Latest New School Construction Update

The rumor is quashed. Walmart may be looking at 6th Ave. but has no interest in Union Square according to the Daily News.

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.

Adding them all up:

–Blue Bottle

–NewsBar

–Joe

–La Maison de Croque Monsieur

–Unnamed Japanese Bakery not yet open

–Blue Stripes Cacao Shop

–Baked by Melissa

–Le Café Coffee

–Nutella Café

–Grey Dog

–Pret a Manger

–Maison Keyser

The four new condos at 61 5th Ave, corner of 13th, have finally been priced, and the prices are mindbending. See prices and photos here.

In response to community concerns about the time in the evening we end our concrete placing, DOB has granted our request to start placing our concrete at 6am, which will allow us to finish this work earlier in the evening. We have 8 more instances like this until we finish our superstructure in early June.

Therefore next week (April 16 to April 20), Superstructure work will continue at the 13th and 14th floor levels. Wednesday, April 18th, we will have an identical pour with a 6 am start time and similar end time, weather permitting. 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 (April 23 to April 27), we will continue superstructure concrete and slabs on the 15th and 16th 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.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, April 14st 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 on the job site, the 14th St. Con Ed Vault utility connection street work will continue per DOT Permit granted for weekends only.

You may have noticed construction work speeding along at the corner of 13th St. and 4th Ave. This is to be an 11-story, 162-room hotel in the medium price range. It’s being built by Sam Chang, the king of New York hotel development. He’s famous for finding ways to squeeze hotels onto tiny lots. In this case he’s keeping the facade of the former building as a kind of pedestal. Unusually sensitive for a developer who is usually accused of having no architectural taste whatsoever.