Author: Matthew Fenton

Governor Vetoes Measure That Would Have Given Residents a Stronger Voice in BPCA Decisions More than a year of concerted effort by Lower Manhattan community activists and elected officials reached a disappointing turning point on the evening of November 21, when Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a proposed law that would have expanded the number of...

New Air Taxi Service Coming to Wall Street Heliport; FAA and National Park Service Encourage Helicopter Tours Over National Monuments Because of noise complaints, local leaders have pushed for years to scale back the volume of helicopter traffic at the Wall Street Heliport.   Downtown activists and leaders who have for years pushed to limit...

The Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) hosted a Public Scoping Meeting about its North/West Battery Park City Resiliency Project on November 16 at Stuyvesant High School (345 Chambers Street, near the corner of North End Avenue), from 5pm to 8pm. The meeting was the fifth in a series of public sessions about the North/West Battery...

Lower Manhattan’s highly regarded Blue School is closing. In a story first reported by Bloomberg, the acclaimed elementary school will cease operations at the conclusion of 2023’s spring semester. A statement posted on the school’s website explains, “it is with great sadness that we announce that the 2022-2023 school year will be Blue School’s last...

Above: Members of the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association executive board gather with State Senator Brian Kavanagh at a 2019 meeting of the organization, which seeks to protect the interests of renters in Battery Park City’s largest residential complex. Tonight (Thursday, November 17) the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association (GPTA) will host its annual meeting, via Zoom,...

The Battery Park City Authority (BCPA) is suing the operators of the now-shuttered bar and restaurant at Pier A for more than $8 million. The legal action seeks a combination of unpaid rent, interest, and rent that would otherwise have been collected—if the restaurant had not ceased operations, and if it had not been given earlier concessions on its rent by the Authority...