The BroadsheetDAILY ~ July 25 The News of Lower Manhattan

BPCA and CB1 to Host Discussion of Ball Fields Resiliency Plans Tonight

The Battery Park City ball fields were largely destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but expedited repair work allowed them to reopen the following spring.

Tonight (Thursday, July 25), the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) and Community Board 1 (CB1) will co-host a public meeting to review resiliency plans for the ball fields in Battery Park City’s northern section.

The meeting, which will begin at 6:00 pm, will be held at Six River Terrace, next to Le Pain Quotidien and opposite the Irish Hunger Memorial. This session will include updates about evolving aspects of the plan to safeguard the facility against future extreme weather events (such as 2012’s Hurricane Sandy), as well as opportunities for resident comments and questions.

The ballfields, located alongside West Street (between Murray and Warren Streets), which are a prized resource for Lower Manhattan families, were effectively destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, in 2012, and then repaired on an expedited basis to re-open the following spring, in time for Downtown Little League’s annual Opening Day ceremony. But while that preliminary rehabilitation work succeeded in making the fields available once again, due to the location, elevation and open nature of the fields, it did little to prevent future damage from similar (or more severe) climate disasters. Additional millions of dollars in damage was inflicted upon the adjacent Asphalt Green Community Center during the storm, with extensive mechanical and electrical restoration and replacements required in the cellar and sub-cellar levels.

To address this longer-term priority, the BPCA hired as consultants an arm of the Parsons Transportation Group, which advises government and corporate clients on large infrastructure projects. The Parsons team came up with two broad recommendations for protection of the ballfields and the Community Center.

First, they proposed erecting a permanent flood wall around the eastern boundary of the facility (which fronts West Street), with arms extending around the sides on Murray and Warren Streets. This would protect the fields from flood waters that approached from the West Street side, as happened in 2012.

On Murray Street, near the point where the fields abut the Asphalt Green Community Center, resiliency measures are likely to take the form of deployable barriers, which would be set in place only when a storm is approaching.

Second, the Parsons consultants advocated for deployable barriers at the ballfields entrances on Murray and Warren Streets. The combination of the permanent and deployable elements, along with waterproofing precautions on the two residential buildings located at the facility’s western side, would protect the fields and the Community Center from flood waters that approached from the West Street side, as happened in 2012.

The budget for these combined measures was projected to be approximately $13 million. Implementing these designs would have also meant taking the ballfields out of service, either partially or entirely, for prolonged periods over the course of approximately one year, during the playing seasons when local leagues use them most. (It was projected that the construction could likely be performed over the course of a year with only partial shutdowns of the fields, while the construction duration could be shortened by up to several months if both fields were shut down at the same time.)

But after a March 21 community meeting, at which a chorus of residents voiced concerns about even a temporary loss of access to the fields, the BPCA agreed to evaluate the possibility of pursuing a different approach to the protection of the fields and the community center. Noting that separate, nearby resiliency structures (planned for the Esplanade and the northern border of Battery Park City) would make the ballfield and Community Center flood-protection measures redundant within a few years, the Authority directed its consultant team, now led by design firm STV, to, “focus on temporary measures that may be employed to minimize construction-related usage interruptions to the many organizations, and more than 50,000 local youth, who use these treasured community assets each year,” according to BPCA spokesman Nick Sbordone.

This rendering shows the kind of permanent flood wall that Battery Park City Authority planners initially envisioned for the West Street side of the fields. This proposal has now been modified to feature temporary metal plates.

The Authority, “will be shifting to a design approach that contemplates temporary, rather than permanent, solutions to storm surge flooding at the ballfields, to offer protection to the fields in advance of the more comprehensive protection realized upon completion of the North and South Battery Park City Resiliency Projects in the coming years,” he added, while noting that, “permanent storm water drainage improvements will remain part of the project.”

BPCA spokesman Nick Sbordone

A full analysis of a temporary resiliency scheme at this location, along with the comparative advantages of this approach relative to a permanent barrier system, is being performed by STV. BPCA representatives cautioned at the March 21 meeting that a temporary solution would not offer protection as complete or robust as a permanent barrier system and would thus entail a greater assumption of risk. For that reason, they pointed out, it is important to have a full understanding of the risks before making a final decision.

Additionally, while the projected timeframe for completion of the North and South Battery Park City resiliency projects may be as little as three years, any complications or delays in either of those plans would result in a lengthier time during which the temporary measures would be relied upon to protect the ballfields and Community Center.

One possible approach to a temporary design, would rely on metal plates that can be attached to the exterior of the existing fence. This approach would likely allow for the fields to remain open throughout installation of the resiliency measure, with the only diminished use consisting of a small safety buffer around the field’s perimeter, separating the project’s work zone from the playing fields. This possible design, along with the logistics associated with construction, were discussed as a preliminary concept and are subject to further design work to be performed by STV. Once the broader measures now being designed for the Esplanade and the northern boundary of the community are in place, these plates will be removed, and the fence restored to its current, open design.

The Battery Park City ballfields after Sandy

This approach was formulated in partnership with CB1’s Battery Park City Committee, led by chairwoman Tammy Meltzer, who said at the Board’s April 23 meeting, “the original ballfields resiliency plan would have been redundant within a three-year period, because the Authority’s plan to protect the north side of Battery Park City goes from the Esplanade and Chambers and all the way over to Greenwich. So they have come to the conclusion that they can work on more short-term resiliency protection for the ballfields, which does not limit the fields in terms of playing time over the next three or four years.”

The Board then adopted a resolution noting that, “CB1 is very appreciative of the BPCA and its team of partners, who have provided numerous public presentations over the past year to engage the public on their plans for the Battery Park City Ballfields Project.” The same measure observed that, “the timing of the original Ballfields Resilience Project, from 2019 through 2022, with principal work taking place from 2019 through 2020, would require sustained disruption to the use of the fields and months of full closure during prime seasons in the spring, summer and fall.” The resolution concluded that, “CB1 supports the short-term protection concepts presented by BPCA and STV, that will enable the ballfields to remain open and not cause any sustained disruption.”

City Council Overrules CB1 on Naming Tribeca Intersection for NYPD Officer Killed in Iraq

	NYPD Officer and U.S. Army Staff Sergeant James McNaughton

The City Council on Tuesday overturned a preliminary determination made by Community Board 1 last October, by deciding to approve a proposal to co-name the Tribeca intersection of West Broadway and Lispenard Street in honor of James D. McNaughton, who, on August 2, 2005, at age 27, became the first New York City Police officer to be killed in action while serving in “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

In a vigorous debate, CB1 members voiced competing priorities.

To the editor:

——————————————————————————–

To the editor,

Since there are no official surveys to record the use and users of the bridge, I have undertaken one.

Bumptious Bumpkins Make for Bus Bumpy Ride for Locals

Lower Manhattan community leaders are grappling with concerns about crowding, safety, and possible criminal activity surrounding the Connection shuttle bus, operated by the Downtown Alliance, which ferries riders around Lower Manhattan, free of charge.

For several years, apprehension about spurious ticket sellers hawking fake boarding passes to boats that purport to bring tourists to the State of Liberty have overlapped with concerns about the Connection bus.

Stalled Tower at 125 Greenwich Street May Be Headed to Foreclosure

	The 88-story building, where construction work has stalled due to financial setbacks

The troubled residential tower at 125 Greenwich Street may be facing foreclosure by lenders who say the development team has defaulted on the terms of several mortgages.

In May, work stopped on the building when multiple construction contractors filed liens against the developers for some $40 million in unpaid fees. This prompted several creditors — most prominently, the United Overseas Bank — to file notice with New York courts that they are owed $199 million in mortgage payments. The bank’s overall loan to the developers of 125 Greenwich is more than $450 million, and it is only one of half a dozen creditors.

New Artist Work Space in World Trade Center Part of Creative Surge in Lower Manhattan

	A rendering of the artist work space now being readied

Silver Art Projects, a public service project supported by Silverstein Properties(operator of the World Trade Center complex) is kicking off a new artist residency program at Three World Trade Center.

Under this initiative, dozens of artists (working across a broad range of media and disciplines) will be invited to share more than 40,000 square feet of free studio space on the tower’s 50th floor, which will be given over in its entirety to this program.

July 22 – August 4, 2019

	Aldrin at Tranquility Base

It was a three-day journey from Earth to the Moon for the three Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the spaceship, or command module, Columbia, headed for the first landing of humans on the moon. Columbia – named for the historical epithet for the Americas – lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the morning of July 16, 1969. Soon after launch, Columbia docked with the lunar module, the Eagle, a vehicle designed to land two of the astronauts on the Moon while the third stayed with Columbia until the moonwalk was completed.

Former Governors Island Overseer Takes Helm at World Trade Center Performance Venue

	Leslie Koch

The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center, now under construction at the World Trade Center, has a new president — Leslie Koch. Ms. Koch will be most familiar to Lower Manhattan residents as the guiding hand behind the Trust for Governors Island.

Her decade-long tenure there, which saw seasonal visitation rise from 8,000 per season to more than 600,000, ended in 2016.   To read more…

Albany Legislature Okays Half a Billion in New Bond Debt for BPCA

The State legislature has enacted a measure that will allow the Battery Park City Authority to take on up to half a billion dollars in new bond debt, in order to fund resiliency measures throughout the community, as well as to underwrite other capital projects.

The bill, sponsored in the Assembly by Yuh-Line Niou (who represents Battery Park City south of Vesey Street) and in the Senate by Brian Kavanagh (who represents all of Battery Park City), grants permission to the Authority… 

Federal Report Foresees More Frequent Flooding for Lower Manhattan

	Superstorm Sandy floods West Street

A new report from the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal scientific agency responsible for study of oceans, major waterways, and the atmosphere, predicts that Lower Manhattan will, in the next 12 months, experience between double and triple the number of flooding days that it did in 2000.

Many ships pass Lower Manhattan on their way to and from the Midtown Passenger Ship Terminal.  Others may be seen on their way to or from piers in Brooklyn and Bayonne.  Stated times, when appropriate, are for passing the Colgate clock in Jersey City, New Jersey, and are based on sighting histories, published schedules and intuition. They are also subject to tides, fog, winds, freak waves, hurricanes and the whims of upper management.

The Tale of the Ticker Tape,

or How Adversity and Spontaneity

Hatched a New York Tradition

What was Planned as a Grand Affair became a Comedy of Errors

	New York’s first ticker-tape parade erupted spontaneously from bad weather and an over-zealous stockbroker.

While the festivities in New York Harbor didn’t go as scripted that afternoon, the spontaneous gesture it generated from the brokerage houses lining Broadway famously lives on more than a century later.

     On October 28, 1886, Liberty Enlightening the World was to be unveiled to New York City and the world as it stood atop its tall base on Bedloe’s Island. But the morning mist had turned to afternoon fog, blurring the view of the statue from revelers on the Manhattan shore and the long parade of three hundred ships on the Hudson River.

State Lawmakers Bark ‘Belay That’ to Water-Borne Marketing Messages

	The advertising barges operated by Ballyhoo Media

The ubiquitous advertising barges that have become anathema for Lower Manhattan residents over the past year have attracted hostile attention from members of the State Senate and Assembly.

Bills were enacted in the closing days of the legislative session that would ban the 60-foot catamaran — bearing an electronic sign capable of rendering high-definition, full-motion video, similar to the “jumbo-tron” panels that adorn multiple buildings in Times Square — from continuing to conduct its business in New York’s waters.

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