Adtor place mural briqs3/13/2023 We gave everybody an opportunity to get fully vaccinated.īesides vaccinations, what can New York City, the public and private sectors be doing to spur the recovery? Then, to have a little fun, we put $10,000 in a kitty, and everyone who’s fully vaccinated would be able to put their hand in the fishbowl and we’ll have one person get a $5,000 bonus, and five people will get a $1,000. So, I came up with the idea that we would give everybody who’s vaccinated a $500 bonus, whether they had already been vaccinated or they were going to get vaccinated. We thought this was the best way we could encourage those that were hesitant since we could not make it mandatory for our union employees. In our corporate offices, everybody’s vaccinated. There was an employee vaccination incentive at your company. I can give you a list of tenants that I’ve leased space to. I mean, New York is doing OK.Ĭan you talk about the tech tenants you’ve signed or are in negotiations with? On the other hand, hopefully, the fact that this Pfizer vaccine now has full approval, maybe that will encourage people to get vaccinated. So, I think people are renting space, even though we all thought that after Labor Day we’d see a huge return - that’s not likely to happen. I think I have 10 leases out for signature. But I’ve been very busy leasing space, so I think that a lot of the tech tenants that I’ve been working with, they’re young companies, and they can’t work from home because they don’t even know each other. Our view of the world was that the right thing to do, to work with our tenants and help them get through this. That’s how you get through something like a pandemic. We thought by Labor Day everyone would be coming back, and we had a couple of empty stores, so we thought we’d put these murals in the windows, and it would be a way to welcome people back and to remind people that we all have to work together. We thought we would kind of do something to welcome people back to New York City. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Noted illustrator Anthony Russo is behind the murals, which include such phrases as “We rise by lifting others” and “Be kind, it powers the world.” He also warned about what might derail New York’s recovery - one that his company has sought to promote through five murals at 10 Astor Place, 200 Varick Street and 80 Eighth Avenue, among other GFP addresses. The developer and owner says he’s learned some things during the pandemic, particularly when it comes to lease lengths. Gural talked to Commercial Observer during the last full week of August, as the delta variant continued to surge and Kathy Hochul became New York’s governor as Andrew Cuomo exited. Astor Place, in fact, was built upon one of these original Native American trails.SEE ALSO: Diagnostic Center for Women Expands in Kendall to 28K SF Leaders from each group would discuss issues, trade, and play games, including bagettaway, which we now call lacrosse. But here their major trails intersected, and a central meeting point was established. Though they lived in close proximity, each group spoke a different language. And in 2013, the black glass office tower at 51 Astor Place, sometimes referred to as “The Death Star” for its resemblance to the Star Wars vessel, replaced a considerably shorter six-story brick Cooper Union building.īut the intersection the Cube marks was even more open 500 years ago when this spot was not the confluence of three neighborhoods but three nations, known as “ Kintecoying.” Literally meaning “crossroads of three nations,” it was where the three Native American groups which inhabited this part of New York in the 16th Century - the Canarsie, the Sapohannikan, and the Manhattan - converged. ![]() Of course, the intersection was considerably more open 50 years ago, when the sculpture was first installed, than it is today in 2005 Charles Gwathemy’s curving green Sculpture for Living tower just south of the cube replaced a parking lot where flea markets were often staged in the 1970s and ’80s. It also stands at the confluence of at least six different streets, in an unusually open valley amidst the canyons of New York City. The sculpture stands at the crossroads of three great New York City neighborhoods – Greenwich Village, the East Village, and Noho. ![]() The Cube’s placement is no doubt an important part of its success, and certainly its significance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |