As one of the oldest sandwich shops in New York City, Defonte’s has been a top destination for Italian American sandwiches for more than 100 years. Originally purchased in 1922 by Nick Defonte for only $100, the shop sits in Red Hook, a Brooklyn neighborhood that has evolved over time: Once labeled one of the "worst" neighborhoods in America by LIFE Magazine in the 1990s, it sustained heavy damage during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and is now home to a growing number of high rises. And yet, Defonte’s has stayed very much the same through it all, a cash-only spot buzzing with energy and a requisite picture wall of famous and notable Italians.

Follow the owner Larry Demonte and Anthony, one of his sons, and meet the “Chenzo 13” sandwich. Named after Larry’s eldest son Vicent, who passed away in 2021, the “Chenzo 13” quickly became a new favorite on the Defonte’s sandwich roster.

Can you imagine riding down Broadway on a special sidewalk cart? In 1872, a proposal by Alfred Speer would have had the street lined with tracks and carts for the first moving sidewalk.

Back in the late 1860s/early 1870s, inventor and businessman Alfred Speer was fed up with street congestion in front of his wine store on Broadway near City Hall. Though elevated trains were popping up around the time, they were mostly above 14th Street, so Speer designed an aerial, steam-powered sidewalk (much cleaner than the locomotive trains) that would make a loop up and down Broadway to alleviate traffic. It would be constantly in motion at 10 miles per hour, carrying passengers by foot or in its movable chairs for five cents a ride. Speer even went so far as to patent the idea, officially called the “Endless Traveling” or “Railway Sidewalk.”

Read through the full article for more on Alfred Speer's 1872 moving sidewalk proposal.

King of the Night is a fantastic short film from Lonelyleap that gives a touching profile of Imad Khachan, owner of the last chess shop in New York City: Chess Forum in Greenwich Village. Check it out!

“I came here to get a PhD in American literature, and here I am, with pictures of American writers on the wall—a chess vendor.”

That’s Imad Khachan, owner of Chess Forum, the only remaining chess shop in New York City. A Palestinian refugee with no family of his own, Khachan has become “the father of everybody” to a community of chess enthusiasts, those curious to learn more about the game, and those whom Khachan describes as the city’s “invisible people.”

“When no other place will welcome you, you have a seat [here],” Khachan says in Molly Brass and Anne Hollowday’s short documentary, King of the Night. The film depicts the chess shop as more than a home for chess players; Khachan’s open-door policy has provided refuge for many patrons with difficult lives at home. According to Brass, some Chess Forum regulars have no home at all.

“There are very few places in New York that accept and welcome anyone—really anyone—to sit and spend as many hours as they want to, at negligible or no cost,” Brass told The Atlantic. “It's almost a revolutionary idea at this point.”

"King of the Night" was directed and produced by Lonelyleap. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.