"At the center of a bagel renaissance, this bakery is known for extra-crispy bagels that update the beloved New York classic with intensified texture and crunch." - Caroline Hatchett
"A new-school bagel shop that continues expanding around the city, having opened its fourth location in the Financial District this week as part of a broader wave of contemporary bagel operators growing in New York." - Nadia Chaudhury
"Apollo Bagels, which started as a pop-up from the sourdough-pizza folks at Leo in Williamsburg, has a permanent home in the East Village, and we’re so thankful that they do. The industrial-looking counter is a bit of a scene—especially on the weekends—but once you get your order, and your clothes are perfumed with everything seasoning, you’ll forget that you didn’t wake up early enough to beat out the crowd. You can get a very good bagel sandwich here (they offer versions with lox or whitefish spread), or at their West Village location. But we'd suggest ordering a plain, an everything, or a sesame bagel, and getting a tub of scallion cream cheese alongside for ad-hoc, knifeless schmearing. Served hot out of the oven, the bagels are crusty and burnished, as if sun-kissed by Apollo himself. The insides are craggy and chewy, like a really good sourdough loaf, with a little tang. This is bagel that you may never be able to cut in half, because by the time you get to your kitchen, you’ll have eaten the entire thing, rip by savage rip. photo credit: Will Hartman" - Will Hartman
"A West Village bagel shop has filed a suit in court this week to prevent its landlord from attempting to break its lease over the shop’s long lines, according to the New York Post. The West Village location has taken several measures to mitigate lines; nevertheless the landlord — Lloyd Goldman’s BLDG Management, which owns 300 properties around the U.S. — is threatening to evict them. The reporting notes that this is not an isolated aggressive move by the landlord, who previously pushed out an elderly woman against her will from her rent-stabilized apartment." - Melissa McCart
"We’ve got a new-age space race brewing between Pop-Up Bagels and Apollo Bagels, which are each opening locations at an astonishing pace. Just five months after their initial East Village launch, Apollo has a second location across town in the West Village. Expect long lines for their bubbly sourdough bagels." - will hartman