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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
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Volume 6,
No.
11 July 13, 2019
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"The messaging around the census has always been that it's a civic obligation to fill it out. The messaging has never been around the billions of dollars of funding that are at stake."
- Julie Menin, director of the census for New York City
* Downtown Bulletin Board: Essex Crossing affordable housing lottery; Warner retires
WEATHER INFORMATION: For current weather information,
click here.
Go to
www.DowntownPostNYC.com for breaking news and for updated Downtown Post NYC bulletin board and calendar information.
MASTHEAD PHOTO:
A portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York. After a duel with Aaron Burr that took place on July 11, 1804, Hamilton died on July 12. He is buried in the graveyard of Trinity Church at Broadway and Wall Street. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer 2016)
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Many of us who live in Lower Manhattan often think of Alexander Hamilton because he was such a ubiquitous presence here. This brilliant man who emigrated to this country as a poor teenager - for all practical purposes an orphan since his mother had died and his father had deserted him - had a profound effect on the creation of the United States. As General George Washington's aide-de-camp, he fought for it in the American Revolution. As a lawyer, he helped to frame the U.S. Constitution. As a writer, in The Federalist Papers, he argued for the ratification of the Constitution. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, he stabilized the young country's finances including establishing a National Bank and finding a way to collect revenue by founding a predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Though we remember Hamilton for many reasons, we are likely especially to think of him at this time of year because of the duel with Aaron Burr that he fought on July 11, 1804, resulting in his death on July 12.
Hamilton is buried in Trinity Church's graveyard at Broadway and Wall Street next to his wife, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. Somewhere in that cemetery - no one is quite sure where - their oldest son, Philip, is also buried. Like his father, he died in a duel.
Hamilton's grave is a pilgrimage site for many people. They leave flowers. They cast coins on the gravesite and some people, following a Jewish custom, leave small stones to show that they have passed by and thought of him.
I often wonder what Hamilton would think of what this country has become. I often wish that we could have the benefit of his insights and his wisdom. He believed in the necessity of a strong federal government. He specifically believed that Congress was endowed with the necessary power to enforce the Constitution.
We are left with his writings. In the uncertain time after the U.S. Constitution had been framed but not yet ratified, Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison wrote The Federalist Papers, taking into account their own experience with despotism, their understanding and experience of human nature and what they could imagine about the future. They believed that the U.S. Constitution, although imperfect, was the best answer that could be devised for the government of the new nation.
To take anything that Hamilton said out of context would be to distort it, but he did write in Federalist Paper, Number 1 "Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics the greatest number have begun their career, by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing Demagogues, and ending Tyrants."
Hamilton and his contemporaries had quite literally put their lives on the line in their fight for liberty. They knew all too well that their victory might be fragile.
Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Editor
Alexander Hamilton's tomb in the Trinity Church cemetery at Broadway and Wall Streets. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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CALENDAR: July 2019
Spotlight: City of Water Day
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The Con Edison Cardboard Kayak Race is a highlight of City of Water Day. Fifteen teams will compete this year, building kayaks out of cardboard and racing them in heats at Brooklyn Bridge Beach (three blocks north of Peck Slip on the East River).
(Photo: David Gonsier)
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It's not breaking news that New York City is an archipelago - a city comprised of islands with 520 miles of waterfront. However, many New Yorkers are not particularly aware of the City's waterfront unless they're crossing it on a bridge or in a tunnel or the water rises up and creates floods.
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City of Water Day was launched 12 years ago to try to remedy that omission and
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to get people to, on and in New York City's waters. Against the specter of Superstorm Sandy, now seven years in the past but still remembered with horror by many people, City of Water Day also promotes the goal of a climate-resilient New York Harbor.
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Today,
July 13, is City of Water Day, a free, harbor-wide event organized by the Waterfront Alliance and its partners, the South Street Seaport Museum and the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program.
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Thousands of people are expected to head to the waterfront for free kayaking and sailing, harbor boat tours, coastal cleanups, fishing, science experiments and educational activities, and more.
The
City of Water Day Waterfront Festival featuring more than 60 maritime-related booths and free activities, including children's stories, theater performances and giveaways will take place on Piers 16 and 17 in the South Street Seaport between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The historic fireboat,
John J. Harvey, will be moored at the end of Pier 16 and will thrill (and possibly moisten) the crowd with water spray demonstrations at 10:30 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.,
free boat tour tickets will be given away at the Waterfront Festival.
Every year, the
Con Edison Cardboard Kayak Race is one of the day's highlights. This year, 15 teams will compete, building cardboard boats at Pier 16 and on Peck Slip Plaza, and then racing the boats in heats at Brooklyn Bridge Beach (three blocks north of Pier 16 on the East River). The teams range in expertise from professional engineers to high school students.
Between 10 a.m. and noon, three teams will design and build kayaks on Pier 16. Between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., 12 teams will design and build their kayaks on Peck Slip Plaza where Cardboard Kayak judging will take place at 12:30 p.m. At 1 p.m. there will be a Cardboard Kayak parade from Peck Slip Plaza to Brooklyn Bridge Beach where Cardboard Kayak Race heats will begin at 1:30 p.m. At 2:30 p.m., there will be a Cardboard Kayak Race awards ceremony on Brooklyn Bridge Beach.
In addition to activities centered on the South Street Seaport, City of Water Day brings its message and its fun to waterfronts throughout all five boroughs, Westchester County and New Jersey. Organized by the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program, nearly 100 waterfront organizations across the metropolitan area will host more than 50 City of Water Day events.
Click here for a map showing City of Water Day "In Your Neighborhood" events.
For more calendar listings, go to the Downtown Post NYC website.
Click here.
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| On City of Water Day in 2018, New York City's Economic Development Corporation opened the natural beach under the Brooklyn Bridge for kayaking and for people who just wanted to walk on a beach in Manhattan and dip their feet in the water. The beach will be open again on July 13, 2019 for kayaking between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
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Julie Menin, director of the census for New York City, speaking at a press conference on June 27, 2019 following the U.S. Supreme Court decision disallowing the inclusion of a question on the census form about citizenship status.
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Are you a citizen of the United States?
That's no longer an innocuous question, without nuances or repercussions.
The Trump administration wanted it to appear on the 2020 census. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 27, 2019 that the administration's stated reason for including the question - enforcement of the Voting Rights Act - was insufficient. "If judicial review is to be more than an empty ritual, it must demand something better than the explanation offered for the action taken in this case," said Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion.
The administration's real reason for wanting to ask about citizenship seemed to be to intimidate immigrants, legal or otherwise, from responding to the census.
After his death in 2018, unpublished documents found on the computer of Thomas Hofeller, one of the Republican party's top strategists on redistricting, showed that he recommended the addition of a citizenship question in order to enable political maps to be redrawn in favor of Republicans and non-Hispanic white people. As Hofeller would have known, Census Bureau research has shown that adding a citizenship question keeps immigrant households from filling out the form. The result is to undercount the population in urban areas, where immigrants tend to live, by at least 8 percentage points, representing around nine million people.
"The funding repercussions are enormous," said Julie Menin, director of the census for New York City in a telephone interview. "If there's an undercount, everything from Head Start programs to senior centers to funding for public education - it's all severely affected."
An undercount would also affect political representation, shifting it from urban areas to rural areas, which tend to be white and to vote Republican. Seats in the House of Representatives would be redistributed by an undercount as well as the number of votes allotted to each state in the Electoral College.
Trump did not take the Supreme Court defeat sitting down. Hours later, he tweeted that he was looking into delaying the 2020 census so that the Supreme Court could reconsider and a citizenship question could be added.
Julie Menin scoffed at this idea. "The Constitution is clear that the census must occur every 10 years," she said. "Title 13 requires that it must be conducted on April 1 of every census year. Any change would have to be made by Congress passing a new law."
The Trump administration had previously stated that it had to have the census citizenship question resolved by June 30 in order to begin printing the census forms immediately thereafter to make the April 1 deadline. The Department of Commerce, which administers the census, appeared to bow to the inevitable. On July 2, Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross issued a statement saying that the Census Bureau had started to roll the presses.
Trump still wouldn't have it. On July 8, U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced that he believed the Trump administration could still legally add a citizenship question to the 2020 census despite the Supreme Court's ruling. This created several days of additional jockeying and confusion as the Department of Justice attempted to replace all of the lawyers who had previously handled the case and as speculation mounted that Trump would issue an executive order countermanding the Supreme Court.
Menin wasn't fazed by this possibility. "Executive orders can clearly be challenged in court," she said.
Finally, on July 11, Trump backed off saying that the census would go ahead without the citizenship question and that he would use other means to collect citizenship information.
Given the repercussions, Menin has her work cut out for her. In 2010, New York City had a 61.9 percent self-response rate to the census, well below the national average of 76 percent. That meant a loss of federal funding and federal political representation for the ensuing 10 years.
Menin is trying to ensure that this doesn't happen again. She believes that part of the problem had to do with the public's lack of understanding of the consequences.
"I was chair of Community Board 1 in 2010," she said. "No one came from the City or the State to talk about the funding that was at stake - to say that public education funding, public housing, senior centers, Head Start, emergency preparedness - all are programs that depend on a proper count."
In 2010, New York City didn't allocate funding for the office of the census, which was administered by two people. Now, Menin is working with a $40 million budget allocated by New York City Council and by the City administration and will be hiring 60 people. Some of her budget will be used for advertising and for sending grants to community organizations to work on the census.
The first census mailings from the federal government will go out on March 12, 2020. There will be a total of four mailings. If all of them go unanswered, the federal government sends out census takers to go door to door.
"We don't want it to get to that point," said Menin. "The doorknocking is unreliable. In the last census, two million children were left out of the census nationwide."
In addition to paper forms, this year, for the first time, people can reply to the census online or by telephone. In New York City, that presents special challenges. "The federal form is in 13 languages, which is not enough for New York City," said Menin. "There are more than 200 languages spoken here."
Since, according to Menin, one-third of New Yorkers don't have access to a broadband computer interface, she is planning census pop-up centers in hundreds of locations throughout the city.
There are 10 questions on the census form. "It should take two or three minutes to fill out," Menin said.
Those could be among the most important two or three minutes that New Yorkers spend next year.
- Terese Loeb Kreuzer
For more information about the census, go to the New York City census website. Click here.
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Bits & Bytes
BATTERY PLACE STATUE OF LIBERTY TICKET VENDORS ACCOST ASSEMBLYMEMBER NIOU; BELOVED ARCADE BAKERY MAY CLOSE
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On July 10, the World Cup Champion U.S. Women's National Team stepped off for their ticker tape parade up Broadway from Battery Park City's Wagner Park. Battery Park City Authority president B.J. Jones said "We're honored!" praising the team's "talent, drive and fearlessness." (Photo: Courtesy of the Battery Park City Authority) |
"NYPD shrugs as aggressive ticket sellers accost state lawmaker," New York Post, 7/9/19. "A New York state assemblywoman was accosted and called a 'bitch' and a 'whore' by a pack of unruly 'Statue of Liberty ferry' ticket salesmen - but police who witnessed the harassment ignored her pleas for help, claiming the mayor told them not to intervene," the New York Post reports. "Chinatown Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, 35, says that the red-vested ticket-hockers - who sell boat rides past Lady Liberty masqueraded as trips to Liberty Island itself - were blocking the Battery Park exit of the Bowling Green 4/5 station when she politely asked them to move." Niou told the Post that they reponded with 'F-k you' and by calling her a 'whore' and a 'bitch.' For the complete article, click here.
"Hidden Tribeca Classic Arcade Bakery May Close in August," eater.com, 7/9/19. "Despite a flurry of international bakeries opening in New York City in recent months, one of the city's best may soon be making its way out," says eater.com. "Tribeca baked goods gem Arcade Bakery will close in August, with founder Roger Gural citing personal reasons for the closure.... Home to baked goods commonly found in a French boulangerie or patisserie, Arcade Bakery has grown to become one of the city's most essential stops for baguettes and pastries....Gural tells Eater he's closing the shop because he has rheumatoid arthritis, and the disorder is making it difficult for him to work. He says he just started marketing the store for sale and has no solid leads yet. If no buyer steps up by August, the shop will close during the first or second week of the month." For the complete article, click here.
"Uber Copter to Offer Flights From Lower Manhattan to J.F.K.," New York Times, 6/5/19. "When Uber announced an aerial ride-hailing division, Uber Elevate, three years ago, the internet and news media buzzed with chatter of flying cars becoming a reality in the not-so-distant future," says The New York Times. "While these aerial vehicles have yet to debut, the ride-hailing service is expanding into helicopter service, called Uber Copter, starting July 9 in New York City. The new service, booked through Uber's app, will take passengers between Lower Manhattan and Kennedy International Airport, an eight-minute flight....In Manhattan, the helicopters depart and land from a heliport near the Staten Island Ferry, while at Kennedy, they depart and land at a helipad near Terminal 8." For the complete article, click here.
"USIF schedules foreclosure auction for 125 Greenwich debt," therealdeal.com, 7/9/19. "A lender who last month signalled intent to foreclose on 125 Greenwich Street, the troubled downtown residential tower, will auction the mezzanine debt on the building next month," says The Real Deal. "The lender, United States Immigration Fund, provided a $194 million mezzanine loan to the project's sponsors in 2017. Led by Nick Mastroianni, the firm raises funds through the EB-5 visa program. Since topping out at 88 floors earlier this year, the Rafael Vinoly-designed building has been marred by infighting between its developers and their lenders. Amid slow apartment sales, the building's sponsors defaulted on loan repayments at the start of last month, and owed close to $40 million to construction crews at the site. Last month, USIF signalled that it intended to foreclose on the property, in a letter sent to the project's sponsors, which include Howard Lorber's New Valley, Davide Bizzi's Bizzi & Partners, China Cindat and the Carlton Group." For the complete article, click here.
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Letter to the editor
FOR A DELIGHTFUL SUMMER OUTING, SEE NEW YORK CITY BY FERRY
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| A ferry on the South Brooklyn line that connects Pier 11 at Wall Street with Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, approaching one of the stops on the route. The South Brooklyn route was inaugurated in April 2017. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
To the editor:
I recommend the ferry as an inexpensive way to see New York! On a hot and humid day, I had a delightful ride with two friends on NYC Ferry. First, we cruised up to the Bronx, then to Wall Street where we transferred to a South Brooklyn ferry. We had a few very pleasant hours together, riding low to the water observing sights along New York City's waterfront from a perspective we rarely have. Drinks and snacks are available for purchase, and you can ride outdoors on the upper level or in the air-conditioned deck on the main level. The price is $2.75 with unlimited transfers within a 90-minute period. You must pay a return fare when you reverse direction. Wall Street's Pier 11 is the primary transfer point. Be aware that the lines get long at evening rush hour.
Maryanne P. Braverman
We welcome letters to the editor. We reserve the right to edit them for clarity and length. Email them to editor@downtownpostnyc.com
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Downtown bulletin board
ESSEX CROSSING AFFORDABLE HOUSING LOTTERY NOW OPEN; FREE BICYCLE HELMETS; SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM MEMBERSHIPS
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Robert Warner, who transformed the South Street Seaport Museum's shop at 211 Water St. into a charming emporium of old-fashioned, artistic and idiosyncratic treasures, has retired both as shopkeeper and as Bowne & Co. Stationers' master printer. For the last 24 years, he has been a beloved part of the museum's staff. As curator of the shop, he selected and stocked its wares, decorated its windows and its streetscape, greeted customers and sometimes gave classes in collage. At the back of the shop Warner often demonstrated his printing expertise on some of the museum's antique printing presses. Warner was one of a kind and irreplaceable. He will be missed. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Essex Crossing Housing Lottery for seniors: Essex Crossing, Site 8 is an affordable senior housing building at 140 Essex St. (between Rivington and Stanton Streets) on the Lower East Side. The apartments, for seniors age 62+, have monthly rents ranging from $331 to $761 based on annual household income. The 84 apartments are designed to accommodate one or two people. Applicants will be interviewed based on a lottery with preference for 50 percent of the units given to current residents of Manhattan Community Board 3. Applications can be submitted online via
nyc.gov/housingconnect. To request an application by mail, send a self-addressed envelope to Essex Crossing Site 8 Senior Housing, Triborough Finance New Station, PO Box 2010, New York, NY 10035.
Applications must be postmarked or submitted online by Aug. 20, 2019. For more information about the building and about income requirements to qualify for an apartment,
click here. Essex Crossing Site 8 is part of a larger complex of nine buildings with over 500 affordable apartments for a variety of income levels. For more information,
click here.
Free bicycle helmets: Free bicycle helmets for both adults and kids will be available on Sunday,
July 21 between noon and 3:30 p.m. at Sara D. Roosevelt Park in the Pit, Broome Street (between Chrystie and Forsythe Streets). A parent or legal guardian must be present to sign a waiver for children under age 18. Anyone over age 18 must also sign a waiver.
South Street Seaport Museum Partners: Members of the South Street Seaport Museum receive 10 percent discounts from a number of Seaport businesses, as follows:
Cowgirl Seahorse; Lobster GoGo; Scotch & Soda ($10 off purchases of $100 or more); Fresh Salt (10% discount, excludes catering); Superdry ($10 off purchases of $100 or more); Taco Playa (10% discount for up to four guests with one member pass. Not valid with other promotions or discounts); Seaport Paws (10% off retail purchases); Made Fresh Daily; Mad Dog & Beans Mexican Cantina; SUteiShi
. To obtain a discount, show your South Street Seaport Museum membership card. South Street Seaport Museum memberships include many other benefits and start at $40 annually for seniors and students.
For more information on museum memberships, click here.
Downtown Voices holds auditions: Trinity Church Wall Street's semiprofessional choir, Downtown Voices, is auditioning new volunteer singers to begin rehearsals in September 2019. Downtown Voices rehearses on Wednesday evenings from September to June with approximately six concerts a year. All applicants are required to submit a video sample of their singing and after a screening process, successful applicants will be invited to audition in person. These auditions will include sight-reading from a four-part hymn, singing a prepared choral piece, as well as performing an aria of the singer's choosing.
For an audition application or for more information, click here.
Whitney Museum open daily in July and August: The Whitney Museum of American Art at 99 Gansevoort St. is open to the public seven days a week during the months of July and August. Ordinarily closed on Tuesdays, the Museum is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. Extended hours continue on Friday and Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. until 10 p.m., and Friday evenings are pay-what-you-wish from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Museum's summer exhibitions include Spilling Over: Painting Color in the 1960s and the 2019 Whitney Biennial. This summer, the Museum will host a wide variety of events connected to the Biennial, including performances by Biennial artists Laura Ortman, Las Nietas de Nonó, and Ellie Ga as well as a conversation with Beta-Local, a Puerto Rican non-profit run by Biennial artist Sofía Gallisá Muriente and artists Pablo Guardiola and Michael Linares.
On June 28, the Museum debuted The Whitney's Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965, presenting beloved works by artists associated with the Whitney, including Elizabeth Catlett, Edward Hopper, Jasper Johns, Jacob Lawrence, Joan Mitchell, Alice Neel, Georgia O'Keeffe, and others. The show also features a panoramic installation of Calder's Circus that dramatizes its narrative arc and major recent acquisitions of works by Mary Ellen Bute, Ed Clark, and Norman Lewis. For more information about the Whitney,
click here.
Open Call for Seaport Community Mural Project: The Office of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) have announced an open call for mural designs to be applied to structures that are part of the Interim Flood Protection Measures (IFPM) program that will be installed along South Street in Manhattan's South Street Seaport neighborhood. The Open Call isn't just limited to professional artists - anyone may submit a design, which will be printed on vinyl banners and attached to the IFPM. Winning proposals will receive $1,000.
For more information on the project and how to apply,
click here.
The submission deadline is July 15, 2019. (Applications sent by mail must be postmarked by July 12, 2019.)
Free kayaking: The kayaking season at the Downtown Boathouse on Pier 26 in Hudson River Park is now in full swing with kayaking on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Downtown Boathouse also offers free kayaking on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Governors Island. The Downtown Boathouse is run by volunteers. Kayaking is free (no experience required). For more information,
click here.
Connection bus service changes: Changes to the Downtown Connection bus service started on
May 27 and will continue through the end of the summer season. Buses are running on a temporary limited route near The Battery to prevent the misuse of buses by aggressive ticket sellers. For more information,
click here.
Ferry schedules: On
Monday, May 20, the summer schedules for NYC Ferry routes went into effect. These routes serve the Lower East Side, South Brooklyn, Rockaway, the East River, Astoria and Soundview, with connecting buses in the Rockaways and midtown Manhattan. As of May 20, ferries to and from Pier 11 at Wall Street and Governors Island are running on weekends
. Also on May 20, NYC Ferry began serving the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with a new stop along the Astoria Route. For more information,
click here.
Most of the Downtown Post NYC bulletin board listings are now on the Downtown Post NYC website. To see the bulletin board listings,
click here.
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Renuka Pinto, an Australian trained physical therapist with over 18 years experience, offers "quality care at an affordable price" at 915 Broadway, Suite 1106. She is a sports and spine specialist using technology, intensive hands-on therapy and custom-based exercise to help her patients. A mother of three, she offers specialized services to pregnant and post-partum women to help them achieve their individual goals.
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Downtown Post NYC is emailed to subscribers twice a week.
Editor: Terese Loeb Kreuzer
All articles and photographs in Downtown Post NYC are copyrighted and
may not be reprinted or republished without written permission.
© 2019
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