A 'Dear New York' moment at Mary's O's Soda Bread Shop

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Yesterday, St. Martin's Press gave away 100 signed copies of "Dear New York" at Mary's O's Soda Bread Shop on Seventh Street. 

This is the latest book by Brandon Stanton, the creator of Humans of New York. 

I caught up with Stanton and Mary O'Halloran at the shop, 93 1/2 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenues. 

As you may recall, Stanton led a hugely successful fundraising effort for O'Halloran in 2021. Stanton featured O'Halloran's story in August 2021. 

He followed up with a special promotion — the limited edition Mary O's "HONY" Irish soda bread scones. Stanton shared the deal with his more than 20 million social media followers worldwide. According to Stanton, they took in more than $1 million in orders for scones by the end of the night.

O'Halloran, proprietor of Mary O's on Avenue A, started making and selling scones (from her mother's recipe) by the box during the pandemic.

She opened her dedicated scone shop last November.

"Dear New York," a collection of essays and photos about the people of NYC, is out next month.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Thanks to Humans of New York, Mary O's will be making scones for the foreseeable future 

• Scone mania: At Mary O's, an Irish blessing and 20,000 pounds of self-raising flour 

• Mary O is bringing her scones to 7th Street