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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
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Volume 1, No. 11 Jan. 8, 2014
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IN THIS ISSUE
* City prevails in 66 John St. lawsuit
* Brookfield Place dining terrace to open this spring
* Asphalt Green BPC launches "Tuesday Talks"
* Bits & Bytes: Christie Huus on the move; Electronics recycling
* Calendar
* Community Board 1 meetings
Masthead photo: Hudson River sunset, Jan. 6, 2014. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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LAWSUIT TO BLOCK PROBATION DEPT. MOVE TO JOHN ST. DENIED
The New York City Dept. of Probation will be moving its adult division to 66 John St. A lawsuit brought by some John Street residents, Pace University and Century 21 attempting to block the move was denied in New York State Supreme Court.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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Pace University, Century 21 and several residents of John Street who had hoped to head off a planned move of a portion of the New York City Department of Probation to 66 John St. today were disappointed. Their suit to block the move was rejected by Judge Carol Huff of the New York State Supreme Court who said in a terse, one-page judgment that she was denying a temporary restraining order because the "Petitioners have not demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits." The Probation Department's plans to move to 66 John St. came to light unexpectedly on Oct. 22, 2013 when Cas Holloway, then the city's deputy mayor for operations, happened to mention the move at a Community Board 1 meeting. There was an immediate uproar. "You're putting all these criminals in an educational environment where people are walking to and from school," said C.B. 1's Joel Kopel. "That area is the fastest growing in Manhattan. Why would you want to put something this toxic in that area?" A petition protesting the move was immediately drawn up and ultimately garnered around 1, 500 signatures. Yesterday, lawyers for the plaintiffs and for the city made their cases in a hearing that lasted for around two hours. Judge Huff did not question either side. "We don't know what the judge's reasoning was," said Patrick Kennell, one of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are now deciding if they will appeal. The Department of Probation has already signed a lease for 35,000 square feet in the John Street building and is scheduled to move in within the next few weeks. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer
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Downtown Real Estate
BROOKFIELD PLACE DINING TERRACE WILL OPEN THIS SPRING
 | A rendering of the dining terrace at Brookfield Place, slated to open early this spring.
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Last night, Sabrina Kanner, senior vice president of design and construction for Brookfield Properties, brought Community Board 1's Battery Park City Committee some good news. After nearly two years of construction, the dining terrace at Brookfield Place, 225 Liberty St., is on track to open in the early spring of this year, she said.
Next week, eight tenants of the dining terrace will begin their buildout.
The 25,000-square-foot complex will feature 14 food vendors with restaurant-style, public seating for up to 600 people. Among the establishments that have already signed leases are Skinny Pizza, Umami Burger, Num Pang, Mighty Quinn's, Sprinkles, Chop't, Dig Inn, Little Muenster and Olive's.
Two more, Tartinery and Dos Toros, were granted licenses to serve alcohol (wine and beer and beer, respectively) at Tuesday's community board meeting, despite concerns about ensuring that alcohol consumption in the public area remain limited to the dining terrace.
Kanner assured the community board that Brookfield had explored various design approaches to address these concerns, and she noted that very few establishments within the development are expected to be interested in serving alcohol.
As for a food marketplace, Kanner said that construction on that project had been turned over to the Poulakakos Organization and was slated to open before Thanksgiving.
Brookfield Place will also house an outpost of the popular SoHo Italian restaurant Parm, an Equinox gym and a new home for the Institute of Culinary Education.
Although the exciting culinary offerings may have some Battery Park City stomachs grumbling, grumbling of a different sort came from some members of the community for whom recent construction noise has become a problem.
Apologizing on behalf of Brookfield, Kanner said that the sources of noise have been identified and an acoustical engineering firm has been brought in to mitigate further disruption, which is anticipated to go until 10 p.m. at times. She offered to alert residents via email about the days on which the noise levels would be higher, noting that it was hard to find a balance between bothering residents in the evening and interfering with stakeholders doing business during the day.
"We're trying to find that sweet spot that inconveniences people the least," she said.
- Alden Nusser
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ASPHALT GREEN BPC LAUNCHES 'TUESDAY TALKS'
 | Jenny Rosenstrach, author of "Dinner: A Love Story," a website devoted to family dinner, and author of a book of the same name, gave a talk at Asphalt Green Battery Park City on Jan. 7 about her reasons for cooking for her family almost every night and tips for doing this despite many other demands on the cook's time.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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When Cookie magazine folded four years ago, Jenny Rosenstrach lost her job as features editor, which turned out to be a good thing. That gave her time to start a blog called "Dinner: A Love Story" that morphed into a full-fledged website, a book and speaking engagements such as the one that brought her to Asphalt Green Battery Park City yesterday to talk about why home-cooked dinners are important in her family and how others can emulate her. Despite the cold, a couple dozen people turned out to hear Rosenstrach's tips, the first in a series of 20 noon-time lectures called "Tuesday Talks" at Asphalt Green, 212 North End Ave. Rosenstrach, 42, wife, and mother of two girls, described the dinner table as "a place where we can count on decompressing and being together." She said that she and her husband, Andy Ward, both came from families where home-cooked meals were important. In order to pull off home-cooked dinners, she suggested going food shopping once a week with a list of what would be needed. "There should be two things you know how to make without a recipe," she counseled. There should be one new thing on the menu every week and one meal that could be prepared ahead. "Have everyone in the family involved," she advised. Kids can help select a meal and they can set the table. In addition to describing some of her favorite make-ahead recipes and her pantry staples (pasta, onions, spinach and olive oil), she discussed the topic of how to deal with finicky appetites and with the philosophical food preferences that divide the carnivores in a family from the vegans. Prior to starting her blog, Rosenstrach had recorded in a diary every meal she had eaten for the previous 12 years. "You're obsessed with food!" she said a friend had said to her. "No," she replied. "I'm obsessed with food planning." She seems, in general, to be a planner. Her talk ended a few minutes after 1 p.m. That gave her 20 minutes to sign books and five minutes to talk to a reporter, with five minutes to spare in which to head to her car so that she could be on the road by 1:30 p.m. to pick up her kids at school in Westchester before heading home, presumably to make that night's dinner. The next in the "Tuesday Talks" series is entitled, "Sylvia's Table: Lessons from Our Farm to Your Family." On Jan. 14 at noon, Liz Neumark, CEO and founder of Great Performances, founder of Katchkie Farm and author of "Sylvia's Table," will talk with Carole Lalli, editor-in-chief of "Food and Wine Magazine" and cookbook author about the Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm in upstate New York where children go to learn firsthand about where fresh food comes from and how to grow it, harvest it and use it to prepare great-tasting meals. For information about the "Tuesday Talks" series and tickets, click here. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer
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Bits & Bytes
HUUS MOVES TO SEPT. 11 MEMORIAL BUT STAYS ON SEAPORT MUSEUM BOARD; ELECTRONICS RECYCLING
Huus moves
Christie Huus has left her former job as director of strategic planning and development in the Mayor's Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management. Look for her now at the National September 11th Memorial and Museum in the development department. "My title is Director of Sponsorships and Special Projects," she said in an email. "I started Monday, January 6th."
Huus said that she will continue to serve on the board of the South Street Seaport Museum, which is still looking for new, permanent management.
Electronics Recycling
The Lower East Side Ecology Center will help you recycle unwanted electronics this Saturday, Jan. 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bowling Green. Working or not working, pristine or battered, bring your unwanted computers, monitors, printers, scanners, fax machines, copiers, network devices (that means routers, hubs and modems), keyboards, mice, cables, cords, chargers, tablets, E-readers, circuit boards, power supplies, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, digital converter boxes, videogames, cellphones......Well, you get the idea. If it's electronic or would be used by an electronic device, bring it.
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CALENDAR: Week of Jan. 6
 Relatives of Alexander Hamilton, Gen. George Washington's aide-de-camp and the first Secretary of the Treasury. The little boy was six years old when this picture was taken in July 2011. His name is Alexander Hamilton and he is the great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of the Founding Father who is credited with putting the United States on a firm financial footing and whose birthday is being celebrated this week. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Jan. 8: "Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939." Author Thomas Doherty discusses his book (Columbia University Press, 2013) with David Denby, film critic for The New Yorker. Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, Battery Park City. Time: 7 p.m. Tickets: $15 (non-members); $12 (members). The talk is preceded by a tour of the exhibit, "Against the Odds: American Jews and the Rescue of Europe's Refugees, 1933-1941" at 6 p.m. Pre-registration for the tour, suggested. For more information, click here.
Jan. 10: Pepe Romero plays J.S. Bach. The opening night of the New York Guitar Festival. Romero is touring the world in celebration of his 70th birthday. Romero's distinguished career, both as a solo performer and charter member of the "Royal Family of the Guitar," encompasses some 60 albums, multiple White House invitations, Carnegie Hall concerts, and world premieres by Rodrigo and Moreno Torroba, in addition to receiving a knighthood by King Juan Carlos I of Spain. Brookfield Place, Winter Garden, 220 Vesey St. at 8 p.m. Free. Jan. 10: To commemorate the birth of Alexander Hamilton on Jan. 11, 1757, Trinity Church at Broadway and Wall Street is holding a service in his honor at noon followed by a rededication of his grave in Trinity churchyard and a talk by Capt. Gordon Loebl, U.S. Coast Guard Commander of sector New York, entitled "Birth of Alexander Hamilton, Birth of the Coast Guard." From 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., lawyer Pooja Nair will talk at Federal Hall, 26 Wall St., about Hamilton's courtroom contributions to freedom of the press. This will be followed at 4:30 p.m. by birthday cake at the Museum of American Finance, 48 Wall St., which is located in a building formerly owned by the Bank of New York, a bank that Hamilton founded. At 5 p.m. there will be a candlelight procession back to Trinity Church to Hamilton's grave. All events are free. Jan. 11: Wall Street Walks will conduct a 90-minute-long, downtown tour of "Alexander Hamilton's New York," leaving from the Museum of American Finance, 48 Wall St. at 1 p.m. The tour includes a stop at Hamilton's grave in Trinity churchyard, where the walkers will be welcomed by members of the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society. Tickets, $15. For information or to buy tickets, click here. Jan. 12: "Winter Magic with Naomi Less" at the Museum of Jewish Heritage is a concert for kids, ages 3 to 10, where everyone is encouraged to sing along and move to the music. Concert time: 2 p.m. Also, crafts for children from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and a family "mini-tour" at 1:30 p.m. Where: 36 Battery Place. Cost: $10, $7 for children 10 and under; $7, $5 for children 10 and under (museum members). For more information, click here.
Ongoing: The National Museum of the American Indian is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free admission. It offers free films, docent-led tours of its exhibitions and tours of its premises, the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, designed by Cass Gilbert. The building, which was completed in 1907, is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One Bowling Green. Phone: (212) 514-3700. For the museum's calendar, click here.
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COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETINGS: Jan. 8 and Jan. 9
 The Future of the South Street Seaport: On Monday, Jan. 13 Community Board 1 is sponsoring a Town Hall meeting about the future of the South Street Seaport. New York City's Economic Development Corporation is the Seaport's landlord. The Howard Hughes Corporation, the Seaport's largest single tenant, has already presented its plans, which include a 50-story hotel/apartment tower on the site of what is now the New Market Building. Now C.B. 1 wants to hear from the community. What is wanted? What is needed? All are welcome to speak. The meeting takes place at Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza, B-level, Student Union at 6 p.m. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
All meetings take place in the Community Board 1 office at 49-51 Chambers St., Room 709, at 6 p.m. unless otherwise indicated.
Jan. 8: Tribeca Committee
* Hudson River Park Act and Hudson River Mapping - Update by Madelyn Wils,
President, Hudson River Park Trust
* Jewish Community Project Downtown - Presentation
* Rat Control - Update by Caroline Bragdon, Research Scientist, Division of
Environmental Health, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
* Gimhongsok Sculpture Temporary Art Installation in Tribeca Park at Beach Street -
Presentation by Jennifer Lantzas, NYC Department of Parks
* 415 Greenwich St., application for approval of special permit for Physical Culture
Establishment for Flywheel Sports, Inc. - Resolution
* 66 Leonard St., application for liquor license for Global Point for TBD - Resolution
* 339 Greenwich St., application for renewal of unenclosed sidewalk café for Sarabeth's
- Resolution
* Formulation of Committee Accomplishments for 2013 and Goals for 2014 for CB1 -
Discussion
The following notices have been received for renewal, upgrade, or transfer of wine and beer or liquor licenses or sidewalk cafe permits:
* 281 Broadway, application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for Chipotle Mexican Grill of Colorado LLC
* 186 Franklin St., application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for 186 KT, LLC d/b/a Kutsher's Tribeca
* 6 York St., application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for 268 West Broadway LLC d/b/a AOA Bar and Grill
* 105 Reade St., application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for Sazon
* 110 Reade St., application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for Lotus Blue LLC
* 428 Greenwich St., application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for Greenwich Grill
Jan. 9: Landmarks Committee
* 209 Broadway, application for approval of restoration plan for the churchyard at St Paul's Chapel - Resolution
* 105 Chambers St., application for approval of louvers - Resolution
* 117 Beekman St., application for approval of sidewalk and curb replacement - Resolution
* 111 Franklin St., application for facade restoration and new storefront infill - Resolution
* 195 Broadway, application for approval of ADA lift/door, fire-alarm pull station and reconfiguration of bronze-clad subway stair enclosure - Resolution
* 140 West St., application for signage within storefront windows, new light fixtures, interior alterations, installation of louvers, removal of rooftop equipment, modification of window openings and building lighting program - Resolution
* Formulation of Committee Accomplishments for 2013 and Goals for 2014 for CB1 - Discussion
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Downtown Post NYC is emailed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer
All articles and photographs in Downtown Post NYC are copyrighted and
may not be reprinted or republished without written permission.
© 2013
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