Happy Saturday and welcome to the weekend. Get out and about today — as it’s looking like we are in for a showery Sunday.
Cycling along 11th Avenue for the past few weeks, we’ve been seeing dumpsters filling up outside the studios of The Daily Show. After 25 years and four Hell’s Kitchen locations, the legendary late night show is leaving the neighborhood. Don’t worry though, they are not moving too far — and there’s a new show coming to take its place. More here…
Costume creators are taking center stage on W42nd Street for the next eight weeks. The former Modells has been taken over with an exhibition that features more than 100 costumes from stage and screen. More about Showstoppers here… (Thanks to Bobby Pearce for this stunning image of Ruth E. Carter’s Oscar-winning Black Panther costume — and tipping us off about the event.)
Here’s what’s been happening this week in the neighborhood — and by the way, please share this newsletter since that’s how most people discover W42ST.
The month started well with three familiar faces greeting Hell’s Kitchen drinkers as Rudy’s legendary dive bar opened its doors again. Owner Jack Ertl was on hand, along with long-time general manager Danny DePamphilis — and, of course, Baron von Swine had his wave and piggy smile ready at the door of the 9th Avenue saloon. Details and more pictures here…
Last month was the 3rd wettest July on record in New York with over 11 inches of rainfall. Our friends at THE CITY have pulled together a climate change plan for New Yorkers — it’s worth a read!
When Nick Ferrao, the guy behind popular podcast and Instagram site Broadway Belters, took a flight last week, he watched what was going on around him and concluded “Broadway ushers are about to become COVID safety face mask enforcers.”
Nick spent the journey witnessing flight attendants constantly asking customers to wear or pull up their masks. “I thought that Broadway ushers are going to be like flight attendants, where they constantly have to remind people — except there’s going to be a performance happening at the same time. So that’s what triggered my thought that this could be awful.” Read more…
Thanks to Chris LeBron for the reminder that today’s the day when Clinton Community Garden sells keys to local residents (it’s first Tuesday and Saturday of the month). For $15 you can get access to this Hell’s Kitchen paradise on W48th Street between 9/10th Avenues. Be there 11-12 noon today. We’ve not been there for a few weeks, please report back on how the grapevines are doing!
Our visit last week to Sullivan County brought us a Hell’s Kitchen connection with the New Munson Diner. Just before we left, we dropped by the Callicoon Wine Merchant and spotted some interesting things in the restroom — including a menu for The Market Cafe on 9th Avenue. We tell the story of Chef Robin Mailey’s journey from HK to the Catskills.
We are saying au revoir, but not goodbye to two local pandemic popups. The queens of Qoyas have stopped taking delivery orders from their ghost kitchen, but will still be open to help with any catering needs. They told us yesterday: “We’d like to thank everyone who supported us and was able to taste our authentic Peruvian flavors.”
Meanwhile, you still have the rest of the month to try out Mikey Pomodoro’s elevated comfort food, which they describe as “if your favorite Italian restaurant slept with a Shake Shack.” Their popup on 9th Avenue will move on at the end of August. Co-owner Michael Miranti told us: “Thanks to your readers for all the love they’ve shown us over the course of the popup. We don’t want to hint at anything yet until we have something concrete, but the best thing to do would be to follow us on Instagram.” @mikeypomodoro
It was like we’d stepped back in time when we arrived at the August Wilson Theatre on W52nd Street on Wednesday evening. There was a line, there was a buzz, there was garbage piled up, there was Frank DiLella, there were impatient horns in the street, there was a police horse, there were standing ovations, a block party — and even an Evita-like speech from a balcony. Join us for our photo and video coverage of the first new production on Broadway since the pandemic — Pass Over.
Organizers have canceled the 2021 New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center, due to the growing concern about the COVID Delta variant and increased measures put in place by state and local officials this week to stop the spread. One bar owner described the decision as “heartbreaking” as the huge event was “the bright light at the end of this tunnel of hell.” More reaction here…
When Landmark Theatres at VIA 57 West closed in August last year, property developer Douglas Durst wanted to find a new tenant to take on the movie complex. He even posted on the West Side Rag, saying: “I am glad everyone enjoyed the theater. While I cannot promise the knishes will be back, I can promise that the theater will return.”
However, those plans were scuppered when “under the cover of darkness in the middle of the night, the tenant stole valuable property — including hundreds of large leather reclining movie seats which were bolted to the ground.” Read about the $48m lawsuit that followed…
We went off to a cemetery last night. It was the first time we’ve seen a performance of Caroline Shaw’s music — although this Pulitzer and Grammy-winning artist from Hell’s Kitchen has regularly featured in W42ST.
Death of Classical‘s featuring PUBLIQuartet is a part of The Angel’s Share concert series in the Catacombs of the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. It’s a recommended excursion…
What we’ve been reading
Piccinini Bros becomes the meat of choice in The Hamptons. (Dan’s Papers)
Nearly half of Billionaire’s Row on W57th Street remains empty. (New York Post)
Asthma and cancer are no barrier to a place in congregate homeless living. (New York Times)
There’s a new pedestrian plaza with street art in the Garment District. (Patch)
Summer Streets are back today… (PIX11)
Freeze Frame
Thanks to Chad MacDonald for this photo from the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. “Never become so jaded that you don’t take the picture with a horsie,” he says of this picture of his son Liam.
Happy Belated birthday to W42ST friend and supporter Peter Shankman. “I’m putting all my crazy on the line and racing Ironman Kona in October (of 2021) to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, because cancer doesn’t discriminate, it affects every single one of us. If not our bodies, then those of our friends, our families, our partners, our neighbors. I personally have lost several people to cancer, and I want to use my sweat so others don’t have to go through the pain so many of us already have,” he told us. Support here…