Good morning. We’re so excited to have a sunny weekend ahead of us. We hope you have some fabulous plans…
If you’re adventurous and feeling limited by the abundance of chicken and beef at most restaurants, you’ll want to check out Dark Side of the Moo, where the menu reads like a zoo with options ranging from kangaroo burgers to alligator gumbo. There’s a vegan option too! Read more…
Here’s what else has been happening this week in Hell’s Kitchen…
A week ago, we watched Senator Chuck Schumer take a bow in front of a Broadway audience for his assistance in pushing through the Shuttered Venues Operator Grants that saved our stages. We also reported on an appeal by Brian Keyser from Casellula for Senator Schumer to fully fund the Restaurant Revitalization Fund — which has saved one-third of our local restaurants but left two-thirds struggling for survival.
This week, we published an Op-Ed which pushes for Senator Schumer to help local news organizations, like W42ST, to survive. There is hope that the Local Journalism Sustainability Act might be included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Read more…
Felix Atlasman, the owner of American Home Hardware and More, has become another Hell’s Kitchen small business owner shut down by the pandemic. He’s filed for bankruptcy and the hardware business that’s been on 9th Avenue for 66 years will close. Read more…
Back in January, in the pursuit of something relevant to write about Martin Luther King Day, a Google search led me to Reverend Walter Rauschenbusch, which led me to his great-grandson, which led me to a story of America’s “first totally uninhibited gay discotheque” that included where the technique of “mixing” was invented — oh, and there was a brutal murder. You’ll need to get a big coffee to read about the historic Hell’s Kitchen building where Little Shop of Horrors reopened this week. We present: Religion, Disco, Death and Drama — Westside Theatre’s History Reads Like a Play in 3 Acts.
Thanks again to Gary Hershorn for capturing the New York skyline as the Harvest Moon rose this week. The Empire State Building was green last night for Climate Week NYC. If you missed Meatless Monday (Kashkaval Garden and Meatball Shop both participated) there are more activities to get involved in until tomorrow, September 26. Details here…
Thanks to Matt Fox from Fine and Dandy, who tipped us off a couple of weeks ago about the new mural on the side of the old Therapy building on W52nd Street. We’ve been walking by regularly to check on completion — and were told this week that it was complete! We couldn’t find out the artist’s name, but we did find out that the management from Boxers will be opening up a club called “Hush” there in a month or so.
Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin was in Hell’s Kitchen this week to “dedicate” the new Irish Arts Center on 11th Avenue. He unveiled a single 1916 brick — check our story to find out why.
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New York City is getting its first public electric vehicle charging hub at Manhattan Plaza this fall. Charging times can last from 30 minutes to three hours to 6-8 hours. We have the details and some suggestions of how you can spend your time while boosting your battery. More here…
Big city landlords are planning to use more carrot and less stick to motivate their renters. Local property developers including The Moinian Group, Related, Avalon and Equity Residential have become part of a $60 million round of investment in Bilt Rewards — a new credit card linked to rental payments. More here…
New York City has passed food delivery app laws that will secure workers minimum pay, mandate use of bathrooms and more.“We shouldn’t have needed a pandemic, or a hurricane, for us to recognize that Deliveristas are essential workers who deserve essential rights,” said Brad Lander — who is destined to be the city’s next Comptroller. Details here…
The hourglasses will be turning again on Restaurant Row as one of the favorite Theater District and Hell’s Kitchen eateries returns — with many old traditions and some new ideas. More here…
On the face of it, Port Authority Bus Terminal isn’t the ideal spot for an art installation — but from October 3 you’re invited to smile, frown, pull a funny face… whatever floats your boat — and become part of Inside Out: NY Together. The project is by French artist JR, who has created installations all over the world – and who made quite an impression on Times Square on his 2013 visit to New York City. Read more…
We’re sad to report that the demolition of the “If there is no struggle, there can be no progress” mosaic at the Martin Luther King Jr Labor Center on W43rd Street is complete. Thanks to Alex Albanese for this photo of the final moments.
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What we’ve been reading
Governors Ball is happening again this weekend — in a parking lot in Queens. (NY1)
Eight unvaccinated cops have been hospitalized in a serious condition. (NBC)
Broker fees have made an unwelcome comeback in New York. (Gothamist)
Check out these treasures on show at the New York Public Library. (Untapped Cities)
The Bowery Boys turn the spotlight on three brothers who built Broadway. (The Bowery Boys)
Freeze Frame
This week is one year since I took over as sole editor of W42ST. I’ve been supported daily in that work by the love and practical help of my GF and sister — along with readers like Catie Savage, Matt Fox, Holly-Anne Devlin, Lynnette Blanche, Mackenzie Murray, Renee Lutz Stanley and many more in reporting on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Thank you!
Our story last week on the arrival of Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady initially drew joy at a sign of New York life getting back to normal. The subsequent op-ed from Leslie Boghosian Murphy about the environmental impact of these ships drew an opposite reaction.
We’ve subsequently started to research more:
- Mayor Bloomberg in 2012 said that cruise ships had a $200m positive economic impact on New York.
- The Scarlet Lady is the first carbon-neutral ship — whatever it does in Hell’s Kitchen is balanced with carbon offsets in other parts of the world.
- The Friends of the Earth Cruise 2021 Cruise Ship Report Card gives both Virgin Voyages and Norwegian Cruises an F on air polution reduction — while Disney gets an A-.
- The Norwegian Breakaway that arrived last weekend will be here until its departure on tomorrow (Sunday). It did “disappear” to a trip out to see for 18 hours this week.
- Cruise ships are allowed to dump raw sewage into the sea, as long as they are 12 miles offshore.
We’d love to report more thoroughly on this issue. The idea of “think global, act local” is very dear to our hearts. The New York Times did an excellent piece on cruise ship pollution (in Brooklyn) in 2019. However, we just don’t have the resources to undertake this important work. We are applying this month for support from Report for America to subsidize recruitment of a reporter — if successful, we will have someone on staff in June 2022.
If you can help in the meantime, the link is below. Any support we receive will be used towards more reporting of the important issues that need to be highlighted in Hell’s Kitchen.
Happy birthday this weekend to Alexandra Huff and Jill Hamilton-Brice.