A New Yorker jogging through the 72nd Street Traverse last Saturday morning came across something pretty unexpected: a giant, wild coyote prowling through Central Park. 

In video footage taken by the jogger, you can see the lone coyote walking calmly and, quite frankly, minding its own business. As majestic as the animal was, though, most locals are a bit confused: what was it doing in the middle of Manhattan and how did it even get there? 

RECOMMENDED: Dozens of adoptable dogs are taking over an interactive installation in Times Square next week

Apparently, coyote sightings are not uncommon as the animals can pretty much survive anywhere. They’ve been known to cross highways and bridges and live throughout the five boroughs.

“We have no reason to believe this particular coyote is unhealthy or poses a threat to human safety,” said Gregg McQueen, the press officer at NYC’s Parks and Rec department, to Time Out. “However, we advise everyone to keep their distance and avoid close contact.”

We asked the Parks and Rec department what advice they would give to anyone who comes across a coyote in New York City, because we should clearly be prepared.

Here are a few tips to follow:

1. Observe from a distance.

This one’s simple: stay away!

2. Do not try to feed it.

“Feeding coyotes will only make them fear people less, which will just increase the chances that they’ll approach [humans],” explained McQueen. “This also means disposing your food and garbage properly so that you’re not indirectly feeding the coyotes.” 

3. If you have a pet, make sure you’re protecting it.

Generally speaking, said the expert, coyotes might look at small dogs and cats as prey, while larger dogs may be viewed as competition. “This isn’t a Disney movie, so don’t let your dog play with a coyote,” he warned.

4. Coyotes should be afraid of us.

“If a coyote starts to approach you, make yourself look big by putting your arms up and making loud noises,” advised McQueen. “Look as scary as you can. Continue to do this until the coyote goes away.”

Believe it or not, coyotes have lived here in NYC since the 1930s. While they’re not technically native New Yorkers, they eventually extended their range from the Great Plains and the Southwest to the city, per Wildlife NYC. While they can explore up to 10 miles of open land per day, they typically occupy the same 2-acre plot all year long. That is, of course, unless a better housing situation comes along—just like any New Yorker. You will typically see cayotes in Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.

Learn more about what wildlife calls NYC home with our illustrated guide.

* This article was originally published here

For decades, the Tenement Museum has been dedicated to telling stories of New York City’s immigrants, migrants, and refugees. And an important part of understanding that story is through food. 

The museum used to host a popular series of food tours, but tours were canceled amid the pandemic. Now, after a four-year hiatus, the Tenement Museum’s popular walking tour Foods of the Lower East Side is back, exploring 150 years of immigrant cuisine. 

RECOMMENDED: First look: The Tenement Museum’s first exhibit about a Black family

The food tour covers 10 stops at historic neighborhood sites with five tastings from local Lower East Side vendors, offering diverse cuisines from Eastern Europe to Italy and Puerto Rico. All-age tours are available on Saturdays for $55/person. Expect a half-mile walk over the course of 90 minutes.

Tour stops include:

• Cafe Katja, an Austrian restaurant where visitors are treated to pretzels with traditional spreads and beers
• Que Chevere, a Puerto Rican restaurant serving tostone cups with pulled pork or rice and beans
• Pickle Guys, the last remaining pickle vendor in a neighborhood that was once famous as a producer of pickled foods
• Essex Olive and Spice offers olive oils from the owner’s family olive grove in Morocco
• Chinatown Ice Cream Factory within Essex Market, a family-run business and local favorite. At Essex Market, guides will also dig into the space, which was once a hub for independent pushcart peddlers and open-air markets made up of immigrants.

“So much of our city’s immigrant history can be understood through the diverse culinary traditions that families have passed down over generations,” Kathryn Lloyd, the museum’s vice president of programs and interpretation, said in a press release. “From the 19th century to today, immigrants and migrants on the Lower East Side have created food businesses that support their communities and change the nation’s palate.”

Tours explore how tenement residents preserved and adapted traditions from their home states and countries, all while adapting to changing demographics in the neighborhood. On the walk, you’ll also learn how generations of street vendors, restaurateurs, home cooks, and grocers sustained communities while shaping wider ideas of American cuisine and identity. 

While snacking on pickles, pretzels, and ice cream, tour guides will talk about the Lower East Side’s multilayered history as a hub for immigrant cuisines—from its status as the city’s first non-English speaking community, Kleindeutschland, to its position on the front lines of the early 20th century push to “Americanize” immigrant foods through school lunch menus.

While tours in April and May are mostly sold out, bookings are still available later in the summer.

* This article was originally published here

Anyone who takes the subway in NYC knows certain stations leave something to be desired. The peeling paint, rusted stanchions, and generally cruddy atmosphere makes for a dingey commute.

Luckily for some New Yorkers, the commute is about to get slightly nicer. The MTA and New York City Transit (NYCT) will be upgrading, repairing and deep cleaning 13 subway stations this summer in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

These are the stations that will be given a facelift:

• Beach 116 St ​            
• Harlem – 148 St ​
• 18 Av ​
• Bay Parkway ​
• Eastchester – Dyre Av ​
• Beach 90 St ​
• 116 St ​
• Gates Av ​
• Prince St ​​
• Flushing Av (June 28 through July 15)​
• Grand Av – Newtown ​​
• Franklin Av ​
• Greenpoint Av (June 28 through July 15)​

Court Square to Bedford-Nostrand Avenue will be worked on from July 5 through August 12, and Bedford-Nostrand Avenue to Hoyt-Schermerhorn will be worked on from August 12 through September 2.

During these updates, dubbed “re-NEW-vations,” scrape, workers will prime and repaint stations, replace lighting with new LED bulbs, refinish benches, replace outdated signs and repair cracks. They’ll also refurbish specific needs each station has like completely rebuilding and rehabilitating stairways, installing new draining systems to prevent flooding, comprehensive tile work and extensive track ceiling repairs.  

This Re-NEW-vation Program kicked off in 2022 and has since upgraded 75 stations.  Officials have promised to complete 50 more by the end of 2023, with 13 already done since January. 

So far, the program has:

• repainted 2.2 million square feet of surfaces
• replaced 103,930 square feet of wall tiles
• replaced 4,596 square feet of floor tiles
• fabricated, installed, and replaced 1,599 metal signs
• fabricated and installed 243 new decals
• removed 142 outdated, damaged or unnecessary signs and maps
• repaired 72 signs and mounted brackets

“Since the start of the Re-NEW-vation program in 2022, we’ve delivered cleaner stations, critical repairs and maintenance, and a heightened transit experience for customers across our system,” said New York City Transit President Richard Davey in a statement. “2024 is no different, as the number of stations that have undergone re-NEW-vations increased to over 75, with even more stations on the list later this year.”

* This article was originally published here

New York is home to many “best” things—from the top restaurants to some of the most sought-after bars in the world. Now, we’ve got another accolade to add to our list: according to consultancy firm Skytrax, our very own TWA Hotel is the best airport hotel in all of North America, also landing at the number three spot on a global list ranking the destinations.

To come up with its list, the website reviewed guest surveys and ranked the hotels based on a variety of factors, including in-room amenities, overall experience, quality of facilities, reception service, access to and from the airport, leisure facilities, value for money and more.

The destination, formerly the TWA terminal at JFK Airport, famously re-opened as a renovated hotel, food-and-drink and convention destination in 2019. Since then, the 1960s-like decor inside and overall character of the space has consistently landed it on local must-see lists, and for good reason: it’s really awesome to have a drink in the magnificent main hall and the Paris Café restaurant, the brainchild of world-renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, always yields delicious fare.

Needless to say, TWA Hotel is the perfect staycation reservation.

Here is the top five list of best airport hotels in North America:

1. TWA Hotel—John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York
2. Fairmont Vancouver Airport—Vancouver International Airport in Vancouver
3. Grand Hyatt—San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco 
4. The Westin—San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco 
5. The Westin Denver International Airport—Denver International Airport in  Denver 

And here is the top ten list of best airport hotels in the world:

1. Crowne Plaza—Changi Airport in Singapore
2. Hyatt Regency—Shenzhen Airport in China
3. TWA Hotel—John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York
4. Hilton—Munich Airport in Germany
5. Fairmont Vancouver Airport—Vancouver International Airport in Vancouver
6. Grand Hyatt at SFO—San Francisco National Airport in San Francisco
7. Mövenpick Bahrain—Bahrain International Airport in Bahrain
8. Hilton—Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands
9. Pullman Hotel—Baiyun Airport Guangzhou in China
10. Sofitel—Lonton Heathrow in the UK

* This article was originally published here