Month: September 2016

So what happened to Sully’s airplane?

The Airbus A320 that ditched in the Hudson River in January, 2009-without the loss of a single life-and came to rest alongside Rockefeller Park (above) was hoisted onto a barge, after which salvage operator Weeks Marine cut off the wings and tail assembly, to allow the fuselage to be hauled on a flatbed truck through...

Bloom and Boom Report

A new report from State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli documents how far Lower Manhattan has come in recovering from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and also how far the area has yet to go. The report, “The Transformation of Lower Manhattan’s Economy” adds detail and context to some insights that are already evident, but...

Today in History

1676 – Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon’s Rebellion. The rebellion was an armed attack conducted by frontiersmen against Governor William Berkeley of the early Virginia colony. The frontiersmen, particularly Bacon, were furious at their living conditions- lack of trade opportunities, Indian attacks, The attack failed, resulting...
Garfield. shot by Charles J. Guiteau, collapses as Secretary of State Blaine gestures for help. Engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

EYES TO THE SKY September 19 – October 2, 2016

How quickly darkness falls at Equinox time – and how quick we must be to reach horizon-hugging planet Venus soon after sunset and Mercury before sunrise in the twilit sky. Find a horizon view to the west-southwest to watch for Venus to appear above the sunset glow within half an hour of sundown. In the...
The night sky at Whiskey Creek Observatory, Arenas Valley, New Mexico, evening of 28 January 2014. The glow from Silver City, New Mexico can be seen at the lower left. photo courtesy: Kent DeGroff

The Grand Dame of New York Harbor Is Coming Back to Lower Manhattan

Of late, the South Street Seaport Museum has felt like a parent suffering through empty-nest syndrome, or at least “empty-dock syndrome.” During the summer, one of its children, the four-masted sailing vessel Peking, left for good, on its way to a new home in Hamburg’s German Port Museum. The other beloved child, the full-rigged ship...

Today in History

1763- In Campo Maior, Portugal, at 3 am, a storm hits the Armory, located on the Castle’s main tower, which contains 6000 arrobas (a Portuguese and Spanish unit of mass) of gunpowder and 5000 pieces of ammunition. An explosion ensues, followed by fire, killing two-thirds of its inhabitants. 1810 – With the Grito de Dolores,...
With a wind speed of 165 mph, Hurricane Ivan was large long-lived ( 22 days) Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. It took 123 lives in the affected areas of Texas and the Grand Cayman islands