Here’s what’s on display in the park:

Miranda July is a fiction writer (No One Belongs Here More Than You), a filmmaker (Me and You and Everyone We Know), a performance artist (Things We Don’t Understand and Are Definitely Not Going to Talk About), and an occasional sculptress. It’s that latter designation that’s the focus of a new public art installation, the comparatively terse “Eleven Heavy Things,” organized by Deitch Projects, which opened late last week in New York’s Union Square Park. (The installation will remain in the park through October 3rd.) The sculptures, many of which revolve around a line of text written in July’s own hand, prod the viewer into audience interaction. “What I look like when I’m lying,” reads one, a white tablet through which the viewer can stick his head. A trio of pedestals — labeled ‘The Guilty One,’ ‘The Guiltier One,’ and ‘The Guiltiest One’ — asks participants to gauge (and flaunt) their general culpability. Three of the sculptures are wordless “headdresses,” decorative sculptures that July compares to the dialogue-free stretches of a movie: “The shapes are those parts of this piece.”

Karaoke Boho, on 13th past University, is hosting an open house from 1 to 7 on Saturday June 4. Free food provided. Stop by to see how they’ve transformed the former Crunch gym into a karaoke palace.

The annual shareholder’s meeting will take place on Wednesday June 30th at 7PM at the Seafarers’ and Interational House at 123 East 15th St, second floor.

At the meeting, the Board of Directors will be seeking at least one new member. If you wish to become a candidate for the Board and have your name placed on the ballot, please feel free to provide a short biography of yourself via fax (212) 986-0002 or e-mail to ymartinez@akam.com. The Board will also welcome nominations at the meeting itself.

It looks like a crepe joint called Vive Le Crepe will open on University near 13th in a former day spa. It joins an upcoming falafel place and the glam Italian place to come on the corner. That’s three chains filling spaces formerly operated by three local businesses. Times change.

Rumor has it that a bit of leftover real estate at Nordstrom Rack on the corner of 14th and Broadway is going to be…wait for it…a Duane Reade.

Certified OPEN

As you’re well aware, the demolition and construction of The New School site at 65 Fifth Avenue is well underway. On Thursday, The New School revealed for the first time the official design of the building, which includes some of the elements from its earliest sketches, such as the exposed staircases, but is different in two notable ways: the building is smaller than originally planned, and it is partially class in brass, rather than entirely in glass.

The building is being constructed as of right. There is no more debate over design or size. This is pretty much what we’re going to see: a university hub of about 16 stories with eight floors of campus space topped by a smaller eight floors of dormitory housing for 600 students.

To get caught up on what the building looks like and see many photos of the model, click here.

To read the somewhat positive New York Times architecture critic’s review, click here.

A neighbor attended the public viewing of the model and came away with some great facts:

–The loading dock is on 13th street at the eastern most corner of the lot.

–The main entrance to the building is on the southwest corner. This is for everything except the dormitories.

–The dormitory entrance is on 5th avenue, about 1/3 of the way down from 14th street.

–The northern 1/3 of the building at street level is retail – no word on what though.

–Directly above the retail is a cafeteria. It looks like seating for 300, which makes sense considering the 600 person dormitory.

–The dormitory floors are set back on all sides, and shaped in a ‘C’ with a light well on the eastern side of the stack. They are four bed suites, with kitchenettes in them.

–The set-back between the lower and upper halves is a green roof, and they say that for liability reasons it will not be open to the general building population. Pressing on this, and the answer was that while the green roof hasn’t been engineered yet, it is likely going to be possible to have foot traffic on it and will perhaps be open to supervised use (during a class, or for an experiment of some kind). (So no midnight keg parties, we hope.)

The green roof is at the level of 7 East 13^th St/10 East 14^th St, so about the same height as our roof.

— It looks like it’s designed to keep students inside the building, and not loitering on the street. The canopies are small, and the doors aren’t inset, so there isn’t any natural gathering space just outside on the sidewalk.

We hope that this brings everyone up to date on a project that will be a big part of the pulse of the neighborhood for the next two years….and beyond.

Souen, the slightly funky smelling organic/vegan/macrobiotic restaurant on the other side of 13th St., has closed for what it says will be a months-long renovation. Will it return? Only time will tell.

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.

An invitation from the New School to attend a preview of the new building on May 6:

April 26, 2010

To Our Neighbors, To meet the university’s evolving needs, plans for the construction of a new University Center at 65 Fifth Avenue will continue to move forward this summer. Because The New School has made it a priority to engage the entire university in the project’s development, we invite you to view the next phase of building design at a second exhibition featuring an overview of the current plan. We will also have a model of the building on display. Please join us on May 6 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center on the second floor of 55 W. 13th Street. This open house will include new renderings of the building design, academic and social spaces, sustainability systems, and details about the construction schedule. As in the past, attendants will be able submit comments and ask questions of many of the principals, including New School staff, architects and professionals from the design firm and construction trades. We hope to see you there.