Happy Saturday. We hope you’ve had a great week. Those fall colors are pushing through — enjoy the weekend.
Your kitchen drawer stuffed with plastic utensils, condiments and paper napkins may soon be a thing of the past. The solution, New York City council members passing a #SkipTheStuff bill. Here are the details — but we’ve got to ask, why does this sort of stuff need a bill? Isn’t it just common sense?
On Sunday, we headed over to Times Square to listen to Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and a group of local Business Improvement District leaders talk about the crisis in midtown. “People are shooting up and shooting each other,” said Times Square President Tom Harris. More details here…
SPONSORED POST
Did you see Sunday’s rainbow? If not, feast your eyes on these amazing images below from Ryan Sullivan of the circular double rainbow from the 47th Floor of Silver Towers and Michael Miller on the corner of W52nd Street and 9th Avenue.
Sting’s favorite New York corner looks a little different this week. At 57th and 9th (the name of the singer’s 2016 album) Justino’s Pizza has taken over from the Morning Star Diner that permanently closed last December. They opened on Monday.
On the opposite corner of the junction, Curtis Sliwa took his New York Mayoral campaign to the streets on Thursday. We’ve not got the resources to cover the city’s politics equitably — but we thought our recording of Silwa being drowned out by 9th Avenue traffic was a New York minute worth sharing.
The city’s wildlife is coming under threat from what it’s eating. Owls and hawks are feasting on poisoned rats and mice and it’s “killing the most celebrated wildlife that we have in New York City.” More here…
Run, don’t walk! New Yorkers can now get on the flight deck of the Intrepid Museum for half price. The new deal started yesterday. Details here… TOP TIP! If you want just a sample of what Intrepid has to offer — or a nice walk out to the Hudson River — Pier 86 is free to the public. To access the pier for free, just enter through the Welcome Center during museum hours.
The weather is changing and you will soon be feeling the chill — especially if you want to continue outdoor dining this fall and winter. New York has confirmed that propane heaters will be banned at restaurants. “Wow! We probably don’t have enough spare electricity to add electric heaters. We have 400 amps in our restaurant and most of it is already used. The rules change every day. I believe it’s going to be an extremely difficult winter for restaurants,” said Steve Olsen from West Bank Cafe on hearing the news. More here…
Here’s a milestone for post-pandemic nightlife in New York: Manhattan’s newest nightclub, Nebula, will be bringing the beats to 135 W41st Street from Friday, November 5. The sprawling 11,000 square foot club, which cost $12 million, is also the largest to open in Manhattan so far this year. Details here…
A full moon rose behind The Edge on Wednesday evening as Hudson Yards closed a deal with investment firm KKR for a majority stake in the vertigo-inducing observation deck. Related Companies must be over the moon, if you will, as the 1,100-foot-tall deck (well, 75% of it) sold for the sky-high sum of $508.5 million. Details here…
COMMUNITY POST
We asked your opinion of outdoor dining in Hell’s Kitchen — and over 270 of you replied with views on what’s become an emotive subject in New York. We also spoke to local business owners whose livelihood has been saved by the Open Restaurants program — but who are now threatened by changes that the city continues to make to regulations. Read our report…
Six years ago, when artistic director Grant Neale lived on W50th Street and 11th Avenue, he would “see all these people streaming from the cruise ships and missing the story of Hell’s Kitchen and the people.” This week, he’s brought a theatrical walking tour to the neighborhood to introduce the streets and the characters to a wandering audience in Butterfly Effect NYC. Read about our walk…
We reported last weekend about the Shadowman appearing on W37th Street. The street art (or graffiti) mimics the work of Richard Hambleton. known as “the godfather of street art” and his “shadowman” signature work. Hambleton died at the age of 65 in October 2017. This week, the New York Times reported on the stealth artist from Seattle who has been creating this work.
What we’ve been reading
Historic Hell’s Kitchen women’s residence to be demolished. (Patch)
It’s ladybug season in the city… Who knew? (New York Almanack)
A multi-level wellness theme park is being planned for New York by High Line founder. (Crain’s)
Ghost kitchen shut down after operating in the city without permits. (Business Insider)
Bluefin tuna is becoming a big catch in New York Harbor. (NBC)
Freeze Frame
Peter Shankman has been traveling this week — but was greeted on his return home yesterday with this amazing sunset. “Last night, driving back to LAX, I saw an amazing California sunset. But it still didn’t compare to the one I witnessed tonight, back home in Hell’s Kitchen. There truly is no place like home. Sending love and light to you all,” said Peter on Instagram.