New staircase to the High Line under construction.

We are getting a new staircase up to the High Line on the southwest corner of 28th & 10th, right where Il Piccolo’s heated patio used to be.

I suppose the problem with living on a block for too long is that you start becoming resistant to change, so my feeling on the new staircase must be evidence that I’ve been here for too long. Sure our existing staircase to the High Line (top right) looks a little like the entrance to a dungeon, but that’s our entrance to a dungeon!

The signs posted outside say that construction is anticipated to be complete by this Spring, but that strikes me as extremely ambitious. It’s also not clear to me what is going behind the brick wall in the rendering, but I will update here to the extent I find out more.

Il Piccolo on 28th & 10th closed last week.

Il Piccolo closed last week after many years—at least four based on how many years I’ve been on the block. This sucks because Il Piccolo used to be an incredible space with a heated outdoor patio that stayed open throughout lockdown. The food was good too, and while I wouldn’t make spending $20 on avocado toast (Il Piccolo called it “Avocado w/ No Breaks”) a regular thing, I highly enjoyed making it an irregular thing. This place will be missed.

“Billions” filming on our block on Friday, February 3.

Billions season 7 is filming on our block on Friday, February 3. They’ve shot on our block before, and those long trucks you seeing parked on the block (top right) are basically the actors’ dressing rooms.

A lot of the time they label the individual doors on the trucks by the names of the characters (Bobby, Taylor, Chuck, etc.—for those who watch the show), so you can whether your favorite actor is going to be on our block on Friday.

Hot Girls Against Dicktators?

So this sticker is stuck on the fencepost on the southwest side of 29th Street and 10th Avenue. Hard to argue with the concept on a superficial level—hot girls against dic[k]tators.

Evidently the website is some sort of fundraiser to raise awareness about an armed conflict that broke out near Armenia in 2020. Well, hot girls against dicktators, consider at least one person on the block moderately more aware of this issue.

Dog food truck!

So evidently there are such things as dog food trucks, and I know this because I saw one a few days ago outside of the dog park on 23rd & 11th. The truck is called the “Woofbowl Fast Food Truck,” and you can read about it here. Only in New York.

Summertime Sadness

Oddly compelling little scribble on the northwest side of 29th Street & 10th Street. I’m more familiar with the more traditional seasonal affective disorder, but different strokes for different folks I suppose. Your neighbors might just be able to help you through it.

Check out this guy on 29th & 10th.

First update in a month. Has this guy always been next to the vacant lot on 29th & 10th? Never noticed it before if so. Seems like he’s wondering what to do with the lot next door….

Whose bike is this (part 2)?

So both this block and block association have some pretty deep experience at this point with old-school style bikes and cars, and I suppose when it rains it pours; the hits keep coming; the rich get richer, etc. etc. What I’m trying to say is that as long as I keep modes of transportation from another era while I’m out and about, I’m going to keep taking pictures of them and posting them on here. Neighbors, I like your style.

Meet block residents Monty and River.

So Monty and River are joint dogs of the day today, but the facts that (i) they’re both puppies, and (ii) I’m a bad photographer mean that you don’t really get a clean shot of what they look like. Monty is the one staring into the camera wondering what on earth he got himself into; River is the one with Bosco energy, and regular readers will know that I’m a big fan of Bosco energy. Regular block walkers will see these two out all the time.

Billions is filming on our block next Wednesday.

Billions is filming on our block next Wednesday. Based on some limited texting with friends and my review of the trailer for Season Five, which is the season currently shooting, this one follows a hedge fund manager named Bobby Axelrod as he wears a hoodie and growls at people in suits while the people in suits occasionally growl back: Billions Season 5 Part 2 (2021) Official Trailer | SHOWTIME - YouTube. Very cool. Very cool block.

Whose bike is this?

So this bike has been parked for essentially the entire summer on the northwest corner of 28th Street & 10th Avenue, and I like it. This seems like the type of bike Timothee Chalamet would ride in Call Me By Your Name and I feel like I’m coming-of-age just a little bit every time I pass by it. Pairs quite well with our last sweet city ride. As always, we do it in style.

I believe a TV miniseries about WeWork is filming on our block this Thursday.

For whatever reason I have always had an odd obsession with the WeWork saga, from its wild rise to a real estate behemoth with a $47 billion valuation in early 2019 to its spectacular fall by the end of 2019 after a failed IPO. I’ve read all of the books and articles; watched all of the documentaries and interviews; looked at all of the images; Googled all of the searches; thought all of the thoughts, and so forth; and yet still my thirst won’t be quenched. Each new tidbit of information is for me like another sip of saltwater on a hot summer day.

And so you can imagine my delight when I snapped the above picture of a film shoot sign on our block, Googled the project name “Caviar,” and found out that it is code for the upcoming TV miniseries “WeCrashed.” There isn’t a whole lot of information about WeCrashed available yet, but of course it tells the story of the rise and fall of WeWork. It stars Anne Hathaway as Rebekah Neumann and Jared Leto as Adam Neumann. It looks like it will be released sometime in 2022. I’ll be watching.

New York is finished.

So this is the new wallscape ad on the corner of 28th Street & 10th Avenue and I love it.

The eulogy of New York, my friends, has been written many times before, and it’s always been wrong.

Lobsters* come to the block.

An interesting thing I’ve noticed about living in New York is that you don’t really go to the restaurant that is literally right next to you. For two years I lived above what appeared to be a very nice Italian restaurant and I never once set foot inside of it. Why? Familiarity destroys the intrigue? Too many other options in the city? It seemed lazy to take a date to a restaurant that I could get to without even going outside?

Whatever the reason, I think it’s probably time for all of us to make an exception to the rule for a new restaurant that is opening on 28th Street between 10th & 11th Avenues: Angry Lobster Rolls. Based on some limited Googling, this is a small business that was started somewhat recently in Staten Island and will soon have five locations around the New York area. The menu is short and to the point and you will spend $20 for a lobster roll. A little pricey but this is New York and you can’t put a price on something tasting right. Great to see this on our block.

Sweet city ride: Old-school Mercedes parked on 28th Street between 10th & 11th.

An old-school Mercedes was parked on our block this week. This seems like the type of car James Bond would drive in the Sean Connery era.

Evidently it is a Mercedes 280SL, which was introduced in the late 1960s and continued in production through the early 1970s. Its nickname is the “Pagoda,” which based on Wikipedia is inspired by its “slightly concave hardtop.” Now I don’t know a whole lot about cars, but I gather that a “hardtop” is the actual roof of the car, and why a convertible is nicknamed after its roof I have no idea. But here we are and I’m just the messenger. This indeed is a sweet city ride.