About Robert Simko

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Postponed Park Premieres New FiDi Public Space Is Culmination of More Than a Decade of Advocacy and Planning Above: A schematic drawing of the new park, highlighting the various design concepts that have been incorporated into different “zones” of the space. Below: Elizabeth H. Berger A new green […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News A Pooling of Interests Would a Swim Facility that Doubles as a Floating Filtration System be a Net Plus? A rendering of how +Pool would appear moored along the East River waterfront of Lower Manhattan. Community Board 1 (CB1) is continuing a decade of grassroots advocacy by prodding […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Piering Into the Future HRPT Moves Ahead with Plans to Recast Former Tow Pound as Waterfront Park Demolition and reconstruction work now underway will transform it into a public open space the size of three football fields. Lower Manhattan residents who use the Hudson River Greenway to traverse […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News History Updated City Preservation Agency Okays Plan for New Structure on East River Waterfront A rendering of the proposed outdoor dining pavilion planned for South and Fulton Streets, in front of the historic Tin Building. (The shaded area above indicates the obstructed view created by the FDR Drive […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Nadler Proposes to Expand Historic African Cemetery with Museum and Education Center The African Burial Ground National Monument Congressman Jerry Nadler is sponsoring to expand the African Burial Ground National Monument, the Lower Manhattan site that holds the remains of an estimated 15,000 African-Americans […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Expurgation Exasperation East River Park Advocates Demand to See Resiliency Planning Documents A rendering of the City’s plan for a resilient East River Park, rebuilt behind a seawall and elevated above nine feet of fill. A coalition of activists based on the Lower East Side has filed suit […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Hoping to Avert a ‘Death Spiral’ Local Leaders Seek Temporary Easing of Federal Mortgage Regulations on Condominiums and Cooperatives Community Board 1 (CB1) is calling upon elected officials to intercede on behalf of condominiums and cooperatives, where the economic downtown triggered by the pandemic coronavirus has resulted in […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News OPINION AND ANALYSIS The New Roaring Twenties New York City Won’t Be The Same, But It Will Be Great A chorus of New York naysayers are telling us that the City will never be the same after this pandemic. They are right—but not in the way they think. […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News ‘How Is One to Speak of Such Things and Not Lose One’s Mind?’ Museum of Jewish Heritage Commemorates Losses Among Community of Survivors The Museum of Jewish Heritage, located within Wagner Park, in Battery Park City, is memorializing the loss of Holocaust survivors who perished during the pandemic. […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News How Much Is Too Much? CB1 Discussion Tonight Will Examine BPCA Finances Tonight (Wednesday, April 7) the Battery Park City Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1) will host a review of the finances of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA). To participate in this online meeting, which starts […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Harboring Good Will Highly Regarded Maritime School on Governors Island to Expand Building 515, the historic structure (and former hospital) into which the Harbor School will expand. A years-long campaign by Lower Manhattan community leaders, elected officials, and parents came to fruition on Monday when an agreement to […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News The Plots Thicken Liberty Community Gardens Wait Listers Will Finally Get Their Hands Dirty Above: As seen in a photo taken last, week, 26 new garden plots await new gardeners. Most garden beds are divided in half. Below: In a shot from last summer at Liberty Community Gardens, […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News The Fate of a Neighborhood State’s Highest Court Blocks Suit by Brewer, Chin Opposing Two Bridges Plan An architectural rendering of the four new residential towers proposed for the Two Bridges neighborhood, which would contain more than 2,700 apartments. The tower at left, closest to the Manhattan Bridge, […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Getting Squeezed Coming and Going Washington Okays Congestion Pricing Program that Local Leaders Fear will Penalize Lower Manhattan Residents Mitch Frohman: “So this is going to be great for rich people, who can afford to pay for convenience, to have less traffic. It will be better for them, […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Banks Heist Local Leaders Get Irredentist to Reclaim Park Space Dispossessed for a Decade The park known as Brooklyn Bridge Banks has been closed to the public for more than a decade, to facilitate maintenance work on the span above. Community Board 1 (CB1) wants the administration of […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Compulsory Commemoration Governor Opens Hurricane Maria Memorial The design of the newly opened Hurricane Maria Memorial (located at the Chambers Street overlook, on River Terrace) features an ascending glass spiral, meant to evoke both a hurricane and a nautilus shell—symbolic of protection against a hostile environment. On Friday, […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Pearl of Wisdom Brewer Pushes for FiDi Thoroughfare to Be Made Pedestrian-Friendly in Perpetuity Above: This map illustrates the quarter-mile length of Pearl Street, in the Financial District, which has been converted to limited vehicular access under the Open Streets program. Below: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer: “Going […]

One Act of Kindness Matt Keating is a singer/songwriter who lives in Lower Manhattan with his wife Emily. In a recent post on Facebook, he described his friendship with a man who took shelter outside his building, and how he helped this man receive his federal stimulus check. March 20 This is my neighbor Jamal. […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Chopper Stoppers Proposed Federal Law Would Further Restrict Helicopter Flights Over New York City Congressman Jerry Nadler and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer stand at the Wall Street heliport to announce new federal legislation aimed at banning non-essential helicopter flights from New York skies. For the second time […]

View as Webpage Lower Manhattan’s Local News Anti-Inundation Ideation Residents Are Invited to Brainstorm about Bulwark for the Battery Plans slated for discussion during an online, public meeting tonight will seek to protect the Battery — the 25-acre historic park at Lower Manhattan’s southern tip that straddles the junction between the Hudson and East Rivers. […]