Union Square West, As It Was

ddAs the new multimillion-dollar condos at 15 Union Square West continue to develop, it’s fun to look at this great 19th-century photo of what the Tiffany Building looked like in its prime. Note that some of the people on the street have been added later by an artist.

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  • Filene’s Next to Go?

    Crain’s reports:

    Time may be running out for brides to dash to Filene’s Basement. The off-price retailer, famous for its Running of the Brides discount wedding dress events, is on the block. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday, the chain’s Columbus, Ohio-based parent Retail Ventures Inc. said efforts to cut costs “is not likely to lead to sustainable operations for Filene’s basement.”

    In January, Retail Ventures had announced the closing of 11 underperforming Filene’s stores, including one in Levittown, N.Y. Yet performance at the remaining 25 locations, which include four in New York City, “has continued to deteriorate significantly since that time,” according to the filing. Retail Ventures, which also owns footwear chain DSW Inc., said it will delay the filing of its annual results with the SEC.

  • Latest New School Construction Update

    In response to community concerns about the time in the evening we end our concrete placing, DOB has granted our request to start placing our concrete at 6am, which will allow us to finish this work earlier in the evening. We have 10 more instances like this until we finish our superstructure in early June.

    Therefore next week (April 2 to April 6), Superstructure work will continue at the 9th and 10th floor levels. Wednesday, April 4th, we will have an identical pour with a 6 am start time and similar end time, weather permitting. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic.

    The following week (April 9 to April 13), we will continue superstructure concrete and slabs on the 10th and 11th floor levels. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic.

    This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, March 31st for superstructure related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City. To control noise levels within the site, work activities will be limited to the placement of formwork and concrete, plumbing and electrical work, rebar for concrete placement, using the crane and equipment to support all activities.

    Safety horns are used, and required by law, to coordinate lifting with the crane and to alert the workers of the danger overhead. We have directed the operators to limit the use of horns to one short sounding and to use the crane later in the day so as to avoid any excess noise.

    In addition to the normal work on the job site, the 14th St. Con Ed Vault utility connection street work will continue per DOT Permit granted for weekends only.

  • From Croissants to Hand-Pulled Noodles on 13th

    Patisserie Fouet on 13th St. is gone, and now we know what will be next in the space:

    After more than a decade serving noodles at Smorgasburg and two years running Noodle Lane in Park Slope, Lane Li and Chris Wang are opening the 40-seat bistro Rulin. The specialty will be Chinese knife-shaved and hand-pulled noodles — like dan dan mian with pork, Sichuan vegetables, and scallions — and a signature “Rulin” noodle served with mustard greens and chicken broth.

  • Homeless Man Wants $1 Million

    Coon

    A New York panhandler, often seen around Union Square, is on a unique mission, The Local East Village reports today. Chris Coon, 29, who has two kids and is homeless, wants to ask a million people for a dollar. He describes the project on his website, AskAMillion,com (a woman heard about his idea and gave him a laptop), as “A Social Experiment to both Help me to get out of Homelessness, take care of my two daughters and to take care of my daily living.” Coon has asked 3,462 people for a handout since the beginning of May and at this rate, City Room calculates he will reach his goal in about February 2054. When approaching people, clipboard in hand, Coon describes the concept behind his experiment, asks for some money and then records their gender and ethnicity.