Seen & Heard: Iconic Building Butchered

••• New York State’s never-ending construction work at the New York State Insurance Fund Building (199 Church)—the Cuomo administration is adding offices for several hundred state troopers, probably just to annoy the mayor—seems like it might finally be winding down. But let’s pray that the new venting added to the Trimble Place side of the building is temporary, and that it’ll ultimately match the other one on the block (see second photo from 2014). The state doesn’t have to file Department of Buildings permits, so it’s hard to know what the plan is. And the building isn’t landmarked, which is a shame.

••• The Chick-fil-A on Fulton opened to huge crowds. (Photo by M. M. De Voe.)

••• The former Galerie de Café space at 49-51 Warren has hit the market, as part of a three-and-a-half-story home/business. There’s a bowling alley in the sub-basement.

••• Among the six solo shows opening April 3 at Soho Photo: Laura J. Bennett’s Dames of Anatomy. “This project addresses the complexities of the female condition and challenges cultural norms. Old glass negatives of anonymous women are scanned and combined with antique medical slides, ephemera and my own selected images. They are peppered with satire, but there is an underlying presence of struggle and submission. My life experience as a woman is a far cry from any fairytale I knew as a child. I tell my daughters, ‘you are your own prince charming, so saddle up and find yourself.'”

••• Underground Potato, which I’ll wager sells French fries, is opening at the Fulton Center. Thanks to Hudson River for the heads-up.

••• You can now get a peek of the atrium roof, made with standing-seam metal, at A Summer Day Café, the restaurant opening on the ground floor of the former Super Linda space. (Downstairs will be Holy Ground.) More on both here.

 

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