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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC 
 
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
 
 
Volume 2, No. 23  Feb. 28, 2015
IN THIS ISSUE

Quote of the day: 
"We have had specific conversations with the Economic Development Corporation and the City Planning Commission, and they know how we feel."
      - Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer commenting on her opposition and that of City Councilmember Margaret Chin to a 494-foot-tall residential tower that The Howard Hughes Corporation wants to build in the South Street Seaport.          
* Brewer and Chin, firmly opposed to Seaport tower, are in 'wait-and-see' holding pattern
* Remembering Feb. 26, 1993, the first World Trade Center attack 
* Bits & Bytes: Funds for Pier 40 rehab; European investors bail on Downtown real estate
* Downtown Bulletin Board: Tribeca Greenmarket reopening on Wednesdays; Day camps
* Letter to the editor: New piers in the East River, suitable for historic vessels?
* Calendar: Week of Feb. 23
 
WEATHER INFORMATION: For current weather information, click here.

FERRY SERVICE UPDATE: Ice has caused delays and cancellations on the Hudson River and East River ferry services. Passengers can get the latest schedule information on the New York Waterway website, www.nywaterway.com or by signing up for text alerts. East River ferry commuters can get service alerts by clicking here.  For information about Seastreak delays and cancellations, click here.        

BREAKING NEWS: Go to www.DowntownPostNYC.com for updates on breaking news.

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Ice skating at The Howard Hughes Corporation rink in the South Street Seaport. The rink closes for the season after this weekend. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) 


 

BREWER AND CHIN, FIRMLY OPPOSED TO HOWARD HUGHES SOUTH STREET SEAPORT TOWER, ARE IN 'WAIT AND SEE' HOLDING PATTERN
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer at the Community Board 1 meeting on Feb. 25, 2014 at which she and those around her announced that a working group was being formed to plan and negotiate the future of the South Street Seaport. From left to right: City Councilmember Margaret Chin; Chris Curry, senior executive vice president of The Howard Hughes Corporation and Catherine McVay Hughes, chairperson of Community Board 1. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

In an article in Crain's New York Business on Feb. 26 entitled "Pols want alternatives to developer's $1.5 billion project," Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilwoman Margaret Chin were said to be "in talks with several developers with the aim of proposing alternatives to Howard Hughes Corp.'s planned revamp of the South Street Seaport." The Crain's article was based on an interview that had taken place earlier that day.

A day later, in a phone interview with Downtown Post NYC, Brewer elaborated on the comments that she and Chin had made to Crain's.

"I'm opposed to the current tower proposal, so people have come up to me and have casually offered back-of-the-envelope conversations about alternative ideas," said Brewer. "There's no piece of paper and there's nothing specific about other ideas."

 

Although the 494-foot-tall tower that Howard Hughes has proposed to erect on the South Street Seaport waterfront on the site of the New Market Building is the focus of Brewer's and Chin's opposition, Brewer said that any proposal for the Seaport should adhere to the principles that were developed by the Seaport Working Group. This committee of elected officials, Community Board 1 members and Seaport stakeholders met for five months, beginning in February 2014, to formulate non-binding guidelines for South Street Seaport development. (To see the guidelines, click here.) 

 

"People are in agreement, more or less, with the guidelines so I don't think there are a lot of other choices," said Brewer. "We need to fix up the pier, we need to, obviously, make sure the museum continues and is expanded and we need to have the area upgraded. So none of that is different than [what was laid out in] the guidelines and principles."

 

Among the ideas that The Howard Hughes Corporation presented to Community Board 1's Landmarks Committee as the first step in a months-long process of gaining official approval for its Seaport development proposal was a suggestion that 203-year-old Schermerhorn Row be converted into affordable housing. The South Street Seaport Museum has said that it must have space in Schermerhorn Row to continue its mission of preserving the historic Seaport and educating people about the role that the Seaport played in the economic and maritime history of New York City.  

 

"The Schermerhorn Row issue is complicated," said Brewer. I don't know all the details. I know that Margaret Chin has said that it doesn't make sense to put affordable housing [in Schermerhorn Row] if it costs $1 million a unit. All of that is somewhat related to the tower, to be honest with you."

 

The Howard Hughes Corporation has repeatedly stated that it needs to build its waterfront tower to finance community amenities at the Seaport. If the tower doesn't get built, everything else may be off the table.  

 

Another Howard Hughes proposal was to create a middle school in its waterfront tower. 

 

"We definitely need a school," Brewer said. "As Margaret Chin has also indicated, it's better to have it on firm ground [than in a tower over water] and to have a larger gym and playing fields and something that fits the requirements of a middle school."

 

Brewer said that she and Chin had had "specific conversations with the Economic Development Corporation and the City Planning Commission, and they know how we feel."

 

Asked if she and Chin were going to go out and actively look for other developers, Brewer replied, "Are we going to look for other developers? Well, people are making suggestions to us and we're going to just see how things proceed. I don't have any time frame because The Howard Hughes Corporation has not filed, so there's no ULURP [Uniform Land Use Review Procedure] right now."

 

The New York City Charter requires that any disposition of public property undergo a ULURP for public review. The process begins at the community board level and includes the City Planning Commission. It ends with a hearing in front of City Council before being sent to the mayor. As borough president, Brewer would be among those who would have to sign off on a Howard Hughes ULURP for the Seaport. 

 

In addition, some parts of The Howard Hughes proposal would have to come before the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.   

 

On Feb. 5, 2015, Brewer and Chin sent a letter to Meenakshi Srinivasan, chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, regarding the Howard Hughes proposals for the landmarked portions of the South Street Seaport.  

 

"What makes this application particularly challenging to evaluate is the fact that a number of the application parts relate to a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) application that has not yet been scoped, submitted and certified," they said. "Because of this, the community is being asked to evaluate elements that have not yet been decided upon with any degree of certainty or finality; negotiations throughout ULURP will presumably result in significant changes to the project that will have real implications for anything reviewed by LPC. We therefore feel it is premature to consider many of the parts of this landmarks application until a broader project plan has been certified and ask that you consider only those parts of the application that are not contingent on factors likely to change."

A hearing date at the Landmarks Preservation Commission has not yet been set.   

 

 - Terese Loeb Kreuzer  

 

 


REMEMBERING FEB. 26, 1993, THE FIRST WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK
Mohamed Salameh, driver of the van when the World Trade Center was bombed on Feb. 26, 1993, at his arraignment. (Drawing by Elizabeth Williams)

Feb. 26, 1993 is a day that courtroom artist and Lower Manhattan resident Elizabeth Williams will not forget. As she recounted in her blog, "Illustrated Courtroom," "I was in the World Trade Center concourse purchasing tickets to 'Jelly's Last Jam' at the TKTS stand. I strolled my then 1-year-old son over the World Trade Center pass to the World Financial Center, where we sat down. Then about 10 minutes later a huge, booming sound rocked the glass-covered space where I was seated. The people in the atrium stopped talking, looked up, saw no glass was broken and then continued their conversations. I recall a security officer running up the Winter Garden stairs. No one knew what had happened and terrorism was the last thing on anyone's mind. Then the smoke started pouring out of the garage of the World Trade Center and chaos ensued."

About a week later, Williams said, she received a call late at night telling her to run over to the Federal courthouse. "I packed up my art supplies and learned that the FBI had determined who was responsible for the bombing and had made their first arrest - Mohamed Salameh - a Palestinian illegal alien who was the driver of the van. I recall he was very angry during his arraignment and I felt it was important to capture that."

Williams' drawing of Salameh made the cover of Newsday the next day.

"Many people have already forgotten about that attack," Williams said. "Now, I think to myself how lucky it was that no glass from the Winter Garden ceiling came loose and fell down. Many people - including my son and me - could have been hurt or killed. Trust me, the whole place shook. It was downright scary."

Like many people who were directly affected by the World Trade Center bombings, Williams has lived with an increased sense of vulnerability since then. "Life has really never been the same since," she said, "especially in New York City."

Williams is co-author with Sue Russell of "The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art," published in 2014. It was designated a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year and won kudoes from Kirkus as one of the best books of 2014. Williams' drawing of the Salameh arraignment appears in the book along with some additional information about his trial.

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer


Bits & Bytes
EUROPEAN INVESTORS BAIL ON DOWNTOWN REAL ESTATE; 111 MURRAY ST. CONDO; CONDE NAST DISSES 1WTC; FUNDS FOR PIER 40 REHAB
Pier 40 in Hudson River Park. The pier was extensively damaged by Superstorm Sandy. Congressman Jerrold Nadler has just secured FEMA money to make needed repairs to the boiler and pump rooms. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Funds for Pier 40 rehab: In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the West Side was inundated by a  surge from the Hudson River that severely damaged Pier 40 at Houston Street in Hudson River Park. On Feb. 26, 2015, U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler announced that he had obtained $2,743,000 in federal funding for Sandy-related repairs to the boiler and pump rooms at Pier 40. The funding is being provided to the Hudson River Park Trust via The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Public Assistance Program. The money will be available immediately, according to a spokesman for Rep. Nadler. Although the grant is substantial, a total of $3,048,342 will be needed to complete the repairs. The balance of the money will come from New York State, which matches 10 percent of all federal Sandy reimbursements for state agencies and authorities. The work to repair the boiler and pump room has already begun. It will be finished in six to nine months. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer

"European investors are bailing out of Lower Manhattan as the dollar makes historic gains against the euro," Daily News, 2/26/15. "European investors - who helped keep the Downtown real estate market afloat after the collapse of Lehman Brothers - are starting to bail out, thanks to high prices and favorable exchange rates against the U.S. dollar," says the Daily News. The article quotes Richard Nassimi, a luxury broker who specializes in working with foreign buyers, who said, "Every day, two or three of my European investors are calling, asking if they should be putting their units on the market. I have about 20 exclusives on the market right now that are all owned by Europeans. They would be out of their minds not to sell." For the complete article, click here.

"Tribeca's 111 Murray Street Condo Tower Preps for Sales," Curbed.com, 2/25/15. "The tower formerly known as 101 Murray Street and 101 Tribeca is making moves," says Curbed.com. "A tipster spotted a teaser site for the future KPF-designed condo tower, which will now be known as 111 Murray Street. The site doesn't reveal much, but it likely means sales will launch soon." Curbed.com says that, "The 139 apartments will average 2,627 square feet, and include studios to five-bedrooms, plus penthouses." For the complete article, click here.

"City Marks 22 Years Since First WTC Attack," NY1.com, 2/26/15. Including some video footage of what happened on Feb. 26, 1993, NY1.com recalls that "Six people were killed when a 1,200 pound truck bomb exploded in a parking garage underneath the Twin Towers on Feb. 26, 1993. More than a thousand other people were hurt." To see the video, click here.

"Conde Nast's spoiled team already fed up with 1WTC," New York Post, 2/25/15. "Every day around 4 p.m., a rich, buttery smell invades Vogue's new glossy black digs at One World Trade Center," says the New York Post. "That's when someone sneaks a packet of popcorn into the microwave - and the accompanying stench wafts through the office and clings to the haute couture that fills the mag's pages." This information came from a tipster who said that no one at Vogue knows who the culprit is. The tipster added, "Given the current rat problem, and the fact that it is Vogue, you would think people would be smarter and wait to munch on buttered popcorn until they can take their Manolos off at home." For the complete article, click here.

"Eugenie Clark, Scholar of the Life Aquatic, Dies at 92," New York Times, 2/25/15. An obituary in The New York Times for marine biologist Eugenie Clark, "whose childhood rapture with fish in a New York City aquarium led to a life of scholarly adventure in the littorals and depths of the Seven Seas and to a global reputation as a marine biologist and expert on sharks" cites Clark's life-long pursuits as starting when she was a child, living in Lower Manhattan. The Times explains that, "Ms. Clark was born in New York City on May 4, 1922, to Charles Clark and the former Yumico Mitomi. Her father died when she was 2. Her mother worked in Lower Manhattan, and when the girl was 9 she began leaving her on Saturday mornings at an aquarium near the Battery. Fascinated, Eugenie persuaded her mother to buy her a 15-gallon tank and kept fish, toads, snakes and a small alligator at home." Clark went on to a lifetime of amazing adventures and scholarly investigation. She "rode a 40-foot whale shark off Baja California, ran into killer great white sharks while scuba diving in Hawaii, studied 'sleeping' sharks in undersea caves off the Yucatán, witnessed a shark's birth and found a rare six-gill shark in a submersible dive off Bermuda." For the complete article, click here.



 

Downtown bulletin board
TRIBECA GREENMARKET REOPENING ON WEDNESDAYS; TRINITY WALL STREET CHARETTE; GARDENING ON GOVERNORS ISLAND; DAY CAMPS
Pamela Clarke-Torres sells produce from her family's farm in the Saturday Greenmarket in Tribeca. She is the seventh generation of her family to work on the farm, which is in Milton, New York, about a one-and-a-half-hour drive from New York City.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Trinity Wall Street Charette No. 1: Trinity Wall Street had been planning to demolish its buildings at 68/74 Trinity Place and replace them with a new skyscraper designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli. But now, with a new rector at Trinity Wall Street, those plans are being reconsidered. On Sat., Feb. 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Trinity will be holding the first of several charettes at St. Paul's Chapel to talk about the fate of the current building and future plans. A charette is a gathering of all stakeholders in a project where diverse thoughts, hopes, and ideas are used to generate solutions. This community gathering will be led by the Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, Trinity's 18th Rector, and Trinity's architects from Pelli Clarke Pelli, who will be using the community's ideas to create a mission-focused design for the new building. Parishioners, staff, Trinity partners, and members of the Lower Manhattan community are invited to take part in this process. Click here to listen to an excerpt of a sermon regarding the new building by Dr. Lupfer. In this sermon, he said, "It's up to you to develop a building that expresses our heart's desire for this beautiful city of New York...It's up to you to build something...that will be home, and the people who have no home will recognize it."

Dates and times for additional charettes will be announced soon. To RSVP for this charette, click here or call (212) 602-0736. St. Paul's Chapel, where the charette will take place, is located at Broadway and Fulton Street.

Tribeca Greenmarket reopening on Wednesdays: GrowNYC's Tribeca Greenmarket will open Wednesdays for the season beginning March 4. Initially, the vendors will be Francesca's Bakery with breads and other baked goods from Middlesex County, N.J. and Jersey Farm with vegetables, flowers, herbs, and small fruit from Hunterdon County, N.J. The Wednesday Tribeca market will run through Dec. 23. In addition, there is a Saturday market that runs year round with a dozen vendors (and more during the summer) selling fruit, dairy products, poultry, eggs, fish, meat, cheese and baked goods. The market is located on Greenwich Street between Chambers and Duane Streets. It is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Wednesday market accepts food scraps for composting and textiles for recycling between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. WIC and FMNP checks are accepted at some individual farmer stands. For more information, click here.

Gardening on Governors Island: Governors Island is seeking gardening volunteers to help revive the landscapes of the Historic District and to tend to the Island's new, award-winning park spaces. The work will begin this March.

Volunteers will train and work with the Trust for Governors Island's horticulturalists on day-to-day gardening projects as well as participate in long-term environmental stewardship efforts. The horticulture program has two distinct components. Governors Gardeners will work under the shady canopy of the historic northern part of the Island to rejuvenate some of the 19th century landscapes, lawns, and plantings around former officers' homes. The tasks will include hand tilling planting bed soils, light pruning of ornamental trees and shrubs, planting 'Victory Garden' beds, and working with era-appropriate plants in Nolan Park.

Island Ecologists will have an opportunity to interact with the brilliant ecological landscapes on the South side of the Island in the new park. They will have a chance to hand-seed and cut back wildflowers and native grasses, monitor soil moisture, help the Governors Island staff document the progress of new trees in Hammock Grove, and track wildflower and bird diversity.
 
The Trust for Governors Island is looking for a small number of volunteers willing to donate at least four hours of their time one day a week, for 10 weeks between March and October. A love of nature is a must, gardening experience, a plus. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and able to perform moderate physical outdoor activity.
 
Weekday volunteer opportunities are available immediately with weekend shifts beginning May 23. For more information, or to sign up to volunteer as a gardener or in other capacities on Governors Island, click here.

Health and Wellness seminars: Free health and wellness seminars are being presented at Pace University in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College. On March 26, Dr. Elaine Barfield will talk about "Celiac Disease: Fact vs. Fiction." On April 21, Catherine Lord, Ph.D., will discuss "New Approaches and Challenges in Autism Spectrum Disorders." All seminars will begin at 8:30 a.m.-9 a.m. with registration and light refreshments. The presentations will take place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. followed by question and answer sessions. Space is limited. RSVP to communityrelations@pace.edu. Place: Pace University, Aniello Bianco room, 3 Spruce St.

Lecture series examining the future of European Jewry: In response to the recent tragic events in Europe, the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is partnering with AJC to launch a lecture series starting on March 3 discussing the future of European Jewry. Moderated by Jewish Week's editor and publisher, Gary Rosenblatt, the series will feature AJC experts who will provide in-depth, on-the-ground insights into the new reality confronting Jews across Europe and beyond. The series will focus on the rising tide of anti-Semitism, mounting efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state, and other global challenges. The series will launch with an evening with David Harris, AJC Executive Director, on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m.  On Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m., Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, Director of AJC Paris, will speak. Deidre Berger, Director of AJC Berlin, will conclude the series on Wednesday, March 18 at 7 p.m. Place: 36 Battery Place. Free. Donations are welcome. Reserve tickets in advance by clicking here.

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. Asphalt Green is holding monthly open houses through May to introduce the camp program and staff. The next open house is on March 22 from 11 a.m.. to 12 p.m. Click here for more information.

Downtown Day Camps: Parents are invited to attend an open house for Downtown Day Camps on March 4 at the Downtown Community Center, 120 Warren St. (between Greenwich and West Streets). Click here to watch a video about the camp. Online registration has begun, with early bird discounts through March 15. To register online, click here. For more information, call (212) 766-1104, ext. 250 or email info@downtowndaycamps.com.


Letter to the editor
NEW PIERS IN THE EAST RIVER, SUITABLE FOR HISTORIC VESSELS?

The tall ship Cisne Branco from Brazil in New York harbor during Op Sail on May 23, 2012. She was escorted by the schooner America 2.0. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

To the editor:
(Re: "With few berths available, historic vessel owners await Hudson River Park Trust's decision on berth apportionment," DPNYC, 2/20/15): If The Howard Hughes Corporation really wanted to contribute needed value to the South Street Seaport neighborhood, and especially to the South Street Seaport Museum, they would scrap plans for the dinky marina they have offered to install just south of the Brooklyn Bridge. Instead, they would build real, working piers, where large, historic ships could visit and dock, and give the piers to the South Street Seaport Museum to oversee.

Ken Sacharin

From the editor:
Capt. Jonathan Boulware, interim president of the South Street Seaport Museum, might well agree with you. When he addressed Community Board 1's Seaport/Civic Center Committee on Dec. 15, 2014, Boulware said "it is absolutely critical for the Seaport Museum going forward" to have pier space. "Right now," he said, "our pier space is limited to Pier 16. We used to have piers 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18...That's not enough....We absolutely must have space for visiting ships."

 

Boulware has said on several occasions that the U.S. Coast Guard barque, Eagle, wanted to dock at the Seaport this past summer and he had to decline because of lack of pier space. He hopes to welcome Eagle this coming summer, although it isn't clear where Eagle would tie up.

     

USCGC Eagle is a tall ship, built in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned as Horst Wessel. Originally operated by Nazi Germany to train cadets for the German Navy, she was taken by the United States as a war prize after World War II. She is America's only active-duty square rigger, with more than 22,000 square feet of sail and five miles of rigging. She would, indeed, be a dramatic addition to the South Street Seaport, even if her visit were brief. 

  

We welcome letters to the editor. Email them to editor@downtownpostnyc.com. We reserve the right to edit them for clarity and length.

 


CALENDAR: Week of Feb. 23
Mariangela López whose "Accidental Movement" is the first dance in a 14-week series called "Making Space" at Gibney Dance. (Photo: Oskar Landi)

Feb. 28: Over the next 14 weeks, Gibney Dance's "Making Space" will bring the work of 22 dance, theater and multimedia artists to its Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center. The series begins with "Accidental Movement" by Mariangela López. After working for more than 15 years with large groups of dancers, the Brooklyn-based choreographer rediscovers her own physicality and psyche in "El Regreso" ("The Return") - a ritualized dance with music by Jason Grisell and dramaturgy by Jaime Shearn Coan.Place: 280 Broadway (entrance at 53A Chambers St.). Time: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20; $15 (students, seniors and Gibney dance class card holders). For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

Ongoing: Every Tuesday through April 7, Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place presents movie trivia with Maggie Ross from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. followed by a film with a food-related theme from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Each round of trivia has a different theme with prizes for individual rounds and a growler from Mighty Quinn's BBQ for the overall weekly team champion. Free. For more information, click here.

Ongoing: "The Nomad," a new musical with book and lyrics by Elizabeth Swados and Erin Courtney, gets its world premiere at The Flea Theater in Tribeca. The story, told entirely with song and dance, is based on the life of Isabelle Eberhardt (1877-1904), who was born in Switzerland and defied all expectations and conventions when went to live in the Sahara desert, becoming a practicing Muslim and dressing as a man so that she could have the freedom to travel and work. A writer and journalist by trade, she was both an associate of the French colonists and an advocate for the disenfranchised citizens. She was killed in a flash flood at the age of 27. Through April 6. Place: 41 White St. Tickets: $70-$15 (lowest price tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis). VIP tickets, including reserved seats and unlimited drinks, $100. For more information and to buy tickets, call (212) 352-3101 or click here.

 

Ongoing: The Children's Saturday Morning Show will bring live music, games, stories, puppetry, magic and more to Hudson Eats on Saturday mornings. Every Saturday through March 14. Place: Brookfield Place, 250 Vesey St. Time: Shows at 11 a.m. and noon. Free. For more information, click here.

Ongoing: The Battery Park City Parks Conservancy's 2015 Annual Art Exhibition of artwork created in the Conservancy's free art programs such as Figure al Fresco, Elements of Nature Drawing,  Art + Games, and Preschool Art. Place: 75 Battery Place. Time:  The exhibition will be on view weekdays from Jan. 26 to March 27, 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Free.

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: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in February, 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. Time: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. 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: "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 three 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: Fridays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 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. 

Note: Because of the extremely cold weather, some pipes in the Poets House lobby had to be replaced and others, re-insulated. The Poets House Reading Room on the second floor was closed for several days but reopened on Friday, Feb. 27. Poets House says that its lobby still looks like "a well-wrapped Christo installation,"  and that first floor spaces, Kray Hall and the Children's Room, will remain closed until next week. For more information, click here.

Reserve now: In honor of Women's History Month, Castle Clinton National Monument welcomes Liz Michaels of the American Historical Theater for a portrayal of Dolley Madison on Monday, March 2 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dolley Madison is remembered as the charming and diplomatic wife of James Madison. Known for her signature hospitality, she served as both Thomas Jefferson's and James Madison's official hostess during their respective presidential terms. Her wit, charm and popularity made her a trendsetter. Place: Castle Clinton National Monument (in historic Battery Park). Free. Space is limited. Reservations required. Call (646) 841-4289 to reserve. For more information, click here.


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Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer

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