Monday, October 19, 2026 · No. 63
Good morning, and an apology first: there was no Ledger on Saturday or Sunday. This morning, a board-game café is open on East 87th Street, two longtime First Avenue businesses are moving on, and our listing of note is a 1901 townhouse on East 88th with a south-facing garden. Eighth-grade families have 11 days left to register for the SHSAT.
Openings & Closings
Opening Move, a board-game café, is open on East 87th Street
Opening Move Café is now welcoming customers to play its board games over coffee and baked goods, Upper East Site reports. Patch, reporting before the opening, put the café on the ground floor of 208 East 87th Street, between Second and Third avenues, in a former convenience store, and called it the neighborhood's second board-game café after Hex & Co. on First Avenue at 76th Street. We haven't seen posted hours yet. Via Upper East Site and Patch.
via Upper East Site
Manhattan Mailroom has closed its last Yorkville store
The shipping and mailbox shop has closed its store at 1562 First Avenue, at East 81st Street, after about 25 years in the neighborhood, Upper East Site reports. The full story is behind the site's paywall; the excerpt we could see gives no closing date or reason. Via Upper East Site.
via Upper East Site
Big John's Moving is preparing to leave the neighborhood after 49 years
The Upper East Side moving company is getting ready to depart after nearly half a century here, Upper East Site reports, and says it is still taking jobs from neighbors in the meantime. Business directories list the company at 1602 First Avenue. The report's excerpt doesn't say when it will go or where. Via Upper East Site.
via Upper East Site
Around the Neighborhood
Listing of note: a 1901 townhouse on East 88th Street asks $6.5 million
438 East 88th Street, between First and York, came on the market on Oct. 9 at $6,500,000 through Brown Harris Stevens. Listing pages describe a 1901 house of about 3,700 square feet with four bedrooms and four baths, set up as a two-family home that was gut-renovated in 2003 and is newly vacant. It has a single entrance and common stair that the listing says could suit a conversion to one family. Out back is a brick-lined garden of about 850 square feet facing south. Annual taxes are listed at $39,492. Via listing pages at CityRealty and Milton Coste.
via CityRealty
Schools & Kids
SHSAT registration closes Friday, Oct. 30
A reminder for families of current eighth graders: registration for the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test closes Friday, Oct. 30, per the Department of Education's high-school admissions page, which we cited last week. Fifth-grade families have longer: the public middle-school application closes Friday, Dec. 11. The department says its dates can change. Via NYC Public Schools.
via NYC Public Schools
Yorkville, Remembered
One of Yorkville's last old German restaurants is still setting tables on Second Avenue
Heidelberg, at 1648 Second Avenue near 86th Street, is one of the last German restaurants left in Yorkville. Accounts differ on its age: some date it to 1936, others to 1939, when a predecessor, Cafe Vaterland, reopened under the Heidelberg name. The family history is firmer. Eva Matischak's parents bought the restaurant in 1963, after her mother, Luise Edler, had worked there as a cook. Eva took over in 1988, and her son Andreas joined the business in 2018.
The Halloween dates for the next two weeks, from the school block party on East 88th to Asphalt Screams, are on our events page. Back tomorrow morning.