Happy Thursday. The western wildfire smoke is clearing, and we should have blue skies and fluffy clouds today. However, yesterday was the worst air quality in NYC for 14 years — you can read why here.

The green future of New York is unlikely to be delivered by cars. For the past 6 weeks, we’ve had two autonomous vehicles driving around hands-free in a test authorized by the State. Mobileye has learned much about the Big Apple’s special challenges — they outline seven of them. Christine Berthet from Hell’s Kitchen transport action group, CHEKPEDS says: “A car is a car: there are too many of them in our limited space. And who are you going to yell at if no one is driving them?” Read more…


Where’s your favorite Hell’s Kitchen Wine Bar? We’re looking to find out your go-to place to sip a glass of red, white or rose.

Share your secret and we’ll enter you into a sweepstake for two tickets to Speakeasy at Bond 45. The supper club burlesque experience is described as “a bawdy, boozy night of revelry that goes down easy.” It’s been extended through August.

Enter now — favorite Hell’s Kitchen Wine Bar!


SPONSORED POST

Dance to all the hits that shaped NYC club culture — Funk & Soul, Disco, Hip-Hop, House, Latin + more, all spun on vinyl. Details here…


What we’ve been reading

New York — the most unaffordable city…? (amNY)

Well done to Three Roosters on making Ryan Sutton’s list! (Eater)

Tourist robbed of engagement ring and wedding band on Restaurant Row. (New York Post)

Vision Zero is no hero for New Yorkers in 2021. (City Limits)

Scabby the Rat is free to continue picketing. (Intelligencer)


Freeze Frame

What a difference a day makes. In 24 little hours, Sal Salomon’s GoFundMe — started by HK Litter Legion’s Catie Savage — raised over $10,000. The rush to support Sal was helped by a feature from Nicholas Heller and his Instagram account @newyorknico.

Sal’s next step is to find a Hell’s Kitchen landlord to rent to him. Know anyone?

Finally, Catie has also been quietly raising money for Jan — who’s our supplemental street cleaner on 9th Avenue. He was one of those in a local hotel during the pandemic but has been moved back to a congregate shelter in Brownsville. She’s working to get him into housing with Clinton Housing Development Co. If you want to help, there’s a Paypal Pool.