Travel back to 1901 and take a look at the 4,5,6 train being built up the east side of Union Square. Remarkable images! You can even see the statue of George Washington at bottom center of the first photo. This was his original location, at the intersection of 4th Ave. and 14th St., before he was moved into the park itself.

Dominique Ansel is opening a third bakery in Manhattan. The French pastry chef, famous for inventing the cronut in 2013, has signed a 15-year lease n at 64 University Place, between East 10th and 11th streets. The new bakery is located on the ground level of that yet-to-be-completed 11-floor luxury apartment complex.

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has published a fantastic online photographic tour of all the historically important buildings in our neighborhood…. including our own building. So much fascinating history. The underlying message…. a lot of this history is constantly under threat.

View it here.

Here’s a very old and undated photo of Union Square West. The 1842 building at 35 Union Square West that currently houses Barn Joo is one of the neighborhood’s oldest structures.

Check out this New York Times profile.

Right across the street and down one block from the popular Unregular Pizza, you’ll now find Unregular Bakery at 4th Ave. and 12th St. in the former location of that place that sold pizza by the inch for years.

Expect slightly weird variations on usual bakery favorites.

The annual sharehoilders’ meeting will take place on Thursday, October 26th, 2023 at 7:00pm and will be held via Zoom conference call; both audio and video options are available. Please see your e-mail for log in instructions or contact Richard Cacciato, rcacciato@akam.com, if you need the instructions.

Target Union Square has finally opened in the former Food Emporium location at Union Square East. At a time when Target is closing other stores partly in response to unprecedented theft, it will be interesting to see what safeguards they put in place in this new location.

It’s a bit of a hike, but the new Wegman’s supermarket at Astor Place is worth a visit because it is so huge and so suburban. Prices are competitive across the board, and the variety of items beats any other store in the area. The sad and tired Gristedes on University Place should be worried.

In case you didn’t notice, Aristion Flowers at 78 5th Ave. now includes a lovely cafe with fancy expensive coffee just like everywhere else in this neighborhood.