Vanderbilt University’s NYC campus (yes that is a thing) opens to students

Wander down today to Vanderbilt’s NYC campus, on 21st Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, which officially opened to students for the first time this last week. The idea here is for Vanderbilt (yes, the university in Nashville) to host about 100 students in the brand new West Chelsea campus each semester. And the campus, which remember you should call “the quad” to sound like you belong, is beautiful. It is on the grounds of the General Theological Seminary, an episcopal church comprised of 13 gothic buildings, and Vanderbilt (which signed a 99-year for the space last year) is in the process of really sprucing the already historic place up.

What makes a city dynamic, we think, is generation after generation of young people who fall in love with the place and layer fresh ideas onto the forever soup that has already been delicious for centuries. Here’s to the latest microcosm in West Chelsea, and welcome to the neighborhood, first 87 Vanderbilt students.

Vintage designer sale in 26th Street art studio through this Monday

Through this Sunday and Monday (8/30 and 8/31), Cool French Girl, aka Charlie Taylor, is holding a vintage designer sale in her studio on 26th Street between 10th & 11th Avenues (at 526 West 26th Street). You can read more about the studio and her collection in an article called “The Weird, The Wild, and The Whimsy,” which I think are like the three main food groups and the name of a Clint Eastwood movie that really should have been.

To find the studio, walk up the ramp on the left side of 26th Street; go up the elevator; and then wrap around the hallway until you see suite 311. From there you will be greeted by three friendly dogs who will keep a close eye on you as you browse. Cool French Girl informs us that on Monday, the prices may drop even further than they currently are because everything must go. So you might be able to transform yourself into a cool French girl for like $10. More on that name by the way from the article above:

I asked her about the reasoning behind the name of “Cool French Girl” and she explained how a long-held admiration for French art, fashion, and cinema inspired her to apply that philosophy of chic coolness in curating a fashion archive. And its not just Francophile culture in a broad stroke - it’s France of the 1960s: the New Wave films of Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Éric Rohmer, et al; the Yé-yé music of Francoise Hardy and Serge Gainsbourg; the coalescing of models and actresses in the fashion industry with the likes of Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, and the English-born Jane Birkin; and, of course, the crème de la crème of the Parisian fashion scene with the likes of Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro, André Courrèges, et al.

Motorcycle rebels on 27th Street this morning

Short weekend reminder from your friendly neighborhood motorcyclists to play by whatever rules, march to whatever beats, and park in whatever spaces that you (damn well) please.

Tree pits around 28th & 10th currently being transformed into little urban oases

We wrote a few weeks ago about Itty Island, the mini-garden down on 10th Avenue & 24th Street built for no apparent reason (the best apparent reason) by a group of enterprising Chelsea resident-gardeners. We also mused about similarly transforming some currently abandoned tree pits further up on 10th Avenue. Well I’m happy to report that those prayers were answered, because the New York City Council (legislature of NYC) recently engaged a nonprofit called The Horticultural Society of New York to transform at least three tree pits around 10th Avenue & 27th/28th Street into little oases. Amazing.

We discovered all of this after spotting and talking to Nick—pictured here, watering a block tree pit—who informed us that he was watering on behalf of The Hort (yes that is the organization’s nickname). We emailed The Hort to figure out what exactly their plans are and if we can partner with them going forward. Their Director of Horticulture (Jeremy) wrote promptly back to us, saying that yes indeed they are focused on beautifying forlorn tree pits around our neighborhood and indeed they are happy to coordinate with us. So if you’d like to lend a hand or a green thumb to the beautifying initiative here, please let us know.

Neighbor & AI whiz will help you make your business more efficient, for free

Guys, the robots are coming for all of us, and if you can’t beat ’em (and you can’t), join ’em. Better yet, let neighbor Drew help you AND your small business join them. Drew Mehta, who lives on 28th between 10th and 11th and runs an AI advisory company called thinkFraction, is hosting a free working session for local business owners on Thursday, October 1st, 6–9 PM at 507 West 28th Street. Owner-operators will bring the most repetitive task that their team does weekly, and a few get audited live on a whiteboard: hours, cost, and what an actual fix looks like. No cost, no sponsor, nothing to buy. Built for people-run businesses: service businesses, contractors, accounting firms, clinics, agencies, galleries, studios, property managers.

RSVP: https://luma.com/6qkk16sj

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.

Anime Con at block association convention center

NYC’s annual anime convention, called “Anime NYC,” was back at the Javits Center this last extended weekend, running from Thursday to Friday (August 20 - 23). This led to some interesting transactions and interactions around the neighborhood, including a guy with a (plastic?) sword ordering sushi at Whole Foods and a purple-haired superheroine watching golf with the rest of her crew on the big TV in Hudson Yards.

We’re here for it. Anime NYC is the largest anime convention on the East Coast and an estimated 150,000 people showed up this year. The organized events at the Javits Center are an array of panels ranging from Living in Japan 101, a crash course on living in Japan, to industry panels filled with creators and publishers who talk about how the characters came to be. But really the whole thing is a way for the like-minded and like-interested to come together, which naturally means that we are strong supporters.

Will be back next August!

Iconic and mildly ridiculous home goods store opens in Chelsea Market

We call ourselves serious and ridiculous in generally equal measure, which is why we have to tell you about Fishs Eddy, an iconic and ridiculous (in the best way) home goods store which just opened its latest location in Chelsea Market. You can read great write-ups of it in Chelsea Community News and Time Out. You can also watch neighborhood force Maryam Banikarim interview one of the founders, Julie Gaines, here.

This place is a true New York City institution and sells pieces with New York City soul; find your bowls with the city skyline, your Abraham Lincoln candles, and your diner-inspired dishware here and only here (and if you were wondering, the name comes from a little town upstate). We’re rather partial to this description from Chelsea Community News: “The store quickly became a brand by virtue of its eye-catching product designs, which continue to range from no-nonsense functional to quintessentially quirky.” Relatable.

Thanks for flagging this opening to us, Maryam and Eric Marcus, and looking forward to stopping in soon, Julie.

Renaissance man’s review of wedding at block arena: “It was a crazy night”

Those who have stuck with us throughout the summer know that we have done Pulitzer Prize-level reporting on the nuptials which took place a few weeks ago at the world’s most famous wedding venue, Madison Square Garden. Well the reviews are now in from the bridegroom, a true man of letters who our sources assure us read his own vows: “It was a crazy night, it was a full of a lot celebration, but it’s football baby.”

Thanks for that Travis. Let us know if you and the bride are ever on our block again and are willing to let us listen in on one of your conversations.

Outdoor dining is back baby, all year round

^The future of our block, probably.

We are yes in my backyard types around here, and given that we live in a concrete jungle, by “in my backyard” I of course mean “on my sidewalk.” That is why we’re excited to break the news along with our sister publication The New York Times that outdoor dining will resume year-round in NYC. What I mean specifically is that: (i) outdoor street dining is now permitted for the dead-of-winter months (December to March) along with April to November; and (ii) the city is going to be less ridiculous and punitive in fining so-called “noncompliant” outdoor structures. Upshot: city restaurants should be incentivized to set up shop again outside en masse.

The history here is that during COVID, in order to boost lagging business for restaurants, the city permitted outdoor dining on the streets (“street” cafes are distinguished from “sidewalk” cafes, with the former being like what you see in the picture shown here and the latter already being allowed year-round, like the patio at Sogno Toscano). In 2023, the city council and mayor enacted rules to, among other things, only allow outdoor street dining from December to March, in effect requiring restaurants to construct and deconstruct the outdoor cafes every year—and thus seriously disincentivizing them from bothering with it all at all. These new rules roll all of that back.

Of course there are the detractors, including our (other) sister publication The New York Post, which refers to outdoor street dining as a “roadway-hogging menace”: https://nypost.com/2026/08/13/us-news/nycs-roadway-hogging-menace-is-back-with-a-vengeance/. Won’t someone think of the roads! We’re happy to discuss the issue with The New York Post editorial board over drinks and maybe even appetizers, outside, any day of the year.

Chain Film Festival, showing short indie films, running from August 6-16

Neighbor Inge, one of those people whose taste you should just trust, writes in with a suggestion that we check out Chain Film Festival. This is a small, independent film festival focusing on “personal stories and original ideas set against New York City itself.” It runs from August 6 - 16, 2026, and most of the shows run from 10 - 30 minutes. You can see the film schedule here.

When it comes to films, first and foremost we love a New York City backdrop, and you can see for yourself just by watching trailers of a few pieces on your phone that this festival goes hard in that respect. Films, we think, are kind of fun to attend with a partner but really fun to go to alone. Drink all of your senses in better that way and in the silence right after the show, hit the stranger next to you with a “so what’d you think?” Take it from us; take it from there.

Outdoor dance party on the High Line this Thursday (on 15th Street)!

Yes, dance party on the High Line this Thursday night, August 13, 2026, from 6 -9pm ET! To be clear this is a SALSA dance party called ¡Arriba! with Lulada Club, Nieves Latin Dance Studio, and DJ Mickey Pérez. The festivities start with a lesson from 6:15 - 6:45pm, which is great because you don’t really know what you’re doing now do you, before transitioning into a salsa music set by a DJ and then a live salsa performance by “Lulada Club.”

And yes, we hear and even share your internal monologue that it’s a little crazy to show up to a salsa dance party when you don’t quite know anyone and don’t really know how to salsa. But it’s less crazy to just agree to have a drink and wander by the festivities—and once that toe is dipped in, who knows what will happen? Thanks to Ethan Abbott, Director of Community Engagement at the High Line (and just immediately cool individual) for telling us about this and organizing events for our namesake, the beautiful High Line.

Update 8/14/26: Here’s the state senator for our neighborhood, Erik Bottcher, getting his basic step on: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcAUWbIKYZ8/?hl=en. And isn’t that you, dear scroller, in the background?