What’s Coming Across 13th St.

NYU has decided not to build a fourth soaring tower adjacent to the three Silver Towers that already loom over Bleecker and Houston Streets. Instead, they’ll build a squatter and bulkier version on the location of the current Morton Williams supermarket. Why the change? Because the community–and IM Pei–didn’t like it.

Bookmark THIS LINK if you want to keep track of what the New School is saying about construction of its new building.

Oct. 29 is the date for the park’s signature fall celebration to raise vital funds for the district’s cherished Union Square Park. Highlighting the district’s best restaurants and the vibrant Greenmarket, enjoy tastings from renowned local chefs paired with classic and innovative drinks.

Details here.

Information is sketchy, but it appears that Pan Am Equities, the real estate company that owns the collection of “True North” apartment buildings, including one on our 13th St. block, is now in the process of reconfiguring 24-26 East 13th St., the former home of the New York Health and Racquet Club, into 39 apartments, up from the previous 24. The ground floor and basement may once again hold a fitness facility. It’s unclear if the overall size of the building will change, but it appears not.

A major renovation is coming to the former Tammany Hall headquarters in Union Square where owners want to put a new glass dome over the landmarked building and demolish a theater to make way for retail and office space, the project’s architects said.

The historic structure at 44 Union Square East, built in 1929 to house the Democratic Party machine, will undergo a major overhaul that will restore the facade, gut the existing theater and add windows and glassier storefronts, according to BKSK Architects which is designing the project.

The most striking change will be a new 30-foot glass dome on top of the building, which will add about 27,000 square feet to the structure and will house office space, according to Harry Kendall, a partner at BKSK.

“Our effort is…to make it a more distinctive destination and presence on Union Square,” Kendall said. “We think we can make this building into something it never was.”

After hearing a presentation about the proposal this week, Community Board 5’s Landmarks Committee voted unanimously to reject it, saying the changes would be too drastic for an historic building that was just landmarked last year.

“While I like the way it looks — can you put something like this on a landmarked building?” said Edward Klimerman, a committee member. “It turns it into a different building.”

The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as a landmark in June 2013, noting its references to early American architecture, including Colonial columns out front. The building’s design drew inspiration from the original Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan, where George Washington took his first oath of office.

More changes are afoot for 14th St. in the coming years. Find out about the potential plans here.