There’s been a lot of bad news lately, and I fear we haven’t heard the last of it, so let’s try to focus on the positive (for one post, anyway). Here are 14 reasons to be excited about, or at least intrigued by, the future.

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BEST MARKET
No matter what it ends up being like, it has to be better than shopping at Duane Reade.

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THE BEEKMAN
According to its website, The Beekman hotel, inside awesome 5 Beekman, is taking reservations starting May 1, and my guess would be that the Keith McNally restaurant (sample menu here) and the Tom Colicchio restaurant will open around then, too. Let’s just hope they don’t become impossible to get into.

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TARGET
Target will open a “flexible format store” at Greenwich and Murray in October. “The Tribeca Target will be approximately 45,000 square feet and will feature a locally-relevant, catered assortment for urban guests,” said the press release, “including smaller packaging for guests traveling on foot or in public transit (e.g. single rolls of paper towels rather than 12 packs); home assortments dedicated to refreshing small living spaces, as well as urban apartment and condo essentials; a wide assortment of men’s, women’s and kids apparel and shoe selections; baby care items for young neighborhood families; a variety of beauty assortments; food selections, including grab-and-go items spanning sandwiches, salads, beverages, snacks, and more; services including Target Mobile, Order Pick-up and Pharmacy.”

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FOUR SEASONS HOTEL DOWNTOWN
You may be unlikely to stay at the hotel, and you may or may not be anticipating the outpost of Wolfgang Puck’s Cut steakhouse, but the hotel—which takes the bottom third of 30 Park place—promises to inject some much-needed glamour into FiDi. And maybe the bar and spa (pictured above in the architectural model) will be worthwhile places for locals to explore. The website says the hotel will open “mid-2016.”

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IPIC
The iPic cinema at the Seaport District is shooting for a June 2016 opening. It “will have eight auditoriums, each holding between 43 and 143 seats which patrons can reserve online before heading to the movie,” said DNAinfo. “Moviegoers can grab food and drinks, then head to their seats. Those with with a ‘premium plus’ ticket can eat and imbibe with waiter service. Those premium seats are also a bit more comfy—they’re full-leg reclining chairs, complete with pillows and blankets.” Tickets are $14-$28.

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METROGRAPH CINEMA
“A new two-screen arthouse cinema, capable of playing 35 millimeter and digital films, is set to open on the Lower East Side early next year,” said the New York Times. “Called Metrograph, the theater is the brainchild of Alexander Olch, a film director and designer of menswear accessories. He owns a boutique one block from where the new theater is being built, out of an old warehouse on Ludlow Street at Canal Street. A restaurant, lounge and bookstore are also planned.” Ludlow and Canal is kind of far away but we desperately need another arthouse, especially if the Sunshine get redeveloped.

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CAFÉ ALTRO PARADISO
“Chef Ignacio Mattos and his partner, Thomas Carter, who own the independent-minded small plate walk-up Estela, will now go Italian in a bright, airy space” called Café Altro Paradiso at 234 Spring (Sixth Ave.), reported the New York Times. “They envision a more traditional menu, divided into starters, pastas, mains and desserts; they will do breakfast, lunch and dinner.” It could open this month.

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EATALY
DNAinfo reported that the city’s second Eataly, inside 4 World Trade Center, could open as soon as April. And the Tribeca Trib published the floor plan, at least of the third floor (drag the floor plan to your desktop to see the type larger); let’s hope there’s another floor of the 41,000-square-foot establishment devoted to shopping.

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WESTFIELD WORLD TRADE CENTER
Last month, the New York Times broke the bad news that leaks had delayed the Westfield World Trade Center mall, so who knows when it’ll open. But when it does, even if there’s absolutely nothing on the list of 100-ish shops and restaurants to excite you (not even Apple?), you have to be thrilled about the area coming back to life—not to mention getting inside what promises to be a fascinating space.

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JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN IN THE SEAPORT
Restaurateurs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Phil Suarez will open “a 40,000 square-foot, seafood-themed marketplace inside the landmarked Tin Building and a 10,000 square-foot restaurant in a rebuilt Pier 17,” said the New York Post. “The Seaport marketplace will not be ethnically focused like French-themed Le District or Italian-inspired Eataly, but simply built around seafood. Retail counters will be mixed with communal tables and noshing counters for ‘chowders, raw bars, sushi, shrimp,’ Vongerichten said. The Pier 17 restaurant, on the second floor, will include a 2,500 square-foot alfresco patio facing the Brooklyn Bridge. The atmosphere won’t be fine-dining but casual along the lines of ABC Kitchen and ABC Cocina.” Pier 17 is on track to be ready by the end of 2017.

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SAKS FIFTH AVENUE
Lower Manhattan is getting three Saks stores. Here’s Racked on the main one, at 225 Liberty in Brookfield Place: “The forthcoming 85,000-square-foot Brookfield Place store, scheduled to open in spring 2016, ‘is more about being a concept store… and less about shops with big brand logos. It’s more of a designer and contemporary edit.’ And based on the local clientele—’a cooler, edgier crowd of people, more determined shoppers who don’t have as much time’ like young families, financial industry workers, and those in high income brackets moving into the luxury towers rising in the area—that concept will include a heavy push on shoes, denim, and menswear.” And here’s the New York Times on the Saks Off Fifth discount store: “The retailer will also open its first Off 5th outlet store in Manhattan, with 55,000 square feet at One Liberty Plaza. […] The Off 5th outlet location may not open for several years because Brooks Brothers, which currently occupies the space, has a lease that runs through 2017.” Finally, just last week, the New York Post reported that a Saks Men’s Store will open at Brookfield Place in the spot where L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon was going to be: “The men’s store will include all of Robuchon’s former space overlooking the Battery Park City marina, plus an additional 4,000 square feet, according to retail sources. It is to open in March 2017.”

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70 PINE RESTAURANT
In May, the New York Post announced that “Spotted Pig restaurateurs April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman are planning to launch a glamorous, four-level restaurant/lounge atop” Art Deco landmark 70 Pine, which is being converted to rentals. “The space will be an open-to-the-public restaurant/lounge with perhaps 150 to 200 seats [.…] One of the floors would be a true fine-dining restaurant, while the others will offer small plates along with wine and cocktails, sources said. The restaurant should be ready to open in about a year,” which would be spring of 2016. I’ve never loved the Bloomfield/Friedman restaurants, but who cares! Can’t wait to get inside that building.

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WYLIE DUFRESNE FIDI RESTAURANT
In June, the New York Times announced that ““Wylie Dufresne, the innovative chef who was forced to close WD-50 late last year because the building was to be demolished, will open a restaurant in early 2016 in a hotel in the financial district. Mr. Dufresne, who also owns the bistro Alder in the East Village, has not decided on a name or style for the new place: A K A Wall Street hotel, 84 William.” We haven’t heard much about it since…. The website says the hotel will open “early spring 2016.”

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BLUE BOTTLE
The coffee roaster, which had an outpost inside All Good Things, is opening a café in the hotel under conversion (if that’s a phrase) at 396 Broadway (at Walker).

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There’s actually a lot more: Look for “Future Openings” in the left column of this website for info on Masa Takayama’s Tetsu restaurant on Leonard; Sushi Tatsu, the high-end sushi restaurant and whiskey bar opening on Franklin; Serafina, which finally seems to be moving forward at W. Broadway and Reade; Amada restaurant at Brookfield Place; the Shake Shack in the Fulton Center; and more.