The BroadsheetDAILY – 3/28/22 – Morose Metric – Local Rates of Infection with BA.2 Version of COVID Among Highest in City

The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

Morose Metric

Local Rates of Infection with BA.2 Version of COVID Among Highest in City

In a sharp reversal of previous trends, four Lower Manhattan neighborhoods are ranking among the top five anywhere in the City for rates of infection with the new BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron mutation of COVID-19.

In data released by the City’s Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday (covering the period from March 18 through March 24), southern Tribeca, two areas of the Financial District, and southern Battery Park City all placed among the five communities with the highest percentage positive test results for COVID infection. The four local zip codes with the highest level of positive test results were:

• 10007/Southern Tribeca (West Street to Broadway, north of Vesey Street and south of Chambers Street): 28 positive out of 295 tested, or 9.49 percent (ranked highest in the five boroughs)

• 10006/Greenwich South (Broadway to West Street, south of Vesey Street and north of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel): 13 positive out of 185 tested, or 7.03 percent (ranked second)

• 10280/Battery Park City South (below Brookfield Place): 19 positive out of 287 tested, or 6.82 percent (ranked third)

• 10005/Eastern FiDi (Broadway to the East River, south of Maiden Lane, north of Beaver Street): 23 positive out of 381 tested, or 6.04 percent (ranked fifth)

Among the four other residential zip codes in Lower Manhattan, the results were:

• 10282/Battery Park City North (above Brookfield Place): 9 positive out of 182 tested, or 4.95 percent

• 10013/Northern Tribeca (north of Chambers Street and south of Canal Street): 56 positive out of 1,146 tested, or 4.89 percent

• 10004/Southern FiDi (West Street to the East River, south of Beaver Street): three positive out of 160 tested, or 1.88 percent

• 10038/the Civic Center and Seaport (Broadway to the East River, north of Maiden Lane and stretching a few blocks beyond the Brooklyn Bridge): 22 positive out of 806 tested, or 2.73 percent

These results are counter-intuitive, in that Lower Manhattan has some of the highest vaccination rates anywhere in the five boroughs. But they should not cause undue alarm, because the high local rate of vaccination translates into a diminished probability that these infections will result in serious illness or death. This reassuring note is further reinforced by the mounting evidence that the BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron mutation of COVID-19 (while more transmissible than the initial version of Omicron) is itself less likely than its predecessors to cause serious illness.

Matthew Fenton

THIS WEEK’S CALENDAR

TUESDAY MARCH 29

10:30AM

6 River Terrace

Join in on the fun featuring easy-to-follow Latin dance choreography while working on your balance, coordination and range of motion. Come prepared for enthusiastic instruction, a little strength training and a lot of fun. Participants are encouraged to bring their own equipment: weights, water bottle, hand towel etc.

Free, Battery Park City Authority

5:30PM

Skyscraper Museum

The second session of the Construction History series concentrates on Frames and the evolution of metal-cage construction in each city. Chicago has claimed the “invention” of steel-skeleton construction, which historians often call “the Chicago frame.” In New York, building codes and concerns about fire discouraged the use of skeleton frames until after 1892, so alternative, hybrid systems developed. Tom Leslie and Don Friedman will examine these and other issues. Chicago and New York offered a handful of very different preconditions that influenced the way skyscrapers were designed and built in the two cities. Chicago’s murky soil forced engineers to carefully parse their structures into point supports and broad, snowshoe-like pads, which suggested structures above could be thought of as more skeletal frames than continuous walls. The city’s large, regular lot sizes also allowed a regularity in structural grids, and its laissez-faire politics permitted thinner walls than other, eastern cities—at least through 1893, after which unions and builders began a pitched battle over the city’s building code. Free

WEDNESDAY MARCH 30

6-9AM

Brookfield Place

In the world of WÜNDER, we watch with glittering eyes the magic all around us, the shimmer of life — and move in awe at the moments we create together. An immersive dance party and theatrical show — at sunrise in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place. Kicked off by a magical meditation practice scored by live musicians. This tour only happens once…wonder is ephemeral. Bring a mat, bring a water bottle. Get ready to dance! Free

12:30PM

Meeting of the Board’s Investment Committee (12:30PM)

Meeting of the Members of the Authority (2:00PM)

The meetings will be livestreamed at: bpca.divacommunications.com/bpca-live/ and video recordings made available for post-meeting access via the Battery Park City Authority website. Agendas will be made available at least 48 hours in advance of the scheduled meetings, and a public comment period will be scheduled during the Meeting of the Members of the Authority at a time on the agenda determined by the Chairman.

Anyone wishing to participate in the public comment period should submit their comments via email to boardcomment@bpca.ny.gov by no later than 5:30 p.m. on the day prior to the Meeting. Comments should be no longer than two minutes in length, and may be read into the record during the livestream broadcast. BPCA reserves the right to prioritize comments that have not been previously raised.

THURSDAY MARCH 31

5PM

A Righteous Woman: Doña Gracia Mendes Nasi

Museum of Jewish Heritage 36 Battery Pl

Virtual event

Beatrice Nasi, who would come to be known as Doña Gracia, one of the richest women in the world, was born in 1510 in Portugal. Join the Museum for a program exploring the incredible life and legacy of Doña Gracia on the 530th anniversary of the Alhambra Decree. The program will consist of a conversation with Andrée Aelion Brooks, author of The Woman Who Defied Kings: The life and times of Doña Gracia Nasi, and Howard Tzvi Adelman, Associate Professor of History at Queen’s University. The program willl be moderated by Josh Nathan-Kazis, a reporter at Barron’s and a former staff writer at the Forward.

Free; suggested $10 donation

6PM

Iron Buddha 25 Fulton Street

Reservations are released at 10AM every Monday the week before class.

Howard Hughes Corporation

7PM

Book launch at McNally Jackson 4 Fulton Street

During the coronavirus pandemic, a queer disabled woman bikes through a locked-down NYC for the ex-girlfriend who broke her heart. In pandemic-era NYC, Orpheus just manages to buy a bike before they sell out across the city. She takes to the streets looking for Eurydice, the first woman she fell in love with, who broke her heart. The city is largely closed, devoid of touch, connection, and community. But Orpheus hears mysterious news of an underground bar, Le Monacle, fashioned after the lesbian club of the same name in 1930s Paris. Can she find it?

7:30PM

Trinity Wall Street

In person at Trinity Church or online

Thomas Cooley, tenor; Jonathan Woody, bass; The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Trinity Youth Chorus; The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; New York Baroque Inc.; Dana Marsh, conductor. Trinity ensembles join forces with the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue and New York Baroque Incorporated to present Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, one of the quintessential masterpieces of western classical music. The Passion According to St. Matthew, BWV 244, is a dramatic integration of scripture, new poetry, and great hymns of the Lutheran tradition. Free

FRIDAY APRIL 1

11AM – 5PM

South Street Seaport Museum

On Saturdays and Sundays, visit the exhibitions and the ships of the South Street Seaport Museum for free. At 12 Fulton Street, see “South Street and the Rise of New York”” and “Millions: Migrants and Millionaires aboard the Great Liners, 1900-1914,”” and at Pier 16, explore the tall ship Wavertree and lightship Ambrose.” FREE

Local Legacies Lionized

Three Downtown Preservation Projects Cited as Exemplars of Landmark Protection

Three of Lower Manhattan’s architectural masterpieces have been singled out for the prestigious Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award, conferred each year by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, a highly regarded non-profit organization (itself based in Lower Manhattan, on Whitehall Street) that seeks to protect New York’s architecturally significant buildings. To read more…

Harmonic Convergence

New Production of Museum of Jewish Heritage Recalls 1930s Saga That Resonates Today

Previews have begun for the seven-week run of Harmony, a musical by Barry Manilow and his longtime collaborator Bruce Sussman at the Museum of Jewish Heritage (36 Battery Place, near First Place).

The production recalls the story of the Comedian Harmonists, “a singing group that was hugely popular in the 1920s and 30s,” Mr. Manilow recalls. “They were very inventive—a combination of the Manhattan Transfer and the Marx Brothers. They made 13 movies, along with dozens and dozens of records. But nobody remembers them today.”

Mr. Sussman reflects that, “when Barry and I write a big project, I need to be able to know what the spine sentence is—the guiding sentence for what this piece is about. I knew immediately this was about the quest for harmony in the broadest sense of the word, during what turned out to be the most discordant period of human history.” To read more…

Not a Penny for Tribute?

Community-Focused Cultural Center Faces Possible Closure

The 9/11 Tribute Museum, a highly regarded local cultural institution, is grappling with the prospect of imminent closure, according to chief executive officer and co-founder, Jennifer Adams-Webb, who told the Broadsheet, “without a donor or partner stepping forward, we are unable to sustain the 9/11 Tribute Museum with current visitation. The 9/11 Tribute Museum has served as a support for thousands of survivors, first responders, families and residents who were all directly affected by September 11. It will be a substantial loss to New York City and the community of support.” To read more…

Banks Heist

Lower Manhattan Students Mobilize to Demand Return of Park Space Beneath Brooklyn Bridge

On March 15, a team of student leaders from the Urban Assembly Maker Academy, a charter school located in Lower Manhattan, presented to the Waterfront, Parks, and Cultural Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1) a plan for reopening the Brooklyn Bridge Banks Park, located in the shadow of the iconic span that stretches across the East River from City Hall.

Amy Piller, the principal of the Urban Assembly Maker Academy (headquartered alongside the Brooklyn Bridge, within the Murry Bergtraum Campus, on Pearl Street) began by noting, “most of our students go out to eat at lunchtime. Particularly now, in light of the pandemic, there are really limited places where they can go.” To read more…

Eyes to the Sky

March 21 – April 3, 2022

Equinox Sun, Spring Star Arcturus rising, Solar Orbiter’s closest approach

We are two days past the Vernal Equinox (aequus = equal and nox = night), the astronomical first day of spring in the northern hemisphere when the rising Sun (due east on the horizon) and the setting Sun (due west) trace an arc in the sky that brings about equal day and night. Our star’s equinox trajectory is halfway between the winter and summer solstices, the shortest and longest days of the year, respectively.

Preservation as Privatization

Historic, Publicly Owned Battery Maritime Building Has Reopened, But Only for Paying Customers

Community Board 1 (CB1) is raising questions about the use of what was supposed to be public space at the Battery Maritime Building, located at Ten South Street.

The publicly owned structure, located next to the Staten Island Ferry, is a landmarked Beaux Art ferry terminal built in 1909. It served for three decades as the gateway for boats taking passengers across the East River, but after commuters and vehicles gained direct access to Manhattan with the advent of bridges, tunnels, and subways, ferry usage declined and the building fell into disrepair.

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

To place a listing, contact editor@ebroadsheet.com

Esplanade or Espla-Nada?

City Says Planned Improvements to East River Waterfront Are On Hold

The February 22 meeting of Community Board 1 (CB1) included an update about long-planned improvements to the East River Esplanade, some of which are being cancelled.

Paul Goldstein, the chair of CB1’s Waterfront, Parks & Cultural Committee, said, “we got a report from Economic Development Corporation [EDC] regarding some of their waterfront assets and projects that are ongoing—or not.” (The EDC is a not-profit corporation controlled by City government, which oversees development of assets, such as publicly owned property.)

“Unfortunately, a lot this project is not moving ahead for a variety of reasons,” Mr. Goldstein explained, “the biggest one being that the City is focusing much more on resiliency, and they don’t want to go ahead with improvements that may interfere with that.” To read more…

Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets

Tribeca Greenmarket

Greenwich Street & Chambers Street

Every Wednesday & Saturday, 8am-3pm

Food Scrap Collection: Saturdays, 8am-1pm

Open Saturdays and Wednesdays year round

Bowling Green Greenmarket

Green Greenmarket at Bowling Green

Broadway & Whitehall St

Open Tuesday and Thursdays, year-round

Market Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Compost Program: 8 a.m. – 11 a.m.

The Bowling Green Greenmarket brings fresh offerings from local farms to Lower Manhattan’s historic Bowling Green plaza. Twice a week year-round stop by to load up on the season’s freshest fruit, crisp vegetables, beautiful plants, and freshly baked loaves of bread, quiches, and pot pies.

The Outdoor Fulton Stall Market

91 South St., bet. Fulton & John Sts.

212-349-1380 info@fultonstallmarket.org

Fulton Street cobblestones between South and Front Sts. across from McNally Jackson Bookstore.

Locally grown produce from Rogowski Farm, Breezy Hill Orchard, and other farmers and small-batch specialty food products, sold directly by their producers. Producers vary from week to week.

SNAP/EBT/P-EBT, Debit/Credit, and Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks accepted at all farmers markets.

Today in History

March 28

Roman emperor Caligula

AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.

193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Didius Julianus.

1795 – Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a northern fief of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia.

1842 – First concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Otto Nicolai.

1854 – Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia.

1933 – The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airliner lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board.

1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege.

1979 – A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.

Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. ( wikipedia )

Births

1836 – Frederick Pabst, German-American brewer, founded the Pabst Brewing Company (d. 1904)

1868 – Maxim Gorky, Russian novelist, writer, and playwright (d. 1936)

1910 – Ingrid of Sweden, Queen of Denmark (d. 2000)

1914 – Edmund Muskie, politician, 58th US Secretary of State (d. 1996)

Deaths

193 – Pertinax, Roman emperor (b. 126)

1072 – Ordulf, Duke of Saxony (b. 1022)

1584 – Ivan the Terrible, Russian king (b. 1530)

1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1873)

1969 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, General and politician, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890)

1985 – Marc Chagall, Russian-French painter and poet (b. 1887)

1987 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (b. 1905)

2004 – Peter Ustinov, English-Swiss actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)

Credit: Edited from various sources including historyorb.com, the NYTimes.com and Google searches

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