Community Board 1 (CB1) is pushing for local representation on a board created by Governor Andrew Cuomo, to choose a location with Battery Park City for a planned memorial to 2017’s Hurricane Maria (which killed nearly 3,000 residents of Puerto Rico), and oversee its design.
In September, on the first anniversary of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria, Mr. Cuomo announced that, “I am establishing a commission to create a memorial honoring the victims and survivors of Hurricane Maria and the resilience of the Puerto Rican community. New Yorkers have always had a deep connection with our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico and this memorial will show that this country loves and respects our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico and we will never allow what happened to happen again.” He also stated that this memorial would be located in Battery Park City.
Since that announcement, there has been no disclosure from the Governor’s office about who will serve on that commission, whether anyone has yet been appointed to it, where and when it will meet, or other relevant notices that usually relate to a public body.
|
|
 |
| BPC Committee chair Tammy Meltzer |
|
At CB1’s December 19 meeting, Tammy Meltzer, who chairs that panel’s Battery Park City Committee, said, “all we’re looking for is to have a resident on this commission, to be able to speak for the community.”
She added that, “Lower Manhattan has a higher density of memorials than anywhere else in five boroughs of New York City, with nine in Battery Park City alone.” Within the community, these include memorials to the Holocaust, Ireland’s Great Famine, New York City police officers, the Berlin Wall, and rescue efforts by Battery Park City Authority employees during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as a tribute to employees to the American Express Corporation who perished on that day. Nearby by, in the Financial District and surrounding neighborhoods, there are dozens more, including monuments to slavery, nearly every war from the American Revolution to Viet Nam, and the sinking of the Titanic.
|
|
|
Bruce Ehrmann |
Bruce Ehrmann, who serves as co-chair of CB1’s Landmarks Preservation Committee, observed that, “apparently we have no real say, but it’s a little odd to put a memorial to the deaths of almost 3,000 predominantly Puerto Rican people in the middle of maybe the whitest neighborhood in all of New York City. It makes no sense.”
Mr. Ehrmann’s point is borne out by statistical data. The Department of City Planning’s website estimates that Battery Park City has a total population of more than 15,000 residents, of whom fewer than 700 (or slightly fewer than five percent) are of Puerto Rican ancestry.
Demographically, the New York City neighborhood steeped most deeply in Puerto Rican culture is the area of the South Bronx between the Triborough and Whitestone Bridges. In this section, which includes the neighborhoods of Hunts Point, Soundview, and Castleton, residents who trace their ancestry to Puerto Rico comprise more than 40 percent of the local population.
Another section of the Bronx, Morris Heights, also boasts a large Puerto Rican population, as well as a State park named after Puerto Rican immigrant Roberto Clemente, who gained fame as a legendary right-fielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Roberto Clemente State Park, located on the east bank of the Harlem River, covers 25 acres, making it nearly one-third as large as Battery Park City in its entirety. But while locating a memorial to Hurricane Maria in either of these Bronx communities might mean more to their large Puerto Rican populations, it would almost certainly attract less national media attention than a parcel in Lower Manhattan. Whether this is a factor in deliberations by Mr. Cuomo, who is widely believed to be considering a presidential race, remains unclear.
|
|
|
CB1 chair Anthony Notaro |
CB1 chairman Anthony Notaro responded to Mr. Ehrmann’s observation by saying, “Battery Park City is state-owned land, so Cuomo can put this here without anyone saying anything.” This was a reference to the fact that the Governor controls the Battery Park City Authority, which governs the community. For this reason, the community is one of the few sections of Manhattan that is directly controlled by Albany, rather than by City Hall.
Ms. Meltzer noted, “that’s why we want a resident on this commission.”
A resolution enacted by CB1 at the December 19 meeting notes that, “due to the significant Puerto Rican population in New York City, Community Board 1 recognizes the significance of locating such a memorial in our City,” and “strongly requests a process be set up with communication and transparency with the community prior to the placement of any new memorials in Battery Park City — or anywhere else in Lower Manhattan.”
The resolution also observes that, “all public land within Battery Park City has already been designated for uses on which the community relies;” that, “Battery Park City has more memorials per square foot than any other neighborhood in New York City;” and that, “there are numerous locations within the State that could be better suited to locate the Hurricane Maria Memorial than Battery Park City.”
|
|
|
| Governor Cuomo |
|
The measure continues, “CB1 insists on appointing a local Battery Park City resident to participate on the commission regarding the siting of the proposed memorial in Lower Manhattan;” and “CB1 requires a commitment from Governor Cuomo to allow meaningful participation by residents and community leaders in all phases of decision-making related to this project, including (but not limited to): voting membership on the commission that would determine final location, design and budget for the memorial.”
Battery Park City activists and leaders have a record of opposing plans for additional memorials that they believed conflicted with the interests of the community. These include successfully derailing proposals to locate two relics of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 with the community: the so-called “Survivors Staircase” (a flight of 38 steps that once led from Vesey Street to the World Trade Center plaza above) and the Sphere (a metal globe sculpture originally located on plaza between the Twin Towers, and heavily damaged when they collapsed). Both were initially slated for relocation to sites within Battery Park City. But each was instead incorporated into plans for the new World Trade Center complex when the community objected to these plans.
