New York City Newsletter, April 20

Hello New York! Cherry blossoms are at peak bloom, the Knicks just opened their playoff run at MSG, Earth Day has an entire week of events, and the Queens Night Market is officially back. Plus, the city is rolling out new trash bins — and World Cup fans are getting hit with $150 train tickets.

Let's get to it.
– Sofia Kurd.

Tues-Wed (12–2pm, 4–6pm): Grey Goose X The Devil Wears Prada 2 Pop-Up — (Hudson Yards; Zuccotti Park; Manhattan West Plaza)
A roaming cocktail pop-up tied to the Devil Wears Prada movie sequel. Expect a reworked espresso martini (“Devil’s Roast”) plus gold-dusted popcorn.

Tues 6pm: Fireside Chat: Andy Dunn, Founder of Bonobos (acq. $310m) & Pie — Join for an unfiltered fireside chat with Andy Dunn, one of the most candid voices in entrepreneurship. This won’t be a polished success story. It’s a real conversation about what it actually takes to build—and survive—while building a company.

• Tues-Wed: Bob Ross Originals at Bonhams — Four original Bob Ross paintings created on TV, on display for free ahead of their April 23 auction benefiting public television. Last chance to see them. Midtown.

• Sat 4/25: Open Streets Earth Day + Free Citi Bike — Car-free streets in every borough, including Fifth Avenue from 17th to 46th. Citi Bike is offering free unlimited 30-minute rides all day.

• Mon 7pm: And Scene at Caveat — Actors who know their lines share a stage with improvisers who make up their parts on the spot. This month features Chris Redd (SNL), Neal Bledsoe, Josh Sharp (Dicks the Musical), and more.

• Sat nights through October: Queens Night Market — The beloved outdoor food market is back behind the NY Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows. 100+ vendors, most dishes $5-6, food from dozens of countries. $5 admission for April preview nights, free starting May 2.

• World Cup train tickets to MetLife will cost $150 round trip — NJ Transit dropped the pricing for its special World Cup train service, and it's steep: $150 per round trip, with trains reserved exclusively for ticketholders. There will be no parking at MetLife during games (FIFA security restrictions), and non-World Cup NJ Transit trains will be cut or rerouted during matches. Your alternatives: $80 round-trip shuttle buses from Port Authority and near Grand Central, or 5,000 parking spots at the American Dream Mall with a walkway to the stadium. Games run June 13 through the July 19 final.

• The Knicks are in the NBA Playoffs, and the bars are packed — The Knicks opened their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks at MSG this weekend with home-court advantage. The cheapest remaining seats were going for about $370, and the best were around $5,000. But you know what costs a lot less? A beer. Sports bars across the five boroughs are buzzing — O'Keefe's in Brooklyn Heights, Harlem Tavern, and dozens of others are setting up screens and expecting packed houses for the next two months. If you can't get a ticket, find a good Knicks bar and settle in.

• 6,500 new curbside Empire Bins are coming to every borough — Mayor Mamdani announced a major expansion of the Empire Bin program, those large Spanish-made trash bins that get lifted directly into specially equipped garbage trucks. They'll be mandatory for residential buildings with 30+ units, and the rollout hits the Bronx, Staten Island, and Queens for the first time. In Manhattan, they're coming to the West Village, SoHo, Little Italy, and Greenwich Village. The bins can only be opened by building staff with a keycard or sanitation workers, which has led to a significant reduction in rats in areas where they've already been deployed. The goal is to fully containerize the city's waste by 2032 — and yes, they're replacing parking spots to do it.

• Could free buses actually work in NYC? — State legislators are pushing Governor Hochul to approve a new free bus pilot program as part of the (now overdue) state budget. The idea has roots: Albany ran a "Freewheeler" program from 1978-1980 where off-peak buses ran for free in the central business district. Ridership tripled on weekdays and jumped fivefold on Saturdays. Downtown businesses saw a 4.9% increase in sales-tax receipts. When federal funding dried up, so did the service. MTA Chair Janno Lieber isn't thrilled with the idea, arguing that most New Yorkers ride subways or bus-subway combos and wouldn't benefit.

You know the importance of sleep, but actually getting enough is easier said than done. One wellness brand decided to study the problem and whether CBD could help.

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Question: Before it was renamed New York by the British in 1664, what was the original name given to the Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island in 1624?

Reply to this email with your response. The answer will be revealed in the next newsletter. No cheating!

Cherry blossom season is peaking right now, and the timing lines up with Earth Day week. New York's cherry trees are actually a gift with history. The original plantings at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden date back to 1921, donated by the Japanese government. The tradition continued for decades, and today the city has thousands of cherry trees across its parks, many of which bloom in sequence from late March through early May depending on the variety. Yoshino cherries (the classic pale pink clouds) tend to peak in mid-April, while the deeper pink Kwanzan cherries come a week or two later.