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Modernizing the Fruit Stand in SoHo

Above, the fruit stand today. Below, the fruit stand of the future.
Above, the fruit stand today. Below, the fruit stand of the future.haha Photo: Everett Bogue (top) / Courtesy Tobias Guggenheimer (bottom)


The ramshackle fruit stand on the southwestern flank of the Broadway-Lafayette stop is getting a high-end makeover. Proprietor Pan Gi Lee has long wanted to expand the space, which is owned by the MTA. On Wednesday, the MTA board endorsed Lee’s proposal for a fanciful new look. As architect Tobias Guggenheimer explains, the space will become “kind of a bodega,” with coffee and “light foods,” but no seating. In his design, Guggenheimer appeals to the hopes of downtown preservationists. “Our theme for the selected design, represented by the tree silhouettes, is that of an orchard. The exposed steel structure, especially the columns, refer to the rhythmic patterns of SoHo’s cast-iron buildings.” Now the lofty class will have somewhere to contemplate the curve of an apple on their way to Desiron or BDDW. —Alec Appelbaum

Modernizing the Fruit Stand in SoHo