Latest New School Construction Update

The Union Square Business Improvement District is considering expanding its boundaries. If you have an opinion about that, take this survey.

Please be advised that curbside composting began on October 6, 2024. The program is mandatory and requires buildings to separate food and yard waste from other trash and recycling items. However, there is a grace period until April 2025 to allow buildings to implement the proper procedures and get everything in order.

• We have ordered one bin for each building and have ordered a second for each building in anticipation of participation.
• Residents are required to bring their food waste materials down and place them in the composting bin. The bins are on the second floor of 14^th Street and in the garbage area in the back of the lobby on 13^th Street. They are in place and ready for use.
• Acceptable materials for the composting bin include all food scraps, bones, dairy, prepared/cooked foods, and food-soiled paper (napkins, paper plates, coffee filters).
• Recycling and trash procedures remain unchanged.

Please see the attached DSNY flyer detailing acceptable materials for the composting bin. Additional guidance and recommendations include:

• Drain liquids before placing food scraps in the composting bin.
• Store composting materials in a plastic bag, brown paper bag, yogurt tub, or a designated organics container. Empty the scraps into the composting bin in the basement.
• To prevent odors, store scraps in the freezer if you cannot bring them down immediately.
• Newspapers, paper bags and certified compostable bags are acceptable in the composting bin. Plastic bags may be thrown in the bin as the DSNY has a method for removing them. Hard plastic, metal, and glass are not permitted.

As a reminder, plastic, cardboard, metal, and glass should be recycled separately and not placed in the composting bin. Regular trash items including Styrofoam, pet waste, or diapers must not be thrown into the composting bin.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me or Mecca at 212-986-0001 or via email at TCunningham@akam.com or MWhite@akam.com.

Thank you.

If you’re having trouble coming up with a composting strategy, read this article from the New York Times Wirecutter, which provides insight into the available options for composting bins and buckets.

According to transit data from MTA and Citi Bike, Union Square continues to be one of the City’s top destinations for employees, residents and visitors alike. While subway ridership remains low across the system, currently 20% of normal use, turnstile activity at the Union Square-14th Street station has tripled since April.

Similarly, bus ridership on the M14A/D busway is gaining momentum as average daily bus ridership has tripled since its low point in late March, reaching nearly 60% of pre-COVID daily ridership levels. For those visiting the district by Citi Bike, Broadway and 17th Street remains one of the City’s top 10 destination stations and ridership is up 45% since April. Another popular end station, Broadway and East 14th Street has experienced a 57% increase in use since April.

Other indicators are up too. Union Square’s public Wi-Fi use is up to 42% from 15% at the start of the pandemic, signaling an uptick in outdoor activity. The district’s active public realm can be attributed to the draw of the Greenmarket, the expansion of outdoor dining activating sidewalks and roadways, and the reopening of local business that attracts steady foot traffic across the district.

Union Square’s zip codes (10003, 10010 and 10011) make up 16% of Open Restaurants applications in Manhattan with the City’s highest number of applications located in 10003! Within Union Square-14th Street, nearly two thirds of businesses are conducting storefront activity and this number continues to grow as additional businesses and cultural institutions are making exciting plans to open their doors with events and programming as soon as it is safe to do so.

From Crain’s New York Business:

The P.C. Richard & Son store near Union Square is going the way of the cathode ray television set and VCRs.

The city’s Economic Development Corp. has announced a request for proposals to redevelop a city-owned site at 124 E. 14th St. that for the past 19 years has been home to a two-level building occupied by the electronics and appliance store.

The EDC is encouraging developers to pitch projects that include new office space for booming industries in the neighborhood, such as technology and creative businesses. According to the city’s guidelines, the development could provide fledgling companies with the space to get started and also a location for young but established firms to transition from incubator and co-working spaces that have sprouted around the city into their own digs.

Proposals may also include residential space, although a spokesman for the city said the EDC’s goal is an office-focused development. Current zoning on the site, however, would seem to encourage a residential component. About 140,000 square feet of housing can be built at the address versus about 93,00 square feet of commercial space. A project could be a blend of the two.

Midtown South has become the city’s hottest office market, with space in the vicinity of Union Square especially popular for its access to transit, shopping, restaurants and tony residential neighborhoods.

“The current site of the PC Richard store will serve as a new tech hub in Union Square, capitalizing on the academic and transit advantages offered by the neighborhood and its proximity to the Flatiron district,” said Maria Torres-Springer, president of the EDC, in a statement. “This is just one example of how we are finding creative uses for the assets we have in a city where space is harder and harder to come by.”

Bids for the property are due by February, the spokesman said, which is the same month that P.C. Richard’s lease is set to expire.

Niall will be away until Thursday October 15.

Backing him up is James, at 917-689-4884