Restaurant Devastation Continues

Last month, Union Square had to say good-bye to Food Emporium, formerly located at 10 Union Square East. While we are sorry to see the long-time neighborhood spot go, we are excited to be welcoming Target to this location in 2023! In the meantime, there are still great places to buy your everyday groceries and household essentials with flexible in-store and delivery/pick-up options for a seamless shopping experience. Read up more here in our Grocery Shopping Guide and find a full map of where you can do all your shopping in Union Square.

Karaoke Boho, on 13th past University, is hosting an open house from 1 to 7 on Saturday June 4. Free food provided. Stop by to see how they’ve transformed the former Crunch gym into a karaoke palace.

Looking east from across 5th Avenue down 13th St. All those lovely buildings are now the gaping pit of the New School construction site.

Next week (September 23 to September 27), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on the academic floors inside the building. Additionally we will be using a lift on the sidewalk to wash the exterior of the building.

The following week (September 30 to October 4), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on academic floors.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, September 21st for interior activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

Various sources report on the opening of Hea, the new eatery from Friend House owner Joe Ngai. They write: “Chef Heng Meng Kong (Penang) indulges his Malaysian background with dishes like green curry with market vegetables and skate wing grilled in banana leaves. Hea morphs into a lounge at night, where drinkers can sample elixirs such as a blend of plummy spiced rum, lemon juice and seltzer, or vodka mixed with Calpico (a Japanese soft drink) and yuzu.” 145 E. 13th Street, 212-982-1688.

Comparing 3rd quarter 2007 to 3rd quarter 2008, real estate prices around here have actually done pretty well, according to the Times.

Neighborhoods that experienced price drops include the Lower East Side and the East Village, where median prices fell 5.5 percent; and Carnegie Hill, where co-op prices decreased 7.2 percent. Median prices in Hamilton Heights and Morningside Heights dropped 30 percent, with sales decreasing to only 19 from 67 in 2007. In Washington Heights, median prices went down 6.3 percent, but the number of sales increased to 24 from 18 in 2007.

The neighborhoods that fared the best through the third quarter included Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue from 59th to 96th Streets, where median prices went up 35 percent. In Lincoln Square, an area between 57th and 72nd Streets from Central Park West to the Hudson River that is home to high-priced apartments in 15 Central Park West and the Time Warner Center, median co-op prices went up 18.6 percent and median condo prices went up 25 percent. Prices also rose in Lenox Hill, where median co-op prices went up 19 percent; and Chelsea, where median co-op and condo prices went up about 6 percent.

Other neighborhoods that experienced increases include Greenwich Village, where median prices for co-ops went up 3.9 percent; Union Square and the Gramercy area, where co-op prices went up 3.3 percent and condo prices went up 2.6 percent; and the Upper East Side, where median co-op prices went up 2.3 percent and condo prices went up 9.1 percent.