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 […]
Archives for February 2016
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 […]
Emotionally Disturbed Man Menaces Residents
Three female Battery Park City residents were accosted by an agitated homeless man on Monday afternoon near South Cove. “We were sitting on the wooden deck, overlooking the water, recalls Frances Misciangna, a 15-year resident of Battery Park City, “when we saw a man, who was lurching and incoherent, stagger toward us. He may have […]
'A Little Bit of a Cloud Hanging Over Us'
Two members of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) board think the agency needs to improve its relationship with the community it governs, and the elected officials who represent residents. At the January 27 meeting of the BPCA board, during a review of financial and legal filings that the Authority is required to submit to […]
‘A Little Bit of a Cloud Hanging Over Us’
Two members of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) board think the agency needs to improve its relationship with the community it governs, and the elected officials who represent residents. At the January 27 meeting of the BPCA board, during a review of financial and legal filings that the Authority is required to submit to […]
Three Businesses Forced Out of Gateway Plaza
Three small businesses that have served Battery Park City for decades are being forced out, because the landlord wants to rent to a more upscale tenant, according to multiple sources directly familiar with the situation. The three business, which occupy adjoining spaces on the ground floor of the 395 South Avenue building within Gateway Plaza (at the corner of Liberty Street and South End Avenue) are the Cafe Express […]
Decisions Are Made By Those Who Show Up
Legendary newspaper editor John B. Bogart (who ruled over the New York Sun from 1873 to 1890) summed up journalism this way: “When man bites dog, that’s news.” Steps away from Bogart’s former headquarters at Chambers and Broadway, an even rarer — and more consequential — reversal of accustomed roles will take place tomorrow (Saturday, February 20), […]
Apseity Facto
More than 100 residents of the Financial District, along with elected officials and representatives of City government agencies, were on hand for the February 11 kickoff meeting of the FiDi Neighborhood Association. Although Lower Manhattan’s other communities (Tribeca, Battery Park City, and the Seaport/Civic Center District) have long had a strong local identity and distinct […]
They Campaigned in Poetry, But Will Govern in Prose
With over 60,000 volumes of poetry, over 80,000 visitors annually and millions of viewers online, Poets House sets the standard for national literary programming. Nicholas Potter On February 12, America’s poetry library elected new leadership to its board of directors. Nicholas Potter was elected president of the board of directors, has been a member of […]
Sight Unseen
The management team at the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) asked members of the agency’s board to approve more than 100 pages of financial statements and regulatory filings that only one of them had read, because the documents were legally required to be submitted to State overseers 48 hours later. At the January 27 meeting […]
How Gold Street Got Its Name, But Might as Well Been Dubbed for Another Color
The origins of “Gold Street” — in the heart of Manhattan’s Financial District — are easy to imagine. After all, the surrounding collective wealth is almost unimaginable. The Federal Reserve Bank alone stands guard over seven thousand tons of gold, worth more than $250 billion. But there was gold in the neighborhood long before Wall […]
Monkeying Around
A capacity crowd of several hundred diplomats, financiers, academics, and entertainment celebrities packed the Cipriani 42nd Street ballroom last Friday to welcome the Year of the Monkey with the China Institute, the nation’s leading nonprofit devoted to fostering closer ties between China and the United States. Banker and philanthropist Ted Wang, who serves on the […]
Getting Left Back
The February 5 meeting of the School Overcrowding Task Force, a joint panel convened by elected officials representing Lower Manhattan, was the forum for discussing some good news and some bad news. On the positive side, this session marked the opening of a dialog with City officials about expanding plans for the recently announced new […]
Tribeca Committee Meets Tonight
Tribeca Committee Meets Tonight Crane Disaster * Bogardus Plaza * Pier 26 AGENDA 1) Crane Accident on Worth Street at 60 Hudson Street – Discussion 2) 52 Walker Street, application for alteration of liquor license for KNH Enterprises LLC d/b/a M1-5 – Resolution 3) Bogardus Plaza – Update by Victoria Weil, President, Friends of Bogardus […]
FedEx Finds Itself on a Slippery Slope in FiDi
The Federal Express Corporation, which opened a new local shipping center at 20 Pine Street in mid-2015, recently constructed a ramp on the Nassau Street side of the building that is more than 70 feet long and blocks almost half of the narrow sidewalk. Condominium board members and residents of the building are fuming about […]
Democrats and Republicans Pick Standard Bearers in Race for Silver's Seat
The local Democratic and Republican parties have selected their candidates to run in the April 19 special election for the State Assembly seat vacated by former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver last November, when he was convicted of multiple corruption charges. The Democratic Party nomination has gone to Alice Cancel, a Lower East Side-resident who also […]