14th St. Wipeout

Vanity Fair reports:

A month after its opening, the new Union Square Café is booming. With two bars, an extensive mezzanine, and two spaces for private dining, it holds 198, as opposed to the 152 it could accommodate on 16th Street. Some of the old art is on the walls, and the menu, though revised, still includes the bibb and red-oak-leaf lettuces salad and the tuna burger (now the 19th Street Yellowfin Tuna Burger). It also features a New York strip steak with marrow mashed potatoes and radish salad, which two women friends, on separate evenings, pronounced the best they had ever eaten. On one of those nights, I had the roasted pork rack with shell beans, kale, and fennel-apple mostarda, which was choice. The other time I chose the very rich, very satisfying pappardelle with duck and chanterelle sugo, Brussels sprouts, and winter squash. For any and every meal I would recommend for dessert the pumpkin-bread pudding with caramelized white-chocolate ice cream, because it is unforgettable and unmatchable.

Like its sister restaurant, Gramercy Tavern, only two blocks away, Union Square Cafe now stays open straight through from noon to 10 P.M. The sharp, better-paid staff, still warm and welcoming, now wear white shirts, open at the neck

34 Union Square East will become a 12-story residential building. Designed by INPUT for MSH Equities LLC, the 124-foot-tall structure will yield 29 condominium units with an average scope of 1,013 square feet. The project will also include 1,555 square feet of ground floor retail.

From the park association: It’s crunch time in Union Square Park as the North End Project reaches 83 percent and enters into the final stretch. New granite curb has been installed along Union Square East, and crews are hard at work paving the east side and 16th Street transverse. Next, they will install the playground’s south perimeter fence once paving is complete. To recap, at this time the landscaping is finished and the park’s new trees, shrubbery and perennials are taking root. Most of the plazas having been reopened to the public and the Greenmarket is fully operational on site in time for their busy fall season. Pavilion restoration continues, though hampered by graffiti removal that has proven challenging, and the new restroom facility on the east side of the project area is nearing completion.

The new Hyatt Union Square at 13th and 4th is now open, as are all its restaurants.

Manhattan-based fans the of Indian culinary institution Jackson Diner will once again have to hop the subway to Queens to get their fix. The University Place outpost, which opened in 2010 with its primo cheap eats lunch buffet, closed this weekend, and it won’t be returning. Owner Manjit Singh told DNAinfo that the restaurant’s lease had expired and that the landlord planned to raise the rent to an unspecified amount. Already paying $25,000 a month, Singh decided it was best to leave. This morning, a sign with the name of the closest Indian Restaurant — Curry Kitchen on 8th Street — was posted outside the restaurant. No word yet on who will take over the space.

Next week (July 9 to July 13), Mechanical equipment and work will continue at the 17th and 18th floor levels. Curtain wall will continue to be installed on the building. 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 (July 16 to July 20), we will be working on the machine room levels on the 17th and 18th floors. Curtain wall will continue to be installed on the building. 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, July 7th for superstructure activities as well as the demobilization of the crane from the site. In order to facilitate this effort we will be closing 13th street for the day to pedestrian and automotive traffic. Site work will begin at 6AM as permitted by the City. To control noise levels within the site, work activities will be limited to working on the mechanical systems of the building and using the crane and equipment to support 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.