Trading China for Spain

The curved dome atop 44 Union Square, the former headquarters of Tammany Hall, is structurally completed and the geometric glass panels that enclose the lattice frame are beginning to be installed. The renovation is designed by BKSK Architects and developed by Edifice Real Estate Partners. CNY Group is in charge of construction on the historic, 90-year-old landmarked structure, which is being expanded to 70,348 square feet. Two new floors will be housed beneath the dome and receive abundant natural daylight.

Nostalgic dessert chain Milk Bar is opening its 10th New York City location Saturday, but this time with new menu items only available at this store near Union Square.

Located at 110 Fifth Ave. and 16th Street, this latest Milk Bar is a part of a new store called Camp, created to be “immersive” shopping for families. The 10,000-square-foot space has a camp theme that will change every eight to 12 weeks, with “base camp,” modeled after children’s summer camps, first up.

To fit into the camp theme, Milk Bar will have a sundae bar with a rotating special — starting off, appropriately, with a s’mores sundae of cereal milk soft serve topped with compost cookie crumbs, charred marshmallows, fudge sauce, and marshmallow sauce. The sundae bar also has very Milk Bar-esque topping options such has cornflake crunch, confetti cookie crumb, and blueberry corn. And Milk Bar classics — crack pie, corn cookie, birthday cake truffles — fill out the rest of the menu, in full below. There’s also Counter Culture coffee.

Next week (August 12 to August 16), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building. New School Students will be moving into the building starting August 15th and will continue gradually through the end of August.

The following week (August 19 to August 23), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, August 10th for interior, and sidewalk activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

Finally, the big part of the renovation is complete. And the fountain lines up with 5th Ave., which, apparently, was really important to the architects even though no one else seemed to care much.

After almost 40 years, the New York Health and Racquet Club on 13th St. is no more. A few branches of the gym will be taken over by a competitor, but not this one. End of an era.

Double mask up + grab your popcorn: movie theaters can reopen as soon as Friday, March 5th. Officials announced that theaters are permitted to reopen at 25% capacity, with added safety measures including mask mandates and assigned seating.

The Union Square area is home to six movie theaters, three of which will be open on Friday, March 5th, including the two AMC Theaters at 19th and 11th Streets, and the Village East Quad. We will update this story as soon as we have reopening dates for the Regal Union Square on 13th, Cinema Village, and Quad Cinema so check back often!