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Lower Manhattan’s Local News
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The Broadsheet Inc. | 212-912-1106 | editor@ebroadsheet.com | ebroadsheet.com
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Gotham Girls Winter Futsal League & Formativo Training
Register Today!
Gotham Girls F.C. – the only NYC all-girls soccer club
is running our Winter Futsal League for girls ages 7 to 16.
(Our foundational development soccer – Formativo – is available for girls ages 7-10). Our dedicated coaches ref the fun, active 50-minute 4v4 indoor futsal games, and provide coaching to develop girls foot skills and knowledge.
Dates are December 7/8 – March 21/22.
Games are on Saturdays or Sundays (depending on age)
at PS276 and PS234 gyms.
Cost is $210 for 12 games.
To register for Winter Futsal or Formativo, please go to http://gothamgirls.org.
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A Tale of Two Museums
Community-Focused Cultural Center Faces Uncertain Future, as Tourism Magnet Thrives
The 9/11 Tribute Museum, a highly regarded local cultural institution, is grappling with a precarious outlook, according to a story first published in Crain’s New York Business, which says that the space housing the facility, located at Greenwich and Rector Streets, may be sold out from under the organization by its landlord.
Among visitors who neither live nor work in Lower Manhattan, the Tribute Museum has for years been largely eclipsed by the more prominent National September 11 Memorial & Museum, located nearby in the World Trade Center complex. But this is largely by design, because the Tribute Museum is focused less on telling the story of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 than the saga of the community itself in the months and years that followed.
For this reason, the Tribute Museum has always struck a more deeply resonant chord among residents and survivors, in a way that the National Memorial & Museum has failed to achieve among the population of people who were driven from their homes in fear of their lives on the day of the attacks. In one indication of how the Tribute Museum has sought to personalize the story of the community and its recovery, it offers “Person to Person History” tours to visitors who want to understand the history, conducted by volunteers who lived through those events.
Indeed, the Tribute Museum has always had two goals: to help those traumatized by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to heal by sharing their stories, while at the same time helping visitors to the site of the attacks learn from (and be inspired) by these personal accounts. The organization’s motto is “stories of September 11th told by those who were there.” This face-to-face approach to history, which consists of linking visitors who want to understand the events that took place at the site with those who lived through them, has always made the Tribute Museum experience deeply moving.
Another reason for the divergent outlooks of the two museums is that National Memorial & Museum has benefited from lavish taxpayer subsidies, including hundreds of millions of dollars in capital grants during construction, and millions more in operating support during its early years. The Tribute Museum, by contrast, subsists almost entirely on private donations.
Even today, the National Memorial & Museum’s budget lists more than $100 million in annual expenses, including $560,000 in compensation for chief executive officer Alice Greenwald, along with more than a dozen other senior employees who earn six-figure salaries, according to tax documents from 2017 (the most recent year for which such information is available) reviewed by the Broadsheet. The National Memorial & Museum’s total payroll tops out at more than $24 million for an overall staff of 501 employees. This staff is supported by 901 volunteers, which amounts to a ratio of 1.7 volunteers to each paid employee.
At the Tribute Museum (also according to tax documents from 2017), chief executive officer Jennifer Webb-Adams is paid less than one-third of Ms. Greenwald salary (at just over $158,000), and is among only four employees earning six figures. The Tribute Museum has a total of 30 employees (20 of whom work full time, and ten who are part-time) and a payroll of $1.9 million. This staff is augmented by 450 volunteers, which comes to a ratio of almost 15 volunteers to each salaried employee.
Both institutions face challenges when it comes to reconciling income with expenses. For 2017, the Tribute Museum had revenues of $2.74 million and expenses of $3.83 million, resulting in a deficit of $1.09 million, or 39 percent of revenue. During the same year, the National Memorial & Museum collected revenues of $87.1 million, but paid expenses of $108.73 million, yielding a shortfall of $21.63 million, or slightly less than 20 percent of revenue.
Perhaps the most dramatic point of contrast between the two museums, however, comes down to real estate. The National Memorial & Museum occupies publicly-owned property within the World Trade Center complex that is valued somewhere in excess of half a billion dollars. But its leasehold is secure, because the City, the State, and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey are unlikely ever to evict the institution, or demand that it pay rent approaching market rates.
For the Tribute Museum, the outlook is very different. Founded in a storefront facing Ground Zero in 2006, it moved to 88 Greenwich Street in 2017, to keep pace with skyrocketing attendance. The new facility offered 40,000 square feet of space on three levels, and was designed to host between 750,000 and one million visitors annually.
But the Tribute Museum’s lease is with a private landlord, rather than a government benefactor. That landlord, Thor Equities, is now exploring the possibility of selling the space the facility occupies, and is reportedly convinced that the $30 million asking price is more likely to be forthcoming if the property is delivered vacant. For this reason, the Tribute Museum’s future (at least at its current location) is now unclear.
A source directly familiar with the situation contends that the Tribute Museum’s closure is neither imminent nor inevitable. But a spokesman for the organization acknowledged in a statement that, “a landlord has the right to manage or dispose of an asset as they see fit. The 9/11 Tribute Museum continues to welcome visitors to tour our historical exhibitions, which share the first-person perspectives of those who experienced 9/11. We continue to proactively seek supporters and donors for our ongoing mission.”
In a broader context, this uncertainty is a reflection of the turmoil wrought by Lower Manhattan’s super-heated real estate market. Another highly regarded cultural organization, the 3-Legged Dog theater group, was based on Greenwich Street (next door to the Tribute Museum) for more than a decade. Earlier this year, however, the group gave up on trying to negotiate a long-term lease that it could reconcile with its budget, and instead moved to Brooklyn.
Mathew Fenton
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Here We Go Again…
Battery Park City Resident Charged with Latest in String of Alleged Sex Crimes
Battery Park City resident and music industry executive Adam Lublin, a resident of the Tribeca Pointe building at 41 River Terrace is facing further charges of sexual misconduct, in addition to the counts filed against him by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office related to three other alleged incidents.
In a story first reported by the New York Post, Mr. Lublin was arraigned again on Monday, when he was charged in relation to a September 10 incident, inside his apartment, in which he allegedly took videos and photos of himself molesting a woman who was sleeping there. Investigators found these videos archived in an online account registered to Mr. Lublin. To read more…
Matthew Fenton
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Letters
The Rector Street Bridge
To the editor:
People who cross a bridge trust that it is safe; that it is built to proper standards; that it is inspected by engineers for reliability; that it meets neighborhood needs; that it is a permanent public asset.
The majority of the residents, workers, visitors and students crossing the Rector Street Bridge were not living or working in the area 17 years ago. They had no chance of knowing that the bridge was “temporary;” that there was a planned “bridge-trade” upon the completion of the West Thames Bridge; that the Rector Bridge construction confiscated garden plots; would block a recently located college entrance; waived and compromised fire and utility safety regulations; did not anticipate a 17 year time lag or substantial cost over-runs at the second bridge site; that the economics of running the Rector Bridge ridge were not adequately planned; that the maintenance for the “temporary” structure entails renovations and costs.
If you wish to help preserve the Rector Street Bridge, please add your name to the electronic petition at http://chng.it/5Vyjt4dk (if you haven’t signed a print petition).
Or you may speak out at Community Board 1’s November meeting conveniently located at Battery Park City School, IS-PS 276, 55 Battery Place this Thursday, November 21 at 6:00pm.
Bob Schneck
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Today’s Calendar
November 20, 2019
1PM
Adult Chorus
6 River Terrace Directed by Church Street School for Music and Art, the BPC Chorus is open to all adults who love to sing. Learn a mix of contemporary and classic songs, and perform at community events throughout the year. 6 River Terrace. 3:30PM
Budding Bakers
Asphalt Green 6PM
Quality of Life & Service Delivery Committee
Community Board 1 – Conference Room 1 Centre Street, Room 2202A-North ————————————————————————
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advertisement
For more information, contact Scott Baker at ssbaker305@yahoo.com
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Aggregation and Promulgation
Council Member and Borough President Push for Transparency in Development
Community Board 1 has endorsed a proposed new law — sponsored by a City Council member representing the Upper East Side and supported by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer — that would require City government to notify local officials whenever development rights are transferred between building lots. Such transfers are often used by developers to maximize the zoning potential for the site of a planned skyscraper.
Matthew Fenton
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Preservation, Renovation, Elevation,
and a Donation
Seaport Structure Reborn as Flood-Proof Food Emporia as Owner Celebrates with Support for Local Charity
The South Street Seaport’s historic Tin Building reached a milestone on Wednesday, when the last and highest structural beam was placed (after being ceremonially signed by dozens of well-wishers) within a reconstructed edifice, following an unprecedented, years-long effort to preserve it.
Matthew Fenton
photos courtesy HHC
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CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS
Swaps & Trades ~ Respectable Employment ~ Lost & Found
212-912-1106 editor@ebroadsheet.com
LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR AVAILABLE
FOR BABYSITTING OR TUTORING
17 year old young man, lifetime resident of Tribeca and BPC.
Went to PS 234, Lab Middle School and currently attending Millennium HS. This summer was a Councilor at Pierce Country Day Camp. Excellent references.Very experienced with kids under 10.
Available for weeknight and weekend baby-sitting and tutoring middle-schoolers in Math or Science.
Please contact Emmett at 917.733.3572
CERTIFIED HOME HEALTH AIDE SEEKING
Full-Time Live-In Elder Care
I am loving, caring and hardworking with 12 years experience. References available. Marcia 347-737-5037 marmar196960@gmail.com
ELDER CARE NURSE AIDE
with 17 years experience seeks PT/FT work. Refs available Call or text 718 496 6232 Dian
DO YOU NEED A PERSONAL ASSISTANT?
I am experienced, reliable, knowledgeable and able to work flexible hours. CHINESE AIDE/CAREGIVER FOR ELDERLY
Cantonese/Mandarin-speaking and Excellent Cook for Battery Park City.
917-608-6022 SEEKING FREE-LANCE PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONAL OR SMALL PR FIRM
Work with well-reviewed author of five E-books, developing and implementing outreach strategies. Includes writing, placement, research, new outlets and on-line advertising. Savvy social media skills a must. Downtown location.
Please send resume and fee schedule to: Email: poetpatsy@gmail.com HOUSEKEEPING/NANNY/BABYSITTER
Available starting September for PT/FT.
Wonderful person, who is a great worker. Reference Available ELDERCARE
Available for PT/FT elder care. Experienced. References Angella
347-423-5169 angella.haye1@gmail.com
DITCH THE DIETS & LOSE WEIGHT FOR GOOD
Call Janine to find out how with hypnosis.
janinemoh@gmail.com 917-830-6127 EXPERIENCED ELDER CARE
Able to prepare nutritious meals and light housekeeping
Excellent references 12yrs experienced 347-898-5804 Call Hope anasirp@gmail.com
NOTARY PUBLIC IN BPC
$2 per notarized signature Text Paula at 917-836-8802
IT AND SECURITY SUPPORT
Experienced IT technician. Expertise in 1-on-1 tutoring for all ages.Computer upgrading & troubleshooting. Knowledgeable in all software programs.
James Kierstead james.f.kierstead@gmail.com 347-933-1362. Refs available OLD WATCHES SOUGHT, PREFER NON-WORKING
Mechanical pocket and wristwatches sought and sometimes repaired
212-912-1106 If you would like to place a listing, please contact editor@ebroadsheet.com |
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Chopper Stoppers
Nadler Sponsors Legislation to Make Lower Manhattan Heliopolis No More
Support is building among decision-makers to heed a decade long call by Lower Manhattan community leaders to enact a comprehensive ban on non-essential helicopter flights in New York’s airspace.
On October 26, Congressman Jerry Nadler was joined on the steps of City Hall by fellow federal legislators Nydia Velazquez and Carolyn Maloney, as well as Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and State Senator Brian Kavanagh, along with a coalition of activists and community leaders, to announce a new proposed law — the Improving Helicopter Safety Act of 2019. To read more…
Matthew Fenton
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Excise Revise
CB1 Endorses Plan to Ease Downtown Traffic with Toll Modification Miles Away
Community Board 1 has weighed in on a proposal to change a decades-old tolling policy on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which may have a significant benefit for traffic congestion in Lower Manhattan. Although the bridge is eight miles away from Lower Manhattan, its tolling regimen is a significant contributor to Downtown traffic patterns. To read more…
Matthew Fenton
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EYES TO THE SKY
November 12 – 24, 2019
Transit of Mercury yesterday, Venus and Jupiter meet on the 24th
Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system – slightly larger than Earth’s moon – and closest to the Sun, was observed – through telescopes – crossing the Sun yesterday, November 11. Even if you observed the little planet transiting the Sun in real time, it is worth watching NASA’s phenomenal two minute time-lapse film that shows close-ups of the Sun during Mercury’s May 9, 2016 transit. Click here to view. The next Transit of Mercury visible in its entirety from our location will be in 2049.
Judy Isacoff
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RiverWatch
Cruise Ships in New York Harbor
Arrivals & Departures
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Wednesday, November 20
Norwegian Escape
Inbound 6:15 am; outbound 4:30 pm
repositioning to Miami, FL
Friday, November 22
Norwegian Gem
Inbound 9:15 am; outbound 4:30 pm
Eastern Caribbean
Saturday, November 23
Anthem of the Seas
Inbound 5:30 am (Bayonne); outbound 3:00 pm
Port Canaveral, FL/Bahamas
Sunday, November 24
Norwegian Bliss
Inbound 6:15 am; outbound 3:30 pm
Port Canaveral, FL/Bahamas
Many ships pass Lower Manhattan on their way to and from the Midtown Passenger Ship Terminal. Others may be seen on their way to or from piers in Brooklyn and Bayonne. Stated times, when appropriate, are for passing the Colgate clock in Jersey City, New Jersey, and are based on sighting histories, published schedules and intuition. They are also subject to tides, fog, winds, freak waves, hurricanes and the whims of upper management.
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Today in History
November 20
1194 – Palermo is conquered by Emperor Henry VI.
1272 – Edward I proclaimed King of England
1637 – Peter Minuit and first Swedish immigrants to Delaware sail from Sweden
1789 – New Jersey is first state to ratify Bill of Rights
1795 – Curacao government forbids slave work on Sunday
1805 – Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” premieres in Vienna
1861 – Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky’s Confederate government.
1866 – Pierre Lalemont patents rotary crank bicycle
1873 – Rival cities of Buda and Pest unite to form the capital of Hungary
1888 – William Bundy patents timecard clock
1890 – Pope Leo XIII encyclical “On Slavery in the Missions“
1902 – Geo Lefevre and Henri Desgrange create Tour de France bicycle race
1914 – US State Department starts requiring photographs for passports
1920 – Nobel Peace Prize awarded to President W Wilson
1923 – Garrett Morgan invents and patents traffic signal
1929 – Salvador Dali’s first one-man show
1938 – First documented anti-semitic remarks over US radio, by Father Coughlin
1945 – 24 Nazi leaders put on trial at Nuremberg, Germany
1947 – “Meet the Press” makes network TV debut on NBC
1948 – US balloon reaches height of 26.5miles, a record
1959 – Alison Simko born in upstate New York, co-founder of The Broadsheet.
1959 – WABC fires Alan Freed over payola scandal
1962 – Mickey Mantle wins AL MVP
1962 – USSR agrees to remove bombers from Cuba, and US lifts blockade
1976 – George Harrison appears on Saturday Night Live
1977 – Egyptian President Sadat became first Arab leader to address Israeli Knesset
1980 – Steve Ptacek in Solar Challenger makes first solar-powered flight
1984 – McDonald’s made its 50 billionth hamburger
1990 – US 68th manned space mission STS 38 (Atlantis 7) returns from space
1992 – Queen Elizabeth’s home Windsor Castle catches fire
1998 – A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden “a man without a sin” in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
1998 – The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.
2008 – After critical failures in the US financial system began to build up after mid-September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level since 1997.
2012 – Toshiba unveils a robot designed to help in nuclear disasters
Births
270 – Maximinus II, Roman emperor (d. 313) 1603 – Fasilides, Ethiopian emperor (d. 1667) 1715 – Pierre Charles Le Monnier, French astronomer (d. 1799) 1776 – Ignaz Schuppanzigh, Austrian violinist (d. 1830) 1874 – James Michael Curley, lawyer, politician, 53rd Governor of Massachusetts, and criminal (d. 1958)
1889 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer and cosmologist (d. 1953)
1892 – James Collip, Canadian biochemist and academic, co-discovered insulin (d. 1965) 1908 – Alistair Cooke, British-American journalist and author (d. 2004) 1913 – Charles Berlitz, American linguist (d. 2003) 1925 – Robert F. Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 64th United States Attorney General (d. 1968) 1942 – Joe Biden, lawyer and politician, 47th Vice President of the United States 1946 – Duane Allman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1971) 1948 – John R. Bolton, American lawyer and diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations 1956 – Bo Derek, American actress and producer Deaths 1480 – Eleanor of Scotland, Scottish princess (b. 1433) 1910 – Leo Tolstoy, Russian author and playwright (b. 1828) 1973 – Allan Sherman, American actor, comedian, and producer (b. 1924) 2006 – Robert Altman, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925) |
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RECENT NEWS
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“A Fraudulent Scheme”
FiDi Renters Seek Recompense for Years of Rent Overcharges
In the wake of a June ruling by New York State’s highest court that tenants in Financial District rental buildings had been illegally deprived of rent stabilization benefits, a pair of apartment dwellers is litigating to recoup the money they lost by paying inflated, market-rate rents for years.
In October, Bruce Hackney and Timothy Smith, tenants at Ten Hanover Square, filed suit against their landlord, alleging that the owner’s, “failure to follow rent regulations was part of a fraudulent scheme to deregulate apartments in the building.”
Matthew Fenton
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Eighteen Years Later, What about the Children?
Schools Agency Begins Belated Outreach Effort to Former Lower Manhattan Students at Risk of 9/11 Illness
The City’s Department of Education is partnering with the United Federation of Teachers union for an unusual mission: tracking down former New York City public school students who were pupils at Lower Manhattan schools on September 11, 2001 (or in the months that followed) and informing them that their health may be at risk. The project will also seek to put these students in touch with the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund.
In September, the DOE began mailing out the first of more than 19,000 letters to the last known addresses of students who attended schools such as P.S. 89, I.S. 289, P.S. 234, P.S. 150, and Stuyvesant High School, along with dozens of other elementary, middle, and high schools below Houston Street.
Matthew Fenton
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Click to 30 seconds of morning sounds on the esplanade
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A Bridge Too Few
Community Leader Rallies Support to Halt Planned Demolition of Pedestrian Span Over West Side Highway
A Battery Park City resident and community leader is mobilizing support to preserve the Rector Street Bridge, the pedestrian span that is slated for demolition as a newer overpass at nearby West Thames Street (which unofficially opened in September) is gradually integrated into the local streetscape.
Bob Schneck spoke during the public comment session of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) board meeting on Tuesday, pointing to a petition drive he has spearheaded, and noting that, “I have collected more than 1,800 signatures by residents who want to keep the bridge. Rector Street lines up with almost every subway line in Lower Manhattan, and ferries on both ends.”
Matthew Fenton
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The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Shoot
Chin Pushes Legislation to Rein in Production Permits
City Council member Margaret Chin is co-sponsoring a package of bills to clamp down on rampant film and television production in Lower Manhattan.
Although the new laws, if enacted, will have City-wide effect, their impact would be especially significant in the square mile below Chambers Street, where dozens of movies and TV shows commandeer local streets (sometimes for days at a time) each year.
Matthew Fenton
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Things That Make You Go ‘Hmm…’
Lawsuit Over Similarity Between One World Trade and Architecture Student’s Design Moves Ahead
One thing is reasonably certain: In 1999, Jeehoon Park, then a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture, created a design for a very tall building with a large square base tapering to a smaller square top. In Mr. Park’s vision, the square formed by the roof was rotated 45 degrees relative to the one at the ground level, so that the center-points on each side of the quadrilateral below corresponded to the corners of the one above, and vice versa. And instead of four vertical walls, the structure’s facade consisted of eight elongated triangles.
That structure was never built. Or was it?
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What’s In Store?
Amid a Booming Economy, Lower Manhattan Retail Space Languishes
A new report from City Comptroller Scott Stringer finds that in one Lower Manhattan zip code — 10013, which covers parts of western Tribeca SoHo, and the Canal Street corridor in Chinatown — there are 319 empty retail spaces, comprising almost 300,000 square feet of unused property. To read more…
Matthew Fenton
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Aesthetic Inventory
BPCA’s Public Art Collection Represents Multiple Layers of Value
The Battery Park City Authority, has completed an inventory and appraisal of its public art collection. This is part of a broad effort to take stock of the Authority’s ongoing role as a patron and custodian of pieces that represent an integral thread in the fabric of the community, as evidenced by the fact that space and funding for public art were both set aside decades ago, in the neighborhood’s first master plan, before the first building was erected.
Matthew Fenton
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Condo Embargo
BPCA Puts the Brakes on Conversions of Rental Buildings within Community
Residents of rental apartments in Battery Park City who fear being thrown out of their homes as developers plan to convert those buildings to condominiums can rest a little bit easier, according to the Battery Park City Authority. At the October 2 meeting of the Battery Park City Committee of Community Board 1, Authority president Benjamin Jones said, “I want to talk about some of the potential condo conversions that people are concerned about. We have been very clear with developers over the last year, and then some, about our position — that we want to preserve the rental housing that exists in Battery Park City.” To read more…
Matthew Fenton
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Breaking It Down
Composting Catches on in Battery Park City
You’re probably heard of the farm-to-table movement. Thanks to the Battery Park City Authority’s compost initiative, there’s a burgeoning table-to-earth movement in this Lower Manhattan community.
What happens to the scraps after you’ve dropped them in the bin? How do your apple peels and corn husks turn into rich, beneficial compost?
The Broadsheet set out to investigate. To read more…
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Death Came Calling at the Corner of Wall and Broad Streets, in Lower Manhattan’s First Major Terrorist Attack
As the noon hour approached on a fall Thursday morning in 1920, a horse-drawn wagon slowly made its way west down Wall Street toward “the Corner,” the high-powered intersection of Wall and Broad. Its driver came to a gentle stop in front of the Assay Office, where stockpiles of gold and silver were stored and tested for purity. But theft was not his motive.
John Simko
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Cass Gilbert and the Evolution of the New York Skyscraper
by John Simko
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The Broadsheet Inc. | 212-912-1106 | editor@ebroadsheet.com| ebroadsheet.com
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© 2019
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