Month: March 2019

Taking Back the Streets

A rendering of how Bowling Green Park could be expanded if part of Broadway were given over to pedestrians. The Financial District Neighborhood Association (FDNA) is proposing to reclaim a large swath of Lower Manhattan’s streetscape for pedestrians with a program that would widen sidewalks, take down construction scaffolds, put trash in its place, decrease...
A rendering of how Bowling Green Park could be expanded if part of Broadway were given over to pedestrians.

The Lost Lighthouses of New York Harbor

In 1914 Charles Gilbert Hine described the view from Grimes Hill, Staten Island: “At night there are within view from here eight lighthouses and two light-ships-the Highland light, the two lights on Sandy Hook, Romer Shoal light, West Bank light, the red flash of Norton’s Point at the west end of Coney Island, and toward...
Light house in New York harbor

Today’s Calendar March 27

This freight car, used to transport victims of the Holocaust, will soon be installed outside the Museum of Jewish Heritage, as part of its upcoming exhibit, “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” 1-2PM Adult Chorus Battery Park City Parks Directed by Church Street School for Music and Art, the BPC Chorus is open to...
This freight car, used to transport victims of the Holocaust, will soon be installed outside the Museum of Jewish Heritage, as part of its upcoming exhibit, "Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away."

Today in History March 27

Nikita Khrushchev 196 BC – Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt 1513 – Spaniard Juan Ponce de Leon discovers Florida 1625 – Charles I, King Of England, Scotland and Ireland, ascends English throne 1668 – English king Charles II gives Bombay to East India Company 1790 – The modern shoestring (string and shoe...
Nikita Khrushchev

Coruscation Concerns

Advertising barges like this one can earn up to $55,000 for displaying a 30-second video message for a month, but the City Council want to impose fines of $100,000 for unauthorized use of local waterways for marketing purposes. Lower Manhattan residents who are weary of gazing out their windows toward the waterfront and seeing advertising...
Bally-Ho ad barge on the East river

Today in History March 26

Othmar Ammann contributions to New York City are the George Washington (pictured here) Bayonne, Triborough, Bronx-Whitestone, Throgs Neck, and Verrazano-Narrows. Ammann’s long-span bridges came to define an epoch and shape the modern New York metropolis. 1780 – First British Sunday newspaper appears (Brit Gazette & Sunday Monitor) 1812 – Earthquake destroys 90% of Caracas Venezuela;...
Othmar Ammann