New on East 12th: Figa

From the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation:

NYU recently revealed its draft Environmental Assessment Statement and draft Scoping Document for its massive proposed zoning changes and taking of public land to allow its planned twenty-year expansion in Greenwich Village. These documents provide greater detail about what NYU is planning, what the potential impacts are of their proposed changes, and how NYU will be required to analyze those impacts for the public review process of their application.

Community Board #2 will be holding a public hearing on the documents and the response to them on Thursday, May 5 (time and location TBD). Following the Community Board hearing, the City Planning Commission will hold a hearing before the documents are finalized and the review and analysis takes place. This process is expected to take several months. After that, the public hearing, review, and approval process for the actual proposed zoning changes and transfers of public land may take place.

People often complain that Whole Foods is too expensive, but did you know they offer plenty of decent coupons?

Here’s a guide from the Union Square Partnership. 

Signage indicates that a new, and rather large, Greek restaurant will be setting up shop on the east side of University Place around 10th Street.

The sale of two units at Brack Capital Real Estate’s condominium conversion at 15 Union Square West may be set to shatter records for the sale of a single-family home on the square, the Corcoran Group’s Timothy Rothman told The Real Deal yesterday, since the new owner plans to combine them into one duplex spread. Rothman, a vice president at Corcoran on the Spiegelman team, represented a mystery foreign buyer in the deal for penthouse 11 and unit 10B at the building, which closed together yesterday for between $16 million and $17 million, he said, though he declined to give a specific price. The units were not on the market as a combination; their individual asking prices were $10.7 million and $6.5 million respectively. Rothman would not reveal the identity of the buyer due to a confidentiality agreement.

Got $15 million? That’s what it will cost you to buy the burned out deli on the corner of 13th and 5th, which has stood vacant for the past two years. At that price, and given the zoning regulations, the most likely outcome would be a 10-story luxury condo building. But now doesn’t seem to be a good time for new condo development, so there are no takers. Even the New School, which as we all know is interested in increasing its presence in the area, has said that it is uninterested in the lot. Check out the fascinating history of the building.