses that came to be in Lower Manhattan
that quarter were Momofuku’s
Ssäm Bar, Andrew Carmellini’s Italian
chophouse Carne Mare, casual burger
and ice cream spot Mister Dips, a fitness
center, and two barbershops.
Commercial real estate is also slowly
starting to trend upward in Lower Manhattan.
A total of 591,000 square feet in
office leasing took place in the second
quarter, a 32% increase compared to
the first quarter and the highest quarterly
total since the pandemic began. However,
the rate of office leasing is still 49% lower
than the five-year quarterly leasing average
— in Midtown and Midtown South,
leasing activity was very similar. Despite
the vacancies remaining high, rents have
remained relatively stable.
Visit downtownny.com to read the full
report.
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