Tag: Local

Lower Manhattan Sounds a Call to Alms

Lower Manhattan has become a focal point for organizations that seek to make the world a better place, according to a report by CBRE, a commercial real estate services and investment firm. The company’s research indicates that non-profit organizations now occupy five percent of all office space in Lower Manhattan, a high proportion than in...
Wall Street

Goodbye Monkey Bars, Hello Imagination Marsh

Community Board 1 (CB1) chair Anthony Notaro has some good news for Lower Manhattan couples who are planning to have children in the next few years. At the December 19 meeting of CB1, he announced that, “HUD has released funds for the Battery play area.” This was a reference to the federal Department of Housing...
Granite slides in the "Adventure Bluffs" section of the Playscape planned for the Battery. Illustration courtesy : BKSK ARCHITECTS LLP

Dickering Over the Dock

Harbor House, the restaurant and bar at Pier A, has fallen behind by more than $1.7 million on the rent it is required to pay the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA). This arrearage began last April, when the proprietors ceased paying rent. As a result, the Authority has agreed to revise its lease terms with...
Pier A from the sailboat Ventura

Confection Defection

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has decided to remove from the World Trade Center plaza an exhibit of public art that aroused indignation among right wing pundits because it included an image of the flag of Saudi Arabia. The exhibit, entitled “Candy Nations,” was created by French sculptor Laurence Jenkell. It...
The flags of the 20 nations portrayed in the exhibit corresponds to the membership of the "G20" confederation of countries that meet annually to promote economic stability. In the wake of a conservative backlash, the Port Authority has announced plans to remove the exhibit more than a month earlier than planned.

Subterranean Subterfuge

For 58 nights, they secretly dug below Broadway-arguably the most trafficked street in the world in 1869. A good night’s work advanced their tunnel about eight feet. Every few nights, they poked a metal rod up through the street to be certain they weren’t veering off into City Hall Park or undermining building foundations. If...