Bits & Bytes 
FENCES COME DOWN; 4WTC NEAR DEAL WITH 1ST PRIVATE TENANT;  POSSIBLE DEAL FOR PIER 40; HUDSON EATS WILL OPEN BY END OF MAY

 
"There Are No More Fences Keeping You From The 9/11 Memorial," Gothamist, 5/16/14. After the 9/11 Museum opens to the public on May 21, it will cost $24 to get in, "but the twin reflecting pools that make up the museum's memorial are still free to visit," says Gothamist. "And now, the pools are even more accessible to the general public-the memorial plaza will be barrier-free during the museum's open hours. The memorial has been fenced off since it opened to the public in 2011, but a spokesman with the 9/11 Museum tells us the plaza will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Passersby in Lower Manhattan will be able to walk right up to the massive pools." For the complete article, click here.

"4 WTC close to landing first private-sector tenant," Crain's New York Business, 5/16/14. "The brand-new tower at 4 World Trade Center looks to be close to landing its first private-sector tenant," says Crain's New York Business. "MediaMath, a firm that develops online advertising software, is in negotiations to lease a big office at the glass-clad, 72-story, 2.3 million-square-foot behemoth, according to sources familiar with the talks. MediaMath would relocate to the building from midtown, where it currently bases its New York offices out of 1440 Broadway near Bryant Park. The company is in talks to take as much as 120,000 square feet in a deal that would include expansion rights that would allow the fast-growing firm to take additional space in the tower in the future." For the complete article, click here.

"Possible Deal May Bring Money to Repair Pier 40 in Manhattan," New York Times, 5/15/14. "For years, Hudson River Park officials have tried to generate funds to repair Pier 40, the dilapidated former cargo terminal at the foot of West Houston Street, by proposing an odd succession of projects on the pier: a professional soccer stadium, a $600 million entertainment complex and residential towers," says The New York Times. "But they all failed to win either community support or financing. Now, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration and park officials have struck a tentative agreement with a developer to transfer unused development rights from the 14 1/2-acre pier to a site across the West Side Highway occupied by a sprawling building, in return for more than $100 million that would be used to rehabilitate Pier 40, which is crumbling more rapidly than originally feared. If a final deal is put in place, government officials and real estate executives say the owners of the four-story St. John's Terminal Building, which stretches more than three blocks between West Houston and Spring Streets, would demolish the structure in phases over 10 years and build several residential buildings and retail shops." For the complete article, click here.

"Verizon Building calls for big views," New York Post, 5/13/14. "The 35-story white monolithic Verizon Building that towers over the downtown skyline at 375 Pearl St. could soon get a new vista to Brooklyn," says the New York Post. "Seattle-based Sabey Data Center Properties, which operates the 1 million square-foot tower as Intergate Manhattan, is now readying its top 15 stories with 500,000 square feet for office use, and it will install new floor-to-ceiling glass windows." The building is next to One Police Plaza. For the complete article, click here.

Citizen Preparedness Training Program
A "Citizen Preparedness Training Program" sponsored by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, other elected officials and Community Board 1 takes place on Monday, May 19 at 6 p.m. in the Southbridge Towers Community Room, 90 Beekman St. Through this program, approximately 100,000 New Yorkers will be provided with the tools and resources to prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond accordingly, and recover as quickly as possible to pre-disaster conditions. Trainings participants (one per family) will receive a free Citizen Preparedness Corps Response Starter Kit. Participants must register in advance at www.prepare.ny.gov or by calling (212) 681-4605.

Hudson Eats to open by end of May
There were supposed to be 14 upscale, fast-food eateries at Hudson Eats in Battery Park City's Brookfield Place, but the cited number is now "13." At any rate, the opening is nigh. Press has been invited to a tasting on May 29. It isn't clear whether that's also the opening day for the public. However with or without that last laggardly vendor, Brookfield management apparently thinks it's time to open. A lot of people will agree. For the list of confirmed restaurants, click here.

One tube at the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel will be closed from 9 p.m. Friday, May 16 through 5 a.m. Monday, May 19 as part of the project to replace the tunnel's original 1950s-era electrical switches and feeder cables.

The remaining tube will have one lane heading into Manhattan and one lane into Brooklyn. Motorists are advised to expect delays and use an alternate route if possible.

The work includes replacing the tunnel's 1950's electrical system, which provides the necessary   electrical power to run the tunnel's ventilation, lighting, drainage and communication systems.

To the editor:
(Re: "Clipper City returns," DPNYC, 5/14/14): The article this evening refers to "Clipper City, New York City's only Tall Ship..."  Rest assured that New York has several other tall ships, among them Peking, Wavertree, Pioneer, and Lettie G. Howard. Clipper City is not (yet) an endangered species.

Capt. Robert Rustchak

To the editor:
Clipper City is in no way a "ship" - much less New York's tall ship. By rigging she is a schooner; a "ship" is square-rigged on all three masts.
 
Further, Clipper City most recently sailed out of Baltimore's Inner Harbor (see the comment from their official press release: "The new Clipper City, a steel-hulled schooner carrying six fore-and-aft rigged sails and two square topsails on two steel masts, was operated as a Baltimore charter vessel for 20 years until falling into disrepair.")
 

The Peking's masts, with Wavertree in the background.

In point of fact, the South Street Seaport Museum's Wavertree is the only "ship" in the harbor, being square-rigged on all three masts.  Peking is a Barque, Pioneer and Lettie G. Howard are schooners, and all four vessels have been in New York far longer than Clipper City, and have more right to be referred to as New York's tall ships than does Clipper City.
 
I have no problem with Clipper City thinking she is a "tall ship."  That term is very loosely interpreted to mean almost any sailing vessel with masts, no matter the size. However, Clipper City is by no means "New York's only tall ship."

Beth Childs

To the editor:
I read your article on the Clipper City today and wanted to clarify one item in the article that is incorrect. The "Clipper City" is not the only tall ship in New York City. If you look at the South Street Seaport Museum, it has the beautiful Lettie G. Howard, which will be sailing soon, if it hasn't started already, with the New York Harbor School Students aboard.  The Pioneer, although not exceptionally big, is currently sailing and is a 'schooner' as is the Clipper City. The Wavertree and Peking, which are indeed true "tall ships," are now docked at Piers 16 and 15 and, although neither sail, are a proud testament to the great ships that were used in a bygone era.
 
I certainly don't want to take away from Clipper City but it's a misrepresentation when you write that it's New York City's only tall ship.
 
Lia Dudine

To the editor:
I have to agree: The article is in error. The Clipper City is not the only "tall ship" in New York City. However, it is accurate to say that Clipper City is the largest sailing ship licensed to carry passengers currently operating in New York City.

Clipper City.

Our use of the term "tall ship" is not meant to assert a defined class of vessel or to try to take away from the majesty of other larger sailing vessels that operate in New York waters.

Manhattan by Sail is a small, family-run business that takes New Yorkers and their guests out sailing in New York harbor. We operate two large sailing vessels - the historic Shearwater, a 1939 classic schooner that turns 85 this year and is listed on the historic registry, and the Clipper City. It is a steel replica of a Great Lakes schooner that sailed from 1854 to 1882. A recreated cross section of the Clipper City hull is in a maritime museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She is rumored to have been the largest and fastest "ship" of her day.  

Both vessels are sailing vessels; our crew sail because they love sailing. I started this company because I fell in love with sailing aboard the graceful and historic Petrel at the Battery in the late 1980s. I am especially happy to be bringing the Clipper City to Battery Park, where I originally got my start sailing.

Tom Berton
Owner of Clipper City and Shearwater

From the editor:
We are so grateful to attentive readers of Downtown Post NYC, who correct our errors! Thank you.

Since writing the article, this is what we've learned:

Lettie G. Howard.

Wavertree is, indeed,  New York's only "ship-rigged" sailing vessel, meaning that she has three (or more) masts, all of which are square-rigged.

In modern parlance "ship" is a term with many definitions, all of which have a measure of validity. So while a true "ship" in the sailing vessel sense is as described above, it's also any large merchant vessel, and in loose terms would apply to Peking as well. Peking is a barque, as is USCG's Eagle, but they can accurately be called "sailing ships" or "tall ships." That latter term is a trademark of Tall Ships America and is often used to denote sailing ships with education programs aboard.

Wavertree, Peking, Pioneer, and Lettie are all historic ships that were merchant vessels of various types during the 19th (and in Peking's case 20th) centuries. Clipper City is not. She is a modern, welded-steel passenger vessel loosely based on a historic vessel but is not a faithful replica. The  South Street Seaport Museum, on the other hand, has historic sailing vessels.

The museum's Pioneer is an 1885 trading schooner; Lettie G. Howard is an 1893 fishing schooner; Peking is a 1911 barque-rigged nitrate-clipper; Wavertree is an 1885 three-masted sailing ship built originally for the jute trade but almost immediately employed as a tramp.

A New York Harbor School student working in the rigging of the South Street Seaport Museum's schooner, Lettie G. Howard. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)