Inside
Editorial
Meeting the needs of Downtown’s
growing population
Three years ago we were amazed to learn just how much Lower Manhattan’s population grew in 10 years. The boom was over 40 percent, representing the fastest growth anywhere in the city, according to the City Planning Dept., which analyzed the 2000 Census.
Downtown Local
The man who built Confucius
Stephen Kumshui Law, sitting at left, was honored last week in Chinatown by the Organization of Chinese Americas for his efforts to build middle-class housing in the neighborhood. Law, who owned the Chinatown Ten Cent Store on the Bowery, was the driving force behind the construction of Confucius Plaza.
School eyes Greenwich Ave
Field opening scored a hit in B.P.C.in B.P.C.
By Josh Rogers
As Downtown Little Leaguers took advantage of a preview of the Battery Park City ballfields last week, none seemed to be aware that the fight to get the fields began before any of them were born.
Waiting for his turn to bat after the official opening ceremony led by Gov. George Pataki, Miles Schuck, 10, highlighted perhaps one of the least expensive features of the new $6 million fields. “They’re fancy and they have foul lines,” said Schuck, who hopes to play soccer on the fields this September. “The old fields didn’t have lines, so you didn’t know if it was fair or foul.”
Downtowners eliminated from tourney
The Downtown Little League team lost their two Little League tournament games this weekend and were eliminated. On Friday night on JJ Walker Field, the team played against Greenwich Village Little League, with the Village winning the game 11-0.
|
|
State Dept. of Transportation drawing of a proposed new park area near the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel entrance ramp. The park would be built regardless of whether the disputed tunnel under West St. would be built to the north.
Downtown divided over West St.
By Josh Rogers
The State Dept. of Transportation last week released new details about the proposal to build an $860 million tunnel under West St. while Downtowners remained divided over whether it is the best option for the six-lane roadway.
The issue has gotten the most attention in Battery Park City, the only place along the roadway where residents live between the highway and the Hudson River.
Plan floated to expand P.S. 234
By Elizabeth O’Brien
George Olsen, outgoing president of the P.T.A. at P.S. 234 and a member of Community Board 1, is pushing plans for an addition to P.S. 234 to accommodate the expected influx of new students.
The population of Lower Manhattan will likely mushroom over the next several years, with at least 8,173 new residential units currently in development south of Canal St. Even this fall, P.S. 234 could have an enrollment of more than 100 students over capacity, according to Anna Switzer, the school’s outgoing principal.
New captain at the Seaport mall’s helm
By Elizabeth O’Brien
Michael Piazzola has dropped anchor. After holding five jobs in 10 years, from Florida to California and points in between, the new vice president and general manager of the Seaport Marketplace thinks he might just make New York home.
“I’ve done my wanderings,” Piazzola said. “I think I’ll stay for a while.”
Parents say ferries make park’s air hard to breathe
By Jane Flanagan
With the new, temporary ferry terminal opening last week near Rockefeller Park and playground in Battery Park City, many parents say their worst fears are being realized.
Downtown relaxation
The Henry Street Settlement and the Project Liberty Downtown Center will hold a neighborhood gathering on Wednesday, July 9, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Project Liberty Drop-In Center at the Terrace Club, 380 Rector Place in Battery Park City. The get-together is designed to help residents network and, if they choose, share thoughts on the events of Sept. 11, 2001. It will feature art therapy, yoga, meditative relaxation, stress management, activities for kids and gourmet treats from local restaurants.
City hears objections to Tribeca development
By Elizabeth O’Brien
The city heard the public’s concerns about the proposed Site 5C development on Chambers St. at a scoping session last week.
At the meeting, community members made suggestions for the environmental impact study mandated under the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. The city follows this procedure whenever it considers building on land it owns.
Church services to continue at P.S. 89
By Jane Flanagan
Mosaic Manhattan, a new Christian group holding regular Sunday worship service at P.S. 89, should be able to do so indefinitely, now that a federal appeals court has ruled. Mosaic, a Christian church run by Battery Park City resident and P.S. 89 parent, Gregg Farah, has been convening Sunday mornings in the school auditorium since early this year.
 Leadership graduates leave school $1,000 richer
By Patricia Belizario
Fifty-seven seniors from the High School of Leadership and Public Service, who watched the attack on the World Trade Center from their school in Downtown Manhattan, walked away from a reception held after their graduation with a diploma in one hand, and a check for $1,000 in the other.
From rooks to knights in Battery Park City
By Jane Flanagan
Wearing the familiar light blue tee shirts of the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, the two men hovering over chess players at the promenade could easily be mistaken for parks employees on a break. But these two are chess men and they are steeped in the strategy, history and love of the game. They pass some of this on weekly to the residents, office workers and tourists in Battery Park City.
FOOD
Middle Eastern smoke cafe finds peace on Houston St.
By Lincoln Anderson and Ramin Talaie
Although on weekend nights on nearby Orchard and Ludlow Sts. the sidewalks outside the bars are mobbed with smokers because of the new anti-smoking law, at Cafe Cairo on E. Houston St. people are smoking indoors — but not cigarettes, hookahs.
Using Henry V’s troops to talk about Iraq
By JERRY TALLMER
“I got very frustrated a couple of months ago watching CNN refer to the American troops as ‘the Allies.’ Now they call it the Coalition.” Short pause. “Coalition of two,” Pepper mutters, without needing to throw in the names Bush and Blair.
Simon Hammerstein, the 26-year-old London-born New Yorker who directed the play that’s rattling a stick one flight up at 224 Waverly Place, throws in three words of his own: “Everything is jingo.”
Koch on film
By ED. KOCH
Friday Night (-)...The film opens with Laure (Valerie Lemercier) sitting in her car in gridlock traffic because of a transit strike. A man, Jean (Vincent Lindon), approaches her car and asks for a ride, which is not unusual given the strike. Remember, during the 1980 New York City transit strike, people offered rides to strangers...Tycoon (-) It provides a fictionalized history of the Russian oligarchs who became rich during the reigns of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin when the Soviet Union was breaking up.
The Rosenbergs and the post-9/11 era
By WICKHAM BOYLE
An art show currently on display at the Puffin Room Gallery fuses art and social commentary in a remarkably seamless exhibition.
The art assembled in “From McCarthy to Ashcroft: We Remember the Rosenbergs” is astonishing and the effect on the soul is chilling.
New York's
Exciting
Downtown
Scene
Comedy/cabaret
Tours
Film
Exhibitions
Performances
Readings
|
|
