Union Square

Non-profit Village Preservation has launched a new online platform called Virtual Village, which is part of their larger efforts seeking landmarks protections for the "South of Union Square" area, where Greenwich Village meets the East Village. The interactive online tool offers 36 free, guided walking tours of the neighborhood, ranging from architectural topics like the Cast Iron Tour to cultural topics like the German History Tour to social topics like the Women's History and LGBTQ Tours.
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History

October 2, 2020

Union Square’s cherished dinnerware store Fishs Eddy speaks out about COVID struggles

"We’re like a fish gasping for air — literally," said Julie Gaines, the owner of Fishs Eddy, to the New York Post. The much-loved Union Square store has been in business since 1986, selling mix-and-match, reasonably priced dinnerware that includes NYC-themed items and quirky finds like Obama shot glasses and parking ticket plates. Since the pandemic hit, however, they've only been doing 30 percent of their usual business, much of which is based on tourists, which is making it harder and harder to afford their high rent.
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City Living

In Union Square, a massive ‘climate clock’ counts down to Earth’s deadline

Photo by Zack Winestine

September 21, 2020

In Union Square, a massive ‘climate clock’ counts down to Earth’s deadline

The massive electronic clock in Union Square that has puzzled New Yorkers for over two decades has been repurposed as a count down to climate disaster. Created by Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd, the "Climate Clock" displays the years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds the world has left to make significant changes before the effects of global warming become permanent. The new installation comes as Climate Week NYC kicks off this week, alongside the United Nations General Assembly.
Details this way

Uncategorized

UrbanSpace will open a new food hall at Union Square tech hub

Rendering of Zero Irving courtesy of RAL Development Services

August 7, 2020

UrbanSpace will open a new food hall at Union Square tech hub

Pioneering food hall operator Urbanspace is opening its latest outpost at Union Square reports the NY Post. They've leased 10,000 square feet at Zero Irving, the contested tech hub on 14th Street that will serve as office space, a technology training center and incubator, co-working spaces, and an event space when it opens in the first half of 2021.
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Food & Dining

February 5, 2020

Target signs lease for Food Emporium space on Union Square East

Don't get too excited yet--it's not opening until at least 2023, when the lease expires for the space's current tenant, the Food Emporium grocery store. The Post reports that Target signed a lease for the 32,579-square-foot space at the base of 10 Union Square East. Target currently has seven stores in Manhattan, with two more set to open in Times Square, Columbus Circle, and Washinton Heights. One of their stores is just a few avenues east on 14th Street at Avenue A.
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City Living

Chase, Joe Coffee, and By CHLOE. are now open in former Union Square Coffee Shop location

Photo by 6sqft

December 18, 2019

Chase, Joe Coffee, and By CHLOE. are now open in former Union Square Coffee Shop location

The prominent Union Square storefront on 16th Street and Union Square West that was home to sceney restaurant Coffee Shop for 28 years has changed quite a bit since the former diner closed its doors last October. Reports that yet another Chase branch and an outpost of vegan chain By CHLOE. would open in its place were confirmed a few months ago, and now the transformation is complete. A new location for Joe Coffee is also open in the building, and, interestingly, is part of a partnership with Chase, according to the Wall Street Journal. With an entrance on 16th Street, By CHLOE.'s colorful storefront stands where the former diner's back dining room used to be, while the Union Square side has lost its iconic neon sign for ubiquitous Chase branding.
Find out more right here

Food & Dining

Now dubbed ‘Zero Irving,’ the contested Union Square tech hub releases new renderings

Renderings courtesy of RAL Development Services

October 23, 2019

Now dubbed ‘Zero Irving,’ the contested Union Square tech hub releases new renderings

The vision for a contested tech hub currently underway at 124 East 14th Street—the site of the former P.C. Richard & Son building—is coming into sharper focus. RAL Development Services released a new batch of renderings and rebranded the project with a new name, Zero Irving, presumably a nod to neighboring Irving Place. The 21-story building will include office space, a technology training center and incubator, co-working spaces, an event space, and a street-level food hall. The project broke ground over the summer and is slated for completion toward the end of 2020.
More details

New Developments

October 17, 2019

Famous hot chocolate spot City Bakery may close its doors

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

As it approaches its 29th anniversary, Union Square-area favorite City Bakery may soon close its doors for good. The bakery and cafe opened in 1990 at 22 West 17th Street (it moved to its current 3 West 18th Street location in 2001) and has become well known over the years for its pretzel croissants, chocolate chip cookies, and decadent hot chocolate that comes with the option to add a massive, homemade marshmallow for $2, as well as the hot chocolate festival it hosted every February. However, as the Post first spotted, a two-part Instagram post last week explains that the bakery is in some serious financial trouble. "We have too much debt, debt which is like quicksand," they wrote.
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Food & Dining

Photo by Beyond My Ken / Wiki Commons

October 17, 2019

Publishing giants, radical literature, and women’s suffrage: More secrets of Union Square South

The area south of Union Square, on the border between Greenwich Village and the East Village, is changing. The approval of the new 14th Street Tech Hub south of Union Square combined with an explosion of tech-related development in the area has resulted in the demolition of mid-19th-century hotels and Beaux-Arts style tenements, with new office towers like 809 Broadway taking their place. Aside from being rich in 19th- and early-20th-century architecture, this area is overflowing with history connected to many of the great American artists, writers, musicians, publishers, activists, innovators and artisans of the last century and a half. As part of Village Preservation's work to document and bring to light some of that often forgotten history, we wrote this piece last year exploring the connections to Mark Twain and Walt Whitman, Alexander Graham Bell and Leroi Jones (among many others). Now, we've uncovered even more history-making people and events connected to this area and its buildings, from Hammacher Schlemmer (NYC's first hardware store) to a slew of influential publishing houses (including that which published the first U.S. edition of "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland") to the Women’s Suffrage League headquarters.
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History

PHOTOS: Take a fall foray through the Union Square Greenmarket

All photos by James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft.

October 14, 2019

PHOTOS: Take a fall foray through the Union Square Greenmarket

When the Union Square Greenmarket opened in 1976 as GrowNYC's second-ever market, there were only seven farmers set up. At the time, the area was quite empty and crime-ridden, but the market, along with the opening of Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe and a major renovation by the city in the '80s, is credited with turning Union Square into the vibrant hub that we now know. Today, there can be as many as 140 vendors, selling everything from produce to fish to meat to cheese to lavender, as well as 60,000 shoppers (and local chefs!) on a given day. And though every season is beautiful and fruitful at the market, fall is perhaps the most colorful, which is why photographers James and Karla Murray thought it would be the perfect time to capture the essence of the market and get to know some of the vendors personally.
Take a tour and watch a special video

Insider Tours

Chase Bank and vegan restaurant confirmed for former Union Square Coffee Shop location

Via alphabetjenn on Flickr

October 7, 2019

Chase Bank and vegan restaurant confirmed for former Union Square Coffee Shop location

Last fall 6sqft reported rumors that late-night Union Square model-spotting icon The Coffee Shop would be replaced with three new restaurants and possibly a Chase Bank. In June, Jeremiah's Vanishing New York confirmed the rumors after learning that an application by the bank to open a branch on the 16th Street and Union Square West corner was approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Now, Gothamist tells us that the bank will be joined by fast-casual vegan spot by CHLOE, shooting down rumors that an Outback Steakhouse was moving in. The two spots are planning to open in December.
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Food & Dining

Image via Wiki Commons

September 24, 2019

Owner of The Strand Book Store will challenge landmark status in court

Following a City Council Land Use Committee vote on Monday that confirmed the landmark designation of The Strand, store owner Nancy Bass Wyden said she will sue the city. Wyden has been staunchly opposed to the designation since the building at 826 Broadway was first calendered, citing concerns about costly construction and renovation work that could force her out of the business her grandfather started 92 years ago. Wyden will sue the Landmarks Preservation Commission in Manhattan Federal Court "to start," according to the Daily News, who spoke with her lawyer, Alex Urbelis. Politicians "picked the wrong bookstore and they certainly picked the wrong woman,” Urbelis said.
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Policy

Via Wikimedia

June 11, 2019

The Strand bookstore gets landmarked, despite opposition from owner and community

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Tuesday to designate The Strand bookstore as an individual landmark, despite opposition from the store's owner and local community members. Nancy Bass Wyden, who owns the Strand building, did not support designation because she worried that restrictions placed on landmarked buildings would prevent timely construction or renovation of the store in the future. While more than 11,000 people signed a petition opposing the designation, according to Wyden's attorney, the commission voted unanimously in favor of landmarking. "Although this is not the outcome we hoped for, we'll continue to serve our customers as we have done robustly for 92 years," the Strand wrote in a tweet Tuesday.
Full scoop this way

Policy

Preservationist groups call out lack of transparency in Union Square tech hub development

Rendering via NYCEDC

May 6, 2019

Preservationist groups call out lack of transparency in Union Square tech hub development

The city’s plans to create a tech hub at 124 East 14th Street near Union Square have been embroiled in a preservation battle since they were first announced. Community organizations like the Cooper Square Committee and Village Preservation have advocated for the past year that any rezoning should come with protections for the adjacent neighborhood, which is largely residential. As the Daily News reported, Village Preservation recently criticized the city for its lack of transparency in the development process, while claiming that it gave out a “sweetheart deal” based on political alliances and campaign donations.
Get the scoop

Photo via Wiki Commons

February 20, 2019

Strand bookstore owner offers a compromise in last-ditch attempt to avoid landmark status

In a heated second hearing before the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the owner of the iconic Strand Bookstore, Nancy Bass Wyden, continued her fight to keep the famed bookseller's building from being designated a city landmark along with seven buildings on Broadway between East 12th and 14th Streets. Instead, Wyden is offering to put in place a historic preservation easement on the storefront, Gothamist reports. The easement would be the result of an agreement between the property's owner and a nonprofit group that would serve as a steward for the building's preservation, ensuring that, in this case the building's facade, would be properly preserved. At a previous LPC hearing The Strand's owner voiced strong concerns that a historic designation would place crippling restrictions on the scrappy business and potentially threaten its future.
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Policy

See how the redevelopment of Union Square’s Tammany Hall is shaping up

Construction progressing on site; photo via 44 Union Square on Instagram with permission and Newmark Knight Frank

January 25, 2019

See how the redevelopment of Union Square’s Tammany Hall is shaping up

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Construction of the glassy turtle shell-shaped dome on top of Union Square's landmarked Tammany Hall building is officially underway. The building at 44 Union Square, formerly home to NYC's Democratic party machine, is being transformed into modern office and retail space. New construction photos provided to 6sqft show the start of the unconventional dome's installation, with the diagonally intersecting glass and steel now visible from the street.
Construction shots this way

New Developments

From Mark Twain and the Lovin’ Spoonful to Tech Hub: The overlooked history of Union Square South

Photo of 801 Broadway by Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons

December 7, 2018

From Mark Twain and the Lovin’ Spoonful to Tech Hub: The overlooked history of Union Square South

Straddling Greenwich Village and the East Village, the neighborhood south of Union Square between Fifth and Third Avenues was once a center of groundbreaking commercial innovations, radical leftist politics, and the artistic avant-garde. With the city’s recent decision to allow an upzoning for a "Tech Hub" on the neighborhood’s doorstep on 14th Street, there are concerns that the resilient and architecturally intact neighborhood may face irreversible change. While they’re still here, take a tour of some of the many sites of remarkable cultural history, nestled in this compact neighborhood just south of one of our city’s busiest hubs.
See the full list

History

Photo via Wiki Commons

December 4, 2018

Beloved bookstore the Strand fights back against landmarking proposal

Earlier today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing to consider landmarking seven buildings on Broadway between East 12th and 14th Streets, one of which many already recognize as an unofficial NYC landmark -- The Strand bookstore. In advance of the hearing, The Strand voiced strong concerns that the designation would place crippling restrictions on the scrappy business and potentially threaten its future, as the New York Times reported. Referencing the recent tax incentives that Amazon received to relocate to Long Island City, Strand owner Nancy Bass Wyden said, "The richest man in America, who’s a direct competitor, has just been handed $3 billion in subsidies. I’m not asking for money or a tax rebate. Just leave me alone."
Find out what happened at today's hearing

Policy

November 27, 2018

Permits filed for 22-story Union Square tech hub with plans for major digital training center

The New York Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has filed permits to construct a 22-floor tech hub at 114 East 14th Street near Union Square, CityRealty reports. Officially known as the Union Square Tech Training Center, the 254,000-square-foot, $250 million, facility has big plans to ramp up NYC's high-tech firepower: In addition to affordable office space for startups, market-rate office space for tech companies, and a retail and market area run by Urbanspace, the nonprofit Civic Hall will be running a new digital skills training center at the midblock site once occupied by a PC Richard & Son electronics store.
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New Developments

The 25-year history of the Union Square Holiday Market

Photo via Flickr cc

November 16, 2018

The 25-year history of the Union Square Holiday Market

Today, flea markets, pop-up shops, and food halls are an everyday part of city life, but 25 years ago, this wasn't the case. In 1993, after working for several years at Urban Space Management in the UK, Eldon Scott arrived in NYC with the goal of opening a holiday market similar to those he'd worked on developing in London. He quickly set up the Grand Central Holiday Fair and shortly thereafter the Union Square Holiday Market. Modeled loosely on Christkindlmarkts, traditional holiday street markets held during advent that began in Germany, the Union Square market is now a holiday tradition for New Yorkers and out-of-towners alike, with 150+ vendors.
More history and info about this year's market

Events & Things To Do

November 14, 2018

Enjoy a Moroccan-style den under a glass rooftop at this $7M Union Square penthouse

The listing for this 3,000+ square-foot gem at one of downtown Manhattan's busiest crossroads calls it a "splendid chateau," and it's certainly that. The most sparkling element of this rare pre-war condominium penthouse at 10 East 14th Street, asking $6.995 million, may be the 600-square-foot all-glass conservatory leading to 1,300 square feet of magical rooftop garden.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Three new restaurants and possible bank could replace shuttered Union Square Coffee Shop

Via alphabetjenn on Flickr

October 24, 2018

Three new restaurants and possible bank could replace shuttered Union Square Coffee Shop

One of New York City's beloved late-night spots will be replaced with three new restaurants and possibly a Chase Bank, Eater NY reported. The Coffee Shop, an iconic Union Square diner known for its fashion model customers and appearances on shows like Sex and the City, closed earlier this month. While no leases have been signed, the property manager told Eater three of the four retail spaces available will be reserved for new restaurants.
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Food & Dining

LPC calendars 7 buildings on Broadway near recently-approved tech hub in Union Square

Via NYCEDC

September 26, 2018

LPC calendars 7 buildings on Broadway near recently-approved tech hub in Union Square

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) on Tuesday voted to calendar seven buildings on Broadway in Union Square, marking the first step to designating them as landmarks. The buildings sit adjacent to the tech hub, a 21-story tech training center planned for 124 East 14th Street and approved by the City Council last month. With the hub's approval, the area was upzoned without landmark protections, allowing for about 85,000 square feet of office space and 16,500 more square feet between Civic Hall, step-up space and the workforce development hub.
More here

Policy

Manhattan’s public squares may not actually be square, but they matter

“Public squares, parks, and places in the City of New York.” Via NYPL Digital Collections.

August 15, 2018

Manhattan’s public squares may not actually be square, but they matter

Built to emulate Great Britain's enviable squares, which were actually square, Manhattan's public squares were created in the celebrated New York City tradition of being whatever they pleased–and definitely not square. According to the New York Daily News, Manhattan doesn't have any actual squares at all: Lisa Keller, executive editor of the Encyclopedia of New York City, said "Americans just call it a square if it's bigger than a breadbox." But those 40 squares from Madison to Foley, Herald and Greeley have been vital in defining the city's public spaces; they were its first parks, and a predecessor to the granddaddy of all squares, Central Park.
Squares that shaped the city

21-story Union Square tech hub gets green light from City Council despite community concerns

Rendering via NYCEDC

August 8, 2018

21-story Union Square tech hub gets green light from City Council despite community concerns

The New York City Council voted Wednesday to approve plans to build a new tech hub on city-owned land at 124 East 14th Street near Union Square. As Crain's reported, last Thursday the building received the go-ahead from the zoning subcommittee that was reviewing the development of the 21-story building that supporters expect will be a resource for the "tech-for-good" community and provide jobs for lower-income workers. The project is being developed jointly by the city's Economic Development Corp. and developer RAL Development Service; it is expected to open in 2020. The proposed tech center, which the mayor hopes will nurture budding entrepreneurs in the technology field and bring over 600 jobs to New Yorkers, is planned at the site of a P.C. Richard & Son store, in an area already filled with new developments with more on the way.
Not everyone is excited, however

Landmarks approves three-story glass addition to Willem de Kooning’s former Union Square studio

Revised rendering via DXA Studio

May 15, 2018

Landmarks approves three-story glass addition to Willem de Kooning’s former Union Square studio