How Green is the Greenmarket?

Have a browse through Idlewild Books, on West 19th St. just west of 5th Ave. on the south side of the street. This travel specialist arranges all its books, no matter what kind they are–fiction, essay, guide–by location, so that E.B. White’s “Here Is New York” is right next to “Fodor’s New York.” It’s a novel idea that makes for great browsing. This is one of the city’s most pleasant independent bookstores. Good luck to them.

Next week (December 24 to December 28), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building. The site will be closed on December 25th for the holiday but will be open on Monday the 24th and Wednesday the 26th.

The following week (December 31 to January 4), Material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, December 22nd for interior and superstructure related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

Curbed has a big article outlining and analyzing all the current, upcoming, and potential efforts to make 14th St. better in all sorts of ways.

Here’s a 1910 view of the south side of 14 St. looking east from 6th Ave. from what was then the platform of the elevated train. As you can see, Macy’s was headquartered there (where Urban Outfitters is now) and expanded along the block over time as it grew. Eventually, the cobbled-together space got too complicated and the store decamped for its massive new digs in Herald Square. If you look closely at this building today, you can still see vestiges of Macy’s red star icon in a few places.

Say sayonara to Sumile Sushi on 13th St. near 7th Ave. Started out as super high-end Japanese and morphed into expensive sushi. It always seemed overpriced, even before the recession. Here’s hoping something new and interesting will take over the space.

Art supply store Sam Flax is closing its store at 11 West 19th St. There are big savings on things like high-end office furniture, all kinds of art supplies, stationery, and lots of picture frames. The sale will run through June.