It’s a bit of a hike, but the new Wegman’s supermarket at Astor Place is worth a visit because it is so huge and so suburban. Prices are competitive across the board, and the variety of items beats any other store in the area. The sad and tired Gristedes on University Place should be worried.
Pressed juice place Liquiteria will open not one but two sites on Union Square. Juicy.
Those rather good burgers on 12th St. are gone. Oh well. Now we can all go to the new Umami Burger on 6th Ave. at 10th St.
The University Diner has finally found its new identity…as a European cookie shop. The details:
“Almost a year after the closure of the classic diner University Restaurant, an Austrian corporation will open a specialty food shop in its place later this month, the owner of the incoming business said Tuesday.
“Gunz Fine European Food will sell cookies, snacks and other fine foods imported from across Europe, Daniel Gunz said.
“It will be everything from Belgian chocolate to Spanish cakes to Italian olive oil,”
Here’s a guide from the Union Square Partnership.
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.
This 1920 photo shows the northeast corner of 5th Ave. and 13th St., the current location of The New School’s main building. If you look down 13th St. at the right of the photo, you can see our 13th St. building. 104 years ago!
