UPDATE, Fri., Feb. 3: Store owner Mamadou Diaman is looking at several promising spaces on West 23 St. and hopes his business will land in one of those storefronts very soon. It all depends, he said, on “lease negotiations and what sort of deposit they want, up front.” As for what went down when the […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER with ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY EILEEN STUKANE | Last year, when the West Side Community Fund emerged from a pandemic-era period of relative inactivity, it did so with an expanded roster of financers, an expansive area of coverage, and a reconsideration of what they could, and would, fund. The result: Fifteen grant recipients […]
January 22 marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that made abortion a constitutional right. It is painful to reflect on this date in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe with the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Perhaps most painful is that Dobbs […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | If yesterday’s announcement that a troubled patch of Chelsea will see a two-week surge of social services sounds familiar, it’s because the area of focus saw a similar burst of boots-on-the-ground outreach last August. Responding to longstanding quality of life concerns along West 21 Street’s PS11 elementary school and a block-long […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | NYC Restaurant Week—which began on January 17—isn’t contained to a mere seven days on the calendar. The annual wintertime gastronomic go-to happens through February 12. Its prix-fixe two-course lunches and three-course dinners for $30, $45 and $60 are available at nearly 500 restaurants across all five boroughs—but we’re containing our coverage […]
Pearl River Mart Celebrates the Year of the Rabbit Saturday, January 28, 5-7pm At Chelsea Market (75 Ninth Ave. btw. W. 15th & 16th Sts.) BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Few among us can resist the promise of “Lion Dancing, Lucky Foods, and Libations”—and why should they try? That incredibly effective teaser (shamelessly “borrowed” as our […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Facial recognition deployed at MSG Entertainment venues to eject patrons deemed hostile to corporate interests calls to mind its potential abuse by authoritarian regimes—but for now, MSG CEO James L. Dolan seems content to keep the creepy, deeply flawed technology trapped in the sticky resin of his own pettiness and paranoia. […]
BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Taking its lead from a letter generated late last year by the Waterfront, Parks, & Environment (WPE) committee of Manhattan Community Board 4 (CB4), the board’s full membership voted earlier this month to recommend immediate closure of the Penn South Dog Run—a recommendation the letter’s recipient, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation […]
BY DIANNA MAEURER| Members of the Chelsea Community and musicians from the five boroughs and beyond were saddened to learn of the Christmas Weekend passing of Ed Tristram, at age 76. Ed and his wife, Greta Tristram, were longtime residents of Chelsea, living at West 22nd Street in attached brownstones. A member of the West 200 […]
BY EL MANSOUR BETTAHAR | Nobody plans to get sick or injured, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Ten years ago, I got into an accident at my construction job. I was in pain and alone, having left my family in Algeria during my recent move to the United States. I wanted to get treatment but didn’t […]