By Scott Etkin
On April 18, the seasonal outdoor restaurant Ellington in the Park is returning to Riverside Park (near 105th Street) for the seventh year. “The sunset views are spectacular and there is a lot of open space where patrons can spread out and have a comfortable dining experience,” said Glenda Sansone, the restaurateur, behind Ellington in the Park and The Ellington (on Broadway between 105th and 106th Street). This year, Ellington in the Park is expanding its menu of mostly comfort food and will serve craft beers, as well as Big Shane’s Ice Cream, which is “this fantastic ice-cream brand made locally,” she said. The top-level bar of Ellington in the Park is made from a repurposed shipping container and the lower-level lounge area is next to beach volleyball courts and soccer/softball fields. It is scheduled to stay open through November.
Super Runners Shop on Amsterdam between 77th and 78th Street is moving to the corner of 79th and Amsterdam. They are planning to close the current location by the end of the month, said Juan, who works at the shop, and open the new one in the first or second week of May. Super Runners was founded more than fifty years ago by the winner of the first NYC marathon, Gary Muhrcke. (Some trivia: he also won the first Empire State Building Run-Up.) The space on 79th Street used to be a Classic Kids Photography studio. (Thanks to Tierney for the tip.)
Di Di Dumpling is coming to Amsterdam between 69th and 70th. They are “waiting on the gas” connection and the restaurant should be open in the next month, we gathered in a phone call with their location on Lexington and 24th Street. Di Di has been open in NYC since 2011 and serves grilled potstickers and boiled dumplings – with names like “beef sensation,” “chicken experience” and “veggie natural” – as well as some Chinese soups and noodles. (Thanks David and Wendl for the tips.)
Broadway Farm, the grocery story on Broadway between 85th and 86th Street, has closed its fresh fish section. Kabir, a manager, said that there wasn’t enough business to justify keeping it open, which has been the case for years. He might replace the section with other perishable foods, such as cold cuts. “Bobby has always supplied the best quality fish. What a loss!” writes tipster Cathrine.
Upper90, the shop selling soccer jerseys, cleats and gear, was moved from the corner of 86th and Broadway down the street toward West End into Crossbar, the new soccer-themed café, retail and event space. (Find the full write-up of Crossbar here.) Upper90 originally opened on 94th and Amsterdam in 2009 and it relocated to 86th and Broadway last year.
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For Ellington in the Park:
Time for the Parks Department, D.O.T., and Riverside Park Conservancy to wake up, stop passing the buck, and fix the massive lighting outage (40+ lamp posts) at the Ellington area that was reported to them two months ago. (not to mention dozens of other lights throughout the park that have been out for months).
I’m sure the Ellington pays a hefty fee for that area, hard to imagine that is not grounds to withhold lease payments.
The dysfunction of and between, City entities is staggering.
And in other parts of the park, the lights burn during the daytime.
For a little while, the dry cleaning and tailoring place that was on 88th off Broadway was in that space on 86th” right before Upper 90 took it over. I am guessing that is another dry cleaning business that closed for good. Such a shame.
As for fresh fish. Honestly. I had mixed luck there.
The dry cleaner between 84th & 85th on Broadway was in the location while their place was painted, etc. They moved back to their regular location between 84th & 85th in about a month or so. Don’t know about the one on 88th.
The fish was overpriced and often low quality. That’s why so few people shopped there. As for the deli sushi, don’t bother when it’s a week old.
New coffee shop to open at 608 Amst ave 89/90 st (site of previous beauty salon). Gold Leaf stationary worker told me.
Fingers crossed that Gold Leaf is doing well in these lean times. It’s a neighborhood gem, so to speak.
Gold Leaf is the best! Does everyone know that they do framing? Excellent quality and excellent prices. (I believe a lot of the work is done off-site.) We’ve had very good experiences there and have been able to hang a lot of pictures that were languishing.
DiDi Dumpling is a great local addition. Their veggie potstickers are more like wraps and doused with dumpling sauce, vinegar and hot sauce they’re a real treat. I’ve driven down to 25th Street on more than one occasion to buy them.
Very excited about this! We need more variety in the area.
So where do we go now to buy fresh fish?
Citarella.
And the fish stand at the Sunday farmers’ market behind the Museum of Natural History. Don’t know if it’s all “dayboat” fish as their name implies, but what I’ve gotten from them has always been fresh and relatively local — none of the flabby frozen-and-thawed tilapia and Chilean sea bass featured at the supermarets. Their stock sells out early, though.
The fish booth is also at the Saturday green grocers’ market at Verdi Square opposite Lincoln Center. The cod is wonderful, and so are the scallops, grey sole, and everything else. And it’s very fresh caught. I buy from them all the time.
Citarella has excellent fresh fish.
Cast a line into the Hudson. Duh.
Farmer’s market! The fresh fish there is unmatched in grocery stores.
Also Citarella, Bway and 75th. But I liked Broadway Farm and Bobby.
Uh, Citirella. Or Fairway, if you can ignore the bad prejudiced publicity.
May I suggest H-Mart on 110th for fresh fish? Good luck with your grocery shopping 🙂
West side Market on 97/98th and bway. Fresh and excellent
Garden of Eden or Whole Foods.
Fairway Is no longer a decent fish monger — their fish is displayed in a 100 opened area – without so much as a sneeze guard on it. It is completely exposed to the ambient warmth of the store and it’s difficult to believe it passed a health inspection. I’ve gotten bad fish there too many times to buy it again. Broadway Farms has excellent produce, variety and great prices, it is a shame people didn’t order the Fish there. Maybe he should bring it in once a week, and have a Fish day on Thursdays or Fridays..
i know the owners of both Ellingtons they are the best check out both places
CITARELLA began as a fish market. it has been there for more than 70 years. My grandmother used to buy fish there when i was a little girl. (a looong time ago.)
Please put more lights in Riverside Park.
For fresh fish that’s not expensive, go to 104th street between Amsterdam and Broadway, north side of street. Nice selection. Their telephone number is 646-609-3778. Better and cheaper than West Side Market.