Reminder: Rooftop Pary on October 1 at 6PM

Akam informs us that we have a new managing agent, taking over for Anthony Grimaldi.

She is Inna Odesskaya, 212-986-0001 ext 142, or iodesskaya@akam.com.

According to transit data from MTA and Citi Bike, Union Square continues to be one of the City’s top destinations for employees, residents and visitors alike. While subway ridership remains low across the system, currently 20% of normal use, turnstile activity at the Union Square-14th Street station has tripled since April.

Similarly, bus ridership on the M14A/D busway is gaining momentum as average daily bus ridership has tripled since its low point in late March, reaching nearly 60% of pre-COVID daily ridership levels. For those visiting the district by Citi Bike, Broadway and 17th Street remains one of the City’s top 10 destination stations and ridership is up 45% since April. Another popular end station, Broadway and East 14th Street has experienced a 57% increase in use since April.

Other indicators are up too. Union Square’s public Wi-Fi use is up to 42% from 15% at the start of the pandemic, signaling an uptick in outdoor activity. The district’s active public realm can be attributed to the draw of the Greenmarket, the expansion of outdoor dining activating sidewalks and roadways, and the reopening of local business that attracts steady foot traffic across the district.

Union Square’s zip codes (10003, 10010 and 10011) make up 16% of Open Restaurants applications in Manhattan with the City’s highest number of applications located in 10003! Within Union Square-14th Street, nearly two thirds of businesses are conducting storefront activity and this number continues to grow as additional businesses and cultural institutions are making exciting plans to open their doors with events and programming as soon as it is safe to do so.

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has been doing some reconnaissance to find out what exactly developer Billy Macklowe has planned for his new condo building that will replace Village icon Bowlmor Lanes, and what they’ve found has not heartened them: “[The building] will take the form of a short base with retail uses coming out to the streetwall, and a very tall, narrow, residential tower rising above it. At approximately 308 feet in height, this will be one of the tallest, if not the tallest, buildings in the Village. Apparently Mr. Macklowe has told elected officials that the building will be limestone rather than glass or steel

Our new downstairs neighbor, The Drop House, seems to be some kind of short-term music pop-up experience. It’s a bit hard to decode.

NYC’s zoning for businesses has recently changed, allowing for a wider range of retail and experiential offerings. In Union Square, this means new opportunities to lease to unique amusement and recreation facilities, live entertainment establishments and clean production and maker spaces. This bolsters the emerging trends in Union Square, where new nightlife hotspots like Midnight Blue and Upright Citizens Bridge have established
roots alongside a cluster of experiential retail arcades like Boba Box, Sweet Cats Cafe, and Partea. And with the much anticipated 2025 opening of the darts-centric bar Flight Club at 31 Union Square West, Union Square is poised to be at the center of this new wave of ground-floor leasing enabled by the modernized zoning code.

You’ve surely noticed the water main repairs happening along 13th St. This will lead to water shutoffs at 830AM to perhaps 3PM on Thursday the 26th and Tuesday the 31st, and perhaps other times.