Good morning. After this morning, we won’t be seeing much sun until the weekend — so go stick your head out the window and take in some rays now.
George has been thinking “bright, bright, bright” as he’s been checking out what studio apartments Hell’s Kitchen has to offer. As he says: “With just a single room for living, it’s important that your studio home attracts enough light to hit every corner.” Look here…
Hell’s Kitchen activist Christine Berthet describes herself as “persistent.” Since landing in New York from France just over 40 years ago, she has fought to reclaim 9th Avenue from “the hellish Lincoln Tunnel traffic”. For the past 15 years, she has focused those efforts through CHEKPEDS (a non-profit) to stop the gridlock, improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists and demand clean air. She was a key member of the Manhattan Community Board 4 team that forced Port Authority to abandon plans to knock down blocks of the neighborhood for a new terminal. Here’s Christine’s West Side Story…
Are you ready for St Patrick’s Day? Much like a Frank Sinatra retirement concert, you cannot keep a great New York bar from making a comeback! The Mean Fiddler is the latest of the “permanently closed” Manhattan eateries to open again (last week it was the Loeb Boathouse at Central Park). Read more about their reopening tomorrow…

What we’ve been reading
Is a fake commute the answer to creating a WFH balance? (Washington Post)
Are e-bikes legal or illegal? It’s complicated, especially on the west side bike path! (Streetsblog)
Looking back on a year in NYC Schools… (WNYC)
Spare a thought for the plight of the musicians at the Met Opera. (New York Times)
Take a peek behind the scenes at The Pierre. (New Yorker)
Freeze Frame

Congratulations to the team at Norma Gastronomia Siciliana for opening on the corner of W53rd St and 9th Ave yesterday (where Georgio’s Country Grill used to be). They’ve transformed the place into a bright, light space.
This week will see many new beginnings too, which is fab news! Check out the new menus at 44&X, ‘ritas, K Rico Steakhouse and B-Side Pizza — who will all be open for business again tomorrow.