W42ST Hell’s Kitchen

🗞️ Today’s stories ⬇️ Sometimes less is more. That was the message from veteran waterfront advocate Tom Fox as he unveiled a “Plan B” for rebooting the aging Manhattan Cruise Terminal. Along the way, Fox sees an opportunity to correct an historic disappointment: the failure of the City to provide Hell’s Kitchen with attractive opportunities for public access to the waterfront like Chelsea and the West Village enjoy. “The neighborhood got short-changed,” he said, “and this is a chance to see that previous shortcomings are corrected.”  ➕ catch up on the rest of the news from this week! 📸 An alternative cruise terminal design presented by the City Club of New York. Rendering: Dattner Architects

📬 Today in your inbox: The inauguration of new City Councilmember @carlmwilson felt less like a political ceremony and more like a Broadway opening night — fitting for a former actor taking office in the heart of Manhattan’s theater district. Held Thursday evening at the Laura Pels Theatre on W46th Street, the swearing-in drew a packed and jubilant crowd from across Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and the West Village, with cheers and music. 🔵 A New Jersey contractor is facing “substantial” fines after trees outside a 9th Avenue parking lot were illegally pruned for billboard visibility, forcing NYC Parks to remove them entirely. 📸 Story 1: District Attorney Alvin Bragg swears in Councilmember Carl Wilson on Thursday evening. / Jackie Cox takes the stage at Carl Wilson’s inauguration. Photos: David Gray Story 2: The Parks Department removed the remaining trunks citing concerns over potential safety risks. Photo: Brennan LaBrie

🖼️ David Mills @davidmillsdept is back with Art Seen Manhattan (his second column). Check out faceless public sculptures, a haunting Drawing Center discovery and what NYC art reveals about empathy. To read our monthly columnists subscribe to our newsletter! ⬆️

📔Today’s stories ⬇️ For five years, Ram Diya kept an eye on the former Subway storefront on W45th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues. Then, when the sandwich chain finally vacated the narrow space, he made his move. Now the location has been reborn as Chai Samosa Grab N Go — a compact Indian café serving samosas, curries, chaat and steaming cups of Indian tea to a growing mix of neighborhood residents and taxi drivers looking for a taste of home. 🔵 David Mills is back with Art Seen Manhattan (his second column). Check out faceless public sculptures, a haunting Drawing Center discovery and what NYC art reveals about empathy. 🔴 Gwen and Phil somehow found themselves making the pages of The Westmorland Gazette during their recent trip back to the UK — after a mystery in Grange-over-Sands turned into a reminder that sometimes people beat technology. Subscribe to our newsletter to read the full story! 📸 Story 1: Chef Chirag Kaler and owner Ram Diya at Chai Samosa. Photo: Steve Hill Story 2: Monira al Qadiri’s First Sun, 2026. Photo: Public Art Fund / Ceija Stojka, Untitled (Ravensbrück Women’s Camp). Courtesy of The Brandenburg Memorials Foundation on behalf of the Memorial Museum Ravensbrück © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Bildrecht, Vienna

📮The stories in today’s newsletter: For one weekend every May, 9th Avenue stops feeling like a congested traffic corridor and starts feeling like the social center of Hell’s Kitchen again. The Ninth Avenue Food Festival returns May 16 and 17 for its 51st year, bringing the familiar smell of grilled meat, corn on the cob, fresh lemonade and the annual Hell’s Kitchen ritual of seeing — and being seen by — neighbors, former neighbors and people you somehow only run into at the Food Fest. And yes, W42ST will once again have a booth outside Amy’s Bread between W46th and W47th Streets. We hope to see you there — because if you aren’t at the Food Fest, are you even a Hell’s Kitchenite? 🔵 A television studio on W57th Street — once home to tapings for Jon Stewart and a range of live broadcast productions — could soon give way to a 30-story residential building, in the latest sign of the Far West Side’s ongoing transformation. 🔴 Thanks to Deb Cohn-Orbach (and several other readers) who pointed us toward this ghost sign that appeared at 709 9th Avenue as the recently closed Manhattan Eyeworks transforms into Japanese restaurant Suki Desu. As workers stripped back the facade, the faded words “Passport Photo” suddenly emerged above the storefront. We did a little digging into the history of the address and found records showing the storefront was home to a florist back in the 1940s, though we’ve not yet pinned down when the passport photo business arrived. Either way, it’s another reminder of the many layers of neighborhood history hiding beneath modern storefronts on 9th Avenue. Do you remember what used to be here before Manhattan Eyeworks — or know more about the building’s past? Let us know! 📸 Story 1: The Ninth Avenue Food Festival returns to Hell’s Kitchen on May 16 and 17. Photo: Phil O’Brien / Looking forward to seeing all our W42ST fans this weekend! Photos via Instagram Story 2: The three-story studio at 515 W57th Street would be replaced with a 394-unit housing development, including 119 affordable apartments. Photo: Phil O’Brien

🗞️Today’s stories ⬇️ As the sun finally broke through a gray afternoon sky on Monday, Governor Kathy Hochul stood in Damrosch Park and reached for a line not usually associated with a Democratic politician at a groundbreaking ceremony. “I don’t usually quote Ronald Reagan,” she told the crowd gathered outside Lincoln Center. “But tear down that wall.” The remark drew laughter and applause, but it also captured the thread running through the afternoon ceremony marking the start of Lincoln Center’s $335 million West Initiative — a project that aims not only to physically open the campus toward Amsterdam Avenue, but also to confront the legacy of the neighborhood that was displaced to build it. 🔵 FIFA predicted the New York area would take in $3 billion from the World Cup. But some official estimates say the city could lose money on the world’s biggest sporting event. A month before the first World Cup soccer match takes place at Met Life Stadium across the Hudson River, only 25% of the available rooms in New York City hotels have been booked for the six weeks when matches will be held. *This story was originally published by THE CITY on May 12 5:03am EDT 📸 Story 1: Governor Kathy Hochul at Lincoln Center West groundbreaking on Monday afternoon. / The ceremonial groundbreaking with shovels in front of a pile of dirt beneath the iconic Daniel and Florence Guggenheim bandshell. Photos: Phil O’Brien Story 2: Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul at the Ferry Hawks baseball stadium on Staten Island about providing free World Cup viewing locations throughout the city, April 27, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

📬 Today in your inbox: A Japanese conveyor belt sushi giant is heading to one of the West Side’s busiest fast-food corridors, bringing digital ordering kiosks, private dining rooms and what it calls the “ultimate sushi experience” to the former Show World block beside Port Authority. Sushiro @sushiro_america Japan’s top-selling kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi chain, has announced plans to open its first-ever US location at 667 8th Avenue. 🔵 A new fast-casual pasta spot has opened on 9th Avenue, adding another twist to Hell’s Kitchen’s growing appetite for quick-serve Italian comfort food. Pasta de Pasta @pastadepastausa recently opened at 673 9th Avenue (bw W46/47th Streets), taking over the former home of Al Horno Lean Mexican Kitchen, with a menu centered around fresh fettuccine Alfredo tossed in a parmesan cheese wheel and customized with sauces and toppings. 📸 Story 1: Conveyor belt sushi will be arriving on 8th Avenue this summer when Sushiro opens. Photo: Thien Nguyen/Unsplash Story 2: Manager Eda Kabil said the small team spent around six weeks building out the restaurant themselves. / Pasta de Pasta has opened on 9th Avenue. Photos: Steve Hill

The news today 🗞️⬇️ Lindsey Boylan has announced that she will not compete in the Democratic Primary for City Council District 3, after losing a special election to Carl Wilson. “After much consideration, I have decided not to run in the June 23 Democratic Primary,” Boylan said in a statement released Friday. ➕ catch up on the rest of the stories from this week! 📸 Lindsey Boylan has decided not to run in the June 23 Democratic Primary. Photo: Phil O’Brien

📬 The stories in your newsletter today: A Citi Bike rider was left critically injured early Friday morning after a collision with an NY Waterway bus at the intersection where W41st Street meets the West Side Highway. 🔵 The primary election is quickly approaching on June 23, when New Yorkers will decide who will be their voice in Congress. Candidates are running in eight competitive congressional districts across a city historically dominated by the Democratic Party — at least outside of Staten Island. When a candidate wins a party primary in New York City, it many times means they’ll sail to an easy win in the November general election. So, learn now who’s running in your district and why it matters — and remember, you must be registered with a party by June 13 to vote in the upcoming June primary election. *This story was first published in THE CITY on May 7 5:00am EDT 📸 Story 1: The scene at W41st Street and 12th Avenue early on Friday morning. Photo: Travis Long Story 2: Congressman Jerry Nadler with candidate Micah Lasher, who is running to fill the NY-12 seat follower Nadler’s retirement. Photo: Phil O’Brien / Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez greeted constituents at the Parkchester station in The Bronx, July 31, 2019. Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

🗞️ Today’s stories ⬇️ DeWitt Clinton Park is getting a makeover for its 125th birthday, by an organization also celebrating 125 years in New York City. The New York Junior League — a longtime women-led volunteer and civic organization known for hands-on service projects around the city — is convening dozens of volunteers each weekend through the end of May to “uplift and beautify” the park’s grounds, said President Jeri Powell. Over eight workdays so far, more than 500 volunteers have contributed to the project, including 170 community members. 🔵 Riverside Park’s Summer on the Hudson lineup is back for 2026, with more than 400 free events running from the West 60s up to 181st Street. It’s the kind of schedule where you can plan it out… or just head west and see what’s going on! 📸 Story 1: Jeri Powell, President of the New York Junior League, after a five-hour volunteer work session in DeWitt Clinton Park on May 3. / New York Junior League Playground Improvement Committee members Kate Keoghan, Ashley Taylor, Deidre Haney and Alexandra McIlraith stand alongside their new plantings in DeWitt Clinton Park on May 3. Photos: Brennan LaBrie Story 2: Colorful stilt walkers at Pier I in Riverside Park. Photo: Riverside Park Conservancy

Work is getting busy at the Dyer Avenue deck overs, part of @theportauthority_ny_nj Midtown Bus Terminal Replacement Project. Thanks @melinda.r.caudill for sharing the video. #w42st

✨ Michael Musto @michaelmusto shares the inside scoop on Adam Lambert’s latest Broadway project, Night of 1000 Stevies and fabulous galas that weren’t bankrolled by Jeff Bezos in his latest I’ll Take Manhattan column. Read it all by subscribing to our daily newsletter and heading up to our link in bio ⬆️