Reminder: Shareholders’ Meeting

Now that Blick Art Supplies has vacated on our block of 13th St., the question becomes…what will move in? According to recent reports, there is no tenant lined up, and the landlord is open to a large restaurant, a store, a medical office… pretty much anything. They will also subdivide as needed. Stand by.

Down the way on University Place is the new iteration of Pop Burger called Pop Pub. Eater.com has all the details. .

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.

Here’s an update on Union Square reconstruction:

Work is progressing quickly to repave the 16th Street transverse. Crews are laying a new concrete base to better support the asphalt pavers for this heavily-trafficked portion of the park. Special care is being taken to preserve the root systems of the elm trees that bisect the pathway, and access to the center lawn for the disabled will be part of the final design. Repaving is expected to be completed by Labor Day.
The center and east play areas are also moving along, with equipment installation nearly complete for both sections. The enormous Big Mountain play feature, fabricated by a silo manufacturer on Long Island, was welded together on site last week. The bulk of the remaining work will encompass retaining wall, decorative fence and bench installation, and final landscaping. In other construction news, Pavilion roof waterproofing, flashing and cornice work continues, as does new plaster work on the interior ceiling. Concrete and paver installation on the east plaza was recently finished, and excavation will soon begin on the east sidewalk south of the 16th Street transverse.

Next week (September 23 to September 27), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on the academic floors inside the building. Additionally we will be using a lift on the sidewalk to wash the exterior of the building.

The following week (September 30 to October 4), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on academic floors.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, September 21st for interior activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

The long-troubled TGI Fridays in Union Square is finally set to close, as the building goes on the market. “Union Square is so hot down there these days with real quality restaurants it just doesn’t compete well,” explains operator Dennis Riese.