The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper
Where to Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out
New Mandarin Immersion Preschool Opening in Tribeca
Above: The curriculum at Ya Ya Preschool will emphasize arts and music. Below: The Mandarin immersion program at Ya Ya Preschool will become an “invisible teacher” says founder Sarah Liu.
“I originally created the school in 2008, for my first daughter, Arwyn, who is now turning 16,” recalls Sarah Liu, the owner and founder of the Ya Ya Preschool. The program, originally known as “Mandarin Seeds,” began in Ms. Liu’s apartment, “then we grew into yoga studios,” she recalls. “It became so popular that we rented space in Gymboree on Reade Street, and then moved into our own space on Warren Street, with two classrooms.”
The original school transitioned to online learning during the pandemic, “but now we are moving back to an in-person model, and accepting applications for the Ya Ya Preschool,” a Mandarin immersion program, which will open in July at 291 Broadway.
“Ya Ya means ‘sprouting,’” Ms. Liu says, “which describes us, because this is a nursery program that will prepare toddlers for kindergarten, especially in private school.”
The new space at 291 Broadway has five classrooms and a library of 1,000 Chinese books. It will be an environment where only Mandarin is spoken. “The immersion environment becomes an invisible teacher,” Ms. Liu explains. “We are the only school that offers this program. All the others are bi-lingual.”
“Most students, even if they come from a Chinese family, don’t speak Mandarin at home,” Ms. Liu says. “About one-third speak no Mandarin. Another third speak some, such as, for example, with a grandparent. And another third come from families that speak Mandarin fluently.”
“We will have two teachers per classroom, with class sizes limited to between 12 and 15 students,” she notes, “and the whole program will be overseen by a licensed educational director, with an emphasis on art and music.”
Tuition at the Ya Ya Preschool is comparable to other preschools, Ms. Liu says, and the program follows independent school admission cycle.
“We will open in July for summer programs,” Ms. Liu says, “and we are accepting applications now for September, with rolling admissions.”
CB1 Pushes for Expansion in Use of Monitoring Devices
Community Board 1 (CB1) is pushing for the expanded use of traffic enforcement cameras, the automated monitoring devices that can detect violations of the speed limit and other rules (such as stopping at red lights) on public roads.
The use of such equipment began in New York nearly a decade ago, when then-Governor Andrew Cuomo allowed New York City to launch a pilot program to deter speeding in 20 school zones. The success of that initial deployment in 2013 has expanded to 950 cameras in 750 school zones, where the devices logged more than four million violations in 2020, an increase of almost 100 percent from 2019.
Data from the City’s Department of Transportation document the difference that speed cameras make, with a 71.5 percent reduction in speeding and a 16.9 percent drop in injuries at times when and in locations where they are in use. To read more…
FiDi Couple Arrested on Charges of Laundering Billions
A married couple living in the Financial District were arrested by FBI agents on Tuesday morning, and charged with conspiracy to launder billions of dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency. Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, were arrested in their home, at 75 Wall Street, according to federal prosecutors.
Mr. Lichtenstein and Ms. Morgan are alleged to have been in possession, through various online accounts, of 94,000 bitcoin, the virtual currency, which had been stolen by hackers from a digital exchange, Bitfinex, in 2016. The current value of that quantity of bitcoin is more than $3.6 billion.
While the couple are not currently charged with having participated in the 2016 robbery, federal agents tracing the proceeds from the Bitfinex theft followed a digital trail that led to accounts controlled by Mr. Lichtenstein and Ms. Morgan. To read more…
Passive Egression
Three Among Every Hundred of Your Neighbors May Soon Be Gone
More than 600 Lower Manhattan households are facing the prospect of being forced from their homes, in the wake of New York State’s eviction moratorium expiring in mid-January.
This data comes from an analysis by the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), an umbrella organization of 100 non-profit affordable housing and economic development groups that serve low- and moderate-income residents in all five boroughs of the City. ANHD’s report, “New York’s Pandemic Rent Crisis,” documents that eviction proceedings have been filed against 656 rental tenants in the eight residential zip codes that comprise Lower Manhattan.
‘A Weakened Voice for the People of Battery Park City’
Niou Votes Against Redistricting Plan That Will Exile Lower Manhattan to Staten Island
As controversy continues to swirl around a legislative redistricting plan that is widely perceived to disenfranchise Lower Manhattan by severing Battery Park City and the Financial District from the surrounding communities and instead grafting them onto Staten Island, one elected official has taken a stand against the proposal.
As the scheme came before the State Assembly on Thursday, Yuh-Line Niou (who represents Lower Manhattan in that house of the State Legislature) was one of a small handful of lawmakers who voted against the plan.
“Today, I voted to oppose the proposed redistricting maps put forward by the legislature,” Ms. Niou said afterward, “and it is important to me that my constituents understand why I felt it necessary to take this step.
Golden Blossoms: Looking into China’s Exclusive Poetic Couplets
China Institute
Led by Ben Wang, CI’s Senior Lecturer in Language and Humanities, this free virtual workshop is designed for K-12 educators (though we welcome all to attend) to help advance a deeper understanding of the uniqueness of Chinese classical poetry. In addition, by sharing his personal collection of the rare original couplet in calligraphy, Mr. Wang will showcase how the calligraphic art form expresses meaning and personal style, while capturing the moments of a feeling. Free
CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS
Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found
Ethical and respectable gentleman, an IT Wizard, seeks a living/work space in BPC. Can be a Computer help to you and your business, or will guarantee $1,500 for rental. Reciprocal would be great!
Please contact: 914-588-5284
AVAILABLE
NURSES’ AIDE
20+ years experience
Providing Companion and Home Health Aide Care to clients with dementia.Help with grooming, dressing and wheelchair assistance. Able to escort client to parks and engage in conversations of desired topics and interests of client. Reliable & Honest
78 year old refined intellectual gentleman having a passion for cruises and travel seeking a male or female caregiver/companion in exchange for all expense paid venture on the ocean. Only requirement is relationship comfort between us and ability to help with physical care regarding the limitations and restrictions of COPD.
Folk dance group seeks empty space of 400+ sq feet for 2 hours of weekly evening dance practice.
Average attendance is 10 women. This is our hobby; can pay for use of the space.
Call 646 872-0863 or find us on Facebook. Ring O’Bells Morris.
NURSES AIDE
Kind loving and honest Nurse’s aide seeking full-time or part-time job experience with Alzheimer’s patient and others
Excellent references available please call Dian at 718-496-6232
HOUSEKEEPING/ NANNY/ BABYSITTER
Available for PT/FT. Wonderful person, who is a great worker.
Refs avail.
Worked in BPC.
Call Tenzin 347-803-9523
ORGANIZE WITH EASE FOR HOME AND LIFE
Is your home ready for guests?
We can help you easily declutter and organize your overstuffed closets, jammed bookcases, bursting cabinets and drawers, and enormous stacks of paper to put your home in “company is coming” condition.
Redistricting Grafts Downtown Assembly District Onto Staten Island
In a move that has stupefied and outraged local leaders, the legislature in Albany has proposed to redraw lines for the State Assembly that will divide Lower Manhattan, and transfer its representation to a district on Staten Island.
The current boundaries are slated for change because the 2020 Census has the legal effect of automatically triggering a recalibration of all election district boundaries within the State. This task has fallen to the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR), which has operated largely in secret for several weeks. To read more…
‘Our Representative Won’t Give A Damn About Us’
CB1 Discusses Harm to Lower Manhattan from Gerrymandered Assembly District Lines
Wednesday evening’s meeting of the Battery Park City Committee of Community Board 1 became the forum for a vehement discussion of the proposed legislative redistricting that will uproot Battery Park City and the western Financial District from Lower Manhattan, and instead relegate representation of these communities in the State Assembly to Staten Island.
Committee member Jeff Galloway began by noting, “it is manifestly absurd to have an Assembly district shaped this way. The New York State Assembly is the legislative body that is meant to be most closely tied to the people it represents. That’s why there are many more Assembly members than State Senators, and why each Assembly seat represents a smaller district, with a smaller population,” than in the State Senate. To read more…
Get Rich or Get Out
Analysis By Housing Group Cites Declining Affordability in Lower Manhattan
A leading housing advocacy organization has completed an exhaustive look at threats to affordability in every community in the five boroughs, and has found that Lower Manhattan ranks among the ten most at-risk neighborhoods by one key metric, while also placing in the 20 most-endangered by another.
The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), an umbrella organization of 100 non-profit affordable housing and economic development groups that serve low- and moderate-income residents in all five boroughs of the City, has published the 2021 edition of its annual roundup, “How Is Affordable Housing Threatened In Your Neighborhood.” For this report, Lower Manhattan was defined as the catchment of Community Board 1, a collection of neighborhoods encompassing 1.5 square miles, bounded roughly by Canal, Baxter, and Pearl Streets, and the Brooklyn Bridge.
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.
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.
SNAP/EBT/P-EBT, Debit/Credit, and Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks accepted at all farmers markets.
TODAY IN HISTORY
February 11
“I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want.” Sylvia Plath 1932 – 1963
660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
1534 – Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
1790 – The Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for the abolition of slavery.
1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.
1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
1861 – American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
1937 – The Flint sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers trade union.
1939 – A Lockheed P-38 Lightning flies from California to New York in seven hours two minutes.
1953 – Cold War: President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
1978 – Censorship: China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.
2001 – A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
2006 – Vice President Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old Texas attorney, while participating in a quail hunt on a ranch in Riviera, Texas.
2011 – Arab Spring: The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests.
Births
1800 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer and politician, invented the calotype (d. 1877)
1812 – Alexander H. Stephens, lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
1847 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931)
1921 – Lloyd Bentsen 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2006)
1934 – Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (d. 2017)
1934 – Mary Quant, British fashion designer
1934 – John Surtees, English motorcycle racer and race car driver (d. 2017)
Deaths
1650 – Rene Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1596)
1948 – Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
1963 – Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1932)
2006 – Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1940)
Credit: Wikipedia and other internet and non-internet sources
