Happy Saturday and welcome to PRIDE weekend! It’s going to be hot and humid out there — make sure to keep hydrated… and have fun!
We’ve pulled together a list of Hell’s Kitchen’s gay bars and drag scene. Check it out here — and as an added bonus we’d love you to tell us your favorite and why (and you get the chance to win a $100 gift card for Kashkaval Garden as a thank you!).
It’s almost lights up on VERS NYC, a new bar from Hell’s Kitchen native David DeParolesa. After a mountain of bureaucratic red tape, it is finally set to open just after PRIDE. Read more…
SPONSORED POST
Steve Olsen and his team at the West Bank Cafe are opening up for brunch again this weekend. Make a reservation and there will be a complimentary Prosecco for all guests!
Here’s the rest of the news from Hell’s Kitchen this week…
Last Saturday, a two alarm fire at a five-story apartment building on 11th Avenue made all residents homeless. There were no serious injuries and we’re pleased to report that the two missing cats were recovered safely. Read more…
CEO and founder of Out Leadership and Hell’s Kitchen resident Todd Sears recalled a theater trip over 25 years ago to see Angels in America that changed the course of his life – and shared his West Side Story. Read more…
New Yorkers searching for charming caffeination and community contribution needn’t look further than the Loyalty Foundation on W57th Street and 10th Avenue — where a brand-new coffee shop and computer donation site serves to support children. Read more…
Back in May, we spotted The Waylon shuttered for a day while a film crew took over the 10th Avenue bar. The secret is out… Check out Seth Meyers and Post Malone day drinking in Hell’s Kitchen. Read more…
Our friends at THE CITY have been reporting on a couple of local issues. First up… Across the five boroughs, 107 roads and bridges are rated as poor out of the 1,477 that make up the DOT, NYSTA and MTA’s jurisdiction. So what can be done about it?
Secondly, this week a sharply divided Rent Guidelines Board voted to increase rents for the city’s nearly 1 million rent regulated apartments by 3.25% in the coming year in a decision that satisfied neither tenants nor landlords. Read more…
Hell’s Kitchen was on fire when Madonna took to the stage. “Are you coming to see mother and her children Thursday night, bitches?” was Madge’s backstage message on Instagram — and then the marquee lights went up in the neighborhood to announce the arrival of her Finally Enough Love show. Read more…
Sweating the latest rent hike approval? Another luxury building on the border of Hudson Yards and Hell’s Kitchen has just hit the housing lottery market. Read more…
Thank you to Jay Valle at NBC for continuing to report on the death of Julio Ramirez. The 25-year-old left Ritz Bar and Lounge in Hell’s Kitchen over two months ago. Police say a video showed him getting into a car with three men — he was found dead an hour later with no phone or wallet.
Police told NBC and W42ST: “At this time there is nothing further.” There is still no official autopsy or cause of death. The video of the three men has not been released. We will continue to campaign for Justice for Julio. Please call your NYPD contacts and elected officials to get answers.
Check out W42ST Lifestyle Editor Sarah Beling’s weekly newsletter — “Make Way For The Weekend” — your curated guide to the best of New York events in one convenient newsletter!
Subway car cameras are set to be installed amid growing security concerns, while a proposed expansion of a successful city surveillance program would ask New Yorkers to “rat” on each other for parking violations. We report on Snitch and the City…
“The only way to escape from a housing crisis caused by a housing shortage is to build more housing, and we don’t have time to wait” — housing advocate Jeremiah Johnson has written an Op-Ed on why community activism is a double-edged sword. Read more…
What we’ve been reading
As inflation rises, wine pours are shrinking… (New York Post)
Lawyers are lining up to take offices in Manhattan West and Hudson Yards. (The Real Deal)
Want to snag that NYC apartment? You might have to offer the landlord an incentive!! (Brick Underground)
New York will now operate speed cameras 24/7. (Gothamist)
Legends — drag artists of a certain age are featured in a new book. (New York Times)
Freeze Frame
Thanks to dog walker Tony Louis Sweet for this picture of Dusk, Bentley and Blake.
Happy birthday to Denice Flores Almendares and Benjamin Huntington.
