For the Kids: A Playground

ByDon

The new and huge Union Square Park Playground looks like this.

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  • Latest New School Construction Update

    ByDon

    Next week (January 23 to January 27), Superstructure work will continue at and 3rd, 4th and 5th floor levels. All sidewalk sheds around the site have been opened up.

    The following week (January 30 to February 3), we will continue superstructure concrete and slabs on 4th and 5th floor levels.

    This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, January 21st 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.

    In addition to the normal work this Saturday we will be installing the main auditorium trusses at the 3rd floor level. During the installation 13th St. will be closed as well as some lanes on 5th Ave. Pedestrian traffic will also be temporarily closed on the east side of 5th ave. for safety during the lifts.

    Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you.

    Jane R. Crotty
    Senior Vice President
    George Arzt Communications, Inc.
    123 William Street, 22nd Fl.
    New York, NY 10038
    T (212) 608-0333

  • Restaurant Recommendation: Momofuku Milk Bar

    ByDon

    David Chang’s impressive restaurant empire is a joy to have in the neigborhood. His latest accomplishment is the weird and wonderful Momofuku Milk Bar on 13th near 2nd Ave. Try it out for some wild and tasty takeaway desserts. A little pricey, but it’s one of those “only in New York” things. We’re lucky to have it. Get the crack pie or the compost cookies.

  • See the Plans for the new New School

    ByDon

    An invitation from the New School to attend a preview of the new building on May 6:

    April 26, 2010

    To Our Neighbors, To meet the university’s evolving needs, plans for the construction of a new University Center at 65 Fifth Avenue will continue to move forward this summer. Because The New School has made it a priority to engage the entire university in the project’s development, we invite you to view the next phase of building design at a second exhibition featuring an overview of the current plan. We will also have a model of the building on display. Please join us on May 6 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center on the second floor of 55 W. 13th Street. This open house will include new renderings of the building design, academic and social spaces, sustainability systems, and details about the construction schedule. As in the past, attendants will be able submit comments and ask questions of many of the principals, including New School staff, architects and professionals from the design firm and construction trades. We hope to see you there.

  • After Decades, Gotham Bar and Grill Gets New Chef

    ByDon
    Gotham Bar & Grill’s dining room in black and white

    It’s a new era for iconic Union Square American restaurant Gotham Bar & Grill: Influential chef Alfred Portale is stepping away from the kitchen, where he spent 34 years leading the restaurant to a Michelin star and several James Beard awards. Replacing him will be former Chumley’s chef Victoria Blamey, the Times reports

    Owners Jerome Kretchmer, Jeff Bliss, Robert Rathe, and Richard Rathe decided to switch things up when Portale announced earlier this year that he would be opening his own Italian restaurant in Chelsea. The search for a chef led them to Blamey, who last helmed the kitchen at Chumley’s in the West Village where she earned two stars in the Times.

    Blamey plans to add more multicultural flavors to the formerly American menu, such as Indian sauces and chiles. Though she’s been there for a few weeks, her new menu will debut in September after a brief closure for a slight redesign in August.

    It’s a big change for the restaurant that for 34 years Portale has kept about upscale seasonal American fare. In that time, he’s racked up awards for both himself and the restaurant, including a Michelin star since 2006, three James Beard Awards, and five three-star reviews in the Times between 1985 and 2011.

    Now, Portale will focus on his the fall opening for his new Italian restaurant in Chelsea, to be called Portale. Portale will not be a fine-dining restaurant, the chef told Food & Wine. Rather, he wants to open a “hip and fun” place for the neighborhood, with housemade pasta and seasonal Italian classics.

    The chef lived in Italy and has been cooking French-influenced American food for the last few decades, which will all make its way into the menu here. There will be a particular focus in the 130-seat space on the “light and casually healthy” food of the Italian riviera, supplied by his deep relationships at the Union Square farmers market nearby.

    Portale says he’s wanted to open his own restaurant “for many, many years.” This “informal type of experience” is a departure from his time at Gotham Bar & Grill, where he remains a partner.