One reason I started Tribeca Citizen was to get answers to questions I had just from walking around. Such as:

What’s going on with the half of Lance Lappin salon (formerly Lappin Paoli) that used to be a shop?
A Uno, the women’s fashion boutique on the corner of Duane and West Broadway, is taking it over. You may recall that A Uno used to have a sister shop, A Uno Walk, a few doors south on the same block. It closed in February—A Uno owner Ann Benedetto says she was being “cautious”—and the space is now Boomerang Toys. Benedetto has been wanting to expand, however, and when Lance Lappin decided to contract, she couldn’t resist. She’s in negotiations with one of the designers she carries to devote the entire annex to the designer’s clothes; if that doesn’t work, it may become a shoe store. (She says she’s also starting a website for folks who want to shop online.) As for Lance Lappin, a nook in the back is still home to knickknacks and other objets, and the salon plans on also displaying wares around the floor.

What’s up with that fake supermarket set-up on the southeast corner of West Broadway and Worth?
It’s the setting for a course, offered by the New York City Department for the Aging, to train senior citizens (55 and over!) computer skills and customer-service etiquette. According to a page on nyc.gov, it’s called the Food Emporium and Riese Restaurant Training Center, but when I called the Department for the Aging, the operator said that’s no longer the name. She wouldn’t say what it is called now, though. Instead, she transfered me to someone who insisted I call 311, at which point I gave up. Even Gladys Kravitz knew when to punt.