Blick Art Supplies Is Moving Away

Between 12th and 13th St. on University Place, the cleaners is moving, the European cookie store that no one needed is closing, and the Verizon store is gone. Is it a case of all leases running out at the same time? Who knows? What’s next? Who knows???

A major renovation is coming to the former Tammany Hall headquarters in Union Square where owners want to put a new glass dome over the landmarked building and demolish a theater to make way for retail and office space, the project’s architects said.

The historic structure at 44 Union Square East, built in 1929 to house the Democratic Party machine, will undergo a major overhaul that will restore the facade, gut the existing theater and add windows and glassier storefronts, according to BKSK Architects which is designing the project.

The most striking change will be a new 30-foot glass dome on top of the building, which will add about 27,000 square feet to the structure and will house office space, according to Harry Kendall, a partner at BKSK.

“Our effort is…to make it a more distinctive destination and presence on Union Square,” Kendall said. “We think we can make this building into something it never was.”

After hearing a presentation about the proposal this week, Community Board 5’s Landmarks Committee voted unanimously to reject it, saying the changes would be too drastic for an historic building that was just landmarked last year.

“While I like the way it looks — can you put something like this on a landmarked building?” said Edward Klimerman, a committee member. “It turns it into a different building.”

The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as a landmark in June 2013, noting its references to early American architecture, including Colonial columns out front. The building’s design drew inspiration from the original Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan, where George Washington took his first oath of office.

The MTA is still chipping away at improvements on the L train, having announced a new escalator coming into service at the Union Square station to service the 19,000 pre-pandemic riders that shuffle on and off the platform every hour during the week.

This installation, designed to ease congestion through the busy interchange, follows elevators paired with a new entrance to the L train’s First Avenue station near Avenue A and switch replacements on the 4-5-6 near Union Square in recent months.

These improvements were funded by the MTA prior to the financial crisis they currently face due to COVID-19.

“This new escalator is another achievement for the larger L project team that, delivered that huge project early and below budget,” MTA Chief Development Officer Janno Lieber said. “Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic we’re using innovative strategies to deliver customer improvements faster and at lower cost than ever before.”

Judy McClain, Chief of Operations Planning at New York City Transit, says that because the L train platform at this location is one of the most congested during pre-pandemic levels of ridership the escalator is one of the fastest in subway system; it can move up to 92 people per minute.

Next week (January 28 to February 1), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building as well as roof work. Additionally we will begin work on the new sidewalks around the building.

The following week (February 4 to February 8), Material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors and roofs as well as sidewalk work.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, January 26th for interior, superstructure and sidewalk related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

Crain’s reports:

Time may be running out for brides to dash to Filene’s Basement. The off-price retailer, famous for its Running of the Brides discount wedding dress events, is on the block. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday, the chain’s Columbus, Ohio-based parent Retail Ventures Inc. said efforts to cut costs “is not likely to lead to sustainable operations for Filene’s basement.”

In January, Retail Ventures had announced the closing of 11 underperforming Filene’s stores, including one in Levittown, N.Y. Yet performance at the remaining 25 locations, which include four in New York City, “has continued to deteriorate significantly since that time,” according to the filing. Retail Ventures, which also owns footwear chain DSW Inc., said it will delay the filing of its annual results with the SEC.

Something has gone wrong in Union Square Park this summer. Complaints about illegal behavior, drug use, and vagrancy have led to a 320% increase in police citations. Now the police are patrolling much mor aggressively, as are hired security teams from the Union Square BID.