Good morning and happy Saturday! The week ended with capacity for indoor dining increasing last night to 35%. Next Friday we will be able to go and see a movie, and although the vaccination rollout has had its issues, we’re hearing daily about more folks getting the shot.
New York’s comeback will not be without changes and setbacks. We reported yesterday that Ogilvy has closed its 11th Avenue headquarters. We spoke to local business owners who were sad at the loss to the community of the Ogilvy staff. “We will miss them dearly. It feels like you’re losing part of your own family,” said Murat Yilmaz at The Jolly Goat Coffee Bar. Pat Hughes at Scruffy Duffy’s described it as “a tremendous loss to businesses in the neighborhood.” More details here…
On W42nd Street, the fight is on to preserve the art deco lobby of the landmarked McGraw-Hill building. In a letter from Community Board 4 to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the executive committee said: “The McGraw-Hill Lobby cries out for protection as soon as possible. Not doing so might result in a monumental loss for one of New York City’s architectural treasures.” Read more here (including a link to the petition)…
Here’s what’s been happening around Hell’s Kitchen this week…
Photographer Tom Zuback started to see love appear on 9th Avenue, in the form of hearts and messages like: “You will be OK. Storms don’t last forever”, “This is tough but so are you”, and “One kind word can change someone’s entire day.”
He sent W42ST a message saying “Do you know who is behind these well planned and carefully crafted, time consuming, put together signs on Ninth Ave?” Here’s the answer…
Governor Cuomo announced that movie theaters can open at 25% capacity. This seemed like a step towards normalcy — and many saw it as a first step towards Broadway coming back.
Hell’s Kitchen’s sidewalks are always a talking point. Whether it was playing dodgeball with tourists pre-COVID or slaloming between garbage bags and dog poop on the streets.
Local activist Christine Berthet wrote an opinion piece for Streetsblog this week headlined: “Pedestrians Are Second-Class Citizens — And Snow Proves It”.
Christine says: “Recent snowstorms showed once again that there is no equity between drivers and pedestrians/bus riders/cyclists in New York City. All lanes of vehicular traffic for cars were cleared of snow in 12 hours, while bus stops, bike lanes, corners and sidewalks were impassable. We should not be surprised: the New York City Sanitation Department calls its mission ‘restoring the blacktop’.”
If you want to help, start by filling in the survey that Christine has created with her colleagues at Community Board 4. It will take 5 minutes. https://tinyurl.com/SidewalkState
The city that never sleeps could be getting a lot quieter at night. The Department of Sanitation is testing out electric garbage trucks. These trucks, like other electric vehicles, can help reduce air pollution that’s linked to thousands of premature deaths in the city each year. Meanwhile, NYPD is putting robotic dogs to work as part of their K9 crew. Who says that New York City isn’t electrifying!? Read more…
This has to be one of the most enjoyable stories we’ve worked on. We asked for the story behind a matchbook for a new feature called Old Flames. The outpouring of affection for Jezebel and its owner Alberta Wright was so amazing that it’s going to be very hard to replicate in future weeks. Thank you to George Georgiou for pulling together the threads of this fabulous piece of Hell’s Kitchen history. Enjoy…
For next week’s Old Flames, we’d love to hear about your memories and stories, and see your pictures of Frico Bar (which then became Curtain Up! followed by Esca) — email george@w42st.com.
New W42ST writer Sophia Michelen met three Hell’s Kitchen Qoyas (that’s Inca queens) who are using a hotel kitchen to produce an amazing Peruvian menu. They’ve shown real resilience to get their business running. Read more…
The sunshine this week has given us hope for spring, and the announcement by Lincoln Center of open-air activities from April gives us a vision of seeing live performance again. Read more…
Manhattan Community Board 4 and the Rauschenbusch Metro Baptist Church have a sock and undergarment drive today and tomorrow afternoon for those in local shelters. Please help if you can.
What we’ve been reading
Coney Island is getting ready to open. (PIX11)
Do you need to be a millionaire to run for NYC Mayor? (The City)
How a hotel lounge has helped a musician find livestream success. (amNY)
Why it’s the golden age of free stuff at the curb… (New York Times)
New York’s Real World is coming home! (Entertainment Weekly)
Freeze Frame
The Snow Moon rises behind The Edge observation deck at Hudson Yards last night. Thanks again Gary Hershorn for being our eyes on the streets of New York City!