Union Square Merch

It’s almost too painful to think about. And while we’re at it, goodbye, Wet Nose Doggy Gym. Looks like the first three buildings along that side of 13th St. will come down and be replaced by…more condos.

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.

Comparing 3rd quarter 2007 to 3rd quarter 2008, real estate prices around here have actually done pretty well, according to the Times.

Neighborhoods that experienced price drops include the Lower East Side and the East Village, where median prices fell 5.5 percent; and Carnegie Hill, where co-op prices decreased 7.2 percent. Median prices in Hamilton Heights and Morningside Heights dropped 30 percent, with sales decreasing to only 19 from 67 in 2007. In Washington Heights, median prices went down 6.3 percent, but the number of sales increased to 24 from 18 in 2007.

The neighborhoods that fared the best through the third quarter included Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue from 59th to 96th Streets, where median prices went up 35 percent. In Lincoln Square, an area between 57th and 72nd Streets from Central Park West to the Hudson River that is home to high-priced apartments in 15 Central Park West and the Time Warner Center, median co-op prices went up 18.6 percent and median condo prices went up 25 percent. Prices also rose in Lenox Hill, where median co-op prices went up 19 percent; and Chelsea, where median co-op and condo prices went up about 6 percent.

Other neighborhoods that experienced increases include Greenwich Village, where median prices for co-ops went up 3.9 percent; Union Square and the Gramercy area, where co-op prices went up 3.3 percent and condo prices went up 2.6 percent; and the Upper East Side, where median co-op prices went up 2.3 percent and condo prices went up 9.1 percent.

Go here to read today’s New York Times Real Estate section analysis of what’s going on in Union Square. Some interesting facts and figures, including the detail that One Union Square South is only 30 percent sold and that the white-brick Victoria (across 14th St.) recenty added “Union Square” to its name.  

Here’s a very old and undated photo of Union Square West. The 1842 building at 35 Union Square West that currently houses Barn Joo is one of the neighborhood’s oldest structures.

Levain Bakery

Levain Bakery, known for its signature crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside cookies, just opened its 14th location at 2 West 18th Street. Check out its exclusive black-and-white cookie flavor, only found at this location.