1. Wrapido opens its doors on 9th Ave

    Wrapido

    Some lighter news: the Mediterranean wrap group Wrapido has opened an outpost on 9th Ave, taking over the long-​time vacant former home of Phở 66. Wrapido opened their first store in 2009, and have a spot on 23rd St near 7th Ave, and one on 8th Ave near 15th St, and now this one on 9th Ave between 46th & 47th:

    The exterior of Wrapido
    The signage at Wrapido

    To get a taste (ha!) of what they have on offer, you can see a list of what they offer on their site, or if you’re feeling adventurous figure out their 3D gallery of various wraps they have.

  2. Escaped carriage horse runs down 11th Ave

    W 36th St & 11th Ave

    Yesterday morning a carriage horse got loose while being bathed outside the stables on W 37th St, leading to a police chase along 11th Ave, as reported by the NY Observer, amongst others.

    A driver managed to film a bit of the slow-​moving action:

    Without wading too far into the politics surrounding the carriage horse industry in the city, animal rights groups are understandably saying the incident is yet another example of the problems with the practice (especially considering the horse was being hosed down outdoors in 45º weather). NYCLASS issued the following statement after the event:

    This is the latest example of why horse-​drawn carriages are not just inhumane but entirely unsafe in a city congested with cars, trucks, and buses. It is time for the City Council to act and get the carriage horses off the streets of New York City.

    DeBlasio famously promised that banning the horse carriage industry in the city would be his first action on his first day in office, but that never happened. Last month, however, he followed up on that saying he will be introducing legislation to do just that “soon”, so stay tuned for that.

  3. Man’s body pulled from the Hudson

    Just after 1pm today, police were called to Pier 81 when a deceased man was found in the water. CBS New York have the initial details:

    The NYPD Harbor Unit responded and pulled the 20-​year-​old man’s body to Pier 81, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

    The New York City Medical Examiner’s office will determine the cause of the man’s death. His identity had not been released Tuesday night pending family notification.

    Surprisingly, just three weeks ago another man was found floating dead in the water just ten streets up from this location in an assumedly unrelated incident.

    Not a lot of good news lately…

  4. Community Board member murdered in W 48th St apartment

    375 W 48th St

    Catching up on news from around the area over the last few weeks…

    Last week, Khemraj Singh, a member of our local community board, was found dead in his bathtub after suffering multiple stab wounds. DNAInfo have details on the incident, including a timeline of the events that led to the tragedy.

    Police quickly identified 41 year old Jeffrey Wong – an ex-​con with a history including a previous stabbing – as the suspect, and quickly apprehended him, with his arraignment held on Friday.

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    The suspect Jeffrey Wong Source: Sam Costanza/​NY Daily News

    A service for Singh was held on Sunday at the McManus & Ahern Funeral Home on W 43rd St. We thank Mr. Singh for his commitment to the neighborhood, and our condolences go out to his family.

  5. Report: Attempted rape at Flaming Saddles two weeks ago

    Flaming Saddles

    Catching up on news from around the area over the last few weeks…

    Two weeks ago – on Friday the 10th – a man allegedly attacked and attempted to rape a woman at the bathrooms inside popular gay bar Flaming Saddles, before fleeing when security spotted him.

    From Metro’s article on the attack:

    Police have arrested a man they say tried to rape a woman Friday night as she left the bathroom at a gay bar in midtown Manhattan.

    The incident happened around 10:30 p.m. at Flaming Saddles Bar on Ninth Avenue, police said. When the victim, a 34-​year-​old woman, exited the bathroom, she was choked by the suspect, later identified as Ricardo Lambert, until she became unconscious.

    Lambert then threw the victim to the ground and took off her underwear, police said. He fled the scene after security spotted him.

    At the time, the NYPD released this photo of the suspect from surveillance footage:

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    Source: NYPD/​Metro

    The Post reported that the victim was taken to hospital and was in a stable condition, so fortunately things didn’t go any worse.

    As Metro reports, the suspect was arrested pending trial, with bail set at $250,000. We’ll keep an eye out for results of the trial.

Sunday, Sep 21st

  1. Today’s events

    A quick run down of today’s events…

    First up, happening right now, the People’s Climate March will be heading down Central Park West, then across to 8th Ave to head down to Bryant Park, before turning down 42nd St and heading through the neighborhood to 11th Ave, finally ending up at 34th St around the future Hudson Yards. It should be a big one, so you shouldn’t be able to miss it.

    Meanwhile, running until 7pm, the 28th Annual Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction is on around Times Square and along 44th St. All sorts of Broadway memorabilia will be available, as well as chances to pose for pictures with Broadway and Off-​Broadway stars for donations to Broadway Cares. There’ll also be half-​hourly silent auctions, so plenty of opportunities to pick up some unique Broadway merch.

    Also, today is a big day for the High Line, with the final section opening to the public. It’s been a long time coming… Now you’ll be able to enter the High Line from 34th St around 11th Ave (where the Climate March will be ending – coincidence?) and walk the full length down to Gansevoort St. They’ve got a lot of events on over the next few days as part of the opening celebrations, so there’ll be plenty to do.

    And later tonight, at 8pm at Bar 9, Drunken Shakespeare returns. Have a few drinks and give your best version of a classic speech or sonnet, or just watch other people embarrass themselves!

    Big day today!

Friday, Sep 19th

  1. Manhattan Plaza Tenants Association block sale on tomorrow

    All day tomorrow the Manhattan Plaza Tenants Association is running their annual Block Sale along W 43rd St. From 10am to 5:30pm between 9th & 10th Aves community members will be selling all sorts of odds and ends on the street.

    Some more details, per the site:

    Festivities will include raffles, live music, and prizes! Face painting! Tons o’ Fun! Come enjoy the MPTA Sale where you will find over 100 spaces of shopping for flea market and garage sale finds. Bargains galore! Discover treasures, tchotchkes, curios and more.

    The weather should be great for it, so there should be a good turn out. See you there.

Thursday, Sep 4th

  1. Police seeking information on assault on an officer on W 49th St

    W 49th St & 9th Ave

    Just after midnight last Saturday, an off-​duty police officer was attacked by three men, sending him to hospital with a head injury. According to the Daily News, the attack on the 42-​year-​old officer was unprovoked, with one of the suspects jumping in front of the officer “in a fighting stance”, and began attacking after he ignored the group and tried to walk past them, before running off.

    These photos of the suspects have been released:

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    Source: NYPD

    The NYPD are calling for anyone who may recognize the attackers, with a $2000 on offer:

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    If you know any of the suspects, or have any information on the incident, call Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 577-​TIPS.

    It’s been almost a year since a similar late-​night attack by a group on a man in the area. That one was way out near 12th Ave though, and was on a Thursday night/​Friday morning. This incident however was just off 9th Ave, and on a Friday night/​Saturday morning. Worrying.

  2. The Jolly Goat serving up Stumptown Coffee on 47th St

    The Jolly Goat

    We’re pretty late to this one, but a few months ago Je & Jo on W 47th St sadly closed their doors. As of July though, The Jolly Goat has taken over the place, bringing coffees, “melt” ice cream sandwiches (!!), sodas, and various locally-​baked goods along with them.

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    From all reports the coffee and staff are great, so if you’re up for hiking all the way out past 10th Ave, give them a try! They’re open from 7am to 7pm seven days a week. And be sure to tell us how the ice cream sandwiches are.

  3. Feed the birds

    W 40th St & 10th Ave

    Pigeons need love too. Underneath the Port Authority overpass on 10th Ave today:

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Saturday, Aug 30th

  1. Tugboat Race & Competition on the Hudson tomorrow

    All day tomorrow over on the Hudson River is the 22nd Annual Running of the Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition. Dozens of tugboats will be cruising up and down the river, with races, nose-​to-​nose pushing competitions, and a number of other challenges and contests between the boats and their crews. There’s also things on for spectators, most notably a spinach-​eating content in Popeye’s honor. (There’s a Wikipedia article on the whole event that’ll give you the full history…)

    The main viewing area is on Pier 84, and that’s where all the shore parts of the day will be taking place. Here’s the schedule, per the flyer:

    10:00 AM Parade of tugs from Pier 84 to the start line.

    10:30 AM: Race starts – From South of 79th Street Boat Basin (near Pier I) to Pier 84.

    11 AM: Nose to nose pushing contests and line toss competition.

    Noon: Tugs tie up to Pier 84 for lunch and awards ceremony. Exhibits, amateur line toss, spinach eating contest

    1 PM: Awards ceremony. Tugs depart at about 2 PM.

    And if watching from the shore isn’t exciting enough for you, Circle Line Cruises will have a spectator boat in amongst the action. It looks like tickets are still available – $25 for adults, $12 for children – so scoop those up if you can.

    The weather isn’t looking too nice for tomorrow unfortunately, but it should still be a good day out on the water.

Wednesday, Aug 27th

  1. B-​Side ready to open behind Vynl

    B-Side

    We’ve been going on about this place for half a year now, but the mysterious “B-​Side” is almost ready to open on W 51st St.

    A quick rundown: way back in June of last year, we saw plans filed for Vynl to relocate to its new home next door. Later on though, the name “B-​Side” started being used, leading us to believe that rather than Vynl moving, they would instead be opening a second spot next door under that name. When the plywood eventually came down, however, we found what we have today, with Vynl in the new spot, and the old spot closed.

    It looked like B-​Side had been forgotten altogether, but turns out it was still moving ahead, just not in that store. The place is actually opening up just around the corner on 51 St, past the little wine bar there.

    Anyway, enough words, here’s the photos:

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    The place looks a lot more upscale and “fancy” than Vynl, so should be an interesting contrast to its other half. There’s signs up on the windows saying opening in September, so not long to go!

    (And it probably doesn’t need explaining, but in case you don’t get the name: “B-​Side” is on the back of “Vynl”…)

    B-Side

    Incoming

    358 W 51st St

    Groups

Monday, Aug 25th

  1. Major renovations underway at Westway Diner

    Westway Diner

    Continuing our catch-​up on a few things we’ve missed over the past few weeks…Westway Diner – on 9th Ave just south of 44th St, and famous for being the place Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David more-​or-​less came up with the idea of Seinfeld – closed their doors for renovations almost two weeks ago, and it turns out are going through a pretty major gut renovation.

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    It all looks the same from the front, but behind the paper is a different story:

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    Source: Westway Diner/​Facebook

    In just two weeks though they’ve already made good progress:

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    Source: Westway Diner/​Facebook

    They’re posting updates on the renovation on their Facebook page, so head over there to see all the details. Once the papers come down in a few weeks it’s going to be a very different diner.

    And if you want to remember what the place used to look like (because it’s already been so long), Eater spent 24 hours in the place in 2012 and live-​blogged the whole thing. The final bill: $555.

Sunday, Aug 24th

  1. Return of the 8th Ave street fair

    It’s that time again: today the occasional 8th Ave street fair was on, and as always, crowds swarmed on the event.

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    Wouldn’t be a street fair without these guys…

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    Then there’s stalls with names like this one:

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    All in all, just another street fair. Really not much to say about it. You didn’t miss much.