Couples trade partners

We love love around here and remain a little perplexed by a tangible romantic recession and relationship pessimism that seems to have really picked up over the last 5 or so years. Thus we’re excited to break the news after it was broken by the New York Times and probably various other publications that one of your options is just to kind of trade partners with one of your friends.

A few years ago, Good Morning America hosts TJ Holmes and Amy Robach were spotted canoodling on the street when technically legally married to other people; they subsequently separated from their then-partners and married each other in September 2026. Well it turns out that their then-partners, pictured here (Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig) found each other and are themselves engaged as of this month! Follow your heart, my friends.

Nano brewery and restaurant called Future Self Brewing is (likely) coming to West 24th

The owners of Haymaker Bar and Kitchen on 29th Street & 8th Ave are opening a brewery and restaurant called Future Self Brewing on 24th Street & 6th Avenue. As we understand it based on materials filed with the local community board and this article, the brewery would be on the basement level, where guests can do tours and sample craft brews, and the restaurant (which is huge and can seat 165 people) would be on the first floor.

Based on Future Self’s Instagram, it looks like they’re already selling brews with cool names like Everything’s Computer and Mirror Test at Haymaker, and so expect those at the new place. We’ve also gotten a sneak peak at the food menu for the restaurant and it’s got an elevated yet casual selection with pork skewers, dumplings, burgers (naturally), pork chops, noodle bowls, and a “Weekly Chef’s Special.”

Word on the street is that a local resident has raised concerns about potential noise in the space, and so hopefully those concerns are resolved soon and this place moves forward to opening. Will keep the block updated on when that is expected to be.

Horses are out (in June 2028)

We wrote a few months ago about a ban on horse-drawn carriages that, in the wake of the death of an 18 year-old passenger this last June, New York City’s legislature appeared to be destined to enact. Yesterday, the legislature (called the New York City Council) voted overwhelmingly to ban the carriages, starting in June 2028. The idea between now and June 2028 is to figure out how to address the unemployed drivers and horses.

The various city and state representatives representing our neighborhood, including councilmember Carl Wilson, NYS assemblyman Tony Simone, and NYS senator Erik Bottcher were all in favor of the ban.

Popular* Indian restaurant called Samudhra opening a little above you, on 43rd Street [*in New Jersey]

New Jersey is a state in our general vicinity which we understand has excellent views of New York. As first reported by our sister publication the New York Post, a popular Indian restaurant & lounge called Samudhra in Franklin Park, New Jersey (about an hour away) is opening up a second location on 43rd Street & 8th Avenue, on the ground floor of an apartment building called The Ellery. We took at look at the menu for the new location and it is very close to the menu for the NJ location.

The NJ location has about 13k reviews on Google with an average rating of 4.6, which probably means you should check it out. We skimmed through the reviews and see a lot of “luxurious ambience” and “the food was delicious” and “Samudhra in Franklin Park is one of those places that makes dining out feel special from the moment you walk in.” (And don’t worry about the trip up north; while this place sounds like it’s close to Port Authority, 43rd Street actually feels quite removed from it).

Prospectively recommend.

“The Weight of Normal Things” at Sofy Gallery through Oct 24

Beauty hiding in plain sight; it’s what we like to think this whole association is trying to highlight. We’re a little late on this but it’s never too late to do the right thing: From October 1 through October 24, 2026 at the Sofy Gallery on 19th Street & 10th Avenue is a new exhibit called “The Weight of Normal Things,” which bills itself as “a meditation of beauty hiding in plain sight.” A more complete description from Time Out:

Sofy Gallery in Chelsea opens a new group exhibit, The Weight of Normal Things, on October 1, joining painters Susan P. Martin and Patrick Earl Barnes with photographer Mara Clemente for a meditation on beauty hiding in plain sight. Curated by Luca Cantore D’Amore, the exhibition considers everyday people, places and gestures through three distinct forms of attention. Martin’s paintings blur self-portraiture and landscape, Barnes shows quietly charged urban scenes and Clemente's photographs bring the intimacy. The show kicks off the gallery’s 2026/'27 season and runs through October 24. Admission is free, with an opening reception from 6 to 9pm on October 1.

“Art Opening 3” by Patrick Earl Barnes and “Pure Joy” by Mara Clemente pictured above.

Maybe you’ll see Whoopi Goldberg filming “Women Like Us” this Wednesday, October 21st

A new Netflix “dramedy” starring Whoopi Goldberg, Jenifer Lewis, Vanessa Williams, and Vivica A. Fox, is shooting on 27th and 28th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues, on October 21, 2026. I can’t find a trailer for it quite yet, but I can find Whoopi talking about it on The View here. And here’s a description:

Directed by Tasha Smith (Mayor of Kingstown, ’Tis So Sweet), the upcoming dramedy follows a recently widowed woman who is dragged to the Hamptons by her lifelong best friends and sister on what should have been her 30th wedding anniversary. The weekend becomes a reckoning with grief, marriage, and the sisterhood that’s carried them throughout the years — as well as the realization that dreams don’t have an expiration date.

We’ll be tracking when it is scheduled to premier.

Would you like to see a picture of 25th Street & 10th Ave but 100 years ago?

From the New York Historical Society

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.

Something a little apocalyptic is going on at 25th & 10th, formerly Joe’s Tavern

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:

As detailed quite colorfully in this blog, that very old sign says “Joe’s Tavern,” and Joe appears to have closed his tavern around the late 1980s or early-1990s‍. More on Joe, from the comments to the article:

The “Joe” was Joseph Luka b. 1912 a bartender who immigrated from Hungary in 1931. He married Clara Kocsis from Virginia in 1946. They and their two children lived in the East 80s in the Hungarian section of Yorkville.

[…]

Joseph Luka made the news in Nov of 1956 when he threatened to jump from his apartment window at 355 E 83rd. When the police arrived he was half out the window with his wife holding his leg. It was probably a publicity stunt as he addressed the gathered crowd on the ground floor about the need to help fight the Soviets who had invaded Hungary earlier that year. He was carted off to Bellview for observation.

The property has been owned by NYC (designated as Block 722, Lot 74) for as far back and we can trace property records, possibly because the city seized the property in the last 1980s due to unpaid property taxes. From the city’s perspective, the entire lot is currently valued at $3.073 million (Zillow estimates $5.1 million) and the building has one commercial unit (i.e., Joe’s former spot downstairs) and three residential units above, at least two of which appear to have people actually living in them, based on the air conditioners and shades in the windows.

So what does this all mean for purposes of your neighbor’s original question? The tavern that was formerly Joe’s has been out of service for nearly 40 years and the owner doesn’t have any incentive to do anything about it because the owner is the city and isn’t paying anything in property taxes. For things to change, someone who really loves a fixer upper will have to come along and buy the place off the city, probably for pennies on the dollar.

In the meantime, from the comfort of our apartments and phones, we can all continue to bet on gun control, retirement, “climate,” and housing. We’re short all four, if you were wondering.

Guys sitting on 21st Street stoop have been out there for a while

Two very old friends spotted on 21st Street between 9th & 10th (right across from the Vanderbilt NYC campus we posted about below).

Olly Olly on 26th & 11th has a pop up flea market this Sunday [SATURDAY, sorry] from 12-4pm

We have written before about the little flea markets that occasionally pop up at Olly Olly, which is inside the historic Starrett-Lehigh building on 26th Street & 11th Avenue. This Sunday, October 17, 2026, a flea market is again popping up at Olly Olly from 12-4pm—this is where you can get your vintage clothes, handmade jewelry, pottery, art pieces, and the like. There is also a ton of incredible food at the Olly Olly; the Thai place called Kinn Thai and pizza place called Honey Pie Pizza are stand outs. Recommend you stop by and browse.

Ed note: This took place on October 17th, not 18th. Whoops. Hopefully you looked at the picture rather than the writing.

Imagine a world where you don’t have to choose between a coffee shop and a flower shop

The basic problem with getting you somebody who can do both is actually finding somebody who can do both. We at High Line 28 are at your service at least in some respects, including the coffee respect, and so we occasionally take it upon ourselves to do the heavy lifting of life for you. The latest result of those efforts is our discovery of a coffee AND flower shop called Ora La Casa de las Flores‍, which opened on 24th Street & 9th Avenue in February 2026. Trust us on this; this is your new favorite place to meet a friend, work on a laptop, or even buy a bouquet. Turns out life isn’t always about choices and tradeoffs.

The first thing we have to say about Ora La Casa de las Flores (which refers to “Ora,” the owner’s mother, and then “the house of flowers” in Spanish) is that it is absolutely huge for an NYC cafe. This is not a flower slash coffee shop; it is really a flower shop when you walk in on 9th Avenue and then a coffee shop as you wander towards the back. The block-approved move is to walk slowly through the flowers and then go for the cappuccino, slice of pecan apple pie, and your laptop (Ed note: no wifi yet, so charge your phone and be ready to turn it into a hotspot). There are large rooms right near the coffee shop space that, when we showed up randomly on a Saturday morning, were hosting an entire flower-cutting event and a Hispanic Heritage craft event‍ (which you’ll see in the pictures here). Somehow the owners, Guztavo and Tangni, have already managed to turn Ora’s casa into a community gathering place. That, we think, will happen when you create a bright, floral, celebratory yet somehow still quiet place that is perfect for parties of one to parties of one hundred to—really everything in between.

Highly recommend.

Vanderbilt campus on 21st Street between 9th & 10th will let you walk around this Sunday

We wrote a few weeks ago about the new Vanderbilt NYC campus opening to its first class of students. Mostly understandably, the gates on 21st Street have been shut to the public since we added it to our regular walk around the time of our original post. Neighbor Lauren now writes in informing us that this Sunday, October 18, 2026, Vanderbilt will be opening its gates for an “open house” from 12-4pm. Architects will be on scene to answer your questions about the historic Gothic buildings on campus. We will wander down this Sunday and encourage you to as well.