Andrade Shoe Repair: Closing

Reading International has announced  he closing of construction finance facilities totaling US $57.5 million to fund the non-equity portion of the anticipated construction costs of its redevelopment of 44 Union Square in New York City. It’s the historic building at the corner of 17th and Union Square East that is historically known as Tammany Hall.

The redevelopment of 44 Union Square will add approximately 23,000 square footage of rentable space to the current square footage of the building for an approximate total of 73,322 square feet of rentable space, inclusive of anticipated BOMA adjustments and subject to lease negotiations and the final tenant mix.

Nostalgic dessert chain Milk Bar is opening its 10th New York City location Saturday, but this time with new menu items only available at this store near Union Square.

Located at 110 Fifth Ave. and 16th Street, this latest Milk Bar is a part of a new store called Camp, created to be “immersive” shopping for families. The 10,000-square-foot space has a camp theme that will change every eight to 12 weeks, with “base camp,” modeled after children’s summer camps, first up.

To fit into the camp theme, Milk Bar will have a sundae bar with a rotating special — starting off, appropriately, with a s’mores sundae of cereal milk soft serve topped with compost cookie crumbs, charred marshmallows, fudge sauce, and marshmallow sauce. The sundae bar also has very Milk Bar-esque topping options such has cornflake crunch, confetti cookie crumb, and blueberry corn. And Milk Bar classics — crack pie, corn cookie, birthday cake truffles — fill out the rest of the menu, in full below. There’s also Counter Culture coffee.

This wonderful interactive map lets you explore the history of most of the buildings in our neighborhood.

According to this NY Times story:

The city’s Department of Transportation has declared its pedestrian plaza on the north side of Union Square, the fourth such major street revamping along Broadway, an out-and-out success, despite some early qualms from residents.

The redesign, implemented about a year ago, banned most cars from the block of Broadway north of Union Square, between 17th and 18th Streets, and closed a traffic lane on Union Square North. Tables and chairs were placed on the closed-off areas, and the neighborhood’s green market was able to expand.

The idea was to simplify a particularly tricky intersection where a confusing jumble of traffic signals and two-directional car lanes had resulted in a string of pedestrian injuries.

But the plan initially met stiff opposition from residents and businesses in the area, who complained about traffic jams on residential streets and problems for delivery trucks. A raucous community board meeting resulted in outcry and a mass walkout from protesters.

One year later, the city’s traffic engineers say that the improvements, for cars and pedestrians alike, have been palpable. (Here’s a pdf link to the report.) And no businesses or store managers appear to have registered complaints with local officials.

Radar samples found that about 12 percent of cars on Broadway between 20th and 19th Streets were now exceeding the 30 mile-per-hour speed limit, down from 28 percent of cars before the changes. Pedestrians can navigate a shorter crosswalk at the north end of Union Square, and they are waiting a shorter time for a “walk” signal.

Bicycle riders, who benefited from an additional protected lane along East 17th Street, also appear to be enjoying the changes: the agency found a 16 percent jump in cyclists in the area on weekdays, and a 33 percent increase on weekends.

Still, automobile drivers now appear to be avoiding the stretch of Broadway south of Madison Square, where the street was reduced to a single lane of car traffic and the direct car connection through Union Square was severed.

The number of cars traveling on that stretch has dropped by about half since the plaza was installed, the report said. Some of those drivers may be choosing to take Fifth Avenue or Park Avenue South for southbound trips through the area, slightly slowing those routes. The average speed of taxis along Fifth Avenue fell slightly after the plaza was installed, and southbound trips on Park Avenue South took longer.

But the Transportation Department noted that average speed along West 18th Street, where residents were most fearful of jam-ups, rose by about 14 percent, to 7 m.p.h. from 6 m.p.h. And average speeds on Park Avenue South stayed relatively unchanged.

The Union Square Partnership, the neighborhood’s economic development group, conducted a door-to-door survey of area businesses, and 60 percent of those who responded said they were happy with the new traffic configuration. About 35 percent had no opinion.

Still to be determined: some illegal left turns at the always-dangerous perpendicular intersection of Union Square West and 14th Street. (Initially, the agency had hoped to close off parts of Union Square West entirely, but some businesses objected.) The city said it was working on new street adjustments to tackle the problem.

What the heck happened to University Place between 13th and 14th? As part of the reimagining of 14th St., it appears that this block is now all but impassable to cars, and we have doubled down on Citibikes. Wow.