1) West Village: A reader emails, "This afternoon while walking by 518 Hudson, the former Blind Tiger Ale House/One Potato, we spotted a UPS Post-it with 'Starbucks' clearly noted as the recipient (see crappy cell phone image, above). A little googling confirmed the sad, sad news (2nd item)." [Storefronting Inbox]
2) Soho: "Have you heard anything about the Zara stores closing? The store at Broadway and Prince Street in Soho suddenly closed and had plywood over it this weekend and the Zara website now shows only the 5th Avenue (@ 54th Street) location. Does this mean the eventual closing of the lower Fifth Ave, 34th St, and 59th St locations?" Another alert reader sends along confirmation of the plywood (right), which is rather imposing. Who knows more? UPDATE: Commenters confirm the closing is a renovation. [Storefronting Inbox]
3) Midtown East: Steve Cuozzo reports on the retail doings in the Plaza Hotel. None of the new tenants have yet been named, but the owner crows, "We have some signed leases and hope to have about 30-35 percent of the entire space leased by the end of this month." [NYPost]
4) Midtown West: Another Storefronting reader query: "What happened to Citarella to go on 6th ave (at 49th)?? Without any notice or anything the windows are all black and its closed down since last week. Any news?" [Storefronting Inbox]
5) Williamsburg: Eater's got the word on a Curbed obsession, the long-rumored move of former LES bar/live music haven Luna Lounge to Williamsburg. Opening night is this Friday. [Eater]