Our New Neighbor…Revealed!

From The Villager:

 

A flurry of development is bringing a new look to Union Square’s east side. With several major projects underway, real estate development, renovations and upgrades are breathing new life into neighborhood institutions while the district continues to rise in popularity.

Reading International is anchoring the east side of the neighborhood with the redevelopment of the historic Tammany Hall, transforming the property to offer more than 75,000 square feet, with a focus on retail and office space. Marketed by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, the newly rebranded 44 Union Square will bring more than 30,000 square feet of retail space at the gateway to Midtown South’s Park Ave. South corridor.

The redeveloped site will feature a glass dome designed by BKSK Architects, adding two floors to the building, as well as facade restoration, new signage on the front of the building and new entrances and windows. Design plans also call for restoring parts of the building to their original appearance at the time the structure was completed in 1929, including two windows on its E. 17th St. side that will be changed back into doors.

“Tammany Hall is one of Union Square’s most iconic structures, and this redevelopment will highlight some of its most beautiful details,” said Jennifer Falk, executive director of the Union Square Partnership. “With the high demand for office space in the district, we expect to see a lot of interest in the property.”

The historic monument to machine politics was finally landmarked by the city in November 2013, after longtime lobbying by the Union Square Community Coalition, among others. The dome addition, however, didn’t sit well with some.

“We pressured the Landmarks Preservation Commission for 29 years to landmark Tammany Hall — and now we got into this,” local preservationist Jack Taylor lamented of the dome after L.P.C. O.K.’d it in March 2015.

In a city where office space is increasingly difficult to find, Union Square will soon offer a new space for technology start-ups and creative companies to call home.  Last November, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced its plans to transform the P.C. Richard site at 124 E. 14th St., calling for proposals to redevelop the city-owned site into a new tech hub. E.D.C.’s request for proposals encouraged prospective developers to build office space for technology and creative businesses, including start-ups that outgrow incubators and co-working spaces.

“Union Square’s central location, accessibility, and wealth of tech and creative companies — big and small — makes it an ideal choice for the new development,” said Kriss Casanova, director of economic development for the Union Square Partnership. “This is another terrific example of E.D.C. finding creative solutions for businesses, which are hard-pressed to find adequate space in this city.”

Changes are also coming to Mount Sinai Beth Israel. The Phillips Ambulatory Care Center, at 10 Union Square East, is undergoing construction, updating its facade, and expanding and remodeling the lobby. The new lobby will feature a contemporary glass stairway to the second floor. These renovations mark the first step in an overall renovation and redesign of the facility. Construction is already underway on the facility.

With a high concentration of technology companies and innovators based in the district, Union Square was a natural choice for the city’s first beta location for LinkNYC, an initiative to transform the city’s payphone infrastructure into Wi-Fi kiosks. This winter, four new Wi-Fi kiosks were installed along Third Ave. between 15th and 19th Sts. Each Link provides a variety of services, including a touch-screen panel to access city services and directions, make free domestic calls and charge mobile devices with USB ports. The Wi-Fi network uses a special fiber-optic network that delivers speeds up to 100 times faster than your average public Wi-Fi.

With the square’s many changes and new developments on the way, the Union Square Partnership BID is playing its own role in the east side’s makeover by continuing its ongoing beautification efforts.

To keep up with demand placed on the district’s busy streetscape, the Partnership’s Clean Team works seven days a week to maintain and beautify Union Square. Made possible by neighborhood partners — including Con Edison, The New School, New York University, Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Union Square Hospitality Group and many others — the Partnership’s work includes the beautification of Union Square Park, providing landscaping, sanitation services and ensuring that the park remains a clean, safe and fun environment.

In addition to its extensive landscaping work in the park, the Partnership is overhauling the median malls along Union Square East and Park Ave. South. With help from its partners at ORDA Management and the city’s Parks Department, the Partnership’s work will bring 80 new trees and a brand-new landscaping design to the district’s east side.

“The Union Square Partnership is proud to invest in the maintenance and beautification of Union Square Park, to keep up with our district’s growing popularity,” said Falk. “As our dynamic district continues to grow and attract new businesses, residents and visitors, we look forward to these developments becoming part of the fabric of our vibrant community.”

That’s weird. Bar 13, which has been at the corner of University and 13th for more than 20 years, has been reborn as Cheers NYC, which is a non-alcoholic bar. Mocktails only. Go figure. Seems it’s true the kids are drinking less these days.

Curbed reports: The curvy low-rise building at 61 Fifth Avenue, devastated by fire in 2006, has been marked for death ever since the structure—a former Scrafft’s luncheonette (see photo at top left circa 1940)—was sold to a developer in early 2008. An architect was quickly enlisted to draw up plans for a 10-story building with apartments and ground-floor retail, and it was made clear that the current 61 Fifth Avenue was too far gone to be preserved in any manner. Has the economy put a pause on those plans? Perhaps, but broker-blogger Andrew Fine reports that demolition permit was issued for the property in December, so the wrecking ball could come calling any day now.

Curbed.com is reporting on a terrible HVAC noise problem being caused by the system installed by Vapiano last summer. Watch the video, and you’ll see and hear the problem. Here’s the report:

There’s nothing like a good noise controversy to round out the day, so here’s a tipster’s accusation that University Place chain restaurant Vapiano is destroying neighbors’ eardrums: “For the last seven months, residents of 48 East 13th Street, 107 University Place and 35 East 12th Street have been living with an egregious noise condition created by Vapiano’s HVAC system. Attempts to correct this with the various NYC agencies (DEP, DOB have thus far have not been effective. Vapiano has been issued 3 noise violations thus far by the DEP, has been the subject of TV news coverage (NY1 & Fox5), has been found in violation of the Building Code (twice!) and yet the residents are still subjected to the loud illegal noise levels from early morning to well into the late. This has been going on every day since July 16th of 2010.” Precise! So what do the locals plan to do about it? >> The neighbors have a plan: shame the restaurant via blog, video, and petition. Says our tipster about the video, “there is nothing wrong with your speakers, that’s actually what Vapiano’s HVAC system sounds like. If the noise is too loud and you can’t understand what people are saying just turn up the volume!” Noise wars: on.

Get ready for Leon’s, an all-day Italian bistro that will be located next door to Ribalta on 12th St. near Broadway.

It’s not quite ready yet, but after two years there is finally movement at the new location of Serafina Express at 110 University Place. Italian food soon.