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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
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Volume 1, No. 140 Nov. 11, 2014
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Quote of the day:
"This is like no other neighborhood in our city, if not in the world."
- Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, describing the importance of the historic South Street Seaport at a public forum convened to discuss its future.
* South Street Seaport public forum draws standing-room-only crowd * Downtown dining: Olive's at Hudson Eats carries on its decades-old SoHo traditions * Bits & Bytes: Window washers rescued at 1 World Trade Center; Fulton Transit Hub opens * South Street Seaport Museum: Printing and bookbinding workshops at Bowne Printers * Downtown Bulletin Board: Stockings With Care fundraiser; Gardening volunteers needed * Community Board 1 meetings: Week of Nov. 10 * Calendar
For breaking news, go to www.DowntownPostNYC.comA bracelet made of turquoise and silver in an exhibit called "Glittering World: Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family" at the National Museum of the American Indian. Nov. 10, 2014.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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CROWD AT SOUTH STREET SEAPORT FORUM HEARS ELECTED OFFICIALS INSIST THAT DEVELOPER HOWARD HUGHES 'RESPECT' GUIDELINES | | Among the elected officials who spoke at the South Street Seaport Public Forum were New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, New York State Senator Daniel Squadron, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilmember Margaret Chin. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
The auditorium at the Spruce Street School was packed on the night of Nov. 10 - standing room only - as a phalanx of elected officials sat on the stage for the South Street Seaport Public Forum convened by The City Club of New York, Save Our Seaport and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance.
The officials were there to deliver a message about the future of the historic South Street Seaport, New York City's oldest port and the gateway that made the city a commercial powerhouse. "This is like no other neighborhood in our city if not in the world," said Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
The officials' message was addressed to the people who crowded the room, and most particularly to one member of the audience, Christopher Curry, executive vice president of The Howard Hughes Corporation.  | |
New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
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New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver led off. "The development of the South Street Seaport is enormously important to our Lower Manhattan community and for our entire city, and that is why I joined with the local elected officials and the community members about a year ago to insist that the city and The Howard Hughes Corporation reveal their plans," he said.
He was referring to the fact that up to that time, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, landlord for the South Street Seaport, and The Howard Hughes Corporation, a Dallas-based developer with long-term leases on parts of the Seaport, had been negotiating in secret, with EDC signing deals that gave Howard Hughes options on some parts of the Seaport where it did not currently hold leases and also leasing large parts of the Seaport to HHC for less than $3.50 a square foot.
In November 2013, it came to light that HHC wanted to build a high rise on the site of the New Market building, the last building to be constructed specifically for the Fulton Fish Market. HHC wanted to tear down the New Market building in order to erect a luxury hotel and apartment tower, claiming that this would be the only way to give it the wherewithal to subsidize the South Street Seaport Museum and make needed structural repairs on the waterfront.
"People, including me, were understandably upset about the prospect of imminent certification of the ULURP application [Uniform Land Use Review Procedure] to build a 650-foot tower on the current site of the New Market building adjacent to the South Street Seaport Historic District," said Brewer. "I personally view this as akin to building a tower in the center of Colonial Williamsburg."
In response to what many in the Seaport community and beyond viewed as an impending disaster, the elected officials and Community Board 1 formed the Seaport Working Group composed, in addition to themselves, of Seaport residents and businesses and other stakeholders in the South Street Seaport. The Seaport Working Group met more than 10 times over a four-month period to hammer out principles and guidelines for future development in the area.
The purpose, Speaker Silver said at the forum on Nov. 10, was to "engage in a public and transparent dialogue and process so that the city [EDC] and the developer [Howard Hughes] could listen and understand the concerns of this neighborhood. It's precisely the integrity of that process and the outcome of the months of thoughtful and intelligent deliberation and discussion that is to be respected as this process moves forward."
He said that the Seaport Working Group guidelines included the importance of maintaining the character and scale of the historic waterfront district, improving open space, supporting the South Street Seaport Museum as the cultural anchor of the district, providing the community with a diverse retail mix that would include a year-round public market and improving connectivity and resiliency.
"We hope and expect that the developer will be responsive," Silver said. "We look forward to moving on to the next phase in this ongoing process."
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who spoke after Silver, said that he wanted to join his colleagues "in making it very clear to Howard Hughes" that the community had gone through some very hard times and that everyone who stayed in the Seaport after Superstorm Sandy
"would have a right to say what would happen in the Seaport."
He also said, "From a Comptroller's perspective, we will watch the financing. My predecessor [John Liu] put out an audit about expenses and issues related to development. We will be watching this as well."
He promised that the Comptroller's Office "will be part of this process with all of you."
"We are unified in our support of [the Seaport Working Group] principles and we expect any proposal [from The Howard Hughes Corporation] to satisfy these guidelines and principles," said Brewer.
"The Seaport has, to date, maintained its grit, its architecture, its character and its scale," she said. "Repeatedly at our meetings we heard about the unique, historical nature of this area and we need to maintain that historic content and to support and increase the role of the [South Street Seaport] Museum as its anchor to maintain the grit and feel of the neighborhood."
"I don't think The Howard Hughes Corporation even existed the first time I saw a proposal [for the neighborhood] in my relatively short time in office," said New York State Senator Daniel Squadron. "We've been clear that there's a way to do this right and I don't want anyone in this room to give up on that, tonight or any night in the future. I thank you for being here."
City Councilmember Margaret Chin, the last of the elected officials to speak, said, "I am personally not in a rush to see the next phase move forward. I'd like to see Howard Hughes take their time, deliberate, work with us using the guidelines we developed and come up with a plan that is both contextual and visionary and that would pay for things like the historic ships and the continued operation of the Seaport Museum."
But apparently, she is not to get her wish. In response to a direct question from someone in the audience about Howard Hughes' plans, Chris Curry was asked to speak. He declined to say much.
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Christopher Curry, executive vice president of
The Howard Hughes Corporation.
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"The Howard Hughes Corporation was a willing participant in the Working Group process," he said. "I was at almost every meeting. ... It was a very good process. I actually think we'll have a better project because of it, but this is not the night for us to make a presentation. I actually came here to listen to the community, to listen to the group on the stage, and I look forward to having the opportunity to present our proposed project to the Seaport Working Group very shortly."
On Nov. 10, the very day that the South Street Seaport Public Forum took place, The Howard Hughes Corporation's required third-quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed more than Curry had been willing to impart.
In addition to mentioning that HHC's third quarter net income in 2014 had increased 39.6%, or $4.4 million to $15.5 million compared to third quarter 2013 net income of $11.1 million, Howard Hughes said, "On November 20, 2013, we announced plans for further redevelopment of the South Street Seaport district which includes approximately 700,000 square feet of additional space, East River Esplanade improvements, a marina, restoration of the historic Tin Building, the creation of a dynamic food market, replacement of wooden platform piers adjacent to Pier 17 and a newly constructed mixed-use building. The plans are subject to a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure ("ULURP") that requires approval by the New York City Council, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and various other government agencies. We expect to begin our formal approval process in the fourth quarter of 2014."
That would be about now.
- Terese Loeb Kreuzer
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Downtown dining
OLIVE'S AT HUDSON EATS CARRIES ON ITS SOHO TRADITIONS
 | Nick Hartman, co-owner of Olive's at Hudson Eats in Brookfield Place.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Most of the food stalls at Hudson Eats in Brookfield Place are staffed by hired workers. However, people who stop by Olive's will meet Nick Hartman who owns Olive's with his wife, Toni Allocca. He's at Hudson Eats every day, he said, arriving around 5:30 a.m. to supervise food preparation and leaving between 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. when Hudson Eats closes for the night. Allocca runs the original Olive's at 120 Prince St. The Hudson Eats outpost is Hartman's domain. " The reason that we're never going to be a chain is that we believe that you should make things in the kitchen where you're serving them," he said. "All of the cooking for the Hudson Eats restaurant is done right here."
Hartman was an artist for a while. He designed the logo for Olive's and carved the wooden letters that ornament the restaurant's stand at Hudson Eats - but he has more or less given up art for food.
Allocca opened Olive's in 1992. Hartman was one of her customers. They found that they had similar ideas about food and how it should be produced and cooked. " My dad's a veterinarian," Hartman said. "I grew up on a farm in upstate New York. We raised the animals we ate, we did the processing and we cared about how food was created."
Everything at Olive's is made from scratch, with a long list of daily specials.
The Hudson Eats Olive's opened on June 1. Hartman said, "It has been a great experience overall. I'm about meeting my customers and being here every day. That's been the exciting part." He said he's getting lots of business customers but not many from the neighborhood. He would like to see more locals stopping by to eat. Prices are the same at both the Prince Street and Hudson Eats Olive's. At lunch, the average check is about $15, according to Hartman. "That's dictated by the real estate," he said. Leasing costs have risen steadily. Olive's would have to sell a lot of cookies (at $2.50 each) to pay the overhead, and it does. In the morning, freshly baked oatmeal pecan, peanut butter, chocolate chip and ginger cookies are displayed on the counter under plastic hoods. By closing time, most of them are gone.
Hartman said that the grilled marinated chicken breast sandwich is Olive's most popular. ($10) and that Olive's is also especially known for its coffee.
Olive's serves seasonally harvested coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters. "When coffee is seasonally harvested, there's depth and character to the taste," said Hartman. Olive's sells coffee beans by the pound ($15 to $20) as well as by the cup, starting at $2.50.
"Everything we get, we get daily," Hartman said. "We deal with suppliers who care." Most of them are the same ones who have been selling to Olive's since the restaurant opened.
What has changed since then? "Not much," Hartman replied. "Since 1992, we've had relationships with people who are providing an amazing, quality product. They were doing it then and they're still doing it now."
- Terese Loeb Kreuzer
For more information about Olive's, including its menu and prices, click here.
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Bits & BytesWINDOW WASHERS RESCUED AT 1WTC; FULTON TRANSIT HUB OPENS; TEMPORARY OFFICE SPACE; CHANG REFINANCES FIDI HOLIDAY INN
 | A Chinese restaurant called St. George's in the Holiday Inn at 99 Washington St. Owners Sam Chang and Jubao Xie have just refinanced the building.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
"Window Washers Are Rescued From Scaffolding at 1 World Trade Center," New York Times, 11/12/14. "Firefighters on Wednesday afternoon rescued two window washers who became suspended 69 stories above the street while working at the newly completed 1 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan," says The New York Times. "The workers, who were harnessed to the scaffolding of the window-washing equipment, were uninjured, according to the authorities. Shortly before 2 p.m., fireighters could be seen cutting a hole through a window near the platform and then assembling inside, where they pulled the workers to safety. The window washers had been lowered from the top of the building before their machine malfunctioned shortly before 1 p.m." For the complete article, click here.
"Out of Dust and Debris, a New Jewel Rises," New York Times, 11/9/14. "The glass-and-steel prism called Fulton Center began life as a public-transit labyrinth, a spaghetti-bowl tangle of dimly-lit corridors, narrow switchbacks and baffling signage cobbled together out of five subway stations built in the early 1900s," The New York Times observes. "A century later, and more than a decade after part of the Lower Manhattan subway complex was destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the nine subway lines that converge on Fulton Street and Broadway have been knit together anew. New Yorkers, accustomed to thinking of transit hubs like Penn Station and Times Square as places to suffer through, will find on Monday morning a kind of Crystal Palace, crowned by a dome that funnels daylight two stories below ground. Even with ballooning budgets and repeated delays, Fulton Center was the kind of megaproject designed to inspire hyperbole, and it did: 'Forget the Grand Central clock,' said Gale Brewer, the Manhattan borough president, at Fulton Center's opening on Sunday afternoon. 'They're going to come here.'" For the complete article, click here. , 11/7/14. "World Trade Center developer Silverstein Properties is mulling an expansion of its unit that provides temporary offices for the city's burgeoning numbers of tech and digital media startups," says Crain's New York Business. "A venture it launched almost two years ago called Silver Suites, whose sole outpost is at at the company's 7 World Trade Center tower, may expand to 4 World Trade Center, the 72-story, 2.3 million-square-foot tower that it opened a year ago. If Silverstein goes through with its plans, Silver Suites would likely take a full floor at the property, where floors range from 33,000 to 45,000 square feet. Presently the office suite company's first and only location is on the 46th floor of 7 World Trade Center." For the complete article, click here. "Chang Refis FiDi Hotel With $135M From UBS," Commercial Observer, 11/7/14. "Sam Chang and Jubao Xie, sponsors of the Holiday Inn Financial District, a full service hotel at 99 Washington Street, have refinanced their debt on the property," says the Commercial Observer. "The sponsors, who are the majority shareholders of McSam Downtown, the ownership entity, took a $135 million loan from UBS, Mr. Chang confirmed to Mortgage Observer." According to the article, "The 50-story building recently finished construction. The 492-key hotel features two restaurants." For the complete article, click here. "Church near WTC a Calatrava classic: Architecture review," The Real Deal, 11/8/14. "Ground was recently broken on what will probably prove to be one of the more unusual structures in the vicinity of the World Trade Center site," says The Real Deal. "In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, relatively little attention was paid to the destruction of a small house of worship, Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, housed in a four-story structure just off the WTC site. Now the church is being rebuilt, far grander than before, on land once occupied by the Deutsche Bank building, immediately to the south of the 9/11 Memorial. The project's architect its one of the most inspired of the current generation, Santiago Calatrava, whose highly promising transit hub is approaching completion only a few hundred feet away." The Real Deal says that, "The gourd-like shape of the church reproduces the language of traditional Orthodox architecture for the past ten centuries, an architecture that is itself based in ancient Roman traditions. The dome will be formed from 40 ribs, repeating the number to be found at Hagia Sophia, Justinian's great church in Constantinople. Each corner will be fortified by an imposing masonry pylon." For the complete article, click here. "Are we safe? 'Of course not': climate scientist's NYC warning after Sandy," The Guardian, 11/5/14. In the fall of 2011, Klaus Jacob, an "esteemed Columbia University climate scientist, published a prophetic report estimating how much damage New York's subway system would suffer in the event of a major storm," says The Guardian. "One year later, when hurricane Sandy brought the Hudson river pouring into subway stations citywide, that report proved eerily accurate. The press promptly named Jacob the Cassandra of NYC Flooding - a man whose valid, persistent warnings had gone unheeded for years." For a series in the Guardian called "Stormproofing the City," a reporter interviewed Jacob about where he thinks we stand now. The subject of "Lower Manhattan" came up several times. For the complete article, click here. "New Mural at Domino Site; New York City Pop-Up Book," Curbed.com, 11/11/14. Curbed.com says there's a new mural at the Domino site. That doesn't interest us as much as the New York City pop-up book. Curbed.com comments, "In architecture, you're nobody till you're in a pop-up book," says the (PR) tipster who sent us a copy of British author-illustrator Jennie Maizels' new Pop-Up New York. In that sense, it looks like 8 Spruce Street, a.k.a New York By Gehry has finally made it." This pop-up book has everything: the Gehry building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Staten Island ferry, the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial pools and more. It's supposed to be for 5- to 9-year-olds, though it's possible that the publisher underestimated the age of the potential audience. For the Curbed.com photos of the book, click here. |
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South Street Seaport Museum
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING WORKSHOPS AT BOWNE PRINTERS
 | | Ali Osborn shows printing workshop students how to operate Bowne Printers' vintage Vandercook press. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Bowne Printers at 209 Water St. in the South Street Seaport is offering three workshops in the next few weeks that will enable participants to learn about hardcover bookbinding and letterpress printing. Bowne is custodian of some of the South Street Seaport Museum's remarkable collection of antique letterpresses and typefaces, used daily by its resident printers. In the workshop, members of the public will also be able to use these precious remnants of the days when printing was a craft and an art form. - Terese Loeb KreuzerOn Sunday, Nov 23, guest instructor Lee Marchalonis, a visiting teacher from Parsons School of Design and the Center for Book Arts, will teach fundamental bookbinding and letterpress printing techniques. A variety of antique printing plates from Bowne's extensive working collection, will be available for students to use. They will learn how to print these plates on the shop's Vandercook proofing press to create unique sheets that they will bind into their books. Each participant will take home a book that he or she has sewn, reinforced and finished with an original hard cover. No prior experience is required. All materials are supplied. For ages 16 and up. Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets: $150; $125 (South Street Seaport Museum members). To register, click here. On Sunday, Nov. 30, Bowne's printers will teach how to print posters from wood type. In this three-hour workshop, participants will collaborate on designing and printing a broadside poster from moveable wooden type. Bowne has a collection of more than 100 fonts that can be used for this project. The first step will be to spell out bold words or phrases and then test print them on a hand-operated proofing press that dates from the 1890s. Next, the class will learn how to arrange and prepare their phrases for printing on Bowne's vintage Vandercook cylinder press. The final step will be to lock up the composition on the press bed and learn about inking, registration, proofing and make-ready. Everyone will get a chance to operate the press. Each student will go home with test prints and three copies of the group's poster. Time: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets: $75; $60 (South Street Seaport Museum members). To register, click here. Sunday, Dec. 7 is the date for the next "Block Party" at Bowne Printers. In a three-hour workshop, resident printer Ali Osborn teaches the basics of carving and printing linoleum blocks. He begins by showing how to sketch out an idea and then transfer it to a linoleum block, where his students gauge away the backgrounds, leaving lines and desired dark places in high relief. Then Osborn brings out ink and rollers so that students can print their blocks by hand. The final step is to arrange everyone's work on the bed of Bowne's vintage Vandercook press and make a poster. Each student goes home with his or her own block, individual prints and one poster of the combined effort. All materials are supplied. There are a maximum of six people in each class. For ages 12 and up. Time: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets: $50; $40 (South Street Seaport Museum members). To register, click here.
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Downtown bulletin board
STOCKINGS WITH CARE FUNDRAISER;
BATTERY CONSERVANCY SEEKS GARDENING VOLUNTEERS
 | | Battery Park City resident Rosalie Joseph co-founded Stockings With Care in 1992 to make Christmas a happy time for kids in homeless shelters. Stockings With Care is now fundraising for this year's gift distribution. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Stockings With Care: The Christmas holiday is a joyful time for many children but not for those in homeless shelters or whose families are struggling to buy necessities and have nothing left over for presents. In 1992, Battery Park City resident Rosalie Joseph, a casting director, and producer Tom Fontana started an organization called "Stockings With Care" (SWC) to bring some holiday happiness to these children. SWC works with several agencies that help families in crisis. The children make their wish lists, and social workers provide SWC with the name, gender and age of each child along with their wishes. Individual donors (aka "Santas"), corporations and an army of volunteers come together to purchase and wrap the gifts. They are then delivered anonymously to the parents before the holidays, ensuring parental dignity and creating holiday magic for the kids. Last year over 1,000 children woke up to a miracle on Christmas morning. In the last 22 years, more than 40,000 children have benefited from Stockings with Care. There are many ways to help with Stockings With Care. One way is to come to the SWC fundraiser on Monday, Nov. 17 at the Hudson Station Bar and Grill (440 Ninth Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets) from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Celebrities will be tending bar, with all proceeds going to Stockings With Care. The cover charge is $30 in advance; $40 at the door. The bartenders are contributing all of their tips to Stockings With Care. Among the bartending celebrities will be Josh Lucas( Mysteries of Laura, Sweet Home Alabama), Nikki M. James (Tony Winner for Book of Mormon, Les Miserables), Orfeh (Legally Blonde, Saturday Night Fever), Andy Karl (Rocky, Legally Blonde, Jersey Boys), Natalie Toro (A Tale of Two Cities, Les Miserables), Laz Alonso (Mysteries of Laura, Southland, Avatar), Janina Gavankar (Mysteries of Laura, True Blood, The L Word), and Max Jenkins (Mysteries of Laura, Breaking Upwards). For more information about the celebrity bartending event, and to buy tickets, click here. You must be at least 21 years old to attend this event. For more information about Stockings With Care, including how to donate, how to become a "Santa" and how to help with the enormous job of wrapping thousands of presents, click here or email jeremy@stockingswithcare.org or call (917) 991-5975. Presents will be wrapped on Dec. 11 through Dec. 14. Battery Conservancy seeks gardening volunteers: Help The Battery Gardeners plant bulbs this month! Bulbs need to be in the ground before the first frost, so the Conservancy welcomes any time you can give while it is still warm. Join the Conservancy on the following days from 9:30 a.m. to noon: Thursday and Friday, Nov. 13 and 14; Monday to Friday, Nov. 17 to Nov. 21. Volunteers will meet at The Battery playground at 9:30 each day. Click here to sign up. For more information email volunteer@thebattery.org.
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COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETINGS: Week of Nov. 10 | | Franklin Street in Tribeca. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Community Board 1 meetings take place at 49-51 Chambers St., Room 709 starting at 6 p.m. unless otherwise indicated. Photo ID is required to enter the building. All are welcome to attend.
Nov. 12: Tribeca Committee
* 99-100 Franklin St., application pursuant to section 72-21 of the Zoning Resolution for a Board of Standards and Appeals variance to allow construction of two mixed-use residential and commercial buildings on a single zoning lot - Resolution
* 11 Sixth Ave., application for enclosed sidewalk cafe for Eleven Food and Beverage Corporation - Resolution
* 67 Reade St., application for restaurant wine and beer license for New Sun Caf� Japanese Cuisine Inc. - Resolution
* Worth Street Reconstruction Project - Preliminary presentation by New York City Department of Design and Construction
The following notices have been received for renewal, upgrade, or transfer of wine and beer or liquor licenses:
* 132 Reade St., application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for Forge Restaurant LLC
* 77 Worth St., application for renewal of restaurant liquor license for RBC Bar Inc. d/b/a Atera
Nov. 13: Landmarks Committee
* 56 Warren St., application for replacement of bluestone pavers - Resolution
* 60 Collister St./157 Hudson St., application for one-story addition to five story building - Resolution
* West side of West Broadway between Warren and Murray Streets - Discussion
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CALENDAR: Week of Nov. 10
 | On Nov. 12, "Maiden Lane by Gaslight in 1882," a print by John Stobart, was auctioned at a fundraiser for the landmarked lighthouse tender, Lilac. Peter Stanford, co-founder and former president of the South Street Seaport Museum, donated the print for the silent auction.
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Nov. 13: Gibney Dance launches its inaugural presenting season at 280 Broadway with "DoublePlus," a six-week series of performances by emerging artists curated by artist/mentors Miguel Gutierrez, Jon Kinzel, Bebe Miller, Annie-B Parson, RoseAnne Spradlin and Donna Uchizono. The second program in the series pairs Daria Fain and Gillian Walsh, as curated by RoseAnne Spradlin. Through Nov. 15. Place: 280 Broadway. Time: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20; $15 (seniors, class card holders and students). For information and tickets, click here. Nov. 13: "Glittering World: Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family" opens with a panel discussion with Lee, Raymond, and Mary Marie Yazzie, moderated by Lois Sherr Dubin, curator of the exhibit and author of its catalog. Place: The Diker Pavilion at the National Museum of the American Indian, One Bowling Green. Time: 5:30 p.m. The panel will be followed by a reception and book-signing in the museum's rotunda. To RSVP for the reception, email NYRSVP@si.edu or call (212) 514-3750. The exhibit opens on Nov. 14 and continues through Jan. 10, 2016. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and on Thursdays until 8 p.m.; closed December 25. Admission is free. Nov. 14: Fall Fun Food brings some terrific bar food along with New York State beer, ale and hard cider to the plaza at Albany and Greenwich Streets. There will also be live music and games. Time: Noon to 8 p.m. Admission, free. For more information, click here. Nov. 14: During a three-day marathon, a succession of people will read all 600+ pages of Herman Melville's masterpiece, "Moby-Dick or The Whale." The readings take place in three different venues. Nov. 14: Place: Ace Hotel, 20 W. 29th St. Time: 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Nov. 15: Place: South Street Seaport Museum, 213 Water St. in the Melville Gallery. Time: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Nov. 16: Place: Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby St. Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. For more information, click here. Nov. 15: Hear renowned architects Steven Semes and John Massengale talk about how to design a better New York. with illustrations from Tribeca. Steven Semes' book, "The Future of the Past: A Conservation Ethic Architecture, Urbanism, and Historic Preservation," presents new arguments about how to maintain a neighborhood's historic character over time. John Massengale will talk about how street design can tame the car and make neighborhoods easier places to walk and shop. His recent book, "Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns," is both a manifesto and how-to manual to return streets to people. Place: 111 Franklin St. (New York Academy of Art). Time: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. (with wine and cheese reception afterwards). Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door. To buy advance tickets, click here or go to www.tribecatrust.org.
Nov. 15: During the first four weekends in November, Out to See is transforming the South Street Seaport into a cultural festival and holiday market celebrating New York City makers, designers, artisans, artists, food entrepreneurs and musicians. New Yorkers will be able to shop, attend workshops, get 3D scans and prints and explore cutting-edge retail.Place: Melville Gallery at 213 Water St.; Little Water Street; Front Street; Cannon's Walk and more nearby locations. Time: Weekends in November from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information on Out to See, click here.
Thursdays through Nov. 20: Every Thursday through Nov. 20, food vendors from Hudson Eats at 200 Vesey St. in Brookfield Place will offer free food and wine pairings in collaboration with Vintry Fine Wines, a store in Battery Park City's Goldman Sachs Alley. The kick-off on Oct. 23 featured wine and cheese, with the food coming from Skinny Pizza and Black Seed Bagels. On Oct. 30, guests sampled charcuterie and wine from Mighty Quinn's and Umami, and on Nov. 6, chocolate and wine from Olive's and Sprinkles Cupcakes. There will be seafood and wine (from Dig Inn, Tartinery and Blue Ribbon Sushi on Nov. 13) and spice and wine (from Dos Toros, Chopt and Num Pang on Nov. 20). Registration is required. To register, click here. Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Free.
Ongoing: The Skyscraper Museum presents "Times Square, 1984: The Postmodern Movement," on view through Jan. 18, 2015. Times Square today is bright and crowded - a tourist mecca, entertainment district, retail powerhouse and pedestrianized precinct that matches in vitality, both economic and populist, any decade of its storied past. But 30 years ago, the future of Times Square was in limbo - caught between a series of false starts at clean-slate urban renewal by New York City and New York State and an emerging philosophy of urbanism that favored history, preservationist values, electric signs and semiotics, and delirious diversity. Place: 39 Battery Place. Open, Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Admission: $5; $2.50 (students and seniors). 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, Nov. 15, 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.
Ongoing: "Give Me Liberty," a solo exhibition of new works by Brooklyn-based artist Sylvanus Shaw, is at the Fraunces Tavern Museum. In this site-specific exhibition, Shaw utilizes images from the Museum's permanent collection, invoking imagery of early American statehood in media ranging from oil on panel to collaged holograms, security envelopes, and other mediums.
Through March 16, 2015. Place: Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl St. Museum hours: Mon.-Sat., noon to 5 p.m. Admission: $7; $4 (seniors, students, children 6-8); free (children under 5 and active duty military). For more information, click here.
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Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer
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