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Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) blooming in historic Battery Park. July 12, 2014.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

The last that anyone has heard from Robert LaValva, the founder of the New Amsterdam Market on South Street between Beekman Street and Peck Slip was the email that he sent out on Monday, July 14 announcing that the market was closing.

"I don't know where he is," said Roland Lewis, chairman of the New Amsterdam Market's six-person board of directors. "He didn't discuss this with us before he did it. I haven't talked with him since then, though I've tried to contact him."

Lewis said that the board had an emergency meeting on July 15. "There's a strong inclination, if it's possible, to keep the market going in some fashion," he said. "Of course, we want to talk to Robert, and we will as soon as we can, to find out what his intentions are."

Lewis praised LaValva for fostering interest in the local food movement and for inspiring stakeholders who have worked, and are continuing to work, to preserve the historic character of the Seaport district.

Lewis said that he really didn't know why LaValva has closed the market. "He's worked very hard to do a wonderful thing for a long period of time, and this could just be exhaustion," Lewis said. "But that's just speculation on my part. He's a real visionary and a great leader but we all have our limits." 

It will be the second night (and the fourth year) for Arts Brookfield's Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival, staged on the waterfront plaza at North Cove Marina. The Robert Cray Band, with five Grammy Awards, 15 nominations and millions of record sales worldwide is headlining. John Hiatt & The Combo and the James Carter Organ Trio are also on the program, which runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

In Wagner Park, the Wiyos, who opened for Bob Dylan on his stadium summer tour in 2009, will be holding forth as part of the five-week River & Blues festival produced by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy. The Wiyos' sound combines blues, folk and swing played on washboard, harmonica, kazoo, steel and acoustic guitars, banjo, ukulele and upright bass accompanied by vocals. The performance starts at 7 p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m.

River & Blues concerts have been going on in one form or other and with different names since the late 1990s. The present name was conferred 14 years ago.

"The reason for the name is that we want everyone who hears the series' name to picture enjoying live music next to a river, whether it's the Hudson River - a part of this community's heart and soul - or the Mississippi River, home and inspiration to so much great American roots music," said Abby Ehrlich, director of programming for the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, and the organizer of the River & Blues concerts. "It seems meaningful to present really American music in view of the Statue of Liberty," she added.

Both River & Blues and the Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival are free, but the Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival has proven so popular that a ticket is required for admittance. Two tickets are distributed per person starting at 3 p.m., first come, first served. The house opens at 5 p.m.

Christian Scott talking to the audience at last week's River & Blues concert.

For the River & Blues concerts, the audience sits on the grass, no tickets required. Kids wander around. Sometimes people get up and dance. At last week's concert, which opened this year's River & Blues season, Christian Scott, the Grammy-nominated trumpeter and leader of the band, came down from the stage to talk to the audience about his heritage as a Black Indian from New Orleans and to lead the audience in call-and-response singing.

The Lowdown Hudson Blues musicians play on a large, elevated stage with multicolored spotlights. The performances on this year's opening night were choreographed and polished. But if there were some barriers created by the formality and size

Audience for Lowdown Hudson Blues.

of the setting, Sharon Jones, the headliner with her band, the Dap-Kings, broke them down. She asked some members of the audience to join her on stage and then went on to exude so much energy that it washed over the large crowd and pulled them in. She was a volcanic force, alternately playful, exuberant, fierce, coquettish and determined.

She held nothing back.

A year ago, she was diagnosed with cancer and went through months of surgery and chemotherapy. But now, "I'm cancer-free," she said, "and I'm not going to stop until they lay me down."

Perhaps it takes a lifetime of experience and courage to come to the place where she is now at the age of 58. Given what she did last night, it would be hard to imagine anything laying her down any time soon. She was an inspiration.

"Merchants files another complaint against GEMS - for $200M," The Real Deal, 7/15/14. Merchants Hospitality, headed by Battery Park City resident Abraham Merchant, is probably better known locally for its restaurants than for its hotel and office properties. In Lower Manhattan, Merchants owns or is partners in Merchants River House, Clinton Hall, Ambrose Hall, Watermark Bar, The Black Hound, Southwest NY, and Pound & Pence. But Merchants is in the news this week not because of the restaurants but because of a development deal that went sour. "Days after being rebuffed by two New York State courts, Merchants Hospitality has filed a new $200 million complaint against Dubai-based GEMS Education, alleging the firm backed out of a deal to develop a private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan," says The Real Deal. "The complaint, filed July 11 in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges GEMS committed fraud and breach of contract when it allegedly backed out of an agreement to build a 213,000-square-foot school on Second Avenue and 93rd Street under a 40-year triple-net-lease." For the complete article, click here.

"A Guide to 10 NYC Murals You Should Check Out Right Now," Curbed.com, 7/15/14. Some cities, Philadelphia and Belfast among them, are so famous for their outdoor murals that they have become tourist attractions. New York City isn't quite in that category, though NYC has its share of outdoor art. Staff members of Curbed.com picked 10 murals that they describe as "their favorites." A mural on Peck Slip in the South Street Seaport is among them. It was commissioned by Con Edison in 1978 to conceal an unsightly substation. For the complete article, click here.

Downtown Boathouse update: The volunteer-run Downtown Boathouse, which offers free kayaking, has only been open on Pier 26 at North Moore Street since July 4, but people are already beating a path to its door. Last Saturday, 600 people went kayaking, according to Downtown Boathouse president Graeme Birchall. In addition to weekends, the boathouse is open on weekdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., weather permitting, with the last boat going out at 6:30 p.m. "We do try to post status updates on our website, but we sometimes miss things," said Birchall. Eventually, when the boathouse volunteers have fully settled into their new quarters, they will offer public trips on the Hudson River and kayaking classes. All activities are free. For more information, click here. 

Brookfield leases 117,000 square feet at 250 Vesey St.: Brookfield Property Partners announced on July 15 that it has signed a 10-year lease for 117,000 square feet to Jane Street at 250 Vesey St., one of the five office towers of the Brookfield Place complex in downtown Manhattan. Jane Street is a quantitative trading firm that focuses on technology and collaborative problem solving. Jane Street will join a new roster of tenants at Brookfield Place that include Time Inc., the College Board and the Institute of Culinary Education. Brookfield has signed over 2.7 million square feet of office, retail and restaurant leases in Brookfield Place during the last twelve months.

Downtown Alliance and GrowNYC host farmers' market on Coenties Slip:  On Thursday, July 17 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Downtown Alliance will host the season's second summer night market on Coenties Slip between Pearl and Water Streets. The market was developed in partnership with GrowNYC. It will feature local growers and restaurateurs as well as live music by Latin jazz artist Ray Mantilla. Participants in the market include Bluestone Lane, Financier Patisserie, Zigolini's Beer Garden, Francesca's Bakery, Migliorelli Farm, Toigo Orchards, Bad Seed Hard Cider, King Ferry Winery and Apple State Hilltop Family Farm & Apiary.

Picnic tables and fake grass on Fulton Street in the South Street Seaport, with 203-year-old Schermerhorn Row in the background. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

(Re: Letter to the editor, "'Horrified that New Amsterdam Market is closing," DPNYC, 7/14/14.) I, too, was horrified to get the news of the Market closing. Councilwoman Chin's response puts all the blame on the founder. Clearly, it's all his fault and our elected officials, Chin included, are all for the Market - which, nevertheless, is closing. And in spite of their clearly heartfelt support of the Museum, it remains closed, too, its future still unsettled. And a recent notice from the Museum's president indicated that some of its ships, including the same Peking that was such a stirring backdrop to Macy's national broadcast of the July 4th fireworks, would have to go, no matter what.

Schermerhorn Row, too, sits there, forlorn, almost unseen amid the fake grass and trucks and "temporary" shipping containers.

And of course, there remains the specter of the skyscraper Hughes wishes to build right in the sightline of the Brooklyn Bridge.

And all of this despite the supposedly heartfelt support of all our local officials - who are either totally powerless to do anything about it, even as much as talking to our mayor, who seems not to care one way or the other, or are perhaps not completely sincere in their opposition.

The time for posturing and cheery public statements and powerless working group meetings is now over.

Let those of us who truly want a market and a skyscraper-less historic district and a vibrant commercial life that respects the past as well as the present do something to make it happen.

Rona Kluger
community resident