Life in and around Hell’s Kitchen, NYC
Found some “creative” work before the snow melted today:
And to restore your faith in people:
Sad news today. After their building was sold, Stile’s Farmers Market are being forced to close their long-time location on the corner of W 41st St & 9th Ave at the end of the month, as reported by DNAinfo. For the uninitiated, per their article:
Stile’s Farmers Market began in 1987, when Steve Stile’s father, Joseph, set up an umbrella, a cigar box and a table full of produce at the spot. It’s since grown into one of the neighborhood’s most popular markets.
The news came in the form of this huge sign posted out the front of the store:
The neighboring pizza place (my favorite $1 slice in the area at the moment) will also be moving, and they’ve already got a location: 360 W 42nd – halfway between 8th & 9th.
Fortunately, this isn’t the end for Stile’s: they’re already looking at replacement locations, including one a few streets down at 37th & 9th, so hopefully they’ll be able to find a new location soon. Former neighbor the Big Apple Meat Market was forced to move last year, and seem to be going strong in their new “temporary” location. Hopefully the same happens for Stile’s.
That whole block is going to be changing in the next few years, with a giant 38-story hotel (the “Times Square Hotel”) going up eventually next to it, which Hell’s YEAH covered at the start of this year. The farmers market/pizza combo building wasn’t part of that development though, so we’d hoped they’d be spared. Clearly, another set of developers have other plans.
Anyway, while all this is going on, the other outpost of Stile’s is fortunately still up and running on 52nd St:
Still, sad to see the original spot closing. There’s some fond memories of the place being left on Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York’s post about the news. We’ll be looking forward to the spot’s reopening (hopefully) soon.
As if they hadn’t caused enough trouble earlier this month, it turns out Fairytail Lounge decided to go on operating without a liquor license, as covered by DNAinfo. Smart move. The NYPD shut the place down on Saturday, although apparently they reopened that night (still without a license), so obviously that had an impact.
The bar is pretty popular, but as we saw last time, they’ve got a very, very smug, superior attitude to petty things like “neighbors”, and now it looks like that attitude extends all the way to things like “the law”. Naturally, like before, Gothamist is blaming “Hell’s Kitchen NIMBYs” (and now the community board) for going after this poor, defenseless establishment. Good times. Look out for the inevitable next chapter in the ongoing Fairytail Lounge Sagas soon.
This Saturday, head to Mickey Spillane’s dressed in your best worst sweater for their Ugly Sweaters Party. You’ll get a free Candy Cane Shot to help you forget what you’re wearing, and I’m hoping there’ll be a prize for the worst sweater there.
The flyer:
Countless knitted Christmas presents can find their way out from the back of closets. At least they’re not Santa costumes.
Blessed Unrest have been running a performance of A Christmas Carol this month at the Interart Theatre at 52nd & 10th. This week is the last week of performances, so if you want to catch this incarnation of the Christmas classic you’ll have to get in quick.
Thursday tickets are sold out, but tickets for Wednesday and the whole weekend’s shows are still available for $18. Off-off-Broadway!
Sad sight as winter claims more victims:
Just over a month ago:
NBC took over a bit of W 43rd St today to film the relatively-new series The Blacklist, starring James Spader (aka Robert California). Most of the action happened inside, so basically all we had to enjoy was equipment blocking lining the sidewalk:
Exciting day.
Steam clouds rising all over the place, and with tomorrow’s forecast promising another 3 – 4 inches of snowfall throughout the day, we should be in for even more fun winter shots.
Have fun.
Hudson Yards may still be years away, but to celebrate the first year of construction (already?) they had a cake.
Another week, another big sale of an office building.
What better way to make your apartment suddenly feel claustrophobic than to look at local real estate listings.
To end on a low note: CELEBRITY SIGHTING OMG. Sorry.
Because I know you just can’t get enough of hearing about SantaCon. This morning’s sightings were just the beginning…a few more groups of red were moving around the snow today:
Of course, if you weren’t prepared this morning, you could always have ran into Ricky’s and picked up your very own “Pub Crawl Santa” or “Sexy Jingle” costume to join in the “festivities”:
Ah Ricky’s…they never miss an opportunity.
Turns out nobody rides Citibikes when it’s snowing. Big surprise there.
You have to feel a bit of sympathy for the bicycle delivery guys out today though:
This year’s SantaCon (also known as “The Red Scourge” by some) kicked off this morning, this year starting from Tompkins Square Park to the delight of many. While the west side is mostly safe from it all today, if you look hard enough you might run across a few (lost? confused? on their way to the main event?) “Santas”, like these groups near 53rd & 9th:
Considering last year’s started over by the Intrepid (picture here), this year is basically a non-event for the neighborhood. Cue sighs of relief.
Tomorrow’s forecast has us in for decent snow all day. Should be fun. This guy outside Lansdowne Road is ready for it:
After closing two years ago, Golden Chicken & Ribs have returned, and are now up and running in their new home on 9th Ave between 39th & 40th:
It’s only been just over a month since the signs first went up for the new place, so it’s been a quick turnaround reviving the store. Hot chicken and ribs in the middle of winter…should be a hit.