It was Friday afternoon, and William Kelley didn't look dressed for getting down and dirty.

The guy was, frankly, styling, in his blue Ralph Lauren polo, plaid pants and black-framed glasses. The only clue that he’d be spending the next two hours on hands and knees, measuring tree pits and jotting down every dangerous crack, hole, puddle, and spot of graffiti along Union Square East was the enormous metal tape-measure strapped weapon-like to his belt.

Mr. Kelley, director of economic development for the Union Square BID, and his partner Victoria Draper, a Howard University-bound graduate of Washington Irving High School, began their two-hour survey at Galaxy Global Eatery – the vegetarian-friendly diner at the corner of 15th Street and Irving Place that has glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and hawks galaxy-emblazoned rolling paper at the front desk.  read more »

A judge further blocked construction of a restaurant at the pavilion in Union Square Park today, placing a partial injunction on the Department of Parks and Recreation project.

The city is barred from “installing fixtures for or operating a restaurant in the Pavilion” until a further ruling or order, the judge wrote, though the city is allowed to proceed on preliminary work, an expanded playground and a renovation of the northern end of the park.  read more »