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With investors like Paul Rudd, a new bagel baker takes a bite of the West Village
(New York Jewish Week) — Like many people stuck at home during the pandemic, Adam Goldberg, who worked at a flood-mitigation systems company in Westport, Connecticut, decided to try his hand at baking. But unlike most amateur bakers, Goldberg turned his pastime into a thriving bagel-delivery service that built a loyal following and drew the attention of celebrity investors like actor Paul Rudd.
And now, PopUpBagels, which touts itself as a “‘not famous but known’ bagel and schmear subscription club,” announced this week that it will open a brick-and-mortar store in Manhattan at the corner of Bleecker and Thompson streets.
The Greenwich Village store, along with a forthcoming shop in Greenwich, Connecticut, will be PopUpBagels’ first foray into permanent storefronts. This transition comes on the heels of raising “more than a couple million” dollars in seed funding in November 2022, attracting celebrity investors like Rudd, actor Patrick Schwarzenegger and swimmer Michael Phelps. But bold-faced names aren’t the only thing that sets PopUpBagels apart: Unlike most bagel bakeries, PopUpBagels only sells bagels by the dozen, at $38 a pop (which includes two tubs of “artisan schmears” — unique flavors like Caramel Apple, Dill Pickle, Red Pepper and Black Sesame Miso).
“Think of us as your private bagel bakery,” Goldberg, 48, told the New York Jewish Week. “When you feel like you want bagels, you’ll be able to go on our website and order a dozen bagels for a specific pickup time and hot, fresh bagels will be waiting for you when you get there.”
PopUpBagels will not be selling individual bagels, sandwiches or any “old and colds,” which is how Goldberg refers to “anything that’s been sitting out for more than 45 minutes.”
For now — until both stores open in mid-March — PopUpBagels operates via pre-orders only. Customers reserve their orders at the beginning of the week through the bakery’s website, selecting a 15-minute time slot on weekend mornings for pickups at a variety of locations in the tri-state area, including Redding, Connecticut and Tenafly, New Jersey. (Overnight mail orders — 18 bagels for $60, plus schmears — are also available anywhere in the United States on Thursday nights.) City dwellers can pick up their advance-ordered bagels on Saturday mornings at Scampi, an Italian restaurant in Flatiron.
Goldberg said he and his team fill some 700 to 800 pre-sale orders each week, which are baked at two Connecticut bakery locations. The emphasis is on freshness and quality, Goldberg said, which is why the bagels are made-to-(pre)order.
Once the storefront opens, bagels will be baked on-site and available “five to six days a week,” he said. Walk-up orders of half-dozen or a dozen bagels will be available, he added.
“Our flavor is just a little bit different than every other bagel out there,” Goldberg said of his creations, which are about two-thirds the size of an average New York bagel. “We have this saying: ‘We’ve got a little chew in the crust without the lead in the belly.’ It’s refreshing.”
For the last two years, PopUpBagels has taken home the “Best Overall Bagel” award at Brooklyn Bagel Fest, judged by a panel of 20 industry experts. (The competition has only been in existence for three years.)
“PopUp creates some intention around your bagel routine; you have to put intention towards getting their simply perfect bagels when they have a drop,” said Jake Cohen, a chef and baker who has been a contest judge at Brooklyn BagelFest the last two years and voted PopUpBagels for Best Overall Bagel. “To me the magic of their bagels is that you’re only able to get them at peak freshness and then alongside their inventive schmears,” he added.
“The response has been amazing,” Goldberg said. “People are so excited. We’re hearing from customers and people who have been following us for a couple of years and saying, ‘I can’t wait.’”
“I love supporting any establishment honoring the sanctity of a perfect bagel,” Cohen said. “I can promise when they open it will be the main reason I schlep to the Village.”
“Watching people eat our bagels for the first time and seeing their smiles and their faces light up is just an amazing feeling for me,” Goldberg added. “I’m so excited to come to New York and have the opportunity for millions of people to get their hands on our bagels and to be able to see that awesome look for the first time from so many people.”
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Hezbollah Says Ceasefire ‘Meaningless’ as Fighting Continues in South
Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in a village in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army operates in it as seen from the Israeli side of the border, April 23, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ayal Margolin
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said a US-mediated ceasefire in the war with Israel was meaningless a day after it was extended for three weeks, as Lebanese authorities reported two people killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone.
US President Donald Trump announced the three-week extension on Thursday after hosting Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors at the White House. The ceasefire agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel had been due to expire on Sunday.
While the ceasefire has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in a self-declared “buffer zone.”
Responding to the extension, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said “it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” and its demolition of villages and towns in the south.
“Every Israeli attack… gives the resistance the right to a proportionate response,” he added.
Hezbollah is not a party to the ceasefire agreement, and has strongly objected to Lebanon’s face-to-face contacts with Israel.
BUFFER ZONE
The April 16 agreement does not require Israeli troops to withdraw from the belt of southern Lebanon seized during the war. The zone extends 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) into Lebanon.
Israel says the buffer zone aims to protect northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the war.
Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Iran in the regional war. The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.
Nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, the Lebanese health ministry says.
ISRAELI MILITARY WARNS RESIDENTS TO LEAVE TOWN
Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli airstrike killed two people in the southern village of Touline on Friday.
Hezbollah shot down an Israeli drone, the group and the Israeli military said. Hezbollah identified it as a Hermes 450 and said it had downed it with a surface-to-air missile.
An Israeli drone was heard circling above Beirut throughout the day on Friday, Reuters reporters said.
The Israeli military warned residents of the southern town of Deir Aames to leave their homes immediately, saying it planned to act against “Hezbollah activities” there.
Deir Aames is located north of the area occupied by Israeli forces, and it was the first time Israel had issued such a warning since the ceasefire came into force on April 16. Posted on social media, the Israeli warning gave no details of the activities it said Hezbollah was conducting in the town.
The Israeli military also said it had intercepted a drone prior to its crossing into Israeli territory, and that sirens were sounded in line with protocol.
WAR-WEARY RESIDENTS SEEK END TO FIGHTING
The continued fighting has angered war-weary Lebanese, who say they want to see a genuine ceasefire put a full halt to violence.
“What’s this? Is this called a ceasefire? Or is this mocking (people’s) intelligence?” said Naem Saleh, a 73-year-old owner of a newsstand in Beirut.
Residents of northern Israel had mostly returned to daily life, but expressed pessimism about the longevity of the ceasefire with Lebanon.
“I believe that the ceasefire is so fragile, and unfortunately it won’t stand long, in my opinion,” said Eliad Eini, a resident of Nahariya, which lies just 10 km (6 miles) from the border with Lebanon.
On Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the south, including a journalist.
Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, in his opening remarks at Thursday’s talks, said “Lebanon should acknowledge the temporary presence of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the right of Israel to defend itself from a hostile force that is firing on the population.”
Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States Nada Moawad, in a written statement sent to Reuters, called for the ceasefire to be fully respected and said it would allow the necessary conditions for meaningful negotiations.
Lebanon has said it aims to secure the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from its territory in broader talks with Israel at a later stage.
Trump said on Thursday that he looked forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the near future, and said there was “a great chance” the two countries would reach a peace agreement this year.
Hezbollah attacks killed two civilians in Israel after March 2, while 15 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since then, Israel says.
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Only Five Ships Pass Through Strait of Hormuz in 24 hours
FILE PHOTO: A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken March 23, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Only five ships, including one Iranian oil products tanker, have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, Friday shipping data showed, after Iran seized two container ships this week and the US continues to blockade Iranian ports.
Shipping traffic passing through the crucial waterway at the entrance to the Gulf during an uneasy ceasefire between Washington and Tehran represents a fraction of the average 140 daily passages before the Iran war began on February 28.
“For most shipping companies, they will need a stable ceasefire and assurances from both sides of the conflict that the Strait of Hormuz is safe to transit,” said Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer at shipping association BIMCO.
“In the meantime, shipping will be restricted to using routes close to Iran and Oman. Due to their confined nature, these routes cannot safely accommodate the normal volumes of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Larsen added.
The Iranian-flagged oil products tanker Niki, which is subject to US sanctions, was among the few vessels that sailed out of the strait with no destination listed, Kpler analysis and tracking data on the MarineTraffic platform showed on Friday.
It was unclear what would happen if it continued to sail further east towards the blockade line imposed by the US Navy.
Nearly two months after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, there is little sign of peace talks resuming.
Container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd said on Friday that one of its ships has crossed the strait but did not provide any information on the circumstances or timing.
The Comoros-flagged supertanker Helga arrived at an offshore oil loading terminal in Iraq’s southern Basra port on Friday, the second vessel to reach Iraq since the strait’s closure.
Iran’s use of a swarm of small, fast boats to seize two container ships near the strait on Wednesday has heightened concerns among many shipping and oil companies.
“The latest seizures make clear, even an ‘open’ Strait of Hormuz is not a safe Strait of Hormuz for seafarers, ships and cargo,” Peter Sand, chief analyst with ocean and air freight intelligence platform Xeneta, said in a note.
Between April 22 and early April 23, seven vessels transited the strait, six of which were involved in Iran-related trade, analysis from Lloyd’s List Intelligence showed.
The closure of the strait has disrupted a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies and triggered a global energy crisis.
Hundreds of ships and 20,000 seafarers remained stranded inside the Gulf with war risk insurers and oil companies watching for any sign that the risks may have eased so they can prepare to sail through.
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11-Year-Old Girl Succumbs to Wounds from Iranian Missile Strike
A photo of Nesya Karadi. Photo: courtesy of her family.
i24 News – An 11-year-old girl has died nearly three weeks after being critically injured by an Iranian missile strike on her family home.
Nesya Karadi passed away Friday at Sheba Medical Center, becoming the 21st civilian fatality in Israel since the current conflict began on February 28.
The attack occurred on April 1, just hours before the start of Passover. Officials confirmed the strike involved an Iranian missile equipped with a cluster warhead; a sub-munition directly hit the Karadi home, wounding 14 people.
Among the injured was Nesya’s father, a volunteer with the Magen David Adom paramedic service. In a final act of heroism before losing consciousness from his own injuries, he reportedly administered life-saving first aid to his daughter.
Hanoch Zeibert, the Mayor of Bnei Brak, expressed the city’s deep grief over the loss of a “pure child whose whole life was ahead of her,” pledging the municipality’s full support to the Karadi family during their ordeal