1. UNION SQUARE REMODELING BEGINS

Ground was broken this week on the north end of Union Square Park, which is being remodeled. Plans for the overhaul began six years ago, and construction originally was scheduled to begin this past fall. The plans call for tripling the playground space, adding new bathrooms and trees, and providing new electrical and plumbing infrastructure for Greenmarket vendors. The Pavilion, which currently houses the seasonal restaurant Luna Park, also will be renovated, with a new restaurant set to open. During construction, the Greenmarket will be moved to the west side of the park. The project will cost nearly $20 million and is largely backed by private investors, as well as some city funds.

2. DESIGNER BOUTIQUE OPENS ON CBGB SITE

The space once occupied by the punk rock club CBGB has been filled after being vacant for more than a year. The clothing designer John Varvatos opened his men’s boutique in the space on Monday. Although a tailoring shop has now replaced the stage, elements of the club remain: Clothing hangs among memorabilia displays; the black walls are still covered with graffiti, and original posters are preserved behind glass, the Real Deal reported. The club, a New York institution since 1972, closed its doors in October 2006 after losing its lease. Mr. Varvatos chose the space in part to prevent it from becoming a branch of a chain store or a bank, the New York Post reported.

3. CHIEF SELECTED FOR MORTGAGE COUNSELING PROGRAM

The vice president for community development at Deutsche Bank, Michael Hickey, will be the first executive director of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, a nonprofit organization that will provide assistance to homeowners at risk of foreclosure. With a projected budget of $5.3 million, the center will aim to help 18,000 New Yorkers annually, providing counseling services and preventative outreach programs instead of direct financial assistance.

4. FOREIGN BUYERS HEAD TO BROOKLYN

Foreign buyers are no longer purchasing apartments just in Manhattan, the Real Deal reports. The CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, Jonathan Miller, estimated that foreign interest in the city’s other boroughs has doubled in recent years. Brokers also say foreigners are particularly attracted to Brooklyn, although no specific figures support this trend. Many Europeans are looking toward Brooklyn brownstones as longterm investments, rather than viewing them as pieds-à-terre, the Real Deal said.

5. CO-OP CITY CONSIDERING PRIVATIZATION

Co-op City’s elected board of directors is considering pulling out of the state’s Mitchell-Lama program, removing income restrictions on apartment owners, and allowing homeowners to sell the properties on the open market. The board of the 55,000-resident Bronx complex considered a similar proposal four years ago, but could not go through with it because of structural problems in some of the complex’s garages, the New York Times reported. The privatization issue is back on the table now that the garages are up to code.

Rachel Shannon-Solomon