Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter 

 
DOWNTOWN
POST NYC 
 
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
 
 
Volume 1, No. 58  April 28, 2014
q
IN THIS ISSUE

Quote of the day:
"We need to grow, but we should never, ever forget our history."- Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer on the importance of the South Street Seaport

* Stuyvesant High School Community Center will stay open
* Bedbug problem on Rector Place
* Illustrated Courtroom at World Trade Art Gallery
* Bits & Bytes: Private 9/11 memorial dismantled; Tribeca real estate; Saks coming to Brookfield
* South Street Seaport Museum celebrates 'Spring Revival'
* Save Our Seaport to host 'Talk and Walk' Seaport meetings
* Downtown bulletin board: CB1 full board meeting; Summer youth employment program
* Calendar

For breaking news, go to www.DowntownPostNYC.com

The wheelhouse on the South Street Seaport Museum's lightship, Ambrose. April 26, 2014.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY CENTER WILL STAY OPEN

 
 
The swimming pool at Stuyvesant High School has just reopened after being closed for one and a half years. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

The Community Center at Stuyvesant High School had a near-death experience last fall but on April 28 the Battery Park City Authority and elected officials announced a full recovery. The 20-year-old center will stay open, with the same hours and programming as always.

The Battery Park City Authority will continue to fund the community center and the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy will run it.

Toward the end of September 2013, the BPCA had notified members that the center would close at the end of December because of the "recent rise in the number of health and fitness center choices in the immediate area, combined with steadily declining membership."

This was greeted with a howl of protest from various sectors of the community. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver got on the phone with BPCA Chairman Dennis Mehiel to discuss this. The upshot was that they formed a committee to find an alternative to closure.

For the remainder of the winter and early spring, the community center limped along with reduced programming and only short-term memberships available. The future was uncertain.

Now annual memberships are again on offer, though people can opt to use the community center on a day pass ($12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors) or under other arrangements.

"We're continuing our commitment and our desire to provide a community resource that's affordable to a wider swath of people," said Robin Forst, spokesperson for the Battery Park City Authority.

Today's announcement came from Silver, Mehiel, State Senator Daniel Squadron, State Assembly Member Deborah Glick and City Council Member Margaret Chin.

The elected officials have committed to promoting the center. "We're relying on their support to keep it going and to keep it affordable," said Forst. 

 

The Stuyvesant High School Community Center has one of the largest swimming pools in Manhattan but it had been closed for a year and a half for repairs. The closure of the swimming pool undoubtedly contributed to the drop in membership noted by the BPCA.

 

Now the swimming pool is open again. In addition, there are yoga, tai chi, badminton, and tennis classes, and dance and exercise studios.

The community center is open to the public when the facilities are not being used by Stuyvesant High School. Currently, the hours are Monday to Friday, 7 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 1 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

For more information about the facilities and programs, call (646) 210-4292 or click here.

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer





BEDBUG PROBLEM ON RECTOR PLACE

 
Rector Place in Battery Park City. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Two buildings on Rector Place that are owned and operated by Milford Management are reporting on their lease agreements that they have had bedbug infestations. At Liberty House (377 Rector Place), the infestations were said to be on the 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th floors. Liberty Court (200 Rector Place), reported bedbugs on the 9th, 22nd, 33rd and 36th floors.

At Liberty House, since the bedbug problem surfaced last year, there have been monthly canine inspections that include the laundry room and the lobby.

On April 24, management sent an email to tenants stating that the Board of Managers had approved a pilot program whereby the building and its units, "strictly as a precaution," would be subject to periodic canine inspections for bedbugs. The email said that similar programs had been implemented "in many other luxury buildings throughout the City, with considerable success in terms of early detection (absent which problems can otherwise quickly spread from one unit to the next)."

The email noted that participation in the program is voluntary.

An article in The New York Times ("Doubts Rise on Bedbug-Sniffing Dogs," 11/11/10) and articles elsewhere have stated that bedbug-sniffing dogs are not always accurate, depending on how the dogs are trained and handled. Dogs can miss a bedbug infestation, or more likely, indicate falsely that one exists. The cost to eradicate bedbugs, or to attempt to eradicate them, can run to thousands of dollars and entail discarding possessions in addition to home and work disruptions.

Liberty House will employ A&C Pest Management for the canine detection work. On its website, A&C says that it "uses the gold standard in K9 Certified teams" and that its dogs detect bedbugs with 95 percent accuracy - "the best in the industry."

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer


ILLUSTRATED COURTROOM AT WORLD TRADE ART GALLERY
In 2005, Bill Robles drew Jay Leno, who appeared as a witness in defense of Michael Jackson, on trial for molesting a teenage boy.

Liz Williams needs to live near her place of work. She never knows when she will be asked to drop everything and get herself over there on the double. Her place of work is usually the federal courthouse at 500 Pearl St. Williams is a courtroom illustrator - one of the few, one of the last.

There was a time when there might have been 15 artists in a courtroom, she says. "There were tons of them. Now, even in New York City, there are just a couple left."

 

Cameras are now allowed in most courtrooms, for one thing. "And then," she says, "number two, there's the changing news business and the budget cuts and that has really impacted the courtroom artists. They'll use a photographer outside the courthouse to take a picture.For a really big trial, everybody shows up. That's the only time." 

 

Martha Stewart on trial. (By Elizabeth Williams)
Williams has been face to face with some notorious rogues and crooks, recording the pressures and dramas of their trials and the denouements. She drew Bernie Madoff leaving the courtroom in handcuffs, Martha Stewart being sentenced to five months in prison and five months of house arrest, John Gotti getting off - again - because, as it turned out the "jury had been tampered with."

 

She started out as a fashion illustrator but became a courtroom illustrator because it paid better. That was almost 35 years ago. She's still at it.

 


For the last nine years, she has been working on a book called "The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art," written with Sue Russell and with a foreword by attorney Linda Fairstein. It includes not only her own drawings, but the work of four other courtroom artists: Howard Brodie, Aggie Kenny, Bill Robles and Richard Tomlinson. Brodie and Tomlinson didn't live to see the book published, which Williams greatly regrets.

Through May 2, many of the drawings from the book are on exhibit (and for sale) at the World Trade Art Gallery, 74 Trinity Place. An electronic version of the book can be purchased for $10 from its publisher, City University of New York, by clicking here. The printed book is $60.

A longer article about "The Illustrated Courtroom" will be on the Downtown Post NYC website, with a slide show of images from the book.

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer


 


 

Bits & Bytes  
PRIVATE 9/11 MEMORIAL DISMANTLED; TRIBECA REAL ESTATE;
SAKS FIFTH AVENUE COMING TO BROOKFIELD PLACE; BPC SUICIDE

The Sept. 11 memorial at night. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

"Sept. 11 Victims' Relatives Losing a Private Memorial,"
Wall Street Journal, 4/27/14. "The September 11 Family Room, a private viewing space for relatives of victims, is set to close when the National September 11 Memorial Museum has its debut in May," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The room was given to mourners seeking to watch recovery efforts as the weather turned cold in the weeks after the terrorist attacks. They left behind photos, teddy bears, wreaths, notes, books, report cards and other tributes, which over the years lined the walls, windows, ceilings and floors. Hidden from the public on the 20th floor of One Liberty Plaza, the space had plush sofas, toys for children and a sacred sense of reverence. Now the room is being dismantled, inviting controversy and renewing a sense of loss for the families. Makeshift shrines once filled the streets of lower Manhattan, but the Family Room is the only memorial created by grieving relatives for themselves and for each other. It is also the last one standing." For the complete article, click here.

"Triplex Penthouse in 39 Vestry Wants $16.5 Million," Curbed.com, 4/28/14. A 5,100-square-foot penthouse at 39 Vestry St. in Tribeca cost $2.3 million in 2002. You can now pick it up for $16.5 million, says Curbed.com. It has a large, north-facing skylight, brick walls, a private terrace, an open chef's kitchen with floor to ceiling cabinetry, a wood-burning fireplace, a home gym and six bedrooms. For the complete article, with photos, click here.

"Saks Fifth Avenue Coming to Brookfield Place, Off Fifth Nearby," Racked.com, 4/24/14.
Racked.com quotes WWD as saying that "Saks Fifth Avenue is close to signing a lease at Brookfield Place, which would make the high-end department store an anchor tenant for a shopping center that already includes such luxe names as Ferragamo, H�rmes, Michael Kors, and Diane von Furstenberg. The paper also reported that their discount store, Saks Off Fifth, will make its first foray into the five boroughs with a location near the downtown Century21." For the complete story, click here.

"Stuyvesant HS jumper identified as Long Island resident," New York Post, 4/27/14. "Police sources identified the 20-year-old man who jumped to his death from a Battery Park City high-rise and landed atop Stuyvesant HS on Friday as a Long Island resident," according to the New York Post. "The jumper, who lives in Huntington, sneaked past desk staff at Tribeca Pointe, a 42-floor rental complex, then climbed to the roof at around 4:20 p.m., police sources said." For the complete article, click here.


South Street Seaport
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM CELEBRATES 'SPRING REVIVAL'


Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer rang the bell on the lightship Ambrose in honor of "Spring Revival Day" at the South Street Seaport Museum.
(Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

On Saturday, the day of the South Street Seaport Museum's "Spring Revival," there was rain, there was sun, there was rain - but when it came time for the speeches, there was sun and that might have been seen as a good omen for the beleaguered museum.

Jonathan Boulware, interim president of the museum, opened the formalities with a heartfelt thanks to the 60 volunteers assembled on Pier 16, who had been there since early that morning, preparing for the festival.

Jonathan Boulware. 
"Why do they come?" he asked. Their answers, he said, would differ, "but what you will find in common is a shared appreciation for something unique in New York. That's not easy to find. What we have here is a real gem. I'm talking about the South Street Seaport Museum, I'm talking about the Street of Ships, I'm talking about the district, more broadly."

Saturday marked the opening of the Street of Ships, which Boulware described as "a profound step forward" after the ravages of Superstorm Sandy, which shuttered the museum's galleries on Fulton Street a year ago. 

 

"In the very near term, you'll see us active here on Pier 16," he said. Ambrose and Peking would be open for tours. Pioneer would sail the harbor with the public and school groups aboard and Lettie G. Howard would become a teaching vessel for the New York Harbor School. He said there would also be activity in the museum's Water Street shops, Bowne Stationers and Bowne Printers.  

 

Gideon Finck of Bowne Printers on Pier 16 during Spring Revival Day.
Boulware said that the fate of the museum and of the surrounding district were inseparable. He asked people to volunteer at the museum, to join it as members, to donate to it and to "not lose sight of this irreplaceable gem embodied in the Street of Ships and in the South Street Seaport Historic District."  

 

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer followed Boulware to the podium.  She was unequivocal in her support for the historic Seaport.

 

"It's in people's DNA, how important this is," she said, "not just for this area but for the whole city if not the whole country. When you come down Fulton Street and you see these ships, you see something that is so special about our city."

 

In the current tug of war over how the Seaport should be developed, with the historic district either preserved or plowed under, her words seemed to be a straw in the wind as to how things might turn out.   

 

"Coming here brings you back to another century," she said, "and there's very little in New York that does that. We need to grow, but we should never, ever forget our history and that's what the museum does and that's what these ships do." 

 

She also spoke about the surrounding district. "As Borough President I will do everything I can, with all of you - nothing happens in this huge, complicated city unless you're working with different people - to make the Seaport the kind of gritty, exciting, edgy, historic place it is and the center of it all, the museum and the ships."

 

There were other speeches - from City Council Member Margaret Chin, from Community Board 1 chair Catherine McVay Hughes, who said, "We demand that redevelopment here include the South Street Seaport Museum and its historic ships. It is the heart of our historic seaport," and from Helena Durst, who runs New York Water Taxi and who was the only person to speak about the need for diverse retail in the Seaport.  

  

Chris Curry, executive vice president of The Howard Hughes Corporation, which has a long-term lease on much of the Seaport, was among those who listened to the speeches. He said nothing.  

 

Then Boulware said, "We're going to ring the mighty, bronze bell on Ambrose," the lightship launched in 1908 to protect ships entering New York harbor from running aground. "The sound of the bell you are about to hear - a bell that is embossed with the letters USLHE - for US Lighthouse Establishment - the precursor to the Coast Guard - that bell would have sounded in fog at the entrance to the Ambrose Channel," he said.   

 

He turned toward the ship, where Brewer had already positioned herself. Forcefully, she cranked the bell handle. The sound rang out over the pier, a voice from the past, clanging, again and again, bringing tears to the eyes of many of those who heard.    

 

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer 

  

Some of the people who volunteer to help the South Street Seaport Museum.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) 

South Street Seaport
SAVE OUR SEAPORT TO HOST 'TALK AND WALK' SEAPORT MEETINGS

Pier 16 in the South Street Seaport. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
                                
On May 3 and May 5, Save Our Seaport is hosting Town Meetings in New York's South Street Seaport Historic District. Both will begin with guest speakers followed by a walking tour.

"Developing and preserving the New York South Street Seaport Historic District is a two-fold challenge," said David Sheldon, SOS spokesperson. "It requires a responsible development plan that guarantees the economic viability of the District while also maintaining, preserving and celebrating the historic importance of this integral part of our city's history."

SOS invites the public - New Yorkers and visitors alike - to examine development that preserves the view of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and the Tall Ships; re-establishes the vibrancy and color of the Seaport District; fully engages the educational work of the South Street Seaport Museum; maintains ties to an active waterfront and locates a world-class food mecca in the New Amsterdam Market.

The Town Meeting on Saturday, May 3, will start at 2 p.m. in Titanic Memorial Park, Fulton and Water Streets. Guest speakers will include Peter Stanford, founder of the South Street Seaport Museum and author of "A Dream of Tall Ships," Robert Rustchak, Merchant Marine Captain and Bridget Schuy, realty specialist in Lower Manhattan. After the speakers there will be a brief question and answer period followed by a walk through the South Street Seaport Historic District.
 
The second Town Meeting will be on Monday, May 5, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., also starting in Titanic Memorial Park. Guest speakers will include Capt. Brian McAllister, owner of McAllister Towing and Robert LaValva, founder and president of the New Amsterdam Market. This meeting also will be followed by a question and answer period and by a walk through the South Street Seaport Historic District.

For more information, email [email protected] or call 347-6-PIER16.


 

Downtown bulletin board   
CB1 FULL BOARD MEETING; SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM; PROM CLOTHING DONATION REQUEST; MANHATTAN YOUTH

Kirsten DeFur, director of research and prevention programs for the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence, talking about domestic violence at a First Precinct Community Council meeting. Domestic violence will also be discussed at Tuesday's Community Board 1 full board meeting. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Community Board 1 full-board meeting
Community Board 1's full board meets on April 29 at 6 p.m. at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place. Commissioner Rosemonde Pierre-Louis, Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence, is the guest speaker. All are welcome to attend.

The 2014 Summer Youth Employment Program

The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) provides New York City youth with paid summer employment for up to six weeks in July and August. The deadline to apply has been extended to May 2.

All youth aged 14-24 who permanently reside within the five boroughs of New York City are eligible and are encouraged to apply.
 
Participants work in a variety of entry-level jobs including parks, summer camps, hospitals, community-based organizations, small businesses, museums and retail organizations. In addition to work experience, SYEP also provides workshops on job readiness, career exploration, financial literacy and opportunities to continue education and social growth.

Programs are located in community-based organizations in all five boroughs of New York City. Youth can apply for the program online or at a community-based organization during the application period. Participants are selected by lottery for the program. Specialized programming for disabled, foster care, runaway/homeless and justice-involved youth is also available.

 To apply for SYEP, submit a completed application by going to www.nyc.gov/dycd   
 
For more information, click here or call (800) 246-4646.

Clean Out Your Closet & Make Someone's Prom!
Trinity Wall Street is collecting formal wear for local high school kids who couldn't otherwise afford prom gear. Please consider donating any of the following items - in any size:
Gowns/Formal dresses; Tuxes/Suits/Dress shirts; Jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, hair accessories); Dress shoes (for men or women); Accessories (jackets, shawls, vests, ties, etc.)

Donate by April 30Click here to schedule a drop off at Charlotte's Place, 74 Trinity Place, or Coffee Hour. On May 2 and May 9, students from Leadership and Public Service High School and Lower East Side Preparatory High School will be invited to "boutiques" at Charlotte's Place to make selections from among the donated items. Thank you so much for your contributions! (If you're interested in volunteering to help at a boutique, click here.

Manhattan Youth: Downtown Community Awards 2014 Event
At its annual Community Awards event, this year on May 15, Manhattan Youth honors seven people for their commitment to education in the Lower Manhattan community. The honorees are
Wendy Chapman, for her advocacy on behalf of children and education, and Michael Clark, Frank DiOrio, Derick Henry, Jose Velez, James Willie and David DiGiacomo, for their stewardship of the PS 89/IS 289 physical plant through 9/11, Hurricane Sandy and every school day, and their commitment to the community's children.

Invited guests include Mayor Bill de Blasio, Hon. Sheldon Silver, Hon. Scott Stringer, Hon. Gale Brewer, Hon. Daniel Squadron, Hon. Deborah Glick, Hon. Margaret Chin, and Community Board 1 Chair Catherine McVay Hughes.

Proceeds from the event will help Lower Manhattan working families obtain after-school and summertime childcare services of the highest quality regardless of their ability to pay. Manhattan Youth provides nearly $500,000 in childcare subsidies to families each year in addition to $500,000 in free programming, and has been the leading provider of after-school childcare, summer camp, recreation and enrichment programming in Lower Manhattan since 1986.

The Community Awards Event will take place at the Manhattan Youth Downtown Community Center, 120 Warren St.

The evening will begin with a cocktail reception at 7 p.m. featuring the piano stylings of Nate Andersen followed by an awards ceremony at 7:30 p.m., a buffet dinner and live music. The Manhattan Youth Players of IS 276 will present "It's a Hard-knocks Life" from their recent production of "Annie."

Click here for tickets to the event or contact Jim Hopkins at (212) 766-1104 ext. 232, or by e-mail [email protected]. Ticket prices start at $150.

Manhattan Youth: Parenting workshop on bullying
On Wednesday, April 30, Dr. Joel Haber will talk about bullying. The program starts at 6 p.m. at the Downtown Community Center, 120 Warren St.

"There are enormous numbers of kids, adults and even businesses being bullied," said Bob Townley, founder and director of Manhattan Youth. "Until you have firsthand experience of being bullied or harassed, you have little idea of how troubling it is. But there are solutions and that is why we are doing this forum."

Bullying has become even more scary and worrisome because of cyberbullying on the Internet. This program will help parents understand the real definition of bullying, how to recognize the signs, how to talk to children about it and how to come up with solutions. It will help clear up misunderstandings about the dynamics of bullying and why it is so pervasive, and even continues into the corporate world. It will help identify those youth who use bullying behavior and get away with it, those who are targeted and how to rally the troops to reduce bullying. Reservations  are required. For more information, click here.


CALENDAR: Week of April 28
On April 30, it will be 225 years since George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States on the site of what is now Federal Hall. The day will be commemorated with a reenaction of the inauguration. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
April 29: Film historian and documentary writer James Sanders talks at the Skyscraper Museum about filmmaking in New York City on the occasion of the publication of the new edition of his book, Scenes from the City: Filmmaking in New York. This revised and expanded edition, first published in 2006, is a celebration of the rise of New York-shot films, covering in particular the decades since New York City aggressively promoted the film industry through the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, established in 1966. Sanders has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair and Architectural Record. He has also participated in important design projects in and around the city. Place: 39 Battery Place. Time: 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m.
RSVP to [email protected] to assure admittance to the event. For more information about the Skyscraper Museum, click here.

April 29: "Tuesday Talks" at Asphalt Green Battery Park City continue with Marc Courtade talking about "Cary Grant: "Hollywood's Debonair Leading Man." Director Howard Hawkes once said Cary Grant was "so far the best that there isn't anybody to be compared to him." Having dashing good looks didn't hurt, but Grant turned out to be one of the classic leading men in both comedies and dramas, with starring roles in Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), North by Northwest (1959) and so many others. Watch favorite clips as you learn about one of the most popular stars of all time. Marc Courtade is the business manager of Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at Long Island University and a lecturer on Broadway musicals, opera and great performances. Place: 212 North End Ave. Time: Noon to 1 p.m. Tickets: $22; $18 (Asphalt Green members). For more information, click here.  

April 29:
Award-winning and prolific poet Alice Notley leads an autobiographically inspired discussion of the poetry talent  - its rarity, mystery, and importance in the education and nurture of poets - at Poets House. Place: 10 River Terrace. Time: 7 p.m. Tickets: $10, $7 (students and seniors), free to Poets House members. For more information, click here.

April 30:
On the 225th anniversary of George Washington's inauguration in New York City as the first president of the United States, the National Park Service is celebrating at Federal Hall, Broad and Nassau Streets, with special programming between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Highlights will be a re-enactment of the inauguration between noon and 12:45 p.m. and a panel discussion on "George Washington and Religious Freedom in the New Nation" from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Representatives from denominations that were present in New York City in 1789 will give presentations and discuss the political and religious climate at that time. A descendant of Rabbi Mendes Seixas will be present to read letters between Washington and Seixas affirming religious freedom for all. The Old Barracks Fifes & Drums will perform throughout the day. For more information, click here.

April 30:
Author Bernard Wasserstein will discuss his book, "The Ambiguity of Virtue: Gertrude Van Tijn and the Fate of Dutch Jews" at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. German-Jewish social worker Gertrude Van Tijn worked with the Nazi-appointed Jewish Council in Amsterdam and enabled many Jews to escape. Some later called her a heroine for the choices she made; others denounced her as a collaborator. Wasserstein's book explores the wrenching dilemmas that confronted Jews under Nazi occupation. Place: 36 Battery Place. Time: 7 p.m. For more information, click here.

May 1:
"Relative Strangeness" at Poets House. Rosmarie Waldrop is one of poetry's most prolific innovators. Associated with a diverse array of post-1945 literary movements, co-founder of the celebrated Burning Deck Press, and the award-winning translator of the great Egyptian Jewish poet Edmond Jab�s, Waldrop defies categorization or border. She is joined by Dr. Nikolai Duffy, author of Relative Strangeness: Reading Rosmarie Waldrop, for an evening of readings and discussion. Place: 10 River Terrace. Time: 7 p.m. Tickets:  $10, $7 (students and seniors), free to Poets House members. For more information, click here.

May 3
: A sleepover at Poets House includes guided meditations and intuitive writing sessions, proprioceptive movement and acupuncture options, and other activities designed to clear and comfort the mind and body, and open up new space for creativity. Led by poet and certified hypnotherapist Kristin Prevallet, yoga and mindful movement teacher Romona Mukherjee, and licensed acupuncturist and holistic healer Mona Chopra. Open to Poets House members. Place: 10 River Terrace. Fee: $75. Memberships cost $50 a year, with a discount for seniors and students. To register, contact Krista Manrique, (212) 431-7920 ext. 2830, or email [email protected]. For more information, click here.

Ongoing: An exhibit called "Bright! Color in Three Dimensions" is in the lobby of 250 Vesey St., Brookfield Place. With the advent of digital and commercial technology, it has become easier to take the power of color for granted in two-dimensional mediums. The artists - Justin Adian, Caitlin Bermingham, Benjamin Dowell, Charles Dunn, Juan Fernando Morales, and Courtney Puckett - in Bright! take color to another level by manipulating it into sculptural forms. Whether made of plastic, textile, or paper, the artists use color as a foundation for the entire object, rather than the decorative finish to the piece. Time: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Through June 1. Free.

Ongoing: An exhibit called "Smile! A Photo Anthology by VII" is in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place. The exhibit of 84 photographs by award-winning photojournalists was drawn from work produced over a period of 30 years in 30 different countries. Place: 220 Vesey St. Time: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Free. Through May 1. The public is invited to add smile photos to the exhibit by following @ArtsBrookfield on Instagram and Twitter and submitting your photo via Instagram and/or Twitter using hashtap #ShareMySmile. Also, answer in a few words, "What makes you smile?" Arts Brookfield will screen and add submissions on a rolling basis.

Ongoing: Poets House in Battery Park City presents "A Painter and His Poets," the first major retrospective show of George Schneeman's collaborative paintings, collages, prints, and books, with portraits of his poet friends, spanning 40 years. "A sort of utopia in the visual field filled with pleasure, quickness and wit" is how Schneeman himself described his collaborative work with poets. Exhibition on view through Saturday, Sept. 20, during regular Poets House hours. Place: 10 River Terrace. Free. For information about Poets House, click here.

Ongoing: "Discovery and Recovery: Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage," is at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City. The exhibit details the dramatic recovery of historic materials relating to the Jewish community of Iraq in a flooded basement in Saddam Hussein's intelligence headquarters, and the National Archives' ongoing work in support of U.S. government efforts to preserve these materials. Through May 18, 2014. Place: 36 Battery Place. Varying hours. Museum admission fees: $12 (adults); $10 (seniors) and $7 (students). Members and children 12 and under, free. Free admission on Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, click here.

Ongoing: "Defining Lines: Maps from the 1700s and early 1800s" at the Fraunces Tavern
Museum. Twenty-seven maps provide a perspective on the evolving nation's place in history. A map from 1804, never before exhibited, shows the U.S. postal routes. Place: 54 Pearl St. Time: Noon to 5 p.m., daily. Admission fees: $7; $4 (seniors, students with ID, children, 6 to 8 years old. Children, 5 and under, free. Active military with ID, free. 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.




Downtown Post NYC is emailed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 
To subscribe, click here

Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer

We welcome comments, questions and letters to the editor. Send them to [email protected]

To advertise, email [email protected]

Previous issues of Downtown Post NYC are archived at www.DowntownPostNYC.com

All articles and photographs in Downtown Post NYC are copyrighted and
may not be reprinted or republished without written permission.
� 2014