Good morning and welcome to the weekend. It’s looking like a couch day, with our friends at New York Metro Weather saying: “Saturday’s Weather Rating: 1/10. Rain this morning, a wintry mix soon, and snow by this afternoon with strong winds likely as well. This ain’t it, man.”
A “drug dealer” operating out of luxury apartments around Hell’s Kitchen has been arrested and charged after allegedly being found with 1,000 pills stuffed inside a dog toy. Read more…
Spring is coming — and as New York ushers in a new season, Daylight Saving Time is upon us. But as we change our clocks tomorrow (Spring forward, remember?) it seems like the perfect time to delve deeper into the reasons why we have DST in the first place. Read more…
Here’s our weekly update on what’s been happening around Hell’s Kitchen.
The HK Free Store, founded by neighborhood residents Bailey Sperling and Chana Widawski, will turn one this weekend. There are birthday celebrations planned for tomorrow (Sunday). Read more…
The Hell’s Kitchen Litter Legion has been helping to keep our streets clean throughout COVID. Last Sunday, Borough President Mark Levine turned out to clean up trash with the volunteers. Thanks to Grace Copeland for this lovely photo essay…
As the work-from-home revolution takes hold, the New York real estate industry is pushing for the conversion of offices to apartments to create a 24-hour neighborhood in Midtown. The move has gained support from the Mayor and Governor. Read more…
Outsized rent increases continue to plague NYC tenants, as everyone from incensed TikTokers to luxury high-rise residents commiserate over the financial squeeze. As New York rents surge past double the national average, one group of tenants at Midtown’s Ritz Plaza have decided to demand change from their management company. Read more…
Last week, Hell’s Kitchen super-dad Chad MacDonald pulled on his Batman cape for a night out with friends at the movies. On the way he used his superpowers (and first aid skills learned at PS 51) to save a life. Read more…
The drama of a mom juggling boarding an MTA bus, folding a stroller while trying to keep her youngster upright (spoiler — the child tumbles and bangs her head) was captured in video by W42ST reader, Leslie Boghosian Murphy. We report on moves towards making local buses more friendly for caregivers. Read more…
“Some restaurants got funded, leaving the rest of us behind to struggle,” local business owners react to Congress not replenishing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Nationally, 177,000 restaurants missed out on funding while 100,000 of their competitors were given a huge and unfair advantage — and that scenario is mirrored in Hell’s Kitchen. Read more…
Locals looking for exciting new entertainment needn’t go far — a brand new Off-Broadway venue and new works incubator is headed to the former Davenport Theatre on W45th Street as veteran Producer Al Tapper and Artistic Director Tony Sportiello set to open the AMT Theater. W42ST caught up with the two producers at the venue-in-progress as construction forges ahead for a June opening. Read more…
Filling up your car on 11th Avenue may soon cost as much as financing a Porsche or Bentley across the street, as New York gas prices increase by the minute amid record inflation and the US ban on Russian oil imports. Read more…
Scaffolding. It’s an $8 billion dollar industry, part of the fabric of New York City, and certainly a fixture of the streetscape of Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen. Sarah Beling has been researching how the death of a student in 1979 drove the growth. Read more…
Police are searching for 4 suspects after a gun was stolen from an off-duty NYPD officer in front of a 9th Avenue deli early yesterday morning. Read more…
What we’ve been reading
Two years since Broadway’s COVID lockdown, it’s still challenged by the virus. (NY1)
A Hell’s Kitchen love story that didn’t quite work out… (Brick Underground)
The Brooklyn Chop House is opening over 5 levels in Times Square. (amNY)
There has been a flurry of high-profile union organizing in New York City — at REI, New York Times and Starbucks. (Gothamist)
The history of New York’s high-rise Rainbow Room. (Punch Drink)
Freeze Frame
Thanks to photographer Madhavan for managing to make this dreary day look bright. “Don’t let walking into the unknown prevent you from taking the journey,” he said on Instagram. “On my walkabout from Chelsea to Hell’s Kitchen, I noticed fog rolling in so I went up to the rooftop to snap some photos. Only NYC can make even fog look festive and colorful.”
Happy birthday to Edmond Busby.
