The BroadsheetDAILY ~ 9/13/21 ~ A Pillar of the Community Passes from the Scene ~ In Memoriam: Gus Ouranitsas

The Broadsheet: Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

In Memoriam: Gus Ouranitsas

A Pillar of the Community Passes from the Scene

Maria and Gus Ouranitsas, with their three grown children (from left): Nestor, Marina, and Konstantine.

Konstantinos (Gus) Ouranitsas, a pillar of the Battery Park City community and the longtime Resident Manager of the Liberty Court condominium, passed away at age 65 on Friday, September 10, surrounded by his family.

Mr. Ouranitsas, who succumbed to complications from pancreatic cancer, is survived by his devoted wife of 33 years, Maria; his loving children, Konstantine, Nestor, and Marina; his mother, Eleni; and his sister, Vasiliki Tourloukis, along with many nieces, nephews, cousins and their families.

Born in Volos, Greece, on February 2, 1956, to Eleni Ouranitsas and the late Nestor Ouranitsas, Mr. Ouranitsas was one of three children. In 1963, at age seven, he emigrated with his family from Greece to the United States. He attended schools in New York City and married the love of his life, Maria Koutalides, in 1988 at St. Eleftherios Church, in Manhattan.

Mr. Ouranitsas began a successful career in residential building management, following in the professional footsteps of his father. He served as Resident Manager of Liberty Court, on Rector Place, for 35 years—from the day of the building’s opening in 1986, until his retirement in June, 2021. He was widely revered in this role, especially for his selfless service following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when he remained at the building following the disaster, to make sure residents were evacuated safely and their homes protected. He stayed at his post every day throughout the many difficult months that followed, to help residents, workers, and first responders through the recovery.

Mr. Ouranitsas’s passions were his family and his Greek heritage, along with the Greek-American and Battery Park City communities he felt so tied to. Throughout his life, he was very active in each, giving generously of his time to enrich and support them in every way possible. In service to the Battery Park City community, Gus coached Downtown Soccer teams, started and led the first Battery Park City Boy Scout troop, and supported and volunteered in a multitude of fundraising efforts for Downtown schools. He also served the Pontian Society Komninoi of New York, a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring and preserving the cultural traditions of Pontion Greeks, and to inspiring respect for the laws and institutions of American democracy. He was recently awarded a Certificate of Excellence, Lifetime Achievement, for his exemplary service.

Mr. Ouranitsas exemplified the best of humanity. He was that rare person who put others first, ready with a helping hand, with no thought of personal gain, only wanting to bring joy to others. He will be remembered for his immense love of life, his cheerful exuberance, amazing smile, and indefatigable energy, as well as his love of dancing, cooking, traveling, and Greek music and culture.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Mr. Ouranitsas may do so by making contributions in his memory to the National Hellenic Student Association of North America (NHSA), a not-for-profit organization devoted to offering students and young professionals of Hellenic descent the opportunity to grow academically, professionally, and culturally through networking and unique projects. An academic scholarship fund will be established in Mr. Ouranitsas’s name through the NHSA. (For more information, or to donate, please browse: www.nhsaofamerica.org.) Contributions can also be made to PANCAN, a not-for-profit organization devoted to improving the lives of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer, by advancing scientific research, building community, sharing knowledge, and advocating for patients. (For more information, or to donate, please browse: www.pancan.org.)

A service will be held for immediate family and close friends on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, at 12:30 pm, at Holy Trinity Cathedral (337 East 74th Street, in Manhattan), with interment to follow at St. Michael’s Cemetery (72-02 Astoria Boulevard South, in East Elmhurst, Queens).

A larger memorial service will be held in the next few months to celebrate Mr. Ouranitsas’s life more fully, with all his extended family and friends. Details will be shared as they become available. In the meantime, online condolences and memories may be shared with the family by browsing: www.caringbridge.org/visit/welovegus.

All Available Boats

The urgent radio call to “all available boats” went out from the United States Coast Guard on the morning of 9/11, requesting help from any mariner to help evacuate people from the shores of Lower Manhattan. The brave captains and crews of morethan 100 boats responded—tugs, ferries, pleasure boats, police boats, tiny motorboats, and more—and an estimated 500,000 people were rescued in a few short hours and taken across the water to safety.

On September 10, 2021, a flotilla gathered in New York Harbor to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 Boatlift. Fireboats sprayed long arcs of river water in the bright sun and vessels of all kinds paraded past a shoreside ceremony at Wagner Park (photo above). The fleet was blessed, and mariners of all stripes watched and remembered that fateful day two decades ago.

Alison Simko photo and text

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

To place a listing, contact editor@ebroadsheet.com

The Old Neighborhood

by Andrea Carter Brown

Where is the man who sold the best jelly donuts and coffee

you sipped raising a blue Acropolis to your lips? The twin

brothers who arrived in time for lunch hour with hot and cold

heros where Liberty dead ends at the Hudson? The courteous

small-boned Egyptian in white robe and crocheted skullcap

in the parking lot behind the Greek Orthodox shrine whose

bananas and dates you could always count on? How about

the tall, slim, dark brown man with dreadlocks cascading

to his waist who grilled Hebrew National franks to perfection

and knew just the right amount of mustard each knish wanted?

The cinnamon-skinned woman for whose roti people lined up

halfway down Church, the falafel cousins who remembered

how much hot pepper you preferred? Don’t forget the farmers

who schlepped up from Cape May twice each week at dawn

to bring us whatever was in season at its peak: last August,

blueberries and white peaches. What about the lanky fellow

who sold green and red and yellow bears and fish and snakes

in plastic sandwich bags with twist ties; his friend, a block

away, who scooped still warm nuts from a copper cauldron

into palm-sized wax paper sacks he twisted at the corners

to close? The couple outside the post office with their neatly

laid out Golden books, the shy Senegalese with briefcases

of watches except in December when they sold Christmas

trees? The Mr. Softee who parked every evening rush hour

by the cemetery to revive the homeward hurrying crowd?

I know none of their names, but I can see their faces clear

as I still see everything from that day as I ride away from

the place we once shared. Where are they now? And how?

Andrea Carter Brown lived in Gateway Plaza from 1987 to 2004 and was in her apartment the morning of 9/11. “The Old Neighborhood” is one of the first poems she wrote about 9/11, about seven months later. September 12, her collection of poems about that day and the aftermath, has just been published for the 20th anniversary by the Word Works. The author of three previous poetry collections, Andrea Carter Brown now lives in Los Angeles. For more information, visit her website.

The Aftermath

A Resident’s Recollections from the Months After September 11, 2001

Everybody asks me what it is like to live “down there.” They mean, of course, near Ground Zero, which is a block away from my front door. The sounds, smells, and changes that pervade my daily life here make it hard for me to know how to respond with an easy, short answer.

Today it is gray. The streets are wet, not from rain, but from the sanitation trucks that pass by every few hours spraying strong jets of water to keep down the dust. To read more…

 September 11, 2001

20 Years Later ~ The Pain Remains

Sacred Dust

Explain to an empty heart, an empty skyline

Nothing left there, but the sacred dust

Spiraling through new ruins, elevating, grey

Thousands of souls, upward thrust

Wisps of soaring sorrow, seen above us

Floating, swirling, mixing, rising, fleet

As we walk empty hearted through our streets

Eyes upward, hearts broken, but unbeat

The hearts of our heroes, together now

Joining with each other to keep us strong

To help us remember each one of them

To keep us directed, to undo the wrong

The jagged peaks are jarring now, and changed

Different but joined forever in our eyes

With our heroes hearts blended as one

The empty skyline preserving their disguise

The missing towers will remind us always

Of the brave souls rising in the sacred dust

And We Will Always Remember

Nancy Chambers, Native New Yorker

The Broadsheet Sept 7 – 20

Wondering Whether You Have Been Worth the Windfall

You recall the frenetic chaos—people wandering blithely into traffic, while cars with flashing lights and bleating sirens tried to make lurching progress by driving on sidewalks. And everyone staring upward, transfixed.

   Even amid the bedlam, one anomalously serene (even festive) detail stood out. Confetti—a jumble of office paperwork and shredded aluminum—drifting lazily toward the ground. Reminiscent of nothing so much as a ticker tape parade, but in reverse. The honorees didn’t know the parade was for them, because they had not yet become heroes and martyrs. Although in just a few moments, they would.

   A few minutes later, you stood at the foot of a tower, looking up at an airplane-shaped hole in its side and thinking, “there is no way that building is going to fall down.” To read more…

EYES TO THE SKY

September 6 – 19, 2021

Reach out to Jupiter, Saturn all night

Planet Jupiter shines with startling brilliance above the southeast horizon in evening twilight. The great planet, orbiting fifth out from the Sun in our solar system, could be mistaken for the light of an airplane flying low above the skyline. Jupiter (-2.83 magnitude) is the Evening Star rising in the southeast while dazzling planet Venus (-4.05m), is the Evening Star setting in the west-southwest during twilight. Note that the smaller the number the greater the magnitude of a celestial object. Sunset is, roughly, 7:15pm this week and 7:00pm next week. Twilight begins about half an hour later and, for nightfall, add another hour. To read more…

THIS WEEK’S CALENDAR

Monday September 13

6PM

Land Use, Zoning & Economic Development Committee – 6:00 PM

 Live Remote Meetings – https://live.mcb1.nyc

AGENDA

1.  Open Restaurants Citywide Zoning Text Amendment – Discussion & resolution*

2.  Disposition of Seaport Properties ULURP – Presentation, public hearing & resolution

3.  Capital and Expense Budget Items for FY 2023 – Discussion

Tuesday September 14

10:30AM

Irish Hunger Memorial

Exercise in disguise! 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 expected to bring their own equipment: weights, water bottle, hand towel, etc. Masks required. Participants must maintain six feet of physical distance between households. All programs will be held in accordance with New York State reopening guidance. Free Irish Hunger Memorial.

2PM

Museum of Jewish Heritage

Dr. Rene David Alkalay was born in March 1941 in Zagreb, the capital of the former Yugoslavia (now Croatia). When Dr. Alkalay was just a few weeks old, Croatia became a puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and his father and paternal relatives were imprisoned in a concentration camp run by the country’s new Ustaša regime. Later that year, Dr. Alkalay, his mother, and his maternal relatives were imprisoned in other Ustaša-run concentration camps, where they remained for two years. After the camp was liberated, Dr. Alkalay hid in the forest with partisan groups for a year and then was airlifted out of Yugoslavia to a Displaced Persons camp in Italy. He spent four years after the war at a Catholic school in Rome, unaware of his true religious identity. In 1950, Dr. Alkalay and his family emigrated to the United States, where he later became a psychotherapist, nutritionist, and pastoral counselor. Join the Museum for a program exploring Dr. Alkalay’s story of survival in Croatia. $10

6PM

Live Remote Meetings – https://live.mcb1.nyc

AGENDA

1. Proposal to Install Protected Bike Lanes on Centre Street and Lafayette Street between Worth Street and Canal Street, and update on Brooklyn Bridge Bike Path – Presentation by Ed Pincar, Borough Commissioner, NYC Department of Transportation; Kimberly Rancourt, Director of Special Projects, NYC Department of Transportation; Jennifer Leung, NYC Department of Transportation; Ted Wright, Director, Bike Unit, NYC Department of Transportation; Shawn Macias, Deputy Director, Bike Unit, NYC Department of Transportation; Patrick Kennedy, Senior Project Manager, Bike Unit, NYC Department of Transportation

2. Additional Electric Transportation Modes from Revel – Discussion

3. Capital and Expense Budget Items for FY 2023 – Discussion

4. Questions for Inclusion & Equity

6:00 PM (TENATIVE DATE)

Live Remote Meetings – https://live.mcb1.nyc

AGENDA

1.  Trinity Place Gymnatorium Updates – Discussion

2.  High School Admissions Results – Discussion & possible resolution

3.  Capital and Expense Budget Items for FY 2023 – Discussion

6:30PM

Fraunces Tavern Museum

Join Flagship Brewing Company in celebrating all things beer at Fraunces Tavern. Enjoy a can of Samuel Fraunces® Ale, brewed by Flagship, and learn about what makes it so unique Participants will also receive a beer flight to sip as Fraunces Tavern Museum explores the history of ale and its evolution throughout the 18th century.

7PM

Authors Jennifer J. Chow, Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan, Jennie Englund, and Peter Lerangis discuss their incredible successes writing for middle-grade audiences and how this career choice interacted with their personal lives and families, in an intimate Livestream conversation open to the public. Interactive Q&A with audience participation

7:30PM

China Institute

China Institute welcomes Confucianism expert Zu-yan Chen, who will introduce Confucius, China’s greatest sage, and the philosophy that has shaped Chinese governance, values, and ideas for thousands of years. Following the lecture, contemporary China expert Zak Dychtwald will join Professor Chen in a conversation about Confucius’ legacy and his relevance in today’s hyper-modern China. Scholar, philosopher, and political sage, Confucius is synonymous with Chinese morality and culture. But how much do most of us actually know about his thinking? How did Confucianism become the underpinning of the Chinese system of education and bureaucracy, and how do we separate the facts from the myths surrounding his ideas? Most importantly, why are we still talking about him after more than 2500 years? In short, why does Confucius still matter today? Free

Wednesday September 15

11AM

Wagner Park

with its amazing gardens and views of the Hudson River and New York Bay, Wagner Park is the perfect setting to practice your art. Participants are expected to bring their own drawing and painting supplies, including drawing boards and containers of water if they are planning to paint. BPCA will supply drawing paper and watercolor paper only. Masks required. Participants must maintain six feet of physical distance between households. All programs will be held in accordance with New York State reopening guidance. Free

6PM

Sunset Yoga

Wagner Park

Namaste! Unwind from the day with outdoor yoga. Immerse yourself in this meditative practice- surrounded by the Hudson’s peaceful aura. Strengthen the body and cultivate awareness in a relaxed environment as your instructor guides you through alignments and poses. All levels are welcome. Participants are expected to bring their own equipment: yoga mat, yoga blocks, water, etc. Masks required. Participants must maintain six feet of physical distance between households. Programs will be held in accordance with New York State reopening guidance. Free

Thursday September 16

7:30PM

China Institute

How will artificial intelligence change our world? Join Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers, and celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan, author of sci-fi sensation Waste Tide, online for the launch of their new book AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future. The authors will discuss AI’s advances in China and how the technology is poised to burst into our daily lives on an unimaginable scale.

Friday September 17

5PM

South Street Seaport Museum

The tall ship Wavertree, the schooner Pioneer, and the tug W.O. Decker are open to the public. Explore Wavertree while she is docked; cruise New York Harbor on W.O. Decker and Pioneer! Wavertree visits are free; Pioneer and Decker prices vary. Check website for times, prices and other details.

9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Report

More Survivors than Responders Now are Submitting Claims

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) has released its annual report for 2020, which documents some significant developments.

Over the course of its ten years of operation thus far, the VCF has awarded $7.76 billion to more than 34,400 individuals who have suffered death or personal injury as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and their aftermath. The vast majority of these injuries take the form of illness caused by exposure to toxic materials that were released by the destruction of the World Trade Center.

Lower Manhattan

Greenmarkets are open

Tribeca Greenmarket

Greenwich Street & Chambers Street

Every Wednesday & Saturday, 8am-3pm

Food Scrap Collection: Saturdays, 8am-1pm

Bowling Green Greenmarket

Broadway & Whitehall Street

Every Tuesday & Thursday, 8am-5pm

Food Scrap Collection: Tuesdays only, 8am-11am

Greenmarket at Oculus Plaza

Church & Fulton Streets

Tuesdays starting August 31st, from 8 am to 5pm

Farmers Attending:

Samascott Orchard Orchard fruit, strawberries from Columbia County, New York

Francesa’s Bakery Breads and baked goods from Middlesex County, New Jersey

Meredith’s Bakery Baked goods from Ulster County, New York

Riverine Ranch Water Buffalo meat and cheeses from Warren County, New Jersey

1857 Spirits Handcrafted potato vodka from Schoharie County, New York

SNAP/EBT/P-EBT, Debit/Credit, and Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks accepted

TODAY IN HISTORY

September 13

1848 – Vermont railroad worker Phineas Gage survives an iron rod 1 1⁄4 inches (3.2 cm) in diameter being driven through his brain; the reported effects on his behavior and personality stimulate discussion of the nature of the brain and its functions.

1437 – Battle of Tangier: a Portuguese expeditionary force initiates a failed attempt to seize the Moroccan citadel of Tangier.

1501 – Italian Renaissance: Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David.

1609 – Henry Hudson reaches the river that would later be named after him – the Hudson River.

1788 – The Philadelphia Convention sets the date for the first presidential election in the United States, and New York City becomes the country’s temporary capital.

1814 – In a turning point in the War of 1812, the British fail to capture Baltimore. During the battle, Francis Scott Key composes his poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”, which is later set to music and becomes the United States’ national anthem.

1848 – Vermont railroad worker Phineas Gage survives an iron rod 1 1⁄4 inches (3.2 cm) in diameter being driven through his brain; the reported effects on his behavior and personality stimulate discussion of the nature of the brain and its functions.

1899 – Henry Bliss is the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident.

1948 – Margaret Chase Smith is elected United States senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

1953 – Nikita Khrushchev is appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1956 – The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced, the first commercial computer to use disk storage.

1962 – An appeals court orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, the first African-American student admitted to the segregated university.

1971 – State police and National Guardsmen storm New York’s Attica Prisonto quell a prison revolt, which claimed 43 lives

1977 – General Motors introduces Diesel engine, with Oldsmobile Diesel engine, in the Delta 88, Oldsmobile 98, and Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser models amongst others.

1988 – Hurricane Gilbert is the strongest recorded hurricane in the Western Hemisphere, later replaced by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 (based on barometric pressure).

1989 – Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu.

1993 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shakes hands with Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House after signing the Oslo Accords granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

2001 – Civilian aircraft traffic resumes in the United States after the September 11 attacks.

Births

1755 – Oliver Evans, American inventor, engineer and businessman (d. 1819)

1819 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (d. 1896)

1851 – Walter Reed, American physician and biologist (d. 1902)

1857 – Milton S. Hershey, American businessman, founded The Hershey Company (d. 1945)

1860 – John J. Pershing, American general and lawyer (d. 1948)

1903 – Claudette Colbert, French-American actress (d. 1996)

1904 – Alberta Williams King, American civil rights organizer, mother of Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 1974)

1918 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter and conductor (d. 2015)

1928 – Robert Indiana, American painter and sculptor (d. 2018)

1956 – Alain Ducasse, French chef

Deaths

1488 – Charles II, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1434)

1996 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper, producer, and actor (b. 1971)

1998 – George Wallace, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 45th Governor of Alabama (b. 1919)

2006 – Ann Richards, American educator and politician, 45th Governor of Texas (b. 1933)

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