North:
The Standard
A 23-story high-end hotel with a futuristic
glass-clad form that's been likened to a shark's fin.
To my eye, this is a much more attractive building
than the Sculpture for Living at Astor Place. Initially
opened in 2009 as the Cooper Square Hotel, it was rebranded as The Standard (part of a schmancy chain) in 2011 after the original owners ran into difficulty.
209: The Scratcher, hidden, un-Disneyfied Irish pub. The name is Irish slang for "bed."
211: The Three Jewels, nonprofit Buddhist center
225: Japanese hair salons; was is-wine, affordable wine boutique.
239: Jewel Bako, tiny, fancy sushi
Corner (87 2nd Ave): Mosto, Italian; when this space
was the Cooper Square Diner, writer
Quentin Crisp used to eat here nearly every day. Earlier it was BiniBon, restaurant where in 1981
waiter Richard Adan was knifed to death by
Jack Henry Abbott, a
literary ex-convict whom Norman Mailer had
helped to get out of jail.
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