Sunday, September 6, 2026 · No. 27
Good morning, Yorkville, and happy Labor Day weekend. The 86th Street corridor's remake continues: a day after we told you about the social spa coming to the Third Avenue corner, a national skin-care chain has signed a decade-long lease a few doors east on the same block. Also today: an affordable omakase counter on Second Avenue, pool news on both fronts — Asphalt Green's reopening and John Jay's final week — and what Monday's holiday changes (and doesn't) on our streets.
The Lead
LaserAway signs a 10-year lease on East 86th, same block as the spa deal
LaserAway, the dermatology and laser-hair-removal chain, has signed a 10-year lease for about 1,800 square feet at 242 East 86th Street, between Second and Third Avenues, per Commercial Observer, which puts the asking rent at $165 per square foot and calls it the company's 15th New York City location. East Side Feed lists the deal in its latest business-openings roundup. No opening date has been announced. Taken with Othership's 14,000-square-foot lease at the Third Avenue corner of the same block, reported yesterday, that's two long-term wellness commitments to one blockfront of 86th Street in a week.
via Commercial Observer
Openings & Closings
An affordable omakase counter takes over the old Ateaz space
Sushi by M has set up at 1575 Second Avenue, between 81st and 82nd Streets, in the former Ateaz coffee space, per East Side Feed; Patch reported the chain's plans for the location, with chef's-choice omakase seatings at $69 and $100 under chef Tim Lin. The brand pitches itself on the lower-priced end of the omakase spectrum — a category Yorkville has had surprisingly little of.
via East Side Feed
Schools & Kids
Asphalt Green's pools reopen Tuesday — and fall signup is open
The pools at Asphalt Green's East 90th Street campus reopen Tuesday, September 8 after their annual cleaning-and-maintenance closure, per the facility's own schedule page; West Side Spirit also notes the reopening. Registration for fall swim, sports and inclusive programs is open now, and the campus says construction is starting on a new indoor turf field. The rest of the campus stayed open through the pool closure.
via Asphalt Green
This Week
Monday is Labor Day: alternate-side suspended, trash pickup paused
Alternate-side parking is suspended citywide on Monday, September 7, per DOT's 2026 parking calendar, and DSNY's holiday schedule pauses trash, recycling and compost collection for the day, resuming on the next scheduled collection day. The weekend's rhythms are otherwise intact: the Ruppert Park greenmarket runs today as usual, and the 82nd Street Greenmarket is back next Saturday, per GrowNYC's location pages.
via NYC DSNY / DOT
One last week of free swim at John Jay Pool
The city's outdoor pool season ends Sunday, September 13, per NYC Parks — which makes this the final week for free swim at John Jay Park's outdoor pools on East 77th at Cherokee Place, just south of our boundary, daily with a mid-afternoon cleaning break. If the kids haven't had their last cannonball of the summer, the clock is running.
via NYC Parks
Yorkville, Remembered
East End Avenue's grand private hospital had 264 rooms
Doctors Hospital opened at 170 East End Avenue, between 87th and 88th Streets across from Gracie Mansion, after a group of physicians founded it to give private patients dedicated private-room care. The cornerstone was laid April 30, 1929, and the fourteen-story building admitted its first patients on February 19, 1930, with 264 private patient rooms plus 32 additional rooms where relatives could stay during a patient's treatment. The hospital closed in 2004 and was demolished the following year.
source: Arthur H. Aufses, Jr., MD Archives (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
One more thing: this neighborhood is about to have a lot of ways to be told to relax. Between the phone-free spa signing on at Third Avenue and the laser clinic arriving a few doors east, East 86th Street is quietly rebranding from errands corridor to self-care district. Do your errands while you still can.