Latest New School Construction Update

Opening on May 21 at Broadway and 18th St., Minuto Bauli is the first U.S. outpost of the beloved Verona-based baking dynasty, Bauli. But this isn’t your average bakery. It’s a one-product wonderland dedicated entirely to a single, freshly baked, filled-to-order Italian treat: the Minuto Bauli.

What is a Minuto Bauli, exactly? Think of it as the pastry equivalent of a mic drop. The dough, made with Bauli’s century-old Futura mother yeast, is crafted in Italy using high-quality ingredients like flour, eggs, butter and milk, then shipped to New York City, where it rises for 12 hours before being baked and dressed up right before your eyes. Guests can customize their treat with a selection of lush Italian creams, preserves, spreads and gourmet toppings.

Next week (May 13 to May 17), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building. We will be working on the new sidewalks around the building and installing new curbs. Additionally we will be working on the roofs of the building.

The following week (May 20 to May 24), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors as well as sidewalk work.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, May 11th for interior, roof, and sidewalk activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

Next week (October 22 to October 26), Material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors. Curtain wall installation on upper floors will continue. Curtain wall installation on the lower floors will proceed along 14th st. inside the construction site. The crane that is on site will remain for the duration of curtain wall installation and will not affect pedestrian or automotive traffic.

The following week (October 29 to November 2) Material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors. Curtain wall installation will continue on all floors. Curtain wall installation on the lower floors will proceed along 14th st. inside the construction site.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, October 20th for superstructure related activities and curtain wall installation between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City. Con Ed will be working in the street.

Here’s the official word on how the renovations are going:

Spring weather has brought with it a flurry of activity in Union Square Park, both in the new playground and at the construction site.  Parents and kids have been taking full advantage of the warm sunny days by swinging, climbing and sliding their way out of the winter doldrums.  The Partnership’s new landscape efforts, including more than 260 ornamental shrubs and 650 perennials, will soon be underway, as well as the creation of additional seating opportunities in the center lawn, in front of the new Pavilion entrance and around the James Fountain (a/k/a Mother & Child).

In construction news, structural work on the Pavilion columns and ceiling beams has finished at last, and the protective plywood barriers have been removed from the front of the building, exposing the beautifully restored neo-classical interior to passersby.  As the Pavilion elevator is installed and tested, interior lighting fixtures, gates and handrails round out the final touches of building restoration work.

Park visitors can soon make use of the restroom facilities as they, too, near completion.  Last week, eco-resin panels were mounted above the granite walls to enclose the building, allowing the final plumbing fixtures to be installed.  Once complete, the Parks Department will work closely with the Department of Buildings to inspect all systems in order to open the facilities for the busy summer season.

Here’s what’s on display in the park:

Miranda July is a fiction writer (No One Belongs Here More Than You), a filmmaker (Me and You and Everyone We Know), a performance artist (Things We Don’t Understand and Are Definitely Not Going to Talk About), and an occasional sculptress. It’s that latter designation that’s the focus of a new public art installation, the comparatively terse “Eleven Heavy Things,” organized by Deitch Projects, which opened late last week in New York’s Union Square Park. (The installation will remain in the park through October 3rd.) The sculptures, many of which revolve around a line of text written in July’s own hand, prod the viewer into audience interaction. “What I look like when I’m lying,” reads one, a white tablet through which the viewer can stick his head. A trio of pedestals — labeled ‘The Guilty One,’ ‘The Guiltier One,’ and ‘The Guiltiest One’ — asks participants to gauge (and flaunt) their general culpability. Three of the sculptures are wordless “headdresses,” decorative sculptures that July compares to the dialogue-free stretches of a movie: “The shapes are those parts of this piece.”

From the Times:
The countdown has begun to the closing of the 16th Street space that this influential restaurant has occupied for 30 years. The cafe, which was the first piece of Danny Meyer’s culinary empire, has been a favorite of New York’s publishing world and jump-started the renaissance of the Union Square area. But it will not renew its lease at a higher rent, and in the spring will relocate to nearby 235 Park Avenue South, at East 19th Street.

To mark the final days at its current spot, from Dec. 1 to 12, the last day of service, the restaurant will switch to a three-course dinner menu called the 12 Nights of Union Square Cafe, highlighting some of its best-known seasonal dishes, including garganelli with white truffles, beef tartare, lamb braciole and Berkshire rack of pork. There are optional wine pairings from some of the restaurant’s favorite producers. Lunches will feature the regular à la carte menu:

Dinner reservations Dec. 1 to 12 by phone only, $85 prepaid; lunch reservations up to 28 days ahead, opentable.com;

Union Square Cafe, 21 East 16th Street, 212-243-4020,

unionsquarecafe.com.