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Sprinkles cupcakes at Hudson Eats. May 29, 2014. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Battery Park City

On the evening of May 29, a ravenous and thirsty crowd ascended the escalator from the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place to the second floor of the southern wing of the building formerly known as 2 World Financial Center, eager for the debut of Hudson Eats.

The luxe, 30,000-square-foot food court can accommodate 600 people. It has been furnished with white, marble countertops, walnut dining chairs and bar stools and custom-made lighting.

Diners can opt for the privacy of a booth or a communal experience at one of the long, shared tables. Through the large windows, they can look down on Battery Park City's North Cove Marina and the Hudson River.

At the press opening, each of the 13 (soon to be 14) eateries was handing out samples representative of their menus, and there was not one dud in the lot. People of varying dietary persuasions will find something to like here. The vegetarians can go to Chop't or Dig In for a salad, the carnivores, to Mighty Quinns for barbecue or to Umami Burger - which also showed that it isn't just a one-note Johnny by putting out samples of its beet salad with truffled ricotta, smoked almonds, wild baby arugula and truffle dressing.

The sandwiches from the Cambodian-inspired Num Pang Sandwich Shop, served on crisp baguettes, are outstanding.

Sprinkles, with its artful array of moist, freshly baked cupcakes topped with buttery frosting, has a stand right next to the escalator. Anyone with a taste for desserts will find it difficult to walk by and not succumb. Directly across from Sprinkles is Olive's, which prides itself on its coffee - a perfect combo with those cupcakes.

The prices aren't steep for the quality, but anyone on a tight budget would probably think twice about eating at Hudson Eats very often. Burgers at Umami Burger, for instance, range in price from $11 to $15. With a side order of onion rings or smushed potatoes ($4.50) and something to drink, the bill could easily be similar to one from a waiter-served, sit-down meal.

Some of the Hudson Eats restaurants will be open on Saturday, May 31 for a "soft" opening. The whole place will open officially on Tuesday, June 3. The hours are Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, click here.

Battery Park City

Asphalt Green's executive director, Carol Tweedy, spoke at Community Board 1's full board meeting on May 27 in one of her last official appearances as the leader of the health and fitness organization. Effective July 1, Maggy Siegel is replacing Carol Tweedy, who is retiring after 20 years.

Siegel has shepherded both emerging businesses and international brands, including Dylan's Candy Bar, Chanel USA, Coach and Tiffany & Co. In the non-profit sector, she was board member and most recently, acting CEO of CancerCare, a national organization that provides free professional support services to anyone affected by cancer.

Asphalt Green is currently in the midst of a $2.25 million "Fit Kids Fit City" fundraising campaign to support free programs in school playgrounds, gymnasiums and pools across New York City. In 2013, Asphalt Green programs reached more than 30,000 children on its uptown campus, and another 30,000 directly in local community facilities. Asphalt Green's services are delivered to under-served populations, from youth to seniors, in all five boroughs of New York City.

Carol Tweedy addressing Community Board 1. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Tweedy's presentation to the community board raised some hackles when she described the free "Waterproofing" program offered at Asphalt Green Battery Park City. Tweedy said it's a partnership with New York City public schools to teach children how to swim. "Of the five schools that we are serving, four of them are coming from Brooklyn," she said. "There are more than 300 students involved in that free program."

Community Board member Paul Hovitz wanted to know why the Lower Manhattan schools, within walking distance of Asphalt Green, couldn't use the pool.

Percy Corcoran, who had lived in Battery Park City since the early 1990s, passed away of breast cancer on May 28 at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital. She was 59 years old.

Everyone in Battery Park City is in her debt. The Battery Park City branch library would not exist without her efforts. At the end of 1998, she started a letter-writing campaign to get funding for the library. When the library finally opened at 10 a.m. on March 13, 2010, she was waiting outside and took out the first book.

She was also the force behind Battery Park City's Greenmarket, which was held on Brookfield Place's Liberty Street plaza. It closed when Brookfield began construction on what was then called 2 World Financial Center.

Though Corcoran never had any pets herself, her neighbor, Maria Smith, remembered her friend's love of dogs. "We bonded over petting neighborhood dogs," Smith said. "She also had a passion for plants. She had a real green thumb. Any orphan plant that she would find in the compactor room, she would take in and revive."  

 

Smith said that she always knew where to find Corcoran on Sundays. She would be sitting on the Battery Park City esplanade, reading The New York Times from cover to cover. "That was her Sunday ritual," Smith recalled.  

  

Corcoran worked as a financial investigator in the office of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Even after she became ill, she continued to work. "She worked to the very end," said Smith. "They would come and pick her up and she'd go into work and then they'd take her home."   

     

In the last weeks of her life, "Percy was really tying up a lot of loose ends," according to Smith. "She had no family or relatives that I know of. She wanted to donate the bulk of her estate to the Battery Park City library, so she was dealing with attorneys." 

 

Corcoran donated all of her books to the library and her furniture to Housing Works.

 

"She was thinking about the community to the very, very end," said Smith. "It's quite remarkable. It's breathtaking, in a sense."  

   

Smith said that she last saw Percy on Tuesday evening. Percy died a few hours later. "I think she was sort of aware that we were there," Smith said, "but she was pretty heavily sedated."  

 

 

 - Terese Loeb Kreuzer 

 

 

Water Street in the South Street Seaport with a hand-carved sign for the Maritime Crafts Center, a part of the South Street Seaport Museum. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

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Surrounded by skyscrapers, Habitat for Artists has set up four, multicolored rooms made of recycled materials on Brookfield Place plaza, and has filled them with art.  (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)