The troubled storefront at 696 9th Avenue near the corner of W48th Street — long associated with the rise and fall of illegal weed shop Lunchbox Exotics — is getting a fresh start, this time as a late-night dessert and coffee spot.
Bluestreet Dessert Café is owned by Recep Rasci (right) and his business partner Mehmet Sarihan. Photo: Steve Hill
Bluestreet Dessert Café has quietly opened its doors, with owner Recep Tasci and business partner Mehmet Sarihan aiming to bring something they felt the neighborhood was missing: a place for crepes, waffles and coffee that runs from morning through to midnight.
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Steve Hill shoots New York the way most of us actually experience it — messy, layered, a little contradictory, and rarely postcard-perfect. His photos skip the clichés and lean into the in-between moments: the faces in passing, the grit under the gloss, the small flashes that make the city feel human.
Before picking up the camera full time, Hill spent two decades in some of New York’s top kitchens after training at the École Culinaire du Cordon Bleu in Paris — a background that shows up in the patience and precision of his work. His images have appeared everywhere from The New York Times to New York Magazine, but the focus stays local: real people, real streets, real moments.
He lives and works right here in Hell’s Kitchen.