The anticipation builds at 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/Death Star ... as the CVS debuts on Sunday.
The opening marks the first official retail outlet here in the base of the 13-story, 430,000-square-foot office building. (You can't really count the 215 Chrystie sales office on the Third Avenue side for hotelier-developer Ian Schrager because they don't accept the Discover card.)
The familiar glow of the CVS and Pharmacy letters provide contextual harmony* and a strikingly modernistic dramatic streetscape* for the Fumihiko Maki-designed building that reportedly cost $300 million to develop.
If you need any CVS-type items before Sunday, then you could try the Walgreens or Kmart directly across Astor Place or, perhaps, the Walgreens on East 14th Street and Fourth Avenue … or the Duane Reade locations on East 14th Street and Third Avenue and East 14th Street and Broadway ... or the Duane Reade on Third Avenue and East 10th Street. Or the Duane Reade on Broadway near East 10th Street.
CVS will eventually be joined by three more ground-level businesses — Bluestone Lane Coffee, Chop’t and Flywheel Sports.
Updated:
The Grand Opening has been pushed back to Dec. 18!
Previously on EV Grieve:
You can finally shop at 51 Astor Place!
BREAKING: CVS is the 1st retail tenant for the Death Star! (42 comments)
1st sign of the incoming CVS at 51 Astor Place
CVS has teamed up with Watson, IBM’s supercomputer
3 new retail tenants for 51 Astor Place: Bluestone Lane Coffee, Chop’t and Flywheel Sports
* cut-n-paste from some random architectural reviews
Good thing they put a pharmacy there because there aren't any others around for at least another 75 feet.
ReplyDeleteDrug stores are the new Starbuck's.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy another small local business will be opening here.
ReplyDeleteThey're right about the contextual harmony. The context is 1990s suburban Indianapolis.
ReplyDeleteActually, being fairly acquainted with 1990s suburban Indianapolis, I can say that it was a bit cooler than what's going on at Astor Place these days.
DeleteBut if you need CVS private label goods you won't have to walk the two entire blocks to 8th St/University.
ReplyDeleteI hope the sell slutty Miss Santa Claus costumes for tomorrow's shit show.
ReplyDeleteWhat's with the chopping down of the two bigger trees in front of CVS on the Astor Place sidewalk side where the benches are? The construction workers were careful to preserve them during construction and now what?!? CVS didn't like them so down they came? And in the middle of the night! What the #$@$%^*&%^*^&*((*&^???
ReplyDelete