Good morning and welcome to the weekend. What did you get up to this Friday night? Did you tune in to RuPaul’s Drag Race Season-Finale? Condragdulations to the winner!
It’s hard to imagine that a year ago you couldn’t walk along the middle of Restaurant Row without being hit by a car! The city’s “Open Streets” has helped the row take shape and it’s wonderful to see old favorites like Becco and Lattanzi back in business.
Last night, our social media feed came alive with bands playing to diners on 9th and 10th Avenues. Thanks to JoAnn for video of the impromptu concert being played outside her window!
Here’s our weekend catch up on what happened last week in Hell’s Kitchen.
Did you find a copy of The Village Voice? After printing its final copy back in September 2017, it has a new owner and hit the streets again. The new cover says: “New York’s Coming Back. And So Are We.”
Congratulation on the comeback. For those of you asking if W42ST will return in print — we’ll take a view when Broadway comes back…
There are even more opportunities to get out and about this spring. Governor Cuomo has set out plans to relax restrictions for movie theaters, museums and arenas. More details here…
We discovered that many of our daily newsletter readers who have followed W42ST during the pandemic were not aware of our own print pedigree. If you want to find out more — you can leaf through our archive of over 60 issues here.
Here’s our April 2018 issue for your to peruse. A whole magazine themed around commuting to give you a flashback to those pre-WFH days!
The city will launch a $30 million tourism campaign in June to bring visitors back, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced. He made the commitment to “NYC Reawakens” at a press conference, alongside Fred Dixon, the boss of NYC & Company and Chef Daniel Boulud. More here…
New Yorker and musical theater lover Michael Kors chose Broadway as the runway to celebrate his fashion house’s 40th anniversary. Earlier in the month, as reported in this newsletter, the fashion brand closed off W45th Street for the evening to parade his fall/winter collection with many of the world’s top models. There’s a fun intro to the show with Broadway stars at Sardi’s.
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For over 40 years Zagat has been the definitive restaurant pocket guide for those searching for the best in New York dining — now it’s coming back, but it’s digital and only for Miami! Read more…
Manganaro’s, a feature of 9th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen since 1893, has closed. For the first time in over 100 years, the block between W37th and W38th Street will not display the Manganaro family name. We have been leafing through the pages of their New York foodie history…
We spotted Howie Ostrofsky sitting in his bar, On the Rocks, on 10th Avenue. The cozy whiskey bar has been shuttered since March 2020 — so it was a real double-take moment. Howie’s not opening yet (he expects to be serving again in September — or “when the Governor opens up to 100% indoors”). Meanwhile, he’s doing work on the air filters and taking delivery of some very special whiskey. Cheers to that!
What we’ve been reading
Rental prices are still taking a dive in some NYC neighborhoods. (TimeOut)
Mark your calendars with these Summer on the Hudson dates in Riverside Park. (NYC Parks)
Nextdoor tackles racist users. (Vice)
Protesting food delivery workers get union backing. (Eater)
Just in time for the weekend, the 2021 NYC Bike Map has arrived! (NYC DOT)
Freeze Frame
Two of our favorite Hell’s Kitchen things to end the week — Puccini and FDNY Rescue 1. Have a great weekend.