(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
After months of hiding inside of a wooden box while his eponymous triangle was rebuilt, Peter Cooper has come out to smell the roses (or to smell a rat, depending who you ask). The Stanford White-designed statue, dedicated in 1897, was boxed up for its own protection last April but has now reemerged, even as the redesign of Peter Cooper Triangle continues around it. Meanwhile, over on Astor Place, construction of Alamo Plaza seems to have stalled, and it may be a while before we see the Astor Place cube again.
(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
According to the city’s most recent update about the Astor Place reconstruction, work at Alamo Plaza is on hold pending the MTA’s approval of construction above the Astor Place subway station. We’ve left a message with the Department of Design and Construction to find out when it might resume, but needless to say it’s going to be a while before anyone takes the cube for a spin again.
The DDC’s March-April newsletter informs that “upon MTA approval, the contractor will begin the underground utility work and catch basin installation” at Alamo Plaza and at the subway plaza across Astor Place. Curb and sidewalk demolition will follow.
The whole shebang is expected to be completed next winter. In the meantime, we have the big old cube-like thing shown above — whatever it is — to remind us of our dearly departed.
Here’s an aerial view of work at Cooper Square.
An aerial view of Cooper Triange, currently under construction.