In the News: Big Broadway Clock to Be Made Electric

••• The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the plans for 346 Broadway’s conversion—including turning the clock in the clocktower electric. (“The soaring four-faced clock is currently a public landmark but will become part of a private residence under the approved plan.”) There’s no mention of the bell, but I think we can assume it’s going silent. What a shame. (The good news is that the developer is adding the globe back to the top of the building.) —DNAinfo

••• The Anish Kapoor sculpture is happening at 56 Leonard. “The piece is 20 feet tall, with 3,840 square feet of surface; it will take two and a half years to build and will arrive in four immense sections, hauled across the country on a caravan of flatbed trucks.” It’s 20 feet tall? Huh. —New York

••• “A 30-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly grabbed a 73-year-old man by his shoulders and threw him to the ground as he was walking out of Starbucks.” It was the one at Sixth and Walker. Pretty much every time the Tribeca Trib updates its police blotter, something has happened at Starbucks. One more reason to support your local independent coffeehouses….

••• The Smyth hotel will refresh its guest rooms next. —HotelChatter

••• “The former Syms store at 42 Trinity Place [which] also includes 67 Greenwich St. and 81 Greenwich St.” is being shopped around as a development site. “Architects FxFowle have already prepared a rendering [left] to help market the site that can be developed as-of-right with a mixed-use building of roughly 300,000 square feet.” —New York Post

••• 1 Beekman was sold. “Two low-rise buildings, together totaling roughly 25,000 square feet, currently occupy the location, also known as 33-34 Park Row. […] The site could hold a minimum of 48,500 square feet of residential space, or 52,200 square feet if 5,000 square feet of recreation space were created, according to the listing. The site also holds up to 14,550 buildable square feet that can be used for retail or commercial space. If the site receives a plaza bonus, it could allow for a project of up to 87,300 square feet.” So maybe it’s not getting combined with the properties to the south? Anyway, the renderings done for the listing give a sense of the impact the new building will make, even if the design changes. —The Real Deal

Park Row

 

6 Comments

  1. Oh, how I miss Syms and the Burlington that used to be on Park Place.

  2. A school should really be put in the Syms building. The closest school (PS276) has had a waitlist for the past several years and the financial district continues to grow in population more than any other downtown neighborhood.

  3. Looks to me like there is already a school in the rendering! Doesn’t the base look exactly like a school? :-) Though it can be built as of right, it doesn’t hurt to get community and CB1 support and a school would do that.

  4. What struck me as odd about the Kapoor sculpture news was not the size, but that it’ll take 2.5 years to build. What’s that about? His piece in Rockefeller Center was larger and went up for temporary exhibition in about a month. Even if this is a more complicated form, I’m guessing that if J. Koons’ chain gang can knock out a giant balloon dog in four months, they’ve got to be doing something wrong. Also, does that mean they’re going to still be working on it while people are moving in? Doesn’t seem like that’ll be well-met.

  5. The clock tower rang tonight

  6. there are 212 starbucks in manhattan. all you need is 1.5 incident per year per starbucks to get to 365 incidents in 365 days.

Comment: