|
DOWNTOWN
POST NYC
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
|
|
|
|
Volume 2, No. 11 Jan. 19, 2015
|
Quote of the day:
"'I would never leave Battery Park City except by getting pushed out."
- Michael Fortenbaugh, commodore, Manhattan Yacht Club
* Fortenbaugh empties North Cove Marina at Battery Park City Authority's request
* Battery Park City in Bloom: Snowdrops in South Cove
* Bits & Bytes: Lower Manhattan office rents at record high; 32 Old Slip
* Downtown Bulletin Board: Tribeca Film Festival; Asphalt Green Summer Day Camp
* Community Board 1 meetings: Week of Jan. 19 * Calendar: Week of Jan. 19
For breaking news, go to www.DowntownPostNYC.com. All ads in Downtown Post NYC have clickable links. Click on an ad for more information.
1 World Trade Center and Brookfield Place. Jan. 17, 2015. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
|
|
|
|
|
|
FORTENBAUGH EMPTIES NORTH COVE MARINA AT BPCA'S REQUEST | | North Cove Marina as it looked on Jan. 17, 2015, the day after Michael Fortenbaugh had removed all of his property from the marina. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Except for some ice floes, a few gulls and a Coast Guard boat, Battery Park City's North Cove Marina is empty. On Jan. 16 at 8 a.m., a tugboat called the Vulcan III arrived to help Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh transport the Manhattan Yacht Club's clubhouse, the Honorable William Wall, plus other vessels and docks, to Jersey City. The work took all day, but by 6 p.m., everything belonging to the Manhattan Yacht Club and the New York Harbor Sailing Foundation had been ferried across the Hudson River. Fortenbaugh had managed North Cove Marina for 10 years under a contract from the Battery Park City Authority. On Dec. 31, 2014 at midnight, that contract expired. Along with several other applicants, Fortenbaugh had answered the BPCA's RFP for a new 10-year contract but no one had been designated. The BPCA announced that it was taking over the management of the marina until a new operator could be appointed. In the meantime, it named Ted Wallace as Director of Marina Operations. When Fortenbaugh and some of his supporters tried to go to the North Cove docks on Jan. 2, they found guards there who said that access was prohibited. After some tense discussions, the BPCA told Fortenbaugh that he had to get his possessions out of the marina by Jan. 20, or they would be impounded. Although the BPCA later extended that deadline, it was too late. Fortenbaugh had already made arrangements to hire a tugboat and to remove his possessions. "We would certainly like to continue all the great things we have created at North Cove," Fortenbaugh said wistfully in an email on Jan. 18. "I would never leave Battery Park City except by getting pushed out." It takes months of planning to prepare for the summer sailing season. This is the time when Fortenbaugh would normally be hiring staff and issuing invitations for special events such as the colorful regattas that have animated the harbor in recent years. But he is in limbo. "We are trying to make plans to open at another location," he said - but nothing is certain. The Battery Park City Authority board of directors is scheduled to meet on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 9 a.m. to discuss a new operator for the marina. "I expect to be there," Fortenbaugh said. The meeting will take place in the BPCA offices, 200 Liberty St., 24th floor. Meetings are open to the public for observation, but not for direct participation. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer
|
Battery Park City in Bloom
SNOWDROPS BLOOMING IN SOUTH COVE
 | Snowdrops blooming in Battery Park City's South Cove. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
|
Pushing their way through a warm blanket of dead leaves in Battery Park City's South Cove, snowdrops are beginning to bloom The first hardy flowers have barely opened, but in a few days, unless buried by snow, they should be in full flower.
The glade at South Cove is protected from the fierce winds that cause people to huddle into their coats and draw their scarves across their faces. At South Cove, the afternoon sun can be warm. Moreover, the snowdrops grow close to the ground, with their blossoms turned downward, which affords some extra protection against winter ice and snow.
There are 19 species of snowdrops - all in the amaryllis family. They originated in the alpine regions of southern Europe and Asia Minor, which might explain their ruggedness. They are equipped with leaves that come to a point so that they can push their way through snow. The most common snowdrop is "Galanthus nivalis." The name "galanthus" has Greek roots - "gala" means "milk," and "anthus" means "flower." All snowdrops are known by this name. In the Middle Ages, snowdrops were cultivated as a palliative for arthritis, digestive problems and other ailments. Knowing their medicinal properties, monks and midwives spread them from their native habitats to the British Isles and elsewhere. They cured body and mind. In northern climates, winter can seem long and difficult to bear, but snowdrops signal that spring will come soon enough. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer
|
Bits & BytesRECORD HIGH OFFICE RENTS IN LOWER MANHATTAN; 32 OLD SLIP
 | | 32 Old Slip, as seen from the East River. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
"Old New York: 32 Old Slip," Commercial Observer, 1/16/15. 2014. Recalling the history of the building at 32 Old Slip, Commercial Observer begins its narrative in 1983 when "New York real estate developer HRO International [won] a bid to purchase a building site at 23-43 Old Slip, originally held by the United States Assay Office-the last public gold refinery in the country." HRO bought the site for $27 million and, in 1986, began demolition of an existing building on the site. "A new office building designed by Edward Durell Stone & Associates [was] constructed in its place in 1987. Four sides of granite and silver-tinted glass make up the base." For a complete account of the building, including its most recent sale for $675 million in December 2014, click here. "Lower Manhattan Office Rents Rose to a Record in 2014," Bloomberg.com, 1/14/15. "Lower Manhattan office rents rose to a record in 2014 as a space shortage in neighborhoods to the north drove tenants to area with the borough's lowest leasing costs," says Bloomberg.com. "Asking rents downtown jumped 12 percent from the previous year to an average of $51.97 a square foot, CBRE Group Inc. reported. The office-availability rate dropped to 11 percent from 13.5 percent, said CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services company. The rent increase was in part because of the introduction to the market of two new World Trade Center skyscrapers, which together have almost 2 million square feet (186,000 square meters) available and command some of lower Manhattan's highest leasing costs." For the complete article, click here. |
Downtown bulletin board
TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL PASSES; ASPHALT GREEN SUMMER DAY CAMP; DOWNTOWN SHOPPING/DINING GUIDE; TRIBECA GREENMARKET
 | | The Tribeca Film Festival is selling discounted passes to this year's festival events. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Tribeca Film Festival passes: The Tribeca Film Festival, which takes place from April 15 to April 26, will have a new central hub this year at Spring Studios, an exhibition space at 50 Varick St. It will host Tribeca Talks� panels and the Tribeca Hacks and TFI Interactive days, additional innovation talks and demonstrations, galleries, collaborative work spaces, and more. Spring Studios will also house lounges designated for filmmakers, industry professionals, and the press. The majority of the Festival's special events, including Tribeca's innovation offerings, Awards Night, panel discussions, and after parties, will take place at this venue. Tribeca Film Festival at Spring Studios Resident Pass and Day Pass will provide full access to all of the programs and offerings available at the Festival's Hub at Spring, including a resource center and creative workspace with food, coffee, and drinks. The passes will also provide reduced ticket prices for select special events. Resident Passes are $400, discounted to $300 if purchased before April 15 and allow pass holders to invite a guest each day of the Festival. Individual Day passes are $50, discounted to $40 if purchased before April 15. The passes go on sale at TribecaFilm.com on January 20.
Asphalt Green Battery Park City Summer Day Camp: Enrollment is now open for Asphalt Green's summer day camp for children ages 4 � to 15 years old. Asphalt Green at 212 North End Ave., has programs for age-specific groups: Pee Wee Camp (4 � - 6 years), Junior Camp (6-8 years), Senior Camp (8-13 years) and Counselors in Training (14 - 15 years). Camp is in session from June 29 to Aug. 21, with five separate sessions. The fee to attend for the entire eight weeks ranges from $5,750 to $6,250, depending on age, however, scholarships are available. Scholarship applications are being accepted through Feb. 13, 2015. Click here for directions on how to apply. Asphalt Green is holding monthly open houses through May to introduce the camp program and staff. The next open house is on Feb. 5 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Click here for more information.
Community Board applications: Manhattan has 12 community boards, each with 50 volunteer members who serve staggered two-year terms. Community boards represent their neighborhoods on issues such as development, land use, historic preservation, liquor license applications and quality of life. The Office of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is currently accepting applications for Manhattan Community Board membership. This year, for the first time, 16- and 17-year-olds are eligible to join community boards. There will be a community board information session just for teens on Friday, Jan. 23, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building Mezzanine, 1 Centre St., North Entrance. Registration is required at teenboards.eventbrite.com. All applications must be received by 5 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2015. For more information and to apply, click here.
Tribeca Greenmarket news: "We have two new farmers for the winter months," says Jay Ledoux, manager of the Tribeca Greenmarket at Greenwich and Chambers Streets. "American Seafood provides fresh, wild-caught fish and shellfish from Suffolk County, N.Y.," he says. "Jersey Farm, who our Wednesday shoppers will know well, has now started coming on Saturdays. They bring pesticide-free kale, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions, carrots, beets and turnips. Aside from these two, not a lot has changed at the market. We still have two apple producers, chicken, pork, beef, lamb, duck, turkey, dairy, eggs and plenty of baked goods to choose from. We still collect compost and textiles for recycling from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m." The Tribeca Greenmarket is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, click here.
Lower Manhattan Shop Dine Guide (and location of public restrooms): The 2015 edition of the Lower Manhattan guide to shopping and dining published by the Alliance for Downtown New York has been mailed to many Lower Manhattan residents and is also available by request from the Downtown Alliance's website. The guide is packed with useful information including, among other things, the location of public restrooms. These are located at 60 Wall St. in the atrium; in the Battery Park City library at 175 North End Ave.; in Castle Clinton National Monument in historic Battery Park; at Federal Hall National Monument, 26 Wall St.; at the New Amsterdam Library, 9 Murray St.; in the Solaire on the periphery of Teardrop Park, 20 River Terrace; in the Staten Island Ferry Terminal at South and Whitehall Streets; and in Wagner Park in Battery Park City. For information about how to order the free guide, click here.
Electronics recycling: As of this year (2015) it is illegal to discard electronics in the trash. New York City apartment buildings are eligible to participate in a program that provides them with a free service to pick up and recycle unwanted electronics. Click here for more information. Alternatively, electronics can be dropped off at Goodwill, the Salvation Army, Best Buy, Staples (no TVs) or the Lower East Side Ecology Center. For more information, click here. Working electronics can be donated for reuse at the New York City Stuff Exchange. For more information, click here.
Christmas tree heaven: Through Jan. 26, the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy is collecting Christmas trees to turn into compost. Battery Park City residents are invited to bring their trees (minus all decorations and stands) to their street corner where BPCPC staff will pick them up daily. Trees will then be taken to Esplanade Plaza to be fed through a chipper. "Recycling your tree is a great way to help your community by reducing waste, lowering carbon emissions and helping to keep the plants healthy," says the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy on its website. For more information about the tree chipping program, click here. For more information about BPCPC's sustainable composting practices, click here.
|
|
COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETINGS: Week of Jan. 19 | | Tour buses on South Street in the South Street Seaport. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Community Board 1 meetings take place at 49-51 Chambers St., Room 709, unless otherwise noted, and start at 6 p.m. Bring photo ID to enter the building. All are welcome to attend. Jan. 19: Office Closed - Martin Luther King's BirthdayJan. 20: Seaport/Civic Center Committee * South Street Initiative - Presentation by Gina Pollara and Victor Papa * Rebuilding Brooklyn Banks Skate Park & other active recreation space underneath the Brooklyn Bridge - Discussion and possible resolution * Thomas Paine Park: Temporary Public Artwork - Presentation by Jennifer Lantzas, Public Art Coordinator, Department of Parks and Recreation and Dee Briggs, Artist * Recap of Howard Hughes Corporation Special Landmarks Committee meeting on Jan. 5 * Committee Accomplishments of 2014 for CB1 Annual Report The following notices have been received for renewal, upgrade, or transfer of wine and beer or liquor licenses and sidewalk cafes: * 80 Beekman St., application for renewal of restaurant wine and beer license for G.E.N. AND M INC, d/b/a Squire Coffee Shop
|
|
CALENDAR: Week of Jan. 19
 | | Maria O'Malley, collections manager for the South Street Seaport Museum, pointing out some details of the museum's 12 Fulton St. lobby to students from an Urban Design class at NYU. The museum's Fulton Street lobby is open four days a week with interpretive activities and exhibits. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Jan. 21: The Skyscraper Museum's director and curator, Carol Willis, will lead a Curator's Tour of the current exhibition "Times Square: 1984." No RSVP required. Place: 39 Battery Place. Time: 3 p.m. Tours are free with museum admission: $5; $2.50 (students and seniors). For more information, click here. Jan. 21: Poets House in partnership with PBS Channel Thirteen and the Endangered Lanuguage Alliance is sponsoring a screening of "Language Matters with Bob Holman: a film by David Grubin" at the National Museum of the American Indian. There are currently more than 6,000 languages in the world but hundreds will be lost within the next generation. By the end of this century, half of the world's languages will have vanished. What do we lose when a language dies? What does it take to save a language? The evening will highlight excerpts from the film woven together with live performances by endangered language speakers, including Native American poets, a hālau hula (Hawaiian school of dance), the colorful legacy of Yiddish, and the tongue-twisting poetry of the Welsh language, followed by a Q & A with Bob Holman and David Grubin and a reception. Place: 1 Bowling Green. Time: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Free. For more information, click here. Jan. 21: Queen Elizabeth II's mother-in-law, Alice Princess Andrew of Greece, is the subject of a lecture by Hugo Vickers at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Princess Alice, mother of Prince Philip, became sensitive to the underprivileged after her experiences growing up deaf. During World War II, she shielded a Greek Jewish family at the royal palace in Athens. Royal historian Vickers vividly brings this extraordinary figure to life. Place: 36 Battery Place. Time: 7 p.m. Free (donations welcome). Tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 4 p.m. For more information, click here. Jan. 23: Trinity Wall Street is showing movies at St. Paul's Chapel every fourth Friday of the month through July 2015. On Jan. 23, watch "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982), which tells the story of a troubled child who summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world. Place: St. Paul's Chapel (Broadway at Fulton Street). Time: Doors open at 6:30 pm. Popcorn and drinks will be served. Free. For more information, click here. Jan. 24: Join the Thunderbird Indian Singers and Dancers for inter-tribal dances. Drum groups include Heyna Second Son Singers and Silvercloud Indian Singers. Place: National Museum of the American Indian, 1 Bowling Green. Time: 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Free. For more information, click here. Jan. 25: A documentary film, "Oro Macht Frei" (Gold Will Set You Free) at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, sheds light on the persecution of Jews in Italy with particular focus on the Nazis' demand for gold in return for Jewish hostages. The afternoon will also serve as the New York premiere of Memory Recovered - The Della Seta and Di Segni Family Films (1923), the only known video document of Italian Jewish life before the Holocaust. There will be introductory remarks by Alessandra Di Castro, Director of the Jewish Museum of Rome and a post-screening discussion with producer Catherine Campbell and historian Susan Zuccotti. Place: 36 Battery Place. Time: 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $10; $7 (students/seniors); $5 (members). For more information and to buy tickets, click here. Ongoing: Mondays through Wednesdays in January, The Howard Hughes Corporation in partnership with FiDiFamilies.com and sponsor New York Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital invites local families inside the Community Cube at the South Street Seaport. Children will have a chance to partake in music, arts, crafts, film and yoga for kids. For more information, click here.
Ongoing: The Woolworth Building was designed by Cass Gilbert to house the offices of the F. W. Woolworth Company and was the tallest building in the world from 1913 until 1930. With its ornamental gothic-style exterior, it dominated the New York City skyline and served as an icon of American ingenuity with state of the art steel construction, fireproofing and high-speed elevators and it was dubbed "the Cathedral of Commerce." The building is still privately owned and operated, and has long been closed to the public. Tours of its magnificent landmarked lobby featuring marble, mosaics, and murals have only recently been made available and can be taken for 30-minutes, 60-minutes or 90-minutes. Custom and Private tours for groups of 10 - 35 can also be arranged. Place: 233 Broadway. Various times. Tickets: $20, $30 and $45, depending on the length of the tour. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.
Ongoing: The Jewish Art Salon presents "Lashon Hara: On the Consequences of Hate Speech." This exhibit examines the power of words, both within hate speech and as "a catalyst for salvation" The exhibit features several mixed media textile works by Robin Atlas. Place: The Anne Frank Center USA (44 Park Place). Time: Tuesdays through Saturdays (except holidays), 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets: $8 (adults); $5 (students and seniors 65 and over); Free for children ages 8 and under.
Through Feb. 27, 2015. For more information, click here.
Ongoing: 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.
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 Feb. 15, 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 lobby of the South Street Seaport Museum at 12 Fulton St. on Schermerhorn Row is open four days a week with interpretive displays and activities. Access to the museum's upstairs galleries is by appointment or for education programs only. For private tours of Schermerhorn Row and its old hotels, email info@seany.org. Lobby access: Thursdays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Ongoing: The South Street Seaport Museum's lightship Ambrose and its barque Peking welcome visitors Fridays 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. In addition, a guide to the Ambrose can be downloaded from the Internet by clicking here. 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.
|
|
|
Downtown Post NYC is emailed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer
All articles and photographs in Downtown Post NYC are copyrighted and
may not be reprinted or republished without written permission.
� 2014
|
|
|
|
|
