PLEASE SUPPORT W42ST
W42ST runs on limited resources to keep Hell’s Kitchen connected, updated and upbeat. Access is totally free. Please consider supporting what we do so that we can continue our work!
W42ST Daily 8/1/2020
It’s been quite a week, what with shark sightings, Revel deaths, and unusually aggressive rats. So you could be forgiven for missing some of our best bits.
Fear not, here’s a reminder of what’s been getting New Yorkers talking.
Phil interviewed Catie Savage about her one-woman campaign to clean up the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. “No one wants to live in a trashy neighborhood,” she says. “It’s just one little thing that’s just so easy to control.”
I found out what it’s like to open a bar in the middle of the pandemic. The general consensus: “Freak out and carry on.”
Another bar didn’t even get off the ground – this is the story of how Manhattan Plaza residents put the brakes on a new gay bar on 10th Ave.
And one more was closed, after repeatedly violating executive orders on mask wearing.
Now that reports of complaints over police misconduct have been made public, we’ve counted more than 400 allegations against NYPD officers in Hell’s Kitchen.
Christine Berthet explained why New York’s sidewalks are such a disaster. “Not a single dollar of NYC Department of Transportation budget is dedicated to maintaining the sidewalks which are used by 3.3 million people every day,” she said.
We caught a glimpse of the future of live theater – coming to New York soon, thanks to Plexiglass panels, solo performances, and airline-style drinks.
And, in a tribute to the women of Hell’s Kitchen, we investigated the source of the #challengeaccepted trend.
NEW YORK STORIES
Finnerty Steeves has this beautiful memory of a perfect moment in her perfect marriage. Her husband – a sailor and yacht rigger – had taken a boat on a boys’ trip. But, 18 hours after leaving her in New York, he turned around and came back. “I was asleep on the couch, and he came in that night,” she recalls, tears pricking her eyes. “I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ And he said, ‘I didn’t want to be away from you for that long. I decided not to go.’”
It was memories like this that she clung to as, pregnant with a longed-for child, her 15-year marriage imploded. Revisiting that moment in the film she’s made about the break-up and its aftermath, however, it took on an entirely different meaning.
Trying to remember the good times, to not get stuck in bitterness and anger and sadness, she said to her ex: “Remember that time when you turned the boat around?” Barely pausing to think about how his words might wound her, he replied: “If I’d kept going I would never have come back.”
This is the story of memories, and redefining yourself after loss.
WHAT WE’RE READING
20 extra weeks of “extended benefits” is available to jobless New Yorkers as of the week ending July 5.
Today’s the day for a neighborhood tidy-up.
This is why you shouldn’t put hand sanitizer on your pooch‘s paws.
Rates of coronavirus infection will determine whether or not our schools reopen in September.
More outdoor dining is coming to Midtown.
