Time is running out on the open-air shops on Broadway near East Fourth Street... One vendor told a reader that he'd be shutting down very soon.
Curbed has been reporting on the 12-story terracotta and brick-faced condo building in the works for 688 Broadway. The Landmarks Preservation Commission reportedly raved about the new building last October. (Read that here. Read more about the luxury condos here.)
And now there's a new listing for the retail portion of the building at RKF:
The rendering shows a store called "Premium Goods." And the listing notes possession in the first quarter of 2015.
A quick look at DOB records show plans have yet to be approved at 688 Broadway. (The records show that the plans were disapproved in December 2009. Karl Fischer is listed as the architect of record on this application.)
As for the long-running, ragtag flea market that the condo building is replacing...
... back to the reader and the vendor.
I asked him where he would go. He said, "Nowhere. There's no place to go."
Because there are just not enough new condos being built...
ReplyDeleteI swear to go they are taking every single interesting thing out of this city and replacing them with glass boxes.
ReplyDeleteI used to frequent that market when I'd drop in to the long-gone Tower Records to buy music. Sad to think that it, too, is no longer welcome in this shiny new excrescence that once used to be known as Fun City.
ReplyDeleteUgh! Lots of stuff long gone from these few blocks (rubber sole, tower records, azuma [who remembers azuma?], but this one stings.
ReplyDeleteI have shopped here many times over the years and always loved the vibe. Sad that this will now be gone too.
ReplyDeleteNice so much is being done to create barely affordable apartments. Can we discuss the elephant in the room called job creation?
ReplyDeleteI don't understand those vertical (blinders) all over the facade. The windows are set back and these vertical elements will block horizontal views looking out of the building. Not that I care since I will never live in it anyway just curious to the architect(s) reasoning. As for yet another empty lot being built on, it is what we expect from now on with all land in Manhattan.
ReplyDeleteDont you guys just miss the good old days when we were knocking down apartments and making new vacant lots, rather than filling in vacant lots with apartments?
ReplyDeleteYes BB! It's wonderful. Generic apartments most people can't afford! What a blessing!
ReplyDelete@Anon. 10:06 - Azuma! Yes! There used to be one on West 8th Street, too, can't remember precisely where, but I loved those stores!
ReplyDeleteAt least it's not another NYU dorm.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably be in the lobby on Dec24th asking the doorman if I can do my last minute Christmas shopping there.
ReplyDeleteAs the first poster noted, it's gotten pretty apparent that NYC isn't interested in creating rental units for middle class families any more. Do they really think NYC will survive based on the Paris model?
ReplyDeleteI did my last minute christmas shopping there this year!!!
ReplyDeleteD@mn, really awful news. RIP Old New York.....
There's not too many other places left that i've been going to since i was 16.
Used to go to broadway and hit this flea, antique boutique, shakespeare & co, canal jeans, yellow rat b@stard, pamela's cafe, andees cheepees, gonzalez y gonzalez, and hang @ washington square...
and good lord not fischer again! god help us...
ReplyDeleteThanks for this follow up EV. Will really miss their scrappy, non-shiney, one of a kind, presence on the street. Now we'll have another generic, hard edged building that has no memory.
ReplyDelete