Hello New York!

This week brings design and architecture talks, a Noguchi retrospective in LIC, major concerts at Madison Square Garden, Fashion Week shows, and new restaurant openings. In local news, 15,000 nurses reached a tentative deal to end a historic strike, a hidden Underground Railroad passage was confirmed at the Merchant’s House Museum, the city launched Rental Ripoff Hearings across all five boroughs, warming centers remained open during a prolonged cold snap, and the Guggenheim Securities Biotech Summit brought biotech leaders to Midtown.

More events and news in today’s issue. Let’s get to it.

– Sofia Kurd.

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Which everyday NYC object is legally classified as a building under city code?
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C) A subway entrance canopy
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1. Nurses at New York-Presbyterian Reach Tentative Agreement to End Strike After 30 days on the picket lines, the New York State Nurses Association and NewYork-Presbyterian reached a tentative agreement late Tuesday night to end the strike involving 15,000 nurses across three hospital systems. The deal includes the same 12% salary increases secured at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, plus agreements on nurse-to-patient ratios and workplace violence protections. The earliest return-to-work date is February 14, marking the end of the longest and largest strike of its kind in NYC history.

2. Safe House Linked to Underground Railroad Discovered in Manhattan Historians have confirmed that the Merchant's House Museum on East Fourth Street contains a hidden passageway used as a safe house for enslaved people seeking freedom during the 19th century. Beneath built-in drawers on the second floor, a rectangular opening in the floorboards reveals a 2-by-2-foot enclosed space with a ladder leading to the ground floor—described as "a masterwork of deliberate concealment." The building was constructed by Joseph Brewster, a noted abolitionist, in the 1830s, and preservation attorney Michael Hiller called it "the most significant find in historic preservation in my career."

3. Mamdani Administration Launches First-Ever Rental Ripoff Hearings Across All Five Boroughs Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the dates and locations for New York City's first-ever Rental Ripoff Hearings—a series of five public forums where tenants can share experiences with unsafe building conditions, hidden fees, mold, and other landlord abuses. The hearings, established by Executive Order 08, will create a direct line between tenants and city leadership, with participants able to record testimony or meet one-on-one with senior officials. Within 90 days of the final hearing, the Mamdani administration will publish a report proposing policy interventions informed by common grievances voiced by New Yorkers.

4. New York Fashion Week Opens with Men's Day Shows and Designer Collections New York Fashion Week kick off Wednesday with Men's Day shows featuring collections from A.Potts, Avon Anglers, Chelsea Grays, Peak Lapel, Proenza Schouler, LoveShackFancy, Coach, and Tory Burch. The week-long event showcases spring/summer 2026 collections with an emphasis on innovation and refined tailoring from both established and emerging designers. The fashion calendar continues through the weekend with additional shows and presentations across multiple venues throughout the city.

5. Warming Centers Remain Open as City Braces for Continued Cold Snap The Mamdani administration continues to operate warming centers across all five boroughs as Arctic conditions persist, with temperatures expected to remain well below freezing through the weekend. The city has deployed 33 mobile outreach units for homeless residents during Code Blue conditions, ensuring vulnerable populations have access to shelter and services. At least 18 cold-related deaths have been reported across NYC this winter, prompting city council scrutiny of the administration's cold-weather response.

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In 1792, 24 brokers gathered on Wall Street and signed the Buttonwood Agreement, agreeing to trade securities only with one another and to charge a fixed commission. The agreement was an attempt to establish some rules after the 1792 financial panic, at which point there had been no rules or safeguards, and a lot of deals were reneged on. That small agreement became the basis for what would later formalize into the New York Stock Exchange. Over the next two centuries, capital raised through that system financed railroads, industrial expansion, wartime debt, global corporations, and eventually the modern tech economy. The mechanics of global finance trace back to a short contract signed on a Manhattan sidewalk.

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