High Line staircase on 26th Street now set to be complete in October 2026

Our friends at the High Line write with news that the new staircase we’re getting up to the High Line on 26th Street & 10th Ave is now set to open in October 2026 rather than September 2026. Evidently the reason for the slight delay is that an essential item from Canada is taking its time to get here, and so we can do what we always really try to do and just kind of blame Canada for our problems. Canada, get it together on our wildfires, staircase, and like all the other things too. Thanks to the folks at the High Line for keeping us updated.

New Equinox on our block has an official opening: November 10

We’ve written a few times now about the new Equinox opening on 28th & 11th, at the incredible Terminal Warehouse space. The Equinox folks (Dominick and Alyssa) now inform us that a date is set for the opening: November 10, 2026! Reminder that this will be “destination club” that you need a premium membership for (though if you go to the Hudson Yards location, you can go here); the focus is on weights rather than cardio; and you get a discount if you join early as a founding member, which you can do here.

Excited to announce this because other than our Timothee Chalamet and gardening posts, the new Equinox is easily gets the most write-ins. Thank you Dominick and Alyssa!

Longest Table, an outside potluck lunch, is next Sunday, October 4

Neighborhood force Maryam Banikarim (see her podcast here) is back at it again next weekend with The Longest Table, which is a name that just about tells you exactly what it is. This is a neighborhood potluck at an extremely long table down on 21st Street between 9th & 10th Avenues. You bring yourself and the food you made; others do the same; and we take it from there. Since Maryam started The Longest Table in 2022, it has absolutely taken off (Good Morning America clip here) and more than 1,000 people showed up to last year’s table. You can register here (only a few tickets left as of the time of this posting); the lunch runs from 12-2pm on Sunday, October 4.

We’ll be in attendance, which just about blows up your excuse that you don’t know anyone who’s going now doesn’t it? Email us if you’re planning on going and we’ll see you there.

*Reminder as well that The Longest Table is searching for a chief of staff, which we’ve previously written about.

Penthouse apartment at 15 Hudson Yards finally within reach for you

We’ve been tracking like a hawk the (or at least a) penthouse apartment at 15 Hudson Yards since it was first listed in September 2021 for $29.5 million. Well we’re pleased to report that in September 2026, the price of Apt “PH88C” at 15 Hudson Yards dropped another $2 million (after a steady downward slope over the last five years)—and it is now on the market for the absolute basement, bargain price of $17.95 million. You might call it the most expensive current apartment listing in the West Chelsea/Hudson Yards area, and you would be right, but we might call it a steal and practically a giveaway at that price, and we would also be right. The mark of an intelligent block association is the ability to post two conflicting thoughts on our website at the same time, or something.

Friends, this is the moment where we remind you that you’ve already missed your shot repeatedly apartment-wise in this neighborhood, including on Bad Bunny’s, Ariana Grande’s, and Kendall Roy’s apartments. Don’t be an error repeater; get in touch with Corcoran today, and bring us along for the walkthrough.

Laundry day isn’t cancelled

Guys, we try our best to celebrate new ideas and new business around here but a man must have a code. Spotted on 30th Street and 11th Avenue (right under the High Line) is the above poster, where we see that LAUNDRY DAY IS CANCELLED and the word “wash” crossed all the way out. We did some light investigative work and it is for a brand rather descriptively called antiwash.com (see its Instagram here), which launched in early 2026 and evidently sells a spray allowing you to voluntarily remove yourself from polite society and just not wash your clothes.

Take it from your friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances, neighbors, pets, people standing in line next to you, and now block association: you should wash your clothes. We wish the two sisters and a friend who founded this the absolute best (sincerely) but we live on top of each other around here and prefer a more Brazilian approach to washing bodies and clothes. Laundry day isn’t cancelled.

New art gallery on 29th & 11th has grand opening on Thursday, October 1

A new art gallery called AINA is grandly opening on 29th Street & 11th Avenue (southeast corner, same address as a condo building) on October 1st! Neighbor Conor, who himself is opening a gallery in the Zebra Building this fall, informs us about the new gallery, previously called AICON and which resided for 20 years on something called “Great Jones Street” (for the civilized among us, Great Jones Street is East 3rd Street down by Bowery). The gallery focuses on modern art from South Asia, the Middle East, Africa. You can see the website here, a NYT write-up on the dapper architect for the new space here, and a description below:

Derived from the Persian and South Asian word for “mirror”, the new name articulates a larger ambition: to create a New York platform through which South Asian, African, Middle Eastern and diasporic modern and contemporary art can be viewed not as peripheral to the global art conversation, but as part of its centre.

[…]

Founder Prajit Dutta describes it as “a space of clarity and synthesis”.

The mirror embedded within the name becomes both metaphor and proposition.

A mirror reflects, but it can also change the way something is seen.

For AINA, that idea translates into a gallery built around reflection, exchange and global artistic dialogue, particularly for practices that have historically existed outside the dominant Western narratives of modern and contemporary art.

Welcome, Prajit, to the art gallery mecca of NYC. See you next week.

Tradicionale will make your date like you (and Filipino food)

Elevated yet breezily approachable. You will meet people in your life who are crisp and stylish in an effortless way; then you’ll find out that they have some secret technical skill like they speak five languages or are a nationally recognized figure skater. Do not compare yourself to these casually beautiful people or put too much thought into how they are nailing the little things, seemingly without really trying. Just take it all in and maybe even patronize the restaurant equivalent that we’re personifying here: Tradicionale on 19th Street & 9th Ave.

Tradicionale bills itself as a “Filipino-Spanish bistro and bar” yet we bill it as a date-night spot with a person you genuinely like. The decor goes back and forth between dark and bright: French bistro-style floors; marble bar top; deep and dark wood tables; and then a leafy pattern on the walls that is no doubt paying homage to the tropical maritime climate of the Philippines. Add all of this up, together with the soft, moody lighting and lounge music, and heto!, you’ll find yourself sitting across from someone way more smitten than you remember them being last time.

Then there is the food. Here is the block-approved move, which comes from our bartender and genial restaurant manager, Paulo: the Chicken Liampiang Shanghai to start and the Kare Kare Short Rib for the main. The former is a Filipino egg roll stuffed with ground chicken and vegetables and served with a red sweet and sour sauce; confuse your tastebuds in the best way by going back and forth between the spice in the rolls and the sweetness of the sauce. The real star for us is the short rib—and our recommendation is that you come hungry for this because it is hearty. A soft and fatty short rib, eggplant, green beans, and bok choy are stewed together in a deep red peanut sauce (reminiscent of Massaman curry) that you basically don’t have to even chew and is worth closing your eyes for. Throw all the shrimp paste they give you right in the bowl for a blast of saltiness, and soak up the last of the rich, creamy, savory, peanut-infused sauce with the white rice you get on the side. There is also a great and creative selection of drinks that we haven’t tried yet, including the Bloody Manang, the Filipino take on a Bloody Mary, and a vodka, coconut, and apricot liqueur combination charmingly called Girl Dinner.

We understand from the owners that Tradicionale is about to set up some tables outside as well, which naturally we’re here for. So we’ll be back soon to try the Lobster Palabok, a lobster and pork rind medley which we very nearly picked last time for our main, and the beautiful outdoor European cafe experience that we’ve written about before on 9th Avenue.

Highly recommend.

Help save the world by learning about plants on October 8, 2026

Guys, the robots are just about to take over and so someone really should give some thought to how to save the world. Hear me out on this: plants. The answer might be plants. On October 8, 2026, the High Line is putting on an event called Plants can save the world: Green space solutions for a resilient future. Below is a description—it’s a very cool panel event on the High Line itself at 14th Street:

Plants are the foundation of life on earth, and yet they’re often the last thing we consider when looking for systems that can build climate resilience. This panel will bring together plant and nature experts to discuss how plants and gardens can enhance human health and well-being while providing solutions to mitigate the detrimental effects of climate chaos. Join our moderator, Richard Hayden, Senior Director of Horticulture for the High Line, and panelists Tami Lin-Moges, Director of the Cities Program in New York for The Nature Conservancy, and Uli Lorimer, Director of Horticulture for the Native Plant Trust, for a series of short presentations followed by a lively discussion and audience Q&A.

You can RSVP at the link above—and thank you Wei, at the High Line, for telling us about this.

You really should see on October 4 a film about the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses

Neighbor Renee, president of the tenants’ association for the Elliott-Chelsea Houses, writes in with the following news: on October 4, 2026 at 5:30pm, a special screening of a new documentary called A Home Worth Fighting For‍ is filming at SVA Theatre on 23rd Street between 8th & 9th Avenue. We have written repeatedly this year about the Elliott-Chelsea and Fulton Houses, the housing complex between 9th & 10th Avenues on 16-19th and 25th-27th Streets; with the backing of the city and private developers, the whole complex is slated to be imminently demolished and rebuilt.

Here’s a description of and invitation for the screening from Renee:

Please join us on Sunday, October 4th for a special screening of  A Home Worth Fighting For at the SVA Theatre in Chelsea.

Hear directly from residents fighting to save our homes, and learn what is happening right now at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses.

A Home Worth Fighting For is a powerful film documenting Fulton and Elliott‑Chelsea residents as we fight back against the proposed demolition of our homes. It highlights the truth, the organizing, and the community strength driving this movement.

Join us for the screening and a community conversation with the director, resident leaders, housing experts, and advocates. We’ll dig into what’s at stake for public housing and how residents are pushing back against demolition plans.

Get your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-home-worth-fighting-for-tickets-1999428856533 (free but there aren’t that many left). This is a critical issue for our neighborhood and we’ll be in attendance.

Thom Browne closes out New York Fashion Week at The Shed

The latest New York Fashion Week ran from September 10 to September 15, 2026 (for the unfashionable: the week is for designers to showcase their spring and summer 2027 collections). The grand finale took place at our very own The Shed, the arts center in Hudson Yards, where designer Thom Browne came through with his signature quasi-preppy, quasi-corporate look. You can see celebrities catwalking into The Shed here and an article in Vogue about the looks here (and another article here). Spring bugs were the motif (snippet from the last link above):

The Shed at Hudson Yards was transformed into a surreal, over-the-top, delightfully dark garden replete with giant leaves, huge daffodils, and a glamorous cocoon at the center of it all for Thom Browne’s spring 2027 show. It was the final runway presentation of the NYFW spring 2027 season, and per usual, the designer made it dramatic as ever. Browne was thinking of the campy children’s film A Bug’s Life and turned his usual remixed tailored suits into wearable garden-scapes blooming with layers of floral motifs, ant embroidery, and butterfly-wing gowns. “For me, it was a very naive childhood story, and I thought it would bring smiles to everybody’s face,” he said backstage right after the show. “I was using the story and working with all the techniques I’ve been working with for the last couple seasons.”

Always here for the stylishness on our block.

Shark Tank guy at Chelsea Industrial

We see activity this week at Chelsea Industrial, the event space on 28th Street between 10th & 11th Avenue. Evidently it is for a blockchain conference called “Avalanche Summit,” which takes place this Wednesday and Thursday (9/16 and 9/17/26) and describes itself as “where the business and technology leaders driving the future of digital assets come together.” Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame is the headliner. On the second link above you can see the rest of the “best minds in the business” in attendance (incidentally they also look like a group of guys who could go a very long interaction before asking you a single question).

We at High Line 28 Blockchain Association will be there and will report back on how it went.

Owners of vacant lot on 29th & 10th looking to sell

Neighbor Conor, owner of the much anticipated Zebra Building opening this fall, writes in with a comment on our post last week regarding the vacant lot on 29th Street & 10th Avenue. The owners of the lot (who have owned it since at least the 1980s) have retained a broker called BK Real Estate Advisors to sell the lot; here’s an article on the lot, and shown here is a rendering of what may be possible for the space.

The lot is zoned “COMMERCIAL OR MANHATTAN RESIDENTIAL,” though from the rendering and article, it looks like the broker is pitching it as a residential opportunity:

Development sites that combine a prime Manhattan location, favorable zoning, construction readiness, and multiple pathways to increased density are increasingly difficult to find.

As residential demand continues to grow in West Chelsea and Hudson Yards, 327 Tenth Avenue offers developers a unique opportunity to deliver a boutique project in one of New York City's most dynamic neighborhoods. The combination of zoning flexibility, location quality, and immediate buildability positions the site as a compelling investment opportunity.

We’ll reach out to the brokers for any more information. Would be great to get a new building in this space along with the other buildings that are supposed to be sprouting up in the neighborhood (note: our latest information is that the Scores development has stalled).