Steak Frites Returns

Sad news from University Place, where the University Diner, one of the last of its kind, is closing today. One can only wonder what will appear in its place, not to mention what will appear at the corner of University and 13th and the corner of Broadway and 14th. The malling of the neighborhood continues.

If there was any doubt about the national momentum on legalized marijuana use in America, consider this. There will be a medicinal marijuana dispensary off Union Square come January 2016. The dispensary on 14th Street between Second and Third Avenues will be run by Columbia Care, a New York City-based company that was awarded one of the state’s five licenses to open a medicinal marijuana shop. The selections were made in July, and companies are moving forward on grand openings.

15 Union Square West is how home to a very fancy yoga boutique. Your downward dog has never looked so good.

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.

An interesting photo of Lane’s Department Store, before it was transformed into the New School back in the mid-’60s.

Posters have announced that the successor to Le Midi restaurant at 9 East 13th St. will be Reyna, a middle-eastern bar/restaurant that currently has two locations in Toronto. From the menus and pictures (see photo of a Toronto location below), it seems fairly high-end and, one can hope, not too noisy or crazy. As part of a “good neighbor” effort, the bar will host an introductory Zoom call on OCTOBER 26 at 6PM. Here’s the link.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86012416505?pwd=dGI0cEZ3eHRudWJ0TnJhTzVkSWFVZz09