New York Times Speaks Favorably of 14th St. Real Estate
The New York Times reports on the new busway and the potentially positive effect it has on real estate prices, although it seems certain not everyone would agree.
Similar Posts
Soon to Arrive: Glaze
Next up in the new retail strip on the west side of University Place between 12th and 13th is Glaze, which will offer vaguely Asian fusion bowls, like this:
That Was Fast: Taco Lane Replaces Rulin
What was briefly Rulin hand-pulled noodles on our 13th St. block has suddenly transformed into Taco Lane. Here is the write-up: “Taco Lane, the Asian taco bistro from the couple behind Brooklyn’s beloved Noodle Lane, is officially open in Union Square in the space that was formerly known as Rulin. Taco Lane is owned and operated by Li and her husband, Chris Wang, who have backgrounds in finance and technology, respectively. However, they made a significant shift in their careers to pursue food full-time. Li’s story is one of remarkable resilience spanning from her childhood in China and Flatbush to her becoming a chef. After completing her training at the Institute of Culinary Education while simultaneously working in finance, the birth of her son, Jackson, served as a catalyst for her decision to dedicate her life to the culinary arts. This pivotal moment ultimately led to the successful establishment of Noodle Lane at Smorgasburg in 2011. Subsequently, a brick-and-mortar location was opened in Park Slope in 2023, and now, the latest of the “Lane” locations has arrived in the form of Taco Lane.”
A Refresher Course on the Metronome Wall Art
from Gothamist.comThe Metronome, the hulking piece of public art omnisciently keeping time in Union Square, has been an object of both fascination and derision for twenty years. The work is meant to be a rumination on time and rituals, and features a massive rock, a whirring digital clock that means wildly different things depending on who you ask, and a hand from Union Square’s own equestrian statue of George Washington that points to its history.
Yet something seems to be off about the Metronome. As a tipster pointed out to Gothamist, the steam that was supposed to emerge from the center of the piece hasn’t worked in ages, it doesn’t seem to have been maintained in a while, and even its website is defunct.
That might be because the Metronome wasn’t ever finished, as Kristin Jones, the artist who created the piece along with Andrew Ginzel, tells Gothamist. It was always meant to be more than be a “gaping hole,” “void,” or “smoldering anus,” as it’s been called before. Jones says that the “dismissive and inadequate” upkeep from The Related Companies (the real estate company that owns the property) means the Metronome has never looked, or kept time, as they intended it to.
According to Jones, the piece, a nod to European clocks’ different mechanisms for telling time, originally was going to emit steam twice daily (at noon and midnight) along with bursts of sound. It barely has, if ever. She also notes that in spite of “periodic upgrades” to the numeral display, the clock was “never correct in the first place,” especially because the artists never saw it before it went up and it never had the flexible software it needed.
Jones knows that people seem baffled about what the numbers represent: They don’t, say, represent the national debt or the time left until the Earth implodes, and it is indeed a clock meant to be read left to right. (The left half, at least, which displays the time since midnight. The right half, which shows the time remaining until midnight, should be read right to left.)
Curiously, the Metronome, steam and all, is prominently displayed on Related Rentals’ website, currently hawking one-bedroom apartments at the Union Square locale for a starting price north of $5,500 monthly rent. (“Live Luxuriously in a Work of Art,” it reads.) Related did not reply to Gothamist’s request for comment.
The Metronome came about when Related approached the Municipal Art Fund in 1995, as The New York Times reported, about what to do with the building’s wall space. Eventually Related and the Public Art Fund held a competition where artists submitted proposals for the wall. Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel ended up getting the commission, and in 1999 the Metronome first began ticking along at Union Square.
Since then, the artists say, they haven’t had input, or knowledge, as to how the artwork is being maintained, if at all. Jones says she’d personally rather see the Metronome be torn down instead of continue in its current state. “Since they don’t [correspond with us] I’m not interested in seeing the light bulb in the hole where there’s no steam,” Jones says. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Stephen Ross, the billionaire developer and chairman of Related, is responsible for Hudson Yards’ Vessel, the wastebasket-like stairway to…somewhere that owns your photos. Ross hasn’t been shy about his distaste for the piece Related had a hand in creating at One Union Square South. “It was a disaster,” he told The New Yorker last year. “That thing where the smoke comes out? Whatever the hell it is.”
“Union Square South was and is a machine for enrichment, as is so much of real estate development today often without sincere civic vision,” Jones and Ginzel wrote in a statement. “Witness Hudson Yards. If Mr. Ross maintains ‘The Vessel’ as he has Metronome, pity the public who must contend.”
A Proposal for Significant Enhancements Around the Edges of Union Square
The Union Square Partnership has proposed a wide-ranging collection of enhancement to remake Union Square Park, expanding its edges into the surrounding streets to make it a much bigger and more attractive pedestrian-oriented area. Click through the links in their letter below to see much more.
They write:
The Union Square Partnership is proud to announce the release of the Union Square-14th Street District Vision Plan: a bold new vision for transforming Union Square-14th Street into New York’s most accessible space.
The Wall Street Journal ran an exclusive today showcasing the Vision Plan, stating “…the plan’s ultimate goal is for parkgoers to know they have ‘arrived at a place that is special.'” Read the full article here.
Building upon USP’s past investments, including the renovation of Union Square Park’s north end, City initiatives like Parks Without Borders, the 14th Street Busway, and the pedestrianization of Broadway, along with the more than one million square feet of new private development underway, our Vision Plan focuses on five key improvements prioritizing accessibility, district-wide connectivity, and substantial increases in public open space.
Designed in collaboration with Marvel, the Vision Plan is the culmination of a two-year-long engagement process working with community members, local business leaders, urban designers, transportation experts, and City and State agency partners. With over a thousand individuals engaged at twenty separate engagement events, it was the largest outreach effort in the Partnership’s 45-year history.
We are sure you will have questions and feedback about the Vision Plan and there will be many opportunities to learn more. The first is our official Vision Plan: Launch Event hosted in collaboration with the Urban Design Forum on Tuesday, January 26th at 12:00 PM. Please RSVP here.
Next, we will be hosting a series of Vision Plan: Community Conversations via Zoom to facilitate more robust discussions and gather feedback. Dates + times will be announced soon but you can express interest in attending a session here.
To familiarize yourselves with the plan, we have launched a dedicated web page with a robust amount of detailed information about the Union Square-14th Street District Vision Plan. Click on the link below to download and read the full report, our info sheet, and press release, as well as view the annotated renderings. There is also an FAQ, which hopefully will address most of your initial questions. You can explore more via unionsquarenyc.org/vision.
We look forward to fostering dialogue in the coming months that will guide our investments and set future priorities. It is my hope that as you review the Vision Plan that you will feel the impact of our collaborative community process and continue to share feedback as we move forward to the next stage.
NY Times Talks Up Union Square
Did you catch the NY Times raving about Union Square? Good for real estate values.