Sunday, November 6, 2016

New things on Astor Place (not the Alamo, which isn't technically new)


[Photo Tuesday by @unitof]

As you probably noticed, the Alamo returned to the revamped Astor Place on Tuesday.

Several readers asked if the fencing will remain around the cube.


[Photo Wednesday by @evgrieve]

I don't know. I doubt it. The barricades look pretty temporary, and will likely be removed when the glue dries. Or when people people realize the this Alamo is made of cardboard because the original one was lost. I've heard from several people who think the cube looks smaller ... and from several who believe it's now larger.

Meanwhile! The Alamo's return overshadowed another arrival this past week: A second zipper bench. This one is located outside the uptown 6 entrance.



Thanks to @edenbrower and @unitof for pointing this out!
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9 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 6, 2016 at 2:06 PM

    benches for who
    backless so you won't get too comfortable
    hot in the summer and cold in the winter just in case

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 6, 2016 at 3:02 PM

    Benches for the homeless who deserve some consideration from all of us and from city officials.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 6, 2016 at 6:01 PM

    I was about to point the crazy homeless guy who lives by Saint Marks church there... However, this bench got anti-homeless bars...

    ReplyDelete
  4. cmarrtyyNovember 6, 2016 at 6:07 PM

    A few things... GREAT TO HAVE YOU BACK ALAMO. Then there's the bench... it looks out of place. Maybe it was a 2 for one sale because looks like an afterthought where it sits. As for afterthoughts how about the IceCream Outhouse? It defines ugly and it blocks the entrance to the subway station creating a safety issue. As for the rest of the renovation... It's still the worse use of space I've ever seen in the city - barren and sterile. There was an opportunity to do something beautiful and enticing for the residents and tourists alike. But the space reaching from 9th to 4th is a barren plane out of WAITING FOR GODOT. It just needs more trees and pits especially closer to 4th street where it seems the designer just gave up. It's sad to see so much space so badly used and badly designed when we have so little park/green space. And what will it cost to do it. Little. SO DO IT ALREADY!

    ReplyDelete
  5. NOTORIOUSNovember 6, 2016 at 6:19 PM

    Poor Amanda Burden-Christ. Seating is supposed to support the spine, not look like one. Somewhere HR Giger is thinking "reductive."

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousNovember 7, 2016 at 7:51 AM

    This is what happens when people design seating and never actually try it out before selling it to a city government.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousNovember 7, 2016 at 12:05 PM

    While I do hate the placement of the zipper bench by the Great Hall, I've sat on one and found it surprisingly comfortable. The seat curvature seems to be ergonomic, supporting a straight back without having a seat back.

    But there is definitely a drawback in the design as I see that garbage gets trapped within the zipper. If the BID responsibly provides daily cleaning of the plaza, this can be remedied too, probably with a power hose.

    ReplyDelete
  8. anonymousNovember 7, 2016 at 4:40 PM

    That is one ugly bench!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousNovember 7, 2016 at 7:48 PM

    I am going to reserve judgment on the zippers until I've spent more time on them. I did notice that the seat was trapping water after the rain, so bring a dry towel. I don't know why my cmarrtyy is having a meltdown over the ice cream shack. It's 15 feet from the subway entrance. And from now on you can tell people, "Meet me at the ice cream shack."

    ReplyDelete

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