Good morning and happy Tuesday. We hope that, like us, you are celebrating having a four-day workweek.

Longtime Hell’s Kitchen bar House of Brews has poured its last pint. It closed last week — another local business victim of the pandemic. We spoke to General Manager and partner Carolina Del Pilar Rivera and Patrick Schmidt from Hell’s Kitchen Hospitality (which also owns Mom’s Kitchen and Dolly Varden) about the closure. More here…


Mark Gordon is a Hell’s Kitchen-based actor and professional drummer. He worked for many years as an Emergency Medical Technician — and was more than surprised when he ended up in hospital with COVID. “About a year ago, I was diagnosed with ‘Reactive Airway Disease’, which is on the spectrum of asthma. I am otherwise extremely healthy, with no other preexisting conditions that would certainly complicate matters into hospitalization. The doctor says I may have just gotten the more severe strain. Or even the milder strain that simply resulted in more serious issues,” he told us. Mark shares his Mt Sinai diary…


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What we’ve been reading

“Invisible Child” — the story of family homelessness in New York. (The Guardian)

Tough times for Broadway as shows close and theaters have empty seats. (New York Times)

Tried out Bryant Park’s cool bumper cars? Sounds like FUN! (Thrillist)

What happens if you got a plutonium-powered pacemaker back in the 70s? (WSJ)

Sit back and enjoy this mesmerizing aerial video of Hudson Yards in winter. (The Dronalist)


Freeze Frame

Good news to report this morning as the COVID infection rates in New York continue to decline. We pulled these figures earlier today (which show the positivity rate in our zip codes until the end of last week). Meanwhile, if you want some light relief from the stress of Omicron, here’s the New Yorker’s “Symptoms of the New Variant may Include.”

Happy belated birthday to Gwyneth Leech, Erin Reifler, Rob Hartsell and Elizabeth Foster.