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Map: See Taylor Swift’s NYC Hotspots Ahead of Her MSG Wedding

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Map: See Taylor Swift’s NYC Hotspots Ahead of Her MSG Wedding

Swift has attended fashion’s biggest night, the Met Gala, a handful of times over the years. Perhaps no appearance was more memorable than 2016’s event where it was not her dress, but her hair that made an impact. Swift’s bleached platinum bob at the star-studded fund-raiser that year was part of a short-lived era known as “Bleachella” to some fans.

Some fans believe the 2016 event, which both Swift and her ex-boyfriend, the actor Joe Alwyn attended, is where the couple might have first encountered one another. A moment Swifties think the songstress referenced in “Dress,” singing “flashback when you met me, your buzz cut and my hair bleached,” a line that describes how both stars looked that night.

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For her first time as host on “Saturday Night Live,” a then 19-year-old Swift arrived having already written the song she would sing as the opening monologue. Seth Meyers, the show’s head writer at the time, later recalled bringing Swift into Lorne Michaels’s office, where she performed a “perfect” musical monologue and noted it was better than what the show’s writers had concocted for her to deliver. Swift has served as host and musical guest on the sketch-comedy show over the years. She’s also made repeated cameo appearances, including appearing alongside Kerry Washington and Betty White in a “Californians” sketch in 2015 for the show’s 40th anniversary.

In 2023, Swift and Travis Kelce both made cameo appearances on the show. The same day, they were also spotted by tabloids holding hands in New York City, one of the earliest public glimpses of them as a couple.

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The iconic arena in Midtown Manhattan will serve as the venue for a private, two-day event around the wedding of Swift and Kelce on July 2 and 3. The first event will reportedly be a smaller gathering of 100 people for a rehearsal dinner at the Infosys Theater, a venue inside the Garden, while as many as 1,000 guests are expected to arrive at the venue the next day for a larger celebration, with possible stage appearances. Swift has some history with the Garden, performing there several times over the years, as well as sitting courtside and cheering the Knicks to a win during a game earlier this summer.

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Whenever the singer is spotted coming and going from the Greenwich Village recording studio — which was founded by Jimi Hendrix and has hosted icons like the Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry over the years — fans are immediately abuzz with whispers about new music. Swift has worked there with Jack Antonoff, her longtime collaborator, on albums including “Lover” and “Folklore,” as well as re-releases of her older albums.

Swift has been spotted plenty of times at this Italian hot spot in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, most recently in May, celebrating Lena Dunham’s 40th birthday. If you can’t get a table, try your hand at making their famed — and delicious — salad dressing.

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For a period between 2016 and 2017, Swift rented a four-story townhouse in Manhattan’s West Village. The pad appears to have inspired her 2019 track “Cornelia Street” from the album “Lover.” It’s a road she’ll never walk again, at least according to her lyrics.

Fans still regularly visit the house, even though it has been nearly a decade since Swift inhabited the home, which has an indoor swimming pool. In 2023, some Swifties made pilgrimages to the location after news broke on her split with the actor Joe Alwyn, whose relationship fans believe to be the inspiration for many of the tracks on “Lover.”

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Swift’s residence in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Manhattan has grown over the years. She initially bought two penthouses from the “The Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson in 2014. A fan who once visited the apartment recalled Swift’s father saying that when his daughter first viewed the place, the actor Ian McKellen, who had been living there, was sitting in the kitchen. She has since purchased several adjacent properties.

Fans have seen glimpses of the home on social media over the years and, more recently, watched Swift use a fire extinguisher to put out a small candle blaze in the kitchen in a video posted by Swift’s recent musical collaborator Gracie Abrams.

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Good luck getting a table here if you are not Swift or Kelce. The upscale American restaurant in SoHo is known for comforting dishes like a French dip sandwich and an ice cream sundae, as well as its savory sour-cream-and-onion martini from the cocktail menu. Swift has visited several times — including outings with Gigi Hadid and Sabrina Carpenter.

In “Delicate,” Swift sings of an unnamed “dive bar on the East Side.” Swifties believe this dark speakeasy on East Seventh Street is that bar. Fans also believe the song was written about Swift’s ex-boyfriend, the actor Joe Alwyn. The pair broke up in 2023; later that year she met Kelce.

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This exclusive, members-only club in Lower Manhattan is frequented by plenty of celebrities, including Swift. The club bans photography and videos, as well as members of the media, and patrons are barred from identifying others in the room on social media or to the press.

Still, even with the privacy rules, there have been plenty of posts and photos documenting Swift coming and going from Zero Bond. There was a visit in 2023 with the actor Miles Teller and his wife, Keleigh, as well as a recent celebratory evening with the Haim sisters in June after the group watched the Knicks win at Madison Square Garden in matching shirts. There have also been multiple visits with Kelce over the years.

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Swift spent part of her 34th birthday celebration at this rustic American restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Wearing a black minidress bedazzled with a moon and stars — a nice nod to the visual themes of her “Midnights” era — she partied the night away at Freemans’ upstairs cocktail bar with guests including Jack Antonoff, Blake Lively, Zoë Kravitz, the Haim sisters, Sabrina Carpenter and her childhood best friend, Abigail Anderson Berard, who was immortalized in Swift’s song “Fifteen.” The pop star was also seen dining here with Gracie Abrams earlier that same year.

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People line up for hours — yes, hours — to secure a spot at this restaurant in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. The brick-oven pizza spot, which is B.Y.O.B. and cash only, is a favorite of pizza connoisseurs — though not those at The New York Times — and celebrities alike. (Its owner has said he does not accept reservations.) Beyoncé, Jay-Z, the Beckhams and, of course, Swift have all been seen dining here, though unclear if they had to sweat it out in the line like us mere mortals. Swift, who once sent her dad to hand out pizzas, though likely not from Lucali, to fans camping out in New York to watch her perform on “Good Morning America,” has shared meals here with famous friends including Blake Lively and Selena Gomez, as well as a date night with Kelce.

The Brooklyn neighborhood where, if Swiftie lyrical interpretations are to be trusted, Swift left a now-infamous scarf at the home of one Maggie Gyllenhaal around 2010. Swift was dating Gyllenhaal’s brother, Jake, at the time and their relationship is believed to have inspired Swift’s “All Too Well,” a 2012 heart-wrencher of a song beloved by many fans, which Rolling Stone once ranked as her best song. “You keep my old scarf from that very first week,” Swift sings. In 2017, Maggie Gyllenhaal told Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live” that she was “in the dark about the scarf.”

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Swift later released an updated, 10-minute version of the track in 2021. A red scarf featured prominently as a thematic motif in “All Too Well: The Short Film,” which Swift also released that same year.

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Sunday Puzzle: Two words, same number of letters, matching first and last letters

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Sunday Puzzle:  Two words, same number of letters, matching first and last letters

On-air challenge

Based on the clue, name two words that have the same number of letters and begin and end with the letters provided. (Ex. Rocks / five letters / S and E —> Slate, Shale)

1. European languages in 7 letters starting with S and ending with .

2. Ancient stringed instruments / 4 letters / L and E

3. Birds / 6 letters / P and N

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4. Parts of the body / 5 letters / T and H

5. Things seen in a classroom / 5 letters / C and K

6. Newsstand magazines / 7 letters / E and E

7. Books of the Bible / 4 letters / A and S

8. Foods from Italy / 5 letters / P and A

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Last week’s challenge

Next weekend will be the 186th convention of the National Puzzler League, in Bloomington, Ind., which I’ll be attending as always. Two other people who will be there are Henri Picciotto and Joshua Kosman, who created this week’s challenge. Name two words that are opposites. They share a single letter. Remove that shared letter from each word, put a hyphen between the two starting words, and you’ll get a term you sometimes see in food ads. What are the two words?

Challenge answer

Slow, fast –> low-fat

Winner

Debra Waller of Burlington, Kentucky

This week’s challenge

This week’s challenge comes from Steve Baggish, of Arlington, Mass. Take the 10-letter name of a popular TV series for which most of its seasons have been filmed in a foreign country.  Remove the first and last letters, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell the name of a country.  What are the two names?

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, July 16 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.

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Welcome to the summer of hot store openings and must-see art shows in L.A.

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Welcome to the summer of hot store openings and must-see art shows in L.A.

“Location Unknown, 2023 – TANA 2023.”

(Tyler Matthew Oyer and Night Gallery)

Experience Tyler Matthew Oyer’s photographic exhibition, “Portraits 2019-2026.” This immersive show moves through seven years of portraits through Oyer’s lens, capturing subjects’ raw individuality. Showcasing “the panoramic and the intimate,” the photographs line the entirety of the gallery in identical scales and frames, emphasizing that every face carries equal presence and beauty. The exhibition coincides with Oyer’s fifth portrait book release, which features selections from his extensive archive. Open July 18 through Aug. 15. 2050 Imperial St., Los Angeles. nightgallery.com

Paloma Wool opening

Interior of Paloma Wool

Paloma Wool’s first permanent store in L.A. houses footwear, bags, a fresh new menswear line and exclusive specialty projects. This new space contrasts a bright, vivid backdrop with dark furnishings, alluding to the brand’s edgy, crisp designs. Open now. 8410 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. palomawool.com

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Noah Los Angeles opening

Interior of Noah Los Angeles

Founders Brendon Babenzien and Estelle Bailey-Babenzien bring the East Coast to L.A. this summer with the opening of Noah’s first West Coast location. Blending classic menswear with skate and surf culture, the space also features an in-store skate bowl, reflecting the brand’s roots while tapping into Los Angeles’ laid-back vibe. Open now. 911 N. Orange Drive, Los Angeles. noahny.com

H. Lorenzo opening

Interior of H. Lorenzo

H. Lorenzo’s new flagship store reflects the brand’s commitment to highlight both established and emerging designers from around the world. It also showcases rare collectible furniture, including pieces by woodworker George Nakashima. By day, the space takes on an ever-evolving approach to display; by night it transforms into a hub for cultural programming and community gatherings. Open now. 8801 Beverly Blvd. West Hollywood. hlorenzo.com

Bang & Olufsen opening

Interior of Bang & Olufsen

Bang & Olufsen’s new flagship is using music to connect people from all over the world, reimagining the classic retail experience into an immersive sound house perfect for showcasing Los Angeles’ vibrant and diverse entertainment culture. Customers can experience the brand’s latest technology in a setting inspired by Nordic design and Southern California living. Open now. 370 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood. bang-olufsen.com

Maison Louis Marie opening

Candles featured at Maison Louis Marie

Upgrade your scent game this summer with a visit to Maison Louis Marie’s new flagship store in Silver Lake. Designed in collaboration with Via Clover, the fragrance house has curated a light, modern space, blending French and Californian aesthetics where customers browse everything from Fleur de la Passion hair and body mist to No. 10 Aboukir candles at their own pace. Open now. 3920 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. maisonlouismarie.com

Molteni&C L.A. flagship redesign and new collection

Outdoor Collection featured at Molteni&C's L.A. flagship store

Italian craftsmanship and contemporary living come together in Molteni&C’s newly redesigned Beverly Hills flagship. After exploring thoughtfully curated living spaces featuring coffee tables designed by Vincent Van Duysen, be sure to check out the brands’ latest Outdoor Collection, ideal for the heat of L.A.’s long summers. Open now. 147 N Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood. molteni&c.com

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Zegna’s new fragrance line

Zegna's newest fragance line

Zegna’s new fragrance line, Memorie, is shaped by place, ritual and intention. Inspired by the Alps of northern Italy, each of the six scents captures a moment, place or object from founder Ermenegildo Zegna’s life, preserving memory through fragrance. Available now. zegna.com

“Animals” by Alex Gardner at Perrotin

"Catapult," 2025. Acrylic on canvas. Unframed: 48 1/16 x 96 1/16 inches. Framed: 51 7/8 x 99 3/4 x 5 inches.

“Catapult,” 2025. Acrylic on canvas. Unframed: 48 1/16 x 96 1/16 inches. Framed: 51 7/8 x 99 3/4 x 5 inches.

(Don Lewis/Alex Gardner; Perrotin)

Join Long Beach artist Alex Gardner for the final days of his first solo exhibition in a decade as he reimagines the meaning of fatherhood at Perrotin. Through a series of acrylic paintings, Gardner explores intimate connections between parents and children, partners and siblings, inviting viewers to identify themselves within his signature faceless figures. Open through July 11. 5036 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. perrotin.com

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Love Island and Pre-Teen Punks with Jason Narducy : Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!

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Love Island and Pre-Teen Punks with Jason Narducy : Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!

A promo image of Peter Sagal, Jason Narducy, and Alzo Slade

NPR and James Richards IV/NPR and Jason Narducy


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NPR and James Richards IV/NPR and Jason Narducy

This week, we’re live in Milwaukee with musician Jason Narducy. Plus, panelists Alonzo Bodden, Adam Burke, and Negin Farsad talk the World Cup, Love Island, and new rules for summer travel.

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