Because 11^th Ave didn’t already have a bad enough image late at night… At around 3:15am on Sunday morning, three people were left injured – one critically – after a dispute outside the Hudson Terrance Club on W 46^th St, just west of 11^th Ave, WABC 7 reports.

Apparently, after an argument on the dance floor, a car pulled up as the victims were leaving the club and attacked. Fortunately all the victims were stabilized on the scene, and quickly taken to nearby hospitals.

This is just the latest in late-​night 11^th Ave crime. Just two months ago, a gang of youths beat and robbed a man between 11^th & 12^th Aves late at night, ten streets north of this latest incident. Not a good place for a midnight stroll, it seems…

Not a lot of information was known on Sunday after the fire tore through a few apartments of the Strand, but over the past two days a lot more has come out.

It was known soon after the fire was extinguished that one man was killed, however there were varying reports about people being found in a stairwell unconscious. The man killed was Daniel McClung, a 27-​year-​old playwright, and in fact was found alive but unconscious in the stairwell. Another man was found unconscious in the stairwell, and it appears he was the husband of McClung, as reported by the New York Times. McClung was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, however was pronounced dead at the hospital. Fortunately, his husband was in a serious, but stable, condition at New York Presbyterian. DNAinfo has more on the newlywed couple.

At the time, we didn’t know what caused the fire, but the fire department has since announced that the fire was caused by a power strip. Apparently the strip had several appliances plugged in and either overloaded or was defective, triggering the blaze.

The fire was a truly unfortunate accident, to say the least, and a devastating loss to the families involved. The worst part of all is that the couple would have survived had they stayed in their apartment, as the building is fireproof, so would have contained the blaze. By trying to escape through the stairwells, they were overcome by smoke, which they would have been much more protected from in their apartment, FDNY Chief of Operations James Esposito told reporters yesterday, DNAinfo reports:

“There is a natural instinct to flee,” […] “[But] 99.9 percent of the time you’re safer in your fireproof apartment. If you do smell some smoke coming underneath your door, put some wet towels down and call the fire department.… You should not self-​evacuate if you are on a floor above the fire. Stay put.”

“They would have survived, absolutely, if they had stayed in their apartment,”

A three-​alarm fire tore through a few apartments at the Strand today – at 43^rd & 10^th – killing one resident and scorching the side of the building. The fire began on the 20^th floor of the 42-​story building, and in addition to the fatality, two residents suffered significant smoke inhalation, apparently after being discovered trapped in a stairwell. The NY Times has more information on the incident.

Here’s a clip from Neil Jacobson taken directly across the road from the fire:

Fire crews got the blaze under control by around 1pm, and spent much of the afternoon searching the floors above the source of the fire for any residents affected.

A closeup of the aftermath:

Several fire crews were on scene, and other trucks were throughout the area seemingly on standby.

Naturally, the incident drew onlookers:

Traffic on 10^th Ave was flowing again by at least 2pm, but W 43^rd St remained closed at 9^th Ave to pedestrians and traffic for most of the day to keep the area clear:

Our thoughts are with the family of the victim, and we’re hopeful the two people treated make quick recoveries. For the next few days the Strand will no doubt bear its burn marks, so the memory for the building’s residents won’t go away any time soon.

This was obviously the biggest incident in the area today, but an hour or so before the fire at the Strand crews were called to Toloache on W 50^th St in response to a fire in the air ducts. It’s days like this we really appreciate the fire crews in the neighborhood.

The New York Times reports that two men were injured at the Port Authority Bus Terminal just before 9pm on New Year’s Eve by a man wielding a knife of some kind.

The attacks took place around 8:50 p.m. in an area near the ticketing counter in the main concourse of the station, officials said. Two men, ages 47 and 61, were being treated at Roosevelt Hospital with wounds that did not appear to be life-​threatening.

The police were searching for a male suspect who fled the station, but no arrest had been made by about 11 p.m., said Joseph Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He said the weapon had not been recovered, but described the injuries as “lacerations rather than stabs.”

The attacker and the victims apparently knew each other, so it wasn’t just random violence, and the terminal reopened a few hours later with everything quickly going back to normal. It still doesn’t look like the suspect has been apprehended though, which is reassuring… A great way to wrap up 2013.

Friday was a big day for the future 7 line extension to Hudson Yards, with the first official train stopping at the station, along with an address by the mayor. From all accounts the ceremony was very thrown together, with the station still a long, long way from being ready. Given that the mayor more-​or-​less championed the extension though, you can’t blame him for wanting to have some celebration of it before his tenure ends, so there you go.

We didn’t get an invite (I’m sure it was just lost in the mail), but Benjamin Kabak from Second Ave Sagas was there, and gave a great overview of the extension, and how it fits into the greater city transit picture. DNAinfo also have their look at the ceremony.

The new station – scheduled to open around the middle of next year – is expected to be pretty major, buried deep beneath the area soon to be dominated by Hudson Yards, and finally brings a station west of 8^th Ave. Unfortunately, the additional planned station at 41^st & 10^th was cut from the project some years ago, and we’re still a bit bitter. Hopefully one day they’ll circle back around to it. Or it’ll end up in Secaucus. Either way.

Brace yourself: controversy ahead. Gay bar Fairtail Lounge, on W 48^th St near 10^th Ave, has had its liquor license up for renewal recently, and that’s brought together a significant group of nearby residents trying to get it denied. Among the reasons they’re opposed to the place: they (allegedly) crank their music at night, have loud, obnoxious patrons out on the street all night, and most significantly, have “adult movies” playing on TVs inside visible to passerbyers from the street.

DNAinfo ran an article about it yesterday, and while they took a pretty neutral tone, the comments had to be closed after they filled up with “pretty negative” messages attacking the gay community as a whole – because obviously this situation is applicable to everyone in that demographic…some people… – so that’s disappointing. Meanwhile, Gothamist had their piece, taking somewhat of a “you-​should-​get-​over-​it” tone (the title calls the complainants “Hell’s Kitchen NIMBYs”, so that should give you an idea of what to expect).

While going after the liquor license for this might seem inappropriate and unrelated, apparently many of the complaining residents have gone to the management several times and been ignored, so it sounds like it’s more of a last resort. I’ve never been past the place at night, so can’t really comment on how good or bad it is, but there’s a whole lot of complaints for it to be nothing.

Regardless, they announced on their Facebook page today that their license got renewed anyway, with the most smug and intentionally inflammatory tone imaginable:

Apparently certain residents in Hell’s Kitchen have been living under a rock since the middle ages. They are JUST NOW realizing that there are *gasp* GOGO BOYS and PORN in Gay Bars. OH MY!!!!!

Mind you, these residents are the ones that are PEEKING THEIR BUSY-​BODY NOSES in the windows to catch a look for their perverted selves, not walking by like any normal sexually-​active citizen would. Poor sad depraved people.

Well I’m proud to say that FairyTail Lounge already has it’s liquor license renewed, and we WILL BE SHOWING PORN and have GOGO BOYS IN UNDIES!

LONG LIVE NYC GAY NIGHTLIFE! Oh and thanks for the free press Gothamist!

No surprise the neighbors dislike them from that attitude.

As reported by PIX 11, firefighters were called to a two– or three-​alarm fire (articles disagree on that) around 6:20pm on Friday night at Barbetta on Restaurant Row. It took crews around an hour to bring the blaze under control.

Barbetta is one of the oldest Italian restaurants in the country, having been founded in 1906. They’ve been closed since the fire, but plan on reopening later this week. Eater posted a big look at the place back in 2010, if you want to find out more about the iconic restaurant.

According to PIX 11, two firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the fire, but fortunately the fire was contained to the kitchen so no other injuries were reported. Hopefully Barbetta will be back up and running soon.