West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT US
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result
SUPPORT THE RAG

Search the site

No Result
View All Result
Get WSR FREE in your inbox
SUPPORT THE RAG

Monday Bulletin: Local Landlords Sue Airbnb; Buy The UWS Building Where Tom Cruise Worked As A Super; Changes At Barnes & Noble; Halloween Dog Costume Contest Crowns Winner

October 23, 2023 | 5:05 AM
in COLUMNS, NEWS
11
An Open Street on Columbus Avenue. Credit: Gus Saltonstall

Monday, October 23, 2023
Sunny. High 61 degrees.
It has rained for seven straight weekends in New York City.

Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.

Upper West Side News
By Gus Saltonstall

A pair of Upper West Side building owners have filed lawsuits against Airbnb, claiming the rental platform is violating Local Law 18, as first reported by the Real Deal.

The new legislation, which went into effect in September, requires apartment hosts to register their listings with the city so rental platforms can then verify their legitimacy before they are posted for the public. Additionally, landlords now have the option to block tenants from listing their apartments on rental sites.

The two landlords are claiming that Airbnb is continuing to allow listings in their building, even when the address has been blocked and put on the inclusion list.

The local landlords leading the litigation fight are at 207 Columbus Avenue, near West 69th Street, and at 30 West 63rd Street. Airbnb had previously filed a lawsuit against the city in an attempt to stop Local Law 18 from taking effect, but a judge dismissed the case in August.

You can read more about the lawsuits against Airbnb on the Real Deal’s website.

$15 million. That’s the amount of money you would need to buy the Upper West Side townhouse that Tom Cruise lived in and worked at as the super.

Cruise lived on the Upper West Side before landing his first hit role in the early 1980s. He resided in a studio at 50 West 86th Street, between Columbus and Central Park West, where he also earned money as the building’s super.

To add to the celebrity buzz, Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey, Jr. also lived together in the building during the 80s.

The five-story building, which has been dubbed as the Good Luck Building, is now about to hit the market for $14.99 million, as first reported by the New York Post. The building is currently divided into apartments but could be converted into a single-family home. It has a pool and was previously owned by a celebrity make-up artist.

You can read more on the New York Post’s website.

Change has come to Barnes & Noble locations across the country, including on the Upper West Side.

Many of the book retailer’s stores have redesigned to push “the chain to act more like the indie stores it was once notorious for replacing,” reported the New York Times earlier this week. The interior of the stores have added more color and added new types of shelves.

The Barnes & Noble on Broadway between West 82nd and 83rd streets now has shelves that can come out of the wall and offer more front-facing book displays, instead of the jam-packed bookcases that sometimes felt as if a magnifying glass was needed.

The focus of the nationwide chain has been put back to a “books-first strategy.”

The renovation and redesign of the Upper West Side outpost cost $4 million, reported the New York Times. You can read more about the redesign and the people leading it on the Times’ website.

It is not Upper West Side specific, but dogs in costumes don’t need a local angle to earn inclusion.

The annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade took place on Saturday and Pookah the Pomeranian won the title of “Best in Show.”

Hundreds of people and pooches marched along Avenue B, before gathering in the East Village park for the costume contest.

In a more complex process than you might guess, judges selected 40 dogs for the “Best in Show” award, and then divided them into six groups. Winners of each group were then selected by applause levels.

Pookah ended up taking home the crown against the five other finalists.

You can check out photos of the costumed dogs on Gothamist’s website.

To receive WSR’s free email newsletter, click here.

Share this article:
SUPPORT THE RAG
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

11 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
D C
D C
1 year ago

Wow, is that Pomeranian cute!

0
Reply
Ryo
Ryo
1 year ago

The audacity of some people putting apartments that they don’t own on AirBnB. Maybe I’m just old school that way in terms of respect for other people’s property.

6
Reply
caly
caly
1 year ago

I liked the old version of B&N, and have never had a problem reading the title on the binding of a book in a library or a bookstore. I went in this weekend and didn’t find one book on my list so I ended up ordering online anyway. : (

7
Reply
Carmella Ombrella
Carmella Ombrella
1 year ago
Reply to  caly

I had the same experience. The store looked, felt and was empty, with acres of carpeting sparsely interspersed with tables featuring books the store was pushing. The magazine racks were relegated to the upper floor and had none of the categories I usually buy in multiple. Fiction was pushed so far back against the wall you’d need roller skates to get to it. Harry Potter books got their own easy-to-reach section, though. The whole store had a cold, mall-ish look, nothing like the browsability of a good indie store. I left without buying anything.

7
Reply
Christine E
Christine E
1 year ago
Reply to  Carmella Ombrella

I agree, I miss Barnes & Noble’s marvelously diverse magazine section. The offerings now are rather ordinary and useless.
I get that B&N wants to return to their book roots. But people read more than books.

1
Reply
Ethan
Ethan
1 year ago

“shelves that . . . offer more front-facing book displays” means fewer books. To suggest that such a redesign at Barnes & Noble would make it “more like the indie stores it was once notorious for replacing” is just false. One measure of a good bookstore is simply the number of books it has, or even books per sq. ft. Barnes & Noble does poorly in that regard.

4
Reply
Elisabeth Jakab
Elisabeth Jakab
1 year ago

I love the new B&N – so well curated, books arranged so well, and a light filled and expanded cafe to replace the dim and little one. I love it there!

3
Reply
Susan
Susan
1 year ago

Another vote for Barnes & Noble. I went there recently & found two books I wanted, one fairly obscure. Then I enjoyed coffee & a delicious cookie in the cheery bright cafe.

3
Reply
Michael
Michael
1 year ago

I hadn’t been to BN in a while and was surprised when I went there two weeks ago. As someone who judges a book by its cover when looking for something that might be an interesting read, I love the new display. So easy to read the titles even without my glasses.

0
Reply
Bibi
Bibi
1 year ago

I miss the old tried and true Barnes and Noble! I found the new set up was like a complicated maze and not as user friendly at all. Did make sense that the little cafe is now located near the rest rooms. Just doesn’t have that nice feel anymore.

2
Reply
LivesOnUWS
LivesOnUWS
1 year ago
Reply to  Bibi

I ask the book store employee where something can be found. They will take you right to the section. Find a particular book. If they don’t have it the will order the book.

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

UWS Weekend: Great Things To Do in the Neighborhood
COLUMNS

UWS Weekend: Great Things To Do In (and Around) the Neighborhood: Movies; Fanatics Fest; Guided Tours of NYC

June 20, 2025 | 7:51 AM
WSR Cartoon: Upper West Side Greeting Cards
NEWS

WSR Cartoon: Upper West Side Greeting Cards

June 20, 2025 | 7:49 AM
Previous Post

Drones Above Central Park

Next Post

Free Finish-Line Franks for Marathon Completers at Gray’s Papaya; Meet Some of the Runners

this week's events image
Next Post
Free Finish-Line Franks for Marathon Completers at Gray’s Papaya; Meet Some of the Runners

Free Finish-Line Franks for Marathon Completers at Gray's Papaya; Meet Some of the Runners

Divine Pathways: Connecting Heaven and Earth at The Cathedral

Divine Pathways: Connecting Heaven and Earth at The Cathedral

UPDATED: What Ever Happened to…the Proposed West 71st  Street ‘Deliverista Hub’?

UPDATED: What Ever Happened to...the Proposed West 71st Street 'Deliverista Hub'?

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2025 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2025 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.