[Astor Place photo from Saturday]
Longtime EVG reader Liberation shared the following...
[On Friday] I was told by someone who works for Village Alliance that, when eventually complete, the new Astor Place will have a variety of food vendors, outdoor tables and chairs, and some type of lighting scheme. There's a large electrical box on the northeast corner of Chase that will power all of this. The Village Alliance and some type of committee at the Sculpture of Living building decide who these food vendors are and, in general, decide what takes place in the area.
One bit of news I found shocking is that they have allegedly altered The Alamo sculpture so it will now include some type of lighting.
According to the Village Alliance employee the sculpture will also rotate on its own now as he said people have hurt their backs trying to spin it. Personally, I find it unethical to alter an artist's work to make it appear more like a theme park attraction.
The Alamo had an announced return date of June 22, but the city pushed it back to August.
Workers removed the Alamo for safekeeping for the duration of the $16 million capital improvement project on Nov. 25, 2014.
Updated 3 p.m.
William Kelley, executive director of the Village Alliance, shared the following with us:
The Alamo sculpture should return in August, and it is exactly the same as it was before. There are no lights and the spinning mechanism is human powered, just like before. It received a thorough cleaning and coating to protect it from the weather and will return in good shape.
Also coming in August, there will be bistro tables, chairs and umbrellas for use by the public, much like you see in other plazas around the city.
Finally, there will be a single food concession in the north and south plaza spaces at Astor Place (not around Cooper Square or points south) pursuant to the license agreement with NYCDOT. No other vending will be allowed on the plazas.
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 first of Jim Power's restored mosaic light poles has returned to Astor Place
Looking at a cube-less (still) Astor Place