The BroadsheetDAILY – 2/28/22 – New Council Member Christopher Marte Inaugurated at Ceremony on Lower East Side

The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

‘A New Day for The Oldest Part of Our City’

New Council Member Inaugurated at Ceremony on Lower East Side

Christopher Marte: “We have cracked the foundation of a corrupt political machine funded by developers trying to buy us out and kick us out.”

Christopher Marte, the new City Council member representing Lower Manhattan, was ceremonially inaugurated on Sunday afternoon, in a festive celebration held at the Museum at Eldridge Street, on the Lower East Side.

“The only way to start and win a campaign,” Mr. Marte noted, “is doors—so many doors: knocking on doors, people opening doors, people slamming their doors in your face, literally and metaphorically. Sneaking past doors so you can knock on other doors. Any waking minute you can’t spend knocking on doors, you spend thinking about doors: What doors, how many doors, where are the doors, who is behind that door?”

“Thousands of doors and the people behind them built this election,” he continued, adding, “and dozens of pairs of shoes.”

“We have cracked the foundation of a corrupt political machine funded by developers trying to buy us out and kick us out,” Mr. Marte reflected. “In politics, you are always told to settle for crumbs, to make the best deal possible and cut your losses. But we did not settle or compromise.”

“For generations, political bosses have stoked division between our communities,” he added, “so that they could maintain control of our neighborhoods. But as conditions have worsened in Lower Manhattan, we have learned the hard way that there is more that unites us than divides us.”

Enumerating his priorities, Mr. Marte said, “we must stop displacement; we must end the 24-hour workday; we must protect our neighborhoods from real estate developers and their lobbyists; and protect our workers from bosses who, even in this century, are working people to death.”

And he announced what may be a major development for community leaders opposed to City plans that would build in Lower Manhattan the world’s tallest jail: “This past Friday, I met with the Mayor and his leadership team and made the case not to build the jail in Chinatown,” Mr. Marte said. “There were people on that call who want the jail to happen. But we won the Mayor over to our side.”

“The old political world is crumbling around us,” he said, “and among the rubble of the walls that once divided us, we have found new doors to open, to bring our neighbors together, to rebuild a single, unified district. Today is a new day for the oldest part of our City.”

Matthew Fenton

No Time for Sergeants

Police Union Boss Who Pushed Lie about Cops Being Poisoned at Downtown Shake Shack Charged

A disgraced former police union official, who spread a false narrative about officers being deliberately poisoned at a Lower Manhattan Shake Shack restaurant during the height of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, was indicted Wednesday by federal prosecutors.

Ed Mullins, the former head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) was charged with wire fraud, in connection with a scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union, through the submission of fraudulent expense reports. To read more…

At Debt’s Door

Downtown Developers Go Belly Up on Two Marquee Properties

Two Lower Manhattan trophy properties have defaulted on their mortgages, according to multiple published accounts and public records.

China Oceanwide Holdings, the owners of the development lot at 80 South Street, in the South Street Seaport, failed to make a $1.3-million payment to creditors in January, which has spurred lenders to declare the entire $175-million note on the property in default, and to demand immediate payment of the full amount.

$eparate and Unequal

Neighborhood Association Provides Analysis of Community’s Future

A February 6 meeting of the Battery Park City Neighborhood Association (BPCNA) included a sobering analysis of the financial outlook for people who own homes in the community, as well as for those who rent.

The presentation was led by Pamit Surana, one of the leaders of the 501(c)(3) association, which formed last summer (under the social media banner of #PauseTheSaws) after successfully protesting to block a plan by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo to locate a monument to Essential Workers in Rockefeller Park.

‘He Drove Me Away Like A Dog’

Black History Month: Lower Manhattan Taken for a Ride on Monument It Actually Needs

While the saga of Rosa Parks and the 1956 Montgomery bus boycott has become a canonical American parable, New York played out its own version of the same drama, more than a century earlier. In July, 1854, Lower Manhattan resident Elizabeth Jennings Graham was on her way to church, and boarded a horse-drawn street car at Chatham and Pearl Streets.

Like much else in mid-19th century New York, street car service was segregated, with most coaches reserved for white riders, but some bearing signs that read, “Negro Persons Allowed in This Car.”

This Week’s Calendar

Tuesday March 1

10:30-11:30AM

Join in on the fun featuring easy-to-follow Latin dance choreography while working on your balance, coordination and range of motion. Come prepared for enthusiastic instruction, a little strength training and a lot of fun. Participants are encouraged to bring their own equipment: weights, water bottle, hand towel etc. Proof of vaccination required. Free Battery Park City Authority

3pm-4pm

Stop by for a special “Yardi-Gras” moment right in our very own backyard.

BPCA staff will celebrate Fat Tuesday by transforming the Rockefeller Park House into a New Orleans style “House Float” celebrating the biodiversity of BPC.

Art projects, music, and a festive atmosphere provided. Free.

7PM

McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street

Book launch

Through striking and humorous figurative drawings, the iconic artist and musician David Byrne depicts daily life in intriguing ways. His illustrations, created while under quarantine, expand on the dingbat, a typographic ornament used to illuminate or break up blocks of text, to explore the nuances of life under lockdown and evoke the complex, global systems the pandemic cast in bright light. Edited and designed by Alex Kalman in close collaboration with Byrne, this unique book reflects on shared experiences and presents history as a story that is continually undergoing revision. Purchase a signed copy of A History of the World (in Dingbats) to reserve your spot at the talk and Q&A (note that David will not be signing books on the night).

Thursday March 3

1PM

Museum of Jewish Heritage

100-year-old South African Holocaust survivor Ella Blumenthal is a force to be reckoned with. Meet Blumenthal in I Am Here (2021, 73 minutes, English with subtitles available), an award-winning new documentary from director Jordy Sank. I Am Here tells Blumenthal’s remarkable story, starting with her youth in Poland where she witnessed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and was imprisoned in the Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. Filmed as Blumenthal celebrated her 98th birthday with family and friends in South Africa, I Am Here showcases Blumenthal’s magnetic personality and uses hand-drawn animations to illustrate stories from her life. This exclusive program will feature a live discussion with Blumenthal and Sank. Attendees will also receive a private link to view the film, which will be available for streaming now through Friday, March 4.  Free; suggested $10 donation.

6PM

Fulton Street

Today: Iron Buddha. Reservations are released at 10AM every Monday the week before class. Free.

7PM

Online film streaming. In celebration of Women’s History Month, we present An Unmarried Woman (1978, Paul Mazursky). A wealthy woman from Manhattan’s Upper East Side begins to reevaluate her life and explore her newfound freedom after her 16-year marriage comes to a painful end. Registration required. Free.

7PM

McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street

In these two newly published plays, Andy Bragen examines the intimacies and shadows that exist between parent and child. The evening will include readings of excerpts from both plays, followed by a Q&A with Andy and Playco’s Founding Producer Kate Loewald, and a book signing with Andy. The excerpts will feature performers from the original casts, including Caroline Lagerfelt, who starred in Notes on My Mother’s Decline.

Friday March 4

8PM

Gibney, 53A Chambers Street

Dance performance. $15-$20.

Saturday March 5

10:30AM

Skyscraper Museum

How do you get around your neighborhood? Young learners will be introduced to the many different modes of transportation available in large cities today, including trains, buses, ferries, and bikes. Through a read-aloud of Christopher Niemann’s picture book Subway, kids will learn about one special form of New York City transit, the subway! Afterwards, we will talk about our favorite way to get around the city and make drawings of subway art. All ages. RSVP required. This indoor program meets at the Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place. Masks are required. For those who prefer the online option for this in-person program, email programs@skyscraper.org for the Zoom link. Free.

11AM

Today: HIIT the Deck. Reservations are released at 10AM every Monday the week before class. Free.

11AM- 5PM

South Street Seaport Museum

On Saturdays and Sundays, visit the exhibitions and the ships of the South Street Seaport Museum for free. At 12 Fulton Street, see “South Street and the Rise of New York” and “Millions: Migrants and Millionaires aboard the Great Liners, 1900-1914,” and at Pier 16, explore the tall ship Wavertree and lightship Ambrose.

EYES TO THE SKY

February 22 – March 7, 2022

Leading the Sun at dawn: eye-popping Venus, our solar system’s hottest planet

Planet Venus, an orb of white fire gleaming in darkness, rises above the southeastern horizon in early dawn. Venus is the third brightest object in Earth’s sky, next to the Sun and moon. Similar in size to Earth and our closest planetary neighbor, its brilliance is not to be attributed to its proximity. As described by scientists at EarthSky.org, “Venus is bright … because it’s blanketed by highly reflective clouds. The clouds in the atmosphere of Venus contain droplets of sulfuric acid, as well as acidic crystals suspended in a mixture of gases. Light bounces easily off the smooth surfaces of these spheres and crystals. Sunlight bouncing from these clouds is a big part of the reason that Venus is so bright.”

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

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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.

Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets

Tribeca Greenmarket

Greenwich Street & Chambers Street

Every Wednesday & Saturday, 8am-3pm

Food Scrap Collection: Saturdays, 8am-1pm

Open Saturdays and Wednesdays year round

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.

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

TODAY IN HISTORY

February 28

Francis Blackwell Mayer. The Founders of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (1891), represents the B&O’s history (left to right) beginning with its founding in 1827 to 1880. Philip E. Thomas, George Brown, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and others are gathered at left. Samuel F. B. Morse is seated at center left (with telegraph tape) and John W. Garrett is seated at right. The original painting is now at the headquarters of CSX Transportation in Jacksonville, Florida. A replica is at the B&O Railroad Museum.

202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.

1784 – John Wesley charters the Methodist Church.

1827 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.

1849 – Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, four months 22 days after leaving New York Harbor.

1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon.

1942 – The heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.

1953 – James Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; the formal announcement takes place on April 25 following publication in April’s Nature (pub. April 2).

1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 106 million viewers. It still holds the record for the highest viewership of a season finale.

1986 – Olof Palme, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.

1993 – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group’s leader David Koresh. Four ATF agents and six Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.

2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII, in 1415.

Births

1901 – Linus Pauling, chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)

1903 – Vincente Minnelli, American director and screenwriter (d. 1986)

1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)

1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect, designed 8 Spruce Street and Walt Disney Concert Hall

1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American race car driver

Deaths

628 – Khosrow II, king of the Persian Empire

1967 – Henry Luce, publisher, co-founded Time Magazine (b. 1898)

2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and critic (b. 1917)

Credit: Wikipedia and other internet and non-internet sources

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