Happy hours in NYC are a much-welcome salve to a busy workweek, but their contents are usually hit or miss, relegated to sad house wine or sadder well drinks. But The Smith is here to change that.
The brasserie chainlet, which boasts four locations across New York City (East Village, Lincoln Square, Midtown and NoMad), is rolling out a brand-new Martini Hour. On weekdays from 3pm to 6pm or all week long from 10pm until close, the restaurant will pour out $12 martinis, from a classic brine-splashed option to a party-starting espresso martini.
We all know how dangerous one too many martinis can be if you haven’t prepared properly, which is why The Smith has also included several snacks in its martini happy hour, including shishito peppers sprinkled with sea salt ($7), black-truffle arancini filled with mushroom risotto and mozzarella and served alongside a truffle aioli ($9), and an old-school shrimp cocktail for $12. Because what’s more New York than a shrimp cocktail and an ice-cold martini after a long day at the office, no?
Along with those booze-sopping bites, the restaurant’s regular food menu will see some new additions just in time for the happy hour roll-out. New menu items include burrata with smashed peas, pea-shoot pesto, crispy prosciutto and garlic bread; sticky ribs with green papaya salad, snap peas, cashews and a chili-lime vinaigrette, and a flounder Milanese with burst tomatoes, marinated zucchini, shaved fennel and mint.
Take a peek at some of The Smith’s yummy-looking happy-hour offerings below:
The SmithMartini Happy Hour at The SmithThe SmithMartini Happy Hour at The Smith
“Blacks must boycott New York courts now,” attorney Alton Maddox, Jr. said in the Amsterdam News seven years ago. “It makes no sense for us to go into these racist courts and expect justice.” That same year, he repeated that demand during his testimony before the New York Commission on Statewide Attorney Discipline. Such a declaration was typical of a man who was known as the “Attorney at War,” and the “People’s Lawyer” who joined the ancestors on Sunday, April 23, 2023. He was 77.
Sources close to the family told the Amsterdam News that Maddox had been staying in the Bronx for over a year, and died in a nursing home on Saturday night/Sunday morning April 23, 2023.
In exclusive quotes to the Amsterdam News, both Mayor Eric Adams and Rev. Al Sharpton spoke about the passing of the man known as the “People’s Attorney.”
Mayor Adams said, “He was a legal genius who used his legal knowledge as a shield, and swiped to fight on behalf of marginalized people of color.”
Rev. Sharpton declared, “I’ve spoken to Charles Maddox to give the condolences of NAN [the National Action Network] and myself. I had not spoken or seen Alton in 20 years (2003) and we had our tactical and ideological differences (that he chose to make public), [but] now is the time to give our prayers and thoughts to his son and grandchildren.”
For several decades, Maddox was a hot topic for news agencies, mainly because of his take-no-prisoners legal practice and the controversial cases he litigated without compromise or concession. “I am the only attorney in the state of New York who has brought two special prosecutors to a case—Tawana Brawley and Howard Beach,” he often exclaimed. It was the former that got him suspended from practicing law in 1990 after he refused to respond to a grievance committee hearing complaints about his conduct in the Brawley case.
Maddox, Sharpton, and attorney C. Vernon Mason were a trio of lawyers who brought public attention to cases, especially in regard to racist attacks and police abuse. It was in 2000 that a jury found Maddox, Sharpton, and Mason liable in a defamation case during the Brawley case. Maddox vehemently defied the verdict and refused to pay “one red cent” of the damage award.
“My parents would never let me work for white people as I was growing up because they didn’t want me exposed to that way of instilling the racial superiority of whites,” Maddox told the New York Times in 1987. That early training and attitude characterized his courtroom demeanor and his activism, which were inseparably linked.
Born on July 21, 1945 in Inkster, Michigan, an all-Black town on the outskirts of Detroit, Maddox grew up in Newnan, Georgia. He attended Howard University, where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1967 and then a juris doctorate from Boston College in 1971.
Before gaining notoriety in the Tawana Brawley case, in which she stated she was abducted and raped, Maddox represented Michael Stewart, an emerging artist, who died in police custody in 1983. Later, he was the attorney for Cedric Sandiford and the family of Michael Griffith, who was killed on the Belt freeway while fleeing a white mob. Maddox accused the NYPD and Black Commissioner Benjamin Ward of a cover-up.
Each case enhanced Maddox’s expanding reputation, and in rapid succession, his clients included the family of Yusuf Hawkins; Michael Briscoe, who was arrested along with others accused in the Central Park jogger case in which he was found innocent; he even represented Sharpton, who faced a 67-count indictment alleging fraud and theft. Sharpton was acquitted.
All this occurred while Maddox was enduring charges about his professional behavior in and out of court. He continued to host weekly meetings of his United African Movement at several locations in Brooklyn, including the Slave Theater and subsequently in Harlem at the Cotton Club. These were popular gatherings where Maddox had a bully pulpit to expound on current issues as well as Black history, particularly from a legal and political perspective. Indispensable to these lively sessions was his wife, Leola, who died in 2017.
Over the last several years, Maddox was less visible and there were reports he had moved back to Georgia, although now and then, word would come about his ongoing fight for civil and human rights in various speaking engagements. But there was very little account of any fresh courtroom battles.
“They don’t want me back in the courtroom,” he often said, “because they don’t want any more butt whippings.” He would say this with a smile on his face and the brash refusal to bite his tongue or to curtail his desire to speak truth to power. “No justice, no peace” was his mantra and war cry.
John Walker, long-time moderator of Maddox’s United African forum, told the AmNews, “There’s not a professional, legal person who did not benefit from the influence of attorney Alton Maddox, with his professionalism and master ability.
His skills traversed the international arena. He was a dedicated asset to our community. He will be missed, but students and activists will forever be able to study his devastatingly effective court decorum. His delivery was a masterclass.”
“Attorney Alton Maddox united the Black world, he wanted us to understand human rights. He worked with all the grassroots community leaders and groups,” said long-time activist Veronica Phillips-Nickey. “He was Dr. John Henrik Clarke’s attorney. He invited local, national, and international speakers to his United African Forum at Harlem’s Oberia Dempsey Center and the Slave Theater in Harlem.”
Reminiscing fondly, the original UAM member added, “Attorney Maddox brought us to the courtroom in cases, and taught about the double meanings of legalese.There are many students who went to law school because of Alton Maddox. He loved his people so much that he gave free classes to students.”
Nickey concluded, “After the Central Park Five case, his dear wife Leola sent up the summer camp at Peg Leg Bates Freedom Retreat in Kerhonkson, New York. There he taught our children how to defend themselves in court, and life skills with healthy food and fresh air. He was a magnificent man who left us a great blueprint for freedom to follow.”
Maddox associates told the AmNews that his son Charles Maddox will be taking the body of Alton Maddox back to Georgia. The AmNews learnt just before press time that there will be a viewing on Monday, May 1, at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church (132 W 138th Street) with viewing at 10 a.m., and service at 11 a.m.
The MTA’s conversion from Metrocards to OMNY is taking another step forward… while still being a bit behind.
Almost four years ago, city officials announced that the NYC Subways would be taking the leap to become more digital. Since 2020 we’ve seen our buses and trains adorned with tap-to-pay scanners, which have become a favorite among millennials who prefer the ease of using ApplePay for their daily purchases.
Since then, OMNY has launched its digital experience, which grants commuters access to reload OMNY cards online, an option that commuters have been wanting for MetroCards for years. Digital access allows you to sign up for a free, optional OMNY account to access this and other benefits.
Now coming Summer of 2023 are OMNY vending machines, completing the physical presence by September. The devices are said to sell OMNY cards, granting access to those who do not use tap-to-pay on their phone or bank card. You’ll also be able to load funds to your OMNY card using cash, card, or tap.
As we reported earlier this year, the MTA was expected to phase out MEtrocards by 2023, but with the entire OMNY system four behind schedule, MTA officials have become transparent with their bumps in the road. “Getting the vending machines installed so anyone with cash can use the new OMNY system; setting up a system that will allow the Department of Education, Human Resources Administration, and other city agencies to issue discounted fares via OMNY for students and low-income New Yorkers, and bringing pre-tax benefit providers such as WageWorks onboard.”
In case you aren’t familiar, the OMNY system was created to unify MTA’s subways, buses, and commuter railroads into one system to make commuting – and life – easier for New Yorkers. Paying and transferring will be a more seamless process in the near future.
The MTA plans to install OMNY readers on the JFK AirTrain and Roosevelt Island Tramway turnstiles by Thanksgiving 2023. While kinks regarding student MetroCards and Access a Ride are still in the planning phases, whether or not the Long Island Railroad or MetroNorth will be a part of the movement has yet to be announced.
MetroCards are as iconically New York as the Anthora coffee cups, so it’s going to be hard to see them go!
New York City Mayor Eric Adams today released New York City’s $106.7 billion Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Executive Budget. Mayor Adams unveiled the largest Executive Budget in city history to protect critical programs that support working New Yorkers, while simultaneously preparing for economic headwinds by continuing his strong track record of fiscal responsibility. The budget also…
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Thursday-Saturday, May 4th, 5th, 6th, 7:30PM, Nia Love Undercurrents at Harlem Stage
150 Convent Avenue by 135th Street, Tickets $25. Bessie and Herb Alpert Award-winning dancer, choreographer, and Harlem Stage WaterWorks Established Artist, nia love, and her collaborators present UNDERcurrents..This multi-media performance and research platform invites audiences to probe the seam between catastrophic history and quotidian memory and tend the textures of generational care. Seats are still available so get them while you can at the Harlem Stage site: LINK
Harlem Bespoke: Harry Belafonte is a true son of Harlem who celebrated his 96th birthday on March 1st but an announcement has been made this week that the Hollywood legend has passed away. While most of the notable uptown icons from the Renaissance years came from elsewhere, Belafonte was actually born in Harlem during the 1920s and would eventually become one of the first African American male superstars by the 1950s. The world would quickly take notice of the leading man’s dashing looks from his Caribbean heritage which also included Scottish and Jewish grandparents. These natural attributes along with being a recording artist that introduced audiences to Calypso music would catapult the young performer into the film industry with leading ladies such as Dorothy Dandridge and Joan Fontaine. The icon would eventually become a vocal activist for civil rights and still has not slowed down later in life. In honor of the entertainer’s achievements, New York City has named the 115th Street library after the icon this past month: LINK
