Well, here is what our new neighbor on the southeast corner of 5th and 13th is going to look like, and here are all the details. Not bad. At least it aint all glass.

Word is that the neighborhood’s first 7-11 convenience store will move in on 14th St. near 6th Ave.

Pop diva Rihanna was spotted singing karaoke downstairs at Shanghai Square. End of report.

So we’re swapping one big box electronics store for another. Best Buy will move into the old Circuit City space on 14th St. by the end of the year.

Once again, Jeremiah of Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York eulogizes another block lost to development, in this case the nearby block of 3rd Ave. between 13th and 14th Streets.

Curious to see what our block looked like 400 years ago. Check in at the Mannahatta Project, search for our address, and you’ll discover that as you might guess, it was covered with trees. There was also a lovely little river running north to south between 5th and 6th Ave.

Sad! Joe Jr.’s diner on 6th Ave. at 12th St. is dying after 35 years. Here are all the sad details.

What a surprise that Dean & Deluca on University has closed after more than 15 years. What will become of that prime location?

From the NY Times:
Eataly, a giant market for artisanal Italian food products that opened in Turin two years ago, signed a lease this morning for an even larger location at 200 Fifth Avenue. (23rd St.) With 32,000 square feet of food halls and restaurants, Eataly New York will be twice the size of the Turin original. The partners in the venture are B&B Hospitality Group, the company behind nearly 20 restaurants around the country operated by Joseph and Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali, along with Oscar Farinetti and Luca Bassigo, the Italian founders and managing partners of Eataly. There will also be an 8,000 square foot rooftop garden, although the plans for that space are still being worked out. “I’m not sure whether it will be for beer, sausage and pizza or just beer and sausage,” Mr. Batali said in a phone interview today from a beach in Spain.

UNION SQUARE—Starting today, sandwich shop Num Pang is serving snow cones. Choose from Lime Lemongrass topped with Lychee and Pineapple Ginger topped with Toasted Coconut.

12th St. West of University