Subway entrances around block arena readying themselves for Game 1

Penn Station subway entrance on 34th & 8th outside of MSG is decked out in the blue and orange. Jalen Brunson v. Wemby starts tomorrow in San Antonio, though Knicks fans will be outside of MSG en masse. Important documentary on the most dangerous fanbase in America here.

Flight taking off from block airport turns back around because guy names Bluetooth device “BOMB”

This block is filled with the type of people to actually turn their phones on airplane mode before the flight takes off, but there are other blocks. Gothamist has the story on a flight that turned around on its way to Spain after taking off from our block airport Newark because somebody named their Bluetooth device “BOMB.”

Not the flight path you want to see from the screen in front of you.

Bad Bunny penthouse sold on our block for a cool $15m

Jardim, which is the condo building on 28th between 10th & 11th that owns the tunnel to another dimension, sold off its penthouse a few years ago for a cool $15 million. You can see a walk-through of the apartment with one of those old-money real estate guys in a suit on YouTube. Bad Bunny, our former neighbor and founding member of this block association, used to rent the place for $150k/month. You missed your shot.

Something called “Ditch the Suitcase” is filming on 27th & 10th this week

I can’t find much about this other than the casting call for extras for the shoot (link on main page).

Streeteasy is putting on an event for NYC real estate agents at Chelsea Industrial this upcoming Tuesday

Chelsea Industrial is the events space on 28th between 10th & 11th (near Ava High Line). We see a bit of activity this morning and talked to the guys outside, and it looks like NYC real estate agents are gathering for an event this Tuesday, June 2, organized by Streeteasy (link to article about event on home page).

Penn Station is getting an $8 billion renovation

Penn Station is rolling towards a massive renovation after Amtrak picked a developer to build the project last week. Gothamist story here with renderings: https://gothamist.com/news/exclusive-renderings-of-penn-station-overhaul-show-trumps-name-with-presidential-seal.

It looks like our home arena MSG will be undisturbed. The inside does have a distinctly Trump-vibe, which I suppose is part of the messy process and transactional process of getting a project like this through the federal government.

This association is however a “yes in my backyard kind of place” so initial reaction is—excited for this.

Gelato place called Chocolate Lounge is opening next week on 29th & 10th

We’re getting a new gelato place right next to Prestige Marketplace on the corner of 29th & 10th. I talked this morning to the owner, Fadr, who confirmed that this is opening next week. Very cool to see this spot, which has been vacant for a while, get filled up.

There is really quite a fight over the housing on 27th & 10th

There is currently quite the fight over the Elliott Houses on 27th & 10th. Comprised of approximately 4,500 residents living in 17 buildings, NYC’s government wants to knock the buildings down and replace them with 6 high rises that current residents would move into and keep the same rent. The politically difficult kicker of sorts is that the city also wants to build 9 “mixed income” towers—meaning they would include both 1k “affordable” units and 2.4k “luxury” units. And the $1m question of course is: what happens to the current residents while all this is being built? Suing to block the development, which was supposed to start last December, are about 20 senior citizens living in the houses, and the seniors just won a TRO to hold off development while an appeals court hears the case. You can see the NYT write-up here.

The city and developer (which is called “Related” and which built Hudson Yards and the Zaha Hadid building) do have answers to that million-dollar question, which is that 94% of residents will be able to remain in their homes while the new towers go up (I do have some obvious questions about that). The remaining 6% will be temporarily relocated to “refreshed” apartments during construction. The development would be complete at earliest in 2041.

We’re going to try to stay as apolitical as possible around here (there is no angle after all), though if it matters to you what other people think (it shouldn’t), Mamdani supports the initiative, Erik Bottcher (the NYS senator representing our neighborhood) supports, and Kennedy kid who I’m sure has spent a lot of time in public housing is against. What I can say though is that I’ve been in the buildings and somebody needs to do something (and certainly neither you nor I have); NYC has an housing problem and the Occam’s razor solution is to build more housing; and 20/4500 is about 0.4%.

If you’d like to write in with a perspective, please do so.

More about that new Equinox opening at Terminal Warehouse [updated 7/2/26]

[Updated 7/2/26] A group of block residents visited the soon-to-be-new Equinox location on June 26, 2026 at Terminal Warehouse, which is the large brick building on 11th Avenue between 27th & 28th. We spoke to the managers (thank you Dominick McClure and Alyssa Rosoff) and below is the latest on the location. Thank you also to neighbor Danielle Liberman for helping put these notes together:

• Currently targeting a fall opening, with the official date expected to be announced 30–60 days in advance.

• Will be a “Destination Club,” meaning you can’t get in with a regular “all-access” membership. You have to have to have the elevated Equinox membership which allows you to get into, e.g., the Hudson Yards and Printing House locations. Upshot: if you belong to the Hudson Yards location, you can automatically go here.

• Alternatively you can get “single-club” access here for $280/month if you sign up right now, but that will only increase as we get closer to club opening.

• Club will focus heavily on weights and recovery (like very cold showers) rather than cardio and group fitness.

• Only two class formats are currently planned: PGX (“playground experience”) strength training and reformer Pilates (capped at 12 people per class, $35/class).

• Recovery amenities will include sauna, steam room, and hyper-cold showers.

• Managers (Dominick and Alyssa) are focused on community-building and are interested in our views on how to do that. Organized running clubs? Other gatherings? Fact is this location is close to Hudson Yards but far enough away that it’s likely to be more full of people who live in the neighborhood rather than people just work in Hudson Yards.

• Dominick and Alyssa are also soliciting views right now on how we’d like the gym to look, equipment/amenities we might like to see, etc. Reach out to us if you want a say!

Hav & Mar on 26th & 11th is a hidden gem

A little out of the way if you don’t live on the block, Hav & Mar is a hidden gem on 26th Street & 11th Avenue. Nailing the industrial loft look, this place calls itself a “seafood house” but that is selling itself short—it’s an Ethiopian/Swedish fusion restaurant by Marcus Samuelsson which nails a lamb pasta and short rib biryani. The bar wraps around and while it says you need reservations, you really don’t most of the time if you sit at the bar. Here’s the NYT write-up:

The menu’s real theme is seafood, handled with skill and resourcefulness by Fariyal Abdullahi, the executive chef, and her kitchen.

The skin on a fillet of black sea bass is seared to a pale-gold crisp before the fish is perched over hard-shell clams and purple potatoes. Underneath is a seafood-corn broth. Both the sauce and the bass are flavored with dawadawa, ground African locust beans, which acts as an intensifier in this dish, something like miso.

Recommend.

Chalamet riding around our block

Recognize that ATM in the background?

Flea Market this Saturday in the food hall on 26th & 11th

There’s a flea market this Saturday at Olly Olly, which is the food hall on 26th and 11th (a little south of Porchlight). Here’s the Instagram post.

As an aside, let me take this opportunity to plug Olly OIly food hall, which has an incredible little assortment of pizza (Honey Pie Pizza), Thai (Kinn Thai), kebabs, coffee, a bar, etc. This place is a little out of the way for the rest of the city so I consider it on us to support.