Here’s Where to Go to Keep Tabs on the New School

Next week (October 22 to October 26), Material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors. Curtain wall installation on upper floors will continue. Curtain wall installation on the lower floors will proceed along 14th st. inside the construction site. The crane that is on site will remain for the duration of curtain wall installation and will not affect pedestrian or automotive traffic.

The following week (October 29 to November 2) Material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors. Curtain wall installation will continue on all floors. Curtain wall installation on the lower floors will proceed along 14th st. inside the construction site.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, October 20th for superstructure related activities and curtain wall installation between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City. Con Ed will be working in the street.

More branches of Barnes & Noble are closing. Most recently, the huge store at Lincoln Center was shuttered. However, the megastore on the northern edge of Union Square Park is safe.

The MTA is still chipping away at improvements on the L train, having announced a new escalator coming into service at the Union Square station to service the 19,000 pre-pandemic riders that shuffle on and off the platform every hour during the week.

This installation, designed to ease congestion through the busy interchange, follows elevators paired with a new entrance to the L train’s First Avenue station near Avenue A and switch replacements on the 4-5-6 near Union Square in recent months.

These improvements were funded by the MTA prior to the financial crisis they currently face due to COVID-19.

“This new escalator is another achievement for the larger L project team that, delivered that huge project early and below budget,” MTA Chief Development Officer Janno Lieber said. “Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic we’re using innovative strategies to deliver customer improvements faster and at lower cost than ever before.”

Judy McClain, Chief of Operations Planning at New York City Transit, says that because the L train platform at this location is one of the most congested during pre-pandemic levels of ridership the escalator is one of the fastest in subway system; it can move up to 92 people per minute.

Looking ahead to the upcoming holidays, the New School construction site will be closed on Saturdays, December 24 and December 31st, also on Mondays, December 26th and January 2nd. Next week (December 26 to December 30), Superstructure and concrete work will continue at 2nd and 3rd floor levels. Sidewalk sheds will continue being erected around the perimeter of the site. The roof protection at USC Condo courtyard is finished.The following week (January 2 to January 6), we will continue superstructure concrete and slabs on 2nd and 3rd floor levels.

The retail operation of Arthur’s Invitations has finally closed on 13th St. They are now using the basement for their custom work. What will replace Arthur’s at street level. That is unknown.

For the next two weeks, through May 6, the New School reports that construction will be basically “more of the same.” In other words, they’re still digging the hole.