1796 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, discovers the construction of the heptadecagon 1842 – Ether used as an anesthetic for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long of Georgia 1858 – Pencil with attached eraser patent granted to Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia 1867 – The United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000, […]
Archives for March 2015
When Apportunity Knocks
Are you curious about Battery Park City? When did it start? How big is it? How many people live there? Want to know about its public art? Who designed the buildings? Well, there’s an app for that and surprisingly, The Battery Park City Authority didn’t design it. Last September, the Kozyarchuk family was looking for […]
The New Amsterdam Market was founded in 2005 by Robert LaValva, in the vaulted, open-air arcade beneath the Municipal Building. But his creation soon moved to the site of the old Fulton Fish Market, within the South Street Seaport neighborhood. There, Mr. LaValva soon gained prominence as a leader in the fight to preserve the […]
Busting the Bus Trust
A company that had a de facto monopoly on tour bus service in Manhattan has agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine, and give up permits for 50 of its stops, including eight in Lower Manhattan. The company, Twin America, is largely unknown to Manhattan residents, because it is a partnership formed in 2009 by […]
Today in History – March 23rd
1066 – Eighteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet. Halley’s Comet is the only naked-eye comet that may appear twice in a human’s lifetime. It last appeared in the inner Solar System and is expected to return in the year 2061. 1490 – Earliest dated edition of Maimonides “Mishneh Torah” is published 1836 – Coin […]
Rare Design Element for a Lower Manhattan Skyscraper
Trinity Church continued its ongoing experiment with radically inclusive dialog about the structure it plans to build at 74 Trinity Place, with a community meeting last Saturday. Held at St. Paul’s Chapel, the four-hour session drew more than 70 area residents, who contributed ideas about how the new building can serve the Lower Manhattan community. […]
Today in History – March 19th
1279 – A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano sailing for King Francis of France sights land around area of Carolinas. In the upcoming days and weeks he sailed north stopping in New York Harbor, which he described as a lake and mentioned […]
Old Seaport Alliance Gets New Leadership
The Old Seaport Alliance, an association that represents businesses within the historic South Street Seaport neighborhood has named Sara Williams (owner of Fresh Salt at 146 Beekman Street) and Enrico Ciotti (owner of the soon-to-debut VBar Seaport, on Front Street) as co-chairs of its board of directors. Ms. Williams and Mr. Ciotti are succeeding the […]
Today in History – March 16th
597 BC – Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king. 1621 – Native American chief visits colony of Plymouth Mass 1830 – New York Stock Exchange slowest day ever (31 shares traded) 1850 – Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Scarlet Letter” published 1861 – Arizona Territory votes to leave the Union (US Civil War) 1881 – […]
Parting The Waters
A coordinated push by Community Board 1 (CB1), elected officials representing Lower Manhattan, and the Downtown Alliance has resulted in the allocation of a total of $14.75 million in new funds to help Lower Manhattan plan for and prepare for future extreme weather events, particularly floods. This allocation includes $6.75 million from the City and […]