Jordan Lauf

Endless amounts of books use New York City as a setting, from “The Power Broker” to “American Psycho.” What do they have in common aside from the five boroughs? Often nothing. New York as blank slate (or Rorschach test) is what makes its literature so compellingly diverse. What does New York look like on the page in 2026? These NYC books feature strange music, murder, prison, dancing, fame and, of course, the subway.

A documentary about iconic SoHo restaurant Raoul’s is screening in New York City through Sunday after its world premiere Monday at the Tribeca Film Festival. “Raoul’s: A New York Story” highlights the beloved French bistro Raoul’s, which opened 50 years ago in SoHo. Back in 1975, French brothers Serge and Guy Raoul served simple bistro classics to a collection of artists, models and actors who were thrilled to have a restaurant in an area that was still mostly empty warehouses.

Rabbi Abby Chava Stein comes from a prominent Hasidic family in Williamsburg and was trained from a young age to be a rabbi. She also knew that she was a girl years before she learned what it meant to be a trans woman.