Life in and around Hell’s Kitchen, NYC
A bit of justice today: the mob of teenagers who attacked and robbed a man late on Halloween night have been caught, as reported by DNAinfo.
The group came across the victim between 11th & 12th Aves around 1am and attacked him, stealing his Rolex it turns out, before disappearing into the night. The victim was hospitalized for some time after the attack, and has since recovered and been released. The attackers, meanwhile, turned out to be teenagers from a high school in the Bronx, with at least one of them being only 15 years old.
Anyway, good to see them apprehended. Here’s the full details on DNAinfo.
While legally you might have to post notices for your loading zone permit application around the affected streets, it seems there’s no restriction on just how accessible they have to be, as this example at 43rd & 10th shows for an application being discussed at the transportation meeting held tonight:
On the street-facing side of the pole, well-above head height. Clever.
The harvest season is wrapping up at the Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project (on the roof of the Metro Baptist Church on W 40th). Just in time for Thanksgiving, they’re offering a “Thanksgiving Vegetable Share” basket for sale to the community, full of locally-grown produce.
Here’s what’s in each basket:
The baskets are $30, and will be available for pick-up on the 26th (next Tuesday), but orders have to be in by tomorrow. Per the announcement, if you want to order one, you should contact lbaccus@hellskitchenfarmproject.org.
Another update in the non-stop coverage of the incoming Kiehl’s store on 9th Ave. The store commissioned the self-proclaimed “mural kings” Tats Cru – a group of NYC graffiti artists “for hire” out of the Bronx – to create a mural outside the future cosmetics store, which went up over the weekend:
Edgy.
While some may see this as tacky, we’re hopeful it shows that the store is trying to “fit in” with the neighborhood and have a bit of character, rather than just being another chain store.
Of course, if you didn’t hear the news, last night 5 Pointz was whitewashed. Coincidental, but it says something when the “authentic” graffiti is being purged from the city while companies are paying for “branded” graffiti. Anyway…
Because we don’t let any signage updates pass us by, here’s the latest from 7 Brothers Deli, where they’ve replaced their generic all-caps signs with a new, fancier one:
Previously:
After a long time away for renovations, 7 Brothers Deli reopened just under a month ago, and it looks like they’re still going, with the new signage the latest in their “makeover”.
Winter-themed window display at @Nine:
Still don’t know how to say their name.
The massive 79-page Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen Traffic Study was released recently, and it is detailed. Covering everything from traffic light timings and markings on the road to whole new pedestrian areas, it’s got some interesting things in it (and some not-so-interesting…)
Here’s some of the highlights:
There’s plans for the “Canoe Project”: a pedestrian plaza of sorts along W 36th St between 9th & Dyer Aves – replacing where all the cars park at an angle – which would also include a crosswalk connecting to the sidewalk along 9th Ave that just ends abruptly in the middle of the Lincoln Tunnel entrance road. Here’s the concept (note the canoe shape):
The intersection/gauntlet at 41st & 9th (where the hit-and-run happened in February) has been named the next-worst pedestrian intersection after the one above, so it’s good to know the “powers that be” are fully aware of the problem, and are planning to do something about it.
The Select Bus Service on 34th St might be getting a reworking, moving the bus lane over to keep the delivery/service vehicles out and extending the sidewalk out at some points into “bulbs” for passengers to wait. The rendering (can’t change the labels, unfortunately):
If you’re up for it, have a ready of the study for everything you could possibly want to know about the state of traffic and the streets around the neighborhood.
The Worldwide Plaza tower fading away in the clouds:
The annual Christmas holiday lights are now up all along W 55th St (between 8th & 9th Aves), shining between the trees down the street:
The lights happen annually, and are organized by the W 55th St Block Association. They’ve asked for donations from residents of the street (and I assume anyone else) to support the display:
The “holiday season” has arrived.
The new Kiehl’s store coming to 9th Ave is still moving along. Over the week the plywood – which went up just over a month ago – came down, revealing not a whole lot from the outside:
This is a pretty good sign that construction is wrapping up at the spot, so look forward to the beauty products store opening soon.
The incoming second outpost of Turco has run into some trouble, being hit with a stop work order for expired permits.
So far things have been moving pretty quickly with the construction (too quickly to renew permits, I guess…). We’ll have to see if they keep the momentum going once they get past this issue.
Update: The day we post this, the notices get taken down. I guess it’s all back to normal at Turco II then.
The Red Cross are holding a blood drive at their location on W 49th St, between 10th & 11th. The drive is happening now, going through till 3pm. If you stop by and donate blood, you’ll even be entered in for the chance to win tickets to the Superbowl.
Here’s the flyer with the full details:
The prize wheel is back: the new Pie Face on 8th Ave at 46th St is now open, selling their signature meat pies and “real” coffee from Australia. We’ve been watching this spot for months now as the store slowly took shape, and now it’s finally here.
Already busy:
As usual, they’ve got opening week promotions going on. Most exciting of all is the wheel, obviously:
Pie Face’s are taking over. A few months ago they opened a spot on 9th Ave, and recently opened one at Union Square, in addition to the “older” spots at Penn Station, Broadway & 53rd, as well as several more throughout Midtown.
A couple of movies are filming around the area this week. First up, “John Wick”, an action thriller staring Keanu Reeves is happening around W 47th St:
Lots of vans, as usual:
Meanwhile, “Moonquake Lake” – the remake of Annie – is back again, in the same area around the W 50s and 10th Ave as last month.
Never a dull moment.