Our Block (14th St.) in the 1850s

Zoning changes around Union Square, specifically to OUR zone, C6, are designed to make it easier for a wider variiety of businesses to set up shop at the ground floor level and above. The details are here. For example,

• Arcades

• Axe-throwing

• Billiards/pool halls

• Bowling alleys

• Escape rooms

• Golf simulator driving range

• Indoor go-karts

• Indoor skateboard park

• Interactive or virtual reality attractions

• Laser tag

• Miniature golf

• Observation towers

• Ping pong/table tennis

• Play spaces/family fun centers

• Wax figure exhibitions

• Seasonally: haunted houses and similar fright attractions

• Comedy shows

• Concerts

• Dancing

• Open-mic night or poetry reading

• 3-D printing

• Brewery

• Ceramic studio

• Jewelry making

• Wholesale and/or large-scale bakery

• Woodworking

• Other food and beverage producers, such as coffee roasters, ice cream makers, and shared commercial kitchen or food business incubator space

• Other makers

State of Play Hospitality group has signed a lease to open Flight Club, a technology-enabled darts gaming facility, at 31 Union Square West in Flatiron, Manhattan. This will be the group’s first venue in Manhattan, and its ninth lease for the Flight Club brand in North America. The location will be a global flagship for the brand. Flight Club will occupy a 10,700-square-foot space at 31 Union Square West, a 16-story Renaissance Revival building designed by architect Bruce Price. The building was constructed in 1902-03 as the headquarters of the Bank of Metropolis. It was designated a city landmark in 1988 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

The brand’s new location is scheduled to open in late 2025, joining the building’s history of housing venues like Zippers nightclub in the early 1980s, Metropolis restaurant and club in the late 1980s, and Blue Water Grill from 1996 until recently.

“We’ve been looking for the right real estate opportunity to land Flight Club in New York for over five years, and this site has the potential to be a genuine landmark for the city and the group,” said Toby Harris, CEO of State of Play Hospitality. “Both 31 Union Square as a building and the stunning split level Flight Club space are as close to the physical brief for the brand that we could wish for. I’m confident that by complementing and retaining the character of the building, we will be able to do it justice.”

Since launching the first U.S. Flight Club in Chicago in 2018, State of Play has expanded the brand to Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Denver, with new venues set to open in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia in late 2024.

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.

The team behind the world-famous Union Square Greenmarket, GrowNYC, just launched Project Farmhouse, an event space and sustainability center that hosts workshops, galas, speakers, community meetings and interactive exhibits. The new space is located on 13th Street, on the ground floor of the Hyatt Union Square.

Next week (February 18 to February 22), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building as well as roof work. Additionally we will begin work on the new sidewalks around the building. The sidewalk shed on 14th st. is scheduled to begin dismantling, pending construction progress. The site will be closed on Monday, February 18th, for the holiday.

The following week (February 25 to March 1), Material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors and roofs as well as sidewalk work.