The BroadsheetDAILY – 12/3/21 – Children’s Tree Dedicated at Museum of Jewish Heritage

The Broadsheet: Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

‘Always Do the Right Thing’

Children’s Tree Dedicated at Museum of Jewish Heritage

Above: The Children’s Tree being transplanted to the soil outside the Museum of Jewish Heritage, prior to its dedication on Thursday. Below: Museum president Jack Kliger: “We are calling this the Children’s Tree, because of you—the children of today and the children of tomorrow. By learning about the children who planted and nurtured the original Tree of Life, 80 years ago, you are becoming witnesses to the story of the Holocaust. You are caretakers of this piece of history in your own backyard.”

The Museum of Jewish Heritage dedicated on Thursday the Children’s Tree, a newly planted silver maple sapling with a distinguished lineage. This tree is descended from one planted in 78 years ago, by Irma Lauscher, an inmate at Theresienstadt, a Nazi concentration camp in what was then Czechoslovakia. Lauscher served as a teacher in this “model” camp, which the Third Reich used for propaganda purposes, while concealing (but not abrogating) the genocidal methods of other killing centers.

In January, 1943, on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat (the New Year of Trees), Lauscher recruited a sympathetic Theresienstadt guard to bring a seedling tree into the camp. She then planted this four-inch sprout in the soil of the children’s area of the camp, and enlisted each of her students to share a small portion of their meager daily ration of water, to help the tree thrive. The sapling survived World War Two, and in the years since, seeds and cuttings from it have been transplanted and cultivated around the world.

One of these has been planted beside the front door of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, on Battery Place. At the dedication ceremony on Thursday, Museum president Jack Kliger said, “this living artifact, with roots born in the Holocaust, is now firmly planted in the grounds outside our Museum. It has branches that point us toward a brighter future.”

Addressing students from P.S./I.S. 276, which is located across the street from the Museum, he continued, “we are calling this the Children’s Tree, because of you—the children of today and the children of tomorrow. By learning about the children who planted and nurtured the original Tree of Life, 80 years ago, you are becoming witnesses to the story of the Holocaust. You are caretakers of this piece of history in your own backyard.”

Holocaust historian Michael Berenbaum said, “some 144,000 Jews were deported to Theresienstadt, of whom 33,000 died there. More than 88,000 others were deported to Auschwitz. By the war’s end, only 19,000 were still alive. Of the 15,000 children who were sent to Theresienstadt, only 100 survived to the end of the war.”

“This is why it is so important that we have children here today,” he continued. “Irma Lauscher taught her students a lesson—that even those who have so little can do so much.”

Dr. Berenbaum recalled a Talmudic parable about an old man who is questioned as he plants a fig tree that he will not live to see bear fruit. “The old man explained, ‘my grandfather planted a fig tree and I have enjoyed its fruit. My grandchildren will eat the fruit of this tree and thrive.’”

“Planting this tree represented faith in the future,” he concluded, “even a future that too few of those children would live to see. The children who planted this tree did not live to have children and grandchildren. But one can preserve one’s humanity and soul with the dream of a different future.”

Fred Terna, a 98-year-old survivor of Theresienstadt advised the assembled students with the simple, moving injunction, “always do the right thing.”

Mara Sonnenschein, a Museum staff member who is also a Battery Park City resident and a P.S./I.S 276 parent, said, “I am a descendant of Dorretta Rose, my great grandmother, who died at Theresienstadt in 1942. My daughter is Phoebe Rose, her middle name a tribute to her great, great granddaughter, Doretta, and our many family members whose lives were stolen by the Nazis.”

Ms. Sonnenschein shared that, “my grandmother, Doretta’s younger daughter, arrived in New York in 1939. She would sometimes take the subway to Battery Park, sit on a bench overlooking the harbor, and plead for the safety of her family left in Europe, directing her wishes to her only friend in America, the Statue of Liberty.”

“Trees form communities, root networks that share resources and information,” she reflected. “And this tree will be a member of the community that lives here, informing generations to come of the sacrifices that Irma Lauscher and her students made to grow a tree in Theresienstadt in 1943.”

The chorus of P.S./I.S. 276 provided musical accompaniment to the dedication ceremony by performing, “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” after which a visibly moved B.J. Jones, president of the Battery Park City Authority, said to the students, “what you do here, in this little corner of Manhattan, can change the whole world for the better.” He concluded, “the Children’s Tree today, tomorrow, and always, has a home here in Battery Park City.”

Matthew Fenton

A Languid Recovery

Multiple Reports Document Slow Rebound of Downtown Apartments

Lower Manhattan residential real estate values came roaring back in the third quarter of this year, but still have some distance to cover before recapturing pre-pandemic highs, according to a pair of recent analyses.

The Lower Manhattan Real Estate Market Report from the Downtown Alliance notes that the median rent for the community bested a record high set in 2019, “reversing the decline seen throughout the pandemic.” During the third quarter, median apartment rents climbed to $4,100, a jump of up nearly 15 percent from the same period last year, and 10.2 percent higher than the second quarter of this year.

This means that median apartment rents in Lower Manhattan are now $1,100 (or 37 percent) higher than those at the beginning of 2021, before the onset of the pandemic. For contrast, median residential rents in Manhattan as a whole remained the same as the third quarter of 2020, and have climbed only seven percent above 2019 figures.

While They Were Sleeping

Battery Park City Resident Sentenced for Home Invasions and Sexual Abuse

On November 15, music industry executive Adam Lublin, a resident of Tribeca Pointe at 41 River Terrace, was sentenced to four years in prison on two counts each of first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree burglary as a sexually motivated felony.

These charges stemmed from incidents that first came to light in September 2019, when a woman who lived on Mr. Lublin’s floor called police, charging that he had entered her unlocked apartment while she was asleep, and that she awoke to find him touching her vagina. She added that she had previously noticed multiple undergarments missing from her home in recent weeks.

Where Ideas Are Hatched

Governors Island Plans Climate Incubator for Historic Building

The Trust for Governors Island announced on Monday that it has chosen a partnership of real estate developers to lease a historic building on the waterfront and create an incubator space that will nurture new firms focused on “climate adaptation, renewable energy research and monitoring, and the transition to a low-carbon economy.” The project, which is slated for completion in early 2024, will also serve as an education and training center for the growing sector of climate jobs, and is anticipated to create more than 150 permanent jobs on Governors Island.

The new partnership, called Buttermilk Labs (in a nod to the name of the channel that separates Governors Island from Brooklyn, which the building it will occupy overlooks) is a coalition of the North River Company, BJH Advisors, Barretto Bay Strategies, and Greenwood Strategies. To read more…

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

To place a listing, contact editor@ebroadsheet.com

EYES TO THE SKY

November 29 – December 12, 2021

“Under One Sky”: human voices from space

I heard the voices of sensitive humans from outer space. They spoke of living in awe of the beauty of a blue planet—Earth—hanging in the blackness of space. The uniqueness of Earth in the cosmos astounded them, charged them with emotion. They observed the Sun white in the great blackness, not as we know the shining orb seen through our blue atmosphere, the sky. Stars—viewed with no atmosphere between eye and star—are vivid, steady lights of different colors: red, orange, yellow, blue, white.

“Nothing could prepare me for the phenomenon of the fragile atmosphere. The thinness of the atmosphere: paper thin.” To read more…

Judy Isacoff

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ruth Westheimer (But Were Afraid to Ask)

“Ruth doesn’t lead with her backstory,” actress Tovah Feldshuh (right) reflects about her friend, Dr. Ruth Westheimer. “She presents herself as an international sex therapist who is funny and witty and insightful, so everybody knows the mannerisms and the sound of her voice. But there is much, much more than that. Very few people know that, as a child, she barely escaped the Nazis, who murdered her entire family, or that she then fought in the Israeli Army, before coming to America.”

This backstory is central to the narrative arc of the one-woman show, “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” written by playwright Mark St. Germain, which begins previews at the Museum of Jewish Heritage this Saturday (December 4), then opens on December 16 and runs through January 2. To read more…

For Crying Out Loud

Downtown Districts Rank Among City’s Most Cacophonous

Lower Manhattan is home to a trio of the noisiest communities anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City, according to a recent analysis of the City’s Open Data platform researched by RentHop, an online listings database.

Three of these are located in Lower Manhattan: MN-25 is comprised of Battery Park City, Greenwich South, the Financial District, and the South Street Seaport; while MN-24 covers Tribeca, SoHo, Little Italy, and the Civic Center; and MN-27 is coterminous with Chinatown. To read more…

Will the Levee Keep Us Dry?

City Previews Plans for Augmented East River Shoreline as Bulwark Against Flooding

In online meetings hosted last Wednesday and Thursday by the City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio shared preliminary ideas for its Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan, covering the mile-long stretch between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

The concepts reviewed at last week’s meetings include extending the shoreline of Manhattan between 60 and 200 feet into the East River, with a series of interlocking berms, platforms, and floodgates, all designed to hold back waters from climate change, sea-level rise, and extreme-weather events. To read more…

Outward Mobility

Has Anybody Seen 11,000 Neighbors?

According to a new statistical analysis released by City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Lower Manhattan’s population declined during the COVID-19 pandemic by more than that of any other community in the five boroughs, due to residents moving away.

These results are especially stark when broken out by the eight residential zip codes within Community Board 1: To read more…

Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets are open

Tribeca Greenmarket

Greenwich Street & Chambers Street

Every Wednesday & Saturday, 8am-3pm

Food Scrap Collection: Saturdays, 8am-1pm

Open Saturdays and Wednesdays year round

Schedule Changes: Market closed 12/25 for Christmas Day and 1/1 for New Year’s Day.

The loyal community of neighborhood residents who shop at the Tribeca Greenmarket show up each Wednesday and Saturday year-round to get their fix of locally grown produce, sustainably raised meat, seafood, sheep’s milk cheese and yogurt, orchard fruit and berries, herbs, live plants and cut flowers. Cooking demonstrations, raffles, and educational activities make the market a hands-on experience for shoppers of all ages.

Farmers:

American Pride Seafood Wild-caught fish and shellfish from Suffolk County, NY

Dipaola Turkeys Turkey and turkey products from Mercer County, NJ

Francesca’s Bakery Breads and baked goods from Passaic County, NJ

Hudson Valley Duck Farm Heritage breed ducks and duck products from Sullivan County, NY

Jersey Farm Produce Vegetables, herbs, orchard and small fruit from Hunterdon County, NJ

Lani’s Farm Vegetables, eggs and prepared foods from Burlington County, NJ

Millport Dairy Eggs, cheddar cheese, beef, pork, pickles and baked goods from Lancaster County, PA

Prospect Hill Orchards Fruit, some certified organic, granola, and baked goods from Ulster County, NY

Tucker Farms Cut Flowers from Burlington & Monmouth County, NJ

Westmeadow Farm cow and goat milk cheeses and cows butter from Montgomery County, NY

Yellow Bell Farm Chicken and eggs from Dutchess County, NY

Bowling Green Greenmarket

Green Greenmarket at Bowling Green

Broadway & Whitehall St

Open Tuesday and Thursdays, year-round

Market Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Compost Program: 8 a.m. – 11 a.m.

The Bowling Green Greenmarket brings fresh offerings from local farms to Lower Manhattan’s historic Bowling Green plaza. Twice a week year-round stop by to load up on the season’s freshest fruit, crisp vegetables, beautiful plants, and freshly baked loaves of bread, quiches, and pot pies.

Greenmarket at the Oculus

Oculus Plaza, Fulton St and Church St

CLOSED FOR THE SEASON

The Outdoor Fulton Stall Market

91 South St., bet. Fulton & John Sts.

212-349-1380 info@fultonstallmarket.org

Fulton Street cobblestones between South and Front Sts. across from McNally Jackson Bookstore.

Locally grown produce from Rogowski Farm, Breezy Hill Orchard, and other farmers and small-batch specialty food products, sold directly by their producers. Producers vary from week to week.

INDOOR FARMERS MARKET STORE:

91 South St., bet. Fulton & John Sts. Open Monday – Saturdays 11:30 AM – 5 PM

Indoor Market Hours: Monday – Saturday

11:30 AM to 5:00 PM, year round

SNAP/EBT/P-EBT, Debit/Credit, and Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks accepted at all farmers markets.

TODAY IN HISTORY

DECEMBER 3

A painting of John Adams by Gilbert Stuart

1800 – United States presidential election The Electoral College casts votes for President and Vice President that resulted in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.

1904 – The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at California’s Lick Observatory.

1910 – Modern neon lighting is first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.

1927 – Putting Pants on Philip, the first Laurel and Hardy film, is released.

1973 – Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.

1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.

1984 – Bhopal disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures 150,000–600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.

1992 – A test engineer for Sema Group uses a personal computer to send the world’s first text message via the Vodafone network to the phone of a colleague.

1994 – Taiwan held the first full local elections; James Soong elected as the first and only direct elected Governor of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian became the first direct elected Mayor of Taipei, Wu Den-yih became the first directed Mayor of Kaohsiung.

1997 – In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign the Ottawa Treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People’s Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.

2007 – Winter storms cause the Chehalis River to flood many cities in Lewis County, Washington, and close a 20-mile portion of Interstate 5 for several days. At least eight deaths and billions of dollars in damages are blamed on the floods.

Births

1596 – Nicola Amati, Italian instrument maker (d. 1684)

1755 – Gilbert Stuart, American painter (d. 1828)

1826 – George B. McClellan, American general and politician, 24th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1885)

1842 – Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American businessman, founded the Pillsbury Company (d. 1899)

1895 – Anna Freud, Austrian-English psychologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1982)

1930 – Jean-Luc Godard, French-Swiss director and screenwriter

1951 – Rick Mears, American race car driver

Deaths

1888 – Carl Zeiss, German physicist and lens maker, created the optical instrument (b. 1816)

1919 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (b. 1841)

1956 – Alexander Rodchenko, Russian sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer (b. 1891)

2014 – Herman Badillo, Puerto Rican-American lawyer and politician (b. 1929)

Credit: Wikipedia and other internet and non-internet sources

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