New bagel place called Pio opening on 23rd Street & 10th Avenue

A new bagel place called Pio is about to open on 23rd Street & 10th Avenue (northwest corner)—thanks to neighbor Eric Marcus for pointing this out to us. Our investigative team went up and visited another Pio location on 39th & 9th, which is the picture to the right you see here. You can see the Yelp reviews for the Hell’s Kitchen location here (the reviews are very good); their menu here; and their Instagram here. Upshot is this is a classic New York-style bagel place with some Latin flair. It specializes in the cream cheese blends (or “schmears,” which candidly is a word I’m not yet entirely comfortable with), egg sandwiches, smoothies, and pastries.

Can’t beat a New York bagel or breakfast, and so happy to have this right near our block.

Wolf Building on 26th Street & 10th Ave remains for sale (for $170m)

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:

After Mr. Naftali’s death [in 2003], his wife continued fussing lovingly over her creative brood, dancing at parties into her nineties and making pledges that the building would remain an artists’ community forever, tenants said.

Gloria died in 2022, and representatives of her estate made the controversial decision to sell the building in 2024, saying that the building was “just not profitable enough.” All right. Here at High Line 28, we have to respect the decision of property owners to sell when they want to sell, though we’re also of the view that the artists and the studios and the exhibitions are what make Chelsea Chelsea. We’ll reach out to the estate representatives here to find out what the latest is on the sale process.

New Irish Tavern opening right near you on 9th Avenue

We’re getting a new Irish tavern on 24th Street & 9th Avenue (name of the place TBD). The owner’s name is Nicholas Brennan and he owns two other Irish-style taverns in NYC, called Sutton Bar Room ‍on 1st Ave and 58th Street and The Canary in Crown Heights. You can see the menu in here (scroll to page 18)—you’ve got your traditional bangers and mash, truffle buratta cheesesteak, smashburger, mini sausage rolls, and even your “Irish Toastie,” which is a lot of Irish: “Irish ham, Irish cheddar, and Kerry Gold Irish butter on Brennans bread served with a cup of tomato soup or Tayto crisps.” Deas!‍ ‍

The space formerly held The Chelsea House, a seafood restaurant which closed years ago. We think this area of 9th Avenue needs to animate a bit, particularly at night, and so we’re really happy to have this open up. We’ll reach out to the owner to see if we can get more information on the opening. ‍

Bathroom fixture showroom coming to vacant retail space on 29th Street?

Neighbor Bridget writes in with an important question, concerning a vacant ground-level space on 29th Street near the restaurant Kahlo: “I’m also curious whether you have any scoop on the construction at 515 W. 29th. A retail store? A spiritual sanctuary? The long-awaited Chelsea outpost of Medieval Times? I’m deeply intrigued by the stairway leading to the basement, which I’ve caught glimpses of when the construction workers occasionally leave the door open. Is this how neighborhood conspiracy theories begin?” We like your style, Bridget, and thus we put our very best investigators on the case; here is what they came back with: A showroom for a plumbing fixture company.‍ ‍

You heard it here first. Here are further details: The ground-level space at 515 West 29th is the bottom of an 11-story luxury condo building itself called 515 West 29th Street, which opened in 2018 and was designed by the same architects who designed Soori High Line, right across the street on 29th Street. The condos in the building are swanky enough for Dermot Mulroney to have house hunted there in 2020 and for the two currently available units on StreetEasy to run in the $5m range. In 2024, a shell company called “515west29 LLC” (really creative naming all around here) bought the ground-level retail space for $2.5 million from the original developer. We reached out to the new developer and lawyer for the buyer for details on what’s next here, neither of whom responded as of the time of this posting

However, we do see a work permit recently posted on the front of the building, which says the following: “Interior Renovation & Fitout for Retail Display Showroom for Plumbing Fixture Company.” Plumbing fixtures would be like your shower heads, your faucets, your sinks. Perfect. Regular followers of this enterprise will know that we of put a great deal of thought for you into the secret to happiness, and so I’d like to take this opportunity to revise what we said a few weeks ago—it is a good shower. That’s it. Good water pressure; heats up quickly; stays that way. And so welcome to you in particular, showroom to a plumbing fixture company. Happy to have the good vibes and the good pressure on our block.

The Mallory opening at Terminal Warehouse (on 11th Avenue) this fall

If you know, you know; and if you know, you know we are big fans of Terminal Warehouse, the historic brick building covering a full city block from 27th to 28th Streets, between 11th and 12th Avenues. As first reported by our sister publication the NY Post, the second of two tenants in the redeveloped warehouse is Equinox, which we have covered rather extensively, and the first is Convene Hospitality Group, which designs event and office spaces. This fall, Convene is bringing to the warehouse an events space called “The Mallory,” which will host events like galas, award ceremonies, and Eyes Wide Shut-style parties. (Ed note: Don’t believe literally everything you read on the internet). Anyway, we like this development.

And we like it for a couple different reasons. First, the history and bones of this building are extremely cool. In a world not that long ago where trains ran up and down 10th and 11th Avenues and killed so many people that the two avenues were collectively called “Death Avenue,” Terminal Warehouse was a train stopping place (otherwise known as a “terminal”) that stored all sorts of goods dropped off by the trains (otherwise known as a “warehouse”), including perishable goods that had to be kept cold (which is why it says “COLD STORAGE” in large old-school black capital letters on the front). Second, Convene has put some serious respect on the name of the architect who designed the building in the 1890s, George Mallory. Third, and most importantly, we are ‘Yes In My Backyard’ types around here and love to see development not just in Hudson Yards, the Midtown of sorts of the west side, but in the residential spaces and ‘suburbs’ if you will around Hudson Yards. That is especially true when the developers, and here, even the tenants, make an effort to check and embrace boxes one and two.

We’ve reached out to the President and CEO of Convene for comment here, including on the estimated timeline and the events that might be thrown in the new space. Will update here if we get a response.

Update 8/7/2026 - we got a response from the President and CEO—along with some renderings of the space which we’ve added above!

The Mallory at Terminal Warehouse is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to serve the experiential events industry in New York -- and do it better than anyone else in the market. It's an honor to be given the space to breathe new life into a historic site. We can’t wait to be part of its future.

Ryan Simonetti, President and CEO of Convene Hospitality Group (CHG)

Be the zebra (building), soft opening on 29th Street this fall

In a world full of horses, be the zebra. Painting recently finished on the facade of The Zebra Building, an art gallery and event space on 29th Street between 10th & 11th Avenues that is slated to soft open in October. The outside design is based on “the anatomically accurate pattern of “an individual Grévy’s zebra, an endangered species native to East Africa with fewer than 3,000 remaining in the wild.” We’ve reached out to the building’s owner, named Conor, and will give the block updates as we have them.

Really love that the art galleries which mark the area a few streets below us are coming up further north.

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!

New Equinox coming to 11th Ave & 28th Street

It looks like we’re getting a new Equinox at 28th Street & 11th Avenue (right next to Porchlight)—it’s called Equinox Terminal Warehouse and you can read about it here: https://www.equinox.com/clubs/new-york/midtown/terminal-warehouse.

They’re definitely matching the loft decor of the neighborhood with exposed beams, brick, etc. Reposted some pictures from the Equinox website above. This should offset some of the traffic at the Hudson Yards Equinox, which is incredible—particularly the pool deck—but also difficult to find a spot in around gym rush hour.

I’m not sure this is an “all access” location where you can get in with a standard Equinox membership; I think might be a “destination” (i.e., elevated membership) club, similar to Hudson Yards and Printing House. Will try to get in touch with the Related team (which owns Equinox and which built Hudson Yards) and find out more information.

Penny Linn, a needlepoint shop, opens on our block

“Needlepoint” is a type of embroidery in which yarn is stitched through canvas, and earlier this month a needlepoint store called Penny Linn opened right next to Hudson Market on 28th Street & 10th Avenue. You can read about its history here.

Created in 2020 (and born out of an idea in a Chelsea apartment), Penny Linn looks like it has a bit of a cult following among stitchers. It’s also community-minded—from the article above:

“The store will serve as both a retail destination and an experiential hub, offering customers the opportunity to shop thousands of canvases and accessories while also engaging with the brand through in-person classes, events, and community programming. From beginner workshops to designer meet-and-greets, the space is designed to foster connection and creativity.”

Great to have this on our block.

Buddha now greeting us on 30th & 10th

The pigeon has officially been replaced (long live the pigeon)! The pigeon was called the “The Dinosaur” by the way (https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/ivan-argote/), which I can’t say I totally understand.

The Buddha’s official name is the The Light That Shines Through the Universe—and it is the fifth installment in that spot after the lady, the plane, the pink tree, and the pigeon (these are not the official names but they are how I remember them).

Crafted by Vietnamese artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen, the sculpture pays homage to the Bamiyan Buddhas, two 6th-century colossal statues in Afghanistan that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Reincarnation and radical acceptance might be two of the secrets to happiness, and if that is right, happy to have this installation around our neighborhood.

Weed shop called “Poppin” opening up on 28th & 10th

Since I’ve lived in West Chelsea, the little storefront right next to Death Ave has been at least a lobster roll place (Luke’s Lobster) and a weed place (Hudson Loud)—and I think it’s been vacant for a while now. The more things change, the more things stay the same, and the storefront is going back to its roots as a licensed cannabis dispensary called “Poppin.”

They’re going for a guerilla marketing vibe on Instagram (though I can’t figure out how to link reels) and sell the usual cannabis products like gummies, vapes, etc. Opened about 2 months ago.

Are we getting a boutique wine shop on 28th & 10th?

Based solely on this fancy sign posted on the Death Ave window, we may be getting a “boutique wine shop” on the corner of 28th & 10th. Let me know if anyone has information on this that we can share with the block.