Union Square is Perfect

You’ve surely noticed the water main repairs happening along 13th St. This will lead to water shutoffs at 830AM for up to five hours on Tuesday the 12th and Thursday the 14th, and perhaps other times.

Save it from commercial interests setting up shop at the north end of the park that is. Here are all the details.

This report from Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservaation notes that 64 University Place, the non-descript building currently housing Agata and Valentina, may be scheduled to meet its destiny with the wrecking ball. In its place, a 12-story building.

Village Preservation has learned that a developer has filed plans to demolish 64-66 University Place (10^th/11^th Street) within our proposed South of Union Square Historic District we have been fighting to get landmarked.

No permits have yet been filed for a new building, though we understand a 12-story building is being contemplated. The zoning for the site allows a roughly 42,000 square foot building here, of residential, commercial, and community facility uses, with about 6-7,000 square feet of additional air rights purchased from neighboring 70 University Place. By comparison, neighboring 21 East 10th Street is approximately 56,000 square feet.

Village Preservation has been campaigning for landmark designation for this area, and our research and documentation submitted to the City shows that this building, in spite of its utilitarian looks, actually has an incredibly important history worthy of recognition and protection. While we have made some progress recently advancing our landmarking proposal, the City has nevertheless resisted landmarking the full proposed district, and Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who represents this area, has not endorsed the historic district landmarking proposal.

As you’re well aware, the demolition and construction of The New School site at 65 Fifth Avenue is well underway. On Thursday, The New School revealed for the first time the official design of the building, which includes some of the elements from its earliest sketches, such as the exposed staircases, but is different in two notable ways: the building is smaller than originally planned, and it is partially class in brass, rather than entirely in glass.

The building is being constructed as of right. There is no more debate over design or size. This is pretty much what we’re going to see: a university hub of about 16 stories with eight floors of campus space topped by a smaller eight floors of dormitory housing for 600 students.

To get caught up on what the building looks like and see many photos of the model, click here.

To read the somewhat positive New York Times architecture critic’s review, click here.

A neighbor attended the public viewing of the model and came away with some great facts:

–The loading dock is on 13th street at the eastern most corner of the lot.

–The main entrance to the building is on the southwest corner. This is for everything except the dormitories.

–The dormitory entrance is on 5th avenue, about 1/3 of the way down from 14th street.

–The northern 1/3 of the building at street level is retail – no word on what though.

–Directly above the retail is a cafeteria. It looks like seating for 300, which makes sense considering the 600 person dormitory.

–The dormitory floors are set back on all sides, and shaped in a ‘C’ with a light well on the eastern side of the stack. They are four bed suites, with kitchenettes in them.

–The set-back between the lower and upper halves is a green roof, and they say that for liability reasons it will not be open to the general building population. Pressing on this, and the answer was that while the green roof hasn’t been engineered yet, it is likely going to be possible to have foot traffic on it and will perhaps be open to supervised use (during a class, or for an experiment of some kind). (So no midnight keg parties, we hope.)

The green roof is at the level of 7 East 13^th St/10 East 14^th St, so about the same height as our roof.

— It looks like it’s designed to keep students inside the building, and not loitering on the street. The canopies are small, and the doors aren’t inset, so there isn’t any natural gathering space just outside on the sidewalk.

We hope that this brings everyone up to date on a project that will be a big part of the pulse of the neighborhood for the next two years….and beyond.

Next week (December 17 to December 21), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building.

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

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, December 15th for interior and superstructure related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

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.