Vapiano is also done. Too bad.
Sal Anthony’s Italian restaurant, which recently took over the space of that unremarkable Mexican spot on East 13th St. (which used to be the original Crunch gym), has closed.
Both Saigon Market and Mint Kitchen are over. Two large spaces. What will replace them?
The Union Square Partnership (which is our business improvement district) has come up with a sweeping five-point plan to help the neighborhood bounce back after COVID. Check it out.
A company controlled by a Philadelphia 76ers co-owner was negligent when it allowed a lounge chair to fly off a Manhattan roof and hit a woman, leaving her with brain injuries, a new lawsuit alleges.
Annabel Sen had been on her way to lunch with her boyfriend on Jan. 25 when she “was struck by a heavy wooden lounge chair that fell from the terrace of the 12th-floor penthouse” of the 15 Union Square West Condominium building, according to her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed Thursday.
“How [the chair] didn’t kill her is a miracle honestly,” Sen’s lawyer Benedict Morelli told The Post. “She is very damaged but she is not dead.”
The then-23-year-old Midtown West resident — who was heading to lunch at Xu’s Public House nearby — “suffered a severe, life-threatening, traumatic brain injury, among other injuries, that required emergency brain surgery. [Sen] has since had two more brain surgeries,” the court papers claim.
After 18 months of remodeling, Regal Union Square in New York was hoping to welcome moviegoers to the theatrical experience of the future.
The Manhattan branch went through an extensive facelift, changing the 14-screen theater to a 17-screen location. It now includes a panoramic Screen X, as well as an enhanced 4DX experience which combines smell and motion to the filmgoing experience. It’s added a bar, as well as a Lavazza coffee shop downstairs. The building is intended to be one of the flagship experiences in the Regal Cinema’s chain.
“We’ve had enough of being locked up in our homes, watching movies on handheld devices, TVs,” said Regal Cinemas regional director Andy Stone. “It’s all about going out, socializing, and sharing an experience.”
It looks like they’ll have to wait a little bit longer. Because of the coronavirus, New York movie theaters are still under orders to remain closed.
On top of that, the U.S. filmgoing public seems a bit hesitant to return to the movies, even if theaters are given the green light by local governments. Many were hoping that the release of films like The New Mutants and Tenet would kickstart the movie theater business. As of September 28, only New York, North Carolina, and New Mexico have not reopened indoor movie theaters, though some large cities like Los Angeles have kept their theaters shut.
Regal’s Stone says that for any movies that do release, Regal Union Square and its sister branches are ready to run them for the public. In addition to updating its air filtration system, it has other new safety rules in place, including a requirement to wear masks. Hand sanitizing stations are easily found, and plexiglass dividers have been installed to put a barrier between patron and employee. Its ticket sales system is set up to restrict crowds to meet government requirements on capacity.
It’s also updated ticket buying so people can scan their tickets themselves on their smartphone. You can also order your popcorn and snacks via an app and pick it up at the end of the counter, eliminating the need to interact with concession employees. Many of these modernizations were in development before the pandemic and ready in time for the age of social distancing.
“As a business, you know, we really do embrace technology,” Stone explained. “And during this time what it’s done is actually given us that opportunity to work through some of the technological changes that we were looking to implement.”
In addition to serving cinephiles, Regal is also eager to reopen for the many employees who work at the theaters. The company has had to furlough most of its staff as theaters remain shuttered. Revenue has been down 99 percent year-over-year.
Stone, who started his own theater career as a concessionist popping popcorn and worked his way up, pointed out his journey is not a unique one. While many teens and young adults work at movie theaters, many chains like Regal have career progression plans which can employ people for life. Closed theaters cut off their livelihood, in addition to the third-party vendors that rely on the movies for business.
“It’s more than just serving from behind a concession stand and cleaning an auditorium,” he explained.
He has his fingers crossed that Regal Union Square will be able to open its doors soon.
“Although there has been a period where we have been starved of our movies, there’s still so much more to come,” Stone said.
In honor of Climate Week, a coalition of scientists and activists reset the digital clock with red numbers seen on the side of a building in Union Square and changed it into a “ClimateClock.” The numbers now count down the years, days, hours, minutes and seconds the Earth has left to take action to stop global warming from going over 1.5°C more than the pre-industrial levels.
According to the organization, who aims to put the countdown clock in cities across the world, the clock’s calculation is based on the world’s current rates of emissions and the amount of CO2 that can still be released into the atmosphere. The clock simply counts down to when the “carbon budget” runs out. If the world manages to lower its emissions, more time will be left on the clock.
The clock is based on the carbon clock made by the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) which uses data from the recent IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, ClimateClock says.
The artists responsible for putting up the clock in Manhattan told the New York Times in an interview that the display will be up until the end of Climate Week, Sept. 27. Artists Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd also told the paper that they created a mobile Climate Clock for Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg last year before her appearance at the UN Climate Action Summit.
With the backdrop of recent wildfires and hurricanes, which scientists say show how climate change is magnifying the extremes in weather, protests for climate action are expected all over the world on Friday.
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.
Another pandemic victim: Babu Ji on 13th St. It was the sixth restaurant to have a go of it in the space in the past 25 years.
After almost 40 years, the New York Health and Racquet Club on 13th St. is no more. A few branches of the gym will be taken over by a competitor, but not this one. End of an era.
Our building (c. 1940)
