Month: October 2017

October 13

54 – Emperor Claudius is poisoned to death under mysterious circumstances. His 17-year-old stepson Nero succeeds him. 1307 – Hundreds of Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into a “confession” of heresy. 1773 – The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier. 1792 –...
Leonard Alfred Schneider, better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and screenwriter. "I think it's about time we gave up religion and got back to God."

Removing the ‘Our’ from of ‘Arcade’

Community Board 1 (CB1), along with a coalition of public-service organizations, is opposing a request by the owners of 200 Water Street to privatize more than 4,700 square feet of public amenity space. This space consists largely of arcades — the columned porticos that adorn the ground-floor facades of more than a dozen Water Street...
The public space at 200 Water Street as it appeared in the 1980s, with billowing canopies, fountains and other artistic elements designed to enhance the public's enjoyment of the outdoor plaza and arcade spaces. In exchange for these amenities, the builder was allowed to construct a taller, bulkier (and thus more valuable) tower than otherwise would have been legally permissible.

Water Street Public Space

To the editor, The Downtown Connection bus begins its run on Water Street right beside this building.  Riders gather here and it’s nice to able to wait under some cover if the bus is delayed. In addition, this corner of Water and Fulton Streets is crowded with tourists, residents and students.  South Street Seaport is...

Local Heroines

The Chargers, the girls softball team field by I.S. 276 (also known as the Battery Park City School), took the City-wide championship in the spring of this year, but the title was decided so late in the school year that it wasn’t until this autumn that the squad could reunite on the steps of City...
The Chargers squad poses on the steps of City Hall.

October 11

1138 – A massive earthquake strikes Aleppo. 1614 – Adriaen Block ( of Block Island fame ) and 12 Amsterdam merchants petition the States General for exclusive trading rights in the New Netherland colony. 1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder’s Stand....
The one and only Eleanor Roosevelt