Wednesday, October 7, 2026 · No. 55 · Sunny, high 67°F
Good Wednesday morning. Chip City, the cookie chain with a shop on Second Avenue in the low 80s, closed all of its remaining stores last Thursday. Also in the paper: repairs on the riverfront path just south of us are slated to finish this month, and the old Yorkville Bank at Third and 85th.
Openings & Closings
Chip City's Second Avenue cookie shop is closed, along with the rest of the chain
Chip City Cookies shut all 22 of its remaining stores at the close of business on Thursday, Oct. 1. That includes its two Upper East Side shops: 1543 Second Avenue, in our patch, and 1371 Madison Avenue. In an email to employees that day, company president Nicolas Baizan said the company could no longer fund its operations, and he pointed to consumers spending less and changing their tastes. The closure came days after co-founder and former CEO Peter Phillips sued the company, its controlling investor and two executives in state court. He alleges that his transition pay and benefits were cut off. Via Hoodline; QSR Magazine and Nation's Restaurant News also reported the closure.
via Hoodline
Nearby on the East Side
The esplanade from 70th to 78th is slated to finish this month
Hospital for Special Surgery is repairing the East River Esplanade between East 70th and East 78th Streets with the Parks Department. The work covers a sinkhole near the base of the East 78th Street ramp, seawall improvements, new pavers, landscaping and fitness equipment. HSS's project page says construction is expected to finish by October 2026, with sections opening in phases. In July, Council Speaker Julie Menin's office announced that the 71st Street ramp had reopened after a year's closure. The office said the work will leave a continuous esplanade from East 53rd to East 114th Street in late 2026. Via HSS and the City Council.
via Hospital for Special Surgery
Yorkville, Remembered
The old Yorkville Bank at Third and 85th
The Yorkville Bank Building at 1511-1515 Third Avenue, at the corner of East 85th Street, went up in 1905 to designs by the German-born architect Robert Maynicke, in the Renaissance Revival style. Most of the bank's original stockholders were German or of German descent. Its massive cast-bronze entrance doors, added in a 1922-23 expansion, carry symbols of industry and thrift, among them a beehive and a locomotive. The city designated the building a landmark in 2012, and it still stands.
If you pass Third and 85th today, look up at the old bank on the corner. It has stood there since 1905. See you tomorrow.