First and foremost was asking myself if I Could even write regularly? OK, I can.

Second was Could I do the advance planning that a “newsletter” requires? I think I figured that part out too, because it’s really fun.

And lastly, Can I convey my love of our neighborhood in this medium? In spite of my weird/unc/metal/rap/noisy taste in music combined with dumb humor, strange art, and old school NYC shit-talking? Seems like it.

So I’m in. Because of Tudor City View, I’ve already met some amazing humans who have lived here for a long time and have fought for how beautiful our neighborhood is. This inspires me. The people I have met have a spirit that can only be described as “Tudor Citian”. (Copyright 2026, Me)

I hope to honor them. Onward to the Mission Statement. But first a picture that is a s/o to my new friends from the Tudor City Greens.

Big shocker here, but Tudor City View is an extension of my personality. So this won’t be a mission statement, but more like hopeful guardrails in bulletpoints. That’s kinda how I roll and I hope to regularly evolve it with the feedback from all of y’alls.

OK. Wind up done. Here comes the pitch.

1. Tudor City View was created to bring the humans in and of our neighborhood together. TCV hopes to represent all of the people who call this wonderful neighborhood home.

2. Tudor City View promises to keep up-to-date on the events and issues that are regularly happening and will actively encourage everyone to join the established organizations of Tudor City. MANY people have been beacons of stewardship before TCV was even a glimmer in the internet’s eyes… and those are the people we should be working with.

3. Tudor City View will never forget we are New Yorkers. Yo. We got each other’s back and let’s never forget that.

4. No AI anything. Not pictures, not words, not design. By people, for people.

5. Tudor City View will definitely have opinions. But those opinions (aka, mine) are not set in stone. I encourage anyone who wants to take an active role in offering differing viewpoints to write about them. The comments are the easy place but if you want to write up an article, I'll happily work with you to get that done and published.

6. As such, Tudor City View actively encourages alla y’alls to be writers. What do you care about? Email me at tudorcityview@gmail.com and let’s work together. Collaboration. It rules even moreso when we get to hang out and talk in the South Park.

7. And finally, and most importantly, Tudor City View believes in love and respect for all of our fellow human beings, beyond just our neighborhood and our city. Hatred and intolerance are the only things that TCV will be intolerant of. The right to swing your arms around ends at your nose, ya dig?

Is that too serious? Very well might be. Fuck it. I love living here and that’s where my head is now. I very much appreciate you reading these posts.

Join up, y’alls!

CIVICALLYS

• Here’s where to go for voting information! October 24th starts off early voting. Pretty sure our early voting location is at the High School of Art & Design - 249 East 56th Street, 10022 - but click here to check for yourself.

• The first of the Halloween events are starting to jump off. The Kids’ Halloween and Book Swap is this Saturday, October 17th at 1 p.m. It’ll be in the South Park.

• The Dog Costume Parade is still October 25th. Get ready, friends.

• The temperature is dropping. Expect it to get down to the 40s and 50s this week. Might be time to break out the jacket.

TO DO

• Dillinger Escape Plan is playing at Saint Vitus! I saw this band open for Mr. Bungle in Ventura, California in 1999. They ruled then, still rule now. This is on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

• Fall Movie Nights are taking place over in Hudson Yards for people who aren't into post-hardcore-art-math-rock. This Friday, the 16th isWicked! Go sing along.

• And finally, IGORRR and Secret Chiefs 3 are playing Friday the 16th at Webster Hall. FR, it’s a tough choice between this show and seeing Rocket From The Crypt at Irving Plaza. There is a nostalgia play here for SC3 and RFTC with me. But IGORRR? My goodness, never seen him play anything less than a terrifying brilliant set. But also, RFTC is so good that I broke my knee the last time I saw them play live.

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK

Oh this is easy as heck. I should have thought more about it. BUT WHATEVERS.

I Love John’s Coffee Shop. It’s still my Seinfeld spot.

So for the second time in less than six months, everyone give it up for John’s Coffee Shop!! Always packed, never a let down, and those burgers and fries. Jack is my friend over there and he’s the best. As is the rest of the staff.

Honestly, on the weekends there is usually a line, but if you are rolling solo, it’s quick to get to the counter. And off-hours are usually the best. At 8 a.m. any day, they open and are ready to go.

-TCV

I’ll be having my own contest there. Which puppy will end up as the main image in the Tudor City View post the following week?

I think the cool weather is finally starting to set in. I dig it. I’ve always been a fall person, at least in NYC. I will say that long nor’easter weekend wasn’t my favorite though. I think by Monday I was on the verge of needing depression meds.

But the rest of last week was lovely. It was nice to have Tudor City come back to normal after the General Assembly. No issues, no problems, just the way I like it.

CIVICALLYS

• Here’s where to go for voting information! Early voting starts on October 24th.

• The Kids’ Halloween and Book Swap is Saturday, October 17th at 1 p.m. It’s in the South Park and always a good time. Buy some candy, throw it in a bucket and distribute at will.

• The dog costume parade is still October 25th!

TO DO

• Alice Cooper is going to be at the Strand bookstore on Wednesday, October 7th. I guess school is back in for fall?

• Kowloon Walled City is playing at the back-in-action Saint Vitus this week on Saturday, October 10th. Their album “Piecework” from 2021 was a masterpiece.

• Friday October 9th at 6 p.m. is the opening celebrations for The Bronx Museum’s fall series. It’s free! Check it out here.

• Fine, not everything show has to be metal. Also on Friday October 9th there are free K-Pop dance classes at Gotham Park! It’s over in Brooklyn, but who doesn’t love going to Brooklyn?

WHAT’S IN THE NORTH PARK FREE LIBRARY THIS WEEK?

CENTENNIAL PLANNING

So for the final section today, I think it’s time to start getting ahead of this. The Tudor City Association is working on a big party in one year and if you’d like to be a part of organizing and planning, I highly recommend reaching out to them here.

But idea-wise, what are some unique and amazing things we can do? I love the idea of shutting down the streets for a night and putting bands on one end and a DJ spinning great dance music on the other. Filling up the center with people making food or arts and crafts, all sorts of stuff. Some sort of Tudor City Trivia contest. Booths from the Association and the Greens, hell, maybe each building should put up a booth and make food or art or some such showcase.

But the big thing… how do we get the TUDOR CITY sign lit back up! No other neighborhood has something like this. It’s such a part of our neighborhood and getting that up and going can really give all of us something to get together for. Bring back the history! Meow Meow!

That’s gotta be an option somehow. Getting the TC sign lit up to celebrate a century, that would be a really big deal in the entire city.

-TCV

“You don’t look a day over 98”

We are officially entering the Centennial year. I’ll be working on a few interviews to get people up to speed on what the plans are for the next year.

This week, though, you can rejoice. UNGA cole over. Cole. Not exactly sure how that word made it into my weird-word-usements, but pretty sure it harkens back to my upbringing years that were not in this city or on this coast. It’s a stand-in for “is”. Here’s an example: “Using that word, in that way, cole stupid.”

Anyways, pat yourselves on the back for surviving UNGA week intact. Now we can enjoy the Autumn. Commence the light-jacket weather.

One thing I want to note: Big thanks the Tudor City Greens for allowing the TCV advertisements/signs to stay up for a week. We are not supposed to do that, apparently. But as is with all TC residents, there is an innate benevolence, and they let it stand.

So my promotions will find other ways to get out there but if you are now subscribing to the updates, and you like what you are reading, please feel free to share these posts with your neighbors. I am striving to keep the happenings of our neighborhood at the forefront of this site so any sharing is appreciated.

Additionally, send me your updates or just comment on what you are reading! Interaction is encouraged and I will read everything that is sent.

CIVICALLYS

• The Tudor City Greens Afternoon Tea has been rescheduled for Saturday, October 3rd. This is due to the full four-days of rain we had last weekend. The rain date is the following Saturday, the 10th.

• The elections are coming up, in case you haven’t been inundated with all the information and spam texts. Here is the official list of who is running. If you want to read up on the issues, I found this article very helpful.

• NYC Votes has a website to compare the candidates on each of the issues. I’ll repost this a few times.

• The Halloween Dog Costume event date has changed… it’s now on Sunday, October 25th at 2 p.m. Start prepping your adorable animals.

• The weather is shifting towards fall. Break out your super-rad sweatshirt or light-jacket.

TO DO

• Gustavo Dudamel has started up the season with the New York Philharmonic. I’ll be at the Tuesday, September 29th performance of Mahler and Tania León.

• On a different end of the spectrum, Public Image Ltd is performing at Webster Hall. Maybe Johnny Rotten will have something to say about last weekend’s Sex Pistols reunion. Most certainly, it will be positive.

• And finally Gorillaz, Little Simz and Deltron 3030 will be at MSG on Tuesday, September 29th. Do not miss the opening acts. I am bummed to miss this, but ya know, Dudamel.

• The City of Forest Day is happening in Staten Island on Saturday, October 3rd. It’s free, but you have to register.

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK

Remi43. It’s always packed. I see lots of neighbors in and around there. Gotta keep it a buck, when it first went in, I was skeptical. I mean, that’s a lot of real estate for flowers and coffee. But the amount of people who are regulars in there are insane. I got a buddy in Sutton Place who rolls down specifically for Remi43 even though the other one is up on 48th.

That’s dedication. I also see neighbor regulars in there, so I can give it due props.

Now, the flowers. So beautiful. The person who is working the flowers is also super nice and helpful with suggestions. I will say, it’s gotta be a special occasion to go there just because the prices are… hmmm, shall we say “elevated”? But you know you are getting quality.

-TCV

Today is also the start of the United Nations General Assembly. Good luck out there this week, fellow neighbors.

You ever tried to book a hotel room during this week? It’s bonkers. I had a friend in town during this week a few years back and I think the cheapest room we could find within a reasonable area of Midtown East was $800 a night. I can only imagine what it’s like now.

But, yo! Autumn is also starting up this week. So to celebrate, I made a Spotify playlist for Tudor City’s Fall 2026. Heads up, it leans pretty heavily on nostalgia. And by that, I mean MY nostalgia.

I will always associate Outkast’s tape “The Love Below” with the Fall. I’m pretty sure it came out around then (Ed note: it did. 9/23/03) and it always takes me back to my first apartment on Charlton Street. I had the CD in my discman, I probably was bounding out of my building and seeing the leaves beginning to break toward the ground… with “Roses” playing at full volume. You know, truly basking the glory of light-jacket weather. Such a solid memory.

The Official 2026 Tudor City View Fall Mixtape.

Yup, there it is. I hope you recognize a song that brings you joy or discover a new song that you’ll now associate with this week. But…

How about we use this playlist as opportunity? What songs did I miss? Leave a comment below with your favorite Fall songs and I’ll make sure those tracks get added.

I truly want to encourage a range of music, so help me build the range! This is some real non-algorithmic creation. Something for all, but not all for everyone. That’s a thing, eh? Maybe it’ll be our thing.

CIVICALLYS

• Welp. Nothing is happening in the parks during this week. So be nice to all the various security folk working, they’re gonna get enough shit from diplomats who think they are very much all that.

• Do stuff next weekend in the park, though. Fall Yoga is on Saturday! All are welcome to chair yoga with Maggie Romairone. It takes place in the North Park at 11 a.m.

• Same day at 2 p.m., still in the North Park, is the Third Annual Afternoon Tea in Tudor City Greens. It is a ticketed event with information here. Since I won’t be able to attend, sadly, and /BIG NOTE HERE/ Please feel free to write up a recap yourself and send me that and some pictures and I will publish it! You’ll get all the credit.

• Is anyone else getting stoked for the Tudor City dog costume parade??? (Saturday, October 24th, 11 a.m.)

TO DO

• Might I recommend something not in Midtown East this week?

• Or, actually, maybe go to Malone’s and make fun of the diplomats! I recommend a Swedish Chef accent when talking to the Swedish ambassador. Don’t worry, she’ll find it hilarious.

• Apple picking upstate? There are some spots you can access via Metro-North listed on the MTA website.

• On Wednesday September 23rd, there is a pretty incredible bill when Turnstile headlines and Clipse is opening up at Forest Hills. I hope the security is ready for all of the stage-diving.

• Saturday, September 26th is the CBGB Festival. Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Bikini Kill, Agnostic Front, and a bunch of other more popular bands. The crowd will be slightly older than the Turnstile show so there will definitely be less stage-diving.

WHAT’S IN THE NORTH PARK FREE LIBRARY THIS WEEK?

YO! CHECK THIS OUT!

So this was brought to my attention by Rona of Art in the Park. The Long Table Community

Take a look at it. I’m always kind of curious what it would take to really turn Tudor City Place into a party block. Something like that could totally rule.

Although I can already hear every car owner screaming bloody murder and they would not be wrong. Parking is usually horrific without shutting it down for a social event. But maybe we close off of the cul-de-sacs? Drop a comment with your thoughts on putting something like this together.

-TCV

So. September, huh? It is indeed rolling along.

The schools are back open, the sun is setting a touch earlier, and the Giants and Jets won in opening week football. This all means that the United Nations General Assembly, aka UNGA, is just around the corner. The big week is not this coming week, but you will see things ramping up. The security gates will start rolling out and there will be more flashing lights than usual. I did notice the Free Tibet demonstration had been significantly scaled down last week. Things like that.

The following week is when it will be in full steam.

If you’re new to this whole UNGA thing. Monday and Tuesday are generally pretty tight with the security. Your ID will be checked and you will be eyeballed no matter how friendly you are. Just remember to keep your niceness at the forefront and be patient with security. By Wednesday they sorta know you and things will move faster. You’ll still need your ID.

The UNGA inconvenience is just one of the small prices of admission here in The TC.

BTW, Does anyone remember when Macron ended up at Tudor City Steakhouse during UNGA a few years back? Honestly, it could have just been a rumor, but my favorite thing about that was the general sentiment was “aïe aïe aïe ne devrait-il pas aller dans un bon restaurant?”

Speaking of. What’s the deal with the Tudor City Steakhouse? How does it make money? Why have I never recognized a single person I know eating there? And why am I still angry over the decrepit outdoor dining shed they neglected for what felt like decades? Arggg!!!

OK, take a breathe, myself.

I’m calm now. Actually, I’m gonna split this rant and move it down to the Wishcasting / Manifesting section. See below for more unhinged ranty-ness.

And following up on a rant from two weeks ago, I actually went to the new Pizza/Coffee spot on the corner of 41st and 2nd. I do take back my Nuts and Gum joke. In order to stay there, that place is going to need to sell a lot of everything and anything. And it is actually a Pizza/Coffee/Gelato spot. It’s nice inside, the music is a little too EDM-y for my taste but the pizza was fine. A bit pricey. The free honey hot sauce was a definite plus as was the friendliness of the servers.

I will be back. Not sure when because if I’m getting a quick slice, I need the NY1 that airs at the spot on 45th. But I will be back. Next time for gelato. Adoro quella roba.

CIVICALLYS

• Fall Yoga begins this week. Chair Yoga with Lisa Levine is next Saturday, the 19th at 11 a.m. in the North Park.

• On Saturday, September 26th, the Tudor City Greens are hosting the Third Annual Afternoon Tea at 2 p.m. It is a benefit for Tudor City Greens and a ticketed event. Find out more information at the event page on their website. You can also purchase tickets here.

• Once again, I noticed someone picking up trash out on the street across from the South Park. Seriously, you rule, anonymous super-rad TC resident.

• Volunteering with the Tudor City Association is a great way to get involved in neighborhood advocacy. Just, you know, throwing it out there.

TO DO

• The free Bryant Park Summer movie series ends tonight. It’s Shakespeare in Love. Everyone, all together now… *AWWWWWWWW*. Yo, fr, that movie won an Oscar?

• Liz Phair & Sleater-Kinney are doing a benefit show at the Prospect Park Bandshell on Saturday, September 19th. This show will rule and definitely work the hike out to Brooklyn.

• You ever been curious or thought about birdwatching in Central Park? Actualize on that curiosity. Here’s the schedule and times. It’s only $10! That’s like the price of a bagel now.

• The tourists aren’t crowding the tram, so it’s probably a good time to visit Roosevelt Island and get that unique view of Tudor City that comes from the south end of RI.

• Erykah Badu & The Alchemist with De La Soul opening up? Yes please. Friday night, September 18th at Forest Hills Stadium.

TC MANIFESTING

Although the bartenders at the Tudor City Steakhouse are lovely and it can be a nice place to catch a quiet drink, that’s where it ends for me. I’ve had two steaks there, both cooked improperly. It always appears empty. And the pricing is not reasonable. Also, see my rant from earlier in this post.

So here’s my wishcasting… whoever the owners are cede it to the neighborhood. And then we put in a big old bar with good food. Reasonably priced food. And the first reservations go to people from the neighborhood.

Like, think about a great gathering spot. A place you’re proud to bring new friends to introduce them to your Tudor City folks. A big social place where we can all have a few drinks and I can recruit new writers for Tudor City View.

That would rule, right?!? I guess maybe Cheers is not a reference for the under-30 crowd, but that’s the sorta vibe I’d dig. So Cheers with a bit better understanding of some of the more pernicious effects of alcohol. There will be mocktails.

Manifesting!! That’s where it starts. And I’m still thinking about how to set up that Swap. Manifesting does only work through action.

-TCV

They are so beautiful, so well-maintained, and open to everyone. They anchor everything that makes this neighborhood unique and wonderful. But besides the incredible amount of effort that goes into the upkeep (Thank you, Steve!), the reason the parks are here is because there were people who took an active role to save them from development.

These were the people who stood up and said “Absolutely Not” when there was a threat of development from Harry Helmsley. They fought for our parks and their efforts are why we can all enjoy them. Each person who defended our public spaces created the model of stewardship that we should all aspire to today.

There is a current Tudor City resident who was there, a person who can tell the whole story about how the parks were saved. That would be Mark J. Harris. I was lucky enough to sit down and speak with him and his wife Cindy at the Tudor Cafe. This interview has been slightly edited for clarity.

TCV: I am so grateful that you can speak with me today. First things first, who are you? And how long have you lived in Tudor City?

Mark: Well, I am Mark Jay Harris and I’ve been here almost 50 years, or 49 years. I came in 1977 and I pretty much fell in love with the place. My father found an ad in a paper in the Times when someone was trying to sublet one of their apartments in Woodstock Tower. That’s the first place I saw.

I think the only reason this general area took my interest was because when my grandparents were in their 80s they had an apartment on 35th and Third and I said, “This area is somewhat near where my grandparents were.” I didn’t know the city that well yet.

TCV: What did you think of it when you moved here?

The first thing that struck me at first was these apartments were very small. I had come from St. Louis where I was in law school and previously I was in Ohio at Kent State for my undergraduate, and in those other places the apartments were five times as big. There was only a studio apartment for the same price. So, that was a bit of a shock, and eventually I went for one on the 15th floor of 5 Tudor City Place.

It was a different era, for sure. The people in the neighborhood called you by your name, they were trying to act at that time more like the old-style because we were all technically employees and residents of Greater Tudor City. The whole of Tudor City was all one big organization at the time.

The main rental office was in this building. And the maintenance staff was all coordinated, working from building to building. There was a problem, you know, “Joe, go over to the Manor to fix this and...” I believe that Fred French, who was the builder of Tudor City, had just sold all of Tudor City to Harry Helmsley and his corporation.

TCV: So Fred French sold all of Tudor City, or was it just the park area?

Initially, Helmsley wasn’t interested in the park area except maybe to build on it. But French was selling the whole of Tudor City. So Helmsley bought Tudor City and had already possessed it by the time I had arrived here.

And Helmsley’s plan was to get Tudor City to continue as one entity but build two skyscrapers, one on each of the parks. And they were going to be residential, from what I recall at the time, and they were going to be huge, I think about sixty stories.

TCV: Well, so let me ask you about the parks and Helmsley. When it was announced that Helmsley wanted to develop the parks, did the community fully come together to say, “We don’t want this to happen”?

I didn’t hear people say when I moved here that, “Oh, they’re planning to build on the parks.” I don’t remember anyone saying, you know, “You’re moving in and those parks are going to be gone.” I remember that happened after I was already here.

But then all of a sudden, you heard, it just got in the news, that Helmsley was going to build on these parks. But he must have kept it close to his vest when he bought the whole thing. Maybe not, who knows? But whatever it is, all of a sudden now, his plan was along the lines of “Okay, I want to build. I’m the owner and I want to build.” He didn’t call them parks, he referred to them as “plots of land.”

And that’s what set off the community. But the leader of the pushback was John McKean. He is the person who led the community effort to stop it. I mean, I was just a 25-year-old law student.

TCV: So what year was this happening?

Uh, so I’m thinking it was ‘79 or ‘80. The news came out that Helmsley was trying to do that, going to build on the parks. John McKean started leading, doing an investigation on how to stop it. And he tried to elicit people and support by donations or whatever, and he did most of the legal research himself.

Coincidentally, I got my first job down at the City Planning Commission and was in the law office in the City Planning Commission. I was doing zoning cases, writing legislation, zoning, and doing hearings.There were hearings. What John did was go down there every day going through the books. He did a lot of the legwork just trying to find out some way to counter this plan sale.

Helmsley, I remember, I heard him on the radio: “These aren’t parks, these are lots of land, these are just plots of land!” He was incensed that people should try and take the parks because he looked at it as they were trying to take something from him, right?

So John led the resistance effort and we signed up, with petitions and so forth to try and stop it. There were not that many people initially, now that I think about it. People were generally against it but there was a core group of people who fought.

At the time, I still looked at myself as sort of like a college kid, so I wasn’t feeling that I was going to take this over. I had been at Kent State in college with all the problems during those days and knew about demonstrations. This was more a concerted effort by a group of us. I did my own little part. I was with... I knew, this shouldn’t happen and whatever little bit I could do for support I wanted to do. But John gets the credit, he did the legwork. He was probably in his 60s at the time, I’m guessing, or something of that sort.

TCV: What did your efforts look like once you were formed up with John?

The efforts that we made didn’t seem to work. In the beginning, it seemed like David and Goliath, and Helmsley seemed very confident.That’s my recollection. You’d hear the news reports, you didn’t get a feeling like, “How’s this going to work? How are we going to stop them?”

And since Tudor City was one whole unit, you could see his point of view that “I bought the whole land from Fred French.” Fred French didn’t chime in, but my guess is he probably didn’t like the idea, but who knows? I think it would have spoiled his original concept had those buildings gone up.

You have to remember that at the time, even though we were a resident of this building, you had rights as a resident of Tudor City. So if there was something going on in the Cloisters, or one of the bigger buildings like 45, you could go there. You could go sunbathing on the roofdeck, right around the sign. I’m not a sunbather, but went up a number of times just for the heck of it to uh, you know, take in the view and enjoy it. If you’re a resident of Tudor City, you could just walk into any other building.

TCV: That’s very different from now.

Everyone in the neighborhood had equal rights to all the buildings. And the reason I mention this is that that was the idea, the legal concept, that eventually undermined Helmsley. John McKean and others found a way to undermine the theory that he could do whatever he wanted with the parks. Helmsley was violating our rights by taking away the park under my lease at the time. Let’s say I have a lease from 1980 then to 1982 to live in a Tudor City apartment and have all the rights to the area. They were violating the agreement by taking away this park. So, obviously, multiply that by the number of people who lived here. When you’re a resident of Tudor City, your lease gives you these rights, these privileges to go to the other buildings and the parks.

John McKean proposed to the judge in the legal proceedings to stop it because Harry Helmsley is intending to deny the residents of Tudor City access to their parks that were included on their leases.

TCV: Incredible.

Basically, John McKean was doing the majority of the hard, day-to-day work to get this done, and he might give credit to one or two others, and they came forth with that legal theory and that was put, and they put an injunction on Helmsley’s plans to build on the parks based on that. I am leaving out a lot of the legal stuff that went back and forth

TCV: So what happened on Memorial Day in 1980?

We were working on a specific injunction to cease and desist, laid on Helmsley. But right before the Memorial Day weekend, when everyone was away, was he sending in the bulldozer. I guess his strategy was, ‘I’ll make it a fait accompli. I’ll show them it is just a plot of land.’ He was insistent about calling the area a plot of land instead of parks and then he would dig it up and then you’ll see it’s just a plot of land, no more trees, no grass.

Even though the judge said “I can’t do anything.“ Helmsley assumes even the residents will be away on the weekend, no one will know, So, all of a sudden on that Memorial Day weekend, John McKean gets on the bullhorn one night, and he starts over by The Manor because Helmsley’s bulldozers went for the North Park.

John lived in The Manor and he must have heard it starting up. The next thing you know, he was on the bullhorn. He was going up and down Tudor City Place screaming “COME DOWN! COME DOWN!” So people came running back.

John McKean, wow. I remember him even saying to people at the time: “Listen, you can’t count on everyone in this, but in the end, all it’ll take is a few people doing all the hard work. You can’t be discouraged that other people don’t have the fight for this, we just have to keep going to stop this.”

But the people came down. They stopped the bulldozer. Then we had the idea of staying in the park over the long weekend to prevent the bulldozers from starting up. We slept in the park. I was in my sleeping bag so they wouldn’t come back with the bulldozers. And I remember the exact spot where I slept in the North Park; it was over by the shed that Tudor City Greens keep there now.

And the next night, maybe two, we slept there. After that, they put up a picket fence to try and stop us. Before that, the fence on it, there was no metal fence left. And before that, there was a ranch-type fence. If you see old western movies or something, you see there’s a post, another post, and then a horizontal bar from one post to the next. So that’s what it was around Tudor City with the parks when I came here.

But after Helmsley put up these boards on a picket fence and then we all took to writing, doing drawings on the fence. The Empire Strikes Back was the movie in the movie theaters at the time. So I took that and drew Luke Parkwalker fighting off Darth Helmsley.

TCV: [Laughter] I love that.

I also put a sign on another place on the fence with a: “Give me a tree, give me a bush, give old Harry a kick in the t*sh!”

That one I drew got in one of the local papers. Someone took a photo of it and so it was a lot of fun. We were decorating this fence with all this stuff. I remember it was even fun walking around, seeing people come by and reading. It was like seeing your artwork read. You know, someone, “Oh, look at this!” and they’d laugh, and I’d say, “Oh, that’s good, I’m glad they’re enjoying my work.” Comedic and poignant, you know, was the point. And then it was left like that for a while while Helmsley continued the fight. The fight went on.

TCV: So when did those parks become landmarked? Was that later that year?

I’m thinking that the back and forth lasted over the summer. They stopped the bulldozer, and then this went on for several days that week. Then when the courts lifted the ban, the workers continued to build the wall. The Tudor City Association, which was basically John McKean, took politics out onto the street and picketed Helmsley’s office and home.

And finally, Helmsley realized he was losing the public relations battle and backed down and agreed to remove the wall on Tuesday, June 3rd. Then an injunction was obtained to halt the destruction, and he finally accepted. He finally accepted defeat a few years later.

Then they formed the Tudor City Greens. It came out of that. They were creating a new legal entity that was going to allow the parks to continue, but the condition was that they would have to be made available to the public. Unlike Gramercy Park.

So Helmsley finally caves in and says, “All right.” He didn’t agree with the theory, obviously, but he just said, like, a public relations thing, “This is too much legal”. So he sold the whole thing to the people who turned it into co-ops. He probably went to his grave thinking, “I got done in by the residents of Tudor City.”

It’s a David versus Goliath story that was won without violence or anything, but by sheer, hard work by residents and particularly John McKean. To me, these parks are a treasure, and Tudor City is a treasure, and those parks wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.

TCV: What do you think the lesson was? What’s the legacy of this struggle to you personally?

I would say as far as keeping the preservation of the park, the lesson is never underestimate what one person or a small group of people’s efforts can lead to, even when the odds are against them.

The first thing is that if you believe in something and it’s right, and you have the willpower and the energy to put yourself out, there’s always a chance. Even when the odds are against you. Saving the parks probably looked hopeless and we were up against an empire and we were just residents. But this was our home.

The second thing is that the space should be valued and appreciated and promoted wherever and whenever it can be, without infringing on other people’s rights. Including the owners of property to the extent that they’re denied their rights. But on the other hand, there are certain rights in keeping open air and parkland and physical natural areas within an urban area, and they have to be balanced with each other.

So those parks are here. What Fred French envisioned turned out to be a beautiful thing, and he encouraged this type of living in the city in an urban area. And it morphed and gradually changed over the years and adapted to different conditions, but it’s been preserved, even after he sold it to a developer. It’s been carried on by generations after, by people who lived here after. I assume there are a lot of people who have no idea how it started or where it came from but will learn devotion to our neighborhood. The idea of having the little parks, I think that unifies the Tudor City community itself, in itself.

And third, that’s a lesson too… that where something’s worthwhile and it can be preserved for generations if people put in the time and effort and devotion to values, the common community values that allow everyone to appreciate living together.

TCV: Well, thank you for everything you did. Thank you for fighting for what we have, because it’s beautiful. The parks really are everything and provide a wonderful, connective, and open space for Tudor City.

That’s nice to hear. And, actually, the last thing to note is that Tudor City used to have more light. Discouraged buildings around us reduce the light to the parks. Whatever goes us around us, you have to calculate the angles of the shadows from any new building. Because that can kill the park from outside the neighborhood. You don’t want to get rid of its light. There’s all sorts of ways to be vigilant about our parks. As we have to be vigilant to preserve our country, we have to be vigilant to preserve our neighborhood for future generations.

TCV: Incredibly well said and thank you so much, Mark.

As a friend of mine likes to say, we are but stewards of this neighborhood. What we enjoy now is because of the efforts of past residents like Mark. We should pay it forward, and being aware of and getting involved with groups like the Tudor City Association and the Tudor City Greens is the best way to do that.

What we do now honors the last hundred years of our history and supports the next hundred years.

-TCV

Also, did you see the first Tudor City View attempt at promotions? If you are visiting this site because of my catchy taglines and incredibly-sexy QR codes, welcome! I’m super happy to have you here and I swear I will do my best not to disappoint.

The big news over here is that this week, I will be posting my interview with Mark Jay Harris, one of the original group of people who laid down in front of bulldozers to save our parks back in the early 1980s. He’s got an incredible story and a wonderful perspective on how we all can help our neighborhood. Def subscribe so you won’t miss it.

The history of this neighborhood is going to be starting to crescendo in this coming year. Because Tudor City is hitting its one hundredth birthday. A full century of history and what Mark, John McKean, and other dedicated neighbors did forty-six years ago was a huge part of preserving what we know and love about this neighborhood.

There’s a lot of history to celebrate and a lot of history to be learned about. All of it informs where the next hundred years take us.

So I am on the lookout for people from every building. I want to start getting some of the history of the buildings down and noticed. Send me an email at tudorcityview@gmail.com!

CIVICALLYS

• Fall Yoga starts on September 19th in the North Park.

• Have you checked out Tudor City Confidential lately? Seriously, I love the posts there. The recent one about “the ongoing saga of Elizabeth McLoud and Apartment 1430 in No. 5” is just adorable.

• If you want to volunteer with Tudor City Greens, you can! Here is where to go.

TO DO

• The free Bryant Park Summer movies continue into September. Galaxy Quest is tonight! I was able to put aside my innate dislike of that Home Improvement guy and embrace a true love this film. Mostly because of Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, but the whole thing is epic.

• Saint Vitus is back! The Greenpoint heavy metal venue that shut down a few years ago has a new space. The Callous Daoboys are playing on Thursday, after an opening weekend that saw Anthrax perform. This is all dependent on if you like the loud musics, of course.

• Starting up on Friday, 9/11, it’s the Subway Series. The kicking-ass Yankees will take on my painful-annoying Mets. Whatever happens, New York will win.

• City Sounds 2026 is happening at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery on Saturday, September 12th

WHAT’S IN THE NORTH PARK LIBRARY RIGHT NOW?

BODEGA OF THE WEEK

Alright time to shout out the Bodega in 5 Tudor City Place. Heck, I didn’t even know it existed until about six months ago. Super friendly people there, great cup of coffee, nice way to start the day and if you need a Snickers bar fix, they got you. You know, a good bodega.

And on a related note, and nothing against religion, but… I’d really prefer a bodega instead of a church on the corner of 43rd and Tudor City Place. Bodegas are my religion, I reckon.

-TCV

The lesson I’m going to take, besides over-listening to her music over the next few weeks, is doubling down on the importance of community. And being good to people. That feels like the appropriate way to honor her legacy.

But we have a gift week this week and Dolly Parton will be on the record player throughout. Gift Week. That’s a TCV original right there when Labor Day feels like it goes deep into September. So what to do with the second to last weekend of the summer? Well, I started mine by waiting in the queue for the NYC Resident US Open tickets…

I was figuring maybe I had another rant in me, but last week’s anti-fancy-brand rant seemed goofy enough for the rest of August. Tudor City has been nice and mellow. I did see that Hizzoner is talking about the blight of scaffolding in our city. If he finds a way to start taking down all the extraneous scaffolding, and in particular the one on 45 Tudor City Place that goes down the stairways and plazas, he’s basically guaranteed himself another victory in 2029.

Jeez louise, I hate scaffolding. (Look, it’s a mini-rant! Sorry, Dolly!)

I hope the end of summer creates some lovely times for you! So what’s happening around our faire hood this week?

CIVICALLYS

• The Pfizer building is apparently worse than first assumed. This is super awesome news.

• There is a private event in the North Park on Tuesday, September 1st in the evening. Get your books from the free library beforehand and go read them in the South Park. Rain date is the following Wednesday.

• Fall Yoga is starting up the third week of September. It’ll be on Saturdays in the North Park at 11 a.m. I’ll have the updates here as I see them or you can just check the Greens’ website.

• Looks like there’s a new pizza joint over on 41st and 2nd? And it’s also a coffee shop, too? There’s a bit of a Nuts and Gum vibe to the idea, but I’m going to give it a shot and report back.

TO DO

• The free Bryant Park Summer movie tonight is No Country for Old Men. Don’t bring your children.

• The Dwarves, who are the greatest band in the history of rock and roll, are playing Goldsounds on Saturday, September 5th.

• The US Open is rolling. Once again, based on the price, a local viewing at one of our illustrious watering holes is likely a better price option. Or get a few cases of beer, sell them on the CitiField/LIRR overpass and maybe you can afford your own ticket!

• Head over to the Museum of the City of New York for free this Wednesday night! They got drinks and such, but I’m sure those cost something.

  ---

REMEMBER SOME DONUTS

Ever since Dunkin’ got rid of the Butternut donut and went over $2 per freakin’ donut, I haven’t gone in there. Not even for the coffee. Not even because the people who work there have always been nice to me. Just on principle.

I mean, donuts should never be over seventy-five cents! I want to be annoyed by the change in my pocket knowing that I just had a donut and it was delicious. And holy cow, have you seen the prices of donuts at the fancy spots? Eight bucks!!

Also, very proud of myself for finally turning into my grandfather by complaining about the cost of food staples. Look, I can’t blame businesses for trying to get the most money to pay their bills, but that doesn’t mean I have to continue shopping there.

This inflation is better than The Zempics for my waistline. But for real, Dunkin’s butternut donuts were the best. I will miss ‘em.

-TCV

So I seens a dude in a John’s Coffee Shop shirt the other day and gave him a strong nod and a “sweet shirt, bro”. Because, hell yeah! Gotta represent for the home team.

Keeping it a buck, I’ve never understood brand name clothing. Like, why would I want to pay someone to advertise their clothing? I get that in this day and age everything is a brand and having a big ugly logo and paying way too much money is some social signifier and all, but geez. Does it seem like we are devaluing ourselves by advertising for a buncha rich European bozos?

And nothing against devaluing oneself. But if I’m gonna do that and offer up free advertising, it’s gonna happen in two ways: First, with band t-shirts. I go to a live show, I buy the merch, support the band, & signal to other people how rad I am. And second? Those local restaurant t-shirts. Which is pretty much the exact same thing except you can transcend the threshold of musical judginess. Not everyone likes Brujeria, ya know?

So represent for John’s, or ummm… wait, what other restaurants in our neighborhood have Merch? OR!! Here’s actually a good place to start: Representing Tudor City. Here’s the link to the official Tudor City Store. I have no relation to that Tudor City page but they got some good stuff there. I’ve had my eye on the bowling shirt for some reason.

Maybe one day I’ll get some Tudor City View merch. You can bet it will be weird. But in the meantime, rep for the locals. Or at least wear stuff that doesn’t have some oversaturated apparel company logo on it.

CIVICALLYS

• No scheduled events in the park this week. Go make your own! Better yet, grab a neighbor you sorta know from your respective building and catch up on one of the benches overlooking the East River in the 41st Street cul-de-sac.

• I saw a few people picking up trash around the neighborhood. Whoever you are, well done!! You rock.

• The UN General Assembly is a month away. If you still have an old address on your driver’s license, now is a great time to get that updated so you can get by security easily that week.

TO DO

• The free Bryant Park movie tonight is King Creole. All ze info is here.

• Before he was a moderately-decent actor, Common was a fantastic hip-hop emcee. On Friday the 28th, he’s playing the Prospect Park bandshell in a tribute to the justice legacy of Harry Belafonte. It’s free but you gotta register.

• Harry Styles is playing Madison Square Garden this week. Also, Hairy Styles would be a decent name for a ZZ Top cover band. #RIP to the King Frank Beard.

• Smorgasburg at the Oculus is on Friday, August 28th. Roll down in skinny jeans and pretend you lived in Williamsburg in 2011!

• The US Open starts on Sunday the 30th. I looked up ground passes for the first few days and lowest price was $343. Time for a watch party at a local bar?

WHAT’S IN THE NORTH PARK LIBRARY RIGHT NOW?

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK

Tudor Cafe!! How can you not love this spot? It’s small, it’s in the neighborhood, the muffins are ridiculously delicious and the coffee is moderately priced.

I conducted an interview here a few weeks back and it was perfect, both the interview and just getting to spend some time in there. I gotta do that more often.

-TCV

*yawns wide, pulls hat brim down, takes a sip of lemonade*

My favorite part of the city in the summer is the ferry. Taking it over to Brooklyn on a lazy Saturday or taking the 4 train to Wall Street to get on the downtown ferry out to Rockaway Beach.

The views from the ferry are always the best. Just being on a boat in NYC is its own amazing joy. I have a distinct memory of seeing a punk band on one of those big ferries about a decade ago. At some point, I walked out to the deck and saw the Statue of Liberty right in front of me. Punks aren’t known for being the most patriotic type, but that sight really gave me a love of the country that welcomed so many different immigrant groups in.

I found a connection there and I felt like there was nowhere else in the world I could have had that experience.

So go take the ferry, revel in the skyline, and then try to absorb how many people live in our city. It’s kinda wild. Whenever I have a little bit of distance, I love to look for Tudor City and see how small our little enclave is in the context of New York City.

CIVICALLYS

• Today and Tonight! The Ford Foundation is having open after-hours in the atrium from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. You just have to preregister and you can do that here or by using the QR code below.

  

• Tuesday, August 18th at 6 p.m. is the final installment of the Summer Book Club in the South Park. Did you read The Women by Kristin Hannah? You have a day. Rain date for this is Thursday August 20th, same time.

• Don’t forget on Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. the Dag Hammarskjold Farmer’s Market happens on 47th between First and Second aves.

TO DO

• The free Bryant Park Summer movie tonight is City of God. It’s a heavy one.

• Chance the Rapper is at Central Park Summerstage on Tuesday. La Reezy is opening. I am unfamiliar with La Reezy.

• Die Spitz is opening for King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard at Forest Hills on Thursday the 18th. Die Spitz is very very awesome. They nearly stole the show when they opened for Viagra Boys last year.

• None of us are getting younger. Why not head over to Bryant Park on Thursday August 20th and take the free shuffleboard class?

• Although it’s a bit cooler this week but the pools are still open. Click here to figure out where the pool you want to head to is.

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK

Yakiniku Toraji. OMG, the wagyu at this spot. However, OMG the prices. So I’ve only been there twice in four years. I still think about both meals every time I pass by, as I look in the windows, like a Dickensian hungry orphan. The lighting glows in a unique hue from the windows. Everyone in there always seems to be laughing and having such a good time.

Oh. That food. Just magic.

Those meals are the only way I could be convinced to setup TCV as a subscription service. All proceeds go to getting me back there.

Don’t worry, that’s not happening. I guess right now I’m just grateful that Pfizer construction debacle didn’t put it out of business.

-TCV

It’s about the fight that the people in Flushing are putting up against the casino developers. I don’t think it’s the same bozos that tried to put one up here in Tudor City, though. Different bozos but the same game, I reckon.

Reading the article compelled me to think about ways to support the people of Flushing Chinatown in their battle. I remember the astroturf campaign against us involved people from other neighborhoods coming in and saying things like “you know, the casino will give me work” or “think of the nice buildings that can go up” or “please don’t deprive this neighborhood of Bo Dietl’s terrible ideas.” It always felt like a deeply cynical but possibly-effective way to convince the board and the community that maybe, just maybe, there was broader public support for the proposed casino project.

I mean, the neighborhood seems to be against it, but the rest of the city seems to love the idea! That’s really how I felt watching the public hearing. Luckily, our representatives paid attention (at least the ones not appointed by the Governor and the Mayor).

I get that neighbors sometimes might not be the most reliable audience to new developments, of any kind, where they live. Because the reality is that people get as NIMBY as hell when anything new comes in. We do need shelter for the unhoused in this city, but I guarantee there would be a huge freak-out if that shelter were going in where that Crummy Bills bar used to be, on 42nd and 2nd. Not being for or against this hypothetical, but using the example as proof that people always have very strong feelings about change in the neighborhood.

A casino is different. A casino takes money from people who don’t have much and spills the waste out into the neighborhood it occupies. We fought against it here and we should use our experience to help people across the city fight it in their neighborhoods. We were organized and we fought back and we were lucky that the Soloviev Group was dumb as bricks with their PR campaign.

Let’s take what we learned and help our neighbors. There are ways to support the Flushing community as they fight against this. Please consider helping them in their fight against the casino they don’t want.

First, check out Queens for All and then, sign up to help them HERE. Lending our voice to support our Queens neighbors as they oppose these god-awful casinos can only benefit us as a city in the long-run. And think of the new friends you can make. Maybe that last one is just me.

OK! Now to step down from the soapbox. What’s happening this week?

CIVICALLYS

• There’s a concert in the South Park! Sadie Goodman and Katina Pantazopolous are performing on Wednesday, August 12th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Rain date is the next day.

• The Summer Book Talk series is happening on Tuesday, August 18th. The book is The Women by Kristin Hannah. You still have time to read it. I believe in you.

• There is a private event in the park on Saturday, August 15th in the afternoon. Plan your hangs in the North Park.

• The heat looks like it’ll continue into mid-week but break towards the end. Stay hydrated and check in on your neighbors!

TO DO

• The Bryant Park Summer movie tonight is one of my personal favorite movies, Catch Me If You Can. Heck, if it is even moderately nice out tonight, you’ll def see me and my partner out on the lawn. We got fancy blankets and everything.

• A new art exhibit is starting up at the Ford Foundation on August 12th. It’s called “Never the Same River”. You can RSVP to the opening on the link and it runs until December 5th.

• Thursday, 8/13 at the Knockdown Center is clipping, ELUCID, Fatboi Sharif, and a bunch of other great hip-hops artists. clipping is the art-noise-rap group of Daveed Diggs, whom you probably know best from the original cast of Hamilton. This is another event-of-the-summer, much like Sex Mex was a few weeks ago.

• Saturday, 8/15 there is a House Crawl & Trade on Governors Island. If the evening is nice, this will be fun.

• If you missed it, (and I did the first time) here’s an Architectural Digest article from June about a Tudor City apartment renovation. I was impressed.

WHAT’S IN THE NORTH PARK FREE LIBRARY?

BAGEL OF THE WEEK

Honestly, around these parts, I gotta give it up to Bagel Market. They have the best bagels in our neighborhood. In fact, I’m going to go get one right now after I finish this sentence. And then take a picture of it while I eat it in the North Park.

That is all. I hope you have a lovely week!

-TCV

Here, at Tudor City View, that percentage will always be ZERO percent. Just another quick humble brag slash reminder that nothing on TCV will ever be spawned by AI.

Generative AI is creativity for goofs, Large Language Models are ruining critical thinking skills, and Conversational AI is just plain evil. Does it seem like I have an opinion? I have an opinion.

But anyways, outside of my head and into the real world of our neighborhood, our population seems to have cleared out for the summer. Hell, my partner and I got right into John’s Coffee Shop for breakfast on Sunday morning (actually, it was only a three minute wait). As such is the emptiness of Manhattan in August, there is not too much to report.

Knock on wood, but I am very much looking forward to an easy August.

To encourage the good vibes and leave you with something positive instead of my anti-AI radicalism, yar be a small positive rant. It’s something that I think is really important: Keeping our neighborhood clean.

To me, this starts with how we think about the way we keep our neighborhood clean. Issues with trash being picked up actually is something that either the buildings or the city should be handling. But keeping everything clean CAN come down to us.

If you see something that can be done, do it. Pick it up, throw it in the trash. Today there was a paper plate left on the ground. I picked it up and threw it in the trash. I saw someone peeling a sticker off the railing over 42nd Street. If everyone contributes small acts of cleanliness, the whole neighborhood will shine.

That said, anything major should be reported to 311 or the Tudor City Association. I think they are actively trying to organize and clean up this area. You can reach out to them here!

Just something to think about when you’re walking around and enjoying the summer and our neighborhood. The more we each invest, the more everyone else will invest, too.

CIVICALLYS

• The Summer Book Talk series is happening on Tuesday, August 18th. The book is The Women by Kristin Hannah. You have time to read it. The moderator is Garret R. Lynch, M.D. and it takes place in the North Park.

• On Saturday, August 8th at 1 p.m. in South Park is a Children’s Gardening Event! It’s free!

• On Sunday, August 9th is the final in the series of Supporting Aging in Our Community. The subject is Dementia 101: Stages and Abilities. Shira Felderbaum Kedem, LMSW, MS will be speaking.

TO DO

• Tonight’s Bryant Park movie is Bridget Jones’ Diary. The park opens up at 5 p.m., movie at 8 p.m. Is it possible to get thrown out of this event? If ever there was a good movie to try to get thrown out of, it’s this one. Probably yelling “WANKER!” every time Hugh Grant is on screen would do it.

• If you want to know what it was like to rock out at a Todd P show in 2007, Parts and Labor & Oneida are playing at TV Eye on Friday, August 7th. Just be prepared for a long subway ride.

• All The President’s Men is playing at the United Palace in Washington Heights on Sunday, August 9th at 3 p.m. It’s gonna seem positively quaint by today’s standards of corruption. Hop over to A train and take it 175th. Easy af.

• Noname is playing at Sony Hall on Wednesday, August 5th. Her last few records have been amazing. I highly recommend getting to this one.

THE TC MANIFEST (PART DEUX)

A gigantic neighborhood swap. Are you familiar with a swap? I will give credit to my partner because I had no idea what one was until she introduced me.

So a swap is like this: Everyone brings a few nice, working things from their home but they aren’t using anymore. Each person brings up to four things, but no clothes or food or anything broken. Then everyone puts their stuff out on a few tables and anyone can go and take something from anyone else.

Think of it as a functional recycling center for things that work. A Neighborhood Swap.

Maybe we do it at the North Park. Maybe we charge a five dollars admission with all the money going to the Greens. And then everyone takes home something. We did one in my building and that is how I ended up with a soundbar that still gets used daily. Some other dude ended up with an Xbox. He kept asking “wait, so I can just HAVE this??”

The answer was yes. And then, anything that is left over gets donated to a non-profit organization.

Hmmmm. Maybe this would be a good first Tudor City View event. It could be epic. I’ll be the person using an Old Navy bag as a hat.

-TCV

My big selfish realization was how important that section of 43rd Street is to me. From sprinting down the block to Grand Central, to seeing all of the adorable children regularly headed to the playground, to keeping my car-dodging skills sharp in front of the Avis store, it’s a pipeline.

I’m glad it’s back but don’t think every time I walk down there I’m not looking up and ready to duck for cover. I don’t trust it and while I appreciate the Mayor keeping us informed and assured, my lack of faith in the builders and building inspectors keeps me on edge.

So, I’ve relied on strong reporting to keep me in the know. Here are some of the best articles I’ve read…

• The New York Times article is a good place to start to understand what actually happened with the building, the renovation, the beams, and the lack of reinforcements.

• Then head over to this Gothamist article, and discover that the build plans were not peer-reviewed.

• This article from HousingWire seems to put the blame on ‘workers’ which is a strange turn of phrase. The article itself says that it’s about the contractor, not office-to-residential, but still… blaming “workers” seems kind of messed up.

• Oh yeah, and the guy who founded the firm involved in the inspections was fired by the city in the 80s for throwing cocaine parties in his office. Marone a mi.

• Another great Gothamist article about how the builder’s finances are a mess. It is not unreasonable to expect 43rd Street to be a disaster for a number of years. Related note: Who the hell is going to want to live there now?

• This New Yorker article is behind the paywall, but is an interesting look at how this might affect the office-to-residential plans. We do need to alleviate the housing crisis, but… well, I have some doubts about the altruism of the people involved.

• And on the same office-to-residential conversions subject, Kimberly Adams interviewed City Comptroller Mark Levine over at Marketplace.

My final thoughts? Keep your eyes on the buildings and trust your instincts when a building site doesn’t exactly feel safe.

Gigantic s/o to my partner who, for the last year, has refused to walk under the scaffolding surrounding the building because “something felt off about it.” Trust your instincts, my dear Tudor City residents.

Stay safe out there!

-TCV

But the due props to this New Yorker article and specifically reading the @BoerumBulletin substack. (Apologies for linking to a behind-the-paywall article) From that article to the badassness of BB, I got the inspiration to try this myself.

Of course, thank you to the early subscribers and anyone who has read it and shared it. In fact, sharing this is the best. It would mean the world if you got it out there because social medias are definitely not what I am good at.

Going forward, I'll still be testing out the final section of this weekly newsletter. This week is a test balloon for manifesting cool stuff in The TC. We’ve got so much already. But when I hear that there used to be a great speakeasy here way back in the day, it inspires me to hope for more. So I’m gonna start with my suggestion. Feel free to send yours in to tudorcityview@gmail.com

Thanks y’alls!

CIVICALLYS

• Woah! First week since I’ve started this that there aren’t any official events going on in The TC. So go make an unofficial one. Leave the phones at home and go hang in the park with a few friends. Thermos of wine optional. Although that last advice is probably not encouraged by the Tudor City Greens.

• Are you having soccer withdrawals? Who wants to start a street soccer league either in the 43rd Street or Tudor City Place cul-de-sac? We can use the trash-bags as goalposts. Email tudorcityview@gmail.com with the subject line “This is a Terrible Idea but I Am IN”. BYO Kneepads.

• There was an attempted mugging a few weeks back. Nothing to get freaked out about, but definitely a reminder that we still live in New York City and you want to keep your eyes open.

TO DO

• Movie Night in Bryant Park this week is The Truman Show. You probably feel like you are living it right now.

• Fuggin’ Rush is playing at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday the 28th and then on Thursday and Saturday. How can you miss this? (I will be missing this) If Rush isn’t your speed, then Phish also has a show there this week. Related note, James Dolan sucks.

• On Thursday night, July 30th, Souls of Mischief are playing at Brooklyn Bowl. Thirty-three years later, ‘93 Til Infinity is still the greatest hiphop song ever recorded. Don’t believe me? Watch Uncle L spell it out here.

• Well although the Mets got mostly-shellacked by the Dodgers and are probably mostly-demoralized, they still have a home stand all week. Tickets are probably cheap.

THE TC MANIFEST (PART 1)

It seems there is a lot of open business space in 25 and 5 Tudor City Place. How much of a pain would it be to convert one of the spaces and set up a community room for arts and music.

Right? Like a place for the kids and the adults to form new bands or write comics or paint. We’d need a lot of soundproofing, for the bands idea, but a Tudor City art space would rule. Apparently there is a building that has a music room in The TC, but sounds like it’s locals only over there.

But seriously, how great would it be to have that sort of a space and let it be of minimal cost. We need more art spaces and our small apartments might not be able to handle the grand artistic visions of the brilliant Tudor City minds.

Hey, it’s manifesting! I’m not dealing with real estate valuations over here. But, a strong community breeds its own success. The more reasons we have to love living here, the more that energy attracts other people. And the best part is, even if it doesn’t attract other people, all of us get to enjoy being around each other.

I am the eternal optimist.

-TCV

First up, just started a Tudor City View account on Bluesky. That’s a thing, right? It’s about as social as I can get. Follow away.

As promised, following up on last week’s delayed rant, I’m going to jump fully into summertime, which would be my personal favorite time to listen to the genre of music I decided to invent.

Yacht Electro.

Everyone has heard of Yacht Rock by now…. even if you haven’t seen the video series that coined the phrase. Although TBH, if you haven’t seen the series, stop what you are doing and spend some time watching the best twelve-episode series ever. One of my favorite memories was watching this whole series with a bunch of drunk Southern Californians on a big screen at a pool party. Way back in the pre-Google YouTube era. I am old.

And not that I am claiming to be the EDM Hollywood Steve or anything, because I can’t weave a narrative thread on Yacht Electro. But to me, it is a sound that definitely harkens back to 2005-ish. The Iraq war was a disaster, people weren’t exactly optimistic about the future of the country and there was a bubble creating irrational exuberance. So possibly people needed something easy to chill with. I’ll stake my claim on these being the foundations of Yacht Electro.

My love of Yacht Rock anthems has more to do with the people I am listening to it with. People who genuinely love and would go to these concerts are more likely on my annoying spectrum. I probably share little in common with. Now, tattoo’d punk rockers going nuts to a Michael McDonald track makes everyone involved infinitely cooler.

Same goes for Yacht Electro. Some Garden State-reject (the movie, not New Jersey) telling me Zero 7 is amazing isn’t gonna be cool. But a bunch of dirtbags listening to “Passing By” on a roof mid-summer is amazing. With the Yachts. the context is as important as what is being played. To me.

So, be around good friends this summer, enjoy yourself, and you can have this playlist in the background. In between listening to Ramones’ tracks.

CIVICALLYS

• It looks like there has been some serious damage again over at 765 First Avenue, the building right across from the UN. There has been a squatter problem there over the last year and the break-in issues have been real. If you see anything illegal, please call the police. If you see anything quasi-legal, like broken windows, locks, glass on the sidewalk, make a 311 complaint. Sorta seems like those owners have abdicated responsibility.

• Sunday, July 26th, is the latest in the Tudor City Greens’ series “Supporting Aging in Our Community.” The talk is about Dementia 101: Adjusting to the Diagnosis and Life Changes. The facilitator will be Shira Felberbaum Kedim, LMSW, MS.

• On Saturday, July 25th, at 1 pm, the Children’s Gardening Event is taking place in the South Park. [Ed. Update: Shira is not the facilitator of the gardening event, per previous version of this post]

TO DO

• The free Bryant Park movie tonight is “Good Morning, Vietnam”.

• The Center for Brooklyn History is hosting a talk called “An Unfinished Revolution: Dialogues on Freedom and Democracy” on Wednesday, July 22nd. It will be hosted by Elizabeth Hinton and the focus is on the essay “Dogma” by Justin Surdyka.

• This Friday, July 24th, Sex Mex is playing at Gold Sounds. The new record is AMAZING and this will be the show of the summer. You’ll be able to tell the kids you were there way back in Summer of ‘26.

• If you feel like getting down to New Jersey, Lucy Dacus is performing at the Stone Pony Summer Stage.

REMEMBER SOME PLACES

The Hallmark Store! I never thought I would be the kind of person who could miss a Hallmark store so much. I mean, it’s just cards, right?! Wing dings and goofy stuff? Yes, but they always had whatever I needed. And most importantly, the people who ran it were really lovely, too.

Spots like that are a glue for the neighborhood. I loved running into neighbors there, laughing at the Valentine’s Day swag, getting a last second gift that cracked me up, or random art supplies. It was helpful. It was ours. And it meant I didn’t have to use Amazon. I was deeply bummed out when it was finally gone and still harbor a deep resentment for that weed store.

I hate that place and will never go in there. I would advise the same, but don’t be mean to the people that work there. They mostly seem totally bored since no one is ever there. I am mostly pointing my ire in the direction of the owners of the building who raised the rent to an unacceptable level. Since they forced it away, they can rot in whatever tax-shelter they hang out in.

-TCV

It’s probably still too early to do any speculation and although I REALLY want to start throwing some wild opinions out there, I won’t. It really doesn’t do any good and I’ll probably be wrong and miss some information. The Times seems to be doing good reporting on what happened. Go there.

I’ll just say that having construction that dangerous and that close to all of our homes, is fucked up. In the least. The videos of the bent columns gave me a weird feeling in my stomach. So a big TC thank you to the people who captured that video inside the building and most especially to the construction workers who are working to reinforce the building so it didn’t actually collapse. They are truly the heroes of this story.

The building sounds secure for now and that is some measure of relief. But oy vey, this is gonna fuck up that block for like another five years.

Here are some resources for you to keep up with the latest on what is happening:

1. Lord I hate twitter but here is where to go to get latest updates from the NYC Emergency Management

2. Here’s the NY Times feed for keeping up on the latest developments.

3. This Gothamist article has some good information about what is happening with the building itself.

4. WPIX 11 will probably have the best TV coverage, considering their proximity to the building.

5. Check the MTA website for any changes to bus schedules.

6. And here’s a Pat Kiernan video from last week. Mostly because we love him.

Welp, a much different opening rant than I had planned this week… it was actually going to be about my new favorite invented summertime genre of music. I will save that for next week.

CIVICALLYS

• The Tudor City Green’s Mini Series on Aging is happening on Sunday, July 19th in the North Park. The topic is “Supporting a Dementia-Friendly Community”

• The July Edition of the Book Club is Happening on July 14th at the North Park. 6 p.m. sharp. The book is Ourika by Claure de Duras. You’ve now got eight days. As always, I believe in you.

• If you want to help or need information about aid for Haitians and Syrian immigrants with temporary protected status, here is where you can go. It’s a city-run website with available resources (h/t to )

TO DO

• Movie nights are starting up this week at Bryant Park. Tonight, July 13th, you can watch one of the most serious period-pieces about high art, Wayne’s World. The grass opens at 5, movie at 8, party peoples.

• Sunday July 19th, at the Central Park Great Lawn, the World Cup Final will be shown. You gotta go through a lottery to get the hook-up. Here’s the plug.

• Before the final, the World Cup semis are happening Tuesday at 3 p.m. with France vs. Spain and Wednesday at 3 p.m. with England vs. Argentina.

• Speaking of plugs, De La Soul, Pete Rock and Hannibal Buress are playing at the City Parks Foundation on Friday, July 17th. This is an “event of the summer” event.

• If you want to get free Shakespeare in the Park tickets, you need to register and get a Public Theatre Patron ID. Here’s the link to do that.

• July 15th begins the Richard Estes exhibit at the Schoelkopf gallery.

BAR OF THE WEEK

The Shakespeare! It’s about a fifteen minute walk from Tudor City, over on 39th between Madison and Lexington, but don’t let the walk dissuade you. It is a solid quiet bar. One side gets rowdy, one side is for pleasant conversation. It features English pub-fare food but they’ve got great wings, which is really all I need in a pub. The bartenders and waitstaff are very cool. And although I’ve never gotten a buyback, their friendliness is always appreciated.

I’ve never seen it too crowded, the side room is always quiet and a great place for a mellow drink, an after-work hang, or a serious conversation. It’s really nice to have a quiet bar that isn’t filled with yelling bozos. Shakespeare is that spot for me.

-TCV

All due praise goes to the work of two of the three founders, Donna & Rona, along with three important folks on the coordinating committee: Dina de La Vega, Olga Jakim and Tigre McMullan. And, of course, all of the wonderful volunteers.

It felt important to me to be able to meet them both and talk to them. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and to remove the parts where the three of us went on tangents about what a phenomenal neighborhood Tudor City is. We all know it already and don’t need to wail on that horse any more.

Please enjoy! And definitely reach out to them if you want to get involved, their contact information is at the end of the interview.

-TCV

TCV: Let me start by saying congratulations on your second annual Art in the Park event. It was amazing. So who are you? And how long have you lived in Tudor City?

Rona: I’m Rona and I have lived in Essex House for eight years. Before that, for 15 years, my husband and I had a studio apartment in Woodstock Tower. And we just decided: Where do we want to retire? Like, why not New York City?

Donna: And I’m Donna and I am Rona’s next-door neighbor about five flights down, four flights down, in the Essex House. I moved in during the pandemic. And I met Rona when my old dog was really sick and I didn’t have a bag and.... she was very kind. We bonded over poop. It’s very beautiful. [laughter]

Rona: There were not many people out on the sidewalks and we walked everywhere a lot and were so lucky to get to know each other.

I love that. So how was Art in the Park this year?

Donna: Awesome. [laughter]

Rona: It was great. It was wonderful. It’s all about the community. It’s about getting artists out of their apartments and meeting each other and they’re wandering around and they sit down with somebody in a different section of the park and all of a sudden they’ve been there for 45 minutes talking to each other. And that’s really what we wanted.

Donna: Now, we were told by the Greens that artists could not sell their works, because the Tudor City Greens are non-profit.

Rona: And we make that very clear to all artists, and they came out anyway!

So it’s a special event… you’ve created a place of discovery.

Rona: Yes, exactly.

Donna: And oh boy, have we discovered a lot of really interesting art. Like one of my favorite most unusual artists is Michiko Kishi. And Kishi makes soft sculpture - soft sculptures out of Uniqlo socks and they’re exquisite. And then she also does stop-motion videos with the sculptures. For the 4th of July, she has an eagle that flies against a patriotic background. It’s unbelievable.

Rona: We do make certain decisions. We make up our own rules about who can participate because we are the ones who decided it was for Tudor City artists. There are a few people who live a few blocks from here and have come to us, maybe they’ve just been here for lunch in the park, and they see the sign because we had a sign up for three months announcing the event to get artists to come to participate and volunteers also.

We ended up being connected with this woman, Chanit Roston. She’s a Holocaust survivor who lives on 44th. And Donna got in touch with her and we went to visit her and explained what we were doing and we went back twice and her apartment’s like a museum.

Whoa.

Donna: She’s in her late 80s.

Rona: And she was a child during the Holocaust.

Rona: She survived in a potato cellar.

Donna: And her paintings are amazing and some of them, and one which I really love that she brought there was her self-portrait as a child and there is paint pouring out of a paintbrush like blood.

Donna: This incredible talent and story. I think she had done an illustrated book for children about Central Park. And she brought a copy and we raffled that off. I think she still has a lot of copies available to sell.

Rona: Yeah. If anybody wants to buy a baby gift, it’s a great baby gift. We are happy to put anyone who is interested in contact with her. Some of the artists, we helped get their art out of their apartments to come down to the park. You know, we have amazing volunteers who helped with that. It’s a lovely community event and the whole feeling is about people helping other people.

What was the genesis? How did you both come to create this event?

Donna: So, we have a neighbor who I used to walk my dog with all the time who’s lovely.

Rona: A lovely neighbor. Absolutely.

Donna: And he has a lovely dog. And he is very quiet - a youngish retiree. One day he showed me a drawing of the dogs from our building and it was unbelievable. It was really beautiful.

I love this so much.

Donna: I just thought: “Gosh, this IT guy upon retirement can make these beautiful images. And thought “Well, then what is hiding behind that door over there?” And then we basically knocked on that door! [laughter]

Rona: Yup! That retiree became an important co-founder of the Art Showcase, although he moved on to other projects this year.

Donna: And it feels like the tip of the iceberg of what we’ve found. One thing I will say is that Tudor City is, I think, not unique but specific in that the apartments are a little bit less expensive on the whole than other places and there’s a lot of smaller ones. So if you are an artist and you need to live somewhere and you’ve been here for a little while, you might be able to afford it.

And that’s why here, maybe, there’s an artist hiding behind each door. I think here some people are more dedicated artists because they can afford to live here, right?

Rona: It’s also, for such a small community space-wise, we’re just a few streets, there are so many studio apartments because of the nature of Tudor City.

This is very true. Friends have marveled at how I live in such a small space.

Donna: And so you have even more people living here than you would in a usual square block. There is this artist who is a wonderful artist, great paintings, but he told me he has 2,000 paintings in his studio apartment.

Rona: And they’re all amazing. Like, I would love someone to market him.

Sounds like the kind of Tudor City person I should be interviewing in a future post! [laughter] What I love about what you both have created, whether conscious or not, is that it is an event and a strong and organic reason to bring people of community together to showcase their creativity. What do you think makes Art in the Park unique to Tudor City?

Rona: We try to gather other information and we find out some really interesting things about people, and then we see them in the park during the event and the people who we think should be talking to each other…

Donna: And put them close to each other! [laughter]

That’s community, right? And people...

Rona: It is. We are creating a channel to see people in a new unique way when we’re all just used to kind of bouncing around each other. So for you to have a different visual, a different vibe, that would make sense to be like “these are people who can start to be connected because they might not be connected otherwise,” right? And we don’t—we don’t make a formal connection. They find…

Donna: …each other. It’s very interesting. But we only do this with a few artists. Most participants are placed/situated randomly and make connections on their own!

So I assume you are planning for 2027 right now, but what other ideas have come out of what you’ve done already?

Rona: We had a raffle last year, our first year, and Dina de La Vega, from the organizing committee and Chris Megele, an amazing volunteer, went around and got some gift cards. Essex Wines and Spirits donated wine and City Beer donated beer, and we raffle things off and we raise some money. We have very minimal expenses when we do this. And the [Tudor City] Greens really rely on donations. So anything that comes in we give to the Greens.

So, this year, we expanded the raffle. I got some fabric donated to me from Zuri, an African clothing store in the West Village.

I’m a scrap quilter and I thought “I’m going to make a pillow and it’s going to go in the raffle.” And then we got in touch with artists and said, “Anyone who’s interested, did you know we’re doing this raffling off art pieces? If you want to give a small piece of your art we would love it” And we raised a good amount of money from that! Thirteen or fourteen of the artists donated art that was raffled off.

Well done, congratulations!

Rona: Yeah, thanks. So next year we’re going to grow that.

I love that. Were there any works that really stood out to you in a surprising way? Maybe something that you had not been exposed to that elevated the event for you?

Donna: Michael Pilato was amazing this year. He was the artist-in-residence at the Church of the Covenant… is that what it’s called? Over on 42nd Street next to Woodstock Tower.

I think that’s what it is called. (Ed. Note: It is.)

Donna: So, he has been living there on and off painting a mural. It was the 10th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub.

Rona: The Pulse nightclub massacre. He had this whole genesis of this Pulse nightclub, and then brought into other terrible tragedies.

Donna: There was a part that was Sandy Hook and many others…

Rona: … gun-related shooting things. He made many panels…

Donna: …and created this incredible mural that was, which I think was started elsewhere but he brought it to finish at the church.

Wow.

Rona: And he was leaving the church on the Friday before our event. And last year he participated a little bit because that’s how we learned about him, specifically from this other woman who works with us a lot, Dina De La Vega, who is a member of the church. And so I went in and was blown away.

You will be blown away by this work. This year, he happened to be just taking it down and moving it somewhere, on tour or something, and he was leaving the residency.

Donna: He took it down on the Friday at noon the day before the art showcase.

Rona: The day before, which was the 10th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub tragedy, and we helped him figure out actually how to put it on display with a member of [City Council Member] Kristen Gonzalez’s staff. They helped him finalize his plans about where and how to display it. He displayed it under the underpass of the Tudor City Bridge.

And then he said he was going to take a special kind of photo copy of the mural and put it in the Art in the Park Showcase the next day. We couldn’t display the whole thing inside the park. But on that day, because they closed the stairway on 42nd for soccer, he just reconstructed the original mural outside the park and the whole thing was there and he was just talking to people and telling them all about it. It’s like amazing.

Donna: Non-stop he just kept touring people through it and there’s so much information and it’s like, you gotta look, if you look at this person’s eye there’s a reflection of the bird that, you know, like there is so much detail in this massive mural.

His relationship with some of the mothers of people who were killed at the Pulse Club... and so he somehow he’s bringing this to them for something...

The way you describe it actually reminds me of the AIDS Quilt. Were there any other stories that came out of the event?

Rona: So this woman came up to me. She wanted to look at my quilt and she said, “I love your quilts and, like in my country, like I really love the textiles there.” And I said, “Where are you from?” and she said, “I’m from Turkey. and I do calligraphy. I would love to be part of this, but I don’t live in Tudor City.” I said, “Where do you live?” She said, “You know, I live in that building on the corner of Second Avenue and 41st Street.”

Rona: I said, “You’re in Tudor City. That counts. We count you.” So, I just emailed her yesterday and said, “I just want to make sure I have your email right. I’m putting you on the list for next year.”

I love that so much. I truly believe that Tudor City should be seen as a welcoming and friendly place, like a beacon.

Rona: It’s like she didn’t feel like she was part of this. She absolutely is.

Donna: One photographer, Jay Eckardt, who does some really interesting work using a Holgar camera, doesn’t really live in Manhattan even, but he’s got really good friends and hangs out in Tudor City. Hangs out in the park and he’s totally a part of it. I mean, he hangs out in Woodstock Tower, so that’s as good as living here. [laughter]

Before we conclude, what’s the best way for people to get a hold of you?

Rona: You can reach and Donna and I at berkowitzrona at gmail dot com or donna.nitzberg at gmail dot com. It was a pretty spectacular day and we’re really looking forward to the future.

Well, congratulations again on an incredible event and I’m looking forward to next year as well!

And to be clear, I’m going off the latest news on the Times site. That is probably the best place to go the latest information.

Access to Tudor City is shut off to cars currently and 43rd and 42nd are shut down over to third avenue. Walking back from Grand Central, I was able to walk over to 1st Avenue via 45th street and then up the stairs to get home safely.

There’s also a bunch of people hanging out over on 43rd and 2nd, but that seems like a really bad idea.

Stay safe out here and feel free to post any updates you have in the comments.

-TCV

Well, them fireworks were pretty great on Saturday! Ah sike, I missed it due to family-related Fourth of July partying. Such is the way it goes. I’m not always going to be around for all the happenings.

But I was around for a few of the World Cup games that were happening in New Jersey and being witness to the busing situation was hilarious. For instance, I had never seen a depressed German next to a dancing Ecuadorian before. The annoyance of having the 42nd street stairs closed was sorta mitigated by that.

Back to our local, though. On the reals, I’m still buzzing off of the Tudor City Fest. Such a good time. Besides commenting on how beautiful the weather was, one of the things I heard the most in conversation was asking what the difference is between all of the different Tudor City Organizations.

So I thought I’d make go for it and explain the differences as I understand them.

First up, we have the Tudor City Greens. These are the people who generously donate their time to making sure the parks stay amazing. They are a non-profit and the work is top rate. Anything inside the parks? Talk to Tudor City Greens.

Next is the Tudor City Association. This is the organization that represents all of Tudor City. Think of it as the advocacy organization for everyone who lives here. Before the buildings went co-op, they were all linked together. (More on this in a later post) Now, since each building is responsible for itself, it’s the Tudor City Association that is the glue that binds The TC together… from the social stuff, to the advocacy, and the stewardship.

So what is Tudor City Confidential? Great question! It’s the long-time running blog that is the ultimate resource for the history of Tudor City. Do you yourself a favor and go get lost in k-hole that is our rich history. It’s almost-a-century of great information!

Is that connected to the Tudor City Store? Nope! But the store is its own thing and where you buy the merch.

I’m going to work on a mnemonic song to remember all of the differences with: “Iffff… it’s… the Greens, think of the Park. The Association is where people make their mark…. “

Uhhhhggg, sorry. That’s horrible. I’ll think of a better one and report back in a following week.

CIVICALLYS

• Tudor City Greens are having a show on July 8th at 6:30 p.m. It is called “Dig We Must!” and is taking place in the South Park. The rain date is July 9th at 6:30 as well.

• Looks like there is a private event in South Park on Saturday, July 11th. Best to take your book-reading to the North Park. You can use the free library in the southeast quadrant.

• The Tudor City Greens is doing a Mini-Series called “Supporting Aging Adults in Our Community”. The second one happens on Sunday, July 19th at 5 p.m. It’s called “Cultivating a Dementia Friendly Community”.

• Probably should have listed this last week, but here is where to go to find out about cooling centers in the city. The closest to The TC are on 3rd ave & 50th, The Petco on 52nd & 2nd, and finally at Park & 42nd… 120 Park Avenue. Please remember to check in with your elder neighbors during these heat waves. There will be more this summer.

TO DO

• Tonight, Monday July 6th! The US Mens’ National Team play Belgium in the Round of 16 at 8 p.m. Watch i

• It’s Manhattanhenge again on the 11th. If you see someone standing on a car, yell at them. It is your civic duty as a resident of The TC.

• If you didn’t get tickets to Jay-Z at Yankee Stadium, you’re out-of-luck save for really expensive tickets. But I’m sure you can hear it if you take the train up and hang around outside. Hell, that’s only six bucks round trip and if you buy two nutcrackers, you’ll basically be getting the true NY experience.

• If you prefer guitar wankers with annoying hair, I think Jack White is playing somewhere out in Brooklyn!

• Next Friday, the 10th of July, you can check out the free series in Bryant Park that will feature Avery Wilson. Grab a blanket and chill the f out, y’all.

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK

We’re back to restaurant of the week again! And I have to go for the huge shout-out to the newest Pietro’s spot.

I was super bummed when the spot on 43rd closed down. It was special in there. The booths, the way it felt hidden from the street, the locals, the staff… it was a red sauce experience. I brought two friends from Los Angeles there once and they felt like they’d hit the jackpot of NYC Italian spots.

They had.

And luckily, same family and same crew have reopened up on 2nd Ave and 47th. It’s great to be back. The inside is a bit more visible to the street, which changes the dynamic. However, the food is the same, the staff is still the best, and you can get a damn good Manhattan. Be sure to open your meal with that.

-TCV

Second, Tudor City Fest was last Wednesday. And a great time was had by all. Thanks to the Tudor City Association for bringing people together in a great way.

And finally… a rant! This week, we’re closing in on the Fourth of July. 250 years, eh? Impressive! Sorta? Things are difficult in this country so I’m a bit more selective in what I’m proud of. I’m sticking with the Knicks, the US Men’s National soccer team, New York City, and our home, The TC.

I was enjoying an early evening stroll around Tudor City last week and spent some time on the 41st street overlook. It’s still such a beautiful view even with that dumpster fire of an empty lot. It’s kind of gross now that it is back to what can best be described as a rat free-for-all. So I just kind of stared, still grossed out by its last incarnation: the thinly-applied coat of red, white and blue paint that was meant to convince us to allow a casino in that space.

I mean, really? Poorly-made billboards of Americana that were put in place by people who cheat on their taxes. It was so cheap and so transparent. You might say that it kinda brought out some anger in me.

But then I laughed. That realization had another side to it. The idiotic field of billboards were meant to evoke a comparison between a bunch of greedy people building a casino and the Spirit of the United States. Like, they thought they could fool us or people just passing by. I guess I feel bad for the tourists who thought they were seeing something like the WTC Memorial only to possibly have been exposed to whatever chemicals are still in the ground.

The laughter was a bit of relief because the gift is that this neighborhood, helped by the Tudor City Association and our Murray Hill and Sutton Place siblings, rallied the true American spirit. We stood up to craven billionaires, astroturf campaigns and exploitative morons. We all made sure that there won’t be a casino and all the ancillary misery that comes with it right next door to our homes.

Granted, we do have the fact that when Bo Dietl shows up against you, you are on the winning side of a battle. And of history. I was really proud of the way the neighborhood came together and the people won. When Samuel Johnson said that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, I’d like to think he was referring to this whole situation.

So a very happy Fourth of July to everyone who did anything to fight the casino, pat yourself on the back, have an extra beer, and know that you are keeping Tudor City a true neighborhood. Although you might not have laid down in front of bulldozers (more on this in a future update), you came together and gave it your all. That’s what I’ll be proud of this year.

CIVICALLYS

• The Tudor City Association was responsible for the great Tudor City Fest. You should definitely take an active role in your neighborhood and donate and/or volunteer: https://www.tudorcityassociation.org. Check out the recap of the Fest last week Here.

• Tudor City Confidential always has the best posts about the history of The TC. This post from last week shows ads from 1939 made me really happy.

• The July Edition of the Book Club is Happening on July 14th at the North Park. 6 p.m. sharp. The book is Ourika by Claure de Duras. We’re giving you some decent heads up here.

• Did you notice any great Tudor City merch at the Fest? Own it yourself! Here’s the Tudor City Store.

• The Tudor City Greens is doing a Mini-Series called “Supporting Aging Adults in Our Community”. The first one was this last Sunday and focused on Brain Health and Aging. The second one will be happening on Sunday, July 19th at 5 p.m. It’s called “Cultivating a Dementia Friendly Community”. I’ll post the continued schedule for the rest of the summer next week.

TO DO

• Here’s a great way to honor the 250th. The New York Public Library is dong a public viewing of an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. It’s happening from July 1st through the 7th and the details are here.

• NYC swimming pools are open! Check out the The NY Parks website for all the information you need to jump in and keep cool. Apparently, it’s a scorcher this week.

• The Fourth of July Fireworks are back where they belong - on the East River! But it sounds like they are more downtown than in past East River times. Can you get to the top of 5, 25, & 45 Tudor City Place? If so, thems are your best viewing option. Otherwise, take a subway downtown or head over to Brooklyn Bridge Park!

• On Friday, July 3rd, the free Bryant Park Concert is The Knights. Or rather Carnegie Hall Presents: The Nights. Show up early and grab some lawn.

• The World Cup continues into the Round of 32. The US Men’s National Team will play Bosnia-Herzegovina at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1st.

• John Zorn’s Simulacrum is playing on Tuesday, June 30th. Going to see live experimental music is a very American thing to do.

REMEMBER SOME PLACES

Lots of great places are gone now. Sometimes I think about them and hope for something better for the future. Sometimes I just want to vent. More importantly, I like being able to give a bit of recognition.

So my personal spot that I really miss is that Chinese Slash Mexican restaurant that used to be next to the Greek place. I miss the ease of jumping over there and making a cuisine decision on the spot. I want a taco! But I also want dumplings! They weren’t super friendly, but the food was good and quick and you got to hang out with a bunch of delivery people. Always felt very New York City to me.

It wasn’t a sit-down spot, but it always nailed it. So the moral of this RSP? We really could use a great Chinese takeout spot in the super-local way.

-TCV