By Scott Etkin and Lisa Kava
Typhoon Cafe, a Thai coffee shop, opened on June 21st at 947 Columbus Ave. (between West 106th and 107th streets). They serve all kinds of Thai specialties, including Thai coffee, Thai iced tea, espresso with coconut water, espresso with orange juice, butterfly pea tea, and other drinks such as a variety of Asian sodas. Right now they are not selling food but just concentrating on the drink menu, Fay Karoon, one of the owners, told West Side Rag on a phone call. Eventually she plans to serve Thai desserts such as mango sticky rice and toast with pandan (green leaf custard).
Karoon owns another cafe in Thailand, which her partner there still operates. She moved to NYC six months ago but previously lived in Boston and Seattle where she was studying English and living with relatives. Karoon’s childhood best friend from Thailand asked her to come to New York to open Typhoon since she loved the cafe in Thailand. Karoon decided to try it out and looked for a home for Typhoon across the city, before finally finding the right spot on the Upper West Side. “I love the people on the Upper West Side; they are kind and warm. I love that it is easy to get to Central Park,” Karoon told the Rag. “I have been to all different neighborhoods looking for a spot for my cafe and I like the Upper West Side the best. I love the vibe here.” This is her first shop in the United States. The space used to be Wild Raisin, a cafe that closed in 2023. (Thanks to Ilke for the tip.)
Tacos Cano, a family-owned Mexican restaurant, opened in mid-June at 968 Amsterdam Ave. (between West 107th and 108th streets). It has many similarities to the restaurant it replaces, Taqueria y Fonda, the longtime Mexican restaurant at this location. After 26 years, the previous owners sold the business to Alexis Cano and his father, Elio. Both families are originally from Guerrero, Mexico, which is in the southwest part of the country. The new owners have retained the same staff and are serving the same menu as Taqueria y Fonda, which includes a “baby burrito,” chile relleno (stuffed peppers), and queso-birria (cheese and meat taco). Since the restaurant’s opening, business has been getting steadier as customers have been relieved to find out that the location isn’t permanently closed, Alexis told the Rag. (Thanks to Michael and Eric for the tips.)
Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud, and Épicerie Boulud – establishments backed by star chef Daniel Boulud at West 64th Street and Broadway – closed on June 22nd to make way for the French restaurateur’s new venture. The three venues have had a long track record near Lincoln Center, having opened in 2008 (Bar Boulud) and 2011 (Boulud Sud and Épicerie Boulud). “After years of bustling pre- and post-theater dinners and celebrations, it’s time for something new,” Boulud wrote on Instagram. The renovated space will be designed by Rockwell Group, which has curated the look for many notable hotels and restaurants, including Nobu and Union Square Cafe. The plan is for “a big brasserie with a sweep of bay windows, an open kitchen and […] a lounge,” The New York Times reported. It is expected to open later this year “in time for the holiday season,” according to Boulud’s post.
The U Bar and Grill, a sports bar and restaurant, opened on June 26th at 1207 Amsterdam Ave. (between West 119th and 120th streets). The owner, Maria Figueroa, also runs Inwood Bar and Grill in Upper Manhattan. The name, “U,” has two meanings, she explained on a call with the Rag: it’s a reference to Columbia University and also “unite the neighborhood.” The menu is a fusion of cuisines, featuring burgers, sandwiches, sushi, pasta, and a Latin brunch. Each day of the week has different themed nights, including a happy hour on “Taco Tuesday” and karaoke on “Wings Wednesday.” The space, which used to be Elysian Fields Cafe, has been outfitted with 35 TVs to show college and professional sports. Outdoor seating is planned, once the scaffolding in front of the restaurant is dismantled, which is expected to happen sometime this month.
Frame, a coffee shop, opened on June 25th at 2459 Broadway (southwest corner of West 91st Street). Frame already has a location on the UWS at 305 Amsterdam Ave. between 74th and 75th streets (on the second level, above Hummus Place), which opened in November 2023, as well as one on the Upper East Side. Frame serves a large selection of coffee, espresso, cappuccino, lattes, various teas, and matcha. They also serve pastries, cookies, and croissants. The space used to be Metro Frame Art, a picture framing store. (Thanks to Marsha for the tip.)
Open Streets, the seasonal event that turns roadways over to pedestrians for performances, dining, and games, is returning to Amsterdam Avenue between West 106th and 110th streets on Saturday, July 5th from 3 to 10 p.m. Each Saturday through October or mid-November, depending on the weather, Open Streets will feature a range of free programming for kids and adults. On July 5th, the lineup will include Lenape storytelling, backgammon lessons, Mexican tile painting, a clothing swap, and more (details available – HERE).
Open Streets started in New York City in 2020 to give people a place to congregate safely during the height of the pandemic. The Columbus-Amsterdam Business Improvement District, which organizes this event on the northern part of the UWS, has adapted it since then – scaling down from its original 14 blocks over time. Based on the results from a business survey earlier this earlier, Open Streets will be held “only one day a week and [we] will be starting and ending the events quite a bit later to allow for deliveries and reduce disruption to the buses in the morning/early afternoon hours,” a BID representative wrote in a message to the Rag. During the event, M11 buses will be detoured from their route along Amsterdam Avenue in both directions.
The Openings & Closings column wouldn’t be possible without our many tipsters: thank you! Anyone can send tips about openings and closings in the neighborhood to info@westsiderag.com.
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So many openings! Love to see it
I am so happy Frame finally opened. The UWS coffee scene has been exploding recently, and I am here for it.
Exactly!! Especially over the last 5 years. Welcome, Frame!!
Please refer to “open streets” by its correct name – closed streets. Because the streets are being closed from their intended purpose. I’m sorry that some people are obsessively opposed to cars. I do not understand this childish attitude. For the vast majority of the world cars are a necessary evil to get places. Perhaps if people expanded their horizons beyond the UWS and made some new friends they would understand that. In the meantime there is a gigantic, beautiful park a block away which provides plenty of room for frolicking while buses, ambulances, etc. don’t have to be diverted and greatly inconvenience others.
I am actually open to the closed streets concept once in a while, like street fairs and the like. But having it every weekend is overkill and unnecessary. See how I am compromising? I wish others were more willing to do so rather than constantly ramming their needs down other people’s throats and acting like they are virtuous environmentalists.
But I digress…
you forgot to add that all goods and services
get into the city via vehicles. Everything!!!
Once you get rid of your car & start walking more, you’re get the open street.
You’re the childish one whining for the 4th or 5th year in a row about this thing.
Streets – Sorry Carlos and all of the other entitled vehicle drivers. You’re losing this battle one street at a time 🙂
It is horrifying. I tried to go to the neighborhood, and there were so many “no parking” signs between so many different days and hours, why? I can’t get chores done, I can’t spend money at these times, I can’t even leave the neighborhood because the traffic spills out onto other streets. How is this a benefit to us?? Not to mention two (not one! but two) world class parks on Central Park West and Riverside Drive. Why is that not enough for the young families?
It’s “horrifying” that someone can’t drive their car around Manhattan for every little thing they want to do. And there was no curb space reserved for her to store her car! She’s so crippled without a car that she can’t even spend money.
There are a lot of families in UWS and it is only fair that at some point we should get more street space than drivers. Central Park and Riverside Park are absolutely crowded. The more public space there is for families to enjoy, the better.
Comments like this fascinate me. What is the need of some commenters (who may or may not sometimes be the same person) to be so unnecessarily hostile? If people have a different opinion from others, great — that can be useful and /or interesting — but why demean others who have a different attitude as childish? What’s the need to state that their thinking is too narrow — otherwise they would certainly agree with you? You can’t help but wonder.
In comboxes, much of the time, the hostility is the point.
So sorry if my tone is not what it should be, but the frustration is so high! I’m a senior. Never going roller skating or bike riding. We have charging stations, bike lanes everywhere, congestion pricing, and the signs for the streets are different then the rules for the meters. I, recently, had to drive a huge distance because I could not get to the Costco in LIC without paying the congestion fee, and the meters said the P zone was not working while the street signs said you could park. Your tone would be challenged also. I had to drive up to Harlem to shop for my family! That neither helps the congestion, the air, or the young families or the neighborhood economy. How is this helpful?
You’re wasting so much time and giving yourself so much grief driving to LIC just to go to Costco, never mind the noise and pollution and traffic you’re creating. We gave that up years ago so we could have our weekends back and now you’re making it even worse to avoid a $9 congestion fee. Just get stuff delivered like most people do, Costco will be fine without you.
Why couldn’t you just drive to the Costco in East Harlem? It’s closer than the LIC one.
Also, we have literally dozens of grocery stores on the UWS – you can get groceries without getting in a car here.
Streets are for people! The majority of people in NYC don’t own cars.
Sidewalks are for people. Streets are for he cars and PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
But they use busses taxis and ambulances.
The majority also don’t own mansions, take limousines, live in brownstones. And don’t forget the roads are not just for the few UWS’ers. People come from all over the world to NYC! Sarah. I don’t get what your comment means. Should we have those people throw their cars in the garbage ? If it’s true, the majority don’t own cars, what should they do, if they are impaired, have families in other places to visit, need them for work, etc.!
I don’t think we should be arranging our lives around the convenience of people who own mansions, take limos, or live in brownstones, either, Florence. Our priorities are out of whack.
(Also if you come to visit NYC and insist on renting your own personal vehicle just for convenience, you deserve to suffer, frankly.)
Streets are for vehicles. Sidewalks and parks are for people. God forbid you or a loved one needs an emergency vehicle that needs these streets when closed.
Agreed.
If there’s an emergency, then the person can get to the hospital quicker since there will be no other vehicles blocking the route.
There are barricades and pedestrians to avoid including the famous kids chalking the streets. Good luck getting anyone to move the barricades and keep the kids out of the way.
There are people manning every barricade and people happily get out of the way of emergency vehicles.
Your comments show that you’ve never gone to one of these events before.
Yep. I have. You’re not seeing what I’m seeing or vice versa.
Well… No one can see what is made up.
Many of the anti-Open Streets folks don’t seem to have actually attended, they seem to have no idea of what it’s like. Maybe they are actually just driving by?
Bro it’s 4 blocks, give it a rest
Seriously? You’re asking Upper Westsiders to expand their horizons? Surely you jest. That will never happen, unfortunately.
People can certainly “congregate” on the sidewalk, or in any one of our beautiful parks, But instead the city leaders find it necessary to close the busiest northbound street on the westside of Manhattan so they can play backgammon and paint tiles.
Incorrect, Open Streets refers to the streets being open to residents who live here instead of drivers passing through. Every Sunday for a few weeks in Summer/Fall is hardly overkill.
In many places cars are a necessary evil to get around! Not in NYC where we have numerous bus/subway options.
Yes and those bus options are negatively impacted by these closures. When you say NYC you mean Manhattan. Lots of outer borough residents need cars due to poor public transit options.
Emergency vehicles, emergency vehicles, emergency vehicles. I hope you, an elderly parent, or a sick child do not get delayed in case of an emergency ambulance. You’d think twice.
Speaking of a childish…
Your comment is unnecessarily abrasive, referring to others having a “…childish attitude…” and suggesting “Perhaps if people expanded their horizons beyond the UWS and made some new friends they would understand that”
Perhaps you have not visited the other 5 inhabited continents where “pedestrian malls” (formerly vehicular streets) are extremely popular with locals and tourists and are major communal arteries and centers of business in some of the world’s great cities?
Yes, but generally in totally commercial districts with few residents.
On the contrary, some feel that cars take up too much space! Consider three parked cars take up about the same amount of space as my apartment. Removing traffic from streets for a few hours is hardly closing streets, but then again this argument of semantics comes down to perspective! I say give the streets back to the people for a few hours.
I’m guessing you’re not a senior and aren’t impacted by changing his service. Good luck if you need anything ambulance
Once again, the street is open to people and closed for cars. Are you a car, Carlos?
You can’t spell Carlos without Car, so…I guess yes?
I agree that it feels a bit rammed down our throats. Once in a while – combined with a street fair – might be more appreciated. Roads are a way to get places in the city. Why not close off the roadways in the park or other green spaces? But that would affect the 2 wheeled vehicles so that would never happen, right.
Interesting that all the openings except Frame are in the 100s, while business openings in the 80s and 90s seem more or less stagnant. Unrealistic rent demands in this neck of the woods or what?
Cheaper
I think it is that a lot of the vacancies in the 80s and 90s are very large spaces. There is the old Gap space, Grstedes spaces, Food Emporium, CVS.
Is 110-111 Street still closed for “open streets” aka brunch?
If so, then the M11 is detoured on Broadway to 120th as there is no way to get back due to the Columbia campus.
And if the Columbia walkway is closed off – then super hardship for anyone with mobility issues.
And especially impacts travel to/from Mt. Sinai-Morningside and Amsterdam nursing home.
continuing…
Just noticed that “summer streets” (Saturday August 2, 9 & 16) is scheduled to be routed:
“….along Lafayette Street and Park Avenue up to 110th Street, continue west on 110th Street to Broadway, and head north to Dyckman Street”
So unclear on bus service/access situation….
Will miss Epicerie. Breakfast sandwich, oysters and a glass of wine.
And Frencie Burger from the Bar.
RIP grapefruit givré. (IYKYK.)
Why did they respond to a need to start Open Streets later by having it extend all the way past dinner until 10pm? I can tell you that based on the Columbus Ave attempt to do that, you wind up with empty dark streets that feel pretty eerie. There aren’t any kids out anymore, but there’s plenty of drunks. Why not just close it earlier? There’s just no thought that goes into this – for instance, it extends to mid-November?! You’ll get about an hour of sunlight and six hours in the dark. Pointless and wasteful..
Boulud Sud has been closed for nearly a year. That’s not news. Anyway, I hope they’ll still deliver. I ordered from bar Boulud once a week. To make coq au vin is one thing. To make one that actually delivers well…that’s something else. And nobody had the formula down like they did.
They won’t deliver because the restaurants including the kitchens are already shut down.
Unless you meant something else?
I meant after they re-open with the new concept.
Does anyone know if Miznon on Broadway between 112th and 113th will ever open? Every once in awhile, some work seems to be happening in their basement, but then it still doesn’t open.
I wish they would put signs up at least 10 blocks up so the traffic has an opportunity to filter before 77th. Same if they close the southbound 79th street exit on wsh . I had to pay congestion pricing to turn around Monday. Please let us drivers who live in the neighborhood know with signs before 96th and before 77th accordingly!
I’ve had this several times, where I couldn’t get to my intended destination and had to cross into the CP Zone and pay the fee just to cancel my journey and go back home, and I had to drive at least 3 extra miles to do this!
Why are you driving so much? Like for everything all the time? Who does that any more? Adapt already!
Seems the UWS can never get enough coffee and sweets purveyors What’s happening with the new Absolute Bagels? To me that’s much more interesting.
I love open streets. Gives us an extra reason to get outside and go support a local restaurant 🙂
Agreed on supporting a local restaurant. Can’t you do that without “open streets?”
You can’t go to a local restaurant unless the street is closed?
Lots of them have tables out on the sidewalk during open streets, and because foot traffic is rerouted into the street, it’s much more comfortable to sit outside. Nice to not have to eat feeling like people are practically stepping on your feet!
Plus, we can go for a little walk through the street after. Sometimes there’s live music, but I like looking at all the sidewalk chalk drawings and seeing all the people.
It seems all the good stuff is happening in the 100s near Columbia. I guess the UWS new cool stuff has moved from he 70s and 90s to the Morningside Heights Zone.
Fifty thousand students, staff, and professors will do it.
Open Streets is the worst. They should just call it Closed Streets. Productive traffic is diverted. The resulting closed streets are not used—they are ghost towns.
Does anyone know anything about the old Broadway Restaurant space that is still not the hoped-for bakery?
Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud, and Épicerie Boulud wish they would close forever. Deliveries at 4 am and smelly garbage in the street and don’t forget the homeless that sleep in his sheds!
Maybe Walgreens will move in….
Please get rid of the scaffolding on the building on Amsterdam and 119th.