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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC 
 
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
 
 
Volume 2, No. 32  April 3, 2015
IN THIS ISSUE

Quote of the day: 
"Until we had this announcement, there was really nothing happening to protect us."
   - Jessica Lappin, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, commenting on the city allocation of $14.75 million to help buffer Lower Manhattan from storms and to plan a long-term flood protection strategy.                     

* Downtown finally gets some city funds for storm protection and resiliency planning 
* Bits & Bytes: Pier 40 needs $104M rehab; The next EDC chief; North Cove Marina
* Downtown Bulletin Board: Mini Mates at the South Street Seaport Museum; Film Festival tix
* Ask Downtown Post NYC: What's going on at Pier 16?
* Letter to the editor: Italian-American Museum evicting Italian grandmother
* Community Board 1 meetings: Week of April 6
* Calendar: Week of March 30
 
WEATHER INFORMATION: For current weather information, click here.

DOWNTOWN POST NYC KUDO: Downtown Post NYC is honored to have been one of eight Manhattan publications to be included on Brick Underground's list of the "24 Best NYC Neighborhood Blogs." To see the article, click here.

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

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Henry Dreyfuss' pink Princess telephone, on display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage as part of an exhibition called "Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism." March 30, 2015. 
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) 

DOWNTOWN FINALLY GETS SOME CITY FUNDS FOR STORM PROTECTION AND RESILIENCY PLANNING, WITH FEDERAL FUNDS ON THE HORIZON


Fulton Street in the South Street Seaport as it looked in December 2012, two months after Superstorm Sandy flooded large parts of Lower Manhattan.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

In June 2013, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the city released a 439-page tome called "A Stronger, More Resilient New York," which discussed what happened and how the city might protect itself in the future. The report profiled five of the city's hardest-hit neighborhoods, including Southern Manhattan, which it defined as stretching from the Lower East Side on the east to Hudson Yards on the west.

But as months and then years passed, when it came to dispensing government funds for resiliency planning and protection, Lower Manhattan - south of the Brooklyn Bridge on the east side and south of Canal Street on the west side - was at the back of the line.

That oversight was partially corrected on March 14 when Mayor Bill de Blasio's office announced that $14.75 million in city and state funds would be made available for resiliency infrastructure and planning in Lower Manhattan. Out of that total, $6.75 million - a combination of state and city funds - would go to flood protection planning from Montgomery Street on the East Side south to the Battery and up the west side to the northern end of Battery Park City. The balance of $8 million, drawn from city capital funds, would go toward flood protection design and the first phase of implementation in historic Battery Park.

"Until we had this announcement, there was really nothing happening to protect us," said Jessica Lappin, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York. Working with Community Board 1 and with elected officials, Lappin said that the Alliance "played a big role" in getting the money.

"The best plan that we could identify that could be paid for and enacted on a short-term basis was the Battery Park project," she said. "It can act as a buffer from future storms. To protect the whole area is probably going to be somewhere in the ballpark of half a billion dollars so we have to be realistic about what we can do short term that will have a real impact, and both New York Rising, which voted for this, and Catherine McVay Hughes for the Community Board, and myself thought this was the best thing that would have an impact quickly."

 

She said that the city intends to start on this project as quickly as it can. "They're committed to this now, and that's significant," she said.

 

On March 10 - four days before the city's announcement of some resiliency funding - McVay Hughes testified at a public hearing for Phase 1 of a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to dispense $1 billion to presidentially declared disaster areas that were damaged between 2011 and 2013. During Phase 1, communities can submit preliminary applications for this money without going into the specifics of any particular project. Those that are chosen to go onto Phase 2 of the competition will explain exactly how they would use the money, should it be awarded to them.

 

The New York City application for Phase 1 of the National Disaster Recovery Competition focused on city-wide housing issues. "CB1 was disappointed that the significant unmet need in Lower Manhattan is not mentioned in the entire 60-page application," McVay Hughes said in her testimony.

 

She pointed out that, "At a height of seven feet, CB1 experienced one of the highest inundation levels in Manhattan, resulting in the drowning of two people in our district as well as extreme property and financial damage." She went on to say that, "Despite the urgent need for short and medium range resiliency measures to protect Lower Manhattan, there has been very little dedicated funding to meet those needs. Of the city's entire CDBG-DR [Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery] $4.21 billion grant award, only roughly $10 million total has been allocated to Community District 1." This was federal money from HUD that went to small businesses and Build it Back programs but not to resiliency infrastructure.

 

Downtown Alliance president Jessica Lappin, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and developer Larry Silverstein.
The city's March 14 announcement of $14.75 million in funds for Lower Manhattan was followed on March 23 by more good news. That morning, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer addressed the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association, declaring his commitment to protecting Lower Manhattan from another Sandy-related storm.

 

"We have so much to protect," he said, "and I'm here to commit to you that I'm going to make this the top of my list and try to get the HUD CDBG funding from the national competition to fulfill the investment in downtown. Think about it. Where is HUD going to get the most bang for their buck in resiliency if not Lower Manhattan?"

 

"Schumer delivered for us after 9/11 and after Sandy hit," said Lappin. "He and his staff have been wonderful to work with on this subject. This is something that he clearly has a personal interest in. This is really a great step forward."

With Sen. Harry Reid's announced retirement from the U.S. Senate in 2016, Schumer has been prominently mentioned, and indeed, endorsed by Reid, to replace him as the Senate's Democratic party leader. This should give Schumer's promise to Lower Manhattan even more weight and visibility, and make it more likely that it will be fulfilled.

- Terese Loeb Kreuzer 
 

 


Bits & Bytes
PIER 40 NEEDS $104M REHAB; SPECULATION ON THE NEXT EDC CHIEF; HOWARD HUGHES' SEAPORT MEGA-TOWER; SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCATE


Sailing lessons at Liberty Harbor Marina in Jersey City begin at the end of April. Click here for more information. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

"Hudson River Park's Pier 40 needs $104M rehab, report says," Crain's New York Business, 3/30/15. "Repairs to the crumbling Pier 40 at Hudson River Park will cost more than $104 million and take nearly 10 years to carry out, according to estimates in an engineering report completed in March," says Crain's New York Business. "The report, which was commissioned by the Hudson River Park Trust, a public-benefit corporation that operates and  maintains the park, revealed that more than half of the piles that hold up the approximately 14-acre pier are damaged, and that work to shore up more than 1,000 of the most vulnerable supports should begin immediately. The projected cost, which has been expected for months, is slightly more than the $100 million figure that the trust had originally estimated. To fund the project, the trust is looking to sell air rights above the pier to a development team including Atlas Capital Group, which owns the St. John's Terminal Building across the street and wants to transform the 1.3 million-square-foot structure that spans several blocks into a massive mixed-use development. That deal, however ,is taking longer than the trust had anticipated." For the complete article, click here.

"Who could be the next city economic development chief?" Crain's New York Business, 3/30/15. "Kyle Kimball won't be stepping down as president and CEO of the city's Economic Development Corp. until June, but possible replacements are already swirling," says Crain's New York Business. Among the candidates mentioned in the article are Maria Torres-Springer, commissioner of Small Business Services and a Crain's 40 Under 40 honoree this year; David Ehrenberg, a former senior manager at the EDC who oversaw the Roosevelt Island applied sciences campus project, the redevelopment of Seward Park, Atlantic Yards and small business relief post-Superstorm Sandy. He just recently was named president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard; and Hudson River Park Trust President and CEO Madelyn Wils, who was formerly EDC's executive vice president of planning, development and maritime. For the complete article, click here.

"Howard Hughes strikes deal with Edison that allows it to develop large Seaport building," The Real Deal, 3/31/15. "The Howard Hughes Corp. has struck a deal with Edison Properties that allows the former to build a large mixed-use building straddling the border of the South Street Seaport Historic District," The Real Deal reports. "The Dallas, Texas-based Howard Hughes Corp. and Newark, N.J.-based Edison each own a handful of properties on the block along Front Street between John Street and Maiden Lane. About half of the block lies within the historic district. City records show that Howard Hughes paid $64.6 million earlier this month to buy nearly 150,000 square feet of air rights from a parking lot Edison owns at the northern end of the block, part of the historic area, and add them to an adjacent development site that Howard Hughes has been assembling since late last year. The Howard Hughes site, which fronts at 163 Front Street, lies just outside the historic area. A zoning diagram prepared by SHoP Architects, the firm that the developer's controversial 42-story mixed-use tower planned just a few blocks north, indicates a project site spanning both companies' properties." For the complete article, click here.

"Lightstone pays $15M for FiDi air rights," The Real Deal, 3/30/15. "David Lichtenstein's Lightstone Group paid $15 million earlier this month to buy air rights for the 50-story mixed-use tower the company is building in the Financial District," The Real Deal reports. "Lightstone paid $15.4 million to buy 68,752 square feet of air rights from developer Harold Thurman's lot at 82 Fulton Street, records filed with the city today show." For the complete article, click here.

"City Council wants to create a 'small-business advocate,'" Crain's New York Business, 3/31/15. City Councilmember Margaret Chin, who represents Lower Manhattan, and City Councilmember Robert Cornegy, who represents Bedford Stuyvesant and northern Crown Heights, have introduced legislation in City Council "to create a government office to field complaints from the city's thousands of small-business owners, as well as to advocate on their behalf," says Crain's New York Business. "It would essentially be an ombudsman for small businesses. The bill's sponsor, Margaret Chin, is pitching it as akin to the city's public advocate. The new 'small-business advocate' would be located within the city's Department of Small Business Services, although the size of its budget and staff have yet to be worked out. In addition to acting as a conduit for complaints and comments about city services from small businesses, the office would make recommendations to the mayor on policies and programs to better support small businesses, and would issue an annual report to the City Council in that same vein." For the complete article, click here.

North Cove Marina update: There's no news yet as to what will be happening at North Cove Marina this summer, but Melissa Coley, a spokesperson for Brookfield Property Partners, said in an email, "We hope to be in a position to make a public announcement on the marina in the next month." Brookfield and its partner, IGY Marinas, won the contract from the Battery Park City Authority to manage the marina for the next 10 years. Robin Forst, spokesperson for the Battery Park City Authority, said, "Negotiations are well under way and we will look forward to announcing specifics in the near future."

In previous years, under Michael Fortenbaugh's management, some of the boats for the sailing school would have been in the water by the first week of April and some of the larger boats that habitually docked at the marina, would have been showing up to claim a mooring before the month was out.

Though what's happening at North Cove Marina is still a cipher, Fortenbaugh has been busy on the Jersey City side of the Hudson River getting things ready for the summer season at Liberty Harbor Marina. Adult sailing lessons will start on April 25. Fortenbaugh said that the first week is already sold out. A two-day course in basic sailing costs $390, discounted from the usual price of $590.

Liberty Harbor Marina is accessible from Lower Manhattan by public transportation via the NY Waterway ferry to Paulus Hook, by the Liberty Landing ferry or by the PATH train. The PATH and Light Rail stop near the marina. For more information about sailing opportunities and courses at Liberty Harbor Marina, click here. For more information about how to get to Liberty Harbor Marina by car or by public transportation, click here. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer

"FiDi rules Manhattan's new development roost: report," The Real Deal, 3/31/15. The Real Deal reports that, "Almost half of the new development listings in the two boroughs priced at $10 million or more during the first quarter of 2015 were located in Lower Manhattan, rather than Midtown and other traditional bastions of wealth, according to Halstead Property Development Marketing's inaugural new development report. In comparison, Billionaires' Row houses 20 percent of the units at that price point." The article says that, "In Manhattan, the average price per square foot for a new development condo was $2,691 per square foot during the first quarter of 2015, according to the report. Most of the borough's new development activity took place in Lower Manhattan, with 300 units closing or entering contract, 73 of which were located in the Financial District." For the complete article, click here.

"Sheldon Silver seeks dismissal of criminal case," Crain's New York Business, 4/2/15. "New York state's former assembly speaker has asked a judge to toss out criminal charges against him," says Crain's New York Business. "Attorneys for Sheldon Silver said in papers filed in Manhattan federal court Thursday that the charges against him rest on a 'theory in search of a crime.' Prosecutors say the 71-year-old Democrat took nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks before he was charged in January in the bribery case." For the complete article, click here.



 

Downtown bulletin board
MINI MATES AT THE SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM; HUDSON RIVER PARK VOLUNTEERS; LANDMARKS LAW RECEPTION; FILM FESTIVAL TIX


Part of Hudson River Park as it looked last June. May 2 is "I Love My Park Day" on which people are asked to volunteer a few hours to help maintain and beautify the park. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Mini Mates at the South Street Seaport Museum: The South Street Seaport Museum will now have two classes for its popular Mini Mates program - Thursdays, April 16 to June 4 and Fridays, April 17 to June 5. The Mini Mates program enables children ages 18 months to 4 years and their parents or caregivers to engage in fun and educational activities under the guidance of a museum educator. Classes will be offered on two different days in order to minimize class size while allowing more families to participate. Both Thursday and Friday sessions will offer the same program. A typical Mini Mates class includes unstructured play time, music-making, hands-on learning activities, art-making, reading and snack time.Themes include holidays, the changing seasons, nature, and the Seaport neighborhood. Place: 12 Fulton St. Time: 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Fee: $200. A deposit of $100 is required at registration. To reserve, email [email protected] or call (212) 748-8753. Registration is now open.

I Love My Park Day at Hudson River Park: Join the Friends of Hudson River Park on Saturday, May 2 for the fourth annual I Love My Park Day. Hudson River Park is one of many parks throughout the state that are participating in the program, which was created to improve and enhance New York's parks and historic sites and bring visibility to the entire park system and its needs. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., volunteers will assist in general maintenance and park beautification, including cutting back grasses, planting, invasive species removal and mulching. Water and tools will be provided. All ages are welcome. Participants should bring a snack. Registration is required. For more information, click here.

26th District Community Convention:
New York State Sen. Daniel Squadron will be holding his seventh annual 26th Senate District Community Convention on Sunday, April 12 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lower East Side Preparatory High School, 145 Stanton St. The community convention provides an opportunity for Squadron and his staff to hear from constituents about matters of community concern. Commenting on this year's New York State budget, Squadron said, "In this year's budget, education and ethics got a lot of focus, and they are certainly critically important issues. But while a small part of the budget has gotten a large amount of focus, there were some good things that didn't get as much attention...Whether on education or college access, ethics or the minimum wage, and even our buses and subways, a lot was needed that simply didn't happen. When everyday citizens come together, we have a much better chance to make change. Next week's Community Convention is a great opportunity to make your priorities heard." RSVP by webform at squadron.nysenate.gov or call (212) 298-5565.

Landmarks at 50:
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is holding a reception in the rotunda of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, 1 Bowling Green, on April 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 signing of the Landmarks Law and the continuing efforts of New York City's preservationists to keep its architectural history from being plowed under. All are invited to attend. To RSVP, click here.

The building where the reception will be held houses the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Archives for New York City and a U.S. bankruptcy court. It is, itself, a National Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places for both exterior and public interior spaces. It was designed by Cass Gilbert to serve as a U.S. customs house and was completed in 1907. The rotunda where the reception will be held is ornamented with a frieze of murals by Reginald Marsh depicting early explorers of the Americas and commerce in New York harbor. For more information about the building, click here.

Poetry writing classes:
Poets House at 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City is offering six-week-long poetry-writing classes and a special one-day workshop. All are open to people of all levels of experience. The six-week-long classes focus on the relationship between reading and writing poetry.  There are classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting the first week of April. Fee: $325. The one-day workshop, "Hands On/Hands Off: A Seminar in Artistic Collaboration with Bill Berkson," takes place on Saturday, April 25, 3 p.m.-5 p.m. This seminar, inspired by last season's exhibition, "A Painter and His Poets: The Art of George Schneeman," includes an overview of the often spontaneous and casual collaborations developed by New York artists and poets from the 1950's onward, and the opportunity to create and collaborate on new work. Fee: $25. For more information and to register, click here.

Tribeca Film Festival tickets on sale: The Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 15 to April 26
, with passes and ticket packages now on sale. They range in price from $45 for a six-matin�e ticket package to $425 for 18 individual general screening tickets that include perks such as early ticket selection and the option to select up to four tickets for any given performance (excluding all specialty and premium-priced screenings and events.) For more information and to purchase ticket packages, click here. Individual tickets became available to American Express� Card Members on March 31 at 11 a.m. and will go on sale to downtown residents on Sunday, April 5 at 11 a.m. with a $2 discount per ticket. These can only be purchased at ticket outlets and require proof of zip code to get the discount. The ticket outlets are the Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas 9, 260 W. 23rd St. (between 7th and 8th Avenues) and the Regal Cinemas Battery Park Stadium 11, 102 North End Ave. (between Vesey and Murray Streets.) The general public can begin buying single tickets on April 6. During the Festival, tickets will be on sale at all Festival Venue box offices, based on screening or event availability. Ticketing locations open approximately one hour prior to the venue's first ticketed screening or event of the day.

Health and Wellness seminar: 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 April 21, Catherine Lord, Ph.D., will discuss "New Approaches and Challenges in Autism Spectrum Disorders." The seminar will begin at 8:30 a.m.-9 a.m. with registration and light refreshments. The presentation will take place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. followed by question and answer sessions. Space is limited. RSVP to [email protected]. Place: Pace University, Aniello Bianco room, 3 Spruce St.


Ask Downtown Post NYC
WHAT'S GOING ON AT PIER 16?


The South Street Seaport Museum's 104-year-old barque, Peking, will be part of a film shoot. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer
)

To the editor:
I saw lots of activity on Pier 16 this morning (April 1). There are four containers going in, lots of scaffolding, and one area indicates "cue for Ellis Island" in front of the Peking. I don't know if this is rehab work, or pop-up shops, or a combination of both. One thing's for sure: goodbye open space.

Dirk Kaufman

From the editor:
Thanks for writing to us to tip us off on the Pier 16 activity. You stumbled over preparations for a film shoot. "The Knick," a show on Cinemax set around 1900 about a New York City hospital, will be shooting on the pier on April 13.

"We will be recreating a busy dock scene set in 1901," said a spokesperson for "The Knick." The South Street Seaport Museum's 104-year-old barque, Peking, will be part of the film shoot.

The show, now in its second season, stars Clive Owen ("Children of Men," HBO's "Hemingway & Gellhorn"; Oscar� nominee for "Closer") and is directed by Steven Soderbergh ("Side Effects"; Oscar� winner for "Traffic"; Emmy� winner for HBO's "Behind the Candelabra").



Letter to the editor
ITALIAN MUSEUM EVICTING 85-YEAR-OLD ITALIAN GRANDMOTHER
 
To the editor:
(Re: "Museum in Little Italy seeks to Evict a Living Link to the Past," DPNYC, 3/28/15) The Italian American Museum is being drastically hypocritical and they should be ashamed of their behavior. Adele Sarno needs to keep her apartment. She's been there longer than the museum.

Vernon Hendrix

From the editor:
According to a reliable source, efforts are being made to stave off Sarno's eviction completely or at least to delay it, but the museum is being "recalcitrant."

We welcome letters to the editor. Email them to [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit them for clarity and length.

COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETINGS: Week of April 6


On March 31, Community Board 1's Financial District Committee discussed the need for more grocery stores in the Financial District. (The store depicted in the photo is a Gristede's in Battery Park City.) (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.

April 7: Battery Park City Committee
* 250 Vesey St., application for liquor license for GRGNY1, LLC - Resolution
* American Heart Association/NYC LeadDog Marketing Group, Inc., application for Battery Park City Authority permit for Thursday, May 28, 2015 - Discussion
* 325 South End Ave., application for liquor license for Chipotle Mexican Grill #1836 - Resolution
* Parking signage and enforcement - Discussion
* BPC Ball fields - Discussion
* Maintenance of West Street median - Discussion

April 8: Tribeca Committee
* 285 West Broadway, application for cabaret license for Haus - Resolution
* Street activity permit for Church Street School on Sunday, May 17, 2015, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. on Warren Street between West Broadway and Greenwich - Resolution

The following notices have been received for renewal, upgrade, or transfer of wine and beer or liquor licenses or sidewalk cafe permits:
* 81 Hudson St., application for a renewal of a liquor license for Puffy's Tavern
* 81 Warren St., application for a renewal of a liquor license for Il Giglio Restaurant

April 9: Landmarks Committee
* Guidelines for Applicant Presentation to Landmarks Committee - Discussion

Community Board 1 loses five members: Five members of Community Board 1 did not seek reappointment. They are George Calderaro, co-chair of the Battery Park City Committee and a member of the Landmarks Committee; John Fratta, chair of the South Street Seaport/Civic Center Committee and member of the Executive Committee; Sarah Currie-Halpern, who was on the Planning and Quality of Life Committees; Coren Sharples, who served on the Landmarks and Youth and Education Committees and Allan Tannenbaum, who was on the Tribeca and Landmarks Committees.

CALENDAR: Week of March 30


Furniture designed by George Nelson, part of "Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism," an exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)


April 4: The Skyscraper Museum in Battery Park City presents a family program on elevator construction. Elevators are among the inventions that made skyscrapers possible. After learning the history of the hoists and how elevators work, kids will build their machines out of cardboard and give them a test run. For ages 7 and up. RSVP required. Registration is requested by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3. Place: 39 Battery Place. Time: 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Tickets: $5 per child; free to museum members and to Battery Park City residents. To sign up for the Family Program newsletter, or for more information, email [email protected] or call (212) 945-6324. For more information about the Skyscraper Museum, click here. Saturday Family Programs at The Skyscraper Museum are presented in partnership with The Battery Park City Authority.

Ongoing: The Museum of Jewish Heritage presents "Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism," an exhibition that explores the cultural context in which many Jewish �migr� architects and designers created a distinctly modern American design that still has wide appeal today.  Walk-up tours will be offered on Sundays in May (except May 24) at 12 p.m. with no reservations necessary. Through January 2016. Place: 36 Battery Place. For more information, click here.

Ongoing: "Artifacts & Memory: The Drawings of Nancy Patz" is at the Anne Frank Center USA through April 30. Nancy Patz is a Baltimore-born artist, teacher, lecturer, author, and illustrator. Inspired by a hat she saw on display at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam, Patz began a larger exploration of the power of artifacts and memory. The result was "Who Was the Woman Who Wore the Hat," a book she published in 2003 of moving pencil drawings, displayed here for the first time in their entirety. Using subdued watercolors and old photographs, the drawings bring the reality of the Holocaust into sharp focus by trying to recreate the story of the woman - faceless, nameless - behind this hat. Place: 44 Park Place. Hours: Tues.-Sat.,  10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: $8; $5 (students and seniors, 65 and over); free (children, ages 8 and under). For more information, click 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 May 9, Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place presents a variety showcase of live music, games, story time, magic, puppetry and more followed by a movie for the whole family. Time: Shows at 11 a.m. and noon. Movies at 1 p.m. Free. For more information, click here.

Ongoing: Saturday mornings 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 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: "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: "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: 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 [email protected]. Lobby access: Fridays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Temporarily closed: The South Street Seaport Museum's lightship Ambrose and its barque Peking, berthed at Piers 16 and 15, are closed to visitors through April 25 as the Museum prepares for its 2015 season. 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 2015 season will open on April 25.

Buy tickets now: On April 9, the Municipal Art Society is offering a new tour called "Traces of the Underground Railroad in TriBeCa," led by historian Kathleen Hulser. From Frederick Douglass to David Ruggles to Sojourner Truth, the stories of resistance to the slave system in the North and South are tied to downtown Manhattan. Tribeca is little known as the cradle of early black leadership, but its network of vigilance committees, publications, church activists and escaped slaves formed an early society dedicated to defying oppressive laws and racist ideas.  Time: 2 p.m. Tickets: $20; $15 (MAS members). To buy tickets, click here or call (212) 935-2075, Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Meeting locations are provided after tickets are purchased. All tours proceed rain or shine. No refunds or exchanges.


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Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer

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