Killer Construction: MTA Makes Mincemeat of Noho Shopping Strip

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Houston Street's ongoing construction is a pain for just about any cyclist or motorist trying to cross town. But recent MTA work on Houston and Lafayette isn't just inconveniencing passersby, it's making it extremely difficult for shoppers to enter Lafayette Street boutiques like vintage shop Zachary's Smile and furniture destination Shimna. It kind of feels like the MTA's kicking small business owners when they're already down. ZS owner Kristi Paras had this to say about the disruption:

Obviously when there is a cement truck parked at the entrance to your store making it hard for customers to come and leave there's a problem. We're making the best of it, but it's less than ideal. The timing could be better, let's just leave it at that.

The MTA is busy working on the Broadway-Lafayette stop so that commuters can transfer from the uptown F to the uptown 6, and knowing how the MTA operates, construction may go on for years. It's worth noting that many of the retailers affected by the work are now utilizing their back entrances on Mulberry Street, so if you don't want to worry about getting mown down by a big truck, go that route. Let's just hope that what the MTA did to the UES doesn't happen down here.
· Zachary's Smile [Official Site]
· Shimna [Official Site]