Year: 2017

How Bazaar

Lower Manhattan, with its historic streetscape, sweeping views, and robust access to transportation infrastructure, has long drawn more than its share of walks, runs, festivals, and fairs — all of which share one defining trait in common: They require the temporary closure of local streets. As Downtown has become ever more popular, more developed, and...
A Street Fair on lower Broadway

April 18

1025 – Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. 1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid. 1775 – Paul Revere and William Dawes ride from Charleston to Lexington warning the “regulars are coming!” 1783 – Fighting ceases in the American Revolution, eight years to the...
Two geniuses: Albert Einstein and Charles Chaplin

Farewell to a Feisty Friend

At what would turn out to be the midpoint of her life, a woman in her late 30s was seeking a new direction. Still grieving from the loss of the father with whom she shared a bond that she would never replicate, recently graduated from St. John’s Law School, and in the process of setting...
Linda Belfer

April 17

1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer tells The Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date (in 1387) as the start of the book’s pilgrimage to Canterbury. 1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire...

EYES TO THE SKY

Amateur astronomers are among the most knowledgeable and dedicated students of astronomy. True to the root of the word “amateur” (from the French and Italian ‘amatore,’ with its root in the Latin ‘amare,’ to love), they are, in my experience, eager to share their knowledge and love of the universe. For this purpose, amateur astronomy...
Venus six days from Inferior Conjunction photo: Sean Marien

Flipped Out

Dear editor, As a resident of lower Manhattan who just renewed my lease this morning, I can attest to the fact that rent-stabilization, despite hundreds of millions of tax breaks granted to the district, is blatantly disregarded by landlords. The reason turnover is so high is that no one knows that their building is taking...