The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper
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Ask and You Might Receive
Push for Seaport Community Center at Site of Demolished Waterfront Building
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Community Board 1 and the Seaport Coalition are calling for the construction of a low-rise community facility (shown at right), featuring a gymnasium, marina, and rooftop recreation space. Below: The historic New Market Building was demolished last fall.
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Community Board 1 (CB1) is reviving calls for a waterfront community center in South Street Seaport at the site of the New Market Building (which was demolished last fall).
In a resolution enacted at its October 25 meeting, CB1 notes that “the proposed new Center is intended to provide urgently needed recreation and multi-purpose spaces for a part of the district east of Broadway that has seen a rapidly increasing multi-generational residential population but has very little open space and facilities to meet the needs of this area.”
The measure notes that the proposal for a community center at the New Market site, which was first floated more than 20 years ago, is the focus of a renewed push by the Seaport Coalition, a grassroots partnership of community activists. The resolution notes that “the New Market Building location had been recommended many times over the years, including in the 2002 Downtown East River Waterfront Concept Plan prepared by CB1 and the Downtown Alliance which was praised by many local leaders as well by the Economic Development Corporation.”
The latest version of the plan calls for gymnasiums, indoor play spaces and meeting venues, and a landscaped roof for active and passive uses, along with “a public dock providing maritime access that could accommodate historic ships and other craft.”
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The site of the New Market Building—currently a deck built over the East River, between Beekman Street and Peck Slip—has been a focus of controversy for nearly a decade. In 2013, the Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC), which has been designated by the City to redevelop the South Street Seaport, announced plans to demolish the historic structure and erect a 60-story residential tower there. This plan inspired bitter opposition among preservationists, community leaders, and elected officials, and the proposal was eventually scuttled.
Even with the cancellation of the planned skyscraper, however, the New Market Building faced uncertain future, with decades of neglect having compromised the deck and pilings beneath the facility. This supporting framework had been deteriorating since the 1970s, and even if the building above had been in perfect condition, it would still have been in danger of falling into the East River as the substructure collapsed.
Although CB1 listed funding for repair of the deck and pilings, following demolition of the building, as a priority in its District Needs Statement for 2021, the City has not yet announced any such allocation, which is estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars.
These conditions imply that a private-sector benefactor will be needed to enable any kind of redevelopment at the site of the New Market Building. The likeliest candidate would appear to be HHC. In its original 2013 proposal for a residential tower, the company offered to cover the cost of repairing the pilings and deck. In 2020, HHC called for a low-rise community facility with a public, rooftop recreation space and “compatible commercial uses supporting local amenities”—an updated version of a concept first proposed in the 2002 Downtown East River Waterfront Concept Plan. The renderings accompanying this article are from that 2020 proposal.
Matthew Fenton
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Pumpkin Drop
Through November 4, BPC Parks is accepting Halloween pumpkins for composting. Drop your pumpkin at one of the locations below. – Outside 75 Battery Place
– Esplanade Plaza
– Teardrop Park South
– Rockefeller Park (lower level of Chambers and River Terrace)
To date in 2022, BPCA has composted more than 36,000 pounds of fruit, vegetables, plants, and coffee grounds dropped by neighborhood residents.
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Inn and Out
Site of Planned Hotel in FiDi Faces Foreclosure
In what may be a sign of further distress in the Lower Manhattan real estate market, a vacant lot in the Financial District is moving toward foreclosure. In a development first reported by Crain’s New York, the site of a planned hotel at 140 Fulton Street (rendering at right) is in the first phases of being taken back from developer Hidrock by lender Bank Hapoalim.
The site, between Broadway and Nassau Street, was announced in 2019 as the home of a new, 41-story hotel, which was to be branded under the Tempo by Hilton flag. But the pandemic brought business travel to a near halt, which amounted to a cataclysm for the hospitality industry. In court papers, Bank Hapoalim says Hidrock has defaulted on more than $30 million in debt on the property, where ground has yet to be broken on the hotel project. Read more…
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Weir Still Waiting
City Hall Demands Fed Funding for FiDi & Seaport Resiliency Plan
Mayor Eric Adams is pushing the administration of President Joe Biden to provide $8.5 billion in federal funding to advance a suite of ten resiliency projects throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Among these is the Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan, which was unveiled in January, and for which funding has not been allocated. Read more…
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Eyes to the Sky, November 2-7, 2022
Enter Mars
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Planet Mars joins brilliant planet Jupiter and yellowish Saturn as an all-night planet during the coming fortnight. The Red Planet rises in the east-northeast around 8:15 tonight and an hour earlier in mid-November.
Of quotidian concern to all regional Earthlings: Eastern Daylight Time falls away overnight November 5 to 6. Set clocks back one hour to awaken on Sunday the 6th to Eastern Standard Time.
Look for a special Eyes to the Sky in the BroadsheetDAILY this Monday, November 7, about viewing the upcoming lunar eclipse.
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Thursday, November 3
10am-8pm
Brookfield Place
Opening day of the annual design competition that challenges teams of architects, engineers and contractors to build sculptures made entirely out of unopened cans of food. The large-scale sculptures are displayed at Brookfield Place and later donated to City Harvest to help provide families with a holiday meal. Through November 14.
6:30pm
6 River Terrace
The Noir Pairings hybrid film series pairs a neo-noir with a classic noir movie for comparison and discussion. In Le Cercle Rouge (1970) directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, ex-convict and master thief Corey crosses paths with a notorious escapee and an alcoholic former policeman. The trio proceed to plot an elaborate heist at a jewelry store in Paris. This film is paired with The Asphalt Jungle (1957), available on-line. Free popcorn will be served, and a discussion will follow the screenings.
6:30pm
China Institute, 40 Rector Street
Shanghai Sonatas is a new musical about the Jewish refugee musicians from Nazi Germany who brought classical music to Shanghai, and their connection to the millions of classical musicians of Chinese descent today. Free.
6:30pm
Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place
Special tour of Boris Lurie: Nothing To Do But To Try before the exhibition closes November 6. $10 suggested donation.
7pm
McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street
Reading. An unexpected, poignant, and personal account of loving and losing pets, exploring the singular bonds we have with our companion animals, and how to grieve them once they’ve passed. RSVP required.
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Friday, November 4
8:30am
6 River Terrace
Improve balance, strength and focus through gentle exercises. The sights and sounds of the river provide a serene background for the ancient flowing postures. An ideal choice for participants of all ages. 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)
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
November 3
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This is the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. On this day in 1960, local residents triumphed over the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey when Congress declared protection for the swamp. Photograph by Jesper Rautell Balle.
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1333 – The River Arno floods and causes massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani.
1534 – English parliament passes the Act of Supremacy making Henry VIII and all subsequent monarchs the Head of the Church of England
1908 – William Howard Taft is elected the 27th President of the United States.
1911 – Chevrolet enters the automobile market, competing with the Ford Model T.
1936 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is re-elected President of the United States.
1952 – Clarence Birdseye markets frozen peas
1957 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laik
1960 – The land in New Jersey that would become the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is established by an Act of Congress after a legal battle that pitted local residents against Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials wishing to turn the Great Swamp into a regional airport. 1969 – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon addresses the nation, asking the “silent majority” to support his policies on the Vietnam War.
1986 – The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been secretly selling weapons to Iran in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.
2014 – One World Trade Center opens.
Births
AD 39 – Lucan, Roman poet (d. 65)
1801 – Karl Baedeker, author and publisher, founded the Baedeker Publishing Company (d. 1859)
1903 – Walker Evans, American photographer and journalist (d. 1975)
1949 – Anna Wintour, journalist
1987 – Colin Kaepernick, NFL quarterback (protest kneel during national anthem; SF 49ers)
Deaths
1456 – Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, father of King Henry VII of England (b. 1431)
1926 – Annie Oakley, American entertainer and target shooter (b. 1860)
1954 – Henri Matisse, French painter and sculptor (b. 1869)
2019 – Yvette Lundy, French resistance fighter during WWII, dies at 103
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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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