On Friday June 22nd, Battery Park City Parks hosted the Swedish Midsummer Festival, a celebration of the summer solstice. Thousands of Swedes and Swedes for a Day, not unlike St. Patrick’s Day, danced traditional Swedish folk dances with Barnklubben Elsa Rix, a children’s dance club, and joined in lively dance around the Midsummer pole. There was wreath […]
Archives for June 2018
Today in History June 29
1194 – Sverre is crowned King of Norway. 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to reach Prince Edward Island. 1613 – The Globe Theatre in London burns to the ground. 1776 – First privateer battle of the American Revolutionary War fought at Turtle Gut Inlet near Cape May, New Jersey 1874 – Greek […]
Gateway Tenants’ Association Summer Solstice Get Together
On the evening of June 20th the Gateway Tenants’ Association held an informal gathering for all Gateway tenants. The new board members welcomed the crowd of old and new members and made for a pleasant evening with refreshments served in Gateway Plaza’s ‘backyard’ over looking the Hudson. While there was no formal program, chair […]
Letters
To the editor, Re: “The Parting of Waters” The BroadsheetDAILY Thursday, June 28th The BroadsheetDAILY reported on the second stage of the BPCA resiliency plan to protect a baseball field and Asphalt Green – which it calls a “community center” stating “The third and fourth parts of the plan will seek to protect the […]
Call It ‘Decongestion Pricing’
Seen from Lower Manhattan, the Verrazano Bridge is a necklace of lights twinkling on the horizon, eight miles away. But a new analysis of traffic patterns concludes that charging tolls in both directions on that span — instead of levying motorists only as they enter Staten Island, but not as they leave — would divert […]
Today in History June 27
1542 – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claims California for Spain 1743 – War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Dettingen: in Bavaria, King George II of Britain personally leads troops into battle. The last time a British monarch would command troops in the field. 1833 – Prudence Crandall, a white woman, arrested for conducting an academy […]
Duty Is In the Eye of the Beholden
A new analysis of the highest property taxes in America finds that five buildings in Lower Manhattan are among the 100 highest levied in the nation, and contribute a combined total of more than $100 million in tax revenue. The report, by real estate blog CommercialCafe.com, finds that Downtown property with the greatest tax burden is […]
Today in History June 25
Custer by Mathew Brady 1630 – Fork introduced to American dining by Gov Winthrop. It was about tine. 1638 – Lunar eclipse is first astronomical event recorded in the American Colonies 1667 – Dr Jean-Baptiste Denys, French doctor, performs first blood transfusion 1798 – US passes Alien Act allowing president to deport dangerous aliens 1868 […]
EYES TO THE SKY June 25 – July 8, 2018
In a country cabin on a clear night last week, I was on my way to bed at about 11 o’clock when I made a detour to the front door. If the stars and planets are so bright that you spot them from a window, the allure of the rest of the sky is irresistible, […]
Two Steps Forward
Elected officials and community leaders are reacting to the appointment of two community residents to the board of the Battery Park City Authority(BPCA) by Governor Andrew Cuomo in the last 48 hours of the Albany legislative session that has now ended. In the final days of the session, Mr. Cuomo designated Martha Gallo, an insurance […]
Today in History June 22
Today in History June 22 Galileo 1633 – The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his viewthat the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe in the form he presented it in, after heated controversy. 1783 – A poisonous cloud caused by the eruption of the Laki […]
Give Peace a Chance
More than 500 students at the Battery Park City School fanned out in front of their building on Battery Place on Tuesday to cover the sidewalk with messages of peace. The event, called Care Squares for Peace, is part a three-year old tradition at the school, which began in response to the 2016 mass shooting […]
Dennis Mehiel steps down from the BPCA Board
Dear editor: Wow – that was fast! Dennis Mehiel steps down from the BPCA Board. Martha Gallo is nominated by Governor Cuomo and confirmed by the State Senate that same evening. And there is another local on the verge of being selected. Just one question: Who does our governor ask for input on these selections? […]
Tony Award
Governor Andrew Cuomo has appointed a second local resident to serve on the board of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA). Anthony Kendall, who lives in southern Battery Park City, was nominated by Mr. Cuomo as a new board member on Tuesday, and confirmed by the State Senate late Wednesday evening. Mr. Kendall is the chairman and […]
Today in History June 20
451 – Germans and Romans beat Attila the Hun at Catalarinische Fields 1837 – Queen Victoria at 18 ascends British throne following death of uncle King William IV. She ruled for 63 years ending in 1901 1840 – Samuel Morse patents his telegraph 1867 – President Andrew Johnson announces purchase of Alaska The […]
Dennis Mehiel Departs BPCA
Dennis Mehiel, chairman and chief executive officer of the Battery Park City Authority (BCPA) since 2012, announced at Tuesday’s meeting of the agency’s board that he is stepping down. “This will be my last board meeting at the Battery Park City Authority,” he began near the meeting’s conclusion. “I’ve been here six years, and I’ve […]
Today in History
1464 – French King Louis XI forms postal service 1862 – Slavery outlawed in US territories 1864 – CSS “Alabama” sunk by USS “Kearsarge” off Cherbourg, France 1917 – King George V ordered members of British royal family to dispense with German titles & surnames, they take the name Windsor. George V was King of the […]
Hey Dum-Dum!
Spend tonight (Tuesday, June 19) exploring the City’s history and heritage at the fifth annual Night at the Museums, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm.The event, part of the 2018 River to River Festival, will give locals and tourists alike the chance to see Lower Manhattan’s diverse range of cultural institutions and historical sites — all […]
Today in History
618 – Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty’s rule over China. 860 – Swedish Vikings attack Constantinople 1178 – Five monks at Canterbury report explosion on moon (only known observation) 1682 – William Penn founds Philadelphia 1812 […]
Transforming a Deadline Into a Lifeline
A bill sponsored by State Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou, which aims to enhance the benefits available responders and rescue workers made sick by exposure to environmental toxins after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has passed her house of legislature. The bill, if enacted, will extend through the year 2022 the deadline by which […]