Park Renovation Continues Apace

In Union Square Park, the 16th Street transverse and eastern plaza are now open to pedestrians, complete with additional park benches along the north sides of the transverse. New asphalt pavers and crushed bluestone allow the stately elm trees along the transverse to thrive while removing the previous trip hazard, and the entrance to the center lawn is now accessible to wheelchairs. The park’s new and expanded 15,000-square-foot play space is nearing completion with Parks Department final site inspections scheduled in the next few weeks. Soon, area kids will have endless hours of fun in this creative, colorful and beautifully landscaped play space designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The North End Project is 91% complete and the remainder of the project, including new restroom facilities and the Pavilion, are expected to be finished by the end of the year.

Similar Posts

  • Latest Construction Update from The New School

    Next week (August 22 to August 26), contractors will continue to excavate earth and rock, and load out material. Installation of bracing rakers, line drilling, lagging and sheeting around the perimeter will progress as well. Concrete foundation walls will continue along the perimeter of the site. Interior core foundation work will continue along the perimeter of the site. Interior core foundation work will proceed. The following week (August 29 to September 3 ), we will continue with concrete foundation walls, line drilling, rock excavation, loading out, and interior core foundation work & underground plumbing. DEP will continue to work on the water main along 13th Street.

  • Tech Hub Happening

    From the paper:

    A new tech hub, which had its land use application approved on Feb. 27, is one step closer to coming to Union Square — between NYU’s Palladium Residence Hall and University Residence Hall. The new facility, currently branded as the Union Square Tech Hub, would replace the recently vacant 124 E. 14th St. address that P.C. Richard & Son formerly occupied.

    Mayor Bill de Blasio advocated for the construction of the hub early last year, but approval has been met by opposition from local community groups concerned of overdevelopment.

    On one hand, NYU supports the building addition but it has no part in the hub’s construction besides the neighboring walls of two of its residence halls.

    “NYU hasn’t had any direct involvement in the project,” university spokesperson John Beckman wrote in an email. “However, we have supported the overall efforts to strengthen [New York City’s] science, tech and innovation economy, from the creation of our own Center for Urban Science and Progress to the development of 370 Jay St. as a tech hub in downtown Brooklyn to Tandon’s [Tandon School of Engineering’s] stewardship of several incubators. The Union Square Tech Hub is meant to advance NYC’s [New York City’s] tech economy, and that’s an objective NYU supports.”

    The hub would generate 600 jobs and would feature office spaces for startup tech companies, according to the mayor’s office.