It looks to be a much more normal summer this year, with major reopenings, new dining and the possibility of a new look for New York City’s most iconic retailer.
All About Apparel
Boho-inspired apparel and home goods brand Roller Rabbit will open on the ground level of the Croydon, 1156 Madison Avenue (between East 85th and East 86th Streets), and Furrier Maximilian is opening its first freestanding Midtown store at 32 East 57th Street.
Wining & Dining
What says summer more than seafood? Cajun seafood boil eater Crab Du Jour has come to The Crossings in Hunts Point in the Bronx. Born in North Carolina in 2019, the chain now has 60 locations and expects to double that by the year’s end. Hungry Ghost, the rapidly-expanding New York coffee brand known for its décor and high-quality coffee and food, will open a 650-square-foot shop (plus a basement) at 315 Bleecker Street this spring. The building features a cast-iron façade with large windows and a brick exterior, while the interior will feature the original tin ceiling and tile floors. Hungry Ghost now has 15 locations throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. Bakery and café Maman will replace a Wells Fargo branch at 230 Park Avenue.
Garment district dining mainstay Andrews Thirty-Fifth Street Coffee Shop has renewed its lease for three floors totaling more than 5,000 square feet at 463 Seventh Avenue. Texas Chicken & Burgers, a fast-food chain known for its crispy Southern-style fried chicken and variety of “never frozen” burgers, will open at 667-669 Stanley Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Menu items include biscuits, French fries, salads and a selection of sides, such as corn on the cob, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. From its original store in Queens, New York, the chain has expanded to include nearly 40 locations in New York City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Planta Queen is coming from Toronto, Canada to bring vegan dining to 15 West 27th Street.
To Your Health
Medly Pharmacy, a startup that offers same-day prescription delivery, has come to Manhattan at 1868 Third Avenue (East 103rd Street). It already has locations in its Brooklyn headquarters and the Bronx.
Remaking Macy’s
Macy’s is looking up — literally. The retailer has announced plans to invest $235 million in the area surrounding its New York City flagship to improve accessibility to the Herald Square transit station and upgrade the surrounding neighborhood with improved transit entrances and connections, pedestrian space, ADA-accessible elevators and upgraded public space. To achieve these upgrades, Macy’s will leverage its underlying Herald Square real estate to build a commercial office tower above its iconic flagship store. The project would upgrade and make temporary plaza improvements permanent, dedicate areas for pedestrians that address accessibility and ADA-specific issues and ease overcrowding and congestion to allow for a safer, more inviting open space.
Currently, the plan would: transform Herald Square and Broadway Plaza into a car-free, pedestrian-friendly urban space; ease pedestrian access at Broadway and 34th Street while creating efficient, new transit entrances to the Herald Square subway station near Penn Station; add an improved gateway entrance to the Herald Square subway station at Greeley Square and add ADA-accessible elevators at Seventh Avenue and 34th Street and 35th Street and Broadway to the subway station, while creating additional pedestrian space on the northern edge of Penn Station. The store will remain open throughout the project’s timeline, which will go through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) process.
Times Square Comeback
With the summer season approaching, the Times Square Alliance reports that 175 businesses have recently reopened, in addition to 18 new brick-and-mortar businesses, many of which are restaurants, bars and fast-casual eateries, that opened during the pandemic. Businesses that opened during the pandemic include: 16 Handles at 732 Seventh Avenue, which opened in April; Cook Eatery, which opened at 11 West 45th Street in October; Jasmine’s Caribbean Cuisine, which debuted last year at 371 West 46th Street; Krispy Kreme, which came to 1601 Broadway in September; Prime Catch, which opened during the pandemic last year at 140 West 46th Street; fast casual restaurant Silky Kitchen, which came to 138 West 46th Street in October; Xoxo NYC Bar, which opened in March 2020 at 336 West 46th Street and Zaman Mediterranean, which brought fast-casual dining to 681 Eighth Avenue in November. Reopening businesses include: 40-year-old entertainment venue Don’t Tell Mama (343 West 46th Street), Ichiran (152 West 49th Street), Red Poke (600 Ninth Avenue and 885 Eight Avenue), The Mean Fiddler (266 West 47th Street) and Tony’s DiNapoli (147 West 43rd Street).
Debra Hazel
Debra Hazel Communications
New York, NY
(201) 618-5247
