Friday, September 25, 2026 · No. 43
The team behind Madame Bonté is turning its East 84th Street café into a second outpost of Bicchiere, its Italian wine-and-pasta bar — and the 92nd Street Y has unveiled a $250 million renovation eight years in the making. Sunday, Lexington Avenue from 79th to 96th becomes the street fair we previewed yesterday, now with hours attached. And parents, one for the refrigerator door: Wednesday's grade-school parent-teacher conferences are evening-only — no early pickup. Also inside: a young pigeon named Baby Q, rescued.
The Lead
The Madame Bonté team is turning its East 84th Street café into a second Bicchiere
The group behind Madame Bonté Café is converting its outpost at 318 East 84th Street, between First and Second Avenues, into a second location of Bicchiere Italian Wine & Pasta Bar, per Upper East Site. The original Bicchiere opened in May at 450 East 81st Street, between First and York, from the same team — East Side Feed covered its opening night — and the 84th Street space, a two-floor storefront that was Café Jax before Madame Bonté took it over, gives the wine bar room to grow three blocks north. Upper East Site's report gives no opening date; we'll flag it when one is announced.
via Upper East Site
Around the Neighborhood
92NY unveils its $250 million renovation, eight years in the making
The 92nd Street Y has unveiled its finished renovation — an eight-year, $250 million project, per Upper East Site — and Upper East Side lawmakers turned out to praise the work and its security upgrades while raising security concerns for the institution. The Y sits at Lexington and 92nd, a block west of our Third Avenue line, and it is also the organizer of Sunday's Lexington Avenue street fair, below.
via Upper East Site
A pigeon named Baby Q is free after a rescue at a vacant Yorkville storefront
Neighbors and MTA workers teamed up to free Baby Q, a young pigeon trapped in a vacant MTA storefront in Yorkville, per Upper East Site — the small kind of rescue that makes the whole block feel better about itself.
via Upper East Site
Schools & Kids
Wednesday's grade-school conferences are evening-only — no early pickup
Parent-teacher conferences for elementary schools and Pre-K centers land Wednesday, Sept. 30 — and per NYC Public Schools' Morning Bell bulletin and the official 2026-27 calendar, they are evening conferences only, with no early dismissal that day. (Middle and high schools had theirs Sept. 23-24.) The first early-dismissal conference day of the year doesn't come until Nov. 5, so plan pickup as usual next week. Individual schools can set their own conference dates and times, so confirm with yours.
via NYC Public Schools
This Week
Sunday's Lexington Avenue festival now has hours: 10 to 6
A follow-up on yesterday's lead: the Lexington Ave UES Festival runs this Sunday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. along Lexington from East 79th to 96th Street, per Patch — which also credits 92NY as the organizer of the 17-block stretch of food vendors, merchandise stalls and sidewalk sales. Kid-friendly.
via NY Carnivals
Saturday: sketching at Cooper Hewitt, Movies Under the Stars at 96th and Lex
Two free-ish ways into Saturday, Sept. 26: Cooper Hewitt hosts drop-in sketching in its Design Across Time galleries (museum admission; 2 East 91st), per the museum's calendar, and the free Movies Under the Stars series returns to Samuel Seabury Playground at East 96th and Lexington at 7:30 p.m., presented by Council Member Julie Menin with NYC Parks, per Community Board 8's listing. The film title isn't confirmed on CB8's own posting, so check before you promise anyone a specific movie. Bring a blanket; arrive early for a spot. Kid-friendly.
via CB8
Tuesday: Kids in Motion pops up at Carl Schurz Park
NYC Parks' free Kids in Motion program — organized sports, games and fitness for kids — comes to Carl Schurz Park on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., per the Parks calendar. Kid-friendly, definitionally.
via NYC Parks
Nearby on the East Side
Hundreds arrested after protesters block First Avenue at the UN
amNY reports mass arrests near the United Nations on Thursday afternoon, after hundreds of demonstrators protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's General Assembly visit shut down First Avenue; the outlet counts more than 200 who rushed the intersection. It happened well south of our patch.
via amNY
Yorkville, Remembered
Dylan Thomas premiered 'Under Milk Wood' from the 92nd Street Y stage
With 92NY showing off its renovation this week, a fact from the Y's own stage history: on May 14, 1953, Dylan Thomas gave what the Southbank Centre calls the world premiere of his radio play 'Under Milk Wood' at the 92nd Street Y, before a sold-out house, reading many of the roles himself alongside a cast of American actors. It was one of the last performances of his life; he died in a New York hospital that November, at 39.
source: Southbank Centre
A week of good news in two sizes: the Y finished eight years of renovation at 92nd and Lexington, and somewhere in Yorkville a young pigeon named Baby Q got out of a vacant storefront. See you on Lexington Sunday — comfortable shoes, it's a long avenue.