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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC 
 
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
 
 
Volume 1, No. 151  Dec. 15, 2014
IN THIS ISSUE
Quote of the day:
"When I look at this, I really get the feeling of Las Vegas."   
        - Paul Hovitz, a member of Community Board 1's Seaport Committee, describing his reaction to The Howard Hughes Corporation's development proposals for the South Street Seaport.

* Howard Hughes Seaport presentation to Community Board 1 draws mixed reactions
* Excerpts from testimony to Community Board 1 on HHC Seaport plans
* Letter to the editor: Battery Park City Authority criticized for being 'secretive' in marina award
* Bits & Bytes: City Hall Park condos; New Brookfield Place tenants; Millionaire student
* Downtown Bulletin Board: Lifeguard certification; Ferry service to Jersey City; Coat drive
* Community Board 1 meetings: Week of Dec. 15
* Calendar

NOTE: Supporters of Michael Fortenbaugh's application to continue to manage North Cove Marina are planning a rally on Dec. 15 at 6 p.m. It will be held on the southern flank of the marina. Fortenbaugh has operated the marina for the last 10 years but his contract with the Battery Park City Authority ends on Dec. 31. For background on tonight's rally from a previous issue of Downtown Post NYC, click here.

For breaking news, go to www.DowntownPostNYC.com
All ads in Downtown Post NYC have clickable links. Click on an ad for more information.

Anne Militello's "Metamorphosis" in the Winter Garden, Battery Park City. Dec. 13, 2014 
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) 


 


HOWARD HUGHES' SEAPORT PRESENTATION TO CB1'S LANDMARKS COMMITTEE RAISES QUESTIONS, DRAWS MIXED REACTIONS
Chris Curry, senior executive vice president of The Howard Hughes Corporation, addressing Community Board 1 on Dec. 10 at a special meeting of CB1's Landmarks Committee to hear HHC's proposals for Seaport development and to elicit public comments. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
 
St. Paul's Chapel was packed to the eaves on Dec. 10 for a special meeting of Community Board 1's Landmarks Committee to hear The Howard Hughes Corporation's proposals for South Street Seaport development. The discussion, as CB1 chair Catherine McVay Hughes explained at the start
Catherine McVay Hughes.
of the three-hour meeting, would only revolve around the part of the proposal that affected landmarked structures in the Seaport.

A controversial apartment tower on the site of the 1939 New Market Building would not be discussed, she said, because if it were built, it would be located just outside of the landmarked district. Also, a middle school that HHC proposed to put in that tower would be off the table that evening for the same reason.

On the agenda were a proposition to dismantle and move the Tin Building - a vestige of the old Fulton Fish Market; the installation of lighting under the FDR Drive and the construction of glass shopping pavilions where the New Amsterdam Market once hosted around 65 vendors on a given weekend; the construction of a canopy on the roof the Pier 17 shopping mall, now under construction, and a second canopy linking the Tin Building with the mall; the demolition of the Link Building on Pier 17 to open up vistas of the Tin Building; and the extension of the East River esplanade to the Brooklyn Bridge. Wayfinding signage would be placed around the landmarked district under the HHC proposal.

In addition, The Howard Hughes Corporation proposed to displace the South Street Seaport
Pier 16 showing a proposed pavilion to house the South Street Seaport Museum. (SHoP Architects)
Museum from 202-year-old Schermerhorn Row where it now has galleries, and use that space plus some additional space on a newly constructed building on John Street for 60 to 70 units of affordable housing. HHC showed plans for a new home for the museum - a 5,000-square-foot pavilion on Pier 16, so that the museum could be "near its ships."

The presentation by architects employed by The Howard Hughes Corporation to create designs for the project took an hour. It was followed by questions from members of Community Board 1 and then by brief statements from the public.

The pro-Howard Hughes contingent was visible because most of its members were wearing yellow and blue T-shirts, which HHC was giving away along with an invitation to come to a skating party at the Seaport following the meeting, where there would be free food and drink. 

Among those who favored the HHC proposals were some restaurant owners in the Seaport, the parents of children who hope to see a middle school there and union members, who are eager for the jobs that years of new construction would entail. Representatives of business development organizations such as Ann Kayman of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and Dan Ackerman of the Downtown Alliance were also enthusiastic.

Ackerman said, "The Alliance recognizes major capital investments are needed to protect the historic legacy of the Seaport and to sustain it moving forward." Peter O'Connoll, co-owner of The Paris Cafe on South Street, said "I am in favor of this proposal because in 1995, when the Tin Building went up [in flames] nothing was done." Outside The Paris Cafe, he said, is "desolation row. I see rats running on the street at night. My neighbors are afraid to walk their dogs. I see a car park and homeless people." He believes that the Howard Hughes plans would upgrade the district.

Opponents of the Howard Hughes proposals were equally emphatic that the developer's plans would ruin an irreplaceable neighborhood, whose history goes back centuries. "When I look at this [the Howard Hughes plans], I really get the feeling of Las Vegas," said Paul Hovitz, a member of CB 1's South Street Seaport Committee.

Jason Friedman, an architect, who is a member of the Landmarks and Seaport Committees, said he didn't like the proposed lighting, the canopy, the pavers, or much else. He was especially distressed at the idea of shoehorning the South Street Seaport Museum into a 5,000-square-foot space on Pier 16.  

Una Perkins, who is on the Seaport Committee, disliked the entire proposal. She said it was as though a new city had been imposed on top of the historic Seaport.

But when it comes time in early January for Community Board 1 to issue a resolution on the
Roger Byrom listening to the Howard Hughes presentation.
Howard Hughes plans, one voice, that of Roger Byrom, is likely to resonate louder than others. Byrom is the chair of the Landmarks Committee and a member of the Seaport Working Group, a committee that was formed by Community Board 1 and elected officials to work out guidelines and development principles for the South Street Seaport.

After Howard Hughes had finished its presentation on Dec. 10, it was his turn to speak. He said that CB1 had been addressing issues of Seaport development for years. "One of our first comments was that we needed a master plan," he said, "and we're beginning to get there." But, he went on, "There are still a large number of pieces that in my mind are still uncertain and that is the interaction with the museum and I understand that that's a two-way street, but for us as a committee and for us as a community to be constantly being asked to approve things piecemeal is not really what we should be doing."

 

He also said that he had "doubts" about moving the Tin Building because it might destroy "the sense of place."

 

After the New Year's holiday, Community Board 1's Landmarks Committee will reconvene to vote on a resolution to be forwarded to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

 

In the meantime, the public can see the Howard Hughes Corporation's presentation to Community Board 1's Landmarks Committee, which has been posted to the Community Board 1 website.  

 

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer

A rendering of the Tin Building, Pier 17 and the East River esplanade, with the proposed apartment tower in the background. (SHoP Architects)



EXCERPTS FROM TESTIMONY ON THE HOWARD HUGHES CORPORATION'S SEAPORT PLANS AS SUBMITTED TO COMMUNITY BOARD 1

Roland Lewis, president of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, commenting on The Howard Hughes Corp.'s Seaport proposals at the Dec. 10 Community Board 1 Landmarks Committee meeting. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

At Community Board 1's Landmarks Committee meeting on Dec. 10, around 80 people signed up to comment on The Howard Hughes Corporation's proposals for South Street Seaport Development. There were passionate arguments on both sides.

Subsequently, some of those who commented to Community Board 1 sent copies of their statements to Downtown Post NYC. Here are excerpts from those submissions.

To read the full statements, click here.

If any additional Downtown Post NYC readers want to share their comments to Community Board 1 for publication here, email them to [email protected].

One of the great treasures of New York 

I am a lifelong New Yorker who -- as I have said at previous CB1 meetings -- views the Seaport historic district (its street patterns, its assemblage of buildings, its waterfront location) as a historic site of national importance that belongs to all of us, and whose integrity must be preserved if its significance as the birthplace of the Port of New York is to be communicated to future generations.

 

As a significant historic site whose preservation has come at a huge cost in taxpayer and private dollars, the fate of its precious artifacts, such as Schermerhorn Row and the Tin Building, should not be placed in the hands of a private developer who has, to date, demonstrated the grossest insensitivity to everything that makes the Seaport special.

 

I am particularly disturbed by the prospect of turning Schermerhorn Row into housing of any kind. This irreplaceable group of buildings with its preserved interior spaces and astonishingly rich history has long been one of the central artifacts in the Museum's collection and is key to understanding the district.

 

The Row also houses thousands of other Museum artifacts reflecting the history of Port and of the neighborhood, including many items from the now-relocated Fish Market.

 

To evict the Museum from that building, which was renovated with millions of public and private funds, would deprive the public access to one of the great treasures of New York.

Madeline Rogers
Co-founder of SeaportSpeaks and a former New Amsterdam Market board member

Homogenized mediocrity  

The plan presented, as a whole, is a new attempt at reviving the failed festival marketplace strategy of decades ago and adding a 2014 patina of more bulk and retail to the district. The current schematic takes the oldest neighborhood in New York City and dresses it in an abundance of fluorescent lights, covers it in peculiar paving and awnings, and alters its historic buildings and urban fabric.

 

For consistency, the new features will be knitted cohesively with a thread of homogenized mediocrity. It will render New York's appearance to the likes of anywhere else, when our city's aesthetic is derived from its history and that is why it appears different.  This plan is counterproductive, as it will move a landmarked building in order to afford better views of a new mall, yet its new tower will block views of New York's favorite icon: the Brooklyn Bridge.

 

Statement from the Historic Districts Council

Advocate for New York City's designated historic districts, individual landmarks and structures meriting preservation  

 

Benefits to the community, $300 million of them according to HHC

Name one. A school that we've been told is merely a few classrooms doubling as a community center? Support for a Museum that hasn't been forthcoming in any way since the HHC lease began? A promenade around the waters' edge and a market for fresh food - even New Jersey has that. Granted, a lively place could be more fun than the wasteland that HHC has administered since Sandy, but we have no guarantee, and certainly no indication, that it will be compatible to New Yorkers and residents. The rendering suggests a mega world that will obliterate the intimacy of a still-authentic Seaport. Until proven otherwise by the CB #1 Landmarks Committee, the benefits to the community remain fictional while the sacrifices are real.  

 

Lee Gruzen

Co-founder of SeaportSpeaks 

 


Letter to the editor
BPCA CRITICIZED FOR BEING 'SECRETIVE' IN NORTH COVE AWARD
North Cove Marina. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
 
To the editor:
(Re: "North Cove in limbo; Fortenbaugh supporters plan rally," DPNYC, 12/12/14) Thank you for your coverage of the current problem regarding who will be awarded the state contract for the North Cove Marina in the coming weeks. Two statements in particular jumped out at me: (1) "They (BPCA) said no, that this was a negotiation, not an offer," regarding the extra time they are "allowing" Michael Fortenbaugh to keep a boat in the marina, and (2) "It would be necessary to obtain that list (of contenders) via the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). A FOIL request can take weeks to process." 

Is this how government behaves in a democracy? From its inception, the Battery Park City Authority has operated like an arrogant, autonomous entity, going through the motions of accountability to the public, but thumbing its nose at the community at every opportunity. The reality has been high-handed and secretive. It is time that we voters take back our government from big money and political insiders.

Dolores D'Agostino

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.


Bits & Bytes
CITY HALL PARK CONDOS; HIGH-TECH CONDO SALES; NEW BROOKFIELD PLACE TENANTS; STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR MAKES MILLIONS
Several commercial buildings bordering City Hall Park are being converted into multimillion dollar apartments are  (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

























"Civic Center spotlight: Pricey apartments are on the rise around City Hall Park," Daily News, 12/12/14. "An old city park is becoming a new hotbed for development," says the Daily News. "As the real estate market in lower Manhattan heats up, hundreds of pricey new apartment projects are set to debut by 2016. The new developments will form a ring around City Hall Park, the often-overlooked green space running from Chambers to Barclay Streets." The Daily News notes that, "hundreds of new for-sale units, including 34 multimillion-dollar homes at the Woolworth Building and 68 at the stunning Beekman Residences at 5 Beekman St., are about to test the market for luxury homes in the heart of Manhattan's civic center. Historically, this is where you're more likely to run into an arraigned criminal, a politician, or both, than a billionaire oil mogul." For the complete article, click here.

"Selling Condos With a Tap and a Swipe,
" New York Times, 12/12/14. "The next incarnation of the offering plan has arrived, and it is paperless," says The New York Times. "The developers of high-end residential buildings are turning to a smorgasbord of technological innovations to woo and wow potential buyers of condominiums with every bell and whistle except one: the apartments, since they don't yet exist. So developers are finding new ways to simulate them - and stimulate sales." Among the developments cited in the article is 50 West St., "a 64-story curved glass tower with 190 units priced from $1.83 million to more than $18 million," where the Time Equities sales office has "an interactive gallery with a 16-foot-wide screen that provides 180-degree views from every apartment elevation as well as four customizable model interiors, dioramas, floor plans and a scaled building model that illuminates individual units, all operated by touch-screen computers.." For the complete article, click here.

"High school student scores $72M playing the stock market," New York Post, 12/14/14. "He's the teen wolf of Wall Street," says the New York Post. "A kid from Queens has made tens of millions of dollars - by trading stocks on his lunch breaks at Stuyvesant High School, New York magazine reports in its Monday issue. Mohammed Islam is only 17 and still months away from graduating - but worth a rumored $72 million." According to the news reports, "Islam bought himself a BMW but doesn't have a license to drive it. And he rented a Manhattan apartment, though his parents, immigrants from the Bengal region of South Asia, won't let him move out of the house yet." For the complete article, click here.

"Omega, Lululemon Sign Deals at Brookfield Place," Commercial Observer, 12/11/14. "Omega and Lululemon Athletica have signed leases at Brookfield Place," according to Commercial Observer. "The watch manufacturer signed a lease last month for 3,000 square feet in the Winter Garden below and to the side of Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place and the yoga apparel company has signed a deal for 2,993 square feet in the courtyard, next to where Jose Garces' Spanish tapas restaurant, Amada, will open, sources with intimate knowledge of the deals said. Omega has even listed an online job posting for a sales associate at the future store. Edward Hogan, Brookfield's head of leasing, said the company is asking $500 per square foot on the ground floor and $350 per foot elsewhere, but a source who has done deals in the 300,000-square-foot complex said the taking rent on the ground floor is closer to $350 per foot." For the complete article, click here.

"Amid Assaults on Officers, New York Police Rethink Their Response to Protests," New York Times, 12/14/14. "In the days after a grand jury declined to bring charges against a New York police officer in the death of Eric Garner on Staten Island, Commissioner William J. Bratton said he expected the large-scale protests that followed to eventually 'peter out.,'" says The New York Times. "The Police Department, reflecting that view, has taken a hands-off approach, monitoring the marchers as they block roadways and bridges but making few arrests. The tactic has brought praise from Mayor Bill de Blasio. But instead of fading away, the demonstrations have grown, with the largest yet on Saturday drawing more than 25,000 people to the streets of Manhattan. And, in a worrying sign for the police, they have become more confrontational over the last week. At least five officers have been assaulted by protesters - including two lieutenants on Saturday during a nighttime melee on the Brooklyn Bridge." For the complete article, click here.

"Former President Bush pays surprise visit to 9/11 museum," New York Post, 12/15/14. "Former President George W. Bush paid an unannounced visit to the 9/11 museum Sunday evening, and spent an hour somberly looking at the exhibits," says the New York Post. "Bush arrived at 6 p.m. with his security detail while the museum was still open to the public.
Some people recognized him, but were respectful of his privacy and did not try to approach him." For the complete article, click here.

Downtown bulletin board
LIFEGUARD CERTIFICATION TRAINING; JERSEY CITY FERRY SERVICE; COAT DRIVE; LOWER MANHATTAN PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
The Community Center at Stuyvesant High School is offering lifeguard certification training beginning on Jan. 10. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Lifeguard certification training: Teens can sign up now for American Red Cross Lifeguard Certification Training sponsored by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy. The 40-hour course meets New York State Health Department standards for lifeguards and includes CPR/AED and first-aid skills. This would qualify a graduate of the course to prevent and respond to aquatic emergencies at swimming pools, open water and non-surf facilities. The course takes place at the Community Center at Stuyvesant High School, 345 Chambers St., on Saturdays from Jan. 10 to Feb. 7, 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. The fee for the course is $425; $400 (Community Center members. Youth memberships cost $75.) Applicants must be at least 15 years old by Jan. 10, 2015. For other requirements and for more information call (646) 210-4292 or click here.

Weekend Jersey City ferry service to continue:
This winter, NY Waterway will continue weekend ferry service between Paulus Hook in Jersey City and the World Financial Center terminal in Lower Manhattan. Ferries will operate every 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The trip across the Hudson River takes six minutes. The weekend fare will be $4 each way. Children five and under ride free when accompanied by an adult.  Weekend service is included for monthly pass holders.  There is a $1 bike surcharge. There are ticket windows at the Paulus Hook and World Financial Center ferry terminals. E-tickets also are available on the free NY Waterway App, available at nywaterway.com, which allows customers to show their ticket on a hand-held device. Ferry service between Paulus Hook and the World Financial Center also operates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9:36 p.m.

The Billybey Ferry Co., which also operates the weekday service between Paulus Hook and the World Financial Center, contracted with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to provide weekend service stating in March, when the Port Authority shut the PATH on weekends to repair damage to the infrastructure from Hurricane Sandy. In nine months, this weekend ferry service averaged 6,000 passenger trips per day. For more information, call (800) 53-FERRY or go to www.nywaterway.com, www.facebook.com/nywaterway or www.twitter.com/ridetheferry.

Donate winter coats at Poets House:
Poets House at 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City is a donation site for the New York Cares Coat Drive. Donated coats go to New Yorkers in need. Bring your coats to Poets House during regular library hours (Tuesday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.) or when you attend an event. For more information about the coat drive, click here. For more information about Poets House, click here.

Lower Manhattan photography contest: The Downtown Alliance is sponsoring a contest of photos depicting the holidays in Lower Manhattan. The grand prize winner will receive a two-night weekend stay for two at the W New York with a retail value of up to $800, a $50 gift card to Century 21 Department Stores, and two $50 gift cards totaling $100 to Delmonico's Restaurant. The contest began on Nov. 24 and will end at 11:59 p.m.on Jan. 4, 2015. It is open to legal residents age 18 and older of the United States, its territories and possessions. Employees of the Downtown Alliance and members of their immediate families are not eligible. The winner will be selected by the Downtown Alliance staff on or about Jan. 5, 2015. To enter, email your holiday photos of Lower Manhattan to [email protected]. For more information, click here.


 
COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETINGS: Week of Dec. 15

This year's Christmas tree on Fulton Street in the South Street Seaport. CB1's Seaport/Civic Center Committee will discuss Seaport development on Dec. 15.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Community Board 1 meetings take place at 49-51 Chambers St., Room 709, starting at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. All are welcome to attend. Bring photo ID to enter the building.
     
Dec. 15: Seaport/Civic Center Committee  
* Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation Project - Update by Hasan Ahmed, NYC DOT Director of East River Bridges
* South Street Seaport Museum - Update by Capt. Jonathan Boulware, Interim President
* Brooklyn Bridge improvements - Discussion & possible resolution
  a. Rebuilding active recreation space underneath the bridge
  b. Repairs to the Frankfort Street staircase
* South Street Seaport development - Update
* Context of future Seaport development - Presentation by City Club of New York
* 25 Bridge St., application for a new tavern liquor license for Emmconn Rest. Corp. d/b/a Whitehorse Tavern - Resolution
* 22 Peck Slip/251 Water Street, application for a liquor license alteration for Hedgie LLC d/b/a The Hideaway Seaport - Resolution
* 22 Peck Slip/251 Water Street, application for a new unenclosed sidewalk caf� license for Hedgie LLC d/b/a The Hideaway Seaport
* 21-23 Peck Slip, application for renewal of an unenclosed sidewalk caf� license for IDG Seaport Corp d/b/a Acqua - Resolution

Dec. 15: Quality of Life Committee
              Location: 49-51 Chambers St., Room 501
* Lower Manhattan Construction - Update by NYC DOT

Dec. 18: CB 1 Monthly Meeting at 6 p.m.
              Location: Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway (entrance at 53A Chambers)

Dec. 25: Office Closed - Christmas Day

All documents relating to the above agenda items 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"


CALENDAR: Week of Dec. 15
Members of the audience danced during the National Yiddish Theatre's Hanukkah concert at the Winter Garden on Dec. 14. Hanukkah begins on Dec. 16. There are several Hanukkah observances on this week's calendar. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Dec. 16: Under the auspices of Arts Brookfield, Metropolitan Klezmer is giving a lunchtime concert in the lobby of 1 Liberty Plaza (at Broadway). It will include "full out rollicking frelekhs" [dance music], Yiddish pop and original compositions by the band's members. Time: 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Free. Also, Dec. 19 at 1 New York Plaza at 12:30 p.m. For more information, click here.

Dec. 16: JCP Downtown is sponsoring a Hanukkah Community Candle Lighting with a menorah lighting, songs, and sufganiyah (jelly doughnuts). Place: Washington Market Park Gazebo (Greenwich Street between Duane and Chambers Streets). Time: 5:45 p.m. at the park, or 5:30 p.m. to meet at JCP (146 Duane St.) and walk to the park. Free. In the event of rain, the event will be held at JCP. For more information, click here.

 

Dec. 16: "Translation and Inspiration: An Evening of Classical Poetry" takes place at Poets House in Battery Park City under the sponsorship of the Paideia Institute for Humanistic Study. The program features Christopher Childers and Henry Walters discussing the influence of classical literature on their art, as well as their approaches to translation. Place: Poets House, 10 River Terrace (at Murray Street). Time: 6 p.m. Tickets: Free, but reservations are required. For reservations, click here.

 

Dec. 17: Musicians from The Juilliard School will offer "Holiday Harmony," a classical music concert. Place: 1 New York Plaza (Broad and Water Streets). Time: 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Free. For more information, click here.

Dec. 17: Gibney Dance concludes its series, "DoublePlus," during which 12 emerging artists have been mentored by experienced choreographers. This week, Maree ReMalia and Abby Zbikowski will perform work that they developed under the wing of Bebe Miller. Place: 280 Broadway (entrance at 53A Chambers St.) Time: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20; $15 (seniors, class-card holders and students). For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

 

Dec. 17: Trinity Wall Street presents Handel's Messiah, as performed by the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra. Place: Trinity Church, (Broadway at Wall Street). Time 7:30 p.m. Also, Dec. 18 at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall at 7:30, and again at Trinity Church on

Dec. 19 at 7:30 and Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. Trinity Church tickets: $45, $75, $95. Alice Tully Hall tickets: $85, $65, $45. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here

Dec. 18: The West Point Band performs at Trinity Church as part of the Concerts at One series. Place: Trinity Church. Time: 1 p.m. Free. For more information, click here.

 

Dec. 18: Gelsey Kirkland Ballet's rendition of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker comes to Pace University. Place: Schimmel Center, 3 Spruce St. Time: 7:30 p.m. Also, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets: $39, $49, $59. For more information and to purchase tickets,  click here. 

 

Dec. 19: Neighborhood Movie Night at St. Paul's Chapel will bring a big-screen viewing of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (PG-13). Neighborhood Movie Night will continue at St. Paul's on every fourth Friday of the month through July 2015. Place: 209 Broadway at Fulton Street. Time: Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. start time. Free. For more information, click here.

 

Dec. 20: Twenty-five years ago, the "Charging Bull" statue arrived in Lower Manhattan. A one-day-only walking tour will highlight the bulls and bears of Wall Street and tell the story of how the bull statue arrived in the night and has since become a mainstay. Starting place: Museum of American Finance, 48 Wall St. Time: 1 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $15. Museum admission, $8 (adults); $5 (students and seniors); free on Saturdays. For tour tickets, click here.   

 

Dec. 20: First-grader holiday angst is in full feather when Tribeca Family Theater presents "Junie B. in Jingle bells, Batman Smells." For ages 4 and up. Place: Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St. Time: 1:30 p.m. Tickets: $25. For more information, and to purchase tickets, click here.  

Dec. 20: The Museum of Chinese in America offers a hands-on workshop covering Fujianese folk art and the art of paper folding as part of its Mocacreate series. Participants will create craft projects inspired by the museum's Waves of Identity exhibition. Place: 215 Centre St. Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets: Workshop is free with museum admission: $10; $5 (seniors and students); free (children under 12 in groups of less than 10). For more information, and to buy tickets, click here.

Dec. 21: Compline by Candlelight at St. Paul's Chapel brings a quiet end to the week, with music and meditation. The service will feature William Byrd's Vigilate performed by members of the Choir of Trinity Wall Street conducted by Julian Wachner. Place: 209 Broadway (at Fulton Street). Time: 8 p.m.-9 p.m. Free. For more information, click here.

 

Through Dec. 24: The Manhattan Yacht Club's room-sized Holiday Train Garden has seven trains running on different tracks, passing through vignettes of New York City and New York harbor. The train show is accompanied by holiday music and treats. Place: North Cove Marina in Battery Park City, William Wall floating clubhouse. Time: 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on week nights and noon to 6 p.m. on weekends. Free.

Just opened
: An exhibit at Poets House called "Winter Wedding: Holiday Cards by Poets" is a compendium of imaginative and sometimes touching holiday greetings. The exhibit has been drawn from the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library at Emory University and was curated by Kevin Young and Lisa Chinn. See "Happy Holidays" greetings from Langston Hughes, "Seasons Greetings" from Seamus and Marie Heaney and handmade valentines exchanged by Alice Notley and Ted Berrigan. This exhibition explores the vibrant, often funny, and always fascinating portraits of time, affection and ties of love and friendship. The exhibition is on view during library hours through March 21, 2015. Place: 10 River Terrace. Free. For more information, click here.

Through Dec. 31: After the success of artist Anne Militello's 2013 installation "Light Cycles" in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, Arts Brookfield commissioned a new design called "Metamorphosis" featuring a unique palette of colors and light patterns to honor the holiday season. Each night, the installation illuminates the plaza through a harmonious interplay of colors, starting with a gentle flicker of candlelight and transforming into a brighter, more colorful display throughout December. Place: 220 Vesey St. on the facade of the Winter Garden facing North Cove Marina. Time: 7 p.m. to midnight.

Ongoing
: "Glittering World: Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family" opened on Nov. 14 and continues through Jan. 10, 2016. The exhibit includes more than 300 examples of beautifully crafted jewelery, most of it made by the Yazzie family, with some from the National Museum of the American Indian's collection. Through a video, photographs and a handsome catalog, the exhibit shows how the jewelry expresses Navajo cultural values and way of life inspired by a majestic landscape of buttes, mesas and desert. 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. 

  

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: 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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