Back in the day we held our annual meetings at Bungalow 8, an exclusive nightclub on 27th Street between 10th & 11th Avenues inspired by The Beverly Hills Hotel and featured on Sex and the City (the second link here, an article from Vanity Fair, is really worth the read). The space where that nightclub used to be is now set to become a 16-story, 62-unit luxury apartment building. You can click on the link here (top left corner) for what appears to be an early rendering of the space. The construction timeline is pretty far out at this point, set to be complete in the Fall of 2029.

Companion to the post immediately below. Check out what 10th Ave used to be, replete with the train tracks and horse-drawn carriage-taxis. You’re here for just a moment, my friends.

Neighbor John writes in with a question: what’s going on with the dilapidated building on 25th & 10th (pictured here)? We took a walk down there and can confirm that the scene is a bit apocalyptic—we couldn’t even make out what the old bar sign used to say, and we see a Polymarket banner posted with questions that are provocative to the point of insanity (“What are you voting for?” - and then “Retirement” “Gun Control” “Climate” and “Housing,” as though I can hop on my phone right now and make $50 betting against housing…). Anyway, we did a little digging and there is actually quite a bit of history here—here is what we found:

The Wolf Building, on the southwest corner of 26th Street and 10th Avenue, was put up for sale in December 2024 for $170 million, and as far as we can tell, remains up for sale today. There is some serious history to this building, which like the rest of West Chelsea, is a haven for art galleries. Per our sister publication The New York Times, the building was constructed in the early 1900s and originally used for printing and binding books; in the 1970s, it was purchased by a Holocaust survivor (named Raymond Naftali) who turned it into a garment warehouse; and in the 1990s, Raymond’s wife Gloria turned the space into a collection of art studios. Here’s an incredibly charming passage about Gloria Naftali from the NYT article:

Look at that face. Guys, you don’t trifle with that type of face—which belongs to Fat Tony Salerno of the Genovese crime family—and even he thought “The Westies” were crazy. Back in the late 70s and 80s, during construction of our official block association convention center, a violent Irish gang called The Westies controlled the west side of Manhattan and tried to juice construction of the good-old Javits Center for all it was (potentially) worth.

Remember that thing that happened between Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson? (Some great Samaritan did a really deep dive if you need a refresher). Well that all went down largely on our block in the swanky Zaha Hadid building on 28th between 10th & 11th. The condo Ariana and Pete nestled in sold in 2021 for $12 million, after asking for $16 million. The spirit of the thing lives on of course in this block association. You keep missing your shot‍.