Souen Undergoes Big Renovation

Toy store chain Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy protection last September, and it has been downhill ever since. Today, the company informed 33,000 employees it would be selling or closing all of its 700 U.S. stores, according to published reports. In addition, Toys “R” Us said today it would close its 75 remaining stores in the U.K., CNN reported, after failing to find a buyer to save it from insolvency administration, which is similar to bankruptcy. (It already closed 25 stores in Britain.) Stores in New York State include a Babies “R” Us at 24-30 Union Square East and a Babies “R” Us at 139-19 20th Avenue in College Point, Queens.

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.

We now know that the 13th St. parking garage will be converted into eight multimillion-condos, the priciest of which will be $20 million.

Here’s the latest rendering of the very expensive condos that will rise in the hole in the ground at 13th and 5th. Note there are only a few duplex apartments. They will be really pricey.

Next week (April 1 to April 5), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building as well as roof work. We will be work on the new sidewalks around the building as well.

The following week (April 8 to April 12), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors and roofs as well as sidewalk work. By then end of this week we plan to have the rest of the sidewalk on 14th street complete. Additionally we plan to begin removing the sidewalk shed along 5th ave.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, March 30th for interior, superstructure, sidewalk, and hoist removal related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.