The Good Ol’ Days: Union Square Park, north end

Here is a long article from the Villager about what’s going on with the New School project.

Certified closed: Recess, the angular coffee and snack shop on the corner of University and 10th. It lasted only about six months.

Urbanspace has opened a 10,000-square-foot food hall in Manhattan. Urbanspace Union Square is located on the ground floor of Zero Irving, a new mixed-use building on East 14th St. at the foot of Irving Place between 3rd adn 4th Avenues. Vendors include Summer Salt, Twenty One Grains, Kid Brother Pizza, Pita Yeero, Plant Junkie, Goat Café, Bao by Kaya, Bobwhite Counter, Playa Bowls, Wafels & Dinges, Top Hops, Casa Toscana and GoFish. The venue marks the fifth New York City food hall by Urbanspace.

The 4th Quarter Union Square Partnership Business Report, available here, has some interesting updates:

Union Square finished the year strong, with storefront occupancy in the BID1 reaching 91% in Q4 2025 (compared to 85% in Q4 2024). This growth reflects continued   confidence in the district and demand from both national operators and emerging local players. Around Union Square Park, five long-vacant corner storefronts are slated to welcome new business openings in 2026, including global apparel anchor UNIQLO as well as Flight Club and Voodoo Doughnut, both new to NYC.

60 businesses opened in Union Square in 2025 (11 more than in 2024). Q4’s 16 openings ranged from top retailers like Pacsun, Ulta Beauty, and Aritzia (which expanded into a new space three times its previous size), to more intimate establishments like Maison Welles and Stars. Nespresso debuted its 13,000+ SF flagship that merges traditional retail with multi-sensory coffee tastings, interactive masterclasses, and a speakeasy. While Nespresso leads in scale, smaller coffee-forward openings include unique experiences this quarter, including Ioannis Coffee Chef’s “farm-to-cup” workshops and luckin coffee’s tech-driven model. With rising occupancy and a robust tenant pipeline, Union Square enters 2026 primed for an exciting year.

From the Union Square Partnership:

Union Square’s fourth quarter performance capped a strong
2024, marked by year-over-year growth across key metrics:

Ground Floor Leasing: 49 new businesses opened in 2024,
with Union Square’s signature culinary scene driving 65%
of leasing activity.

Foot Traffic: An average of 370k daily trips in 2024
reflected a 4% increase over 2023, which itself saw a 15%
rise compared to 2022.

Consumer Spending: A 5% increase in 2024 over 2023,
fueled by higher spending at restaurants and bars (+7%),
entertainment (+18%), and retail (+3%), continuing upward
trajectories from 2023 (+8%) and 2022 (+17%).

In Q4, the district experienced a 23% surge in visits and a
28% jump in consumer spending during Urbanspace’s Union
Square Holiday Market, highlighting Union Square’s appeal for
unique experiences and shopping. With notable Q4 restaurant
openings such as Leon’s and Le Basque driving momentum,
18 new businesses are already set to debut in 2025. These
include Seahorse at the newly renovated W New York – Union
Square, Café Zaffri at The Twenty Two, and Flight Club,
signaling strong economic growth for the year ahead