69 – General Vespasian’s troops occupy Rome after defeating the Emperor Vitellius 1046 – Synod of Sutri: German King Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI 1192 – Richard the Lionhearted captured in Vienna 1606 – Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown, Virginia 1669 – First jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for […]
Archives for December 2017
How often does the Seaport District have to be screwed?
To the editor: Your article on the CPC vote (BroadsheetDAILY December 19)for the landowners handout of open spaces gave me deja vu and revulsion. How often does the Seaport District have to be screwed by the developers, our electeds and now by our own Community Board before we rise up in protest? Whatever happened to […]
Two Seats at the Table
A decade-long campaign by elected officials, community leaders, and grassroots activists to bring democratic governance to Battery Park City took a giant step forward on Monday, when Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new law that will require two seats on the board of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) to be set aside for people […]
December 19
324 – Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. 1795 – First state appropriation of money for road building, Kentucky 1843 – Charles Dickens publishes “A Christmas Carol,” in England 1903 – Williamsburg bridge opens between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Click here to watch the opening of the bridge 1918 – Robert Ripley began his “Believe […]
There Goes the Portico…
The City Planning Commission (CPC) has overruled Community Board 1 (CB1) and ignored a phalanx of local elected officials by approving a controversial proposal to fill in arcades at 200 Water Street, to create new retail space and market-rate apartments. On December 13, the CPC voted to authorize the project, with eight commissioners on the […]
Toy Story
Karen Barwick remembers as if it were the most recent Black Friday her inspiration for starting Boomerang Toys, Lower Manhattan’s go-to destination for eclectic playthings, 15 years ago. “My oldest son was a toddler in 2002,” she recalls, “and was invited to a birthday party. So we had to buy a gift, and I realized […]
Onward and Upward with the Arts
Church Street School for Music and Art, which has operated highly regarded creative enrichment programs for Lower Manhattan kids for the last 27 years has found a new home. This represents a reprieve for the school, which has been buffeted by series of rent increases over the last decade, as its Tribeca neighborhood gentrified, that […]
Pressing for Home Rule
Three Lower Manhattan elected officials have co-signed a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, calling upon him to sign a bill now on his desk, that would set aside two seats on the board of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) to people who live in the community. The letter was sent on December 8, two […]
Arcades or Their ‘Cades?
Today, the City Planning Commission (CPC) will vote on whether to approve a controversial plan to privatize almost 5,000 square feet of public space at 200 Water Street, where the building owner wants to enclose arcades — the columned porticos that adorn the ground-floor facades of more than a dozen Water Street buildings — to […]
December 12
627 – Battle at Nineveh: Byzantine emperor Heraclius beats Perzen 1098 – First Crusaders capture and plunder Mara Syria 1791 – Bank of US opens 1792 – In Vienna, Ludwig Von Beethoven at the age of 22 receives first lesson in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn 1915 – First all-metal aircraft (Junkers J-1) test […]
High, Wide, and Handsome
After 134 years, the Brooklyn Bridge may need some surgical enhancement. A report released Friday by the City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) notes that the span’s pedestrian and cycling deck is the No. 1 tourist attraction in Brooklyn and one of the top five in Manhattan. The report also documents that between 2008 and 2015, […]
December 11
359 – Honoratus, first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office. 1620 – 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock 1792 – France’s King Louis XVI went on trial, accused of treason 1844 – First dental use of nitrous oxide, in Hartford, Connecticut 1866 – First yacht race across Atlantic Ocean 1913 – […]
EYES TO THE SKY December 11 – 24, 2017
All the world would have us believe that electronic devices are indispensable for the stargazer, but I’m compelled to share with you my enduring enthusiasm for my paper star wheel, or planisphere, a stargazer’s basic field guide to the night sky. Especially now, during the season of gift giving, here’s a gift for all ages […]
Affordable Housing, Open Space, or Both?
The clashing visions and competing priorities that were at the center of the recent race for the City Council seat representing Lower Manhattan have begun to crystallize into a bricks-and-mortar policy decision. The plan to use a City-owned lot to create permanently affordable housing for low-income seniors on the site of a public garden in […]
December 7
43 BC – Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated. 1703 – The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, makes landfall. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die. 1732 – The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London. 1787 – Delaware becomes the […]
Statute of Self-Determination
A proposed State law that would set aside two seats on the board of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) for residents of the community is now on the desk of Governor Andrew Cuomo, awaiting his signature or veto. (Editor’s Note: Readers who wish to contact Governor Cuomo to voice an opinion about this bill […]
December 6
963 – Leo VIII elected Pope 1631 – First predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed 1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia 1825 – Pres John Adams suggests establishment of a US observatory 1862 – Pres Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux indians 1877 – First sound recording […]
Lower Manhattan’s Official Wish List
Community Board 1 (CB1) has completed its annual statement of District Needs and Budget Priorities, which is submitted every 12 months to the City government, to help set the agenda for policy and spending in the coming fiscal year. “Reacting to problems is important,” reflects Board chair Anthony Notaro, “but CB1 has a heritage of […]
December 5
771 – Charlemagne becomes the sole King of the Franks after the death of his brother Carloman. 1456 – Earthquake strikes Naples; about 35,000 die 1766 – London auctioneers Christie’s hold their first sale 1792 – George Washington re-elected president 1876 – Fire at Brooklyn Theater kills 295, trampled or burned to death 1893 – […]
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Plans by a developer to gut a landmarked clock that sits atop a historic Tribeca building were dealt a setback in State Supreme Court last week, when a ruling found that legal protections to both the inside and the outside of the structure cannot be waived by City regulators. The structure in question is the […]