The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper
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Got Any Ideas on How to Spend a Million Dollars?
Marte Seeks Suggestions for Allocating Capital Funds to Local Projects
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City Council member Christopher Marte (right) is soliciting ideas on how to spend up to $1 million in public funds on Lower Manhattan public infrastructure projects. Examples of eligible proposals include “planting new street trees, installing new lights in a park, building a wheelchair ramp to a public building, adding protection on a bike lane, repairing a playground, purchasing new technology for libraries or public schools, or renovating or building anything related to public spaces and buildings.”
These funds come from Mr. Marte’s capital budget, a pot of $5 million allocated to each Council member to be spent on projects of their choosing. Shortly after taking office in January of this year, Mr. Marte led his first round of what is known as “participatory budgeting,” in which constituents “are able to submit ideas for how to spend up to $1 million of our office’s capital funds. These ideas are narrowed down based on feasibility, put on a ballot, and then in the Spring, residents get to vote on which proposals we fund.”
That process yielded a series of awards to local schools, including (among others) $2.3 million for renovations to the recreation yard at the Corlears School, on the Lower East Side; $1.6 million to create a playground and recreation space at the New York Harbor School, on Governors Island; and $100,000 to reconstruct the roof at the Peck Slip School, in the South Street Seaport.
This new call for ideas will apply to the City’s fiscal year 2023, which begins July 1. Any constituent interested in contributing proposals is invited to browse ideas.pbnyc.org, and use the interactive map to zoom in on Lower Manhattan. Among the ideas that local residents have suggested thus far are a water slide in the Hudson River Park, an ice rink on Governors Island, a new auditorium for P.S./I.S. 276, and planting trees on the Hudson Street approach to the Holland Tunnel.
The online portal, which organizes suggestions into one of a dozen classifications, also serves as an unofficial barometer of local concerns. Of these, the Streets and Sidewalks category has attracted the most interest, with eight proposals, followed by Parks & Recreation, with six. Among the sections that have garnered no suggestions are Youth, Seniors, Sanitation, Public Health, and Public Housing.
Matthew Fenton
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Star Turns
Battery Park City Restaurant Loses Michelin Ranking, But Five New Downtown Eateries Are Honored
The annually updated gastronome’s bible, the Michelin Guide, has released its findings about New York restaurants for 2022, which include several upgrades and one notable demotion for Lower Manhattan diners. Read more…
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Street Wise
Local Advocacy Group Seeks to Make the Pedestrian King in Lower Manhattan
Community Board 1 (CB1) is pushing the City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) to “develop a vision for a Financial District streetscape that prioritizes pedestrian mobility and safety,” three years after that agency allocated half a million dollars for a study that would have kickstarted this process, but never took any further action. In a resolution enacted at its July meeting, the Board also demanded that DOT “account for the $500,000 mobility study promised in 2019.” Read more…
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Viral Outbreak in FiDi
Gutsy Guy Gambles on Gambol Along the Gambrels
A impromptu video of a man leaping from one parapet to another along a rooftop 300 feet above West Street went viral on Thursday, after filmmaker Erik Ljung looked out an office window in Brookfield Place, saw what appeared to be a daredevil tempting fate, and then began recording the event with his phone. Read more…
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Valorizing Velocipedes
Borough President Proposes Turning One Lane of West Street Over to Bicycles
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has proposed to remove the westernmost traffic lane of West Street, from Chambers to West 57th Street (and, eventually, beyond), to create a new, two-way bike lane. Read more…
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Thursday, October 13
1pm
Tour of the urban vegetable farm and perennial forest farm, led by park staff. RSVP required. Intended for ages 13 and up. Free.
2pm
Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place
Judith Koeppel Steel’s family escaped Germany in 1939 aboard the MS St. Louis, only to be turned away by both Cuba and the United States and sent back to Europe. Her family was later imprisoned in Gurs concentration camp. Hear her story. $10 suggested donation
3pm-4pm
Kid-friendly tour of our urban vegetable farm, led by park staff. RSVP required. Intended for children under the age of 13. Free.
6pm
Livestreamed
Agenda
- 17 Battery Place, work on the western and southern façades
- Capital and expense budget items discussion
7pm
Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place
Fifteen years after the release of the award-winning The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, the book is being reissued. Daniel Mendelsohn will be in conversation with author Francine Prose. $10 suggested donation
Friday, October 14
12pm
Rector Park East
Explore the parks of BPC, and see what makes this spot a hang-out for urban birds and marvelous migrators! Binoculars and field guides provided. Free.
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Saturday, October 15
9am-12pm
Projects for all ages at The Battery Conservancy vegetable farm.
9:30am-2pm
Governors Island, Liggett Terrace
Join the Trust for Governors Island horticulture team. Volunteers will mulch, weed, and rake. Free.
10am-12pm
South Cove
Paint in watercolor or use pastels and other drawing materials to capture the vistas of the Hudson River and the landscape of South Cove. An educator will offer critique. Materials provided. Free.
11am-5pm
Governors Island, King Avenue
Rotating lineup of the city’s emerging makers, designers, artists, and small businesses.
12pm
South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton Street
Most printers in early 19th century New York were located where the action was: near the city’s main port of entry at South Street. See where passenger and shipping services printed their tickets, and learn about the typography on these historic buildings. Free.
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Sunday, October 16
8am-9am
South Street Seaport Museum, Pier 16
60 minute vinyasa-based yoga practice on the deck of the tall ship Wavertree. The practice will be followed by a tour of Wavertree. Also at 9am. Free.
1pm
Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 190 West Street
Family-oriented blend of the unique comedy and juggling skills of Gregory Popovich, and the talents of his furry costars. Also at 4pm. $30-$50.
2pm-4pm
Meet at the Real World, Rockefeller Park
Art walk and poetry reading. Free.
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Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets
Tribeca Greenmarket
Greenwich Street & Chambers Street
Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8am-3pm (compost program: Saturdays, 8am-1pm)
Bowling Green Greenmarket
Broadway & Whitehall St
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8am-5pm (compost program: 8am-11am)
World Trade Center Oculus Greenmarket
Tuesdays, 8am-5pm
The Outdoor Fulton Stall Market
91 South Street, between Fulton & John Streets
Indoor market: Monday through Saturday,11:30am-5pm
CSA pick-up: Thursday, 4pm-6pm; Friday, 11:30-5pm
Outdoor market: Saturdays, 11:30am-5pm
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Today in History
October 13
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Whirlpool Galaxy, discovered on this day in 1773.
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54 – Emperor Claudius is poisoned to death under mysterious circumstances. His 17-year-old stepson Nero succeeds him.
1307 – Hundreds of Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, and later tortured into a “confession” of heresy.
1773 – The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier.
1792 – In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.
1884 – The historic prime meridian or Greenwich meridian, a geographical reference line that passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in London, England, is established
1892 – Edward Emerson Barnard discovers D/1892 T1, the first comet discovered by photographic means, on the night of October 13–14.
1923 – Ankara replaces Istanbul as the capital of Turkey.
2006 – Nobel Peace Prize awarded to banker Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for microlending to the poor
2010 – 33 miners are rescued in the Copiapó mining accident in Copiapó, Chile, after surviving 69 days underground awaiting rescue.
2021 – 24 year old Rumeysa Gelgi from Turkey confirmed as world’s tallest living woman by Guinness World Records at 7ft 0.7in.
Births
1862 – Mary Kingsley, English explorer and author (d. 1900)
1909 – Art Tatum, American pianist (d. 1956)
1921 – Yves Montand, Italian-French actor and singer (d. 1991)
1925 – Lenny Bruce, American comedian and actor (d. 1966)
1925 – Margaret Thatcher, lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2013)
1941 – Paul Simon, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1971 – Sacha Baron Cohen, British comedian and actor (Ali G, Borat), born in London, England
1989 – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, American politician (Rep-D-New York 2018-), born in New York City
Deaths
54 – Claudius, Roman emperor (b. 10 BC)
1974 – Ed Sullivan, journalist and talk show host (b. 1901)
1992 – James Edward Marshall, illustrator and author of children’s books, including the Fox series (Fox on Wheels, etc.) and the George and Martha series, dies of a brain tumor at 50
2016 – Dario Fo, playwright, performer (Nobel Prize Literature 1997), dies at 90
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The Broadsheet Inc. eBroadsheet.com editor @ ebroadsheet.com ©2022 All Rights Reserved All photos © Robert Simko 2022 unless otherwise credited
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