Samantha Balaban

Fatima Malik

Astor Place was buzzing today as a slew of bike-share docks were installed on Lafayette Street and construction of a public plaza at 51 Astor neared completion.

The Local noticed this morning that benches had come to the plaza at 51 Astor Place. When we popped into the construction site, we were directed to a project manager on the second floor, where we were able to snap the photo above. Looking good, eh?

Jeffrey Sussman, Executive Vice President at Edward J. Minskoff Equities, the developer for the project, said the plaza would open in two to three weeks. While he wouldn’t go into specifics about the site’s design, he said that as a privately-owned public space it would comply with city requirements regarding numbers of benches, trees, and lights.

Daniel Maurer

As far as the office building is concerned, no leases have been signed since The Times wrote about it a month ago. “There is no bank. There is no educational institution. There are no tenants,” said Mr. Sussman, adding that while they are talking to a lot of people, nothing is set in stone yet.

The building is scheduled to be finished next month.

To the west of the building, a few dozen bike-share docks have now been installed along Lafayette Street, across from K-Mart.

Daniel Maurer