A Clear View of the New Warby Parker on 5th.

This remarkable photo looks west on 14th St. from Union Square in 1898. Isn’t it amazing how many buildings, including our own, still stand? The Lincoln statue is now inside the park.

Have you tried Union Fare yet? From the Times:

First came a cafe that becomes a wine bar in the evening. Stage 2 of this sprawling complex in part of the original Barnes & Noble bookstore is a restaurant. A very long bar opposite high-top tables leads to a dining room that is a study in recycling, decorated in reclaimed wood, with chairs strapped in rubber from discarded tires. There’s a raw bar and a charcuterie station. The chef, Yvan Lemoine, focuses on seasonal American fare. At his side, and supplying the cafe with baked goods, is Thiago Silva. His bakery will be in a food market, opening later, with pizza, burgers, salads, poké and Peruvian rotisserie chicken. 6 East 18th Street, 212-633-6003, unionfare.com.

After 13 years, Corkbuzz, our downstairs neighbor, is done. Its other location, in Chelsea Market, will remain open.

Shoo Loong Kan, a Chinese hot pot restaurant will soon arrive on 13th St. in the space that old timers will fondly remember as Borgo Antico. (The name means little dragon ridge.) The chain already has locations in Chicago, Houston, and Flushing.

Curious to see what our block looked like 400 years ago. Check in at the Mannahatta Project, search for our address, and you’ll discover that as you might guess, it was covered with trees. There was also a lovely little river running north to south between 5th and 6th Ave.