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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
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Volume 1, No. 82 June 23, 2014
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IN THIS ISSUE
Quote of the day:
""The hardest part is making it interesting for an audience." - "New Vaudevillian" entertainer, Will Shaw, on what it takes to be a one-man circus.
* Downtown Alliance brings summer programming to Water Street * Waterfront Museum Barge celebrates vaudeville * Bits & Bytes: Silverstein may rake in $150M; Historic ship gala; More WiFi; Tribeca boundaries * Letter to the editor: South Street Seaport Museum as part of the Smithsonian? * Community Board 1 full board meeting: June 24 * Calendar For breaking news, go to www.DowntownPostNYC.comPulleys on the Waterfront Museum Barge. June 22, 2014. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
The Paris Cafe | 119 South Street | 212.240.9797 | thepariscafeNYC.com | @theparisnyc
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Financial District
DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE BRINGS SUMMER PROGRAMMING TO WATER ST.
 | In collaboration with GrowNYC, the Downtown Alliance sponsored a farmers' market on Water Street at Coenties Slip. A second market will take place on July 17.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Liz Berger, the late president of the Downtown Alliance, once described Water Street as a good place to get a taxi. It was a broad - too broad - thoroughfare, she said, a place to zip through, not to linger. One of her projects was to change that - and now the Downtown Alliance is doing exactly that. From June 26 to Labor Day, the Alliance is sponsoring games and activities at seven locations along Water Street, from Whitehall Street to Wall Street. The programming series, entitled Game On!, has its goal to make Water Street's public spaces fun for both commercial and residential tenants. There will be Nok Hockey and Foosball tables, giant Connect Four games, Battleship board games, and traditional chalk games like hopscotch, shuffleboard and mini golf. The games will run from Monday to Friday, noon to 7 p.m., unless otherwise noted. Water Street at Whitehall Plaza will be turned into an urban beach with lounge chairs and a game of shuffleboard. The beach will be designed by Joanna Pertz Landscape Architecture.  | | The plaza at Coenties Slip. |
On Coenties Slip Park and Plaza, there will be a beer garden operated by Zigolini's and six corn hole games. A "Night Market" featuring produce from local farms, music and food from local restaurants will return to the Slip on July 17. GrowNYC is collaborating with the Alliance on the farmers' market. The Elevated Acre at 55 Water St. will feature a three-hole mini golf range designed by the Situ Studio. Old Slip Park will have additional tables and chairs set up along with Nok hockey tables and Battleship board games. There will also be a set of temporary food trucks on location, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. through 4 p.m. They will be selling ice cream, lemonade, barbecue and more. The Andaz Hotel at 75 Wall St. will host a beer garden with outdoor World Cup viewing on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There will also be additional public seating and Foosball tables for lovers of the "world's game" and others. Gouverneur Lane Plaza will have two giant Connect Four games, while Mannahatta Park will be home to a variety of chalk games and chalk art. The Alliance for Downtown New York conceived of and sponsored the program with support from the New York City Economic Development Corporation and creative contributions from HR&A, Auster Agency, and 3x3 Design. For more information, click here. |
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Downtown on the water
WATERFRONT MUSEUM BARGE CELEBRATES VAUDEVILLE
 | Will Shaw performing on the Waterfront Museum Barge. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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Dressed in an outfit that included an oversized, plaid jacket, a tie that sometimes served as a handkerchief, multicolored socks and a slouchy hat, Will Shaw ambled from behind the curtain of the Waterfront Museum Barge on Sunday, strumming a ukulele. For the next hour or so, he proceeded to entertain a bunch of excited kids and their elders, with juggling, corny jokes, rope tricks, comic patter and musical interludes that included riffs on a harmonica and on a miniature piano. Shaw calls his show "Deadpan Alley" and bills himself as a "new vaudevillian." The kids, raised on TV and interactive video and computer games, were entranced.  Shaw, 56, who has a degree in sociology from SUNY Binghamton, decided after college that he would rather be a street performer. He has performed on "The Late Show," "The Daily Show" and on "Sesame Street" and was an instructor for the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He claims that juggling is easy. "I saw a guy on TV who was a comic juggler," he says, and decided to try it. He says that's how he learned. According to Shaw, "The hardest part is making it interesting for an audience."  David Sharps, owner of the Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge, introduced Shaw by saying that at one time "showboats" would go up and down the Hudson River, visiting small towns and bringing live performers to people who otherwise had to entertain themselves. The Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge didn't start out as a performance space. It was a working bloke, built a hundred years ago for the Lehigh Valley Railroad to ferry goods between the railroad terminus in New Jersey and Manhattan. By 1985 when Sharps purchased Lehigh Valley #79 for $1, fewer than a dozen covered railroad barges like this one remained intact. And in fact, Lehigh Valley #79 wasn't all that intact when Sharps bought her. She had been sunk in the mud flats of Edgewater, N.J. "It took two years to get eight feet of mud out of the hull," Sharps recalled. Sharps says that Lehigh Valley #79 is the only surviving all-wooden example of the Hudson River Railroad Barge from the Lighterage Age (1860-1960) that remains afloat and accessible to the general public. Before the shift to containerization, heavy cargo was shifted to barges like this one for short-distance transport. Usually berthed in Red Hook, Brooklyn, the Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge was at Pier 25 for the annual North River Historic Ship Festival, which ends on June 24 with a fundraising gala aboard the barge. In Red Hook, across from the Fairway Market, the barge is open to the public year-round on Saturdays, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. for free tours. Tours on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. continue through the summer. A visit includes a look at the captain's original living quarters, the tools used by longshoremen and stevedores and the gongs and bells of the tug and barge system. In addition, there are special musical performances and shows. For more information about events at the Waterfront Museum, click here. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer | | Will Shaw performing on the Waterfront Museum Barge. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
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Bits & Bytes
SILVERSTEIN MAY RAKE IN $150M; NEW AMSTERDAM MARKET CANCELS FUNDRAISER; MORE WIFI; HISTORIC SHIP GALA; TRIBECA BOUNDARIES
 | | A stall at the New Amsterdam Market on June 21. The next market will take place on July 26. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
"Port Authority to vote on $150M in insurance funds for 3WTC," The Real Deal, 6/23/14. "The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey board of commissioners is set to decide Wednesday whether to give $150 million in insurance funds to developer Larry Silverstein to finance the construction of the 3 World Trade Center projec," says The Real Deal. "Agency vice chair and RXR Realty CEO Scott Rechler proposed transferring the $150 million, which Silverstein had won against the World Trade Center insurers. The funding would provide more time for the developer to raise the roughly $1 billion in private money that is needed. The 2.5 million-square-foot tower's cost is estimated at $2 billion." For the complete article, click here. New Amsterdam Market cancels June 26 fundraiser: Robert LaValva, founder of the New Amsterdam Market, sent an email to followers of the market saying that American Catch, the nightmarket fundraising event scheduled for June 26, had been postponed. "It has come to our attention that new regulations regarding raw, cured, pickled and smoked seafood at outdoor events have gone into effect," LaValva wrote. "Due to the prominence of seafood dishes planned, we felt it would be best to postpone in order to fully understand these new regulations and work collaboratively with the New York City Health Department to be in full compliance." He said that all purchased tickets had been refunded. The next regularly scheduled New Amsterdam Market will be on Saturday, July 26 on South Street between Beekman Street and Peck Slip, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Aug. 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Edible Manhattan and The Water Club will be holding a benefit for the New Amsterdam Market. For more information, click here. Downtown Alliance expands WiFi coverage: The Downtown Alliance has announced a significant expansion of its free public WiFi program. Partnering with the City's Economic Development Corporation and with the sponsorship of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, the Alliance's network now covers almost all of Water Street and the East River Esplanade. This expansion more than doubles the free Internet access in the neighborhood, providing coverage to over 1.34 million square feet. Sign on at #DwntwnAllianceFreeWiFi North River Historic Ship Festival gala: The North River Historic Ship Society reports that its Sixth Annual North River Historic Ship Festival this past weekend seems to have broken all attendance records. But there's one more event before the Festival is over. A gala on Tuesday, June 24 aboard Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge #79 will help to raise funds to cover the costs of the Festival and the North River Historic Ship Society's ongoing costs to keep several of its ships berthed at Pier 25 and open to the public. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer will attend the gala, which honors Helena Durst, vice president of the Durst Organization and President of New York Water Taxi. Place: Pier 25 in Hudson River Park. Time: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets start at $50. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here. "Parsing Tribeca's Slightly Shifting Borders & Unused Names" Curbed.com, 6/23/14. The staff of Curbed.com has produced an article addressing the thorny question of where Tribeca begins and ends. This is not a question without repercussions. Tribeca, says the article, is "one of the priciest neighborhoods in the city," so if a property can claim a Tribeca address, it may command a higher price than a similar property even a few blocks away. Conveniently, the article includes a map. It shows Canal Street as the northern boundary of Tribeca, West Street as the western boundary, and Broadway as (more or less) the eastern boundary. The debate rages over where the southern boundary should be drawn. Some people say Chambers Street. Others say Murray or even Vesey Street. For the complete article, click here.
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Letter to the Editor
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM AS PART OF THE SMITHSONIAN? | | Food trucks parked in front of Bowne Printers and Bowne Stationers on Water Street in the South Street Seaport. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
To the editor:
In response to the recent letter suggesting that the South Street Seaport Historic District become a National Park (DPNYC, 6/20/14), may I also suggest that the Smithsonian take over and help run the South Street Seaport Museum?
I read that Congress had declared it a National Maritime Museum (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/5409).
It is a shame that local restaurants after re-building and recovering from Hurricane Sandy should have an 18% drop in business since the Howard Hughes' food trucks have come to Fulton Street. This is really terrible. What are the priorities of the Mayor, the Borough President and the Mayor's Economic Development Corporation? To help the neighborhood businesses or punish them by letting a Texas developer run rough shod over the whole neighborhood and enrich its already deep pockets? And the plastic grass and very loud rock music are tacky and invasive.
The Howard Hughes Corporation is lacking in transparency when dealing with the community, Community Board 1, and the City Council, as shown by the misleading plans for Pier 17. We need an Environmental Impact Survey. They want to replace all the pilings? What happened to their "existing platform?"
The view of the Brooklyn Bridge is now beautiful. It should stay that way. Don't build anything on those pilings, bring back a plain pier.
Julie M. Finch
co-chair
Friends of Lamartine Pl. Historic District
From the editor:
We welcome letters to the editor. Email them to [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit them for clarity and length.
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COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETING: June 24 | A New York Harbor School student working on the South Street Seaport Museum's schooner, Lettie G. Howard. The New York Harbor School will be discussed at the
June 24 Community Board 1 meeting. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
The monthly meeting of Community Board 1 will take place on Tuesday, June 24 at Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway (the entrance is at 53 Chambers St.) All are welcome. Bring photo ID to enter the building.
A tour of the facility will precede the meeting. Arrive at 5:45 p.m. sharp for the tour.
AGENDA
I. Public session
Comments by members of the public ( 6 p.m.-7 p.m.) (1 to 2 minutes per speaker)
II. Welcome
Gina Gibney, CEO and Artistic Director of Gibney Dance
Guest speaker: Frank McCarton, Deputy Commissioner of Operations, NYC Office of Emergency Management.
III. Business session.
A. Adoption of May 2014 minutes
B. Chairperson's report - Catherine McVay Hughes C. District Manager's report - Noah Pfefferblit IV. Committee reportsA. Nominating committee - Michael Connolly Secretary to cast one vote for officer positions unopposed - request B. Executive committee - Catherine McVay Hughes 1. Lower Manhattan Development Corporation - report 2. CB1 procedures for review of applications to the NY State Liquor Authority - report 3. Spruce Street School - resolution C. Battery Park City committee - Anthony Notaro 1. Update and response to BPC Committee report 2. Pending traffic and transportation issues in BPC - report 3. BPC Parks Enforcement Patrol - report D. Seaport/Civic Center committee - John Fratta 1. Pier 17 construction, Fulton Market Building and Seaport uplands - report 2. Brooklyn Bridge George Washington plaque - resolution 3. Taste of the Seaport street activity permit application for Front Street between Beekman and Peck Slip, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. - resolution E. Planning committee - Jeff Galloway 1. MTA Bridges and Tunnels - report 2. Lower Manhattan multi-purpose levee feasibility study - report 3. Affordable housing and stabilization guide updates - report 4. Opening Cortlandt Way as a pedestrian pass-through - resolution F. Landmarks committee - Roger Byrom 1. Seaport Mixed Use Project, application for Tin Building, pavilions under FDR Drive and Link Building by Howard Hughes Corporation - report 2. 25 Broadway, application for master plan for catering hall in Great Hall - resolution 3. 87 Leonard St., application for storefront renovation ADA entries, lower of transoms and addition to the penthouse - resolution 4. 21 West St., application for removable flood barrier - resolution 5. 15 Jay St., application for sixth floor addition - resolution 6. 66 Leonard St., application for approval of signage - resolution G. Quality of Life committee - Pat Moore 1. Tour bus management at the World Trade Center - report 2. Impact of 9/11 Memorial Plaza opening on pedestrian and vehicular flow - report H. Tribeca committee - Peter Braus 1. Pier 26 construction, condition of Pier 40 and air rights transfer discussions - report 2. Overview of Hudson River Park Trust summer programming - report 3. JCP Sukkot Block Party street activity permit application for Duane Street between Church Street and West Broadway, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. - resolution 4. 361 Greenwich St., application for sidewalk caf� license for Silmor Enterprise Corp. d/b/a Tablao - resolution 5. 396 Broadway, application for hotel restaurant liquor license for Bridgeton 396 Broadway LLC d/b/a TBD - resolution 6. 98 Chambers St., application for restaurant beer license for Satya Foods Inc. d/b/a A Saffron Thread Fresh Indian - resolution 7. 59 Reade St., application for alteration of liquor license to permit sidewalk caf� for 59 MACT Corp. d/b/a Maxwells - resolution 8. 329 Greenwich St., applicatio for alteration of liquor license to permit sidewalk caf� - resolution I. Financial District committee - Ro Sheffe 1. Tour bus management - report 2. 20 Exchange Place - report 3. Water Street summer programming - report 4. National Park Service - report 5. 195 Broadway, letter requesting waiver by NYS legislature of 200 foot rule - report 6. Coenties Slip pop-up Greenmarket - resolution 7. 86A West Broadway, application for wine and beer license for J R Sushi 2 Inc. (corporation name change only) - resolution J. Youth & Education committee - Tricia Joyce 1. NY Harbor School - report 2. Division of classrooms inside Tweed Courthouse - report 3. Pre-K and kindergarten registrations - report 4. Deficiencies in public school budgets - resolution VI. Old BusinessVII. New BusinessVIII. AdjournmentAll documents relating to the above agenda are on file at the Community Board 1 office and are available for viewing by the public upon written request to [email protected]At all meetings, additional items may be raised as "new business." Please notify CB1 two days in advance if wheelchair access is required.
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CALENDAR: Week of June 23
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| | Jonathan Atkins' photographs of dancers aboard historic ships - the "Hero Project" - are on view on the historic lighthouse tender, Lilac, at Pier 25. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
June 24: "Night at the Museums," part of the River to River Festival, provides free admission to 13 museums and cultural institutions in Lower Manhattan. The participating institutions include the African Burial Ground National Monument, the Anne Frank Center USA, Federal Hall National Memorial, Fraunces Tavern Museum, Museum of American Finance, Museum of Jewish Heritage, National Archives of New York City, National Museum of the American Indian, National September 11 Memorial Museum, 9/11 Tribute Center, NYC Municipal Archives Visitor Center, The Skyscraper Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum and Wall Street Walks. Each participant will issue a Night at the Museums Passport that includes a map and information about the museums and historical sites to help visitors plan their evening. The brochure also provides access to special discounts, valid through Aug. 31, on museum admission and other services (depending on the location), as well as special offers at some nearby restaurants that night. Wall Street Walks tours require advance registration as does admission to the National September 11 Memorial Museum. Time: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, click here.
June 24: The Trisha Brown Dance Company will perform at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Arts Center on Governors Island through June 29. Times: Monday-Friday 12 p.m.-5 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays 12 p.m.-5 p.m. The performances will examine the artist's early work, collaborative practice and relationship to New York City, showing how she affected audiences, and her significant influence on a new generation of artists. June 25: The Museum of Jewish Heritage's free summer film series of films by Steven Spielberg opens with "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), starring Harrison Ford and Karen Allen. The film series continues every Wednesday through Aug. 13. Tickets are available at the box office on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 4 p.m. on the day of each screening. Place: 36 Battery Place. Time: 6:30 p.m. For more information, click here. June 25: Last day on the lighthouse tender, Lilac, for the exhibit of Jonathan Atkins' photographs - the "Hero Project" - of dancers aboard historic vessels. Lilac, built in 1933 as a lighthouse tender, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The ship is berthed at Pier 25 in Hudson River Park and is open most Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays through October. For more information about Lilac, click here. June 26: Opening reception of the 22nd annual Poets House Showcase, a free exhibit featuring all of the new poetry books and poetry-related texts published in the United States in a single year from over 650 commercial, university, and independent presses. Opening reading with Meena Alexander, Jennifer Michael Hecht, and David Lehman immediately follows. Place: 10 River Terrace. Time: 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Free. For more information, click here.
Ongoing: "From Drills to Drums: Civil War Life on Governors Island." A program for kids, who will see first hand the lives of soldiers, civilians and prisoners on the island in the 19th century. No tickets or reservations required, but large school or day camp groups should call (212) 825-3045. Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Place: Governors Island. Time: 10:20 a.m. Also at 11:20 a.m. Free. Ongoing: Hike Through History. The most comprehensive tour of Governors Island National Monument takes in nearly every highlight in the historic district. No tickets or reservations required. Visitors should be prepared to stand for a full 90 minutes and walk a distance of about 1.5 miles. Wednesdays to Sundays. Place: Governors Island. Meet at Soissons Dock. Time: 2 p.m. For more information, click here.
Ongoing: "A Town Known as Auschwitz" is an exhibit of photographs at the Museum of Jewish Heritage tracing the history of a town called "Oswiecim" in what is now Poland, where Jews and non-Jews lived side by side for centuries. When German forces occupied the town in September 1939, they renamed it "Auschwitz" and established a concentration and death camp there. More than 1 million people died at Auschwitz, including 90 percent of the town's Jews. The museum is at 36 Battery Place. For information the exhibit, click here. For information on the museum's hours and admission fees, click here.
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: The South Street Seaport Museum's lightship Ambrose and its barque Peking welcome visitors Wednesdays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Pier 16 (on the East River at Fulton Street). The Ambrose, launched in 1908, once guided large ships through the Ambrose Channel into New York harbor. Peking was launched in Hamburg, Germany in 1911, one of the last commercial sailing ships ever built. She was used to carry goods from Europe to South America and to return to Europe with nitrate. The museum's Visitors Services associates explain all of the fascinating details of the ships and their relevance to the history of New York as a port city. Cost: $12 (adults); $8 (students, 12-24 and seniors); $5 (children 2-11); under 2, free. To buy tickets, 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.
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Downtown Post NYC is emailed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer
We welcome comments, questions and letters to the editor. Send them to [email protected]
All articles and photographs in Downtown Post NYC are copyrighted and
may not be reprinted or republished without written permission.
� 2014
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