Union Square (north end): 1937

The Union Square Partnership unveiled a brand-new street mural installation along the pedestrian areas of the 14th Street Busway between Broadway and Union Square West. Titled Collective Vision, the artwork is designed by celebrated street artists GERALUZ and WERC, a Brooklyn-based couple. The mural is presented in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation’s Art Program, and was installed over a 5 day period last week with the help of community partners and volunteers.

The design of Collective Vision is inspired by the power of nature and unity as strong extensions of humankind and the Earth. The street mural features the ruby-throated hummingbird to illustrate the power of resilience in standing together against injustice and extinction. Each of the flowers presented in the mural depicts an endangered native plant, from the striped coralroot and swamp sunflower to the sandplain gerardia. These illustrations remind viewers that we all need love and energy to stay alive and flourish, drawing a parallel to the need for solidarity and cooperation amongst humanity, a necessity in order to survive and live harmoniously.

The mural also pays homage to the history of movements fighting for social justice in Union Square, as well as the struggle for racial equality in America, while celebrating the role public spaces play to unite communities in collective activism and shared experience.

“Union Square has a proud history as a gathering place for all New Yorkers to come together in collective empowerment to make their voices heard,” said Jennifer Falk, Executive Director of the Union Square Partnership. “We are honored to have the work of artists Geraluz and WERC grace 14th Street in Union Square, promoting the significance of resilience, love and solidarity in this historic location, which has long celebrated community activism and fights against injustice.”

“We are proud to share the “Collective Vision” mural with the beautiful community of Union Square” share artists GERALUZ + WERC. “Painted in a love language of gratitude in the form of a bouquet of resilience. It’s an honor to create artwork in a place with so much history of unity and power of the people.”

Geraluz and WERC are Brooklyn-based artists who have worked on many featured murals across New York City. As a team, the couple is passionate about the beautification of public spaces, community empowerment, and art as a healing tool. They often work by taking an analytical and archeological approach to create site-specific pieces that are harmonious with the surrounding area.

DOT implemented the 14th Street Busway pilot project in October 2019 as an exciting new transit upgrade for 14th Street, and as a street design prototype for the city-at-large. The center of the busway crosses the heart of Union Square, where sidewalk extensions were installed to make additional space for walking. These new pedestrian areas are situated in a highly visible confluence of foot traffic and transit access. Collective Vision is the first artwork to activate the pedestrian areas, presenting a remarkable opportunity to support, enhance, and celebrate the new pedestrian-focused infrastructure while communicating an important message and beautifying the neighborhood.

“We’re overjoyed to continue pedestrianizing Union Square with the introduction of Collective Vision,” Falk continued. “While the creation of the 14th Street Busway was an incredible first step in rethinking public space prior to the pandemic, the installation of the street mural goes further to highlight the wide, open areas in Union Square created to provide New Yorkers with ample, safe space to walk and enjoy.”

In early 2021, USP announced the Union Square-14th Street District Vision Plan, aimed to increase public space by 33 percent and make the district more accessible and pedestrian-friendly. USP is a non-profit organization that operates as a public-private partnership, promoting the district’s key advantages and diverse array of assets, as well as advocating for its continued growth and success. For more on the Vision Plan, visit unionsquarenyc.org/vision.

This hand-drawn map from 1926 identifies our building as a 5 and 10-cent store, which, of course, as Woolworths, it was, all the way until 2003.

This week (May 23 to May 27), Contractors will continue to excavate earth and rock, and load out material. We will complete the underpinning of the adjacent buildings. Installation of rakers, line drilling, lagging and sheeting around the perimeter will progress as well. Concrete foundation walls are scheduled to begin.

The following week (May 30 to June 3), we will continue line drilling, rock excavation, and loading out, as well as lagging and sheeting.

Concrete foundation walls will progress.

Looks like Izu/Lemongrass Grill is done. In its place will be Shanghai Square. No details yet. Stay tuned.

PLEASE READ: YOU MAY HAVE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM THE CITY IN ERROR:
Tens-of-thousands of city residents eligible for a popular condo and co-op tax break have received letters from the city incorrectly stating that they no longer qualify, according to city civic and co-op board leaders.

Late last week, co-op and condo owners began receiving the letter from the city Department of Finance stating that a revamped condo and co-op tax abatement bill passed by the Legislature in January meant they could not collect it. “Our records show that this unit is not your primary residence, so your abatement will be phased out,” the letter states. The new legislation only allows owners to claim the tax break on their primary residence, and no longer allows the break on secondary homes.

The problem was that many people received the letter at their primary residence—which is indeed still eligible for the full break, according to Warren Schreiber, co-president of the Co-Op and Condo Council in northeast Queens. Mr. Schreiber said in his own co-op of about 200 residences, some 45 people had received the letters— about 35 of whom actually count those units as their primary residence. That could make a difference of about $1,000 per unit on upcoming bills if not corrected, he said.

“Some people have been in their homes, 20, 30 or 40 years and are getting these letters,” said Mr. Schreiber. “I think what happened is that the Department of Finance’s records are out of date, but it’s causing a lot of confusion and chaos.”

Nearly two years ago, Finance Commissioner David Frankel acknowledged the department had erred on 15,000 property bills the city mailed that July because of a “computer glitch.”

But in this case, a Department of Finance spokesman said the agency had used available data to determine which of the city’s 360,000 condo and co-ops would qualify for the abatement, and automatically enrolled 230,000 of them. In instances where there was not enough information, the agency sent out 130,000 of the letters to homeowners saying were not eligible for the tax break.

Mary Ann Rothman, the executive director of the Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums, said she too had been contacted by several people who have received the letters—despite simultaneously receiving the state’s STAR tax rebate on the same property, which can only be claimed at one’s primary residence.

Still, she defended the city Department of Finance, arguing that it was simply sending the letters out to the large number of co-op and condo owners in an effort to make sure the city’s records were correct under the revamped program.

“This is making people nervous, but you have to remember that this is a total change in the way that the abatement is administered,” she said.

The letters the city sent to co-op owners directs them to send a form to an address in Maplewood, N.J., verifying that they are in fact receiving the abatement on their primary residence. The form is due on April 1, and city tax bills reflecting whether the abatement will still be granted will go out in June. Those no longer eligible for the abatement would retroactively have to pay 50% of the normal break in July, and would stop getting it altogether in July 2014.

But Mr. Schreiber said he was concerned that elderly property owners, those with disabilities or those who live elsewhere for the winter, would have their tax break incorrectly pulled.

The parameters of the new condo and co-op bill were originally hashed out in June 2012, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo at that time decided not to issue a message of necessity circumventing a three-day waiting period to pass it before the end of the legislative session. As a result, the city Department of Finance decided essentially not to collect hiked condo and co-op taxes under the expectation that the legislature would eventually pass the agreed-upon bill—which it finally did this January.

The revamped program offers greater benefits to middle-class owners, raising their tax abatements from 17.5% to, 26.5% next year and 28% in 2015 for properties whose average assessed value is less than $50,000. Units valued at more than $60,000 would get abatements of 17.5% over the next three years. Other previous aspects of the program—including one that allowed real estate speculators to claim abatement for secondary residences—were eliminated.

The Villager has the latest update .