Good morning and happy Saturday. We’re going to remain hot underneath the cloud cover this weekend. Temperatures in the 80s are interspersed with a few showers.
Robert Gans has put a portfolio of his real estate holding companies, including Hell’s Kitchen’s Metropolitan Lumber & Hardware and strip joint the Executive Club, into bankruptcy protection amid a spider’s web of contentious lawsuits. Read more…
Stand clear of the coming doors! The MTA has put up a want ad for companies seeking to install platform barriers at three stations in the subway system. Read more…
Here’s the rest of the news in Hell’s Kitchen this week…
Domus owners Luisa Cerutti and Nicki Lindheimer are grateful for the support of the Hell’s Kitchen community after an attack at their W44th Street store that left Nicki needing 10 stitches. They will, for now, keep their door locked and ask customers to ring the bell for entry. Read more…
This year, New York’s Restaurant Week’s savory savings last over a month in celebration of its 30th birthday! Here are the Hell’s Kitchen eateries with prix fixe meal deals. Read more…
Ahoy there, cheese lovers! A new family-owned Georgian fusion eatery, Cheeseboat is readying for opening on 9th Avenue where Uncle Nick’s Greek Cuisine used to be. This week, we got to check out inside and meet mom and son. Read more…
“There was a very emotional response to seeing perfectly good food in the garbage” — New York City organic food waste rules for business will be enforced again from the end of July. Read more…
Every day we think about Julio Ramirez — and we continue to be frustrated at the lack of progress in the investigation of the death of the 25-year-old after leaving the Ritz Bar in Hell’s Kitchen back in April.
His friend, Karinina Quimpo, posted on Instagram: “I don’t have any updates about Julio’s case yet. In the last two weeks, I realized I’d been so busy the last two months getting the media to pay attention to Julio Ramirez, that I forgot to take time to process what I was really feeling. If I’m honest, that was probably intentional.
“On Snapchat, I’ve noticed that all of my Bitmoji stories lately have been about Julio. I hadn’t been on Snapchat since college. These Bitmoji stories are fictional scenarios on Snapchat. This particular one feels like a real conversation Julio and I would have had. He was so funny, sarcastic, and the best kind of company. I miss my friend terribly,” she said.
We share the sentiments of what she said at the end of her post. “As we remain painfully patient, please don’t forget about Julio Ramirez. His case is still unsolved and ongoing. We still need answers. If anyone has any information, please come forward. Thank you for following his story. We will get Justice for Julio Ramirez 💛.” Please hit reply if you have ideas on how to move things forward on this…
Looking out the window on Tuesday afternoon we spotted three NY Waterway ferries clustered around some smaller boats. The tragedy that unfolded led to the deaths of a woman and child and the rescue of 10 others. Read more…
Artist Tanager George’s intricately detailed works show the Big Apple’s serpentine subway and railroad systems ebbing and flowing beneath the blocks and buildings of New York and Hell’s Kitchen. Read more…
Check out this cool Manhattan neighborhood quiz that a Redditor has spent a couple of days creating. We got them all right (on the second attempt). After playing, you can then indulge in hours of fun arguing about the borders of the different neighborhoods. Enjoy…
As Prime Day deliveries descended on the city and building staff faced insurmountable piles of packages, some experts called for a rethink. Meanwhile, New York concierges found solutions for their residents. Read more…
While the theater world returns to “normal”, behind the scenes Michael Kushner has been fighting an intense, two-year battle to diagnose myriad symptoms cascading from first-wave COVID-19. Read more…
Still making plans for this weekend? Check out W42ST Lifestyle Editor Sarah Beling’s “Make Way For The Weekend” newsletter — your curated guide to the best of New York events.
Hell’s Kitchen renters now find themselves at a pricing doomsday. Just two weeks after real estate reports outlined a slight slowdown in rental prices nationwide, New York has answered back with a staggering, history-making statistic — the average Manhattan apartment now costs a cool $5K a month, with West Side rentals not far behind. Read more…
On the same theme, but for businesses… “Simply put, the rents are too damn high” — Manhattan has seen huge losses of business as Brooklyn gained (a little) in City Comptroller’s report. Read more…
What we’ve been reading
Facebook and Amazon cut back on their New York office plans. (Bloomberg)
You couldn’t make this up… The reasons the wealthy left New York 🤣 (The Onion)
“The only way we know to make a park safe again is to actively use it” — the battle to activate New York’s neighborhood green spaces. (New York Times)
Fares for New York UBER rides are mile-high compared to other cities. (New York Post)
Combine cycling and a boat ride with this Statue of Liberty experience on the water. (TimeOut)
Freeze Frame
Yesterday, the New York City Districting Commission released its first draft map of new City Council districts. Under the proposal, Hell’s Kitchen would be split into three. Our view is that our neighborhood should have one representative and not be split along a combination of W49th Street and a zigzag around 9th and 10th Avenues. We will be getting feedback from local officials this weekend — but we’d also like to know yours. Hit reply…
Happy birthday to Edward Enrique.