There has been a lot of depressing news in the past year, and we likely haven’t heard the last of it, so let’s focus on the positive (for one post, anyway). Here are 42 things to look forward to in Lower Manhattan.

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A SLEW OF NEW RESTAURANTS
Restaurants take a long time to gestate, so many of these were on last year’s “Reasons to Be Excited” list: the first New York outpost of Chicago favorite Au Cheval; New York Vintners’s “indoor farm,” which has restaurant components; the Japanese restaurant at 20 Warren; the huge Sant Ambroeus at Brookfield Place; Breads Bakery at the World Trade Center mall (if it’s still happening—I’ve never seen evidence of any work); Market Lane, a food hall at the World Trade Center mall; and Buddha Bar in the old Megu (which we subsequently learned will be sharing the space with an Italian import, Assunta Madre). Newly announced in the past 12 months: Fish Republic, from a Long Island seafood wholesaler, in the old Blaue Gans space; Downtown Yogurt & Ice Cream on Greenwich Street; Los Tacos No. 1, at Church and Warren; Farra, a wine bar related to (and a few blocks down from) Atera; a big bar in the former Haus nightclub from the Martignetti brothers, best known around here for the defunct Brinkley’s on Broome; No. 87 restaurant, on Walker in Chibeca, from Tribecan Brian Kennedy; Soho Diner, which is just what it sounds like, inside the Soho Grand hotel; Torishin yakitori restaurant in the former Tribeca Treats shop (above); The Wonder, a “family social space and café” on Hudson; and Torch & Crown brewpub up on Vandam.

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AND NEW WAYS TO WORK THAT FOOD OFF
I only know of two fitness studios set to open here: Nova Fitness (“combining Electric Muscle Stimulation technology with top tier personal trainers”) and Rumble, which offers boxing-inspired classes. But if recent history is a reliable guide, there will be others.

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SHOPPING
The game-changer for FiDi is the Whole Foods at 1 Wall Street. In Tribeca, we only have two shops in the works (although shops often fly under the radar till they’re about to open): Tribeca Apothecary, a skincare pharmacy on W. Broadway, and Luv Michael‘s kitchen and shop on Walker, where folks with autism will make and sell granola. And then there’s 3 World Trade Center (above), three sides of which have retail spaces at street level. Whether tenants are lined up is anyone’s guess. Last but not least, interesting more for the manner of shopping than the merch, is Amazon’s cashierless convenience store coming to Brookfield Place.

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NEW BUILDINGS TO BE UNVEILED
In coming months, we’ll finally get a look at 100 Franklin (which will drastically change the face of Sixth Ave.), 30 Warren (above), and 108 Chambers. And we’ll likely get a better sense of what 45 Park Place will look like; it’s a prime example of how a building might seem as if it won’t affect an area, until you realize it’ll loom over everything to the north.

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CULTURE HIGH AND LOW
Anish Kapoor’s silver blob has to be coming soon to 56 Leonard, right? (I wrote those same words last year.) A surer thing is the art invasion of northeast Tribeca: Canada gallery on Lispenard; James Cohan Gallery on Walker; Journal Gallery and Artists Space’s new home on White; Andrew Kreps Gallery on Cortlandt Alley; and so on. Exciting news for everyone in Lower Manhattan: Alamo Drafthouse‘s cineplex at 28 Liberty. And way off on the horizon is the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center….

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SEAPORT DISTRICT
The Seaport District mall should finally coalesce this year, with a McNally Jackson bookstore and new restaurants from David Chang’s Momofuku Group, Malibu Farm, and Andrew Carmellini (of Locanda Verde and Little Park). They’ll be followed by two endeavors from Jean-Georges Vongerichten—a 10,000 square-foot restaurant with a 2,500-square-foot patio and, in the nearby Tin Building, a huge seafood-themed marketplace.

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BOGARDUS PLAZA
As we recently learned, the revamped Bogardus Plaza is delayed, but when it’s done, it’s likely to be a focal point for south Tribeca.

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PIER 26
Construction of Pier 26 has begun, and the renderings indicate that it’ll be a very interesting addition to the Hudson River Park and the neighborhood in general. Part 1 of renderings is here; the fish-themed playground is here.

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TWO NEW HOTELS
The Walker Hotel Tribeca, under conversion at 396 Broadway (at Walker), will have room rates under $200, or at least that was the plan in the fall of 2015. Of more note to locals, coffee roaster Blue Bottle is opening a café in the lobby, and there will also be an American restaurant, basement lounge, and rooftop bar. Over in northwest Tribeca, work should restart soon on the much fancier hotel at 456 Greenwich (rendering above). It’ll have a spa, large fitness center, meeting space, rooftop pool, screening room, and possibly six bars and restaurants. The operator appears to be Groupe Lucien Barrière, and the property will be called Le Fouquet’s New York.

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