The Golden Horse Awaits

The retail operation of Arthur’s Invitations has finally closed on 13th St. They are now using the basement for their custom work. What will replace Arthur’s at street level. That is unknown.

Union Square themed clothing is available from the Union Square Partnership.

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

Here on 13th St., ten-year-old Korean restaurant DoSirak has closed, while across the street in our building, BAK has opened. As it turns out, the BAK folks are the DoSirak folks, so all is well. Kimchi for all.

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.

As you know, the north end of the park is under heavy renovation, but the big question is what will become of the pavillion? For a while now, there has been discussion of handing it over to a restauranteur, but park boosters feel it should become a more public facility. As to the question of who that restauranteur might be, Danny Meyer of Union Square Cafe and many other great restaurants is a natural, especially since he has helped oversee the rebirth of Madison Square Park with his Shake Shack, but he says he’s not interested.