1. Poulette bringing “French rotisserie chicken” to 9th Ave

    Poulette

    Taking over the forever vacant old Subway store on 9th Ave between 52nd & 53rd, Poulette – “the first French-​inspired rotisserie chicken experience in NYC” – has been revealed today, with their signage being put up:

    The exterior of the incoming Poulette

    The place will be open 7 days a week, from 11am to midnight. No menu up yet, but in addition to lots of chicken, here’s a taste of what else they’ll offer, from their site:

    You think the chicken is the best part of this? Think again…we cook our roasted potatoes just like in France…on the rotisserie machine and just below the chickens. In addition we have created a range of seasonal sides from Green Bean Casserole w/​Shitake Mushrooms & Fried Shallots to Baked Curried Caulifower w/​Herbed Bread Crumbs, brussel sprouts, ratatouille and much more! For dessert we offer a daily selection of tarts, fruit salad or wild berry crumble.

    With Golden Chicken & Ribs recently becoming a produce market, chicken lovers will soon have a new place to call home.

    Update: DNAinfo have some more info about the place, and got an interview with the owners.

Wednesday, Mar 26th

  1. Report: Kitchen fire injures two at 8th Ave McDonalds

    McDonalds

    DNAinfo reports that a fire broke out in the kitchen of the McDonalds on 8th Ave between 43rd & 44th early Monday morning, injuring two people. Per the article:

    The flames erupted about 1 a.m. within the fast food eatery at 688 Eighth Ave., near 44th Street, an FDNY spokesman said.

    The two people were taken to Mount Sinai’s Roosevelt hospital with serious injuries but in stable condition, the spokesman said.

    The fire was brought under control just before 2am, and the spot has been closed since:

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    People probably won’t be too upset seeing a McDonalds closed, but it’s good to hear that everyone is (relatively) ok. Fires…

  2. Winds knock down traffic light at 42nd & 8th

    W 42nd St & 8th Ave

    Spring will start for real any day now, but in the mean time we get to enjoy days like today, with strong winds coming as a lovely surprise every time you turn a corner. Turns out the winds were strong enough to knock down one of the lights at the busy intersection at W 42nd St & 8th Ave. Photos by Imgur user smuln:

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    Source: smuln/​Imgur
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    Source: smuln/​Imgur
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    Source: smuln/​Imgur

    You can see a few more photos in the gallery on Imgur.

  3. Curbside recycling bins now lining 8th Ave

    You might have noticed the shiny new recycling bins that appeared along 8th Ave over the last week:

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    Good to see them trying, although I have to imagine at least some people will put all sorts of things in them that, despite the fun cutout holes in the lids.

    According to the West Side Rag, each bin costs $1,050 each, and comes with magnetized doors to help keep them shut, and should be “sturdier than most trash cans”. There are already a lot of the recycling bins spread throughout the city – with over 500 already in place – and another 3500 are being added over the coming weeks.

Saturday, Mar 22nd

  1. Mario’s Trattoria fades away

    Mario's Trattoria

    A few weeks ago, Mario’s Trattoria suddenly closed. The place had their fair share of troubles, but still seemed to be doing fairly well, so the closure comes as a surprise.

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    It is understandable that they’ve closed though – they ran into some trouble at the end of last year being hit with a health department closure, as well as a number of poor reviews online, and have been the only inviting place on that section of the block for a while, surrounded by sidewalk sheds for months:

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    Still, the closure looks very sudden. They’re still selling a Groupon for the place (and over 820 so far have been sold…), and haven’t made any announcement anywhere about their sudden disappearance. Once the scaffolding clears up around it, and the forever-​incoming Galerie 515 opens up nearby, that location will be much more popular, so we should be looking forward to a new tenant in no time. Maybe we’ll even get a Thai restaurant!

  2. Golden Chicken & Ribs becomes Terra Market

    Terra Market

    Just three months ago, Golden Chicken & Ribs returned to 9th Ave, bringing all sorts of undoubtably unhealthy meals. Now, it’s almost completely flipped, as the place has switched to be Terra Market – a “neighborhood produce market”:

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    Contrast with:

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    December 2013

    The new market opened up at the end of last month, and given Stile’s closure in December just two streets up it’s good to see another option appear for fruit and vegetables. Plus with the weather slowly improving it won’t be long before all the farmers markets start back up. A chance to be healthy after some less health-​conscious options over winter.

  3. Competition

    Kiehl's

    A new, much less polished addition to the mural at Kiehl’s:

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    It’s nice of them to not actually cover any of the original mural, some level of respect between them it looks like.

Friday, Mar 21st

  1. Dog found at 45th & 9th

    W 45th St & 9th Ave

    Quick “community service announcement”: over the past few days, flyers have been put up around 45th & 9th for a found dog. The “small dog with a collar but no tag” was found around 2pm on Tuesday, so if your dog has gotten out and matches the description be sure to call:

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Thursday, Mar 20th

  1. It begins: construction on Hudson Yards gets underway

    “The largest private real estate development in the history of the US” is taking a big step forward this week, with construction on the eastern platform above the rail yards beginning. The platform alone will cost $700 million dollars of the $15 billion price tag on Hudson Yards. Bloomberg have a big look at the project with lots of information on how the platform will work, as well as the project at large.

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    Source: New York YIMBY

    Coinciding with that news, a whole set of renderings and animations have been released showing how the construction of both the deck and towers themselves will take place, all without disrupting the trains underneath.

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    Source: Hudson Yards/​Gizmodo

    See all the animations on Gizmodo.

    Meanwhile New York YIMBY have a whole new round of renderings from the part of the project everyone can enjoy – the plaza – and they at least look nice and green:

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    Source: New York YIMBY

    We’re only going to be hearing more and more about Hudson Yards as time goes on…might as well at least go with it…

Tuesday, Mar 18th

  1. Jasper’s Taphouse has arrived with an extensive beer selection

    Jasper's Taphouse

    The latest bar + restaurant in the area opened this weekend, with Jasper’s Taphouse arriving on the corner of 51st & 9th. The new spot has a wide selection of beers (as you’d expect from the name), as well as food options. We’ve been keeping an eye on the place for a while now, but it was hiding behind plywood right up until the week of the opening, so the detail that’s gone into the place came as a surprise.

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    A nice aerial shot of the place from neighbor George Stoll:

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    Source: George Stoll

    The inside is nice and spacious:

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    Source: Jasper’s Taphouse/​Twitter

    The place used to be yet-​another-​Thai-​restaurant Chanpen, which closed its doors almost six months ago, making way for Jasper’s. It sounds like their first weekend went very well, so we can expect to see them here for a long time to come.

  2. Vynl’s B-​Side gearing up for opening

    B-Side

    A quick update from Vynl’s long-​awaited extension “B-​Side”. Over the past week or so the plywood has come down, and revealed an exterior that blends very nicely into Vynl’s. Not much more new information from our last check-​in at the start of the year, but now there’s pictures:

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    Vynl don’t discriminate against whose posters they put up, which I’m sure will upset some people seeing their full range from Blondie to Bieber showcased to the street:

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    Anyway, not long to go now before they’re up and running. It’s been a busy few months for that intersection, with the race between them and Jasper’s to see who will open first. In the end Jasper’s beat them, but hopefully they’re not too far behind.

Monday, Mar 17th

  1. St. Patrick’s Day

    In case you missed it, St Patrick’s Day is here, and with it comes the usual covering of 9th Ave in tacky authentic Irish memorabilia:

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    Of course Mexican and Irish is a sensible combination:

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    Something to counter the endless drinks:

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    The pig outside Rudy’s is still unsettling as ever:

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    (I could go on forever…)

    Anyway, I’m sure tomorrow morning will be wonderful for so many people…