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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC 
 
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
 
 
Volume 2, No. 28  March 14, 2015
IN THIS ISSUE

Quote of the day: 
"If they get a pass on such an action, how can they be trusted going forward not to take actions that would be irreversible?"
   - South Street Seaport resident Joanne Gorman, who discovered that The Howard Hughes Corporation had demolished the head house on Pier 17 before asking Community Board 1 for permission to do so.

                          
* Howard Hughes asks CB1 for permission to demolish Pier 17 head house after it had been demolished
* Downtown on the water: Tugboat Pegasus' second century in New York harbor 
* Bits & Bytes: More helicopters; New rent board; Developer sidesteps zoning laws
* Downtown Bulletin Board: Family swim; Council Member for a day; Brewer's budget
* Community Board 1 meetings: Weeks of March 16 and March 23
* Calendar: Weeks of March 9 and March 16
 
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The Hudson River as seen from the tugboat Pegasus. Dec. 12, 2014. 
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) 

HOWARD HUGHES ASKS CB1 LANDMARKS FOR PERMISSION TO DEMOLISH THE PIER 17 HEAD HOUSE AFTER IT HAD BEEN DEMOLISHED

Pier 17 as it looked on July 6, 2014, after the head house had been demolished.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

On Feb. 5, Community Board 1's full board voted on a resolution that had been drafted by CB1's Landmarks Committee after two public meetings at which The Howard Hughes Corporation presented 10 separate proposals for the landmarked parts of the South Street Seaport.

The second item on the Howard Hughes list was a request to demolish the head house on Pier 17.

On Feb. 5, the full board approved that demolition, saying that it "considered it appropriate, but only on condition that the current proposed view corridors do not change in the design revisions."

What Community Board 1 didn't know when it voted on Feb. 5 was that The Howard Hughes Corporation had already demolished the head house and had failed to mention this.

This only came to light on Feb. 13. Joanne Gorman, a South Street Seaport resident who often walks her dog past Pier 17, wrote in an email, "I may be mistaken, but I think the head house has already been removed."

It turned out that she was correct.

On Feb. 17, John Fratta, chair of CB1's Seaport/Civic Center Committee, asked Chris Curry, senior executive vice president of The Howard Hughes Corporation, what had happened. "We were very dismayed to hear that the head house was demolished," he said to Curry. "The head house is part of the ULURP [Uniform Land Use Review Procedure] application and the land use application!"

Curry stumbled over his words when he replied. "Yes," he said. "It will be - it will be rebuilt."

"But how could you demolish it before the approvals were done?" Fratta wanted to know.

"It was part of our approval of Pier 17," said Curry. "It's all part of our Pier 17 project. Here's what we're doing: basically, we're building back the head house that had been demolished. We could not rebuild the pier with the head house sitting there."

Curry said that Howard Hughes had approvals to demolish everything on the pier. "We're going to build everything back," he said. "Our ULURP-approved plan is what we're going to build back if we don't get our mixed-use project approved, you'll see exactly what we got approved for Pier 17."

A close examination of the Howard Hughes Corporation's Pier 17 ULURP that had been approved by City Council on March 20, 2013 did not reveal anything about the right to demolish the head house so Diana Switaj, director of land use and planning for Community Board 1, wrote a letter to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission asking for more information.

On March 12, she received a reply from Emily Rich, LPC's public information officer. "In April 2014, we issued a permit for the demolition and in-kind reconstruction of the Pier 17 'head house' in its existing location," she wrote. "This work was approved as an amendment to earlier 2012 and 2013 permits."

Switaj has asked to see this permit.

"Approvals after the fact are the issue," said Gorman. "I hadn't much doubt that someone let Howard Hughes proceed, but then coming before the public at Community Board 1 [meetings] requesting approval for the demolition as if it were yet to be approved or acted on - that was my point."

In February, when she first discovered that Howard Hughes had already demolished the head house, Gorman asked in an email, "If they get a pass on such an action, how can they be trusted going forward not to take actions that would be irreversible?"

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer

   

Downtown on the water
TUGBOAT PEGASUS' SECOND CENTURY IN NEW YORK HARBOR

The tugboat Pegasus was built in 1907 as S.O.Co. No. 16 for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Jazz pianist Paul Tillotson of Sun Valley, Idaho was in New York City to celebrate his 50th birthday, and what he wanted to do most was to take a ride up and down the Hudson River on an antique tugboat. The jaunty red tugboat, Pegasus, fit the bill.

On Dec. 12, Pegasus' owner and captain, Pamela Hepburn, greeted Tillotson, his family and friends at Pier 25 in Hudson River Park and took them for the birthday ride. Tillotson said it was perfect, and that he especially liked the fact that the tugboat was more than twice as old as he was and still going strong.

Pegasus was built in Baltimore, Md. in 1907 as S. O. Co. No. 16, for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. For 90 years, she was a working vessel in New York harbor and in Norfolk, Va. Her work included towing oil barges, contractors rigs and barges and railroad car floats.

 

Her longevity earned her recognition on the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places.  

 

"Her service of 90 years and survival reflects the largest technological change in this century, the shift from steam to diesel," says the Tugboat Pegasus website. "Oil companies characteristically built strong, well-built tugs, as evidenced by their survival. Standard Oil Company was no exception. Although diesel propulsion was in use well before World War II, steam was still widely used. The economy and the demand of the war effort, typically, stimulated technological advances.."

 

Pamela Hepburn in the wheelhouse of the Pegasus.

Pamela Hepburn is as unusual as the boat she captains. She got her commercial tugboat captain's and master's license in 1985 and is licensed to steer an uninspected tug of up to 300 tons. "There were a few other women who had captain and master's positions on tugs," she recalls, "but nobody seemed to stick around. They went into other aspects of the business."  

  

She says she was attracted to tugboats because she was "boat crazy" and felt "totally comfortable with the work."

 

Hepburn first saw Pegasus in 1987. "I went looking for a boat to buy and this was the third one that I seriously considered," she says. "It was owned by a guy in Chesapeake, Va. - Guy Ireland. His son, Jimmy, still has the business and they buy and sell equipment. They wanted to sell Pegasus because it was pretty old. I wanted an old-style boat because I just love old boats and it was pretty cheap."

 

She says that she had no doubts about what she was doing. "I did it with complete composure and enthusiasm. The machinery on Pegasus was pretty good. We had it inspected. It worked for Mobil Oil when we first started and they sent their engineer over to inspect it. The engine had been worked on pretty comprehensively before we got the boat, so the engine was probably the best part. The rest of the boat was probably pretty bad. I just chose to ignore it."

 

In 2000, Hepburn started raising money to rehabilitate Pegasus. She donated the boat to a non-profit museum that she started with several other people.   

 

Initially called the "Tug Pegasus Preservation Project," Hepburn says, "We may change the name soon to something without the word 'preservation' in it because we're shifting our interests to youth programming. We've done some of that before, but we're going to intensify it and become more like a museum with open hours and programs for all ages - mainly kids - and do less private stuff."

 

If this happens, making Pegasus a bona fide museum, it will require an amendment to the tug's New York State charter.

 

Hepburn is currently fundraising for Pegasus in order to be able to pay some staff members. "We need general operating support and capital money for physical improvements and maintenance. We also need programming money," she says. 

 

That effort is just a few months old. Donations are tax deductible.

 

 -Terese Loeb Kreuzer

For more information about tugboat Pegasus, click here.
Pamela Hepburn on the Pegasus, docked at Pier 25 in Hudson River Park. 

Bits & Bytes
MORE HELICOPTERS; NEW RENT BOARD; LIC DEVELOPER'S TOWER 4X BIGGER THAN ZONING ALLOWS; SUPPORT FOR SHELDON SILVER

Though politicians and Lower Manhattan residents have decried helicopter traffic at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, a new helicopter service between Manhattan, the airports and the Hamptons has just been launched. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

"New Yorkers get another Manhattan-to-airport helicopter option," New York Business Journal, 3/13/15. "There's already an on-demand helicopter service in New York City, Blade, which offers seats on chopper trips from Manhattan to the city's airports or to the Hamptons. But now, a competitor, Gotham Air, has launched its public reservations app with a price point far below Blade's," says the New York Business Journal. "For as little as $99 - but usually $219 - one may reserve a flight from downtown Manhattan to either John F. Kennedy Airport or Newark Liberty, Engadget explained. Future destinations may be added, depending on how well the company does with these routes, the post said." For the complete article, click here.

"Landlords fear new rent-board appointments," Crain's New York Business, 3/13/15. "Mayor Bill de Blasio named three new members to the Rent Guidelines Board on Thursday, worrying landlords that a rent freeze is in the offing," Crain's New York Business reports. "Mr. de Blasio appointed two public members to the board, Helen Schaub and K. Sabeel Rahman, as well as a property-owner representative, Scott Walsh, who is an executive at developer Forest City Ratner. All three replaced holdover members who were appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Mr. de Blasio has now appointed or re-appointed all nine members of the Rent Guidelines Board, which sets rents for the approximately 1 million apartments across the city that are subject to rent stabilization by state law." For the complete article, click here.

"Proposed LIC tower 4 times bigger than it should be," Crain's New York Business, 3/13/15. "A Manhattan developer plans to erect a 70-story apartment tower in Long Island City, Queens, that is four times bigger than what the site was zoned for, according to public documents reviewed by Crain's New York Business. Property Markets Group has proposed to build a 930-unit residential building along 41st Avenue, near the corner of Bridge Plaza North, that will clock in at 830,000 square feet, The Real Deal reported Wednesday. But according to city records, the site at 29-37 41st Ave. was zoned for something closer to a 200,000-square-foot building." Crain's says that, "There are several ways to legally bump the square footage on a given site beyond the initial zoning limits, though it was unclear exactly which one the firm used to beef up the size of the proposed tower to such a scale." For the complete article, click here.

"Luxury developer adds 50% to its TriBeCa office," Crain's New York Business, 3/13/15. "Luxury residential developer DDG is expanding its office," says Crain's New York Business. "DDG is growing by more than 50% to 14,000 square feet at 60 Hudson St. The expansion comes as the firm, which drew attention in recent years for its successful boutique condo projects, 41 Bond St. and 345 Meatpacking, has a robust pipeline of projects. The company is in the process of building four new condo developments, including one of its largest to date, a 521-foot tall tower it is planning to erect on the Upper East Side at 180 E. 88th St. DDG is also building new condos at 325 West Broadway in SoHo and 12 Warren St. in TriBeCa." For the complete article, click here.

"Two legal defense groups show support for Sheldon Silver," New York Post, 3/13/15. "Two top legal defense groups have come to the aid of disgraced former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver," says the New York Post. "The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed a joint brief Thursday supporting the indicted but still politically connected Silver, despite objections from the government. Silver has filed a motion to dismiss the corruption charges against him because of public comments made by Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara. Silver claims the remarks could taint potential jurors." In their joint statement, the two legal groups said, "This is a criminal prosecution, not a political campaign - but one wouldn't know it from the conduct of the United States attorney in this case." For the complete article, click here.

"Long-Awaited Downtown Building Debuts As Pricey Rentals," Curbed.com, 3/13/15. "It's been nearly two years since the new ground-up rental building at 84-86 White Street-a former parking lot that was affected by a 2008 rezoning-shed its scaffolding, and finally, the 13-story structure on the Chinatown/Tribeca border has some rentals to show for its lost time," says Curbed.com. "BuzzBuzzHome first reported the listings, which appeared on the market about a week ago. Available units in the 33-unit building range in size from a $4,000/month studio to a $11,000/month two-bedroom pad." For the complete article, with photographs, click here.

"Angel Island, Young Chinese Poets and the Immigrant Experience," Voices of New York, 3/12/15. "In the early 1900s, hundreds of thousands of Chinese immigrants left their homes for the U.S. But when they landed on the West Coast, they were detained in a place called Angel Island," says an article in Voices of New York. "There, they suffered physical and spiritual torture, and the only way they could vent their frustration and the anger boiling in their hearts was to write poems on the walls of their cells. Judy Yung, professor emerita in American Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, together with Him Lai and Genny Lim, spent half a century searching for and collecting 135 of these poems from the walls of Angel Island's detention center.  They were published in 'Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940, 2nd Edition.' When Yung came to the Chatham Square Library in New York's Chinatown to read the poems to Chinese immigrants here on March 7, she was surprised by some young people who shared the stage with her. Ten Chinese students from Emma Lazarus High School for English Language Scholars were invited to the event to share their own experience as immigrants with the audience. After Yung made her presentation, the students read their own poems in English or Chinese to let out the roar hidden in their hearts since they came to the U.S." For the complete article, click here.




 

Downtown bulletin board
SUNDAY AFTERNOON FAMILY SWIM; COUNCIL MEMBER FOR A DAY; NATIONAL DISASTER RESILIENCE COMPETITION; BREWER'S BUDGET 
The swimming pool at the Community Center at Stuyvesant High School is open on Sunday afternoons for a family swim. The community center is run by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Sunday afternoon family swim: Parents and kids can free-swim together all year round at the Community Center at Stuyvesant High School, which has a half-Olympic sized pool. Bring your own towel, lock and swim cap and the community center will provide a fun array of pool toys, noodles and floaties. Place: 345 Chambers St. Time: Sundays, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: $15 (adults); $10 (youth, students and seniors); free to community center members. For more information, click here.

"Council Member for a Day": The New York City Council Women's Caucus will be conducting its annual "Council Member for a Day" on Thursday, March 31 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Female middle and high school students who are interested in a career in public service or community work are invited to apply. The event will include a lunch with the Womens' Caucus and inclusion in the City Council's Stated Council Meeting.

City Councilmember Margaret Chin is seeking nominations from Council District 1, which she represents. Applicants, to be eligible, must live in Council District 1.

To nominate a young woman to be Council Member for a Day, submit her name, age, school, grade, street address, and a short paragraph about why you are nominating her by Friday, March 20 to Amanda Farias at afarias@councilnyc.gov. (Make sure that the young woman is interested and available before you submit her name!) For the permission slip that accepted young women can provide to their schools, click here.
 
Contact Xiaomin Zhao at xzhao@council.nyc.gov for more information.

HUD's National Disaster Resilience Competition:  New York City is competing against 67 other jurisdictions for a piece of the $1 billion in Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery funds representing the remainder of an original $16 billion Federal appropriation. The competition will help communities recover from prior disasters (declared in 2011, 2012, and 2013), and improve their ability to withstand and recover more quickly from future disasters, hazards, stresses and shocks. The Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency (ORR) is leading the application process for New York City for funds relating to the presidentially declared disaster of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The funds in this competition are distinct from the $4.21 billion allocated to New York City.
 
To participate in the competition, the City must submit a two-phase application. In the first phase, due in to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on March 27, the City describes unmet resiliency needs. If HUD accepts the City's contention that it has unmet needs, then HUD will allow the City to progress to Phase 2. In the Phase 2 application, due in October, the City will identify particular projects for which it seeks funding. No specific projects or proposals are identified in the Phase 1 application - it is only an expression of unmet need to allow the City to advance to Phase 2.
 
The Phase 1 application is now out for public comment. View the document and submit comments by clicking here. Comments must be received no later than March 16 at 11:59 p.m. (EST).

Phase 2 outreach will begin over the summer if the City is selected to advance past Phase 1.

Art portfolio development for teens: The Battery Park City Parks Conservancy is running a class this summer to help students entering grades 7 to 12 develop the art portfolios that they will need for further art study. Participants in the class, which runs from July 6 to July 31, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will learn new techniques using a variety of media. Studio work will be supplemented with weekly museum and gallery outings to look, discuss and draw. The registration deadline is March 31. Tuition is $1,000 for four weeks, with 50% payment required at registration. A limited number of partial scholarships based on financial need are available. All art materials are provided and included in the tuition. For information, call (212) 267-9700, ext. 366 or email registration@bpcparks.org.
 
Manhattan Borough President Brewer's 2015 Budget Priorities Survey: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is requesting recommendations from the public regarding the needs of the borough, to be included in the annual Borough Budget Priorities Report. This year, her office is conducting a "virtual town hall" to find out which issues are of most concern to borough residents. Fill out a short survey by March 17 at 5 p.m. to help create a report that truly reflects Manhattan's budgetary needs. To access the survey, 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.


COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETINGS: Weeks of March 16 and March 23
An update on City Hall Park is on CB1's Seaport/Civic Center agenda.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

All meetings take place at the Community Board 1 office, 49-51 Chambers St., Room 709, starting at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. The public is welcome to attend. Bring photo ID to enter the building.

March 18: Executive Committee  (Canceled)
 
March 19: Quality of Life Committee (Canceled)
 
March 24: Seaport/Civic Center Committee
                Location: Pace University, 3 Spruce St., B Level - Student Union
                Time: 5:30 p.m.
* City Hall Park - Update by CB1 staff
* 5 Beekman St., liquor license application for Slip Anchor LLC - Resolution (Postponed to April)
* Street activity permit for The Association of Indians in America on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015 from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., Water St between Fulton St. and Fletcher St., John St. between Front St. and Water St., and Front St. between John Street and Maiden Lane - Resolution
* Street activity permit for The Iron Horse NYC Wounded Warrior Project on Saturday, July 4, 2015 from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., Cliff St. between John and Fulton Streets - Resolution
 
March 24: CB 1 Monthly Board Meeting
                 Location: Pace University, 3 Spruce St., B Level - Student Union
                Time: 6 p.m.

March 31: Sidewalk Caf� Working Group
* Review CB1 sidewalk caf� guidelines and zoning regulations and recommend revisions, with Richard Suarez, Planner, Department of City Planning - Resolution




CALENDAR: Weeks of March 9 and March 16

Ori Flomin's "First Move" at Gibney Dance. (Photo: Ian Douglas)

March 14: Ori Flomin's "First Move" at Gibney Dance is a reflection on the mature dancing body: its history, its knowledge, its possibilities and its limitations. Featuring performers Hannah Button, Ori Flomin, Isaac Gonyo, and Colleen Thomas, this work makes visible the internal archive of the dancer's body as individuals and materials meet, divide, and weave into and out of each other's worlds. Place: 280 Broadway (entrance at 53A Chambers St.) Time: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20; $15 (seniors, students and Gibney Dance class-card holders). For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

March 15: Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre performs "Renewal" at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.  The March 13 performance is followed by a reception in honor of Selwyn's 15th season. Place: 199 Chambers St. Time: 7:30 p.m. on March 13 and 14; 3 p.m. on March 15. Tickets: $25. For more information and tickets, click here.

March 15: Once a month, the printers at Bowne Printers, part of the South Street Seaport Museum, open their shop to people who want to learn more about printing through hands-on experience. In this month's three-hour workshop, Resident Printer Ali Osborn will teach the basics of carving and printing linoleum blocks. He will show participants how to transfer and carve a design into linoleum and then to ink and print the blocks by hand. At the end of the class, he locks up everyone's blocks on Bowne's vintage Vandercook press so that each student can go home with his or her own block, individual prints, and one poster of everyone's prints together. All materials are supplied. Registration required, with limited availability. Suitable for apprentices 12 and up. Place: 209 Water St. Time: 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tickets: $50; $40 (South Street Seaport Museum members). For more information and to buy tickets, call (646) 628-2707 or email bowneprinters@seany.org

March 18: Reserve now for the final lecture in a three-part series organized by the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and AJC in response to the recent tragic events in Europe. The lectures, discussing the future of European Jewry, have been moderated by Jewish Week's editor and publisher, Gary Rosenblatt. The series has featured AJC experts who have been providing in-depth, on-the-ground insights into the new reality confronting Jews across Europe and beyond. The series focuses on the rising tide of anti-Semitism, mounting efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state, and other global challenges. The series began with an evening with David Harris, AJC Executive Director, on March 3. On March 11, Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, Director of AJC Paris, spoke. 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. 
 
Ongoing: The Skyscraper Museum's new exhibition, "Ten Tops," surveys all buildings in the world today, completed or under construction, that are 100 stories and taller. Of these 24 towers, the exhibition focuses on 10 (plus a few more), zooming in on their uppermost floors to see how they were designed and constructed. Through September 2015. Place: 39 Battery Place. Hours: Noon to 6 p.m., Wednesdays to Sundays. Admission: $5; $2.50 (students and seniors). For more information, 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 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: 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.   
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Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer

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