Seen & Heard: Some of Spring Street Park Is Open

••• The temporary activation of 22 vacant storefronts on Canal Street—they’ll be turned into “mixed-media art galleries and experimental retail pop-up shops” (New York magazine) appears to be happening, judging from these two “galleries” at 357 and 359 Canal.

••• At 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, the Trader Joe’s on Spring Street was empty as ever.

••• As taking over the “no parking” zone on the street (including in front of a hydrant) wasn’t enough, Ducati is also parking bikes on the sidewalk outside its Sixth Avenue dealership. I’m starting to wonder whether cops get a discount there.

••• The southern tip of Spring Street Park, as Soho Square has been renamed, is open. (The bulk of the park remains behind a fence.) The chairs in the second photo swivel.

••• What’s likely to be the TV show “Ray Donovan” is shooting in the W. Broadway/Warren area today, and “Blue Bloods”is in the Leonard/Varick area tomorrow. And “C” shot on Greenwich last Friday, pissing off residents of 424 Greenwich in the process. You might think that the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, which oversees these shoots, would have some sort of way to complain about crews, but you’d be wrong.

 

6 Comments

  1. I had emailed the Hudson Sq B.I.D. last week about the opening date for the Spring Street Park, and this is the response I got:

    “The southern section of the park (from Dominick St. to Broome St.) is actually already open to the public! The remainder of the Park will open before the estimated completion date in September – as of now that section is closed off to ensure the environment is safe for people and our new plants.”

  2. Julie Menin is the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Film and TV. She is a Tribecan, as you may know. I have called and written the office before. If you can demonstrate that your block is overused for productions, or that the film crew overstepped, tell her. Ideally, take photos of the placard and the crew’s error.

    Once or twice, before her tenure, they suspended use of my very overused block for a year or two.

    • as a long -time TriBeCan, i have, at times, been on a first name basis with staff in the Mayor’s office of film and television.
      I urge all affected citizens to keep contacting and complaining.
      Our neighborhood should not be used as a backlot/soundstage.
      Most of us( unless you have rented your loft for a shoot) get absolutely zero benefit from this kind of major inconvenience and intrusion. The Mayor’s office will say that the film industry brings $$ and tourism dollars to NYC. it brings money to the city budget at the expense of our neighborhood, and as far as tourism dollars are concerned I don’t know anyone who has come into my shop bc they saw a nano-second of Duane St in some commercial or tv show or film.
      this past december i complained about the generator truck of a night shoot that was parked right outside my bedroom, creating such noise that i could not sleep. i received a small “inconvenience check”. i would rather have had a good night’s sleep.

    • In order to get the notice of overuse – they now want residents to log 311 complaints. That is what the office is using as a measurement for if a location is over burdened…

  3. It might seem nice to have an empty Trader Joe’s, but presumably if it doesn’t reach critical mass eventually it will close down….So for those that care about the existence of the store, it’s important that we actually support it with our business….

    (I haven’t been inside it yet myself, so I should speak to myself about that)

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