Reps announce that Tortaria, the new Mexican sandwich shop and tequila bar at 94 University place and 12th Street, will open on Monday. The 65-seat space will serve tortas, taquitos, made-to-order guacamole, homemade salsas, hand-pressed tortillas, and a range of margaritas in a space that is the owners’ “reimagined take on the bodega.”
This quarter, a new wave of sit-down restaurants and bars opened in Union Square, doubling the openings in this category for 2024 year-to-date compared to the same period last year. Notable newcomers include jazz club and Japanese whiskey bar Midnight Blue, from the team behind top cocktail bars Martiny’s and L’Americana, and Amo Seafood, a new favorite for Italian coastal cuisine. 17th Street has blossomed into a culinary destination. The newest arrivals are the highly acclaimed Peruvian restaurant Mission Ceviche and the Vietnamese gem
La Dong, which join the notable 2024 arrival Kanyakumari. Alongside beloved staples Lillie’s, Pasta Eater, and Laut, this vibrant street is your go-to spot for an unforgettable meal.
Reports are coming in that 86 University Place is likely doomed. More condos ahead? Here’s some history on the lovely old building:
“The structure, built as a single-family house ca. 1840 with alterations in the 1880s and 1919, captures some of the great currents of New York and Greenwich Village history. One of its earliest owners and occupants was one of the 19th century’s great philanthropists, involved in founding, expanding, or managing the New York Public Library, the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Historical Society, the nation’s first chronic disease hospital, and the city’s first library for women. Later it was the residence and business place of one of the city’s most prominent and successful German immigrant families, when NYC had the largest German-speaking population of any city outside Berlin or Vienna. And in the 20th century it was home to The Royalist operated by “Mayor of Greenwich Village” Barney Gallant, the first New Yorker prosecuted for violating Prohibition, and The Bagatelle, one of the most prominent pre-Stonewall lesbian bars, frequented by writers Audrey Lorde and Ann Bannon.”
Here’s the plan:
The proposed 193-foot-tall development will yield 16,806 square feet, with 15,213 square feet designated for residential space and 1,593 square feet for commercial space. The building will have seven residences, most likely condos based on the average unit scope of 2,173 square feet. The concrete-based structure will also have a cellar.
There’s much more about the history HERE.
For the first time in decades, there are no Italian restaurants on University Place.
Something has gone wrong in Union Square Park this summer. Complaints about illegal behavior, drug use, and vagrancy have led to a 320% increase in police citations. Now the police are patrolling much mor aggressively, as are hired security teams from the Union Square BID.
Here’s a guide from the Union Square Partnership.
The Times takes an interesting look at the Gorham Building at the corner of Broadway and 19th, where today you’ll find Fishs Eddy.