Considering Which Downtown Buildings Should Be Protected Community Board 1 (CB1) has begun the process of considering which Lower Manhattan buildings to recommend to the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) for designation as legally protected structures, along with the possibly of creating a new Historic District at the foot of Broadway. Jason Friedman, chair of...

Goldman Proposes to Expand Historic African Cemetery with Museum and Education Center A late 1700s map illustrates the full, six-acre extent of the Negroes Burying Ground near the location of present-day Chambers Street.   Newly elected Congressman Dan Goldman is sponsoring legislation to expand the African Burial Ground National Monument, the Lower Manhattan site that...

Another Longtime Downtown Resident Succumbs to September 11-Related Illness Juanita Gore-Thomas, a resident of Lower Manhattan starting in October, 1971 (when she and her husband purchased a home in the Seaport District’s newly opened Southbridge Towers), died on February 17 at 77 years of age. The cause of death was colon cancer, associated with exposure...

Hybrid Ferries Coming to Battery Park City Terminal, Offering Lower Emissions and Less Noise NY Waterway, the company that operates between the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal and various cities in New Jersey, has committed to converting several of its vessels to diesel-electric hybrid propulsion. “Our goal is a 100 percent electric fleet when we...

Renowned Discounter Announces Imminent Return to Storied Temple of Commerce The family behind the iconic shopping brand Century 21 has announced that the Platonic ideal of off-priced luxury retail will return to its longtime sanctuary at 25 Church Street (between Cortland and Dey Streets) “in early spring” of this year. “Century 21 is, and always...

Gym and Arts Center at School Facing Closure to Continue Under New Pennant The soon-to-be defunct Blue School, in the Seaport District, will live on in at least one respect: Part of its strikingly designed learning space will be repurposed by two other Lower Manhattan private schools. Green Ivy Schools, a network that includes the...