USP’s Annual Report

Serafina at University and 12th has closed after less than one year.  It will soon be replaced by the eighth location of Bagel Pub. The nearest other location is at 6th Ave. and 9th St.

Bon Jour to Patisserie Fouet on 13th St. just steps away. High-end delicacies with a Japanese twist. You can read all about them in their liquor license application.

No sooner did the Giant Bagel Shop and its associated pizza shop close than the pizza shop got retiled and reopened as Little Italy Pizza. That was quick.

Num Pang has reopened just across 12th St. from its former location. Cambodian sandwiches for everyone.

Reading International has announced  he closing of construction finance facilities totaling US $57.5 million to fund the non-equity portion of the anticipated construction costs of its redevelopment of 44 Union Square in New York City. It’s the historic building at the corner of 17th and Union Square East that is historically known as Tammany Hall.

The redevelopment of 44 Union Square will add approximately 23,000 square footage of rentable space to the current square footage of the building for an approximate total of 73,322 square feet of rentable space, inclusive of anticipated BOMA adjustments and subject to lease negotiations and the final tenant mix.

Cars will mostly be banned from 14th Street starting July 1 as the city launches a busway to help speed up traffic on the busy Manhattan thoroughfare, DOT announced Monday.

Private through traffic will be banned between Third and Ninth avenues from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily to accommodate the pilot busway during reconstruction work on the L train’s Canarsie tunnel. Cars will still be able to make pick-ups, drop-offs, and access area garages on the street during the pilot, according to DOT.

In April, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that buses, trucks, and emergency vehicles would be given priority on the stretch of road—the same span that had been pitched for a busway under the original L train shutdown mitigation plan but was thrown up in the air after Gov. Andrew Cuomo suddenly swapped plans to repair the Hurricane Sandy-damaged tunnel. But the city had yet to unveil a launch date or hours of operation for the pilot busway until now.

“The 14th Street busway is great news for transit riders and neighborhood residents,” said Danny Pearlstein, the Riders Alliance policy and communications director. “By ensuring fast, reliable transit starting July 1, the busway will provide an excellent alternative to jam-packed L trains and expensive, inefficient car trips.”

To enforce the busway, new cameras on the buses will issue tickets to those violating the street’s new restrictions. But drivers will be given warnings and tickets will not be issued until at least September, according to the DOT.

The busway’s July 1 launch will also be accompanied by the MTA’s new M14 select bus service that will replace the current M14A and M14D routes and nix 16 existing stops—that’s down from 22 after public outcry over the slashed stops. Riders will have to swipe their MetroCards at machines lining the curb before boarding the new select bus service.