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If you've walked by/around Astor Place in the last week or so, then you've likely noticed some actual progress as the reconstruction process plods along... In the next few photos, you can see the new permanent plaza on Astor Place adjacent to the Chase branch take shape ...
... and workers have added more details to the plaza...
As of late yesterday, part of the new plaza was open to pedestrian traffic...
For a little comparison, here's how things were looking here on Jan. 17...
As previously noted, plans for the multi-year(s) project have included reconfiguring/revamping the Astor Place/Cooper Square streetscape with three new permanent plazas, additional seating, trees and a new design for Peter Cooper Park.
Some day it will look like this...
[A rendering of the new Astor Place]
As for when Astor Place's more famous tenant, the Alamo, will return... there isn't any mention of the cube in the posted timelines. Workers packed up and carted off The Alamo for safekeeping for the duration of the reconstruction back on Nov. 25, 2014.
Here's a link to a weekly bulletin (PDF), noting what's happening this week.
The anticipated project completion date is now summer 2016, according to the Winter 2016 reconstruction newsletter (PDF here).
Previously on EV Grieve:
The Alamo returns to Astor Place this Halloween
Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project
This is what it might be like living inside the Alamo on Astor Place
RIP Tony Rosenthal, the sculptor who created the Astor Place cube
The Alamo has been away from Astor Place for 1 year now
For decades I felt that Astor Plaza needs to be better designed, for functionality, aesthetics and safety reasons. It's a shame that it wasn't until it has become completely gentrified with a corporate take-over that something is being done.
ReplyDeleteThat's SO much cement. What are eyesore.
ReplyDeletenow we know where jimmy hoffa is buried
ReplyDeleteIt's good that they're doing something, but did anyone else notice how poor the quality and workmanship is? I give it until next winter before they have to start making "repairs" to the concrete. The workmanship in third-rate European cities is miles above the effort going into this pedestrian plaza. What a waste of money!
ReplyDeleteIt's just astonishing how long this is taking. I really feel like this was 2-3 months work that has been stretched out to over two years. I used to live overlooking the area and I never, ever saw anyone working.
ReplyDeleteI'm no right-winger, but this project just completely typifies the waste and corruption endemic in public works in the city. The end results may be nice but every one of us will have paid ten times the real cost of the work
The perfect place to gather for anti-gentrification rallies.
ReplyDeleteThis construction is the bane of my existence. It should have taken no more than 3 months, repave a rode, fix some sidewalks. Boom done.
ReplyDeleteYAY! I can go on living now...
ReplyDeletePerfect place to gather for santa con.
ReplyDeleteSo much positivity here in the comments, per usual.
ReplyDeleteWow, now people are criticizing the critics.
ReplyDeleteComplaining about a pedestrian plaza making use of concrete? What do you expecting, Italian marble? I understand that this comment section is used to air out candid reactions but I swear some people have crazy hair triggers on their complaint-guns.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:26am
ReplyDeleteTHANK-YOU!
As usual, yaysayers are delusional and keep drinking the Kool-aid.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is SO much to be positive about. The paving over historical streets. Hundreds upon hundreds of square feet of concrete that serves no purpose. The dangerous traffic patterns created by the construction. And that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. Let's all rejoice!
ReplyDeleteFinally. This is nowhere as bad as the East Houston SHITSHOW that will never fucking end but this has gone on for way too long. Bring back the Cube!
ReplyDeleteThe safety improvements alone are worth the inconvenience. Also we're getting more trees.
ReplyDeleteThough I agree that, in it current iteration, Astor Place has all the warmth of an Easter Bloc gulag complete with firing range, I ask you please hold off on feedback until my spectacular Burpee Seeds have been planted and you see my completed vision.
ReplyDeleteAnd to those who keep bringing up the fact that I paved over a historical street: Did you know that Burpee Seed Company was the first catalog in the world to offer yellow seed corn?
Yet, life somehow goes on. Paving work takes forever. How else are they unions supposed to make money? It's bullshit, but if you're not used to it by now, your coping skills really need help.
ReplyDeleteDo the old men of the east village just walk around bawling their eyes out all day, every day over every little change, inconvenience, or other occurrence that occurs? Nobody likes a drama queen.
Yeah, you guys, embrace change. NYC is all about constant change. Change.
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:41 Yes. Yes they do.
ReplyDeleteYet life goes on! Paving takes forever!! Unions are forever! Forever 21!!! Do old men walk? Or cry? Do they change? Brother can you spare a dime?
ReplyDeleteThose taxis look like they're about to run into each other. So the safety improvements have done away with lanes?
ReplyDeleteI am very glad that we will have more pedestrian space and plazas in the city, and this is a good move. I remember when this area was just an ugly parking lot.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the slow pace of construction is inexcusable. This has gone on now for how many years? Typical work days on this project consist of one or there other of the following options:
1. No work at all. No workers.
2. One worker doing something; 10 other workers standing around watching.
Also, will there be any greenery as in some of the original renderings? Right now it looks like just a concrete block, but I understood that there would be trees, plantings, and seating areas as well.
- East Villager
@ 4:05 PM: Imagine if they didn't have one guy working. One guy for the price of ten. I've noticed the same thing with Con Ed. Only one guy is allowed to work at a time.
ReplyDeleteOoh, another one of Janette Sadik Khan and Amanda Burden's wonderful pedestrian plazas!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the lovable cartoon characters to show up! And throw in some Crusties for good measure. Tourist dollar selfie heaven!
The original plan was for reinstalling Stuyvesant Street, instead we get this dumb marker. Having the street as a plaza, in cobblestone, would have been original as well as plazalike. Instead we get 1,000 tons of cement. Throw De Blasio out -- he's killing us every which way!
ReplyDeleteWhat's done is done, and indeed it sucks. But we MUST STOP the idiots whose goal is to turn the entire length of Broadway into a "greenway" (tourist park/shopping mall, inspired by Times Square and the High Line). You Kool-Aid drinkers may disagree, but I think whoever came up with that idea, as well as anyone who supports it, ought to be banished from New York City permanently. This is not any road, or some abandoned railroad trestle we are talking about; this is NYC's historic Broadway.
ReplyDeleteI just can't understand how these things take so long. What the hell is happening at 2nd and Houston? That's a disaster and it's entirely unclear what, if anything, is happening...
ReplyDeleteWell said "Zoltar told me".... People do lose sight of silly little things like the history of NYC. Morons.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, how long has this been happening now? It feels like years and years. Feels like its progress is in millimeters. There's no reason for this. You can't inconvenience residents for years for no damn reason. Wrap it the hell up.
ReplyDeleteYou know what they say at McDonald's? I am loving it. :)
ReplyDeleteWhere is the bocci court?
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time coming with a few delays...but it is finally starting to move along.
ReplyDeleteIf only the contractors working on Stuyvesant Square Park on E. 15th Street could see how it is done...that project has been stalled for years now and has made the park a complete eyesore filled with machinery, debris and other material.
What a big mess.
@ anon 6:18 That's Amanda Burden-Christ.
ReplyDeleteSadik-Khan? Amanda Burden? These sound like the names of comic book villains or some shit.
ReplyDeleteYou think this is shit? Wait 'til the buildings between St.Mark's Place and E.9th St. on the east side of Third Avenue (Continental, McDonald's etc.) and the hotel at the corner of St.Mark's and Third across from them are razed.
ReplyDeleteAll I want is The Alamo back, thought I saw at a university grounds during one of the last Clinton/Sanders debate during one of the news programmes, was watching live so couldn't get a screen pic of it [MA, MI? not sure which state university was the last one I saw The Alamo {maybe} on its grounds]
ReplyDeleteSo much ignorance on this thread, from self appointed project engineers.
ReplyDeleteThis was planned at several years of public meetings and will create more public space. The Alamo will return.
ReplyDeleteDelays and imperfections notwithstanding, I think this is a substantial improvement to the area.
ReplyDeleteThe original 2011 presentation to Community Boards 2 and 3 is here, with lots of renderings of the final layout:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nyc.gov/html/mancb3/downloads/cb3docs/Jan_6_2011_Presentation_to_CBs_2_and_3.pdf