Blue Sky Proposal

If you live, work, or attend school south of Canal Street, getting from Point A to Point B has never seemed harder. But a visionary real estate entrepreneur is proposing to whisk commuters in and out of Lower Manhattan at speeds that would make L train riders want to burn their MetroCards. This comes against...
A rendering of the first phrase of the proposed East River Skyway, which would shuttle passengers between Williamsburg and the Lower East Side in five minutes

Today in History

332 – Constantine the Great announced free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople. 1096 – First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany 1291 – Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land 1565 – The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta. 1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John...
Apollo 10 launched in 1969

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

A local resident is urging the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) to recommit to the reputation for environmental sustainability that the community earned in 1990s and early years of the 21st century, when it become one of the first developments in the nation to erect “green” residential and office buildings. At the April 13 Open...
Maureen Koetz

A Call to Keep the Colonnade

Community leaders are voicing concerns about the fate of the South End Avenue pedestrian arcades, a three-block chain of columned, sheltered walkways that line the street-level facades of four large apartment buildings on the west side of the street. In addition to offering a community amenity that many residents value for protection from rain and...
The columned arcades along South End Avenue, between Albany Street and Rector Place, which the Battery Park City Authority is considering whether to fill in with additional retail space. Although there is generous space behind the columns (which offers pedestrians shade on sunny days, and shelter from rain), the sidewalks in front are less than half as wide.

Today in History

1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason. 1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason. 1536 – The annulment of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s marriage. 1673 – Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River. 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Continental Congress bans trade with Quebec. 1792...
"Public buildings best serve the public by being beautiful." Cass Gilbert

Double-crested Cormorant

  The double-crested Cormorant is often seen fishing off the esplanade of Battery Park City.  If you see one in the water, keep an eye on it, as in a short amount of time, it’ll dive underneath the water in search of food.  Count to ten and look around and you will see it resurface,...
Double-creasted Cormorant