On Monday, September 28, Triona's poured its last beer at its original Third Avenue location after 14 years. It picked that night because the Chicago Bears were playing on Monday Night Football. Four days later, on Friday, October 2, it reopened next door as Triona's Vintage Sporting Club at 190 Third Avenue, at East 17th Street. The new space is inside Scheffel Hall, a landmarked building from the late 1800s. It started as a German beer hall and restaurant, later housed the German-American Athletic Club, and then became Fat Tuesday's jazz club. Eater NY's October openings roundup says the room now has vintage sports memorabilia, more than 20 screens, and an updated Irish-leaning pub menu.
So the biggest opening near the park this fall is a 14-year-old bar moving into a building that has been serving food and drink in various forms for well over a century. That fits the season. Around the park itself, fall 2026 runs mostly through old institutions: the private clubs on Gramercy Park South, a farmers market that turned 50 this year, a benefit dinner in its 28th year, and a tavern on East 18th Street. The businesses that are actually new have mostly opened a few blocks west, along Park Avenue South.
Scheffel Hall and the habit of reusing old rooms
From an architectural point of view, Triona's move is a good example of how this part of Manhattan absorbs change. A building made for one kind of gathering gets reused for the next one. The beer-hall layout that once served the German-American Athletic Club now holds a sports bar. The bones stay the same while the signs change.
The same pattern shows up on the south side of the park this October.
Gramercy Park South opens its doors
The National Arts Club on Gramercy Park South says all of its exhibitions are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Three shows are on this fall:
- Grand Gallery, October 13, 2026 to January 1, 2027. A Semiquincentennial exhibition for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It is built on American landscape paintings from the club's permanent collection, with works by Daniel Garber, Robert Spencer, Jane Wilson, Larry Rivers, and Will Barnet. New pieces by guest artists Gabrielle Garland, April Gornik, Tin Nguyen, and John Sanderson join them.
- West Gallery, through October 29. Releasing Anchors from the Past, paintings by Irene Christensen that draw on places in Norway and Costa Rica.
- East Gallery, through November 26. DRAWINGS – On the Surface.
The Grand Gallery show also tells a preservation story. The club credits its Adopt A Masterpiece Fund and Weldon Curatorial Fund with restoring six canvases included in the installation. The image the club uses for the show is Philip Little's An Upland Meadow from 1917. Restored paintings shown inside a historic clubhouse on a private park make a fitting match for the street.
The club warns that galleries can close for club functions. It lists Grand Gallery closures on October 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, and 17, and a Lower Galleries closure on October 12. You can call 212-475-3424 to confirm before you go. Based on those posted dates, the first weekend day the Grand Gallery show is open is Sunday, October 18, and the first full weekend with no listed closures is October 24 and 25.
The club's music programming is also open to the public. The Herman and Mary Neuman Music Award and Concert, featuring Alette Williams, is on Wednesday, October 14 at 7 p.m. The club lists it as free with registration.
Next door at 16 Gramercy Park South, The Players is the subject of a public tour run by New York Adventure Club, an outside organizer. Inside The Players w/ Rare Look Inside Edwin Booth's Untouched Bedroom is set for Friday, October 16, from 2 to 3 p.m. Most people walk past this facade without ever seeing the room that has been kept as it was for the actor who founded the club.
Union Square's anniversaries, a few blocks south
Walk down Irving Place and the old institutions keep going. GrowNYC says the Union Square Greenmarket started in 1976 with just a few farmers. In peak season it now has 140 regional farmers, fishers, and bakers, and up to 60,000 visitors on a market day. It runs year-round on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., along 17th Street between Broadway and Park Avenue South and on Union Square West between 15th and 17th Streets.
October's market calendar is full:
- Saturday, October 10, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A book signing with Farideh Sadeghin for Cheesy: 50 Boards and Recipes Using Cheese as a Seasonal Ingredient.
- Friday, October 16, from 10 a.m. The 6th Annual Cider Village, a celebration of cider and apples with selections from eight producers.
- Friday, October 30. A Día de los Muertos observance with Luna Family Farm.
Then on Tuesday, November 10, the Union Square Partnership hosts Harvest 2026 – A Benefit for Union Square Park at Civic Hall, 124 East 14th Street. This is the 28th year of the event. VIP doors open at 6 p.m. and general admission at 7 p.m. Early-bird pricing of $400 for VIP and $100 for general admission runs through October 13, or while supplies last. Time Out New York lists the participants. Long-running neighborhood names include Gramercy Tavern, Pete's Tavern, Union Square Cafe, and Breads Bakery. Newer and more recent names include Leon's, Len Len, Kanyakumari, Mission Ceviche, and the Michelin-starred Rezdôra. Beltane, Joe Coffee, and Lillie's Victorian Establishment are handling drinks.
Proceeds support the Union Square Partnership's work maintaining the square, its Clean Team and Public Safety Officers, and free public programming in the park. Julie Stein, the Partnership's executive director, described Harvest in a press release as "a rare chance to connect directly with the chefs behind our beloved neighborhood staples and the exciting new spots that opened this year."
Pete's Tavern at 129 East 18th Street is on that list too. It is a short walk from the park and a regular part of the area's evenings. For live music, the Irving Plaza October calendar includes Pinhead Gunpowder on October 14, Rocket From The Crypt on October 16, and Cypress Hill on Halloween.
Where the new arrivals actually landed
Openings this year have clustered on the western side, along Park Avenue South and the East 15th to East 20th Street blocks between Park and Fifth. Eater NY and the Flatiron NoMad Partnership tracked these from spring through September 2026:
| Name | Address | Opened | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| WatchHouse | 287 Park Avenue South | Mid-April | Espresso bar |
| Vivibowl | 303 Park Avenue South at East 23rd | Late April | Mexican-Asian bowls, burritos, tacos |
| Roll Over Kimbap | 25 East 17th Street | June 30 | Fast-casual Korean kimbap |
| Bernie and Herb's | 28 East 16th Street | July 31 | Casual bar with beer-and-shot combos, hot dogs, sandwiches |
| Te No Te | 15 East 15th Street, inside Sushi Aozora | Early August | Hand-roll pop-up with temaki sets |
| Amphora | 43 East 20th Street | September 9 | Wine tasting room with 2,500-plus labels and coursed menus |
Sources: Eater NY April, July, August, and September openings roundups.
Even the newcomers lean toward small, specialized formats. Te No Te is a pop-up inside an existing sushi restaurant, not a new room of its own. Amphora is built around a wine list of more than 2,500 labels, served with three- and four-course menus. For a seasonal stop that doesn't need a reservation, the Flatiron NoMad Partnership's fall guide points to fall pastries at Somedays Bakery, 297 Park Avenue South, a few doors from WatchHouse.
October 16 stacks up
Laid out on one calendar, the season bunches up on a single Friday. On October 16, Cider Village opens at the Greenmarket at 10 a.m. The Players tour runs from 2 to 3 p.m. on Gramercy Park South. Rocket From The Crypt plays Irving Plaza that night. The National Arts Club's Grand Gallery is also listed as closed that day and the next, so October 16 works well for the market, the clubhouse tour, and a show, and less well for the Semiquincentennial exhibition.
The rest of the season is easier to spread out:
- October 13: last day of Harvest early-bird pricing, and opening day for the Grand Gallery show
- October 14: Neuman Music Award concert at the National Arts Club, 7 p.m.
- October 29: last day for Irene Christensen in the West Gallery
- October 30: Día de los Muertos at the Greenmarket
- October 31: Cypress Hill at Irving Plaza
- November 10: Harvest 2026 at Civic Hall
- November 26: last day for DRAWINGS – On the Surface
Calendars change, so check with each venue before you head out.
These buildings and how they get reused tell you a lot about a block. Scheffel Hall, the clubhouses on Gramercy Park South, and the restored canvases inside them are part of what gives a Gramercy address its character. If you'd like to talk through how architecture like this shapes a home's value, or a building you're curious about near the park, Victoria Rong Kennedy is glad to share an architect's view in English or Mandarin. Let's Connect.
