The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper
Passive Egression
Three Among Every Hundred of Your Neighbors May Soon Be Gone
This scene, from the start of the pandemic, may evoke a dilemma confronting hundreds of Lower Manhattan residents, who are faced with the prospect of eviction.
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.
From March, 2020 through January of this year, eviction proceedings were put on hold, as an emergency public-health measure during the pandemic. But now that this ban has been lifted, landlords are free to resume pursuing court decrees to remove tenants for non-payment of rent.
For Lower Manhattan, the spike in eviction proceedings is most pronounced in four zip codes. In 10280 (Battery Park City South, below Brookfield Place) there have 101 such filings, which translates to 3.21 percent of all rental homes.
In the Greenwich South neighborhood (zip code 10006, or Broadway to West Street, south of Vesey Street and north of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel), landlords have commenced 40 eviction proceedings, or the equivalent 3.01 percent of all tenants.
In the southern section of the Financial District (zip 10004, bounded by West Street and the East River, south of Beaver Street), 41 eviction actions are in progress. This affects 3.71 percent of all rental residences.
And the eastern section of the Financial District (zip 10005, or Broadway to the East River, south of Maiden Lane, north of Beaver Street) has seen 110 actions by landlords to remove tenants, which equates to 3.19 percent of all leased homes.
For all of Lower Manhattan’s eight residential zip codes, the average rate of eviction is 2.46 percent of all rental households. Because a typical Lower Manhattan dwelling is home to several people, the 600-plus households facing eviction likely translate to significantly more than 1,000 local residents who may soon be forced to leave the community.
This comes on top of a population decline of more than 11,000 residents (in the same eight zip codes) who chose to move during the pandemic, as documented in a separate report, “The Pandemic’s Impact on NYC Migration Patterns,” released by the office of the City Comptroller in November.
Matthew Fenton
‘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.
Graphic novels have long been emerging as a way to tell difficult and often traumatic stories. Since the late 1970s, they have also been a medium for telling stories about the Holocaust. Recently, authors and illustrators have been turning to stories about teenagers during the Holocaust. Join the Museum for a program exploring the depiction of teenagers in Holocaust graphic novels. The program will consist of a conversation between David Polonsky, illustrator of Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation; Ken Krimstein, author of When I Grow Up: The Lost Autobiographies of Six Yiddish Teens, and R.J. Palacio, author of White Bird: A Wonder Story. The conversation will be moderated by AJ Frost, Newsletter Editor and Staff Writer for the Comics Beat. Free; suggested $10 donation,
In this installment of Tavern Tastings, Jeanne E. Abrams, author of Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health, will join Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center’s Catherine Prescott and Fraunces Tavern Museum’s Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli in exploring the history of public health in colonial North America and the role a handful of Founding Fathers and Mothers played in its evolution. Free; suggested donation of $10
Online Variety Show. Celebrate with music, drums, and a Year of the Tiger talk at China Institute’s free virtual variety show! Marvel at the sights and sounds of festival fireworks and the famed Refiner Drums, alongside Chinese dance and music performances and a conversation on Chinese New Year traditions and the meaning of the Year of the Tiger. Join China Institute for our immersive and colorful digital program to welcome Chinese New Year. Free
Love is in the air so get crafty and with stamps and stickers to create a perfect Valentine’s Day card to display. All materials will be provided and the class is free to attend, but please reserve a spot in advance as space is limited.
Creativity, unleashed. Kids of all ages are welcome to get artsy and crafty at our Seaport Kids Crafts’ workshops on Wednesdays. Have your Littles bring their big ideas; we’ll have all the supplies on hand—with a different theme each week.
With the 2022 Winter Olympics coming up, China is very much in the global spotlight. What image does the rising power want to project to the world? In her compelling new book, The World According to China, Elizabeth Economy argues that Chinese President Xi Jinping has bold ambitions to transform the international system. Join us for a virtual conversation moderated by Professor Minxin Pei as she explains what that tells us about China—and what it means for the rest of the world.
The Museum’s director, Carol Willis, will offer a gallery tour of SUPERTALL 2021 that surveys 58 supertalls worldwide and highlights a dozen recently completed towers that represent some of the most stunning new forms and innovative approaches to structural engineering around the world today. Free.
Today, cook at home and online with the Da Claudio Ristorante proprietor Claudio Marini and executive chef David Sandoval. Learn to make fusilli avellinesi with lamb ragu, saffron cream, micro greens, and fresh homemade pasta. Free.
1. 44 Walker Street, outstanding violations for restoration work done on the facade in 2003 – Discussion and possible resolution
2. 47 Vestry Street, application to replace the existing copper and glass cover with new to match – Resolution
7PM
Legacies: Abe Foxman
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Abraham H. Foxman is one of the nation’s preeminent voices against antisemitism and hate. Join the Museum for a conversation with Foxman about his personal background, his life’s work, and his outlook on antisemitism today. Born in Poland in 1940, Foxman survived the Holocaust when his parents entrusted him to their Catholic nursemaid, who baptized him and raised him as her own son. He went on to become a pioneering National Director of ADL from 1987 to 2015, elevating the organization’s national profile and forging connections far beyond the Jewish community. Free; suggested $10 donation.
Friday February 11
7PM
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 Battery Park City Authority kicked off its Annual Art Exhibition on Sunday, January 30, at the community space in Six River Terrace (next to the Bluestone Lane Cafe and across from the Irish Hunger Memorial).
All are welcome to view the paintings created by participants at Authority’s art programs. Admission is free, but proof of vaccination required.
Annual Food Fest Puts Lavish Meals within Reach of Thrifty Epicures
New York’s annual food celebration, Restaurant Week continues for five weeks, until Saturday (February 13).
For those disinclined to venture above Canal Street, the goods news is that of all the 481 establishments participating throughout the City this year, more than five percent are located in Lower Manhattan.
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 8
Jules Verne 1828-1905
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.
1887 – The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.
1915 – D. W. Griffith’s controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.
1922 – President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio set in the White House.
1924 – Capital punishment: The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
1950 – The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.
1952 – Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom.
1963 – Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.
1974 – After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returns to Earth.
1993 – General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.
2013 – A blizzard disrupts transportation and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
Peter the Great 1672 – 1725
Births
120 – Vettius Valens, Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (d. 175)
1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 171820 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (d. 1891)
1828 – Jules Verne, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1905)
1925 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (d. 2001)
Deaths
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542)
1696 – Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
1725 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (b. 1672)
1936 – Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (b. 1860)
1957 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)
1999 – Iris Murdoch, Irish-born British novelist and philosopher (b. 1919)
Credit: Wikipedia and other internet and non-internet sources
