REI Slated for November Opening at Puck Building [Update]
It was almost a year ago that REI revealed its blockbuster intentions for the Puck Building, and EMS collectively shit its pants. The camping superstore targeted East Houston Street as point of entry into the niche Manhattan market, planning 39,000 square-feet across three levels. In the ensuing months after the announcement, the ground level of this historic structure remained rather silent. That is, until last spring when the plywood arrived, and hard-hats started pacing the space.
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Teaser posters arrived in the windows of 295 Lafayette Street earlier this summer, and more conspicuous banners were attached to the scaffolding a couple weeks ago. All the press promises an ambiguous autumn opening date. But the official REI blog has more info on the launch. Expect doors to open here sometime in November.
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Meanwhile, not everyone involved in this new REI location is hunky dory. Yesterday at the project site, a towering blow-up Uncle Sam was spotted there at the southwest corner of Mulberry and East Houston. Yup, a union picket, but without the the infamous “Scabby the Rat.” Apparently, Newmark Building Solution “does not have a collective bargaining agreement with the bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers Local No. 1, New York, AFL-CIO.”
UPDATE: An REI representative reached out to say that the picket has nothing to do with REI construction. That all of REI’s work is in fact union.
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