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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
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Volume 2, No. 37 April 25, 2015
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Quote of the day:
"We reaffirm our founding commitment to being the artists' museum."
- Adam D. Weinberg, director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, on the occasion of the inauguration of the museum's new building at 99 Gansevoort St.
* Whitney Museum of American Art opens on May 1 * Bits & Bytes: Liberty Island evacuated because of bomb threat
* Julia Wolfe wins Pulitzer Prize in music for "Anthracite Fields"
* Downtown Bulletin Board: Beach volleyball; BPC Parks Conservancy summer programming
* Community Board 1 meetings: Week of April 27 * Calendar: Weeks of April 20 and April 27
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.
All ads in Downtown Post NYC have clickable links. Click on an ad for more information. Tulips in Battery Park City. April 19, 2015. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART OPENS ON MAY 1
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| | The Whitney Museum of American Art at 99 Gansevoort St., in the meatpacking district, next to the High Line. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
"America is hard to see," Robert Frost wrote in a poem. The Whitney Museum of American Art has taken that line as the title of the opening exhibition at its new building in the former meatpacking district of Manhattan. The building at 99 Gansevoort St., designed by Renzo Piano,
opens to the public on May 1. It more than doubles the size of the exhibition space available in the Whitney's former building, a landmark designed by Marcel Breuer, on Madison Avenue. The new building has 50,000 square feet of interior exhibition space and 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space on a cascade of terraces. Knowing that it needed to expand, the Whitney explored possibilities on the Upper East Side, but none of them seemed feasible. When the meatpacking district location was proposed, everything seemed to fall into place. New York City sold the property to the museum and donated $55 million toward construction of the $422 million building. Adam D. Weinberg, the director of the museum, described the new building with its large, flexible galleries as providing a "transformative moment" for the museum. "We reaffirm our founding commitment to being the artists' museum," he said. He added that he looked forward to seeing what artists would do with it. |
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A painting by Arshile Gorky of himself and his mother and a sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett are in the Whitney's inaugural exhibition, "America Is Hard to See."
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The "America" depicted in the inaugural exhibition looks at American art that was created between 1900 and the present. More than 600 objects from the Whitney's collection are on display. Like the United States itself, the art presents a hodgepodge of values, ethnicities and experiences, reflecting the social and economic upheavals of the last 115 years. Racism, AIDS and sexism are not ignored. Neither are the effects of mesmerizing technology and rampant consumerism abetted by seductive advertising. The unifying point of view, if there is one, is that in the United States, freedom is possible, though not always achieved. But what has been achieved is the building itself. It is somewhat ungainly from the outside, but inside, is filled with light. Spaces unencumbered by columns, lend themselves to the display of large works of art. Big, glass windows unite the building with the industrial landscape of the meatpacking district, and best of all, there are the terraces with riveting views of the city and of the Hudson River. The museum resembles a cruise ship, come to rest on land. Seagulls fly by at eye level. With no tall buildings close by, a sweep of sky becomes a constantly changing light show. |
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The Whitney's inaugural exhibition explores the effect of technology and consumerism on American art.
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Although the museum opens on May 1, the next day - Saturday, May 2 - is the date for the celebratory party. There will be free admission from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and a free block party on Gansevoort Street. It will feature booths designed by a diverse group of artists and community organizations with activities such as karaoke, map making and performance workshops. Large-scale acts on the main stage will include performances, puppetry, dance and music. The museum will be open six days a week (closed on Tuesdays). General admission is $22. Admission for seniors (65 and over) and full-time students is $18. Children and teens under 18 years old are free. Friday nights from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. are also free for everyone. General admission tickets can be purchased online until midnight the night before a visit. For more information about ticketing and to buy tickets, click here. For more photographs of the Whitney Museum's new building and of its opening exhibition, click here. - Terese Loeb Kreuzer
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Bits & Bytes
LIBERTY ISLAND EVACUATED BECAUSE OF BOMB THREAT
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| A bomb threat on April 24 forced the evacuation of Liberty Island.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Statue of Liberty bomb threat: The National Park Service issued a press release on Friday afternoon saying that a false bomb threat had forced the evacuation of Liberty Island earlier in the day. A thorough investigation determined that there was no explosive device on the island.
Visitors who had been required to evacuate without gathering their belongings from storage lockers were allowed to return to the island to retrieve their possessions once it was clear that there was no bomb. The island will reopen to the public on Saturday.
Statue Cruises, the ferry service provider for the National Park Service at Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, issued refunds to affected visitors.
Shortly after 11 a.m. on Friday, the National Park Service Statue of Liberty Dispatch was advised that a 911 caller made a bomb threat, stating they were going to blow up the Statue of Liberty.
The Statue was immediately evacuated. United States Park Police (USPP) personnel including two canine units swept the Statue. The canine units alerted on an area of interest near the lockers at the base of the Statue.
At this point, NPS and USPP determined it was in best to evacuate the entire island. The island was cleared of all visitors and personnel, totaling approximately 2,715 people.
The New York City Police Department Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit joined the USPP on the island. Following their investigation, it was determined that there was not an explosive device and the scene declared clear at 3:15 p.m. USPP in concert with the NYC Police Department is investigating the false threat. The USPP is also working to determine what caused the canine units to alert.
Visitors who opted to leave without retrieving their belongings on Friday can contact the USPP at (646) 356-2205 and ask for the supervisor.
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JULIA WOLFE WINS PULITZER PRIZE FOR 'ANTHRACITE FIELDS,' RECORDED WITH THE TRINITY WALL STREET CHOIR
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| | Julia Wolfe at the annual Bang on a Can marathon, held in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place. Wolfe, one of the founders of Bang on a Can, just won a Pulitzer Prize in music for her oratorio, "Anthracite Fields." (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Julia Wolfe, familiar to Battery Park City audiences as one of the founders of Bang on a Can, which stages a marathon of new music at the Winter Garden every year, has just won a Pulitzer Prize in music for her oratorio, "Anthracite Fields."
Wolfe's oratorio, scored for chorus and instruments, comes with a Lower Manhattan connection. It will be released by Cantaloupe Music this September in a recording that features the Bang on a Can All-Stars and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street with Julian Wachner conducting.
Wolfe drew on oral histories, interviews, speeches, geographic descriptions, children's rhymes, and coal advertisements to for her oratorio.
Cited by the Pulitzer committee as "a powerful oratorio for chorus and sextet evoking Pennsylvania coal-mining life around the turn of the 20th Century," the work premiered at the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia last April followed by a performance at the NY Phil Biennial in May. It was met with rave reviews. The New York Times wrote, "In Ms. Wolfe's polished and stylistically assured cantata, the overall coherence of the musical material helped her expressions of outrage to burn cleanly and brightly." The Philadelphia Inquirer praised the piece for creating "an alternate universe."
"My aim with Anthracite Fields is to honor the people who persevered and endured in the Pennsylvania anthracite coal region during a time when the industry fueled the nation, and to reveal a bit about who we are as American workers," Wolfe said.
Wolfe grew up in Montgomeryville, a small town in Pennsylvania around 30 miles outside Philadelphia and not far from the region where anthracite coal is mined. As Pennsylvania school children learn, anthracite is a hard grade of coal that burns with less residue than bituminous coal. Wolfe writes, "When we first moved [to Montgomeryville], the road was dirt and the woods surrounding the house offered an endless playground of natural forts and ice skating trails. At the end of the long country road you'd reach the highway - route 309. A right turn (which was the way we almost always turned) led to the city, Philadelphia. A left turn on route 309 (which we hardly ever took) lead to coal country, the anthracite field region. I remember hearing the names of the towns, and though my grandmother grew up in Scranton, everything in that direction, north of my small town, seemed like the wild west.
"In some ways the piece is a return to my small town Pennsylvania roots. In looking north - the left turn onto route 309, the road-rarely-taken - I delved into a local history."To hear the fourth movement of "Anthracite Fields," click here.To contribute to the production of the "Anthracite Fields" CD and to receive a copy of the oratorio when it is released, click here.
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Downtown bulletin board
BEACH VOLLEYBALL; BPC PARKS CONSERVANCY SUMMER PROGRAMMING; SAILORS BALL; SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CHEFS; MALAYSIAN KITCHEN
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| From early May to late October, the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy organizes a wide range of programs for adults and children including outdoor painting classes. Art for adults classes include "Drawing in the Park" on Saturdays (10 a.m. to noon), "Elements of Nature Drawing" on Wednesdays (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), and "Figure al Fresco" on Wednesdays (2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) All classes are free.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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Beach volleyball at Pier 25: Kids in grades 6 through 12 can sign up for Beach Volleyball instruction and games at Pier 25 in Hudson River Park. The League runs from May 15 to July 17 on Friday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The program is free for Downtown Community Center members. The fee for non-members is $25. Sponsorships are needed. Email jim@manhattanyouth.org to become a sponsor. To register, click here. Battery Park City Parks Conservancy summer programming: The Battery Park City Parks Conservancy organizes free art, gardening, science, yoga, tai chi and sports programs that run from early May through late October in BPC's parks. The programs are for children as young as three years old to adults. Some are drop-in programs. Others require advance registration. For more information, click here.
Malaysian Kitchen grand opening:
The newest restaurant to open in Battery Park City,
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| | Papaya salad made with papayas, string beans, tomatoes, chilis and lime juice. |
Malaysian Kitchen at 21 South End Ave., overlooking South Cove, held its grand opening on April 18. Malaysian cuisine reflects the historical influences of the English, the Portuguese and the Dutch, and the country's present connection to its Southeast Asian neighbors. Malaysian Kitchen is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. It will deliver. The phone number is (212) 786-1888. For more information about Malaysian Kitchen, click here.
The 18th Annual Sailors Ball, a fundraiser for the NY Harbor Sailing Foundation, will take place on Friday, May 1 at the Downtown Association. The Foundation, a project of Michael Fortenbaugh's Manhattan Sailing Club, created the first junior sailing programs in New York Harbor. All proceeds from the black-tie Sailors Ball go toward scholarships for the junior and teen programs. Dancing from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. (tickets are $95 in advance and $120 at the door) follows a sit-down dinner ($250 a person for those who choose to attend the dinner). This year, the post-dinner festivities will also include a casino with black jack, craps and roulette tables. Place: 60 Pine St. For more information and tickets, click here.
Scholarships for chefs: The James Beard Foundation, named for the renowned cookbook author, has scholarships for people who want to become chefs and for chefs who want to improve their skills. This year, the JBF will award $700,000 in scholarships and grants. There are unrestricted cash awards, cash awards with specific restrictions or qualifications, and scholarships to specific schools that can be applied to tuition at those schools only. Among them are the Institute of Culinary Education, which will soon relocate from Chelsea to Brookfield Place in Battery Park City, and the International Culinary Center in Soho. Some of the other scholarships include the Alain Ducasse Education Scholarship of $20,000, which goes to a student seeking an education in the culinary, pastry, and bakery arts or in wine studies, the Jean-Louis Palladin Professional Work/Study Grant, which enables a qualified professional to work with food producers at their source and to study varied specialized skills and the Rhone Rangers Professional Study/Travel Grant, designed for working chefs or sommeliers who wish to learn about American-Rh�ne varietal wines. All scholarship application materials must be postmarked by May 15, 2015. Professional grant applications must be postmarked by June 15, 2015. Scholarship winners will be notified in August. To learn more about the scholarship program, click here.
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 education@seany.org 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. Downtown Little League opening day photo gallery: The Downtown Little League kicked off its 2015 season on April 18. This year, there will be just under 1,100 players on 81 teams. For photos of the opening day, click here.
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CB1 GETS SEVEN NEW MEMBERS; CB1 MEETINGS: Week of April 27
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| The Excelsior Power Co. building at 33 Gold St. dates from 1888 and is on the Landmarks Committee agenda for Community Board 1's full board meeting.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer announced on April 20 that she and City Councilmember Margaret Chin had appointed seven new members to Community Board 1 and had reappointed 18 previous members to the community board. A total of 50 people serve on each community board, with two-year terms. Every year, 25 people come up for renewal. The new members are Elizabeth Avila, Thomas Berton, Wendy Chapman, Fern Cunningham, Patrick Kennel, Tiffany Winbush and Susan Wu. Brewer's office received approximately 50 new applications for Community Board 1, in addition to many of the existing members seeking renewal. "Our district received the second most new applicants of the 12 Manhattan community boards," said Catherine McVay Hughes, CB1 chairperson. "Our community is fortunate that such qualified residents are volunteering their time to serve their community." April 28: CB 1 Monthly Meeting - 6 p.m. Location: Southbridge Towers, 90 Beekman St., Community Room Agenda: I. Public Session * Comments by members of the public (6 p.m. to 7 p.m.) (1 to 2 minutes per speaker) * Guest Speaker: Captain Mark Iocco, Commanding Officer, New York Police Department 1st Precinct II. Business Session * Adoption of March 2015 minutes * Chairperson's Report - C. McVay Hughes * District Manager's Report - N. Pfefferblit * Treasurer's Report - J. Kopel (Postponed until May 2015) III. Committee Reports A. Financial District Committee - R. Sheffe * South Street and Battery Park Underpass - Report * Placard Parking in Financial District - Report * 28 Liberty St. (formerly One Chase Manhattan Plaza) - Report * 8-12 Maiden Lane Hotel Project - Report * Need for more grocery stores in the Financial District - Report * 88 Fulton St., BSA application special permit for physical culture establishment - Resolution * Street activity permit for Dushahra festival on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, 12 p.m.-7 p.m. on Maiden Lane between Front Street and South Street - Resolution * Street activity permit for Oysterfest on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Stone Street between Hanover Square and Coenties Alley, Mill Lane between South William Street and Stone Street and Hanover Square between Pearl Street and South William Street - Resolution * Governors Island, application for a wine and beer license for El Paso Taquria 1643 Corp, d/b/a El Paso Restaurant Mexicano - Resolution B) Youth & Education Committee - T. Joyce * Manhattan Youth summer programs - Report * Project Pay It Forward - Report * Anti-Bullying Leadership Network - Report * Implications of the new education budget - Report * CB 2 Schools and Education Committee and Community Education Council District 2 meeting, 75 Morton Middle School: presenting plans for the new school; Monday, May 11, 2015 at 6:30 p.m., LGBT Center, Assembly Room, 208 W. 13th St. - Report * Teacher evaluations - Resolution C) Landmarks Committee - R. Byrom * Zoning for Quality and Affordability text amendment - Report * Guidelines for Applicant Presentation to Landmarks Committee - Report * Landmarks Preservation Commission Calendar Backlog Items - Resolution * 315 Broadway (1989) * 143 Chambers Street (1989) * Excelsior Power Company Building, 33-43 Gold Street (1977) * Landmarks Preservation Commission 50th Anniversary - Resolution D) Battery Park City Committee - N. Segarra * American Heart Association/NYC LeadDog Marketing Group, Inc., application for Battery Park City Authority permit for Thursday, May 28, 2015 - Report * Parking signage and enforcement - Report * BPC ballfields - Report * 250 Vesey St., application for liquor license for GRGNY1, LLC d/b/a Amada - Resolution * 325 South End Ave., application for liquor license for Chipotle Mexican Grill #1836 - Resolution * Maintenance of West Street median - Resolution E) Quality of Life Committee - P. Moore * Rodent issues in CB1 - Report * Construction update by NYC Department of Transportation - Report * Construction site safety during high winds - Report * Drone regulations - Report * Police and the public - Report * Update on World Trade Center Health Registry progress and accomplishments - Report * United States Postal Service - Report * Aging-Friendly Neighborhood Initiative in Lower Manhattan - Report * Organizing a construction forum - Report F) Seaport/Civic Center Committee - M. Pasanella * South Street Seaport Museum Opening Day on Pier 16 on Saturday, April 25, 2015 - Report * Hermione departure from France and arrival at Seaport - Report * City Hall Park Charrette - Report * Accident on Beekman Street between William Street and Nassau Street. - Resolution * Seaport/Civic Center Update and Priorities a. South Street Seaport Museum - Resolution b. East River Esplanade - Resolution * 111 Fulton St., BSA application special permit for physical culture establishment - Resolution * Street activity permit for River To River: Living Room on Sunday, June 28, 2015, 12pm-8pm on Front St. between Beekman St. and Peck Slip - Resolution * 24 Peck Slip, application for new sidewalk caf� license for Suteishi Japanese Restaurant - Resolution * 33 Peck Slip, application for hotel liquor license for an entity to be formed by Bob Ghassemieh - Resolution * 207A Front St., application for wine and beer license for LLC to be formed - Resolution * 89 South St., application for a wine and beer license for Pier 16 Holdings LLC - Resolution * South Street Seaport - Pier 15, request for one-time alteration of hours for Watermark - Resolution G) Planning Committee - J. Galloway * World Trade Center - Report * Silverstein Properties - Report * Route 9A - Report * Zoning for Quality and Affordability text amendment - Report * FY 2016 Manhattan Borough Board Budget Priorities Report - Resolution * Resiliency Implications of the Exxon Settlement for the Newark Bay Bi-state Estuary - Resolution * Public Hearing on Int. 0732-2015 to require dedicated urban planner for each of the City's 59 community boards, April 30, 2015 - Resolution H) Tribeca Committee - P. Braus and J. Ehrlich * I Love My Park Day at Hudson River Park, Saturday, May 2 - Report * 285 West Broadway, application for cabaret license for Haus - Resolution * Street activity permit for Church Street School, Sunday, May 17, 2015, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Warren Street between West Broadway and Greenwich - Resolution * Sidewalk Caf� Working Group - Report and resolution V. Old Business VI. New Business VII. Adjournment
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CALENDAR: Weeks of April 20 and April 27
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| Jonathan Boulware, executive director of the South Street Seaport Museum, will participate in festivities and ceremonies on Saturday, April 25 to inaugurate the museum's 2015 season. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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April 25: Opening day on Pier 16 and at 12 Fulton St. for the South Street Seaport Museum's season includes free and family-friendly activities and tours. Activities such as a Seaport scavenger hunt, historic ship tours and live music take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. At 11:30 a.m. and at 2:30 p.m., there will be tours of Schermerhorn Row - a landmark built in 1811 and sometimes described as New York City's first World Trade Center, and at 12:45 p.m. there will be a tour of the South Street Seaport district. In honor of opening day, the museum is offering $1 memberships to new members. Memberships will be valid for six months and are for the Individual Level only. They can be obtained at the information booth on Pier 16 or from a museum staff member. At 2 p.m. on Pier 16, City Councilmember Margaret Chin will ring in the new season on the lightship Ambrose's bell. Free. April 25: The Tribeca Film Festival's street fair takes place on Greenwich Street north of Chambers Street with filmmaking experiences, live chef demonstration from a local restaurant, kite flying, video games, arts and crafts, dancing and more. Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free. For more information, click here. April 29: Open House New York is launching a yearlong series of tours and talks called "The Final Mile: Food Systems of New York" with "How Great Cities Are Fed," a talk with Robert LaValva, founder and president of the New Amsterdam Market, and Karen Karp, president of Karp Resources. They will discuss the future of New York City's food system and lay out some of the key issues that OHNY will explore over the coming year. Place: School of Visual Arts, 209 E. 23rd St. Time: 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Tickets: $10; free (OHNY members, OHNY volunteers and students with a valid ID). Reservations required. To reserve, click here. April 30: A "Neighborhood Poetry Read-In at Poets House" celebrates Poem In Your Pocket Day. Participants can bring a poem of their own to share or find one in Poets House's 60,000 volume poetry library. The read-in will be MC'ed by poets Charles Waters, Dave Johnson, and Suzanne Highland. Place: 10 River Terrace. Time: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Free. Also, throughout the day on April 30, Poets House volunteers will be handing out pocket-sized cards featuring poems, including selections from the children's poetry, at Poets House's Battery Park City home and around downtown.
Through April 30: During the month of April, Lynda Caspe is showing her sculpture, sculptural reliefs and preparatory drawings in the gallery at the office of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. A member of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, her work has been exhibited at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Westbeth Gallery, and the Synagogue of the Arts. Place: Manhattan Municipal Building, 1 Centre St., 19th floor South. Time: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. For more information, click here. Through May 23: Poets House in Battery Park City presents Edward Sanders' "Seeking the Glyph." During the course of a long and diverse career as a poet, musician, historian, publisher, activist and pacifist, Sanders has invented a glyphic alphabet - a colorful script of hand-drawn characters, symbols, and graphemes. He says that, "A glyph is a drawing that is charged with literary, emotional, historical or mythic, and poetic intensity." This exhibition shows selected drawings and daybooks authored by Sanders between 1962 and the present. Place: 10 River Terrace. Time: Tues.-Fri., 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free. For more information, click here. Ongoing: "Cer�mica de los Ancestros: Central America's Past Revealed" displays 155 ancient objects from the National Museum of the American Indian's rarely seen collections of Central American ceramics. The exhibition examines seven regions representing distinct Central American cultural areas that are today part of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, where Central America's first inhabitants lived. Dating back to 1000 B.C., the ceramics help tell the story of the innumerable achievements of these ancient civilizations, each with unique, sophisticated ways of life, value systems and arts. Through January 2017. Place: 1 Bowling Green. The National Museum of the American Indian is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Thursdays, until 8 p.m. Free. For more information, click here.
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: 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 info@seany.org. Lobby access: Fridays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Buy tickets now: On June 8 at 6 p.m., Poets House will once again embark on a poetic pilgrimage across the Brooklyn Bridge, stopping along the way to listen to NYC-inspired poetry and ending on the Brooklyn side of the bridge with dinner, wine and more poetry. This is the 20th anniversary of the fundraising event. All proceeds help make possible the hundreds of free and affordable public programs that Poets House presents each year. Tickets start at $250; ($225 for Poets House members). Reservations are required. To buy tickets online, click here. For details or to make reservations, contact Krista Manrique at (212) 431-7920, ext. 2830 or email krista@poetshouse.org
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Downtown Post NYC is emailed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer
All articles and photographs in Downtown Post NYC are copyrighted and
may not be reprinted or republished without written permission.
� 2014
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