And Here’s a Look at the Potential New 13th St. Permanent Bike Lane and Temporary Changes to 14th St.

Here’s the official word on how the renovations are going:

Spring weather has brought with it a flurry of activity in Union Square Park, both in the new playground and at the construction site.  Parents and kids have been taking full advantage of the warm sunny days by swinging, climbing and sliding their way out of the winter doldrums.  The Partnership’s new landscape efforts, including more than 260 ornamental shrubs and 650 perennials, will soon be underway, as well as the creation of additional seating opportunities in the center lawn, in front of the new Pavilion entrance and around the James Fountain (a/k/a Mother & Child).

In construction news, structural work on the Pavilion columns and ceiling beams has finished at last, and the protective plywood barriers have been removed from the front of the building, exposing the beautifully restored neo-classical interior to passersby.  As the Pavilion elevator is installed and tested, interior lighting fixtures, gates and handrails round out the final touches of building restoration work.

Park visitors can soon make use of the restroom facilities as they, too, near completion.  Last week, eco-resin panels were mounted above the granite walls to enclose the building, allowing the final plumbing fixtures to be installed.  Once complete, the Parks Department will work closely with the Department of Buildings to inspect all systems in order to open the facilities for the busy summer season.

After all the posts here about the imminent 14th St. Busway project, it died, perhaps because residents made such a fuss.

Mid block between 5th and 6th Aves. will be the local of a new 133-room hotel. It’ll be interesting to see how they squeeze it in. Here are the details.

Soon to arrive on 4th Ave. between 12th and 13th Streets is Schmackary’s Cookies, which allegedly sells more types of freshly baked cookies that any other cookie store.

So long, old friend.

The northeast corner of Union Square has now been swept clean of its last small independent businesses as Tammany Hall preps for its big upgrade. One less deli, one less smoke shop. And so it goes.