Month: December 2018

Brewer and Chin to de Blasio: See You in Court

In a development that was widely anticipated, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council member Margaret Chin (along with Speaker Corey Johnson, representing the City Council as a whole) have filed suit in Manhattan State Supreme Court on Friday to prevent the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio from approving three “super-tall” residential developments...
The four towers proposed by developers (visible on the right) as described by the de Blasio administration as "minor modifications" to nearby (and much smaller) existing structures.

December 7

574 – Byzantine Emperor Justin II retires due to recurring seizures of insanity. He abdicates the throne in favor of his general Tiberius, proclaiming him Caesar. 1787 – Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. 1842 – First concert of the New York Philharmonic. 1930 – W1XAV in Boston, Massachusetts telecasts...
New York Philharmonic Club in the 1880's

Towering Indifference

Opponents of massive building projects along the East River waterfront were dealt a setback on Wednesday, when the City Planning Commission (CPC) approval proposals for three large residential developments in the Two Bridges neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, located on the shore of the East River, roughly between the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. It is in...
At a June protest rally, City Council member Margaret Chin (at podium), Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (sunglasses), and State Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou (center, left) demanded that City officials provide more time for community leaders to review a 700-page document that summarized the projected impact on the Two Bridges community of four large new apartment towers.

December 6

1704 – During the Mughal-Sikh Wars, an outnumbered Sikh Khalsa defeats a Mughal army. 1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia. 1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed. 1897 – London becomes the world’s first city to host licensed taxicabs. 1904 – Theodore Roosevelt articulated his “Corollary”...
Cypress dome with Alligator in the Everglades

Restitution for a Local Institution

P.S. 150, the beloved elementary school also known as the Tribeca Learning Center, has been saved. Although no official announcement has been made, multiple sources directly familiar with the situation confirm that late Wednesday afternoon, all concerned parties agreed in principle to a deal that will keep the school at its current location, within the...
Tricia Joyce, chair of Community Board 1's Youth & Education Committee: "We have won! This is a huge victory. It really did take a village."

December 5

63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations. 1496 – King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of “heretics” from the country. 1775 – At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1831 – Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams...
Gold rush advertisement