Month: February 2016

Today in History

45 BC – The first leap year was recognized by proclamation of Julius Caesar. 1288 – Scotland established this day as one when a woman could propose marriage to a man. In the event that he refused the proposal, he was required to pay a fine. 1692 – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba, an Indian servant were the...
Wilbur Wright's first flight over water in New York Harbor in 1909. He took off from Governors Island, flew near the Statue of Liberty and made his way up the Hudson as far as Grant's Tomb as millions watched.

Letter of Support

Received from the Battery Park City Chamber: “The Battery Park City Chamber represents many businesses in Battery Park City, large and small. Organizers and members of the Chamber wish to voice our support for the three small businesses – Cafe Express, Blooming Nails and the Newsstand – that have become part of the fabric of our community...

Cuomo Commits to $15 Minimum Wage, Except in Battery Park City

Governor Andrew Cuomo spent much of the last week making public appearances and delivering speeches to build support for his avowed goal of enacting a mandatory minimum wage of $15 per hour for every employee, public or private, in the State of New York. But an agency that he directly controls, the Battery Park City...

Truth, Justice, and the Occasional Refund

Three hundred years ago, when New Yorkers were still British subjects, there were redcoats patrolling the streets of Lower Manhattan. Today, they’re still here — but much friendlier. The lobsterbacks of the 21st Century are the Downtown Alliance’s Public Safety Officers, who handle everything from medical emergencies to interventions on behalf of aggrieved tourists who...

ART DOWNTOWN

ONE ART SPACE Diane Detalle is a self-taught artist born in France and working in New York. Her exhibition Horizons Within at One Art Space in Tribeca features a new body of work inspired by the horizons from the south of France. Diane shares thoughts behind her artistic process: “Working on the floor allows me to be...

A Shore Thing

The February 16 meeting of the Seaport/Civic Center Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1) considered whether Lower Manhattan deserves a beach of its own. Graeme Birchall, president of the Downtown Boathouse, a local non-profit organization that promotes public access to the water, spoke in support of creating one. He also responded to “Brooklyn Bridge Beach: Feasibility...
A rendering of the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Beach, along the Manhattan shore of the East River, illustrates how public access to the water might be accommodated on the shore, just north of the South Street Seaport.