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A brand-new restaurant that has already proven its worth elsewhere around the country will soon join New York’s roster of members-only-adjacent dining destinations: Casa Tua, which debuted in Miami Beach back in 2001 and is considered one of the best Italian restaurants in town, is gearing up for the debut of its Upper East Side location inside The Surrey at 20 East 76th Street. Just as is the case in its original Floridian iteration, Casa Tua will be a public-facing restaurant that also boasts a member-only club.

“Everybody asked me, ‘Why did you open on the Upper East Side? Why didn’t you go downtown?” Casa Tua’s owner Miky Grendene said to WWD. “I never follow a trend. I never look at what other people do; I do what I feel is right for us and for the brand and for my customer. I think that the Upper East Side needs — more than downtown — new blood, new things, new energy. And I think that Casa Tua hopefully will bring that to the Upper East Side.”

According to Casa Tua’s official website, the new space will feature a restaurant and a lounge on the ground floor of the hotel and a members-only club on the second floor. Members of the Casa Tua family in Miami, Aspen and Paris will have access to the New York space as well.

Although the aura of luxury and exclusivity certainly adds excitement to the project, Casa Tua’s food offerings are sure to add to the city’s already great culinary scene. 

From a seemingly simple plate of fettuccine pomodoro e basilico to a variety of fish dishes, salads and pizza, Casa Tua’s menu fuses Italian and French cuisines in both expected and more creative ways.

We’re not sure why it took so long for Casa Tua to finally open in New York, but we’re certainly here for it.

* This article was originally published here

The subway might just be getting a little safer, station by station.

According to Gothamist, the MTA has installed 4-foot-tall metal barriers at 10 subway station platforms—half of which are on the L line. 

We reported back in January that the agency put in the first barrier at platform on 191 Street station in Washington Heights, which services the 1 train, as part of a pilot program to improve rider safety and test to see if the presence of the barriers interferes with the flow of commuter traffic.

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Since then, Gothamist says 10 have been installed at the following platforms:

• 191st Street (1)
• Clark Street (2/3)
• Morgan Avenue (L)
• Crescent Street (J/Z)
• Fifth Avenue (7)
• 57th Street (F)
• First Avenue (L)
• Bedford Avenue (L)
• Grand Street (L)
• Dekalb Avenue (L)

It turns out that these metal barriers are more affordable to install compared to the full-sized doors like those at the JFK Airport AirTrain. Those would cost the MTA about $7 billion and could only be installed at only a quarter of NYC’s stations, Gothamist says.

So cheaper, shorter metal barriers will have to do for now, especially as congestion pricing and the funding that would provide to the MTA is on hold. They’ll continue to be rolled out across the system, at about one or two stations a month, a spokesperson told Gothamist.

What do you think about these barriers? Will they be enough?

* This article was originally published here