Author: Matthew Fenton

Acclaimed Theater School Stages Six Weeks of Plays Downtown with Free Admission Now through mid May, the renowned Actors Studio Drama School (an affiliate of Lower Manhattan’s Pace University) is mounting its annual Repertory Season, a repertoire of nine cutting-edge plays, in the performance space at 80 Greenwich Street (between Rector and Edgar Streets). Tickets...

Monument Renovation Moves Forward On the eve of the anniversary of the loss of the RMS Titanic, which sank on April 14, 1912, the South Street Seaport Museum is one significant step closer to restoring the Lower Manhattan landmark that commemorates the ship’s loss. The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, unveiled in Lower Manhattan one year after...

Dearth of Affordable Housing Translates to Local Rent Worries, Report   A recent analysis from Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine contains some illuminating demographic indicators about Lower Manhattan. His report, “Housing Manhattanites: A Report on Where and How to Build the Housing We Need,” notes that the creation of housing within the confines of Community...

Nonprofit Seeks to Launch Local School for Disabled Kids An educational non-profit based in the Financial District, which serves developmentally disabled children, is proposing to create a new preschool on Maiden Lane. Founded in 1949, AHRC (the initials refer to the group’s core values: Advocacy, Humanity, Reimagination, and Change) works to enable neurodiverse children and...

Monument Proposed for FiDi Park to Recall Little Syria A plan to create a memorial dedicated to the writers of the Arab diaspora, who came together in Lower Manhattan during the early years of the 20th century, will add four graphic walls, one bench wall, and a sculpture to Elizabeth Berger Plaza, a small, triangular...

Establishment Icons and Agitprop Action Paintings Certify Tribeca as Gallery Mecca Three relocating or expanding galleries and a significant new retrospective have the collective effect of certifying Tribeca’s status as the epicenter of the New York art scene. The galleries are Alexander Gray Associates (which is leaving Chelsea after almost 20 years), Marian Goodman Gallery...