When Stuyvesant High School opened at 345 Chambers St. in 1992, among its dazzling features was a 75-foot-long swimming pool. The community was supposed to be able to use it along with the school's two gyms, its weight room and dance studio, but that took a lawsuit against the Board of Education. It had promised community access in exchange for the right to build a high school in Battery Park City, and then changed its mind.  It took another hard-fought battle early this year to keep the Stuyvesant High School community center open after the Battery Park City Authority, which pays the staff, wanted to close it. But after the intervention of elected officials and a few words from Community Board 1, the Community Center at Stuyvesant High School is now back in business.

For a school, the facilities are astonishing. Many New York City schools these days have no gym at all - or if there is a gym, it doubles as an auditorium.

On Thursday evening, the pool was being used by four swimmers, with two lifeguards watching over them. There will soon be swimming classes, as there were in the past.

Badminton.

Upstairs in one of Stuyvesant's gyms, several hotly contested badminton games were in progress. The community center provides racquets and birdies though many of the players prefer to bring their own. When there's a line of people waiting to play, each player gets 15 minutes of court time or the game goes to 21 points, whichever comes first.

In another gym, big enough for a full-court game, four guys were shooting hoops. One wall of that gym is used for handball. A staff member of the community center keeps order when things get crowded.

Only one man was in the weight room and no one was in the dance studio.

The locker rooms at the Community Center are spartan. There are showers and lockers, but no saunas or steam rooms or hair dryers or hair products such as can be found at fancier recreation facilities. However, the prices to use the center are equally modest. It costs $500 a year for an adult annual membership (gym and pool), $150 for seniors, and $200 for students. Gym-only or pool-only memberships are $350 annually for adults. Day passes are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors, students and youth.

Classes are available for an additional fee, with discounts for members. Yoga for instance, which starts on May 12 and runs through July 21, costs $160 for members and $180 for non-members. Drop-ins are welcome and pay $20 per class. The instructor, Molly Heron, has practiced Hatha Yoga for 25 years and teaches at the Integral Yoga Institute in Greenwich Village. The yoga classes meet on Mondays from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Foreman, Paul Diaz-Larui in the dance studio.

The center will host birthday parties that include the use of the dance studio and the cafeteria. That costs $275 for two hours (bring your own food and decorations, and clean up afterward). For an additional $100, a staff person will organize games for the kids.

The Battery Park City Parks Conservancy runs the center. Paul Diaz-Larui is the foreman, overseeing a staff of 10. He has been with the community center for 10 years, initially as the aquatics director. Jouli Yohannes, programming leader, is at the front desk, greeting people when they come in.

Jouli Yohannes.

The community center is open daily except for holidays such as New Year's Day or when there is a special school event. Through June, the hours are 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. In July and August, the hours will be longer.

For more information, click here or call (646) 210-4292.

Hornblower Infinity seen through the Shearwater's rigging.

Bits & Bytes  

At the conclusion of each session of the Seaport Working Group - a committee composed of elected officials, neighborhood residents and businesses plus The Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) and the New York City Economic Development Corporation - a trickle of information has emerged. Here's today's trickle: "The Seaport Working Group met to review the final proposed guidelines and principles for revitalizing the South Street Seaport Historic Area. A document summarizing the work of the last 10 meetings will be released at a date to be determined. The Seaport Working Group will now take a hiatus while HHC reviews and studies the guidelines before presenting their revised plan to the Seaport Working Group."

The Yorkville Sports Association, started 35 years ago by a guy named Al Morales who had a store in the city's Yorkville neighborhood, is doing something different this summer. Its coed summer softball league will play on Governors Island from June 19 to Aug. 28.

All games will be played on Thursdays with a first game starting at 11 a.m., followed by a second game at 12:30 p.m. There will be a total of 10 games throughout the season, including eight regular-season games and a two-game playoff.

David Rocco, the league's director, came up with the idea of using the Governors Island sports fields, newly available this summer. He thinks that there will be a lot of people who will want to tuck a softball game into the middle of their day and week - people who work night shifts, retirees and teachers who are off for the summer, among them.

He hopes that there will be at least five teams in the league this summer.

Registration will close on Thursday, June 5.. The league fee is $1,825 per team. This covers the games, 10 softballs, game officials and field permits. There will be single-game elimination for playoff games, with the top two finishing teams receiving prizes.

Ferry service from Manhattan to Governor's Island is available every hour on the hour, starting at 10 a.m. The ferries leave from the Battery Maritime Terminal at 10 South St. The round trip fare is $2.

To register, click here. For more information, email info@ysaleagues.com or call (914) 962-8390, ext. 10.

"Werther, Dubbeldam unload Tribeca townhouse for $15M," The Real Deal, 5/9/14. So you can keep tabs on what it costs to live in Tribeca, here's this: "Fashion entrepreneur Stephen Werther and architect Winka Dubbeldam sold their stakes in a mixed-use Tribeca townhouse at 11 Hubert Street for $15.3 million, according to property records filed with the city today," The Real Deal reports. "Werther, the owner of the WiNK boutique chain and now a partner with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain on a Manhattan street food market development, held a 67.6 percent tenancy-in-common interest in the 14,500-square-foot, three-story property, while Dubbeldam held the remaining interest, according to city records. The buyer wasn't disclosed. The property, which hit the market in January asking $16 million, is configured as two offices on the ground floor and two duplex apartments, and boasts over 3,500 square feet of outdoor space. It can be converted into two separate townhouses or a large single-family home." For the complete article, click here.

Visit from a Tall Ship
Like a massive, white-winged bird, the Tall Ship Juan Sebastian de Elcano appeared in the mist of

Juan Sebastian de Elcano. (Photo: Jay Fine)

New York harbor on Friday morning, and sailed majestically up the Hudson River. The steel-hulled barquentine is a training ship for the Royal Spanish Navy. Cadets receive five years of training. During part of the third year, the entire class is assigned to the Juan Sebastian de Elcano for an eight-month cruise.

The ship was built in Cadiz in 1927 and was named for the fleet captain on Ferdinand Magellan's last voyage. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521, but under de Elcano, in 1522, some of Magellan's men made it back to Spain after a three-year voyage - the first people ever to sail around the world. The ship carries the de Elcano coat of arms, granted to him by Emperor Charles I. It shows a globe with the motto, "Primus Circumdedisti Me" meaning "First to circumnavigate me."

The Juan Sebastian de Elcano is the third largest Tall Ship in the world. She carries 21 sails on her four masts and can go 17.5 knots an hour under full sail.  The cadets in training volunteer for the dangerous job of climbing the rope ladders on the sides of the ship to furl and unfurl the topmost sails at a height almost equivalent to a 16-story building. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer

May 15 is going to be a busy day - too busy. For some reason, a lot of events have been scheduled for that day, mostly at the same time. Take your pick.

On May 15, President Obama will help to dedicate the National September 11 Memorial Museum. Although it opens to the general public on May 21, Lower Manhattan residents and business owners, the families of victims, 9/11 rescue and recovery workers, 9/11 survivors, first responders and World Trade Center building partners can visit the museum from May 15 to May 20.

If you are part of one of these groups, you can reserve a free ticket to preview the Museum during the Dedication Period when the museum will be open 24 hours a day. Reservations are required and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Children under the age of 6 do not need tickets for the Dedication Period but the historical exhibition may not be appropriate for visitors younger than 10. Adults accompanying younger visitors should exercise discretion before entering.

Click here for information on the Dedication Period.

When the museum opens to the public, tickets will be $24. For information and to buy tickets, click here.

An art student at Manhattan Youth. (Photo: Manhattan Youth)