E. wrote: “I would love to know what’s going on with the construction yard along Broadway south of Worth. It’s a mess and has been blocked off for YEARS although all construction appears to be complete.”

She’s right! This is the construction material for the federal General Services Administration’s renovation of the plaza and parking garage at 26 Federal Plaza, the building that has now taken on bigger significance for its role in ICE detentions. (And even before ICE became a household name for its barbaric practices, the building already was a symbol of subpar immigration policies.)

I checked with the agency and the best they could say was that the final repaving and fence removal are planned for completion in the near future. Near future, is, of course, relative, but that’s the best I can do…

The active construction at the site dragged on for more than four years. The project started in 2019 and the sidewalks along Broadway opened in 2024.

(The Beverly Pepper sculptures, “Manhattan Sentinels,” were removed in 2020 and restored in 2023.)

But the construction materials have been taking up the entire eastern lane of Broadway since 2024, creating a pinch-point on one of Downtown’s busiest thoroughfares — and slowing the buses down considerably as a result. Maybe this could be part of the “Next Stop: Faster Buses, Better Service” plan, though there are also placard parking problems to deal with…