Latest New School Construction Update

Allbirds, the shoes that Silicon Valley loves, signed an 8,000-square-foot lease deal with The Bromley Companies at 120-122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District. The clothing and shoe company will be moving into the two-floor space at the Bromley building after The Gap moved out in the summer of 2021 after nearly 30 years. The retail space on West 17th Street and Fifth Avenue will serve as Allbirds’ U.S. flagship store. The sudden vacancy left by The Gap marked the first time in four decades that the retail location had been empty, having been home to the first Barnes & Noble superstore in the nation prior to the clothing store coming to the Flatiron.

Here’s a very old and undated photo of Union Square West. The 1842 building at 35 Union Square West that currently houses Barn Joo is one of the neighborhood’s oldest structures.

In response to community concerns about the time in the evening we end our concrete placing, DOB has granted our request to start placing our concrete at 6am, which will allow us to finish this work earlier in the evening. We have 8 more instances like this until we finish our superstructure in early June.

Therefore next week (April 16 to April 20), Superstructure work will continue at the 13th and 14th floor levels. Wednesday, April 18th, we will have an identical pour with a 6 am start time and similar end time, weather permitting. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic.

The following week (April 23 to April 27), we will continue superstructure concrete and slabs on the 15th and 16th floor levels. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, April 14st for superstructure related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City. To control noise levels within the site, work activities will be limited to the placement of formwork and concrete, plumbing and electrical work, rebar for concrete placement, using the crane and equipment to support all activities. Safety horns are used, and required by law, to coordinate lifting with the crane and to alert the workers of the danger overhead. We have directed the operators to limit the use of horns to one short sounding and to use the crane later in the day so as to avoid any excess noise.

In addition to the normal work on the job site, the 14th St. Con Ed Vault utility connection street work will continue per DOT Permit granted for weekends only.

This finding from the Union Square Partnership:

The Union Square Partnership analyzes and promotes visitor activity by conducting pedestrian and bicycle counts every two years over several Fridays and Saturdays in July.  Working with BFJ Planning, counts were taken from 8 AM to 10 PM at 26 locations around Union Square Park. To gain the most accurate account of how many people move through  Union Square on a typical summer day, the data gathered was then combined with transit turnstile information for the 14th Street – Union Square station. The station is the fourth busiest subway hub in NYC on a weekday and skyrockets to second position on weekends. Based on turnstile count patterns, it is estimated that during the summer a record-breaking 383,000 people visit the area on a Greenmarket Friday over a 24-hour period, a 10% increase from our last survey.

Find the full 2014 Pedestrian Activity Report here.