311 – Emperor Galerius legally recognizes Christians in the Roman Empire 1492 – Columbus is given royal commission to equip his fleet 1789 – George Washington inaugurated as first president of US 1803 – US doubles in size through Louisiana Purchase ($15 million) 1808 – First practical typewriter finished by Italian Pellegrini Turri 1859 – […]
Archives for April 2018
EYES TO THE SKY April 30 – May 13, 2018
The Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) is a magnet for amateur astronomers, professionals and those simply curious about astronomy and space exploration. Over Earth Day weekend, which included worldwide Astronomy Day, April 21, I was one of thousands who streamed along the paths to NEAF venues on the Rockland Community College campus, an hour northwest […]
Arterial Concerns
Tomorrow (Tuesday, May 1) evening, the Battery Park City Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1) will host a review and update about plans for improving pedestrian safety and traffic flow on South End Avenue. Because these plans have under development for several years, and some versions of the proposed design have been controversial, community leaders […]
April 25
1449 – Anti-pope Felix V resigns 1507 – Geographer Martin Waldseemuller first used name America 1684 – Patent granted for thimble 1792 – Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas J Pelletier 1850 – Paul Julius Reuter, use 40 pigeons to carry stock market prices 1859 – Ground broken for Suez Canal 1861 – […]
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
The board of the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association (GPTA) has been almost entirely reconstituted since residents stood for election last October, with a new slate of community leaders and activists taking the helm. The Association’s new president is Karlene Wiese, who is backed up by first vice president Rosalie Joseph and second vice president Honey […]
April 24
1184 BC – The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse 1066 – Halley’s Comet sparks English monk to predict country will be destroyed 1800 – Library of Congress established with $5,000 allocation In 1800, as part of an act of Congress providing for the removal of the new national government from Philadelphia to Washington, […]
Battery Park City Wayfinding Signage Survey
The Battery Park City Authorityis in the process of developing new wayfinding signage, intended to guide motorists, bicyclists, transit users, and pedestrians along and through streets (in concert and coordination with existing New York City street signage), sidewalks, public spaces, and transition points across Battery Park City’s 92-acres. This process will result in the […]
9/11 Advocacy That Makes All the Difference
Turley, Hansen & Rosasco, LLP is a law firm that focuses exclusively on representing Downtown residents and workers impacted by exposure to toxins in the air after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As they seek financial compensation and medical care for their clients, the firm is emerging as one of the leading advocates […]
April 23
1597 – William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance. 1635 – Oldest US public institution, Boston Latin School founded 1838 – English steamship “Great Western” crossing Atlantic docks in NYC 1861 – Robert E. Lee named commander of Virginia Confederate forces 1900 – First […]
Where Landmarks Are Plentiful, But Development Enroaches
One of the more obvious ways in which Lower Manhattan is being radically transformed before the eyes of people who live here is the proliferation of new buildings. A less apparent, but still significant, driver of the ongoing local metamorphosis is the rate at which older buildings — in some cases, historic — are being […]
Today in History April 20
1453 – Three Genoese galleys and a Byzantine blockade runner fight their way through an Ottoman blockading fleet a few weeks before the fall of Constantinople. 1534 – Jacques Cartier begins his first voyage to what is today the east coast of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador. 1657 – Freedom of religion is granted to the […]
Opinion & Analysis: We Got What We Wished For — Now What?
Meenakshi Srinivasan, the chair of the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) since 2014, announced her resignation on Thursday. For many, it is a “Ding, Dong, the Wicked Witch is Gone” kind of moment. Critics, including this author, rejoice because they see Ms. Srinivasan’s reign at the LPC in the same way that worried Democrats see […]
April 18
1025 – Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. 1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid. 1775 – Paul Revere and William Dawes ride from Charleston to Lexington warning the “regulars are coming!” 1783 – Fighting ceases in the American Revolution, eight years to the […]
Prescription: A Dose of Loss
To the editor: Yon and Elizabeth are going out of business is not the problem. They understand business is business. The real loss here is having great people like Yon and Elizabeth leaving the area. They did the community a favor by reopening after 9/11 when it did not make financial sense. Wish all the […]
Who Knows Wrong from Right and Is Red All Over?
The Downtown Alliance continued a decades-long tradition on Tuesday by honoring members of its Public Safety Officer program who have rendered meritorious service in the last year. In a ceremony held at Bobby Van’s Grill & Steakhouse on Broad Street, Alliance president Jessica Lappin observed, “this is one of my favorite days of the year, […]
April 17
1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date in 1387 as when the book’s pilgrimage to Canterbury begins. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by […]
The Battery’s Up and Tribeca’s Down
Tribeca remains the most expensive neighborhood in which to buy a home anywhere in New York, even after dwellings there have lost almost one-third of their value in the last year, according to a new report from PropertyShark, a real estate web site and search engine that tracks sales and price data. The analysis finds […]
April 16
1178 BC – A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War 1705 – Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton at Trinity College 1777 – Battle of Bennington-New England’s Green Mountain Boys rout British 1853 – The first passenger rail opens in […]
EYES TO THE SKY April 16 – 29, 2018
Towers of house lights, office tower lights, store lights, floodlights, streetlights, car lights, stadium lights, illuminated signage, decorative lights. Artificial light at night, indoors and outdoors, is second nature to us. But now that we’ve conquered darkness we’re learning that darkness is necessary to life on Earth – and becoming scarce. For billions of years, […]
Splitting the Difference
To the editor, We appreciate your article this week titled “Splitting the Difference,” (BroadsheetDAILY, April 9) though do wish you had reached out to us for comment as it inadvertently wound up missing a major element of the story. We write today to ask you to expand upon the initial article in a subsequent piece. […]