(Photos: Daniel Maurer)
Remember the Alamo — because it’s going away for a while.
Plywood started going up around the everyone’s favorite cube this morning, as the Astor Place Reconstruction moves forward. A worker on site said the cube won’t be completely boxed up, as the Peter Stuyvesant statue has been over in Cooper Triangle. But this is definitely a bummer. Now if you want to spin the cube, you’ll have to visit its twin in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Workers on site, one of whom was inspecting a gaping hole in the ground, didn’t know how long the cube would remain protected against nearby construction.
According to the city’s latest reconstruction newsletter, next steps include the installation of pavers and curbs in Cooper Triangle, removal of the traffic islands along Cooper Square, where road excavation has already begun; and the installation of a sewer main at Fourth Avenue and East Eighth Street.
Here’s a look at the road being dug up along the western portion of Cooper Square:
And here, courtesy of architects WXY, is what Alamo Plaza will look like when the project is complete. There will be “opportunities for cafe seating,” according to the designer’s site.
Rendering: WXY Studio
