New York Bagels Have Never Been Hotter, Literally. Here’s Why

Early on a recent sunny Sunday morning in Manhattan, the line for PopUp Bagels extends down Thompson Street in New York’s Greenwich Village. It’s so long, it almost runs into the equally lengthy line for Leon’s Bagels. A few blocks away, the queue for Apollo Bagels has become so notorious that the landlord has threatened the proprietors with eviction. What’s going on?

We are deep in the middle of a still accelerating bagel boom, says Sam Silverman, owner of NYC Bagel Tours and organizer of Bagelfest, a celebration that drew international bakers and about 1,600 similarly obsessed bagelphiles to Citi Field this September.