Month: February 2018

Lend Them a Tenor

The Down Town Glee Club, a male chorus that has been performing American popular music for 90 years, is looking for a few good men for all voice parts. Interested candidates are encouraged to drop by on any Tuesday evening (beginning January 30), between 6:00 and 6:30 pm, at St. Margaret’s House (49 Fulton Street...

Art of the Mountain: Through the Chinese Photographer’s Lens

An exhibition of contemporary photography is now on display at China Institute Gallery. Now through December 2, Art of the Mountain: Through the Chinese Photographer’s Lens features the work of more that 20  photographers. Large images with exquisite detail, tonality and a respect for the great mountain ranges in China grace the new exhibit rooms of the...
Zhang Jiaxuan, Huangshan: Flower Blooming on a Magic Brush Tip

February 12

881 – Pope John VIII crowns Charles the Fat, the King of Italy: Holy Roman Emperor 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India. 1554 – A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason. 1832 – Ecuador...
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn "A man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy and nothing can stop him"

‘So Help Me God’

A crowd of several hundred friends, family members, political allies and supporters assembled at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights on Sunday, for the ceremonial swearing-in of Brian Kavanagh as the New York State Senator representing the 26th District which includes parts of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. (Because the Albany legislative session began several weeks...
KavanaghOathofOffice.jpg

February 9

474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1555 – Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake. 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion. 1788 – The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp. 1825 – After no candidate receives a...

If Buildings Go Higher, Will Rents Get Lower?

The Regional Plan Association (RPA) — an independent, not-for-profit civic group that develops ideas to improve the economy, environment, and quality of life in the New York metropolitan area — is calling upon the City to repeal its Floor Area Ratio (FAR) cap. This limit, which currently restricts residential buildings to a total square footage...
A map from the RPA report, with shaded areas indicating the communities where the group argues that real estate developers should be permitted to build taller, bulkier towers.