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In our business it always pays to keep a close eye on the Williamsburg waterfront, but ever since the Lower East Side's man-made mountain got hauled off, we've lacked a good vantage point. No longer, as the prime place for perusal is the recently reopened East River Park Promenade just north of Houston Street, a ribbon of waterfront renewal offering front row seats of 184 Kent, the two Northside Piers towers, Edge and all the other nabe favorites, not to mention Williamsburg's own little patch of waterfront green. A cross-river stare down seems imminent. Can't we all just get along?
· East River Park Promenade [nycgovparks.org]
· East River Waterfront coverage [Curbed]

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The High Line has taken heat in the past for shutting down due to excessive interest, and the airborne walkway will once again close up shop early this Saturday evening. The Parks Department has announced that, "Due to anticipated heavy event-related crowds in the neighborhood during the Village Halloween Parade," the High Line will be off-limits starting at 5 p.m. No costumed hijinks up on the High Line? Disappointing! But that doesn't mean the High Line is all tricks and no treats.

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The big presentation unveiling the New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion, a much-needed and hotly-anticipated visitors' center down at the southern tip of Manhattan that couples Dutch practicality with a bit of whimsy, is set for tomorrow and crews are racing to get it ready. Brought to us by archi-meester Ben van Berkel and his UNStudio gang, the fiberglass-covered wood and fritted-glass pavilion is shaped like the opening petals of a flower (and akin to the fins of windmill—those Dutch!).

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Here now, answers to Tuesday's questions about development and destruction around town asked by actual Curbed readers. Got a question about what's going on with something in your neighborhood? Email tips@curbed.com; bonus points for attaching a digital photo.

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HELL'S PANTRY—A reader inquired about the structure going up at 11th Avenue and 40th Street. A sharp-eyed commenter points out that the mega-storage shed on the far west side is the cut-rate version of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center expansion. In fact, it's what's left of the first ambitious plan to totally revamp the original 1986 Pei Cobb Freed and Partners design, now too small and leaking too much. Those changes were announced way back in the glory days of 2006. It was to be done up by Richard Rogers and friends, but the $1.7 billion scheme got downsized and then scuttled when a certain gallivanting governor left town, and the whole kit and kaboodle was downgraded from a crap-tastic "Shit, this could be amazing!" to a dispiriting, "Fuck, not another one of those." The projected cut-rate cost of $463 million delivers some much needed fixes and a tad of "temporary" space, namely this big barn covering a full city block brought to us by the crew at the Empire State Development Corporation.
· Rumblings and Bumblings: What's Going to Hell [Curbed]

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The word on the streets of Soho is that cabbies soon may have to drive a bit further to fill their gas tanks. The talk? The demise of the big BP gas station, long planted on the southwest corner of Lafayette and East Houston (with the festive Puck Fair drinkery a bit farther down the block). Indications are that the BP lot will join up with the two smaller and previously-linked lots to the south, creating one mega-plot in a very desirable spot. But the changes may not come easy.

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The remaking of Petrosino Square—the park that occupies the space in the Soho/Nolita DMZ where Lafayette Street meets La Esquina—is progressing, and the park could meet its revised mid-October opening. The new park was recently slated for September, but a shipment of granite had to work its way through the ports, causing the extra delay. (Community Board 2 explained that the granite was needed for a new curb, since the park was slightly enlarged from the original plan.) A few neighbors started to get antsy about further setbacks, and word circulated that the park's unplanted trees teetered on the brink of death. When a Curbed operative dropped by last week, though, the trees looked plump and juicy, the jackhammers were hard at work, and progress, sweet progress, was at hand.
· Well That's Just Dumb [Lost City]
· All Petrosino Square Coverage [Curbed]

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After years of digging up poor Houston Street, it seemed that the folks in charge of rebuilding our fair city had finished the big job. Then along came the MTA to rip it up again. The MTA's plans have been kept somewhat hidden from view, until now: It's a super station! Via Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects, we see the reshuffling down below will connect the ancient and narrow Bleecker Street stop to the massive multi-line station at Broadway and Houston. And we haven't even mentioned the trippy LED art yet. Yeah, it may be a big mess right now—complete with giant holes and hidden stairways and excavations—but check out the gallery above for the new and improved underground to come circa 2011. Give or take.
· Bleecker Street Station Expansion and Restoration [Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects]
· Latest Stairway to Nowhere Sneaks into Soho [Curbed]
· CurbedWire: Secret Subway Reveal? [Curbed]

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Amidst all the chaos created by Broadway's Big Subway Dig down near Lafayette Street, a little-noticed addition to NYC's infrastructure has recently appeared. At the southwest corner of Broadway and Houston the MTA has graced us with yet another Stairway to Nowhere. However, unlike others around town that climb high and offer views of Broadway, this one burrows down into the ground. Where it goes, not even the bureaucrats know. Calls to various governmental agencies revealed nothing. Down below the new staircase, at both the Prince Street and Broadway/Lafayette Stations, the subway platforms end in tiled walls and locked doors, with no indication of any new points of egress. Workers on site have been heard to whisper that this mystery stair is for MTA employees only. But where does It lead? Perhaps we should stop asking so many questions and just be thankful that our increasing subway fares are actually getting something done.
· Killer Construction: MTA Makes Mincemeat of Noho Shopping Strip [Racked]

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In troubled times like these any support for arts institutions is more than welcome, so props must go out to the gang at Lincoln Center, where a new column of steel and mega-boltage has been added to the recently opened entrance to the Juilliard School on West 65th Street. We first showed what was to be a swooping canopy over an all-glass entryway when it was under construction about a year ago. It's all part of architecture firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro's rethinking of this big box, originally designed by Pietro Belluschi and Eduardo Catalano.

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The word from Washington Square Park is that the newly revamped and replanted western section will be opening around the second week of May. As mentioned yesterday the Landmarks Preservation Commission is pondering plans for the other half of the renovation, with much discussion over circular seating alcoves and various "undesirable" activities that reportedly take place in the park's nooks and crannies. Meanwhile, the hard-working crew is busy laying pavers and stones in the plaza surrounding the repositioned fountain, which is now rebuilt in all its former glory (and with the interior steps down to the basin intact) and with a new identity. When this half of WSP re-opens it will offer great views to the south, where the on-going tear down of a little bit of Brutalism continues apace.
· Washington Square Park Renovation coverage [Curbed]

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Grand Street down in Soho, where a new hotel from Brack Capital is starting to rise, is having a rough time of it lately. The dark times started a while back when the Moondance Diner was ripped from its foundation and sent out west. More recently there was that rat invasion with a singularly lovable rodent hovering above Grand at Wooster. Then the Department of Transportation transformed the roadway by adding a big bike lane on one side and pushing all the parked cars into the middle of the street. Last week brought the arrival of some fellows who had the apparent misfortune of being employed by BCRE, the developer of the hotel. Now, the construction crew is erecting the big concrete wall planned to encircle the site, creating a super secure zone around the 18-story 255-foot hotel-bar-garden, better known as the Fortress of Plazatude. At this point we're not sure if the wall is meant to keep the money in or the riff raff out.
· CurbedWire: Contractors Unhappy with Moondance Hotel Developer [Curbed]
· First Look at Soho's 'Moondance Hotel' Fortress of Plazatude [Curbed]
· Grand Street Bike Lane Keeping the Tourists Away? [Curbed]

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Working our way through the lunchtime crowds at the edge of Madison Square Park we couldn't help but hear a voice calling out from a van parked nearby: "Just push the button, Ma'am." His instructive words were directed towards a hapless looking tourist-type person standing bewildered within one of those shiny Cemusa public pissoirs, this one just a bun's throw from the Shake Shack where it was installed many months ago. All that time and folks still don't know how to make this fancy thing work? The woman's confusion wasn't all that surprising, considering the complexity of the machine and the fact that it uses up a whopping 14 gallons of water per tinkle. Perhaps her puzzlement was also the result of too many burgers - and the inevitable Shack Overload? Whichever, as the door slid shut she raised a hand and offered a slight wave to her helpful instructor. And we continued on our way.
· Dawn of the New Age Pissoirs [Curbed]
· Fancy pay toilet uses 14 gallons of water per use [Urinal Journal blogspot]
· Shack Overload [Eater]

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We've observed the ongoing makeover of the northwest quadrant of Washington Square Park from afar, but finally, we slipped inside the chain-link fencing with our cameras at the ready. In the photogallery above, note the crew of professional stoners, busy as ever laying super-sized stones where the Park's fountain used to spout. See also the lush new flora being spread about, giving this entire section of the park a woodsy wonderland look. So what if it's costing a gazillion smackeroos? When fully planted, and the new fountain is flowing, this might once again be the perfect place for weekend trips, happy trails and hanging out when the munchies attack. Straight alignments were never the point in these parts.
· Washington Square Park Whoops? [Curbed]
· All Washington Square Park Coverage [Curbed]

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Amazing what a little asphalt paint can do, observes Chad of Tropolism, who gets jiggy with the rejiggering of the formerly insane traffic pattern just west of Madison Square Park. Goodbye, "illogical traffic patterns" [PDF] and "daunting pedestrian environment." Hello, handy place to get in touch with your inner Steichen and capture the Flatiron Building in your designer pink galoshes. Opines Chad on the NYC DOT's latest streets-rehab: "All that is needed now is about a hundred Bryant Park tables and chairs and we'll be seeing them digging the whole thing up as a major park addition in 2011."
· Pop-Up Park, 2.0 [Tropolism]
· Madison Square to Actually Make Sense [Curbed]

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Any Upper East Siders trying to hail a cab along the lower reaches of Park Avenue Saturday morning were plum out of luck, as renegade two-wheelers, their helmeted spawn and a few brave dog-walkers had the run of the boulevard. The first of three "Summer Streets" - offering 6.9 car-free miles from (almost) Central Park to the Brooklyn Bridge - gave a taste of what it would be like if more of the city were handed over to the bicyclists and pedestrians. Just in case you think they're joking, the events roll into town a month after the DOT put out a "request for expressions of interest" for a bike-sharing program a la Paris. To put a bit of a damper on the utopian parade, though, the Times runs a SundayStyles piece on the angst and possible physical harm bicyclists still face in the battle for cars' turf.
· No Traffic on a Saturday? Well, No Cars, Anyway [NYT]
· Bike Wars: Moving Targets [NYT]

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