The BroadsheetDAILY – 6/15/22 – The Madding Crowd: Your Share of Space Downtown Comes to 535 Square Feet

The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

The Madding Crowd

Your Share of Space Downtown Comes to 535 Square Feet

Updated census data and demographic metrics from the Population Fact Finder compiled by the Department of City Planning (DCP) indicate that the headcount of residents in Community District 1 (CD1), a collection of neighborhoods encompassing 1.5 square miles, bounded roughly by Canal, Baxter, and Pearl Streets, and the Brooklyn Bridge, swelled from 60,978 in 2010 to 78,390 in 2020, an increase of 28.6 percent.

These residents inhabit 41,977 dwellings, according to DCP, a tally that has jumped by 7,838 units (or 23.0 percent) in the decade that ended in 2020. During the same interval, the average household size in Lower Manhattan increased slightly, from 1.91 persons per dwelling, to 2.02 residents.

Among the most striking benchmarks contained in the DCP Population Fact Finder is that the population per acre in Lower Manhattan jumped by 34.8 percent, from 60.4 to 81.4 persons. This means that everybody who lives Downtown gets an average of 535 square feet in which to live, shop, commute, and perform every other function of daily urban existence.

Between 2010 and 2020, Lower Manhattan also got a lot younger, according the DCP, with the number of residents under the age of 18 nearly doubling, from 7,969 to 12,775, an increase of 60.3 percent.

Racially, Lower Manhattan’s population of African-American residents expanded slightly (from 2,595 to 2,964) but declined in proportional terms (from 4.3 percent to 3.8 percent). Also growing in absolute numbers but contracting as a share of local population was the White headcount, which grew by 8,497 residents (to a total of 49,307), but shrank from 66.9 percent to 62.9 percent.

At the same time, Downtown’s Asian population swelled from 10,603 to 14,263, increasing from 17.4 percent to 18.2 percent. And the Lower Manhattan Hispanic population similarly increased by 2,067 residents (for a new total of 6,914), while growing from 7.9 percent to 8.8 percent of the local cohort.

In terms of housing stock, some 5,520 local dwellings are currently unoccupied, according to DCP, meaning that 13.2 percent of all Lower Manhattan homes are vacant. This is among the highest percentages for empty housing units for any Community District in the five boroughs of New York City.

Matthew Fenton

CB1 Opposes Demolition of Wagner Park Pavilion

Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday Morning Will Review Controversial Plan

City Council member Christopher Marte will host a Battery Park City Resiliency Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, June 15, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, starting at 9am. (Those who cannot attend in person are encouraged to participate via Zoom.) This meeting will focus on plans by the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) to complete the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project. That project will require BPCA to close Wagner Park, starting after Labor Day, for at least two years, in order to construct resiliency measures that are intended to make the space resistant to rising sea levels and storm surges associated with climate change that will be more severe than Hurricane Sandy.

Letter

To the editor,

[Re: Rent Goes Up Downtown, June 13, 2022]

Practice what you preach is what NYC needs to think. If you want a city that is not segregated and is socio economically diverse, all neighborhoods have options with a variety of affordable housing! Building more 80/20 housing is not the answer—it is a drop in the bucket and ensures segregation in the schools, adds burden on the subways and trains as families are pushed out of Lower Manhattan. It has been 2000 years and we have yet to learn…

“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.”

― Plutarch

Tammy Meltzer

Rent Goes Up Downtown

Monthly Cost of Local Apartments Jumps by More Than 25 Percent Since Last Year

A new analysis by real estate brokerage firm Douglas Elliman indicates that in May, Lower Manhattan apartment rentals have reached their highest-ever median level, at $4,495. This plateau represents at 28.6 percent increase from May of last year, when the median rental price for a Downtown apartment was $3,495.

EYES TO THE SKY June 13 – 26, 2022

Peak Sun, Full Strawberry Moon, morning planets

The Summer Triangle ascends in the east on June evenings. Look for the three bright stars high in the east at midnight and at zenith in the south-southeast at dawn. Chart via Chelynne Campion, Courtesy EarthSky.org.

In early evening twilight, near the top of an azure sky, a singular golden point of light appears to the inquisitive sky gazer. It is Arcturus (-0.07magnitude), the brightest star in the summer sky, high in the southeast at about 9:10pm.

Gazing in a northerly direction, one other ray of starlight penetrates Earth’s dimming blue atmosphere: it is the second brightest star, bluish-white Vega (0.00m), not quite as high, in the east-northeast. Mark the astronomical beginning of summer in the night sky by finding the Summer Triangle of stars (see illustration), visible in the east to northeast at nightfall and traveling the sky all night. Altair (0.75m), the last vertex of the Triangle to come into view, clears the eastern horizon by 9pm this evening.

Summer Solstice, June 21, marks the Sun’s northernmost and highest point in our sky.

Judy Isacoff, naturesturn.org

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn… that’s their order outward from the sun, and it’s the order you’ll see June’s planetary lineup, stretched across our morning sky, beginning around June 10. (Earth is situated between Venus and Mars.) You’ll be able to see all five planets with the unaided eye until Mercury slips away in the morning twilight in early July. Chart via John Jardine Goss. Courtesy of EarthSky.org.

This Week’s Calendar

Wednesday, June 15

9am

Battery Park City Resiliency Town Hall

Museum of Jewish Heritage (36 Battery Place) and livestreamed

See lead story above. New York City Council Member Christopher Marte hosts a community meeting, open to all, to discuss the Battery Park City Authority’s South Battery Park City Resiliency Project, which will close Wagner Park for two years. Zoom participants may register here.

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. Free.

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. Free.

5:30pm

Pier 17

Concert.

6pm-7pm

Rockefeller Park House

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. Free.

6:30pm

Online

Thirty-five years before the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British colonies in North America raised a regiment to serve in the British Army for an expedition to seize control of the Spanish West Indies. The expedition marked the first time American soldiers deployed overseas. In this lecture hosted by Fraunces Tavern Museum, Craig Chapman will discuss the Americans’ role in the conflict, their terrible suffering, and the awful results of the expedition. Free.

6:30pm

China Institute, 40 Rector Street

In today’s renaissance of Chinese cooking, the food of Chinatown is often overlooked. Tonight, Chris Cheung, owner of East Wind Snack Shop, joins China Institute to discuss his newly published book, Damn Good Chinese Food, where he shares 50 recipes inspired by life in Chinatown, including the technique for making his renowned dumplings. From take-out orders at tiny hole-in-the wall teahouses to the lush green vegetables piled high at the markets, celebration dinners at colossal banquet halls to authentic home-cooked meals, Chinatown’s culinary treasures and culture laid the groundwork for chef Cheung’s career as a chef. Free.

Thursday, June 16

6pm

Livestreamed

7pm

Pier 17

Concert.

7pm-10pm

Wagner Park

Celebrate Pride Month with a silent disco dance party featuring Gotham Cheer and queer DJ’s from QuietEvents. Breath-taking sunset views and Lady Liberty will serve as our backdrop as we dance to the hottest beats pumped through light-up headphones. Headphones are free; deposit is required.

8pm

Gibney, 53A Chambers Street

With Can We Dance Here?, three storytellers offer percussive conversation. Celebrating and elevating their survival amidst the barriers that diminish collective liberation, Soles has bottled this synergy into an enticing evening of rhythmic exchange. Also Friday and Saturday. $15-$20.

Friday, June 17

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.” Free. Also Saturday and Sunday.

7PM

Wagner Park

Singer/songwriter Terre Roche leads this weekly singing program with the beautiful backdrop of the setting sun in NY Harbor. Open to all. Free.

Between the Waters

River to River Festival Offers Free Dance, Music, Theater, and Open-Door Museums

The 21st annual River to River Festival, Lower Manhattan’s annual, free summer arts celebration, began Sunday, June 12, and will continue through Sunday, June 26. The 15 days of live dance, music, theater and visual arts will present nine separate performances and events, at venues spread across the length and breadth of Lower Manhattan venues, to an audience of tens of thousands spectators.

An End to Binary Ballots?

Gender Requirements for Some Elected Offices Sparks Calls for Reform

Ever wonder why New York State has legal quotas limiting how many women can be elected as district leaders? Blame Eleanor Roosevelt. Some background: A district leader is an unsalaried, elected official who represents an Assembly District, and essentially ensures that a political party is being governed democratically. Usually, there is one district leader for every Assembly District. But the Democratic party mandates two district leaders per Assembly District: one male and one female. To read more…

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

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

Today in History: June 15

The Horse in Motion: This series of photos taken by Eadweard Muybridge on this day in 1878 of a running horse led to the motion picture industry. Muybridge was hired by Leland Stanford (a railroad baron and future university founder), to find out if horses’ hooves were ever all off the ground at the same moment. Using 12 cameras triggered one after another with strings, Muybridge photographed a running horse named Sallie Gardner. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.

1215 – King John of England signs Magna Carta. Intended to make peace between King John and a group of rebel barons, this charter of rights protected personal liberties and guaranteed access to justice. Magna Carta protected the barons from illegal imprisonment and limited their payments to the King. As each monarch ascended to the throne, the charter was renewed. In the 17th century, Magna Carta was used to argue against the divine right of kings. Magna Carta influenced the early American colonists and the formation of the United States Constitution.

1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1842 – John C. Frémont sets off from Kansas River on his first expedition of the Oregon Trail with frontierman Kit Carson as his guide

1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.

1846 – The Oregon Treaty extends the border between the United States and British North America, established by the Treaty of 1818, westward to the Pacific Ocean.

1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.81 km2) of the Arlington estate (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery

1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.

1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in the East River kills 1,031.

1977 – After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, the first democratic elections took place in Spain on this day.

Births

1479 – Lisa del Giocondo, Italian model, subject of the Mona Lisa (d. 1542)

1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1907)

1911 – Wilbert Awdry, English author, co-created Thomas the Tank Engine (d. 1997)

1914 – Yuri Andropov, Russian politician (d. 1984)

1914 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (d. 1999)

Deaths

1849 – James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)

1968 – Wes Montgomery, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1925)

1996 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer and actress (b. 1917)

2019 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film director (b. 1923)[12]

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