The BroadsheetDAILY – 5/31/22 – Public Comment Period for South BPC Resiliency Plan Open Now

The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

Wagnerian Vigilance

Public Comment Period for BPCA’s Plans to Build Flood Walls and Elevated Landscaping Concludes Friday

Short, animated videos of the future Wagner Park and surroundings help illuminate plans for the South Battery Park City Resilience project that will begin construction soon.

For several years, the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) has been working on a plan to rebuild and elevate Wagner Park and the areas to its north and south, from First Place and the Museum of Jewish Heritage to Pier A Plaza. This is the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project, currently in its Draft Environmental Impact Statement(DEIS) phase.

Within a few months, construction will begin on this huge flood risk reduction project. Now through June 3, the public may submit comments on the design. To understand the major changes coming to this area, read the DEIS, or watch a video of the BPCA’s public hearing on May 19.

Plans for flood risk reduction in this area include flip-up gates, glass-topped floodwalls, buried floodwalls underneath terraced slopes, exposed floodwalls, and bermed floodwalls.

Six animated videos of the design, each a couple minutes long, help illuminate the design plans. In this animated video, roam around the park’s narrow future lawns and planted spaces. In this video, take a future walk along the river, rounding an elevated and highly terraced Wagner Park. In this one, enter Wagner Park from Battery Place. In this fourth video, walk up the new allee on the south side and get a glimpse of the larger pavilion.

This video (right) gives a clear illustration of the new design for the Battery Place sidewalk at Wagner Park, the elevated allees, and the new pavilion that will be rebuilt larger and moved closer to the sidewalk. Finally, this animated video takes the walker from Battery Park to Wagner Park, showing a new, high floodwall east of Pier A Plaza, at the foot of West Street.

A scale model of the South BPC Resiliency project, the new Wagner Park Pavilion, and the Battery Floodwall are available to view in the 200 Rector Place Community Room, Mondays through Fridays, 8am to 6pm.

Members of the public may submit comments and questions related to the DEIS until June 3, 2022, via e-mail or mail to:

Claudia Filomena, Director of Capital Projects

Battery Park City Authority

200 Liberty Street, 24th Floor New York, NY 10281

Resiliency plans for areas north of the South Battery Park City Resiliency project include the BPC Ball Fields and Community Center Resiliency project, and the North/West BPC Resiliency Project, both undertaken by the BPCA. Resiliency plans for coastal areas south and east of Pier A Plaza include the Battery Coastal Resilience project, the Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience project, the Brooklyn Bridge-Montgomery Coastal Resilience Project project, and the East Side Coastal Resiliency project, all overseen by the City of New York.

Where’s Their Memorial?

Unsettled Thoughts About Unsettled Debts

This is the weekend when we are called to reflect upon the incalculable debt owed to courageous men and women who gave their lives defending this country. True, like many other once-solemn occasions, this one has devolved somewhat into an excuse for revelry and consumption, but more than a bit of the original spirit endures.

One of the bitter ironies of war is that it disproportionately claims the young—people with decades of life in front of them. But what of those so young that uniforms aren’t made to fit them, and those so small that they are unable to take up arms?

Letters

To the editor,

[Re: Where’s Their Memorial? May 27, 2022]

Tremendous writing, Matthew Fenton. Absolutely spot on and beautifully articulated. Undoubtedly your best work yet on so many levels.

Thank you.

Bill Bialosky

———————

To the editor,

Now that the NY State Senate passed our Battery Park City fair representation bill, we need NY State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s office to give permission for it to be “brought to floor for a vote.”

Please take 2 minutes and call Carl Heastie’s office, at 518.455.3791. The receptionist is very courteous. Someone will take your message. (It took me 1 minute and 45 seconds).

Message suggestion:

* Express support for A10371, a bill to appoint BPC residents on the Battery Park City Authority Board.

* Request Speaker Heastie brings bill to floor for a vote.

* They may ask for your name, home zip code, email, etc. Your choice on whether to leave it.

Kelly McGowan

Board member, BPC Neighbors Association

They strut, they kiss, they preen, they love. Click on the image to see the Pigeon Dance.

Downtown Boathouse Sees Half Millionth Kayaker

On Saturday, May 28, the 500,000th person to sign a waiver at the Downtown Boathouse did so, donned a life vest, and went kayaking. There she is above, with her friend, both of them in town from Buffalo, NY. “If one counts repeats visits, many more than half a million people have gone kayaking for free at the Downtown Boathouse,” noted Graeme Birchall, boathouse president. He acknowledged the people who make free kayaking possible at the Downtown Boathouse. “First and foremost, it is the hundreds of awesome volunteers who have enabled so many people to go kayaking safely,” he said. “The residents of Lower Manhattan have also been very supportive, as has the Hudson River Park Trust, and many elected officials.”

Waves of Woe

Jet Ski Accident Claims One Life, Injures Second Passenger, in Waters Off Battery Park City

A waterborne outing on the first summer-like weekend of the season ended in tragedy on Saturday evening in Battery Park City.

CALENDAR

Tuesday, May 31

10:30am-11:30am

Irish Hunger Memorial Plaza

Join in on the fun featuring easy-to-follow Latin dance choreography while working on your balance, coordination and range of motion.

12:30pm-1:30pm

Rockefeller Park House

A lunch time program for passersby to play a quick game of chess or backgammon. Using clocks, opponents will play 5 minute games that are fast, furious and fun. An instructor will be on hand to offer pointers and tips to improve your game.

3:30pm-5pm

Rockefeller Park

Play the popular strategy game while getting pointers and advice from an expert. Chess improves concentration, problem solving, and strategic planning — plus it’s fun! For ages 5 and up (adults welcome).

Wednesday, June 1

8am

Meet at the intersection of Broadway, Battery Place, and State Street

Join experienced birding guide Gabriel Willow on a walk through The Battery to observe the diversity of migrating birds that visit the park

10am-12pm

Rector Park East

Observe and sketch the human figure. Each week a model will strike short and long poses for participants to draw. An artist/educator will offer constructive suggestions and critique. Drawing materials provided, and artists are encouraged to bring their own favorite media.

11am-5pm

Take a self guided tour of the tall ship Wavertree, and visit the 12 Fulton Street galleries to view the exhibitions “South Street and the Rise of New York” and “Millions: Migrants and Millionares aboard the Great Liners.”

1pm

National Museum of the American Indian, One Bowling Green

Jam out to the sounds of Albuquerque-based jazz ensemble D’DAT. Vocalist James Pakootas (Colville), award-winning trumpet player Delbert Anderson (Diné), drummer Nicholas Lucero, and bassist Mike McCluhan offer a funky fusion of jazz and hip hop.

2pm-4pm

Wagner Park

Embolden your artwork amidst the flower-filled and seasonally evolving palette of BPC’s verdant gardens. An artist/ educator will provide ideas and instruction. Materials provided.

6pm-7pm

Immerse yourself in this meditative practice, surrounded by the Hudson’s peaceful aura. Strengthen the body and cultivate awareness in a relaxed environment as your instructor guides you through alignments and poses. All levels are welcome. Bring your own mat.

7pm

Gibney, 53A Chambers Street

For the Moment, a program curated by Eva Yaa Asantewaa, presents evenings of short, theme-based solo dance improvisations that celebrate creative response to the changing textures and energies of outer and inner worlds. The Spring 2022 theme is Other Discoveries Made on The Moon. $10-$15.

7pm

McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Latecomer is a layered and immersive literary novel about three siblings, desperate to escape one another, and the upending of their family by the late arrival of a fourth.

7pm

Museum of Jewish Heritage

The story of an emigrant’s journey from the old world—a little village in Russia—to the new world in New York. Adapted from Joseph Roth’s 1930 novel of the same name, this powerful production stars Danish actor Ina-Miriam Rosenbaum in every role. He is joined onstage by principal oboist of the Danish Royal Orchestra Henrik Goldshmidt and Indian-Danish accordion virtuoso Anders Singh Vesterdahl. The performance’s offbeat music lifts the story of one person into a universally relatable tale about the experience of being a refugee and the challenges of encountering a new world. $10.

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

To place a listing, contact editor@ebroadsheet.com

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: Saturday 11:30am-5pm, May through Thanksgiving

Today in History

May 31

In Wagner Park a few years ago, two boys climbed atop “Eyes,” a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois. Louise Bourgeois died on this day in 2010, at 98 years old. View this short videoabout Ms. Bourgeois and Battery Park City’s “Eyes,” which came to Battery Park City in1995. As Wagner Park is prepared for the South Battery Park City Resiliency project (see today’s main story), “Eyes” will soon be relocated to another location in the neighborhood.

1279 BC – Ramesses II (The Great) becomes pharaoh of ancient Egypt.

455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.

1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf, today the oldest bridge in Paris, France.

1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.

1889 – More than 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

1929 – The first talking Mickey Mouse cartoon, “The Karnival Kid,” is released.

1942 – In World War II, Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.

1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.

2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat.

Births

1683 – Jean-Pierre Christin, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer, invented the Celsius thermometer (d. 1755)

1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist(d. 1892)

1852 – Julius Richard Petri, microbiologist, invented the Petri dish (d. 1921)

1923 – Ellsworth Kelly, American painter and sculptor (d. 2015)

1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, and producer

1938 – Peter Yarrow, singer-songwriter, guitarist (Peter, Paul and Mary)

1963 – Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician and Prime Minister of Hungary

1965 – Brooke Shields, American model and actress

1972 – Christian McBride, American jazz bassist, composer, broadcaster

1986 – Waka Flocka Flame [Juaquin Malphurs], American rapper

Deaths

1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, English comedian and actor, created the clown (b. 1779)

1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer (b. 1895)

1997 – Rosie Will Monroe, American WW II icon (Rosie the riveter), dies at 76

2000 – Tito Puente, bandleader (“Oye Como Va”), dies at 77

2010 – Louise Bourgeois, sculptor, painter and print maker, dies at 98

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