The clock tower at 346 Broadway, which a State Court of Appeals ruling says can be closed, gutted, and converted into a private home — despite its legally protected status as an “interior”landmark, which requires public access. At the March 26 meeting of Community Board 1 (CB1), Lynn Ellsworth, chair of the Tribeca Trust, relayed […]
The exit ramp from the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel A new public space first promised to Lower Manhattan residents in 2012 has slipped an additional five months behind schedule, according the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation. The facility in question is the planned Elizabeth Berger Plaza Park, which will be bounded by Greenwich Street, Edgar Street, […]
The scene on South End Avenue on Thursday evening. Tragedy struck on South End Avenue on Thursday evening at approximately 7:15 pm, when longtime Gateway Plaza resident Arlene Kalfus was struck by a bus and killed. Ms. Kalfus, who was 81 years old, had lived in Battery Park City since the late 1980s, according to […]
Lower Manhattan is becoming a focal point for the healthcare and not-for-profit sectors, according to a new report from the Downtown Alliance. The analysis notes that more than 1,000 organizations in the two sectors are now based in the square mile south of Chambers Street, employing 38,000 workers. This tally has grown 78 percent since […]
Community Board 1 (CB1) has unanimously passed a resolution voicing its opposition to the plan, hatched by Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, to levy a toll on vehicles driving in Lower Manhattan. In a departure from precedent observed elsewhere, this scheme contains no exemption or discount for people who reside within the […]
Construction work has begun to transform Pier 26 from a concrete slab into Lower Manhattan’s next great public space — a waterfront park featuring grassy meadows, shaded paths, playing fields, ridges of sand dunes, and a marine science station. The project is now slated for completion in 2020. A discussion at the March 26 meeting […]
A Crossing Guard squires students across Pearl Street, near the Peck Slip School. Community Board 1 (CB1) is demanding that the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio ramp up traffic safety efforts at Lower Manhattan schools by hiring more crossing guards. In a resolution passed at its March 26 meeting, the Board called upon the […]
Battery Park City resident Marijo Russell-O’Grady has co-authored a new book that is timely and topical, albeit in a troubling way. With her colleague, Katie Treadwell, Dr. Russell-O’Grady (who holds a PhD in higher education administration) has written, “Crisis, Compassion, and Resiliency in Student Affairs: Using Triage Practices to Foster Well-Being,” a research-driven analysis of […]
This schematic details the design and allocation of space that prison-reform advocates hope will make a new jail a more humane detention facility. On Monday, the clock began ticking on the approval process under which a plan by Mayor Bill de Blasio to build a new, high-rise jail in Lower Manhattan may move ahead, or […]
A rendering of how Bowling Green Park could be expanded if part of Broadway were given over to pedestrians. The Financial District Neighborhood Association (FDNA) is proposing to reclaim a large swath of Lower Manhattan’s streetscape for pedestrians with a program that would widen sidewalks, take down construction scaffolds, put trash in its place, decrease […]