Good morning and happy Tax Day (yuk!). Don’t let the early morning sunshine fool you. It’s going to be the coldest day we’ve had for a while. Temperatures peak at 56 degrees and the wind will be whistling around our ears for most of the day, starting around 9am.

West Siders who hoped last summer’s record-breaking high rents would cool are preparing to once again feel the burn. Median Manhattan rents — hovering at $3,000 a month during the peak pandemic-concessions era of late 2020 and early 2021 — have skyrocketed, hitting $4,000 a month in May 2022 with no sign of a return to those halcyon days. Read more…

Apartments West Side

Award-winning photographer, artist and creative director Nicole Wilson was born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen and grew up in Manhattan Plaza alongside Alicia Keys. Read Nicole’s West Side Story…

Nicole Wilson

What we’ve been reading

* Stories that might be behind a paywall are marked with a 💰

Here’s how many Citi Bikers cross Central Park each day. (Streetsblog)

Cities are eager to convert offices to apartments amid rising remote work. But it’s harder than you might think. (New York Times💰)

Therapy couches are lying empty in NYC as telehealth takes off. (Curbed💰)

How did a sandwich at NYC’s airports get to be so damned expensive? (Hellgate💰)

Could the original Tick Tock offer you a social media detox? (WSJ)

Freeze Frame

Kenneth Cole lobby

We are intrigued by the ever-changing lobby of the Kenneth Cole HQ on 11th Avenue when we walk by. Does anyone know if they are in or out of Hell’s Kitchen?

Happy birthday to Lisa DeSimone and Erika Longo.