Life in and around Hell’s Kitchen, NYC
The unique checkerboard tiles on the outside of the future home of Snack Taverna are no more. Standing on the corner of W 39th St & 9th Ave, the store’s tiles always stood out, but will now blend in much more with the new appearance:
Before:
While we’re on the topic, here’s a quick update on the actual construction going on inside the store:
For more, here’s our previous coverage of Snack Taverna.
The update: they’re still going, continuing their quest to leave no section of 9th Ave undisturbed. Now they’ve claimed the full intersection outside the closed Go Sushi:
The first part of the incoming monster development Gotham West is nearly here. Gotham West Market is holding its opening party tonight. The event is fully sold out, but those who already secured tickets have the chance to try food and drinks from the various “eclectic” “artisanal” (of course) restaurants within the market, as well as meeting the chefs themselves.
The market hasn’t been terribly well received by everyone in the community. Initially, the store was planned to be a supermarket, but the president of the development group apparently decided the spot was too small for a supermarket, so instead we get Gotham West Market.
Anyway, with the opening party tonight it’s only a matter of time before the market is officially open. They’re being very careful not to announce an official date yet, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Aren’t we lucky: looks like another show has chosen the neighborhood to film their series. MTV’s “Ain’t That America”, some form of comedy video clip show, is setting up on W 53rd St, halfway between 9th & 10th Avenues, to film their second season:
The set will be filmed inside the mysterious black warehouse-like building on W 54th St, which continues through to another building (probably the Chelsea Broadcast Center) for the entrance on 53rd, and crews have been unloading parts for the assumedly-elaborate studio:
The studio will be set up for a few weeks until some time in early-November. If you just can’t contain your excitement at the though of possibly witnessing an MTV show in person, you’re in luck: tickets are available for plenty of the tapings.
This marks the second show to film a season in the area in recent months. Throughout September, The Million Second Quiz filmed in the empty building on the corner of 41st & 11th, so this could be the beginning of a trend.
AM New York ran an article yesterday about Hell’s Kitchen, with a pretty decent overview of the area. As you’d expect it’s got its fair share of errors (apparently Dyer Ave extends up to 49th St, who knew), and the quote about there being no supermarkets is debatable (I can think of a few, though the lower part of the neighborhood definitely needs a decent one), but hey.
Have a read of the article if you’ve got time to kill.
The four-day NYC Wine & Food Festival starts tomorrow, and is being held at Piers 92 & 94 this time around. Big news: Dominique Ansel, creator of the Cronut (!!) will be there. If that’s not enough for you, there’s going to be around 100 events filling the days, as well as all the tastings you can imagine.
Head over to the official site for the full details, as well as lots of photos of food and people raising wine glasses. There’s still tickets available too.
It looks like things are starting to happen at the site of the now-closed Luna Sur. The main front doors were open this afternoon, with a few staff working going in and out and all the classic signs of construction (i.e. debris from various bits of furniture, etc, everywhere).
The inside:
Luna Sur closed abruptly almost two ago, but it didn’t take long for the potential new tenants to show their interest, with signs pointing to “Toloache” taking over.
Catching up on the news from the weekend, on Saturday night over by the Intrepid The Walking Dead Escape was on. Hundreds of “zombies” swarmed the boat and the pier chasing “survivors” throughout the afternoon and late into the night.
Photos from the website
Looks like it was a frightening great night.
All day tomorrow Domus – the home accessories and decorations store on W 44th St – will be donating 10% of all profits to the project “Passing Ellenville”, a film about, per the project’s site…
A portrait of two transgender youths in rural, upstate New York and their struggles in their gender transition process.
The filmmakers themselves will also be there from 7pm to 9pm, so you can find out more about their documentary and ask questions. You can RSVP on Facebook if you’re interested in meeting the filmmakers, but I’m sure you can also just walk in.
Here’s an update on the seemingly eternal renovations at 7 Brothers Deli: they’re still happening. As of a few days ago, the store’s at least partly fitted out again:
The exterior, for future reference:
Judging by the state it’s in now, it looks like it’s getting closer to reopening, but given the rate so far, it’s probably safer to guess the renovations will be finished sometime in the next 10 years or so.
A bit of sidewalk restoration going on around 53rd & 9th today:
While all the “trendy” neighborhoods are getting visits from Banksy, we’ve managed to go one better with a piece by Hanksy:
Colbert challenged Banksy to do a piece outside the studio (on W 54th), but when that never happened Hanksy stepped in with “Col-Bear”.
Then there’s this next to the main attraction:
Banksy? The work of a jealous rival? You decide.
Just as quickly as it started, Comic Con wrapped up today. Swarms of convention goers poured out of the center this afternoon, wearing every costume you can imagine.
It seemed like every street food vendor in the city was lining the streets (no variety though, naturally):
There’s even been a temporary/“pop up” outpost of St Marks Comics opposite the center:
Comic Con is probably the biggest event held at the convention center all year. With it over, the Javits Center can slip back into obscurity.
We’ve had our eye on the plans for the closed “gentlemens lounge” far west on 47th St for some time now, and this week DNAinfo discovered the full plans, including the name. The new venue will be known as “Esquire NYC Gentleman’s Club”, and is going to full five entire floors.
The initial plans were classing the establishment as a restaurant, which we naïvely believed.
If you look close enough, you can see they’ve completely demolished the existing floors, leaving just the surrounding walls of the building up:
The club is planning to be “very upscale”, and apparently won’t have lineups, nor will it advertise with flyers, which should come as great news to anyone who’s had to dodge one of the guys handing out flyers along 8th Ave for the various clubs over there.