Monday, October 12, 2026 · No. 58
Good morning. It's a holiday Monday: no public school, alternate-side parking is suspended, and the meters still run. We owe you an apology, too: we said we'd be back Saturday and didn't publish over the weekend. In today's paper: another group was seen climbing out of a manhole, this time in Yorkville; three virtual info sessions for middle-school families; and T.J. Maxx taking the old H&M on 86th Street.
Around the Neighborhood
The manhole mystery reaches Yorkville: five more people seen climbing out of the sewer
Police are again investigating people seen coming out of an Upper East Side manhole, and this time it was in Yorkville, Upper East Site reports, citing the NYPD and the city's Department of Environmental Protection. Gothamist reported the sighting Friday and put the number at five. East Side Feed reports that police have made no arrests this time. In last month's case, three people were caught on camera leaving a manhole at Park Avenue and East 61st Street; two men were later charged with trespassing and told investigators they had gone in looking for valuables, according to news reports citing the criminal complaint. Via Upper East Site, Gothamist, East Side Feed and Sinclair's national desk.
via Upper East Site
Schools & Kids
Three virtual info sessions for middle-school families, ahead of Wednesday's application opening
The Department of Education lists three live virtual information sessions for families of current fifth graders: Tuesday, Oct. 20, and Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 5 to 6 p.m., and Thursday, Oct. 22, from 1 to 2 p.m. Join details are on its middle-school page. The fall 2027 application itself opens on MySchools this Wednesday, Oct. 14, and runs through Dec. 11. Via NYC Public Schools.
via NYC Public Schools
Nearby on the East Side
T.J. Maxx signs a lease for the former H&M on East 86th Street
T.J. Maxx has leased 28,837 square feet in Extell Development's retail condominium at 150 East 86th Street, between Lexington and Third, Commercial Observer reports. The space was H&M's until the retailer closed the store. Hoodline reports that most of the space is on the second floor, with about 4,000 square feet at street level, and that the store is expected to open by December 2027. Upper East Site says it will be the chain's second store in the neighborhood. Via Upper East Site, Commercial Observer and Hoodline.
via Upper East Site
Yorkville, Remembered
Goulash Avenue's Hungarian Meat Market, at Second Avenue and 81st
The Hungarian Meat Market at 1560 Second Avenue, near East 81st Street, opened in 1950 to serve Yorkville's Hungarian community, on the stretch of Second Avenue once nicknamed Goulash Avenue. Edible Manhattan's 2011 profile described a butcher with its own smokehouse. The shop is gone from Yorkville: it closed in 2012.
Whatever the people under the street are looking for, we'll stick to the sidewalks. Back tomorrow morning.