📌 Pinned Missed these? Your neighbors didn't.

🍜 UWS Outdoor Dining + NYT 100 + Where to Watch the Knicks — Nearly 60,000 of you have used this map.

🌟 The Summer 10 — Nominate a neighbor. We'll tell their story all summer.

⛺ Summer Camp 2026 Guide

🧩 Inclusive Camp Guide

At 8:13 PM, look west from 110th, 96th, 86th, or 72nd Street. We told you last week. You had time. Tonight is the full sun alignment. The one where the entire sun drops into the grid like the city was built for this exact moment. (It wasn't. But tell that to your Instagram.) Half sun was yesterday. Full sun is tonight. Show up early. The sun won't wait and neither will the crowd.

Did anyone see ballerinas outside of Zingone Bros? Word on the block is Olivia Rodrigo was on the UWS on Tuesday with a full camera crew and ballet dancers, shooting near the San Remo, at Lenwich, and outside Zingone Bros. No official confirmation on which track, but fan theories point to an unreleased song from her upcoming third album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, out June 12. The whole tour is already sold out. The Zingone Bros cat was unavailable for comment.

The Met says no American museum has ever mounted a full-scale Raphael exhibition. They just did. Raphael: Sublime Poetry runs through June 28. 140 drawings, 33 paintings, eight years in the making. The NYT gave it the kind of review that makes you feel dumb for not having gone yet. If you want to go without the crowds, Council Member Gale Brewer's office is hosting a private viewing on Friday, June 12 from 9 to 10 AM, before the museum opens to the public. Stay after to see other exhibits. Space is extremely limited. FREE for those who RSVP. Only register if you're certain you'll attend.

For the third straight year, the Yankees are giving away George Costanza bobbleheads. The collection so far: 2024 was Costanza in a batting stance giving tips to Jeter and four-time World Series champ Bernie Williams. 2025 was Costanza asleep under his desk. This year? He's polishing off a calzone. First 18,000 fans through the gates on August 27 get one. Last year people lined up five hours early and they're reselling for $1,000 on eBay, so grab tickets now. Bombers host the Astros. Tickets start at $41 on SeatGeek.

Also on the giveaway calendar: a 🏀 Josh Hart bobblehead on September 25, because apparently he belongs to every New York team now. If you act fast, the Costco Yankees deal ($99.99 for two 200-level seats + $30 food credit) could work for the Hart game. That's about $35 a seat after the food credit. Mets fans 👋 Costco has you too. Same deal. Baseline or Field Box at Citi Field. (Not an affiliate link. Not a sponsorship. We're Costco Super Fans.)

Speaking of Seinfeld and baseball: the show's connection to New York's teams runs deeper than you think. In the fifth scene of the 1989 pilot, Jerry tells a caller not to spoil the Mets game because he taped it, before Kramer walks in and announces "Boy, the Mets blew it tonight, huh?" Five scenes in and the show was already about baseball. Then there's Keith Hernandez, the Mets' Gold Glove first baseman turned longtime SNY broadcaster, whose legendary three-episode guest run (including the "magic loogie") still earns him close to $5,000 a year in residuals. Yankees right fielder Paul O'Neill, who appeared in "The Wink," gets $57. The gift that keeps on… giving less.

Off the sitcom, Jerry's love for the Mets hasn't slowed down. On his Netflix show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, he and Matthew Broderick drove a 1968 Lamborghini to Citi Field, suited up in personalized Mets uniforms, and took batting practice. The episode is called "These People That Do This Stuff. They Stink." It's on Netflix. It's also the best show to put on when you've been scrolling for twenty minutes and just need to laugh at something.

Oh, and Jerry resumes his Beacon Theatre residency this fall. 74th and Broadway. The UWS's living room. Three shows in December: Fri 12/11 at 7 PM, Sat 12/12 at 5 PM and 8 PM. $115–$534.

"New York is my whole comedic soul." Yeah. We know, Jerry.

Three luxury deals closed this week, per the Olshan Report. The crown jewel: a 3-bed condo at 50 W 66th for $16.7 million. Two pools. Pickleball courts. Dog washing facility. For $16.7 million you'd think they'd wash the dog for you. A 4-bed co-op at 146 CPW went for $14.75 million. A 5-bed at 211 W 84th for $12.6 million. Just a regular Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the bankrupt Manhattan Country School building at 150 W 85th has a $20 million bid from The Geneva School, a classical Christian school five blocks away on W 90th. MCS was built on civil rights-era ideals, sliding-scale tuition, and a farm upstate where kids milked cows. They paid $28 million for the building. Competing bids due June 15. The west side contains multitudes.

Six issues we've been dancing around this. The Knicks swept Cleveland. They're in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. Game 1 is Wednesday, June 3 at 8:30 PM. The opponent gets decided tomorrow (San Antonio forced a Game 7). Games 3 and 4 come home to MSG on June 8 and 10.

Need a place to watch? We conducted a very scientific analysis across Reddit, Yelp, and Google — by which we mean we read a lot of comments from people who take bar selection more seriously than their 401(k). The consensus: The Wolfe. We mapped every UWS sports bar on our UWS Dining & Going Out Map — new Where to Watch the Knicks Finalslayer. One thing you won't find on the map: outside MSG. The NYPD pulled the watch party permits after the conference finals got too Sidetalk.

Go Knicks. If this ages badly, we were hacked.

The World Cup starts June 11. Ticket prices are ridiculous. But the city is running a $50 lottery for 1,000 tickets with a free bus ride to MetLife. Today and tomorrow are the last two days to enter. Slots have been selling out within minutes each morning. Enter at 10 AM sharp. One entry per person, 15 or older. Winners notified June 3.

Opened: ☕ Lily's Roasters — 109 W 86th St (between Columbus & Amsterdam). Husband-and-wife team Ariana and Bessi spent more than a decade in restaurants before opening their first place of their own. Small-batch roasted coffee, pastries from Balthazar and two Brooklyn bakeries, and what they call "a warm atmosphere inspired by classic New York cafés with a subtle nostalgic feel." Drip coffee is $3.50. Your bodega is nervous. Grand opening was May 24.

Opened: 🇲🇽 Consuelo — 224 W 104th St (between Broadway & Amsterdam). Second location of Cocina Consuelo out of Hamilton Heights, which started as a pandemic-era takeout operation built entirely around birria that takes more than 15 hours. In the old Malaysia Grill space. One restaurant's ending is another restaurant's slow-cooked beginning. Soft-opened May 22.

Finally open: 🍷 Ghemo — 201 W 106th St (between Broadway & Amsterdam). The Georgian wine restaurant and bakery we've been tracking since Issue #11 is officially open as of May 25. Khachapuri without the chacha (liquor license pending).

Moved: 🍣 Sushi Konata — 668 Amsterdam Ave (between 92nd & 93rd), inside Talia's Steakhouse. The kosher sushi spot and its neighbor West Side Wok both relocated from 691 Amsterdam due to rising rent and moved into Talia's on April 30. Three kosher restaurants under one roof. Thanksgiving dinner has never been simpler.

Opened: 🏪 Unnamed convenience store — 119 W 72nd St (between Amsterdam & Columbus). No name. No signage. Drinks and snacks. In the old UPS Store space that closed in April after 30+ years. The neighborhood's most mysterious retail opening since that place on Broadway that was definitely a front.

Coming June: ⚽ FIFA World Cup Store — The Shops at Columbus Circle, 10 Columbus Circle. Temporary official merch store for the World Cup (June 11–July 19). Jerseys, collectibles, and a reason to go to Columbus Circle that isn't Whole Foods. Exact opening date TBD.

Coming... eventually: 🥙 Miznon — 2895 Broadway (between 112th & 113th). The Mediterranean eatery signed a Columbia University lease in 2022. Signage went up in 2023. It is now 2026. WSR finally got an answer: they're waiting on gas permits. A spokesperson says "in the coming months." We'll believe it when we smell the pita.

🌤️Weather: Friday 80° and mostly sunny. Saturday drops to 66° and windy — bring a layer. Sunday bounces back to 77°, partly cloudy, and made for being outside. No rain all weekend.

Ongoing/continuing:

🎨 Haas Brothers: Uncanny Valley — MAD, 2 Columbus Circle. Through August 16. Trippy mushroom sculptures, fantastical beasts, and installations the NYT called "weird, witty, and wild," which is also how we'd describe this newsletter. $20 general, 12 and under FREE. Code TS@CC20 for 20% off through July 20.

🩰 NYCB: Coppélia — Koch Theater. Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 2:00 & 7:30 PM, Sun 3:00 PM. A man falls for a doll. His fiancée breaks into the workshop, poses as the doll, and saves him from a mad toymaker. He doesn't deserve her. Four chances this weekend. $52–$104.

🎭 Across a Crowded Room — NYPL Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium. Sat 5/30, 11 AM–5 PM. Seven brand-new 20-minute musicals. Titles include Prison Fan Club, Enemies to Lovers, and My Husband's First Wife, which is either a musical or a very honest dinner party. FREE.

🎤 West Side Comedy Club — 201 W 75th St. Five shows this weekend. Highlights: GIRL DINNER (Sat 6 PM, Women Stand Up NYC celebrates AAPI month, $17.60) and Gina Brillon headlining Sat 8 PM. Full lineup on their site. ~$28, 2-item minimum, 16+.

👬 John Oliver & Seth Meyers — Beacon Theatre. Sun 5/31, 7:30 PM. Two late-night hosts, one stage, zero teleprompters. $99–$128.

🏛️ Pinkster Stroll & Celebration — NY Historical, 170 CPW. Sat 5/30, 2–4 PM. A group walks from Dyckman Farmhouse in historically inspired dress to commemorate Pinkster, the oldest African American holiday. Welcome them at the end of a very long walk. Free with museum admission.

🌈 Pride Eve at St. John the Divine — Sat 5/30, 6–9 PM. Cocktails, cathedral tours, The Greedy Peasant performing (third year, two sellouts running, this one's sold out too, but the spectacle is worth watching from outside the Cathedral), and the cathedral lit up in rainbow lights. Monochromatic fanciful dress encouraged. Tassels also implied. Sold out.

Jane Jacobs said it in 1961. People behave better when other people can see them. Groundbreaking stuff. Sixty-five years later, Vital City built a map that proves it with data, cross-referencing broken streetlight complaints with violent crime. Two UWS addresses show up with 20+ complaints since 2022: 70 W 91st (35 complaints) and 410 W 110th (26). Four years of filing. Still dark.

Here's why you should care: when NYCHA added streetlights to housing developments, serious nighttime crime dropped 36%. Not displaced. Not shifted to the next block. Down. And arrests dropped too, which means it wasn't enforcement doing the work. It was just light. Philadelphia upgraded its streetlights citywide and gun crimes fell 21%. Turns out the most sophisticated crime prevention tool available is the one Benjamin Franklin invented in 1757.

A new streetlight runs about ten grand. One cop costs considerably more. Check the map. If your block is dark, file a 311 complaint. It's the least exciting thing you'll do this week and possibly the most useful.

This week's poll: Pick one. Or pick scaffolding. Everyone picks scaffolding.

🎭 Uncle Vanya — Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument, Riverside Park. Through June 21, Thu–Sun at 6:30 PM. Chekhov on the steps of the monument. A play about regret, boredom, and the specific Russian talent for being miserable in beautiful surroundings. Cushions provided. No late seating. No reservations. PWYW.

🌳 Iconic Views of Central Park Tour — Starts at the Columbus Circle Information Kiosk. Fri 5/29 & Sun 5/31 at 10 AM. Ninety minutes, 1.3 miles. Sheep Meadow, the Mall, Bethesda Terrace, the Lake. You've walked past all of them a thousand times. You've never had someone explain why they're there. A few inclines, some stairs, not wheelchair accessible. Kids 0–12 FREE with a paid ticket. $33 adults, $28 seniors/students/military.

⛪ Gardens & Grounds Tour: Cathedral of St. John the Divine — 1047 Amsterdam Ave at 112th St. Saturday 5/30, 3–4 PM. Eleven acres of cathedral campus that most people walk past every day without knowing there's a garden behind the wall. This tour only runs a handful of dates a year. Rain or shine. $19.80 ($18 + online fee).

🎬 Carnegie Hall Citywide: Beauty and the Beast — Hudson Yards. Saturday 5/30, 11 AM. Carnegie Hall's Ensemble Connect opens with a short concert inspired by the film, then you settle in for a big-screen showing of the animated classic. Outdoors, family-friendly, and the kind of morning where your kid sings along and nobody minds. Part of Carnegie Hall's Citywide series. FREE.

🎶 Carnegie Hall: Lullaby Project Celebration Concert — Zankel Hall. Saturday 5/30, 3 PM. Each year Carnegie Hall pairs new and expecting parents with professional artists to write personal lullabies for their babies. This is the concert where those songs get performed — along with the stories behind them. If you can sit through this without crying, you're stronger than us. Low availability. $25 ($20 + $5 fee). Always worth a try at the box office, seriously.

🎬 Uptown Kids: The Goonies — AMC Lincoln Square, Screen 12, 1998 Broadway. Sunday 5/31, 11 AM–12:30 PM. The 1985 Spielberg classic on the big screen, right on the UWS. Truffle Shuffle not required for entry. Goonies never say die. Rated PG. $5 (adults and kids).

Almost gone but worth a shot: Online tickets are done. But this is New York. People oversleep. People get rained on emotionally. People remember they have a thing. Hit the box office Friday or early Saturday morning and you might get lucky, we have.

Continuing:

🏫 District 3 Superintendent Town Hall — Virtual. Monday, June 1, 7 PM. New superintendent search. No candidates named yet, which is either strategic or concerning. Register and find out which.

🏛️ Community Board 7 Full Board Meeting — Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th. Tuesday, June 2, 6:30 PM. In person and online. The 72nd Street redesign is on the agenda and could be voted on. If you have feelings about that bike lane, now is the time to use your words.

🎬 Tribeca Festival — June 3–14. The festival turns 25. Three Beacon Theatre nights worth clearing your calendar:

🛣️ Amsterdam Ave Open Streets — Saturdays starting July 6 through October 6. W 111th to Cathedral Parkway, 11 AM–7 PM.

🩸 The New York Blood Center has declared a blood emergency. Donations fell roughly 15% in May. The supply is below two days. Type O is below one. And summer is when demand climbs: more trauma, more surgeries, plus the World Cup is coming to town. The city needs your blood. Not metaphorically, for once.

Skip the search and go straight to the UWS: West End Collegiate Church (245 West 77th St) is hosting a blood drive on Saturday, June 13 from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM in partnership with NYBC and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Appointments encouraged, but they won't turn away walk-ins. Snacks for days. Register here.

Be the neighbor you think you are.

🎺 Joe Farnsworth Big Room Quartet — Dizzy's Club. Fri–Sun, multiple sets. A drummer who plays like jazz personally owes him money. Sarah Hanahan on alto, Micah Thomas on piano, Nat Reeves on bass. Several sets sold out but there's a standby list for walk-ups. $30–$55 + $25 food & beverage minimum. Budget accordingly. Or don't. It's jazz. Impulse decisions are on brand.

🎧 Brooklyn Basement Party ft. DJ FLY TY — David Rubenstein Atrium, Lincoln Center. Fri 5/29, 7:30 PM. A Brooklyn basement party with better lighting and nobody's aunt asking you to move the couch. All ages. FREE.

🎷 The Andersons Play Miles & Coltrane at 100 — Symphony Space. Sat 5/30, 3 PM (sold out) & 5:30 PM. Grammy-winning identical twins celebrate the centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Ninety minutes of feeling briefly cooler than you actually are. $19–$35.

🎸 Friday Night Jams: Wes D'Alelio — West Harlem Piers. Fri 5/29, 7–8 PM. Wes D'Alelio writes Broadway sheet music by day and plays acoustic originals by night. First of four shows, last Fridays through August. Sunset over the Hudson included. FREE.

🚗 Alternate side parking is in effect. No suspensions until Juneteenth (Friday, June 19). Move the car.

🎪 Saturday 5/30: Times Square Springfest. Seventh Avenue between 47th and 57th, 10 AM–6 PM. FREE.

🇪🇨 Sunday 5/31: Ecuadorian Parade (Desfile Mundial Ecuatoriano). Central Park West between 97th and 107th will be closed, with formation on 107th and dispersal on 97th. Surrounding streets affected. Start time at the discretion of the NYPD. If you live on that stretch, plan accordingly. If you don't, come watch.

🇮🇱 Sunday 5/31: Israel Day Parade & Festival. Fifth Avenue between 62nd and 74th, 11:30 AM–4 PM. Expect closures on Fifth Ave and adjacent streets for formation and dispersal. If you want to avoid the crowds, it will be broadcast on Fox's My9 and livestreamed at the link above starting at 12 noon. (Gale Brewer has to miss this year unfortunately for a family funeral upstate. Our condolences to her and her family.)

"Love the newsletter." — Tal B. We love you back, Tal. Tell your building.

"My book club was talking about The West Sider." — Emily T. Emily, we need to know what book got abandoned for this. Also, we're available for book club appearances. We bring snacks.

"Thanks, really enjoy it. My wife wanted me to share she knew about it first." — Jameison D. Jameison, your wife is correct. She was correct before you met her and she will be correct long after this newsletter folds. (It won't. But she'd outlast us.)

🌟 The Summer 10. Still taking nominations. We want the neighbor who makes your block feel like your block. The one your kid waves to every morning. The one who always has a chair outside. Could be the rent-stabilized lady in your building who's seen five presidents from the same apartment. Could be the new folks who just moved in and already know the super by name. Fill out the form. We'll tell their stories all summer.

📣 SHARE THE WEST SIDER Forward responsibly. Or irresponsibly. We're not picky.

Thirteen issues. Still free. Still the only newsletter where Chekhov, Costanza, and a $10,000 lightbulb end up in the same scroll. Nominate someone for The Summer 10. Check the map. Thirteen is a lucky number, just ask Taylor. This neighborhood doesn't slow down and neither do we. See you next Friday.

— The West Sider