Let there be new lights on Cooper Square

Oh, just noting the recent arrival of new lamp posts for Cooper Square...



...as part of the ongoing reconstruction of Astor Place.

Anyway, the lamps look pretty nice, and will capably help illuminate the way to the new CVS on Astor Place.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Alamo has been away from Astor Place for 1 year now

The Alamo has been away from Astor Place for 1 year now

[Photo from last Nov. 25 by John M.]

One year ago today, workers packed up and carted off The Alamo for safekeeping for the duration of the reconstruction of Astor Place. (Gothamist captured the moment on video.)

Anyway. One year later. And the cube, which was installed here in 1967, remains in storage somewhere.



Well, except for on Halloween...


[Photo by 8E]

The CB3 website has a page dedicated to local construction projects, including the reconstruction of Astor Place. 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.

There's a link to a weekly bulletin (PDF), noting what's happening now. This week, workers are continuing to install new granite slabs in Peter Cooper Park...



Sidewalk excavations/installation continue on Cooper Square West...



... and well as new sidewalks along the Cooper Union building...



While there is noticeable progress, it still seems like a bit of a mess...



However, there isn't any word among the city updates about the status of the cube. A "community advisory notice" dated Oct. 21, 2104, notes:

The Alamo Cube is slated to be removed and hoisted off by crane from the site and transported to a storage and conservation facility for rehabilitation by the end of the year. The exact timing and details of the removal are still pending. Once confirmed, further details will be provided. After rehabilitation is complete, the Alamo Cube will be reinstalled into its rightful place, along the new Alamo Plaza.

[A rendering of the new Astor Place]

We haven't seen anything about a possible completion date. The CB3 site still lists August 2015. A reconstruction project page via the Cooper Union Library on Facebook says January 2016.

So might as well pull up a comfy chair and just enjoy the rest of the construction...



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

As the traffic islands disappear and appear on 3rd Avenue

[Back in July]

Back in July, workers installed pedestrian crosswalk islands along Third Avenue as part of the ongoing Astor Place Reconstruction Project… then! At the end of September, workers jackhammered away the island on the north part of the St. Mark's Place-Third Avenue intersection ... leaving behind a springy tar pit...


[EVG photo from Sept. 25]

Then yesterday! Workers began putting in a pedestrian island on the southern side of the St. Mark's Place-Third Avenue intersection…





There isn't a timetable just yet for the removal of this pedestrian crosswalk island.

Photos yesterday via EVG correspondent Steven

Newly installed traffic island disappears on 3rd Avenue at St. Mark's Place

[Back in July]

Back in July, workers installed pedestrian crosswalk islands along Third Avenue as part of the ongoing Astor Place Reconstruction Project…

And just like that yesterday, an alert EVG reader let us know that workers jackhammered away the island at St. Mark's Place... leaving behind a springy tar pit...



... this was an oasis that provided relief from the dodgy Third Avenue traffic as well as time to decide what 7-for-$10-shots to order at the Continental ...





No word just yet how long this will push back the project's completion date. Perhaps Amanda Burden-Christ will provide commentary in the comments.

The new islands of 3rd Avenue

Been meaning to note this… you've likely noticed this if you've crossed Third Avenue or Cooper Square anywhere from East Ninth Street to East Fourth Street of late… workers have been installing pedestrian crosswalk islands as part of the ongoing Astor Place Reconstruction Project…





According to the city, the entire reconstruction/reconfiguration project is expected to be complete by Jan. 31, 2016.

Curb your enthusiasm: New sidewalks coming to Cooper Square/3rd Avenue

The next phase of the Astor Place/Cooper Square Reconstruction starts today … with new curb and sidewalk installations for Cooper Square/Third Avenue from East Fourth Street to East Ninth Street.

So expect some better curbs for this rather curb-less stretch of Cooper Square…





Here's the ongoing reconstruction project's Anticipated Work Schedule/Activities for May-June (PDF!) from the city:

•Village Plaza: Continue assisting Con-Ed with gas main offset.
• Cooper Sq. West, from E. 4th to Astor Place: Installing new curbs/sidewalks
•Peter Cooper Triangle Park: Installing permeable pavers and bioswales.
•Third Ave, from E. 9th to E. 4th Street: Installing new curbs, sidewalks and pedestrian ramps.
•E. 4th from Bowery to Second Avenue: Utility work. Installing new catch basins and curb bump-outs.
•Third Avenue, from E. 4th to E. 9th Streets: Installing nine concrete center medians.
•Installation of catch basins in various locations.

The centerpiece of all this some day will be the expanded Alamo plaza...



Workers boxed up the Cube for safekeeping during the reconstruction of Astor Place this past Nov. 25.

The Plaza has been used for the annual NYCxDESIGN celebration these past few days … with some spun chairs designed by Herman Miller…

But look at this at Astor Place! @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/wAac1YnVzS

— EdenBrower (@edenbrower) May 15, 2015

Anyway, as for when the cube will return … the city noted that the surface work for the Alamo plaza is on hold "pending MTA approval."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

An updated look at the all-new Astor Place

You'll never drive on this section of Astor Place again

There goes The Alamo

Nearly 1 year later, Peter Cooper starting to emerge from his box

[File photo via NYC Parks]

Workers boxed up Augustus Saint-Gaudens' sculpture of Cooper Union founder Peter Cooper last April ... for safekeeping during the ongoing Astor Place-Cooper Square reconstruction project.

EVG reader Katie B. has been keeping tabs on the boxed Cooper, which overlooks the Cooper Triangle Park ... and notes that he is slowly starting to emerge from underneath the plywood...


[Click on image for more detail]





Eventually the Park, which closed in November 2013, will look like this...with new seating and plantings as well as upgraded lighting (minus the ghosts probably)...



As for the statue, the official dedication took place on May 29, 1897. Check out the NYC Parks website here for more background.

Looking at a Cube-less Astor Place

On Tuesday, workers carted off the Alamo from Astor Place… for safekeeping during the reconstruction phase.





No word how long the cube will be in storage. But it will return as the centerpiece for the all-new Astor Plaza…



The cube was installed here in 1967.

There goes The Alamo

Well, no wonder the Alamo was back in plain view on Astor Place... EVG reader John M. just got a quick shot of workers carting off the Cube on a truck ... apparently for safekeeping during the reconstruction of Astor Place.

And here's a little video action via Gothamist...

A video posted by David Johnson (@david_johnso) on Nov 11, 2014 at 7:16am PST

The Alamo comes back into full view

[Michael Paul Photography]

On 15, workers boarded up the Alamo to protect it during the reconstruction of Astor Place... the cube is now temporarily back into view... just mind the backhoe ...



Updated noon:

And now the whole thing is gone.

You'll never drive on this section of Astor Place again

Just noting another phase of the reconstruction of Astor Place — the closure of the street between Lafayette and Cooper Square...


[Michael Paul Photography]

... which is yielding to an expanded Alamo plaza, as the rendering shows...



Last Wednesday, workers boarded up the Alamo to protect it during the construction phase...


[Michael Paul Photography]

Cooped up

[Photo by Dave on 7th]

We've been meaning to note that the statue of Peter Cooper in Cooper Square was boarded up this past week for the Astor Place reconstruction project … So, noted!

BoweryBoogie noted this today as well … and BB also has a shot of the statue circa 1900.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

An updated look at the all-new Astor Place

People miss the trees at the Astor Place subway plaza

As we noted the other day, workers, for whatever reasons, removed the trees from the Astor Place subway plaza ahead of the Astor Place-Cooper Square revamp... most readers here and on Facebook were pretty much WTF about it... EVG regular Terry Howell shared this shot of the trees as they looked in January 2011... Anyway, plans show about eight trees will be planted here in the revamp...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Revamped Astor Place subway plaza apparently won't need its existing trees

Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

An updated look at the all-new Astor Place

Workers chopping down the trees at 51 Astor Place

Revamped Astor Place subway plaza apparently won't need its existing trees

[Image via Curbed]

As you know, the long-awaited revamp is happening at Astor Place and Cooper Square these next two years... The plan includes enlarging Cooper Park, streamlining the street grid and creating new permanent pedestrian plazas. Not to mention adding 60 additional trees. Also among the changes: a new-look subway plaza with raised flower beds, more seating and wider sidewalks... and trees ... per the rendering above...

Unfortunately, the existing trees here were either in the wrong place or just not fit for the new-look Astor Place. Several readers were shocked to find that workers had chopped down the trees (Birch?) along here...


[Photo via @EVPinhead]

To echo what @EVPinhead put on Twitter about this: #WTF

Updated:

Here's another view via EVG reader John M.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

An updated look at the all-new Astor Place

Workers chopping down the trees at 51 Astor Place

An updated look at the all-new Astor Place

[EVG file photo]

The reconstruction around Cooper Square and Astor Place is upon us... Yesterday, officials shipped out the, uh, official news release about the project (which we didn't receive!*) ... and Curbed has the details ... as well as some slightly updated images  ...


[New trees help block out Chase branch]

The plan remains the same ... which includes enlarging Cooper Park, streamlining the street grid and creating new permanent pedestrian plazas. Not to mention adding 60 additional trees. Curbed notes that the work will cost $16 million. The work will start at East Fourth Street, "where new drainage catch basins, curbs and sidewalks are being constructed."

And the project will work its way north over the next two years.

Meanwhile, there hasn't been any official word about what will happen to Jim Power's mosaics that adorn Astor Place.

Per Serena Soloman at DNAinfo yesterday:

"They should not be removed," said Power, who plans to put up signs saying the mosaics are in danger.

"We are being pushed around by this so-called redesign. This is our neighborhood," he said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

* Our fax machine has been out of paper since 1999.

Five years later, Astor Place apparently ready for its 2-year reconstruction project

You've likely sign on the signs of pending reconstruction around Cooper Square and Astor Place...



...where the long-discussed two-year (right!) project is set to start...





Among other things, workers have cleared the bike racks from the area around the Alamo ...



... and moved the Citi Bikes docking station from outside Cooper Union to...



...East Seventh Street and Taras Shevchenko Place ...



We heard about the plan back in 2008... By now, we completely forget what is actually happening here (well, the sign above lays it out...)...So we'll go to Curbed, who reported on this Monday, for details:

The four-part plan will enlarge and revamp the plazas around the Alamo and the uptown 6 subway stop, as well as widen the sidewalks near Cooper Square and freshen up Cooper Park. The biggest change will ease the jumbled intersection of Cooper Square, Fourth Avenue, the Bowery, and 5th Street with creation of the 8,000-square-foot Village Plaza. Every section will see new trees and more plantings, new seating, and new lighting, and construction will last for two years.

And here is the official PDF with the plans and stuff.



Any thoughts on what is about to happen here...?

[H/T EVG reader Wally J.]