What is Nom!?

Thai restaurant Spice, which recently relocated from University and 10th to University and 13th now has a new branch at 4th Ave. and 10th. Plenty of pad thai in the neigborhood for everyone.

An urban planner who has been looking around for ways to make the city more pedestrian-friendly (and to open up more space for protesting) wrote “Union Square could be greatly enhanced by following through on a 2010 plan to pedestrianize Union Square West. Also pedestrianizing University Place would be a bold step that could link Union Square and Washington Square Park, merging two vital public spaces into a permanent platform for open expression.”

That would certainly change the neighborhood.

It looks like our local BID wants to stretch its boundaries as improvements to Union Square and 14th St. continue to be planned.

Allbirds, the shoes that Silicon Valley loves, signed an 8,000-square-foot lease deal with The Bromley Companies at 120-122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District. The clothing and shoe company will be moving into the two-floor space at the Bromley building after The Gap moved out in the summer of 2021 after nearly 30 years. The retail space on West 17th Street and Fifth Avenue will serve as Allbirds’ U.S. flagship store. The sudden vacancy left by The Gap marked the first time in four decades that the retail location had been empty, having been home to the first Barnes & Noble superstore in the nation prior to the clothing store coming to the Flatiron.

Witnick Real Estate Partners purchased a mixed-use, multifamily apartment building in Union Square for $23 million. The building, located at 30 East 14th Street between Fifth Avenue and University Place, came with 30,720 square feet of air rights and sold for approximately $1,124 per square foot, meaning that a larger building might be on the way. But, plans for the property are unclear and Witnick did not respond to a request for comment.

What’s going on in Union Square this summer? Check here.