FINALLY 79 7th avenue is being renovated!

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/01/plans_finalized.php

plan looks good to me. will be nice to have that block of 7th between union and berkeley cleaned up.

the place across the street next to the park cafe finally had the scaffolding come down recently and the outside has been totally redone with new windows, etc. looks good.

this once down-trodden block will be whole again soon, it seems.

has anyone else noticed that a bunch of new trees seem to have been planted recently on 7th avenue? i don't know how recently since it seems odd that they seemed to pop up in the middle of winter, but i've seen quite a few new trees along the north end of 7th avenue...

very observant.

i'm wondering what's up with cousin's john's (hope it's only a renovation, as the sign says) and with the ex-fruit stand near to j&r t-v.

cousin john's says they are repainting but the fruit stand closed up a couple months ago. for good, i believe.

i can't imagine cousin john's isn't reopening after the reno.

they're working inside the old fruit stand. 1-merchant nearby said he'd heard a pizza shop was going-in there.. another said he'd heard it was going to be a gourmet bagel shop. honest.

The two things we need - pizza and bagels :roll:

oh ok. i thought you meant that the fruit stand was renovating and reopening (similar to what we hope is going on at cousin john's). sorry, i misunderstood.

well roma pizza is a block away and le bagel delight is a block away, so not sure either of those are incredibly well thought out.

of course i'm glad something is taking that spot, but neither seems like anything this area really needs. and with the high rent combined with bad economy, i think small business owners need to be even more original these days to make it work.

how about a place like chop chop on smith street where you can have a salad made to order along with really great prepared foods and things you can pick up and take for lunch. that place is great.

Today Cousin John's said they're reopening around the 26th or so. I guess they're doing some internal renovations as well as painting.

As for the former fruit store, even with the proximity of Roma or La Bagel Delight, it wouldn't be too hard to top either of those two institutions in terms of quality. That fruit store was a real debacle though. They sold nothing good and didn't even carry newspapers or cigarettes or a decent beer selection.

Thank goodness Cousin John's is re-opening, I love that place and it has been around for a billion years.

i dont have a lot of details but la-bagel on 7th & prez is going to undergo renovations.

LongTimeSloper wrote: Thank goodness Cousin John's is re-opening, I love that place and it has been around for a billion years.

ain't that the truth. I remember going to John's for a latte when the place that is now Ozzie's was still a drugstore.