By Patrick Hedlund
The many pedestrians bustling along Canal St. Monday morning slowed their pace near the corner of Centre St. to cast inquisitive glances toward the sleek steel-and-glass structure recently erected at the Chinatown intersection.
Inside stood Peter Tso, fielding a steady flow of questions about the property that once held his grandfather’s original newsstand nearly 20 years earlier.
Tso’s just-minted newsstand, installed as part of the city’s massive street-furniture initiative expected to convert or add 330 of the new vending structures over a three-year period, joined modern replacements farther uptown and in the Financial District as the first to crop up on city streets since the deal was struck last year.
The traditional newsstand, for years characterized by its colorful mélange of transient-friendly sundries, now faces the city’s sweeping makeover plan that will phase out the ubiquitous structures in favor of a contemporary, uniform design.
The administration inked a billion-dollar contract in 2006 with Spanish-owned street-furniture provider Cemusa in its bid to also replace 3,300 bus shelters and build 20 public toilets throughout the city over the next five years.
The entire initiative — dubbed the Coordinated Street Furniture Franchise — will inject $1.4 billion of revenue back into the city through on-site advertising, according to Cemusa, while simultaneously sprucing up the streets with designs by Grimshaw Architects. The Spanish company will also provide twice-weekly cleanings of the newsstands, in addition to graffiti removal and exterior maintenance.
Tso’s kiosk remained empty of merchandise on Monday save for a few beverages, as he and his mother inspected the space for ways to accommodate their full product offerings.
“They look nice, but they’re not very functional,” commented the 25-year-old proprietor of his new, city-owned digs. “The old one offered a little more space than this.”
Although Tso acknowledged his newest stand provides a more opened-up display area, he still reserved some design complaints relating to how his family has done business for decades on the block. The inside of the new streamlined structure features expanded counter space compared to his former workplace. Tso claimed, however, that the tradeoff is a reduction in the amount of room behind the counter for him and his mother to operate. He also noted that the stand’s newspaper racks don’t extend out far enough to accommodate some of the larger-size Chinese-language periodicals he sells.
“As far as the construction,” Tso stated, “it needs a lot of work.”
Later that morning on Broadway and Exchange Pl., proprietors of the newsstand recently installed there also found problems with the design, including reduced space for their refrigerator, cash register and ever-popular lottery-ticket machine.
But vendor Patel Ashok, who’s worked at the Financial District location for about the last four years, still maintained his preference for the new structure — despite its shortcomings.
“It’s good, I like it better,” he said.
Tso said he and his mother also favored the stainless steel, tempered-glass addition over their previous newsstand, regardless of the foreseeable difficulties, because the former appeared cramped while the new structure is “more pleasing to the eye.”
“Anything new I would like,” Tso added.
Pedestrians at each location mostly raved about what they deemed to be a fashionable addition to the streetscape.
“It’s brand new, everybody likes it,” explained passerby Xue Mei Leung upon inspection of the Chinatown stand. “It’s just so nice.”
Financial District customer Richard Simon thought it looked “more professional,” while daily patron Liliane Todman noted the convenience of the stand’s open display area.
“You can see more of what they sell,” she commented. “If everybody could do the same as [here], it’d be perfect.”
Bostonian John Roberts, who was in town for business, said the design reminded him of streets in Europe, where Cemusa has also introduced its furnishings. He did admit, though, to thinking the structure was simply a billboard at first glance.
The back panel and one side panel of the newsstands will be devoted to large advertisements.
Fellow Canal St. newsstand owner Tai Lee acknowledged his satisfaction with the plan, which will eventually replace his stand right across the street from Tso’s.
“If they allow us to change [the inside of the newsstand], it’s O.K.,” said the vendor, who’s spent 33 years at the same location. “I think it makes the city look good.”
The new design is not without detractors, however, as some expressed skepticism over the change.
Dave Herman, president and co-founder of the City Reliquary Museum and Civic Association in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which features relics and artifacts collected from around New York City, said city design plans used to focus solely on art rather than commerce.
“Nowadays, the aesthetic of the city is just much less considered than it used to be,” said Herman. His museum has on display some sketches of Bruce Lee drawn by a former Canal St. newsstand operator who used to adorn his kiosk with his original artwork; Herman was able to save some of the drawings just before the stand was destroyed. “It’s more of a business transaction than a concern for design,” Herman said of the new concept in newsstands.
But for the men and women behind the counter who likely maintain the strongest interest in the newsstand’s livelihood — change is good.
“I don’t think I’d take the old one back,” Tso of his legacy. “I like the new one better.”
