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Korean dogwood (Cornus kousa) flowering in Rector Park. June 4, 2014.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

The Old Seaport Alliance (OSA), a non-profit merchants' association founded in the wake of Superstorm Sandy by South Street Seaport businesses, is looking for some money. In the scheme of things, it's not a huge amount of money and it's for a worthy purpose. OSA wants to transform part of Peck Slip into a park.

On a sunny afternoon in June, Gary Fagin, conductor of the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra and a South Street Seaport resident, sat in the middle of the plaza on Peck Slip while his daughter romped around him. The only amenities were several large pots of plants clustered in one corner. There were no tables or chairs.

Jersey barriers separated the Fagins and their dog from passing traffic.

The scene was as persuasive an argument as any that could be made for the need to transform this asphalt turf into something more inviting.

Peck Slip is currently under the jurisdiction of two City agencies. The Department of Transportation is the manager of the plaza where Fagin was sitting. The Department of Parks supervises another plaza on the east side. Until recently, both sides were used to store construction materials and debris. Through community efforts, the western portion was cleared.

Ultimately, all of Peck Slip will become a park, but construction is not slated to begin for another year.

In the meantime, OSA would like to install tables and chairs at either end of the nearly one-acre space, leaving room in the middle for active play. OSA also envisions granite benches with the planters dispersed around the perimeter. The Jersey barriers would be carted away.

"Our goal is $46,385," said Marco Pasanella, owner of Pasanella and Son Vintners at 115 South St. and chairperson of the Old Seaport Alliance. "That will take care of the plaza for a year. To sign a maintenance agreement with the Department of Transportation, we need $15 thousand. This is the bare minimum to allow us to enter into the contract."

He said that the Old Seaport Alliance would still need to raise the rest. "We are willing to take the chance because we recognize the immediate need for the neighborhood, especially glaring as we enter the summer season," Pasanella said.

The Old Seaport Alliance has started a fundraising site at IOBY (In Our Backyard). To date, $3,000 has been pledged for the Peck Slip plaza.

Funds generated will cover the cost of plaza maintenance and related insurance, which will ensure that the plaza is clean, safe and well maintained. The Old Seaport Alliance also plans to create programming in the space, including markets, music, and classes for people of all ages.

With congestion and construction on Fulton Street, once the spine of the South Street Seaport district, Peck Slip takes on new importance as a community-friendly alternative.

"This is our hope right now," Pasanella said. "This we can control"

Access to hard-wired electricity is no longer necessary in Lower Manhattan to recharge a cellphone or tablet. In partnership with AT&T, the Downtown Alliance has just installed 10 solar charging stations. They are free to use.

The units work even when the sun isn't shining. During the day, three solar panels collect the sun's energy to charge up powerful internal batteries. This enables the AT&T Street Charge (#ATTStreetCharge) units to power up phones, tablets, and other devices as quickly as plugging into an electric outlet on a wall.

Up to six people can charge their electronic devices at any one time in any given location. The devices connect to the charging stations through standard IPhone and Android cables.

AT&T developed the technology in partnership with Goal Zero, a company founded in 2009 to create sustainable power systems. The Downtown Alliance asked them to expand to Lower Manhattan.

The City's departments of Parks, Transportation and the Economic Development Corporation helped to make the program possible.

There may be additional charging station locations in the future. "We'll review how they perform over the next months," said Andrew Breslau, spokesperson for the Downtown Alliance.

Cable replacement will be handled by the Alliance. AT&T will troubleshoot the charging mechanisms.

According to Marissa Shorenstein, AT&T's New York State president, "AT&T Street Charge grew out of a need for a sustainable power source during Superstorm Sandy and took on a life of its own when we deployed more than two dozen solar-powered units around the city last summer."

The Street Charge Units can be found at Water/Whitehall Plaza; Coenties Slip Plaza; Old Slip Park; Mannahatta Park; East River Esplanade; Pier 15; Bowling Green Park; South Street Seaport (outside the TKTS booth); and Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza

(Re: "Seaport Working Group's guidelines released," DPNYC, 6/4/14) I was dismayed at the strictly aspirational tone of the Seaport Working Group guidelines presented to the public on Monday night. I was also disturbed by the exclusion of South Street Seaport Museum from membership on the panel. I was further disturbed at the lack of analysis of the City's bargain giveaway leases of public property. The Howard Hughes Corporation is leasing thousands of square feet of space on Pier 17 and in the uplands for less than $3.50 a square foot. This community owes nothing to Howard Hughes. It owes everything to the South Street Seaport Museum. Were it not for the SSSM, the entire neighborhood and Historic district would be nothing but office towers today.

Capt. Robert Rustchak

A visitor to the National September 11 Memorial Museum looked at some of the steel beams that supported the World Trade Center before the Twin Towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001. The museum is participating in "Night at the Museums" on June 24. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Poets House is an oasis of tranquility and inspiration with many free and low-cost lectures, exhibitions and classes throughout the year. Located at 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City, it has a 60,000-volume poetry library and a sunny reading room equipped with WiFi, overlooking the Hudson River. Here, students, scholars, writers and people in search of a welcoming place to think, read and relax set up their computers on the ample tables or settle into comfortable chairs, with numerous books close at hand.

Poets House's annual Brooklyn Bridge walk helps to fund these activities and events.

The 19th annual Brooklyn Bridge walk takes place on Monday, June 9 beginning at 6 p.m. The walk starts from the park next to the Municipal Building. It is punctuated with poetry readings under the Brooklyn Bridge's dramatic, stone arches. Just as the sun is setting over Manhattan, the walkers arrive at Fulton Ferry on the Brooklyn side of the bridge. There, they listen to Walt Whitman's sonorous "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry." Its precise yet ultimately unplumbable language records exactly what they are seeing. Whitman himself seems a presence among them.

The Brooklyn Bridge poetry walk ends with a festive dinner in DUMBO, this year, honoring poet Naomi Shihab Nye. Transportation is provided back to Manhattan.

Tickets are still available for the poetry walk. They are $250 or $225 for Poets House members. Reservations are required.

To buy tickets online, click here. For more information or to make reservations by phone, call (212) 431-7920 x2830 or e-mail krista@poetshouse.org.

A photograph from an exhibit now at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City shows a hotel in the Polish town that the Germans called "Auschwitz."