Month: June 2017

Can God Afford to Rent in Lower Manhattan?

The only house of worship in Battery Park City is winding down operations in anticipation of shutting entirely later this year. St. Joseph’s Chapel, located within the Gateway Plaza apartment complex, has been buffeted by exorbitant rent increases that the leadership of St. Peter’s Parish in the Financial District (of which the Chapel is an...
The last 10:30 am Sunday mass at St. Joseph's, held on June 25, comes after years of grassroots organizing by parishioners to save the Chapel.

June 26

221 – Roman emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and receives the title of Caesar. 699 – En no Ozuno, a Japanese mystic and apothecary who will later be regarded as the founder of a folk religion Shugendō, is banished to Izu Ōshima. 1407 – Ulrich von Jungingen becomes Grand Master...
Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrate outside the courthouse in 2015 after the Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage.

EYES TO THE SKY June 26 – July 9, 2017

Everyone in the United States will experience, at minimum, a partial eclipse of the Sun on August 21, 2017. In Lower Manhattan, a partial eclipse will be visible. The following short animations reveal the astronomy, wonder and mystery behind a total eclipse of the sun. These animations introduce what has been described as the most...
Jay and Naomi Pasachoff look through partial-eclipse filters before the annular phase of the solar eclipse they observed from Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean on September 1, 2016. Photo courtesy of Jay M. Pasachoff

One Step Closer…

After years of quixotic effort and false starts, a bill that would guarantee Battery Park City residents multiple seats on the board of the agency that governs them, the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) has passed the State Senate. An identical bill also passed the State Assembly, and the measure now goes to the desk...
Daniel Squadron

June 23

1532 – Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France sign a secret treaty against Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. 1611 – The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson’s fourth voyage sets Hudson, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never...
A view of the Bow River Valley in Banff National Park, established in 1887. In the foreground is probably the original Banff Springs Hotel.

All Aboard: Upstairs, Downstairs

Discover the world aboard the Great Liners, where Third Class immigrants endured tough voyages in cramped lower decks while First Class American passengers traveled in luxury, in the South Street Seaport Museum’s new exhibition, open June 23. Millions: Migrants and Millionaires aboard the Great Liners, 1900-1914 explores the dynamic between First and Third Class as...