1782 – American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris: In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris). 1786 – The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later […]
Archives for November 2016
A Whale Named Gotham
Cetacean Peregrination: A whale in New York Harbor may be a good sign or an ill omen. On the positive side, marine mammals who deserted our waters generations ago (driven away by lethal levels of pollution) now occasionally stop by to check out the newly detoxified bay. On the darker end of the spectrum, whales […]
Prioritizing Kids Over Cars
The chair of the Youth and Education Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1) is proposing that a seldom-used street in the Financial District, located at what will be the front door of a new public school, be turned into a pedestrian plaza. At the November 17 meeting of the School Overcrowding Task Force (a joint […]
EYES TO THE SKY November 28 – December 11, 2016
An ideal week for planet and stargazing unfolds as November turns to December. Stargazing begins in the afternoon with the setting of the star of our solar system, the sun, as it approaches its most southerly reach on the horizon, nearly directly southwest. Sunset on November 28th is 4:30pm and from December 1 through the […]
November 29
800 – Charlemagne arrives in Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III. 1729 – Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi. 1783 – A 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Jersey. 1847 – Whitman massacre: Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, […]
Not Exactly a Shore Thing
It is a rare project that is fully funded, as well as supported by both the public and its elected representatives, but still can’t get off the drawing board. But the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Beach, which (if built) would become the sole access point at which Lower Manhattan residents could step into the water that […]
November 28
1582 – In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 bond for their marriage license. They were married in 1582, when he was 18 and she was 25 years old. She outlived her husband by seven years. 1660 – At Gresham College, twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir […]
What Is Lower Manhattan's Third Language?
Broadly speaking, New York City has three languages: English, Spanish, and Other. The first two are almost universally applicable, about as prevalent in the northern Bronx as in the stretches of Brooklyn and Staten Island that face the Atlantic Ocean. But the third is the most interesting, because it varies dramatically by location. In Astoria, […]
What Is Lower Manhattan’s Third Language?
Broadly speaking, New York City has three languages: English, Spanish, and Other. The first two are almost universally applicable, about as prevalent in the northern Bronx as in the stretches of Brooklyn and Staten Island that face the Atlantic Ocean. But the third is the most interesting, because it varies dramatically by location. In Astoria, […]
November 22
845 – 845 : The first King of all Brittany, Nominoe defeats the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon. 1794 – Strasbourg Alsace-Lorraine, prohibits circumcision & wearing of beards 1809 – Peregrine Williamson of Baltimore patents a steel pen 1842 – Mount St Helens in Washington, erupts 1919 – […]
Demography In Action: Young and Old in Lower Manhattan
(Editor’s Note: This is part an occasional series that will seek insights about life in Lower Manhattan by looking at data available from the City’s Data2Go.NYC website. This installment focuses on statistics about age.) Demographic information about age in any residential area is broken into zones called “census tracts,” established by the federal government for […]
November 21
1620 – Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact 1783 – In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight. 1861 – American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war. 1877 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a […]
National Museum of the American Indian Begins Construction of imagiNATIONS Activity Center
Too often people think Manhattan began with the Dutch settlers 400 years ago and it’s rarely acknowledged there was a whole civilization here before us. So it was fitting that at the southern tip of Manhattan, former home of the Lenape Indians, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) announced the commencement (“starting tomorrow,” […]
The Thames, It Is a Changin'
After nearly three decades of plans, proposals, and false starts, the West Thames pedestrian bridge broke ground on Tuesday (November 15). At the ceremony, David Emil, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), which is largely funding the project, said, “I have been working on this for 28 years.” This was a reference to […]
The Thames, It Is a Changin’
After nearly three decades of plans, proposals, and false starts, the West Thames pedestrian bridge broke ground on Tuesday (November 15). At the ceremony, David Emil, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), which is largely funding the project, said, “I have been working on this for 28 years.” This was a reference to […]
Whale Spends a Few Days in New York Harbor
The first sighting of a whale in New York Harbor was Friday morning off the Statue of Liberty. Over the last three days, sightings have indicated that the whale has been feeding and going as far as the George Washington Bridge and back again. The whale has been spotted off Lower Manhattan each day and […]
WHALE SPOTTED IN THE HUDSON
Yesterday morning hundreds of birds were spotted off Exchange Place, Jersey City as the Goldman Sacks ferries York and Jersey plied the waters back and forth between North Cove and Jersey City. Later in the day we learned a whale was spotted in the same part of the River! Here’s the link to catch a […]
November 18
326 – The old St. Peter’s Basilica is consecrated. 401 – The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy. 1095 – The Council of Clermont begins: called by Pope Urban II, it led to the First Crusade to the Holy Land.. 1307 – According to legend, William Tell shoots […]
Strong Medicine
Ilka deLaat, a mother of two who lives in Battery Park City, is crowd-funding a new documentary project about the ways in which cannabis oil can improve — and in some cases, save — the lives of children with catastrophic medical problems. Her film, “Our Medicine,” profiles some unlikely advocates: a diverse group of parents […]
November 17
794 – Japanese Emperor Kanmu changes his residence from Nara to Kyoto. 1558 – Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England. 1603 – English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason. 1800 – Congress holds its first […]