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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
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Volume 2, No. 71 Oct. 22, 2015
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Quote of the day:
" 'Emerging Artists from the Streets of Brooklyn' marks how the Financial District is changing....We've seen this neighborhood when it was mostly offices, commercial - mostly financial institutions. The art we carried reflected that. Now we have some of the biggest brands in the world here, we have residential - so we're changing with that. We're showing a group of seven Brooklyn-based artists - a lot of them from Bushwick. They're street artists. They paint huge murals on exterior walls in Brooklyn. This is the young, hip, sexy, fun, cool art." - Doug Smith, owner of the World Trade Gallery at 120 Broadway
NEW: Each article in Downtown Post NYC now has a link. Clicking on a link will take you directly to that article without having to scroll through the whole document.
* Winners of the Downtown Alliance sweepstakes collect their prizes
WEATHER INFORMATION: For current weather information, click here. IF YOU LIKE DOWNTOWN POST NYC - Downtown Post NYC is emailed free to subscribers, but if you like DPNYC and want to support it, you can do that in three ways. 1) Support Downtown Post's advertisers by clicking on their ads, and if you use their services, tell them that you read about them in DPNYC. 2) Consider advertising in DPNYC if you have a business, service or event that you want to promote. 3) Tell people about DPNYC and suggest that they subscribe. They can sign up at www.DowntownPostNYC.com. 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. MASTHEAD PHOTO: City Hall Park. Oct. 20, 2015. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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 TASTE OF THE SEAPORT DRAWS A RECORD-BREAKING CROWD AND A VISIT FROM THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH |
| | Pita Press, one of the restaurants at Taste of the Seaport, served souvlaki chicken and vegetable and vegan dumplings. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Oct. 17 was a beautiful day - not too hot, not too cold - and the 6th annual Taste of the Seaport, with more than 40 food vendors lining Front Street between Fulton Street and Peck Slip and a few on Peck Slip itself should have gone down as a complete and unprecedented success. It drew such a big crowd that some of the food vendors had depleted their stock of food within a couple of hours of the opening of the festival. Around 2,500 tickets were sold - twice as many as last year- bringing a nice infusion of cash for the arts enrichment programs at the Peck Slip and Spruce Street elementary schools, the beneficiaries of the festival.
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An inspector from the New York City Department of Health at Taste of the Seaport. (Photo: Christina Johnston)
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The only problem was that around 12:30 p.m., four inspectors from the New York City Board of Health showed up causing some of the food vendors to get spooked and go home.
Rumors circulated as to why this had happened. Paul Hovitz, a South Street Seaport resident, said that, "A DOH supervisor did share that 'someone must have made a call as [the inspectors] never work on Saturdays."
One of the vendors, Christina Johnston, general manager of Mad Dog and Beans on Stone Street, said that, the inspectors "were writing 'reports' for [the absence of] soap and water (even though everyone had gloves on!) and they were requesting everyone's DOH license and food safety card. Common knowledge in the restaurant business is that the Health Department will get you for everything and anything that they can. The vendors just felt bullied."
She said that the vendors were there "to support a great charity event for our neighborhood" and the DOH was "harassing" them. According to Johnston, one inspector was "with one vendor for a solid 20 minutes. The vendor looked stressed and humiliated. The inspector's supervisor said they weren't giving tickets, just writing 'reports.' Where does that report go? The supervisor would not tell us. Only that it's being 'reported.' The whole thing just seemed very off. I 100 percent support the need for the DOH and food safety is direly important, but this was ridiculous."
Hovitz said that community affairs officers from the First Precinct were summoned "and were of huge assistance in calming the situation. It was most disturbing as even when we had an agreement to sit with the DOH inspectors and present each permit they still went table to table. Naturally, while they were at a table, the public avoided it."
According to Hovitz, the inspectors wanted hand washing facilities at each station. "I have never been to a street fair in which each table had wash stations," he commented. "All of our paper work was in order. No fines were issued. However, this created havoc among businesses whose sole purpose was to support the schools, the kids, and community."
The Howard Hughes Corporation was a presenting sponsor of Taste of the Seaport with additional support from 12 other sponsors. According to a spokesperson for HHC, "Howard Hughes received an email from the Health Department with a reminder about proper permits for participants and forwarded the reminder to the Taste of the Seaport organizers."
Maybe that explains why the DOH inspectors showed up. Or maybe not. Hovitz inquired with organizers of the Taste of Tribeca, another fundraising event for local schools, and reported that they had never had a visit from the Department of Health. And Johnston of Mad Dog and Beans said, "We have participated in past Seaport and many other charity events and the DOH has never shown up."
- Terese Loeb Kreuzer
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Crowds of unprecedented size attended this year's Taste of the Seaport.
(Photo: Amanda Byron)
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HAPPY WINNERS OF THE DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE'S #GET LOW AND
DINE AROUND DOWNTOWN COMPETITIONS PICK UP THEIR PRIZES
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| Nina Cheung, Jessica Lappin and Nadine Yuvienco at the Downtown Alliance celebrating the awarding of prizes for this summer's #Get Low competition and Dine Around Downtown. Cheung won a two-night stay for two at the W hotel. Yuvienco won a three-night, four-day stay for two in Amsterdam. Lappin is the president of the Downtown Alliance. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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Nadine Yuvienco, a social worker who lives in the Financial District, has never been to Amsterdam, but she'll be going soon with her husband, Franco, courtesy of the Alliance for Downtown New York. Yuvienco won the Alliance's summer #Get Low sweepstakes after she "tweeted" a photo of a meal that she ate during the #Get Low promotion. Twitter was one of 11 eligible social media platforms that could be used to enter the competition. Yuvienco's photo depicted lobster from Smorgasburg's Red Hook Lobster Pound on Fulton Street in the South Street Seaport.
Yuvienco won a four-day, three-night trip for two from New York to Amsterdam, including airfare, airport transfers, a three-night hotel stay at the Hilton Amsterdam, daily breakfasts and access to Amsterdam experiences with the I amsterdam 72 hour City Card as well as admission to the Anne Frank Museum.
Nina Cheung, who works on Wall Street, won the Dine Around Downtown competition after submitting a photo of her plate from this year's Dine Around Downtown event, geotagged with 28 Liberty Street and using the #DineAroundDowntownNYC hashtag. Her prize was a two night, weekend stay for two at the W New York - Downtown hotel. Cheung said that she submitted just one picture to the competition. Her photo depicted octopus that she ate during Dine Around Downtown as prepared by the Trading Post, a restaurant at 170 John St. in the South Street Seaport. Cheung said that she's looking forward to her stay at the hotel. "I hear it's beautiful!" she said. "This will be a nice little vacation." Both Cheung and Yuvienco are very interested in food. Asked what she would like to know about Amsterdam, Yuvienco replied, "What's the food like? Where should we eat?" - Terese Loeb Kreuzer
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Bits & Bytes
SHELDON SILVER TRIAL; 6 WATER ST. CONSTRUCTION UPDATE; NEW BOOKS ABOUT A. HAMILTON; LEGAL HELP FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS
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| Sheldon Silver, who was then Speaker of the New York State Assembly, making a speech to the Downtown Lower Manhattan Association on Sept. 11, 2011. He talked about the resurgence of Lower Manhattan in the decade following the World Trade Center attack - a resurgence to which he contributed in many ways. He is scheduled to go on trial for corruption on Nov. 2. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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"Sheldon Silver Trial Can Include Clinic Move, Federal Judge Says," New York Times, 10/16/15. "A federal judge ruled on Friday that prosecutors may introduce evidence at the trial of Sheldon Silver, the former speaker of the New York State Assembly, showing he took official action on behalf of a real estate developer to block a methadone clinic from relocating near one of its buildings in Lower Manhattan," says The New York Times. "The government has charged that Mr. Silver, whose corruption trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 2, had an undisclosed interest in helping the developer, Glenwood Management. Prosecutors say Mr. Silver was receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal payments disguised as referral fees from a law firm to which he had directed some of Glenwood's legal business. Mr. Silver, 71, a Democrat from the Lower East Side, has pleaded not guilty to charges that include honest services fraud and extortion under color of official right." For the complete article, click here. "In 2 Books, It's All About the Hamiltons," New York Times, 10/16/15. "We'll never know for sure who called whose bluff on the Hoboken heights on July 11, 1804: Did Aaron Burr fire first and shoot to kill? Did Alexander Hamilton deliberately miss?" asks The New York Times. "In 'War of Two: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and the Duel That Stunned the Nation' (Berkley Hardcover), John Sedgwick embroiders what by now might seem like threadbare historical sources to preview the inevitable encounter between two oversize egos that infected the other (no wonder the author begins with an epigraph from 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde')." The Times says that, "Mr. Sedgwick, an engaging storyteller, recounts the surprising alliances between Burr and Hamilton before the final break, partnering as defense lawyers in a murder trial and in the creation of the Manhattan Company, ostensibly formed to supply the city with water. (The latter was really a ploy for Burr to compete with Hamilton's Bank of New York.)" For the complete article, click here. "Seaport Exhibit Shows Off 25 Miles of NYC's Shoreline," Curbed.com, 10/17/15. "The enormity of New York City's shoreline can be hard to experience unless you're willing to embark on a boat ride around the five boroughs. For those that get seasick, a new exhibit at the South Street Seaport may help," says Curbed.com. "'Sea Level: Five Boroughs at Water's Edge' is a panorama of images taken by photographer Elizabeth Felicella on a 25-mile boat trip that took her under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, and then north to Fort Totten, Queens. The pop-up exhibit is from the AIA Center for Architecture and is on display at the Center's new outpost at the Seaport." For the complete article, click here. "Construction Update: 6 Water Street Reaches Eighth Floor," New York YIMBY, 10/15/15. "The hotel at 6 Water Street in the Financial District, slated to stand 29 stories tall, has reached its eighth floor," says New York YIMBY. "The future 249 room establishment, designed by Gene Kaufman, is located near the southern tip of Manhattan, making it the southernmost construction project on the island. Only seven highrise buildings claim a latitude further south. Upon completion, the building will stand over 300 feet in height, with an off-white striped body rising out of a dark colored base. The top three floors of the front fa�ade are to be clad in glass. The side fa�ade along Moore Street will consist of a largely blank wall, blocking the similarly blank wall of its eastern neighbor at 104 Broad Street, a 17 story office structure designed by McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin, and completed in 1920." For the complete article, click here. "'Corruption' doc set to deliver death blow to Sheldon Silver," New York Post, 10/20/15. The New York Post reports that, "The doctor at the center of the corruption charges against former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver 'disapproved' of him and his law firm and referred cancer patients there only as long as Silver was funneling him state money for research, new court papers claim. Dr. Robert Taub allegedly was so unhappy with the deal to send asbestos-related cancer patients to Silver that once the speaker stopped their quid pro quo, the physician began referring his patients to more ethical lawyers, the paper says. Taub, who got nearly $500,000 in state money for his research funneled to him from Silver, didn't like that the firm failed to give any of the millions it made off cancer cases to mesothelioma research." For the complete article, click here. "SL Green Unveils Tallest Student Housing Building in the World," Bisnow.com, 10/20/15. "At 34 stories tall, SL Green just unveiled the tallest residence hall in the world at Pace University in downtown Manhattan, officially opening its doors for 770 lucky upperclassmen," says Bisnow.com. "Gene Kaufman Architects designed the glass-and-brick tower with stunning views of the World Trade Center and the East River. (SL Green also developed Pace's nearby 182 Broadway residence hall in 2013.)" For the complete article, click here.
"Low Bono' Project Aims to Close Gap for Modest-Income Clients," New York Law Journal, 10/15/15. Nineteen New York law firms - many of them with substantial Wall Street practices - "have pledged $1.9 million to help provide affordable legal services to people with modest incomes who make too much to qualify for free legal aid," says the New York Law Journal. "This marks the second 'low bono' project announced this year by firms attempting to address the pressing need for legal services in this market. Each New York firm is contributing $100,000 to the Court Square Law Project, to be located at the City University of New York School of Law in Long Island City. The project will be staffed by 10 recent law school graduates, who will be enrolled in a special CUNY graduate law program and receive a $44,000 annual stipend. The project, which is not limited to CUNY alumni, plans to accept clients next year. Court Square is a partnership of the New York City Bar Association, CUNY and the large firms." For the complete article, click here.
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Downtown bulletin board
TRIBECA TRUST GATHERING; BILLION OYSTER PROJECT COLLOQUIUM; KNICKERBOCKER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA AT THE MELVILLE
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Franklin Street in Tribeca, showing condominium construction in a 19th-century building. On Oct. 27, the Tribeca Trust is holding an informal neighborhood gathering at Walker's to "talk about Tribeca and some of the issues currently challenging [its] history and livability." (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Tribeca Trust plans neighborhood get-together: Tribeca Trust is planning an informal gathering at Walker's (16 N. Moore at Varick Street) on Tuesday, Oct. 27 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Over drinks, "talk about Tribeca and some of the issues currently challenging our beloved neighborhood's history and livability," says the invitation. "We so rarely take time to connect with fellow Tribecans, and the Tribeca Trust hopes to offer you a place for fun and discussion. Bring your ideas and questions. We will be in the back room at Walker's and welcome anyone who would like to join." The mission of Tribeca Trust is to educate the public about Tribeca's history and architectural heritage and to mobilize residents and civic resources so as to preserve the neighborhood's historic scale, to protect and enhance its architectural character, quality of life, economic vitality, and sense of place. For more information about Tribeca Trust, click here.
A conversation about New York Harbor: The Billion Oyster Project, a unique effort to restore the ecology of New York Harbor through education and engagement of New York City's public school students, is the subject of "True Partnerships: Best Practices in Collaborations, A Conversation on Curriculum, Community and the New York Harbor" at Pace University. The colloquium on Oct. 27 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is being sponsored by the Helene and Grant Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship and will feature Dr. Lauren Birney, Assistant Professor, School of Education, Pace University and Jon Forrest Dohlin, Wildlife Conservation Society VP and Director NY Aquarium. Archana Shah, Associate Director, Helene and Grant Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship, will serve as moderator. The evening's discussion will give attendees insight into effective partnerships among nonprofits and the intricacies of this exciting collaboration. Place: 1 Pace Plaza, Aniello Bianco Room. Time: Reception and refreshments at 6 p.m. Discussion will begin at 6:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. To register, click here.
Trinity's Family Choir: People of all ages and musical levels are welcome to join Trinity's Family Choir. The choir is made up of community singers who come together on a regular basis for music making, performance opportunities, fellowship, and creative renewal. Rehearsals take place one Saturday each month for singing on the following Sunday at the 9:15 a.m. service at St. Paul's Chapel and the 11:15 a.m. at Trinity Church. The choir is directed by Thomas McCargar. No long-term commitment is required; come when you can for fun, community-centered music making. For the full 2015 rehearsal/service schedule, click here.
DeLury Square Park fair and planting day: DeLury Square Park at Fulton and Gold Streets near the South Street Seaport will be holding two events in support of one of the few green spaces in the Seaport/FiDi area. An Arts and Crafts Fair will take place on Friday, Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a variety of crafts, pottery, fine objects and jewelry. The money raised by the fair will be used for the care, preservation and beautification of the park. On Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers are needed for planting and gardening as part of a citywide effort called "It's My Park" day. "We will be planting our spring tulips and daffodils, as well as, getting the park ready for winter," said Veronica Ryan-Silverberg, the head of Friends of DeLury Square Park. She said that no experience was necessary and that all equipment and instructions would be provided. Children can participate, but they have to be at least 12 years old. For more information, click here or send an email to friends@friendsofdelurypark.org.
Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra at the Melville Gallery: The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra, founded by South Street Seaport resident Gary Fagin in 2008, brings orchestral and chamber music performances and educational programs to the downtown community. Now, the orchestra will be performing regularly in the South Street Seaport Museum's Melville Gallery at 213 Water St. The orchestra's 2015-2016 season will open at the Melville on Nov. 19 with a soir�e-fundraiser entitled "Soundscape of Historic New York" - a musical tour of New York City's most iconic 19-century architectural treasures: Castle Clinton, Niblo's Garden, Carnegie Hall, the theaters of the Great White Way, and more. Co-hosts for the evening are Laura Starr, principal of Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners, Claire Weisz, principal-in-charge at WXY Studio, and Alan Barlis and Dennis Wedlick, principals at BarlisWedlick Architects. Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets: $125 for one, $250 or $350 for two, and $500 for four. Click here for more information and/or to buy tickets.
Music workshop series at Trinity Wall Street: On Thursdays from Oct. 8 to Nov. 19, Trinity's music staff is offering a new series of classes focusing on vocal skills, sight-reading, musicology, hymnology and more. The first session was on Oct. 8 to introduce the 2015-2016 season with a Q & A with Julian Wachner, Trinity's director of music and the arts. Future sessions are as follows: Oct. 22: Intro to sight-singing and music theory: Part II - led by Thomas McCargar; Oct. 29: Handel's Messiah - led by Avi Stein; Nov. 5: Freedom songs - led by Melissa Baker; Nov. 12: Sacred works of J.S. Bach - led by Julian Wachner; Nov. 19: Healthy hymn singing: Vocal technique for the congregation - led by Thomas McCargar. Place: Trinity Church. Time: 6:15 p.m. Free. Battery Park underpass closures: To facilitate post-Sandy restoration, full and partial overnight closures of the Battery Park Underpass in Manhattan will occur Monday through Saturday, through Oct. 31. A single lane will be closed Monday through Thursday starting at 10 p.m., followed by full tube closures from midnight to 5 a.m. the next morning. Full closures will also be in effect on Saturday mornings from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. Both lanes in the south tube (West Street to the FDR Drive) will remain open during this period. Variable message signs are in place to alert motorists. For more information, click here.
More free Wi-Fi in Lower Manhattan: The Alliance for Downtown New York recently announced that more than one million square feet have been added to its free Wi-Fi network, bringing plans to provide access for the entire Lower Broadway corridor halfway to completion. In total, the Alliance now provides more than 3.7 million square feet of coverage throughout the district. The most recent addition to the network provides uninterrupted service on Broadway from the Battery to Trinity Church. The Downtown Alliance's network is free. For more information about the network, click here.
Downtown Post Portfolio: Downtown Post Portfolio is a feature in Downtown Post NYC, showcasing artists and photographers who live and/or work south of Canal Street or who create images (paintings, drawings, photographs) of Lower Manhattan.
To have your work considered for publication in Downtown Post Portfolio, send up to seven high-resolution jpeg files attached to an email to editor@downtownpostnyc.com. (One of the photos should be a picture of you.) Several of these photos will be published in Downtown Post NYC, along with a short artist bio and a statement about the work submitted, including whether or not it is for sale and how to purchase it. Not all entries can be published. Copyright remains with the artist. Before publication, each contributor will be asked to sign a release stating that Downtown Post NYC has the right to publish the work in the emailed newsletter and in the Downtown Post archives, and that there is no payment.
Independence Day in Lower Manhattan photo gallery: The Independence Day celebration in Lower Manhattan started on July 1 with the arrival of the Hermione at Pier 15 in the South Street Seaport. Hermione is a replica of the 18th-century frigate that brought the Marquis de Lafayette to the U.S. colonies in March/April of 1780. Also at Pier 15, El Gale�n, hosted parties and tours. It is a replica of a 16th-century Spanish ship such as Ponce de L�on would have sailed when he landed on the east coast of Florida 500 years ago. On July 4, there were fireworks over the East River. For photos of some of the Independence Day celebrations, click here.
Downtown Little League opening day photo gallery: The Downtown Little League kicked off its 2015 season on April 18. This year, there are just under 1,100 players on 81 teams. For photos of the opening day, click here. Whitney Museum of American Art photo gallery: The Whitney Museum of American Art at 99 Gansevoort St. opened to the public on May 1. For photographs of the Whitney Museum's new building and of its opening exhibition, click here.
South Street Seaport Museum Opening Day: The South Street Seaport Museum opened its 2015 season on April 25 with events on Pier 16 and activities for kids and their families in the lobby of the museum's 12 Fulton St. building. For photographs of the museum's opening day, click here.
South Street Seaport Museum on Schermerhorn Row: To see photographs of some of the
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| A display of tools at the South Street Seaport Museum that would have been used in the 19th and early 20th centuries for woodworking, ship building, cutting ice and other tasks.
(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
artifacts inside the South Street Seaport Museum's premises on Schermerhorn Row and photos of past exhibitions, click here.
Downtown Post Portfolio: Jay Fine: Jay Fine is a New York City fine-art photographer and photojournalist, based in Lower Manhattan whose work was featured in Downtown Post Portfolio ( DPNYC, 5/6/15). To see some more of Fine's work on the Downtown Post NYC website, click here. SeaGlass Carousel: After 10 years of design and fundraising and a setback named "Sandy," the SeaGlass Carousel in The Battery opened on Aug. 19 to universal critical acclaim and rapturous crowds. Downtown Post NYC was there for the opening. Read about the carousel and see photos by clicking here.
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GETTING READY FOR HALLOWEEN
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| | Handmade Halloween figurines for sale at Bowne & Co. Stationers - part of the South Street Seaport Museum - cost $20 and help to support the museum. Bowne is at 211 Water St. and is open daily, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Brookfield Place Halloween Party: The annual Brookfield Place Halloween Party will take place on Halloween Day, Saturday, Oct. 31, from noon to 3 p.m., offering families a fun afternoon of free pumpkin carving, puppetry, storytelling, magic, live music, spooky science, a costume catwalk, and a costume parade finale. In addition to trick-or-treating at Brookfield Place's French marketplace Le District, Hudson Eats, and children's boutique Babesta, kids and families can participate in three hours of free festivities, including: * Pumpkin carving demonstration with professional carver Hugh McMahon, who will show off his astounding pumpkin creations and share some tricks of the pumpkin carving trade, with pumpkins provided by Le District * A Spooky Science Lab, including hands-on, Halloween-themed experiments, led by Carmelo the Science Fellow * A Costume Catwalk where kids can strut their stuff in full costume, get interviewed red-carpet style, and have their photos taken by a professional photographer * The annual Brookfield Place Costume Parade led by celebrated "teaching band" The Deedle Deedle Dees, who will also bring their "rock-n-roll classroom" to the Brookfield Place stage throughout the day * Larger-than-life skeleton puppets, Fred and Ethel, a Brookfield Place Halloween favorite * Scary tales spun by acclaimed storyteller LuAnn Adams * Out-of-this-world magic by The Great Charlini * Interactive Magic Mirror by designer Michelle Cortese and Imagination in Space For more information, click here. D�a de los Muertos/Day of the Dead: The entire family can celebrate D�a de los Muertos/Day
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Day of the Dead. (Photo courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian)
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of the Dead on Oct. 31 at the National Museum of the American Indian.Traditional dances honoring the ancestors will be performed by Cetiliztli Nauhcampa around a community ofrenda, or altar. Participants are encouraged to leave photographs of those departed or small tokens, such as food or drinks, to ensure the souls both find their way and are properly greeted. Hands-on activities include embellishing paper skull masks, decorating skeleton puppets, creating paper flowers and painting plaster skulls. Place: 1 Bowling Green. Time: Noon to 5 p.m. Free. For more information, click here. Haunted Halloween at Manhattan Youth: Manhattan Youth invites all Trick-or-Treaters to stop by its Great Hall on Friday, Oct. 30, (the day before Halloween). Families with younger children will enjoy visiting Silly Spooks, a short stroll featuring a Friendly Ghost peek-a-booing in Manhattan Youth's graveyard, a Scaredy-Cat Scarecrow in a balloon pumpkin patch, and a Wiggly Witch with a super-size bubble cauldron brewing up potions galore. Families with older children can choose to brave the Tunnel of Terror, an interactive walk through a Haunted Graveyard, a Vampire Castle, Zombie Alley, the Mad Science Lab, an Insane Asylum, and the Black Widow's Web. Each installation will be staffed by professional actors and Manhattan Youth child-care professionals. At the end of both paths, children can Trick-or-Treat for candy and fangs. This event should take five to10 minutes to walk through. Place: Manhattan Youth Downtown Community Center, 120 Warren St. Time: 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Free. Halloween Puppy Parade in Battery Park City: The 14th Annual BPC Dogs Halloween Puppy Parade will be held on Saturday, Oct. 31, starting at noon on the BPC esplanade at the South Cove arbor. The parade will proceed from South Cove to the plaza near the North Cove Marina (where the volleyball courts are usually set up) where dogs (and people who have dressed up for Halloween) will be judged on their costumes. Prizes will be awarded for Best Costume Large Breed; Best Costume Small Breed; Best Owner and Dog Combo; Best Dog Team Costume. A Tail-Wagging Contest for Small and Large Dogs will be held again this year. There will also be a raffle with exciting, new prizes. All dog owners and their dogs in costume should meet promptly at 11:50 a.m. on the esplanade at the South Cove arbor. The rain date is Sunday, Nov. 1, same time and place. Check www.bpcdogs.org if the weather looks bad Saturday morning or call Le Pet Spa at (212) 786-9070 for up-to-the-minute weather updates.
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Downtown Post Arts
ELISE ENGLER'S 'A YEAR ON BROADWAY' AND THE WORLD TRADE ART GALLERY'S 'EMERGING ARTISTS FROM THE STREETS OF BROOKLYN'
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A drawing from Elise Engler's "A Year on Broadway," at the robert henry contemporary gallery in Brooklyn from Oct. 30 to Dec. 20.
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Elise Engler's 'A Year on Broadway:' Elise Engler, an artist who teaches in Battery Park City under the auspices of Battery Park City Parks, has an exhibit called "A Year on Broadway" opening on Oct. 30 at the robert henry contemporary gallery, 56 Bogart St. in Brooklyn. The exhibit runs through Dec. 20.
Engler spent a year drawing every block of Broadway in Manhattan starting on May 19, 2014 at the Broadway Bridge, just above 221st Street. Several days later she went to Bowling Green at the southern end of Broadway to draw, and then moved along Broadway, alternating between its northern and southern ends. She finished "A Year on Broadway" on her corner at Broadway and 107th Street exactly one year after she started the project, on May 18, 2015.
There are drawings of the 252 blocks depicting all four seasons including this year's brush freezing and snowy February and March. (She wasn't allowed to complain as she was a recipient of the National Science Foundation's Antarctica Artist and Writer's Grant several years ago.) On the street she made a first layer of drawing/watercolor and then completed the drawing using colored pencil and watercolors in her studio (with the help of digital images.) She enlisted a passerby to take a picture of her at every location.
The final accordion folded drawing is roughly 102 feet long and 6 inches high. The drawing and the photographs will be on exhibit at the gallery. Hours: Thurs. to Sun., 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment. For more information about Elise Engler and about the robert henry contemporary gallery, including how to get there, click here.
'Emerging Artists from the Streets of Brooklyn:' Doug Smith has had an art gallery in Lower Manhattan for 35 years, but the show that he's mounting now at the World Trade Gallery, 120 Broadway, is different than what he's shown in the past.
"'Emerging Artists from the Streets of Brooklyn' marks how the Financial District is changing," he said. "We've seen this neighborhood when it was mostly offices, commercial - mostly financial institutions. The art we carried reflected that. It was traditional and historically based. Now we have some of the biggest brands in the world here, we have residential - so we're changing with that. We're showing a group of seven Brooklyn-based artists - a lot of them from Bushwick. They're street artists. They paint huge murals on exterior walls in Brooklyn. This is the young, hip, sexy, fun, cool art."
Smith said that he'd been thinking about doing this show for two years, but it wasn't the right time. "Now is the time," he said. "This neighborhood is different. The shift has happened. The direction is very clear - who's coming downtown, what they're looking for."
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Caitlin Crews, curator of the show, "Emerging Artists from the Streets of Brooklyn" in front of a painting by Joohee Park at the World Trade Gallery. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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The show was curated by Caitlin Crews, who is getting her master's degree in arts and cultural management at Pratt and who lives in Brooklyn. The artists have come to Brooklyn from various parts of the country (Illinois, New Hampshire and California) and also from abroad (England, Korea and Colombia). Interestingly, although their work is, in Smith's words, "a little bit edgy," Crews said that most of the artists were classically trained, with art school degrees.
The show opens on Oct. 22 with a wine reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will run through Dec. 1. The World Trade Gallery is open daily - Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the gallery, click here.
- Terese Loeb Kreuzer|
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Doug Smith with a painting by Gomas that is in the show "Emerging Artists from the Streets of Brooklyn." Gomas is from Cali, Colombia and uses imagery and decorative patterns from ancient, indigenous pottery in his work.
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CALENDAR: Week of Oct. 19
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Greater Nicoya female figure, AD 800-1200, in an exhibition called "Cer�mica de los Ancestros" at the National Museum of the American Indian. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Oct. 22: Opening reception for "Emerging Artists from the Streets of Brooklyn" at the World Trade Gallery. Reception: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The show continues through Dec. 1. The gallery is open daily. Place: 120 Broadway (entrance on Cedar Street). For more information about the World Trade Gallery, click here. Oct. 22: The South Street Seaport Museum in association with Archtober Architecture and Design Month present a walking tour entitled, "Hidden History of the Seaport's Fourth Ward" - the wickedest ward in the 19th century. The Port of New York was teaming with transient sailors looking for a good time in the district of vice and crime. New York's newspapers focused attention on the depravity on Water Street. Places like Kit Burns' "Sportsmen Hall" and John Allen's place were sailor's favorite. There was the Meyer's Hotel on South Street where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid hid out. The buildings are still there with interesting histories. Walk with us as we reveal the unspoken history of these buildings of the fifth ward and you can let your imagination run wild. Also, Oct. 29 and Nov. 5. Place: Leaves from 12 Fulton St. Time: 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Tickets: $10; $8 (museum members); $5 (children). For more information and to buy tickets, click here. Oct. 22: The poetry of John Wieners (1934-2004) influenced the San Francisco Renaissance, the Beats, and the poetics of pacifism and gay rights. The many registers of Wiener's poetry are explored at Poets House in an evening of readings and conversation occasioned by the publication of two new books, "Supplications: Selected Poems of John Wieners" and "Stars Seen in Person: Selected Journals," with presenters including Joshua Beckman, Robbie Dewhurst, Raymond Foye, Fanny Howe, Rachel Levitsky, Hoa Nguyen, Cedar Sigo, Lewis Warsh, and others. Place: Poets House, 10 River Terrace. Time: 7 p.m. Tickets: $10; $7 (seniors and students); free (Poets House members). For more information, click here. Oct. 25: The Working Harbor Committee is offering a tour of Gowanus Bay including the Erie Basin, Red Hook and Sunset Park. Joseph Alexiou, writer and tour guide, and Capt. Margaret Flanagan, Maritime Operations, Waterfront Alliance, will discuss the changing face of South Brooklyn's waterfront, which was once active with manufacturing and shipping. The tour will include the new waterfront recycling facility at Gowanus Bay, the slag ship MV Loujaine and a close-up view of the Big Grain Elevator. Leaving from Pier 11 at the foot of Wall Street. Time: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets: $30; $25 (seniors). To buy tickets, click here.
Ongoing: Work by Trevor Winkfield showcases his visionary contributions to the overall aesthetic of poetry publishing. Place: Poets House, 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City. Exhibition will be on view through Jan. 10, 2016 during regular hours for Poets House. Free. For more information, click here.
Ongoing: "Spirits of the Passage: Stories of the Transatlantic Slave Trade" on the museum ship Lilac at Hudson River Park's Pier 25 discusses aspects of the maritime trade in African slaves combined with profiles of slaves, former slaves, abolitionists and others whose lives were touched by this global traffic. The exhibit was created by the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum ( www.melfisher.org) in Key West, Fla. Lilac received key funding from the Sandy Hook Pilots' Association ( www.sandyhookpilots.com) to bring this exhibit to New York. Through Oct. 25. The ship is open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Lilac is the last steam-powered lighthouse tender in America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Launched on May 26, 1933, she carried supplies to lighthouses and maintained buoys for the U.S. Lighthouse Service and then the U.S. Coast Guard until she was decommissioned in 1972. For more information about Lilac, click here.
Ongoing: "America in Circulation: A History of US Currency Featuring the Collection of Mark R. Shenkman," an exhibition at the Museum of American Finance, showcases around 250 rare examples of American paper money accompanied by large, interactive touch screen displays. From Colonial times, American money has told a fascinating story of the country's struggles and successes. Often local and national currencies competed and coexisted with each other, while economic depression, war and counterfeiting drove constant advances in design. The exhibition spans the period from the Colonial era to the present day. Highlights include rare examples of currency bearing the signatures of signers of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence; a complete set of notes from the Educational Series of 1896, renowned for being the most beautiful paper money in American history; and rare examples of high denomination notes including $5,000 and $10,000 bills. Through March 2018. To see an online version of the exhibition, click here. Place: 48 Wall St. Museum is open Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission: $8; $5 (students and seniors); free (museum members and kids 6 and under). 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: The Skyscraper Museum's 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 October 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: 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: Fraunces Tavern Museum's exhibition, "Lafayette," opened in May to complement the docking of the Marquis de Lafayette's replica ship, L'Hermione at the South Street Seaport over the July 4th weekend. It includes 20 items from the museum's collection such as Lafayette's calling card and the his sash, splashed with his blood from a wound sustained at the Battle of Brandywine. Through December 2016. 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. Lobby access: Fridays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For private tours of Schermerhorn Row and its old hotels, email info@seany.org.
Buy tickets now: On Nov. 1, the Municipal Art Society of New York is offering a new tour called "Financial History in Lower Manhattan" led by architectural historian and guide Francis Morrone. The history of Wall Street is that of booms and busts, high drama, mergers and acquisitions, giant personalities - and great architecture. In this walk Morrone will discuss the histories of such classic New York companies as Lehman Brothers, Chase Manhattan, Bank of New York, AIG, Kuhn, Loeb, Bankers Trust, and many others, as well as the New York Stock Exchange, the Customs Service, and the Federal Reserve Bank. Learn about the role the financial sector has played in the growth of New York, about financial panics and depressions of the past, and about J.P. Morgan, Alexander Hamilton, and Jacob Schiff, all of whom worked in Lower Manhattan. In addition, see buildings designed by York & Sawyer, McKim, Mead & White, George B. Post, and many others (New York's bankers built splendidly). The meeting place will be sent after ticket purchase. Time: 2 p.m. Tickets: $30; $20 (Municipal Art Society members). For more information and to buy tickets, click here.
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Downtown Post NYC is emailed to subscribers twice a week.
Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer
All articles and photographs in Downtown Post NYC are copyrighted and
may not be reprinted or republished without written permission.
� 2015
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