Brief Real Estate Price History

Communication network City24/7 launched its first “SmartScreens” booths today at ten locations around Union Square. The 32-inch touch screens are affixed to phone booths, and provide users with location-based local news, transit updates, current events, and entertainment listings like restaurants and shops for free. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the system is also providing information on volunteer opportunities. Over the next few months, a total of 250 screens will be installed throughout the city. The ATM-strength screens can withstand extreme weather, and they include back-up batteries if power is lost. City24/7 is responsible for the installation and upkeep for the booths, which also have free wifi.

A man allegedly went on a rampage in Union Square on September 4 and left a complete stranger dead in the process.

Police said that the attack may have been a hate crime.

Friends of Jeffrey Babbitt, 62, were shocked to hear about the random act of violence that left the gentle, retired train conductor in a coma, CBS 2′s Dave Carlin reported on Friday.

“I don’t believe that. I don’t know why that happened. He is very nice,” Igor Sapozhnikov said.

Babbitt was minding his own business as he walked through the crowd near the chess boards in Union Square when a man made a hateful announcement and began his rampage, witnesses said. “He said ‘the next white person who walks by I’m going to [expletive],’” one woman said. “His fist went in and the man’s head bobbed and he hit the ground and you could hear his skull hitting the ground.”

The man continued his rampage before demanding to see police officers.

Sausage Inc. has opened the doomed space on University between 12th and 13th that has housed a bakery, a Philly Cheesesteak shop and Wok New York.

Read this fun and interesting New Yorker article about artists who get together in our nearby smelly Taco Bell.

Bernie and Herb’s has opened at 28 East 16th St., the recent site of Flat Fix and the former site of the much missed Coffee Shop VIP Room. In a nostalgic twist, the owners have resurrected the Coffee Sign and will install it soon, so the facade will ultimately look like this:

Warby Parker’s 200th real-world store is located nearby at 73 5th Avenue.