Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper

Curb Appeal

Five FiDi Intersections to Get Historic Makeovers

Within the Street Plan of New Amsterdam and Colonial New York (informally known as the Wall Street Historic District), multiple intersections are slated to receive a dozen curb extensions.

The City’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC) is seeking permission from another municipal agency, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), to expand sidewalks and install curb extensions at five intersections in the Financial District. This approval is necessary because each of the intersections falls within an area popularly known as the Wall Street Historic District, but officially designated as the Street Plan of New Amsterdam and Colonial New York.

A triangle bordered roughly by Wall Street (on the north), Pearl Street (on the east), and a line formed by extending Broadway into Whitehall Street (on the west), this area surrounding the New York Stock Exchange is the sole example anywhere in the five boroughs of the streets themselves (and in particular, their irregular layout) being designated as a historic – and legally protected – landmark.

At the intersection of Whitehall and Bridge Streets, the four painted sections of roadway will be covered with tinted concrete and bordered with granite curb stone.

The sidewalk expansions are planned for the corners of Rector Street and Broadway, Wall Street and Broadway, Hanover Square and Pearl Street, Bridge Street and Whitehall Street, and Beaver Street and Broadway. At several of these intersections, painted curb extensions were installed several years ago, but these were always considered temporary measures because their visual presentation is incongruous with the layout and materials of the historic granite curbs found throughout the Financial District.

In order to maintain the historic character of the existing streets, DDC will model designs for these five intersections on a project implemented several years ago along Broad Street between Wall Street and Exchange Place, at the front doors of the New York Stock Exchange, which carved out newly created pedestrian areas from the street and raised them to the level of the adjacent sidewalk while preserving the curb lines to maintain their visual alignment. That initiative, designed and sponsored by the Downtown Alliance, was approved by the LPC in 2020.

Matthew Fenton

Letters

Re: ‘The City Knew People Were Being Exposed to Danger’, February 9, 2026

To the editor,

I volunteered down at the Trade Center for the Salvation Army from early December 2001 through May 2002. I drove a golf cart vehicle called a Gator bringing supplies, small snacks, hot coffee, tea and chocolate to people who were stationed from Canal down to the Battery. Any time I reported for my shift, I had to sign in at the big white bubble tent called the Taj Mahal. When we entered the tent, we had to go through an environmental type washing station. We had to put our shoes in a device that supposedly cleaned our footwear. Your article brought back memories for me because when we first walked into this area, there were a number of large aerial photos of the Ground Zero area on easels assuring us that the air was tested on a daily basis. The monitors deemed the air was safe for first responders and local residents. The posters and information were approved by Christine Todd Whitman, who at the time was head of the EPA. I took photos of these posters because I just didn’t believe a single word on them. 

Too many people have died from the exposure after 9/11 in Lower Manhattan based on lies. 

David Rocco, vice president, Fireboat John D. McKean Preservation Project

To the editor,

My husband has passed away from his 9/11 cancer. He refused to leave Battery Park City. As for me, I took my son to Florida to protect him from what I was sure was a toxic environment. My father being a fire captain, he insisted I leave; he knew the dangers well in advance.

Judi Panevino

__________________________

Re: ‘A Honking Nightmare’, February 10, 2026

To the editor,

While I can’t physically go to Leonard Street to report placard corruption with vehicle photos and license numbers, I would happily sign a petition for this enforcement. AND, I would sign a petition to request Mayor Mamdani to recall ALL issued placards, change the design and re-issue on a MUCH MORE limited basis. This abuse is all over Lower Manhattan and I have experienced the danger that it poses, not to mention the noise and inconvenience.

Maryanne Palmieri Braverman

‘A Honking Nightmare’

Trucks Seeking Shortcut Create Logjam on Cobblestone Street

Residents of Leonard Street in Tribeca have had enough. Not only are government employees parking illegally on both sides of the narrow, cobblestone street, huge trucks are trying to beat the traffic to the Holland Tunnel by taking Leonard – with just inches of clearance. Read more...

‘The City Knew People Were Being Exposed to Danger’

Long-Sought, Post-September 11 Memo Points to Divergence Between Public Optimism and Private Concerns

An October 2001 memorandum confirming that the administration of then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani understood the potential health dangers posed by toxic debris from the destruction of the World Trade Center, even as spokesmen urged the public to return to Lower Manhattan, has been found. Read more...

DOWNTOWN CALENDAR

Wednesday, February 11

1pm

Downtown Beats Chorus

200 Rector Place

Learn contemporary and classic songs, and perform at community events throughout the year. Free.

2pm-4pm

Figure Drawing

6 River Terrace

A model will strike poses for participants to draw. Materials provided. Free.

4pm-6pm

BPC Amateur Artists Exhibition

6 River Terrace

See the annual exhibition of art created last year by participants in Battery Park City's art programs. On view on Wednesday afternoons this month only. Free.

6pm

The Hospital at the End of the World

Mysterious Bookshop, 58 Warren Street

Book reading and signing by author Justin C. Key.

6pm-7:30pm

BPC Street End Design Feedback Session

200 Rector Place

The Battery Park City Authority is asking for community input on potential designs for the western ends of Albany Street and Rector Place. RSVP or get more details at info.bpc@bpca.ny.gov.

7pm

Station of the Birds

McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street

Part fever dream, part cautionary tale, Station of the Birds spins a narrative about fathers and sons, addiction, and the ritual sacrifices rooted in agrarian cultures. $5+.

Thursday, February 12

10am-12pm

Mah Jongg Lessons

200 Rector Place

Learn the rules and mechanics of American Mah-Jongg. Registration required. For information and registration please email registration@bpca.ny.gov. Free.

1pm-3pm

Fiber Art Crafts Studio

200 Rector Place

Bring your projects, which can include—but are not limited to—knitting, crocheting, embroidery and small-loom weaving. Free.

7pm

Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World

Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place

Book launch. By the close of World War II, six million Jews had been erased from the face of the earth. Those who eluded death had lost their homes, families, and entire way of life. Their response was quintessentially Jewish. From a people with a long history of self-narration, survivors gathered in groups and wrote yizkor books to recall the particulars of towns, the names of families, and the material culture of a vanished world. $10 suggested donation.

FROM THE BROADSHEET ARCHIVES

February 2013 © Robert Simko

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