THEATER: Multi-talented and multi-gender performer Justin Bond – the beloved Tony-nominated Kiki from Kiki & Herb – vows to heat up the frigid East Village with Lustre, A Midwinter Trans-Fest. The cabaret show, which opened last night, promises to be a "fast and loose" night of music, dance and monologues for, by, or about transgender people, with a smattering of "neo-pagan revolutionary Appalachian-inspired folk songs." Bond's joined in the festivities by musical director Our......

THEATER: Over the summer the Belarusian Free Theater was arrested, along with their audience, during a performance of their play Being Harold Pinter, which uses Pinter’s magnificent Nobel Prize acceptance speech as a springboard for theatrical dissent, something the Belarus police state isn't really so into. (For that reason, the company’s performances are normally held secretly in alternating private apartments.) Unable to bring the entire production to New York for his Under the Radar festival,......

The Streit's Matzo company is leaving the Lower East Side location where it opened in 1925 and since occupied as a mainstay of a neighborhood of tenements and a sizable Jewish population. One can still walk down Rivington St. and peer through levered windows to see rotating metal racks where the company produces its unleavened bread. Aron Streit founded the matzoh company in 1914, revived it in 1923, and moved it into a red brick......

Kuta Satay House & Wine Bar: Taking its name from the tourist beach town in Bali, Kuta Satay House (pictured) is bringing its modern Southeast Asia menu to the Lower East Side. The main attraction here are the skewers, such as short ribs with asian pears and sesame barbeque sauce. Entrees emphasize seafood and steak, but there’s also a spicy duck curry and side dishes like garlic fries. 65 Rivington St, (212) 777-5882. Le Royale:......

The New York Times has an interesting story today on Sion Misrahi and the Lower East Side he helped transform. If you've walked down Rivington St. a few times, you've probably noticed the Misrahi Realty storefront business. Its owner is Sion Misrahi, who sold pants for his father in the neighborhood when he was fourteen. When it began to gentrify, he worked to classify the old bargain-shopping district as a landmark area. Then he decided......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Rivington St. in Manhattan, a fatal stabbing on Malcolm X Blvd. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on 102nd St. and Corona Ave. in Queens. Cobble Hill residents on Douglass St. will no longer be able to save on their electric bills by relying on the super-bright lights of American Apparel as their street-level reading lamps. The retailer is turning them off and neighbors must now fend......

THEATER: Katharsis Theater Company has been developing The Polish Play for the past two years; it’s a fusion of Macbeth and Ubu Roi, the play by Alfred Jarry that was partially inspired by Macbeth. This work of Grand Guignol fusion, which mixes puppetry with live acting, swerves between broad satire, tragedy and plenty of ultra-violence. (Although puppets are decapitated and disemboweled on-stage, rest assured that no puppets are permanently harmed for this production.) Jordan Gelber,......

THEATER: Three time Obie winner and “titanic force” Mac Wellman has brought his Two September to The Flea Theater, which he co-founded a decade ago. The action takes place in various locations in China and Vietnam after the Japanese coup of March 9th, 1945. It is told through the eyes of blacklisted writer Josephine Herbst and the young Vietnamese revolutionary leader who becomes Ho Chi Minh. - John Del Signore 7pm // The Flea [41......

Many of us were out of town for Thanksgiving and might have been too busy stuffing ourselves to keep up on some of the recent restaurant openings. Here's some of the food news you might have missed while you were gnawing on that drumstick: - Kampuchea Noodle Bar Ratha Chau, formerly of Fleur de Sel, brings us a noodle bar where you can slurp alongside your fellow diners at communal tables. The menu focuses on......

READING: Head to the NYPL for the Borowitz Report On The Future - "in a totally improvised and spontaneous program, cybersatirist Andy Borowitz will answer the audience's questions about what the future holds for current events, pop culture, sports, business, and Paris Hilton, with the guarantee that he will be at least as accurate as the New York Post," runs the NYPL description. - Krissa Corbett Cavouras 7pm // Humanities and Social Sciences Library [455......

THEATER: Emergence-See! is a new one-man show in previews at the Public Theater. Conceived and performed by Daniel Beaty, the work imagines what would happen in present-day New York if, say, a slave ship were to rise out of the Hudson River in front of the Statue of Liberty. Beaty portrays 40 New York characters and uses slam poetry and song to examine the toll that centuries of slavery have taken on the human psyche.......

FILM: Going to movies can sometimes suck a lot of time and money out of you. Which is why we love film shorts. They cater to our attention span, and in this case - our wallet, too. “Made in NY Shorts,” is a whold bunch of shorts that'll leave you filled up like you'd just seen a feature length. 2:30pm // New York Public Library, Donnell Media Center [20 W 53rd St] //Free READING: Francine......

EVENT: Fat Baby is turning in to Craft Baby tonight, with a Make Workshop event that will teach you to reconstruct your boring 'ol clothes. You can als how to embroider, knit and crochet...your grams would be so proud of you. And don't forget to stop by the silk screen and iron-on station (byo-witticisms). Friday // 5 to 8pm // Fat Baby [122 Rivington St] // Free READING: Jennifer Egan, Curtis Sittenfeld, Elizabeth Merrick, and......

PARTY: ABC No Rio is the 26 year old LES center for art and activism that has JUST received the title to their building. "Envisioned for the site is a multi-use community arts center with darkroom, silk-screen printing facility, small press resource center, computer center, expanded space for art, music, performance, educational and community activities, and meeting and office space." Come cheers to their big win tonight as they celebrate with cheap drinks, free snacks,......

EVENT: “Solstice in Times Square” is a celebration of the Summer Solstice which began at 7am, but you still have time to partake. The dawn til dusk event includes a “Mind Over Madness” yoga-thon and live music. Doing yoga in Times Square seems like it might be the worst idea ever, but if you're up for a challenge, go for it. 7am to 8pm // Times Square, Military Island (intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue......

BBQ: The BBQ season has officially begun. Luckily, there's always an option for the non-carnivores in town. Today that option is the Annual Summer Vegan BBQ Extravaganza run by Books Through Bars. This organization is a volunteer group that donates reading material to prisoners all over the country. Not an organization geared towards drinking and reading in bars. 4pm // ABC No Rio [156 Rivington St between Clinton and Suffolk] // $5 MUSIC: German death......

In a city that specializes in specialties, New York is a playground for those who love wine. Whether it’s an unknown Turkish wine you crave or a spicy Tinto Fino from the Ribera del Duero, we have it all. But in a place where your options are endless, the biggest challenge is selecting where to go. The good news is New York also happens to be the city that never sleeps. So with a......

Valentine's day. We're on the fence. Getting flowers is nice, but we also like getting flowers on the 13th and 15th. Overall there is too much pressure put on the day, on singles and couples alike, and we hate when companies use it to wrangle up the former and pour lemon juice cocktails into their wounded, bleeding, unloved hearts (ahem, Fresh Direct). You can ignore it or embrace it but it's coming up tomorrow either......

“Scary” Music by Ensemble Pamplemousse (who we interviewed last year) on Mischief Night! In collaboration with The Rivington Salon, Ensemble Pamplemousse is pleased to announce its first ever Halloween concert bonanza! After indulging in the spooky sounds of Ensemble Pamplemousse the costumed and civilian guests will partake in food and drink, cavort amidst the artwork of Salon hostess Judith Braun and others, gaze at horror films projected on the walls, and encounter Langdon Crawford’s space......

Friday the 13th stopped being scary for us when we were younger, rebellious and declaring things like "13, in fact, is our lucky number". We embraced the superstition and turned it in to our lucky day. Or, as it turns out, just another day. Anyway, we were hoping that some theater in this city would be showing Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan, but no such...luck. You'll have to deal with these other non-scary events:......

Since we'll be out of the city all weekend and unable to attend, we'll let you in on some secret shows taking place. First up is Bloc Party at LES club Libation [137 Ludlow St], who in an attempt to bring in some of the jaded downtowners, has started to book shows. The band goes on at midnight, but get there early and wear your best shoes - there's a velvet rope. Just down the......