Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Facebook is moving into the neighborhood; Midtown South expands its boundaries, apparently

From The Wall Street Journal this morning:

Facebook Inc. is moving its New York office south and nearly doubling its space, marking the latest technology company to set up shop in the city's Midtown South neighborhood.

Facebook, a popular social media site where users share "Game of Thrones" spoilers, is moving into 770 Broadway at East Ninth Street, an area of New York also known, randomly, as Astor Place, the East Village, NYU, WeAs (West of Astor), LeLa (left of Lafayette Street) and Where is that Starbucks with the restroom?

Facebook reportedly signed a 10-year lease for 100,000 square feet at 770 Broadway, whose current tenants include AOL, J Crew and the Huffington Post. Facebook and its 200 New York employees currently must do with a 55,000-square-foot space on two floors at 335 Madison Ave.

The new space sounds like it will be very Facebooky.

Architect Frank Gehry will design the space, which will include a cafeteria with its own chef, smaller kitchens with snacks and drinks and an open floor plan.

Meanwhile, the new tenant-wanting office building at 51 Astor Place sits directly across the street.

Oh, and will anyone notice a difference with the 200 new tenants? Here's the Voice's take:

Facebook employees will probably just blend in with the existing NYU students, only they'll have nicer living arrangements and more expensive sneakers.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village — the new Midtown?

11 comments:

  1. Haha Deathstar! Nobody loves you! Rental poison! Hahahahahaha!

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  2. I'm happy not to work in anything corporate, but Facebook now... This would be SUCH a sweet commute! I always joked I'd love to work anywhere above that KMart!

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  3. More expensive sneakers- classic.

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  4. First, they renamed Hells Kitchen Midtown West, now they're renaming whatever that area's called Midtown South.

    I guess we're all Midtown now.

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  5. I'll be sure to poke them... with a bat!

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  6. We have to fight this. No, I don't mean Facebook moving in -- we have to fight the "Midtown South" label. Slapping a classy-sounding new name on a neighborhood can be worth millions in real estate. This name is a big deal to them. Deny them this victory. Don't use it. Don't let the developers colonize and gentrify our very language and thoughts the way they do our streets and buildings.

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  7. Why would this be Midtown South? Its below 14th for Jebus' sake. Can't NoHo be classy enough if they don't want to be associated with EV or Greenwich or the Village.

    I agree a new name can be worth 100s of millions, but NoHo is so much better.. I don't understand.

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  8. What the fuck? They call it MIDTOWN because it's in the MIDDLE OF TOWN. Astor Place, meanwhile, is DOWNTOWN, because it, by its very geography, is SOUTH (i.e. DOWN) from the MIDDLE OF TOWN.

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  9. Billboard magazine also has its offices in 770.

    - East Villager

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  10. The appropriate name for this area is "MUDTRUCKLAND"

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  11. Midtown South is very clearly defined byte Midtown South Police precinct. Perhaps this article was written in Manila by someone with a very small map.

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