14th St. in 1939, Part II

To get a sense of the pulse of the neighborhood, check out the USP’s ANNUAL REPORT. It’s full of interesting plans and action items, such as:

Public Space Activations: This summer, USP is rolling
out new seating areas, enhanced landscaping, the
second annual mural along the 14th Street Busway,
and hosting an Oonee Pod Mini, a prototype for safe
bike storage.

Park Upgrades: In partnership with NYC Parks, USP
will develop a Union Square Park infrastructure
plan that includes upgraded utilities, irrigation, and
bathrooms amenities, as well as a preservation plan
of the entire district’s tree canopy.

Since January 2021, 46 new businesses have opened in and around Union Square.

Mid block between 5th and 6th Aves. will be the local of a new 133-room hotel. It’ll be interesting to see how they squeeze it in. Here are the details.

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.

The original branch of Crunch Fitness on East 13th St., which closed three years ago and has been vacant since, will become a new branch of Revolve Fitness, a spinning studio.

This very interesting article from the New York Press describes the battle between a noted urban planner and his son, who happens to be the Parks Commissoner. They disagree about the future design of Union Square and they’ve been battling publicly. Ouch.

NY Laughs: Laughter in the Park 2009

Sunday, June 7, 2009
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Laughter in the Park is New York’s only free outdoor comedy series. Every week, we present two hours of comedy at one of six different city parks. NYLaughs, Inc. is a unique non-profit that wants to change the cultural landscape of the Big Apple through humor. We seek to elevate the comic arts and provide laughter for free to New Yorkers on a consistent basis by producing free live comedy shows in New York City’s public spaces; from its parks and streets to its subways. We want to make New York a better place through laughter!