The Verdict on the New BestBuy

Next week (February 20 to February 24), Superstructure work will continue at 5th and 6th floor levels. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic.

The following week (February 27 to March 2), we will continue superstructure concrete and slabs on the 5th and 6th floor levels. Deliveries will continue to arrive at the site. The site will not be open on Monday the 20th, Presidents’ Day holiday.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, February 18th for superstructure related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City. To control noise levels within the site, work activities will be limited to the placement of formwork and concrete, plumbing and electrical work, rebar for concrete placement, using the crane and equipment to support all activities. Safety horns are used, and required by law, to coordinate lifting with the crane and to alert the workers of the danger overhead. We have directed the operators to limit the use of horns to one short sounding and to use the crane later in the day so as to avoid any excess noise.

Just what we needed: another beverage outlet. Meet Argo Tea, a small chain of fancy tea shops, which will soon open a new branch in the old Dean and Deluca space on University Place. (You can sample it now at another outlet in the Flatiron Building.)

Pierre Zarzour writes: 

Please be reminded that I will be out of the office from Friday, December 18^th through Monday, December 28^th.  During my absence, please contact Ms. Jillian Rothenberg at 212-986-0001 x 181 or jrothenberg@akam.com.

 In case of an emergency, please call my mobile at 917-519-4679.

Reps announce that Tortaria, the new Mexican sandwich shop and tequila bar at 94 University place and 12th Street, will open on Monday. The 65-seat space will serve tortas, taquitos, made-to-order guacamole, homemade salsas, hand-pressed tortillas, and a range of margaritas in a space that is the owners’ “reimagined take on the bodega.”

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.

Allbirds, the shoes that Silicon Valley loves, signed an 8,000-square-foot lease deal with The Bromley Companies at 120-122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District. The clothing and shoe company will be moving into the two-floor space at the Bromley building after The Gap moved out in the summer of 2021 after nearly 30 years. The retail space on West 17th Street and Fifth Avenue will serve as Allbirds’ U.S. flagship store. The sudden vacancy left by The Gap marked the first time in four decades that the retail location had been empty, having been home to the first Barnes & Noble superstore in the nation prior to the clothing store coming to the Flatiron.