Seen & Heard: That Magical Second Floor

••• These Chick-fil-A logos have been painted on Broadway, but they’re not for the restaurant on Fulton—that isn’t supposed to open till early next year. Instead, Chick-fil-A is doing a food-truck pop-up in FiDi this afternoon and tomorrow.

••• Like many white males of a certain age, I have a fondness for vinyl records. Barnes & Noble’s “annual celebration of vinyl records [means] an expanded Vinyl Weekend November 17 to 19, showcasing its extensive selection of vinyl records and related products including exclusive turntables, music magazines and more. Barnes & Noble Tribeca will feature exclusive albums, signed vinyl editions, a special price on the Crosley turntable bundle, and discounts on all vinyl records. Grammy-winning and trailblazing trumpeter Keyon Harrold will appear Friday, November 17, at 6 p.m. for an LP signing for his album, The Mugician.”

••• This from the people who double-park all along Duane Street.

••• M. emailed this on Monday: “Not sure if you’ve received other tips, but the construction crew was out last night on Warren Street at 1 a.m. using saws to cut piping. The flood lights were on and the noise was blaring. I called 311 and they said there was no permit for work during those hours. They’ll also get back to me within 10 days to make sure it doesn’t happen again, which is super helpful.” That last part was sarcastic, judging from the emoticon I didn’t include. I told M. to send the complaint numbers to CB1 and Margaret Chin’s office, so that—if it does happen again—there’s a history of the bad behavior.

••• “Do you know what’s going on in the New York Mercantile Exchange building at Harrison and Hudson?” asked R. “First time in 15 years I think I’ve been able to see through these windows, and it looks fantastic.” Indeed! The second floor of that building is one of those magical spaces that I’ve long died to get inside of. (Technically, I was inside it once, for Thierry Despont’s gorgeous art-and-antiques exhibit in 2011, but most of the architectural details were hidden.) The second floor is owned by CWA Local 1180 union, which bought it in late 2016 for $10.85 million. (The union has its office on the ground floor; you may have noticed its propaganda in the windows.) I tried emailing and calling, to see what the plans are for the space and whether I could possibly photograph it, but I never received a response. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if a listing comes up. In the meantime, click on the photo to see it larger.

 

10 Comments

  1. re: the construction crew working at 1 am without a permit. You should call the precinct. I had a similar incident occur a few years ago when I lived on Leonard St and some guys starting cutting up the sidewalk with a saw at like 11 PM. We called 311 and they said they shouldn’t be doing that and would investigate. So we called the precinct and they actually sent over 2 officers within 10-15 minutes who questioned the workers and stopped them from continuing.

  2. Can we all report the Chick-fil-A sidewalk painting? Sidewalk defacement is illegal and carries a $250 fine. I also don’t want them here.

  3. “Like many white males of a certain age, I have a fondness for vinyl records.”

    Not sure why race and gender are mentioned in this statement. How about “Like a lot of people of a certain age, I have a fondness for vinyl records.”

    • So now people can not talk of race and gender, we should be referring to ourselves as “it” from now on in order to be politically correct I guess. Society is falling into a totally ridiculous level of BS

  4. The work on Warren/Greenwich is out of control. Regular night work. No one seems to care. 311 is a joke.

  5. Is that a Con Ed job on Warren Street? If so, it’s best to call them directly. As for an escalation #, and they will bump it up to their “skills” department. They should know their subcontractor is working after hours with no permit.

    If that’s the Water Company (DEP), then your SOL. They work without permits whenever they feel like. GRRRRRR.

  6. The trading Floor when Mercantile Exchange was located there.

    The windows were covered over.

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