Happy Tuesday. Well, the unseasonably (and record-breaking) 74 degrees yesterday looks like it will be followed by snow from 5am tomorrow morning. The winter whiplash continues…
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…
What we’ve been reading
Teachers still telling kids to mask up at Beacon School. (New York Post)
LA sushi hotspot Katsuya is arriving at Manhattan West this week. (Eater)
Peter Panayiotou at Cellar 53 talks about strategies to stop shoplifting at his 10th Avenue wine store. (NY1)
There’s a nice shoutout (or two) for Hold Fast in this Broadway actor profile. (Forbes)
“It sort of took a village to do this” — Chalamets’ mom on raising her kids in Hell’s Kitchen. (The Guardian)
Freeze Frame
One of the complaints from the Ritz Plaza tenants is about the long-term scaffolding at their 45-story luxury building — it’s a popular NYC gripe. Yesterday, we photographed the scaffolding going up around the iconic Film Center covering the fronts of Schmackary’s, 5 Napkin Burger, Nizza, Gregory’s Coffee and Marseille. We asked on social media for guesses on when it would be coming down. So far suggestions have been: “2034” from Max von Essen, “Since the one in front of my building has been up for almost 6 years now, I’ll say the 12th of Neveruary,” said Christy Miller — and “Two years, minimum. During which there will be maybe 2 months of actual work being done,” said @UncleKvetch on Twitter.
However, @MsM_NyC on Twitter thought “about a month” and Mark Tumminelli gave an optimistic “4 Months. Happy Summer.” We’ll let Zachary Schmahl from Schmackary’s have the last word on the subject: “At least it’s tall scaffolding! We’ll try to do our best to integrate it into our storefront design.”
Happy Birthday to Lora Aroyo 🎉
