Graffiti on, graffiti off

Oh just watching a worker clean graffiti off the Cooper Union Academic Building…

Why is 41 Cooper Square dented?

For some reason, I was standing around Cooper Union's 41 Cooper Square the other day. I was on the east side of the building that faces Shevchenko Place/Hall Place when I looked up and... well. Is that a dent?

There are perforated panels and there are dents. Can't say for sure how long that it has been this way. I couldn't find a good photo of this... here's a dent-free image via Google dated August 2011...

Anyway. Any ideas what may have caused this?

Updated 8:14

In an email, an EVG regular figures the building is being used for stealth intergalactic missions, and a piece of space junk dinged the building on a return trip. Seems plausible.

15-second cinema: Opening the hatches at Cooper Union

Yesterday, in our post on the most out-of-place new buildings in the neighborhood, several readers broke the rules and selected a building not on the list.

The picked the newish Cooper Union building, which still is NOT being sold to NYU.

Anyway, maybe this will change your minds... After all these few years, we finally witnessed the automated windows opening at 41 Cooper Square the other week. (Please turn off all cell phones and pagers during the performance.)

Airing out the Coop

Yesterday afternoon outside the Cooper Union Expensive Building. Photo by Bobby Williams.

There is no news about 51 Astor Place

Well, except that it's gone. Per Bobby William's shot yesterday...

Meanwhile, at the Post yesterday, Steve Cuozzo checked in on several high-profile projects around the city... "We gave owners, brokers, p.r. reps and inside moles a chance to share good news about the following projects, representing billions of dollars of private investment, some bolstered by public subsidies."

He couldn't find any good news about the projects including at 51 Astor Place, which he notes is being built entirely on spec. So the incoming 430,000 square-foot building remains tenantless for now...

And, as you know, it will look like this some day.

Meanwhile, EV Grieve reader Terry Howell shared these photos with us... the first is from Jan. 27, 2011...

And this is from Friday...

We echo Terry's feelings about the building:

"I have watched the demolition of the former Cooper Union building with mixed feelings, mostly deep grief for the loss of the trees. The building itself was meh but I was used to it and I fear what will replace it."

Previously on EV Grieve:
51 Astor Place demolition begins July 1; 17 months to build new black-glass tower

East Village — the new Midtown?

Workers chopping down the trees at 51 Astor Place

How Cooper Union has been giving back

Many East Villagers are unhappy with Cooper Union these days. There's been a lot of talk about what they're taking away from the neighborhood. Like turning Astor Place into an office park. Or perhaps being unsympathetic to the plight of the St. Mark's Bookshop. But let's be fair. Cooper Union has been giving to the neighborhood...

Such as with the free outdoor air conditioning. (We wrote about this here.)

...free outdoor urinal...

...and free place to rest for a moment...

5 developments to watch (and worry about!) this summer

As you probably know, today is the first day of summer... and a good time to look ahead at five East Village developments that we're keeping tabs on...

1) 9-11 Second Avenue.
This parcel that includes the Mars Bar will be demolished sometime in August to make way for a 12-story high-rise.

[Curbed]

2) 51 Astor Place

Prep work for the demolition of the former Cooper Union engineering building starts on July 1. Expect to see an un-neighborhoody-looking black glass-black granite office building here in 17 months or so.

3) 347 Bowery

Back in January, Eastern Consolidated announced that Paris-based Louzon Group bought 347-349 Bowery. The group has plans to construct a 72-room boutique hotel at the site with a restaurant "operated by one of the most famous Parisian brands."

Meanwhile, Louzon officials haven't announced any kind of timeline for the new hotel. We expect to find demolition permits at the DOB one of these days for the Salvation Army's East Village Residence, which closed here at East Third Street in August 2008.

4) 35 Cooper Square

This one is a mystery. The people at the Arun Bhatia Development Corporation, who specialize in dorms and luxury condos, haven't made public their plans for the parcel of land on Cooper Square at Sixth Street. But they were seemingly in a hurry to demolish the historic 35 Cooper Square.

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

5) 500 E. 14th St.

We've been talking about this space where Stuyvesant Grocery and Pete's-A-Place were lost to a fire. There's only speculation now about the future of this corner. The only activity at the DOB is for the new boardwalk-quality sidewalk shed.

[EVG reader Tom]

Plus:

— 75 First Avenue. A modified (and shorter) version of this rendering is expected here at Fifth Street.

— The BMW Guggenheim Lab on East First Street/Houston

51 Astor Place demolition begins July 1; 17 months to build new black-glass tower

By now, you likely know what's coming very soon to Astor Place — a Fumihiko Maki-designed 430,000-square-foot tower at the site of the former Cooper Union engineering building (You can refresh your memory here.)

Last night, representatives from the developer, Edward Minskoff, and the construction company, Sciame, shared demolition plans with 50-some community members at the soon-to-be demolished 51 Astor Place.

There were several presentations... the thing will be "black glass with black granite and silver fins." A construction rep talked about how safe the site will be... as well as signage, drainage, curb cuts, Zzzzzzz....

Now to what you want to know about:

Demolition begins on July 1. The reps said the entire duration of the project is 17 months.

Actually, you won't see any wrecking balls lined up starting on July 1. First. There will be roughly 40 days of abatement, to rid the place of fun things like vermin and asbestos. The construction rep assured the audience that all this will be done to the letter of the law with the utmost safety features in place. He described it as a "controlled process."

After that! A round of inspections. Then workers will commence with a 50-day-long "surgical demolition." So the actual demolition portion should commence sometime in mid-August. Workers will encase the site, and use small machines to methodically remove floor by floor... The demolition truck staging will take place on Third Avenue at Astor...

Early on, a discussion on the hours of the demolition site nearly turned the meeting into a melee. The construction hours are the city-established 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There will be an occasional need to work on weekends, and the crew will have special DOB-issued permits for that.

"A lot of people live around here, and we're not going to be able to sleep for two years," said one resident in the back of the auditorium.

Reps tried to soldier on with the presentation, but a few persistent residents weren't having it.

"We don't care about the project."

"Answer our questions."

"This is propaganda."

"We don't care what it looks like."

Another resident mentioned a lawsuit to stop the project.

The presentation continued. Two of the more-vocal attendees eventually wandered out early.

A few other factoids:

• The plaza area roughly where the Film Academy Cafe is now calls for an Alexander Calder sculpture, most likely one titled "Giant Critter." (CB3 will review the plaza plans in July. More on that meeting when the date is available.)

• The building is 183 feet tall.

• The building will include space for retail and educational use on the lower levels; office space on the upper floors.

• There are no retail tenants yet. The retail space will reflect the needs of the office tenants.

• The developers have had talks with NYU and Cooper Union about leasing the educational space.

And here's what the building looks like from the Fourth Avenue side... (Note that the Cube remains on Astor Place...)

More on all this later...

Bonus! Photo of the first-floor men's room at 51 Astor Place...

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

Your chance to hear about the demolition of 51 Astor Place on Monday nightt

On Monday night, you can hear about the demolition plans for 51 Astor Place — the former Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art building.

I haven't heard anyone upset by the demolition of what looks like some auxiliary college campus building circa 1973.

Meanwhile, you know what's coming next...

[Top image by Bobby Williams]

Cooper Union, 6:12 p.m., May 19

Meanwhile at Cooper Union...

...skateboarders are testing out another part of the building's terrain...

Previously.

Cooper Union displays its cans

A reader walked by Cooper Union last night on the Seventh Street side and and did a double-take, so to speak... "I just had to go back and see this 20-footer hanging in the atrium."

Thank goodness this isn't hanging in the window on Avenue A and Third Street ...

Since I've been tagging you

Behind Cooper Union...

Devomiting story: No one threw up on the Coop this past weekend, however...

Poor St. George just across Piss Alley from the newish Cooper Union academic building didn't fare so well...



Is this the work of the Serial Vomiter, who is now turning his or her sick attention to one of our favorite churches in the neighborhood?





...or just a random act of drunkeness?



Previously on EV Grieve:
Barfin' at the Coop: The Serial Vomiter strikes again

Cooper Union fit for a Caddy

Speaking of the Cooper Union, the newish building is featured in a new Cadillac CTS ad...I'm trying to get a copy of the commercial... Meanwhile, thanks to EV Grieve reader Jeremy for a screen shot...



Cool that the couple in the ad pulled over to look at the Coop's skateboard ramp. Hope that no one gets the idea to use the ramp for any car tricks...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Gleaming the Coop

Barfin' at the Coop: The Serial Vomiter strikes again

We're hesitant to write anymore about this ongoing atrocity versus architecture... However, it is our duty to file this report... As we worldwide exclusively reported last Friday, someone in recent weeks has turned the new Cooper Union academic building into his or her own private vomitorium... We hoped that these were merely isolated incidents, perhaps... perhaps just an extra vicious pub crawl, extended game of flip cup or soapy batch of McSorley's...

No. The Vomitrator is getting dangerous, empowered by the publicity we so willingly heaped upon this sick individual.

As seen Sunday morning...



And, for any of you skeptics who thinks that the Yeti is a myth or believes that balding comes from your mom’s side (or wearing hats), here is further evidence that someone (or thing) is chundering on the Coop... the outline of previous puking sessions as seen here in Exhibits A through E:







We're curious what will happen next. Will the Cooper Union beef up security, particularly after happy hour? Or will The Vomitrator be free to strike again? Given the number of bars/tourists/students in this region, can anything stop The Vomitrator?