A Bank and a Shoestore…Great

ByDon

It turns out that the ground floor of the glamorous 15 Union Square West will contain not only a bank but also a Skechers shoe store. Just what we needed around here.

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  • Barry Benepe, The Father of NYC’s Farmer’s Markets, Had Died

    ByDon

    From the NY Times:

    Barry Benepe, an urban planner who in 1976 conceived of inviting farmers to truck their ripe tomatoes, peppery arugula and fresh corn to forlorn patches of New York City, delivering bustling markets and excitement to the city along with flavorful and healthy food, died on Wednesday at his home in Saugerties, N.Y., in the Hudson Valley. He was 96.

    New York’s popular Greenmarkets, the largest farmers’ market network in the country, helped start a national farm-to-table culinary movement. They are credited with saving thousands of acres of farmland in the region from development and reviving urban neighborhoods. Renowned chefs who discovered the bounties of fresh strawberries and zucchini blossoms were soon buying much of their seasonal produce from Greenmarket stalls.

    Mr. Benepe (pronounced BEN-eh-pea) raised grant money and worked the city bureaucracy to organize the first market with a colleague, Robert A. Lewis, whose role was to recruit wary farmers. During a decade of high crime and urban decay in New York, farmers feared that whatever money they made would be boosted before they escaped the city.

    Instead, the first Greenmarket — which kicked off in Manhattan in the summer of 1976 at East 59th Street and Second Avenue with a handful of upstate growers offering an open-air cornucopia — was an immediate success.

    “It could not have been a better location,” between two popular department stores, Mr. Benepe recalled in a 2022 interview with On Hand, a foodie newsletter. “We were halfway between Bloomingdale’s and Alexander’s. We were in the passage between the two, so you had to stop.”

    By contrast, the Union Square market — today the rock star of Greenmarkets — did not have a promising start. It opened later that year, but for weeks nobody came to visit the farmers who had set up in a park strewn with litter and known for drug sales. Mr. Benepe personally watered crab apple trees on the site.

    The market went on to anchor a neighborhood rebirth that included Danny Meyer’s Union Square Café and a multiyear improvement plan by the Parks Department.

    “We both loved the idea of the city benefiting from the revival of a European kind of lifestyle,” Mr. Lewis, whom Mr. Benepe hired in 1975 for his one-man planning firm, said in an interview. “He’d spent so much time in France and England. The daily shopping at the market. The fresh bread — this is Barry, a romantic.”

  • Union Square Partnership Survey

    ByDon

    From the Union Square Partnership:

    Union Square Partnership invites you to share your opinion about our work in our 2023 Annual Community Opinion Survey. Your feedback helps us better understand our community’s priorities and perceptions of the Union Square-14th Street neighborhood and plan for future projects. The survey will be open until 5:00 PM on Thursday, August 24th, 2023. It takes about 10 minutes.Survey participants will be entered for a chance to win one of six (6) $50 gift certificates from one of the following neighborhood businesses: 

    • Books of Wonder
    • Café Salmagundi
    • Caffè Panna
    • Fishs Eddy
    • Sweet Chick
    • Urbanspace Union Square Food Hall

    The Survey is Here:  https://www.unionsquarenyc.org/2023-community-survey. Thank you for your participation! Your feedback is invaluable.Sincerely,Union Square Partnership Team

  • Super Deluxe Maison Keyser Bakery to Bway/13th

    ByDon

    The Feil Organization announced Maison Kayser will bring its artisanal breads and baked goods to Union Square, signing a 15-year lease at the historic 841 Broadway for its eighth location in Manhattan.

    The bakery will occupy 3,000 sq. ft. on the ground and mezzanine floors of the 108,000 sq. ft., eight-level Romanesque building, where COSI used to be.

    “The activity in and around Union Square is buzzing, and the demand for this location was extraordinary, allowing us to maximize the income,” states Nicolas Forelli, director of leasing for The Feil Organization.  “While we were marketing this location, we had an overwhelming response from every food concept you can imagine. With its reputation for quality and unique product for this market, Maison Kayser was the best fit for the building and neighborhood.”

    Built in 1894, the Romanesque building is located at the intersection of 13th Street just one block from Union Square Park. In the past year, Feil completely renovated the building, restoring the terracotta façade, creating a brass-accented lobby, and installing new elevators and windows.