The Latest Victim

What was briefly Rulin hand-pulled noodles on our 13th St. block has suddenly transformed into Taco Lane. Here is the write-up: “Taco Lane, the Asian taco bistro from the couple behind Brooklyn’s beloved Noodle Lane, is officially open in Union Square in the space that was formerly known as Rulin. Taco Lane is owned and operated by Li and her husband, Chris Wang, who have backgrounds in finance and technology, respectively. However, they made a significant shift in their careers to pursue food full-time. Li’s story is one of remarkable resilience spanning from her childhood in China and Flatbush to her becoming a chef. After completing her training at the Institute of Culinary Education while simultaneously working in finance, the birth of her son, Jackson, served as a catalyst for her decision to dedicate her life to the culinary arts. This pivotal moment ultimately led to the successful establishment of Noodle Lane at Smorgasburg in 2011. Subsequently, a brick-and-mortar location was opened in Park Slope in 2023, and now, the latest of the “Lane” locations has arrived in the form of Taco Lane.”

Here’s what local folks are saying:

Information is sketchy, but it appears that Pan Am Equities, the real estate company that owns the collection of “True North” apartment buildings, including one on our 13th St. block, is now in the process of reconfiguring 24-26 East 13th St., the former home of the New York Health and Racquet Club, into 39 apartments, up from the previous 24. The ground floor and basement may once again hold a fitness facility. It’s unclear if the overall size of the building will change, but it appears not.

An urban planner who has been looking around for ways to make the city more pedestrian-friendly (and to open up more space for protesting) wrote “Union Square could be greatly enhanced by following through on a 2010 plan to pedestrianize Union Square West. Also pedestrianizing University Place would be a bold step that could link Union Square and Washington Square Park, merging two vital public spaces into a permanent platform for open expression.”

That would certainly change the neighborhood.

A company controlled by a Philadelphia 76ers co-owner was negligent when it allowed a lounge chair to fly off a Manhattan roof and hit a woman, leaving her with brain injuries, a new lawsuit alleges.

Annabel Sen had been on her way to lunch with her boyfriend on Jan. 25 when she “was struck by a heavy wooden lounge chair that fell from the terrace of the 12th-floor penthouse” of the 15 Union Square West Condominium building, according to her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed Thursday.

“How [the chair] didn’t kill her is a miracle honestly,” Sen’s lawyer Benedict Morelli told The Post. “She is very damaged but she is not dead.”

The then-23-year-old Midtown West resident — who was heading to lunch at Xu’s Public House nearby — “suffered a severe, life-threatening, traumatic brain injury, among other injuries, that required emergency brain surgery. [Sen] has since had two more brain surgeries,” the court papers claim.

It’s right downstairs, for all your organic beauty needs.