Good morning and welcome to July! The air quality is a little better than yesterday. The smoke will be accompanied with cloud cover for most of today — with an afternoon high of 82 degrees. We’re bubbling up for a 4th of July high in the early 90s. Keep cool…
Wide-ranging regional Indian flavors and an Eleven Madison Park-trained, globe-hopping chef come together at Hyderabadi Zaiqa, a new Indian Grill and Biryani restaurant open now in Hell’s Kitchen. Read more…
Here’s the rest of the news around Hell’s Kitchen this week.
As Hell’s Kitchen celebrated PRIDE, one of the biggest parties was the W52nd Street Community Pride Festival on Sunday afternoon. The non-stop stage performances by drag artists were interrupted early evening by New York’s Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped into the festivities. Read more…
Floridian Davis Janowski is a technology editor but also works as a history-loving kayak guide and instructor at Manhattan Kayak Company. Davis has lived in Hell’s Kitchen for more than two decades. Read Davis’s West Side Story…
It was great to see that Mayor Adams brought a solution to keep bikes off the 9th Avenue “super sidewalk” on Sunday. It was only a short test with these five heavily armed officers, but it seemed to work. Just gotta find the budget for it now… 🤣
Set sail for more tasty summer sunset meals! Locals can now enjoy free admission to two of New York’s most popular floating restaurants, the North River Lobster Company and La Barca Cantina, through the new “Free Boarding for Neighbors” program. Read more…
Say hello to the Department of Sanitation’s Smart Composting Bins! The eye-catching big orange receptacles were installed at multiple locations around the neighborhood on Monday morning. Read more…
An 8th Avenue “supertall” tower containing an amusement park ride has been given the go-ahead by the city’s Department of Buildings — sparking pushback from local residents, who say the busy intersection is no place for a thrill ride. Read more…
From working at Manhattan Plaza Health Club to producing plays and musicals on Broadway, it’s the sense of community that has kept Clayton Howe in Hell’s Kitchen through his New York journey (and a desire to live on W43rd Street). Read Clay’s West Side Story…
Tired of refreshing Resy, only to find the city’s hottest restaurants already booked out? A new app aims to outwit, outplay and outlast the popular booking system to give “everyday diners” a fighting chance of trying Don Angie’s lasagna. Read more…
Times Square is the Crossroads of the World, the place where the ball drops to mark each new year — and also, for half a century, the location of TKTS. On Wednesday, the Theater Development Fund (TDF) celebrated 50 years of ticket selling at the famous red steps in Father Duffy Square. Read more…
Thank you to Leslie Boghosian Murphy for this FREEZE Frame photo of James Healy and Jason Wade Mann stocking up their new Ben & Jerry’s store on W51st Street (just west of 9th Avenue). What a COOL pic! They are now open 12-12, 7 days a week.
Check out Sarah’s latest edition of “Make Way for the Weekend” for ideas of what to do around New York — including 4th of July events. Read more…
Hundreds of mourners gathered at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church on Thursday to pay tribute to Ava Conklin, a Hell’s Kitchen teenager who was hit and killed by a car last weekend while waiting for a bus from her job in the Rockaways. Read more…
Tony Award winner John Rubinstein is currently playing the title role in Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground at Theatre at St Clements in Hell’s Kitchen, but his love affair with the neighborhood goes back to the 1970s. He rides his bike to and from the theater every day. Read his West Side Story…
What we’ve been reading
* Stories that might be behind a paywall are marked with a 💰
Garment District businesses will get $4.5m in grant support. (WWD)
Have you been spotting swarms of gnats? They are annoying… but probably just harmless aphids. (CBS)
Legislation could remove non-compete clauses from employment contracts. (Forbes)
Storms and smoke are taking a toll on NYC’s air traffic. (The Sun)
Fork that!! Fines are coming for extras added to takeout orders. (Bloomberg💰)
Freeze Frame
Thank you to the readers who volunteered this week to help with the painting of the new murals on W37th Street between 9/10th Avenue. The finishing touches were being made yesterday when we dropped by — and the HYHK Alliance said they were overwhelmed and thankful for the offers of support. Hell’s Kitchen is looking a little brighter this weekend…
Happy birthday today to Jim Henderson and Rob Bowman — and to David Lindo tomorrow.