W42ST Daily 7/23/2020
New York is coming back! It’s fighting, caustic, mean …
If you came to New York in this decade (or the last century) then Sinatra’s ”If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere …” resonates. It lets us ride the wave when we are winning, and kicks us in the teeth when we are down. We are good enough, then not good enough.
On Monday we published the story of our friend, Rae. She’s “escaped” the city for now. She felt bad, she loves New York, she agreed to share her story to help others working out their options. I looked at our Facebook page, the reaction was mean. I felt that we’d thrown Rae under a bus.
Rae will tell you she is “a big girl,” but the mean comments hurt. My message to Rae was: “I don’t think there is a single person in Hell’s Kitchen not taking a close look at their lives and thinking of change (or they have no soul). This just touched a nerve of the ‘it could be me’ variety. I am shocked at the mean reaction.”
Yesterday, we shared a set of photos of 9th Avenue businesses trying to make the best of the situation. Hospitable, bringing joy, making some money. There is not one of those business owners who goes to sleep at night without thinking (and stressing) about making rent and paying their loyal employees. The reaction was mean, but amusingly snarky: “Well that’s lipstick on a pig if I’ve ever seen it.” I laughed …
It’s our pig! Unless we start loving the pig, face up to what we have (and what we will miss), we’re going to have empty streets and a place we don’t want to live.
Let’s consciously replace mean with kind (or maybe W42ST needs to get off Facebook!)?
HELL’S KITCHEN’S BEST BURGERS
We thought W42ST readers were passionate about their pizzas after last week’s “best of” list, but we had double the response when we asked the question: “What’s your favorite burger?” Here goes with the flipping best, juiciest burgers in the neighborhood. Remember, juicy doesn’t just mean meat. Our readers told us veggie is “in” and swapping a bun for salad is on many minds (and menus). The Flipping Best Burgers are HERE!
SPONSORED POST
The Hudson Yards Hell’s Kitchen Alliance has relocated its wellness programming to Zoom. Classes are available on evenings Monday – Thursday, and on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and they’re FREE! Donations are being accepted, and distributed to citywide causes. Learn more here.
POLICE WALKING THE STREETS
Holly-Anne Devlin and Marisa Redanty from Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Action Committee (HKNAC) are reporting progress with NYPD. “Effective immediately, highly visible foot patrols have returned to Hell’s Kitchen! NYPD Officers will walk the neighborhood, block by block, once again weaving into the fabric of our community and having a stronger, consistent vantage point of those that are in our community with intent to harm, and eradicating this behavior. This new patrol began yesterday afternoon, in addition to a strengthened NYPD presence all over Hell’s Kitchen that has been felt in the last two weeks, with multiple arrests being made due to photos and videos submitted to NYPD by the HKNAC on behalf of HK residents like you.” More details are available by subscribing to the action group’s newsletter at nycfornyc.com. Please tag #W42ST in pictures when you see the new patrols.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
Complaints about non-compliance with COVID-19 reopening rules are on the increase in the neighborhood. More here…
They’re planning to release a live album of Nick Cordero’s 2019 Feinstein’s/54 Below show, to benefit the late Hell’s Kitchen actor’s wife and son. RIP Nick…
It’s a perfect time to become a tourist in your own city, says NYC & Company. We said it first…!
Huge budget shortfalls mean the MTA is being forced to take some tough decisions. Cuts…
Why this pandemic has brought a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘fair weather friend’…
AN APPEAL
The last few months have been hard on all of us – financially, emotionally, physically. One thing we’ve come to truly value is the importance of community – “our” people. All your messages of love, support, and laughter have been a lifeline.
Many of you are also supporting us financially, at a time when our advertising revenue has disappeared. We thank you. If you are in a position to support us, any contribution, no matter how small, will help ensure the future of W42ST.