The Good Ol’ Days: Lower Manhattan

The upcoming condos at 12 East 13th St. are now priced between $8 million and $28 million. The $28 million will get you the rooftop triplex. Eager to see who our new neighbors will be.

A few co-op residents were spotted among the mostly NYU throng that congregated in Union Square last night to celebrate Obama’s victory. Want to watch a bit of video capturing the excitement? Click here. And also here.

NYLaughs presents a free comedy night in Union Square Park on Thursday, June 5, from 6 p.m to 9:15 p.m., kicking off a weekend comedy festival around the neighborhood.

Enjoy top comedians—from TV headliners to rising stars—curated to showcase NYC’s diverse voices. Presented with The Stand and Union Square Partnership.

Walk through Union Square to learn more about spending your summer down the shore. The New Jersey Tourism Board has opened a promotional office, complete with sand,  just south of Union Square on Broadway.

Next week (April 1 to April 5), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building as well as roof work. We will be work on the new sidewalks around the building as well.

The following week (April 8 to April 12), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors and roofs as well as sidewalk work. By then end of this week we plan to have the rest of the sidewalk on 14th street complete. Additionally we plan to begin removing the sidewalk shed along 5th ave.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, March 30th for interior, superstructure, sidewalk, and hoist removal related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

From The New York Times’ Metropolitan Diary:

Greenwich Village’s Bowlmor Lanes on University Place, open since 1938 and one of the longest continuously running bowling alleys on the East Coast, shut its doors on Monday to make way for new condominiums.

Much more than the disappearance of another landmark is the loss of Mark Braunreuther, Bowlmor’s man at the door for the past 16 years: benevolent minder, gentleman greeter, peacekeeper on the rowdy corner between Bar 13 and Bowlmor, an area labeled by one resident as the intersection between “Bucket” and “Blood.” On weekends, residents regularly awaken to police sirens and find violent traces splattered on early-morning sidewalks. Mark was always deep in the fray. His judiciousness was the reason so many revelers went home unharmed.

Mark B. was the mayor of University Place. He knew most of us, and all of our pets, by name. Last summer he tended corn seeds in the tree bed out front. Just seeing those struggling cornstalks made one glad for summer. This coming season, he was planning some tomatoes.

Mark regularly brought my husband and me cake from his favorite Queens bakery. The box always included biscuits for our dog. We reciprocated with Carolina barbecue sauce.

Mark lost everything in Hurricane Sandy — his entire apartment and his car. His bosses replaced the car so he could get in from Far Rockaway. And when our Bowlmor closed for good, they promised a good position at their Chelsea Piers location. Mark was very grateful but he admitted he’d miss our neighborhood.

Mark died suddenly a few weeks before Bowlmor Lanes closed its doors forever.

Rest in peace, brave knight. I, for one, will miss you long after a bowling alley is a distant memory.