Happy Wednesday. After offering you just one long story to read yesterday — today’s newsletter is full of small taster tales. Let’s start with three Hell’s Kitchen walls.
Since we reported in February about the demolition of the “If there is no struggle, there can be no progress” mosaic at the Martin Luther King Jr Labor Center on W43rd Street — we’ve been popping by a couple of times a week to see if it’s still there. Yesterday, the demolition of the 13 story building was down to the ground floor. At lunchtime, the mural remained — but with debris hanging over it.
Later in the day, we checked back and the debris had been removed, but one of the workers looked like she’d had a vaccination. We live in the hope that the architects have found a way to preserve the mural. Watch this space…
We often get asked, “what the hell’s happening to that old Starbucks on the corner of W47th Street?”. The 4 story corner building on 9th Avenue has been vacant since the summer of 2016 — and in recent times it’s hosted a mix of graffiti and interesting street art (we love you, Dolly!).
We noted that there have been a couple of strange devices on tripods at each end of the building. We asked a worker yesterday what’s going on. Apparently, the devices are monitors for “dust and vapor” and they are working in the basement to remove chemicals that were a remnant of a previous tenant who was a dry cleaner. Our question of “when will this be sorted?” was greeted with an eye roll. Watch this space…
Thanks to Matt Fox from Fine and Dandy, who tipped us off a couple of weeks ago about the new mural on the side of the old Therapy building on W52nd Street. We’ve been walking by regularly to check on completion — and were told yesterday that it was complete! We couldn’t find out the artist’s name, but we did find out that Boxers will be opening up there in a month or so.
SPONSORED POST
Mark Fisher Fitness is offering two free workouts at NYC’s friendliest, quirkiest gym! Click here…
Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin was in Hell’s Kitchen yesterday to dedicate the new Irish Arts Center on 11th Avenue. He unveiled a single 1916 brick — check our story to find out why.
In other 11th Avenue news, the road was closed last night for milling. We’re expecting the tweets of ConEd trucks and MTA buses blocking the bike lanes (that’s you, Jeffrey) to be replaced by photos of damaged tires for the next couple of weeks. It’s going to be a bumpy ride!
New York City is getting its first public electric vehicle charging hub at Manhattan Plaza this fall. Charging times can last from 30 minutes to three hours to 6-8 hours. We have the details and some suggestions of how you can spend your time while boosting your battery. More here…
What we’ve been reading
An insured New York couple’s baby died — then they got a medical bill of over $250,000. (New York Times)
Rent relief funds could run dry next week in New York. (The Real Deal)
This guy visited every Citi Bike station — over 1,600 of them! (New York Post)
New York has started to remove police from school corridors. (The Guardian)
New York Oyster season in the 19th Century was strictly when there was an “r” in the month. (New York Almanac)
Freeze Frame
If all that reading wasn’t enough — and you didn’t find 10 minutes yesterday — you can enjoy “Religion, Disco, Death and Drama — Westside Theatre’s History Reads Like a Play in 3 Acts.” Welcome back to Little Shop of Horrors on W43rd Street!
FINAL NEWS — there’s a multimillionaire in our midst! The winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket, worth an estimated $432 million, was sold at Pronto Pizza on W48th Street near 6th Avenue. The winning numbers are 36, 41, 45, 51, 56 + Mega Ball 13.
Happy Birthday to Joe Iconis!