Latest New School Construction Update

Brit chain Pret A Manger had moved into the former Tisserie space at 857 Broadway (at 17th Street), and now comes official word that when it opens for a test run this Friday, it will give away 3,000 free sandwiches starting at 12:15 p.m. — provided you snag one of the flyers that will be given away at the Union Square subway entrances between 8 a.m. and 9:25 a.m. that morning. Pret is calling this the “Guinea Pig Day” for what will be their U.S. flagship (the store features a fresh design and free Wi-Fi), but for better or worse, cuy won’t be served — instead, Pret is sourcing food directly from Greenmarket vendors. The location opens fully on June 22.

Sort of a surprise that the neighborhood is getting a new bodega at the corner of 13th and University, replacing Basics Hardware.

Here’s a very old and undated photo of Union Square West. The 1842 building at 35 Union Square West that currently houses Barn Joo is one of the neighborhood’s oldest structures.

In a last-minute appeal, a judge on Friday hit the brakes on the city’s plan to ban private car traffic from a stretch of 14th Street, NY1 reports.

A judge granted the appeal, which was filed in the state appellate court division, and halted the pilot program for the second time in two months. The decision forces the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) to suspend its plans and likely move to appeal the sudden about face.

The ruling comes just three days after a judge lifted a temporary restraining order on the program and as DOT crews prepared to launch the 18-month pilot program between Third and Ninth avenues on Monday. The stalled pilot aims to block private car through traffic from the busy road to speed up bus commutes during work on the L train’s Canarsie Tunnel. Pick-ups, drop-offs, and garage access would still be permitted under the plan.

The busway was set to launch Monday at 6 a.m. It was originally planned for July 1.

As you’re well aware, the demolition and construction of The New School site at 65 Fifth Avenue is well underway. On Thursday, The New School revealed for the first time the official design of the building, which includes some of the elements from its earliest sketches, such as the exposed staircases, but is different in two notable ways: the building is smaller than originally planned, and it is partially class in brass, rather than entirely in glass.

The building is being constructed as of right. There is no more debate over design or size. This is pretty much what we’re going to see: a university hub of about 16 stories with eight floors of campus space topped by a smaller eight floors of dormitory housing for 600 students.

To get caught up on what the building looks like and see many photos of the model, click here.

To read the somewhat positive New York Times architecture critic’s review, click here.

A neighbor attended the public viewing of the model and came away with some great facts:

–The loading dock is on 13th street at the eastern most corner of the lot.

–The main entrance to the building is on the southwest corner. This is for everything except the dormitories.

–The dormitory entrance is on 5th avenue, about 1/3 of the way down from 14th street.

–The northern 1/3 of the building at street level is retail – no word on what though.

–Directly above the retail is a cafeteria. It looks like seating for 300, which makes sense considering the 600 person dormitory.

–The dormitory floors are set back on all sides, and shaped in a ‘C’ with a light well on the eastern side of the stack. They are four bed suites, with kitchenettes in them.

–The set-back between the lower and upper halves is a green roof, and they say that for liability reasons it will not be open to the general building population. Pressing on this, and the answer was that while the green roof hasn’t been engineered yet, it is likely going to be possible to have foot traffic on it and will perhaps be open to supervised use (during a class, or for an experiment of some kind). (So no midnight keg parties, we hope.)

The green roof is at the level of 7 East 13^th St/10 East 14^th St, so about the same height as our roof.

— It looks like it’s designed to keep students inside the building, and not loitering on the street. The canopies are small, and the doors aren’t inset, so there isn’t any natural gathering space just outside on the sidewalk.

We hope that this brings everyone up to date on a project that will be a big part of the pulse of the neighborhood for the next two years….and beyond.