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DOWNTOWN
POST NYC
News and Events
in Lower Manhattan
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Volume 6,
No.
13 Aug. 9, 2019
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"We did everything that everyone else is talking about now. We did it. Banned assault weapons. Banned the high-capacity magazines. Red Flag laws. Real background checks. We did it."
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo describing gun-protection laws in New York State
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Early on the morning of Sunday, Aug. 4, a 24-year-old man named Connor Betts armed with an AR-style pistol modified to act as a rifle killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio and wounded 27. His shooting spree lasted only 30 seconds before he was killed by police. Unlike Patrick Crusius, 21, who had killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas and had injured more than two dozen the day before, Betts didn't have an agenda. He just liked the idea of killing people. Crusius, on the other hand, was hunting for Mexicans. He wanted to kill as many as he could.
On Sunday evening in Dayton, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, started to address a crowd of mourners that filled the main street of Dayton's Oregon District. In response to his remarks about the "amazing crowd" and the community's "resiliency," someone called out "Do something!" Others joined in, shouting "Do something!" and waving their fists in the air. DeWine could no longer be heard above the crowd.
On Tuesday, Aug. 6, DeWine held a press conference at which he announced that he had come up with a 17-point plan to reduce gun violence. It included a "safety protection order," more commonly known as a "red flag" law that would allow a judge to confiscate firearms from people who were considered to be a threat to themselves or others. DeWine said his plan would also require background checks for most gun purchases and transfers and would strengthen the penalties for gun-related crimes. He also proposed increased access to mental health treatment.
Whether anything will come of this is doubtful. For the last eight years, Republicans have controlled the Ohio House, Senate and governor's office and have dismissed or ignored all efforts at gun regulation, which were regularly introduced by the Democratic minority. At the same time, laws were passed that eased regulations on carrying concealed weapons. Now they are permitted in day care centers, on college campuses and in airports, with no permits or training required.
The story in New York State is very different. In the days following the massacres in El Paso and Dayton, New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared on one news show after
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New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo
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another to proclaim that yes, something could be done about gun violence and that New York State had shown the way. On Aug. 5, for instance, he told Stephanie Ruhle and Ali Velshi of MSNBC that New York had "the best gun control laws in the United States." Passing them was "politically difficult," said Cuomo. "Don't discount the power of the gun lobby and gun owners in this debate." Also on Aug. 5, Cuomo told Alan Chartock of WAMC Northeast Public Radio, "We did everything that everyone else is talking about now. We did it. Banned assault weapons. Banned the high-capacity magazines. Red Flag laws. Real background checks. We did it." That same day, Cuomo spoke to Sonia Rincon of 1010 WINS radio. "An assault weapon has no business being in a person's possession," he said. "It's not used to hunt."
Cuomo traced New York's protective gun laws to the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, commonly known as the NY SAFE Act, which the New York State legislature passed in January 2013 and which he signed into law. The law was New York's response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., which took place on Dec. 14, 2012. That morning, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children between the ages of six and seven, and six of the school's adult staff members.
The SAFE Act proved to be effective. By 2017, New York had the third lowest gun death rate of the 50 states, with more legal protections to come.
On Feb. 25, 2019, with Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, at his side, Cuomo signed the Red Flag bill which prevents people who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from buying or possessing any kind of firearm in New York State. The bill enables teachers and family members to go to a judge when they see a behavioral problem that might end in violence and ask for a court-ordered evaluation. The court can temporarily seize firearms from a person who is likely to engage in violent behavior.
In July of 2019, another gun-regulation law was enacted in New York State having to do with the waiting period for buying a gun. As Cuomo explained to Ruhle and Velshi of MSNBC, New York is now requiring a 30-day waiting period for people who want to buy a gun and who aren't immediately approved through the federal background check system. Many states just require a three-day waiting period after which, if the federal government doesn't rule one way or the other, the gun can be purchased. That's how, for instance, white supremacist Dylann Roof managed to buy the gun with which he killed nine people on June 17, 2015 at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
However, as stringent as they are, New York's gun-protection laws are far from comprehensive or perfect. There are an estimated 393 million guns in the United States, according to a 2018 study cited in The New York Times. Only six states and the District of Columbia have banned military-style weapons. The patchwork of state regulations makes it possible to buy military-style weapons in one state and carry them into a neighboring state.
Federal regulations are needed but are not forthcoming. In February of this year, the
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Earlier this year, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, who represents the west side of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, chaired Congress' first hearing on gun violence in eight years. The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 passed the House but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has kept the Senate from considering it. Nadler was on the street this past weekend to make a case for the bill.
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House of Representatives passed H.R. 8: Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. Most of the Democrats in the House voted for the bill, joined by eight Republicans.
This bill addressed a loophole that currently enables firearms to be transferred at gun shows or between individuals without the usual background checks. The bill would prohibit these transfers unless a background check is conducted.
The Senate has not acted on the bill since the House passed it.
Now, in the wake of El Paso and Dayton, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to reconvene the Senate from its summer recess to consider the gun-control legislation passed by the House, but McConnell has made it clear that he has no intention of doing so.
Meanwhile, Cuomo soldiers on. On Aug. 7 he was a guest on WCBS Newsradio 880. "Hate alone does not kill 22 people in a matter of minutes," he said. "It's access to an assault weapon, a high-capacity magazine. It's a mentally ill person who can get a gun. It's a system where today you can buy a gun with no background check."
He went on to say, as he has said often before, "We know how to do gun laws. We did it in New York six years ago ... It's not an experiment. We have six years of data. It worked."
Although more needs to be done, in New York, gun deaths are down.
Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Editor
During Dine Around Downtown, a food festival in Lower Manhattan, members of the New York Police Department stood guard. May 22, 2018 (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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 SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM'S 1885 SCHOONER PIONEER
OUT OF SERVICE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SUMMER SEASON
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For more than 45 years, the South Street Seaport Museum has operated the 1885 schooner Pioneer in New York harbor. Now she has mechanical problems and will be out of service for the rest of the summer sailing season. (Photos: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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You won't be seeing the South Street Seaport Museum's schooner Pioneer sailing around New York Harbor again this summer. The historic boat has been a fixture in the harbor for more than 45 years, offering cruises to the public and training generations of volunteers in maritime skills. But although she operates primarily under sail, she needs an auxiliary engine for use in berthing the ship and for power during emergencies. A leak in that
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| The 1885 schooner Pioneer on the Hudson River. |
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engine's cooling system, which was discovered several weeks ago, will sideline Pioneer for the remainder of the summer sailing season and perhaps longer.
"The problem remains unresolved," said Jonathan Boulware, president and CEO of the museum, "and it must be resolved to avoid long-term damage. Having explored all other options, it is clear that the engine will need to come out of the schooner for substantial work or possible replacement."
Boulware said that work on this scale will also likely affect other aspects of the vessel, including joinery around the engine and related systems. "The scope of the remedial action is not yet clear," he said. "Over the next couple of weeks, we will finalize plans for how to proceed."
He added that the museum had long contemplated a substantial maintenance period for the schooner, "one that would build on the work 50-odd years ago in the Gladding-Hearn shipyard when Russel Grinnell turned the sloop Pioneer into the working sail training schooner we know today. This moment, disappointing though it will be, is the right one to remove her from service, to plan for the next phase in preservation and activation of the now 134-year-old vessel, and to work toward her next 50 years."
Boulware said that he was confident that Pioneer would be back in the harbor by the spring of 2020.
In the meantime, the museum has expanded the scheduling for its tugboat, W.O. Decker,
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Courtesy of the South Street Seaport Museum
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New York's last working New York-built wooden tugboat. W.O. Decker was constructed in 1930 by the Newtown Creek Towing Co. and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Beginning in October
2017, she underwent a $700,000 restoration that was completed in May 2019. W.O. Decker received her post-restoration U.S. Coast Guard certification on May 24, 2019 and for the first time in 10 years, began once again to carry passengers for harbor cruises. A jaunty, intimate vessel, she can accommodate up to 16 passengers at any one time.
Although she first just operated on Saturdays and Sundays, that schedule has been expanded.
The current schedule and pricing are as follows:
The W.O. Decker cruises New York harbor on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Most tickets include same-day Museum admission. Place: Leave from Pier 16 in the South Street Seaport. Times: Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays: 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. each day. Tickets: $35 (adults); $29 (seniors and children. No children under 10 permitted.) Cruises at 7 p.m. do not include museum admission and are $25. Museum tickets alone are $20; $14 (seniors and students); children under 8 years old, free. Discounts available for museum members. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.
- Terese Loeb Kreuzer
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The South Street Seaport Museum's tugboat, W.O. Decker, participating in the annual Labor Day Weekend tugboat race and competition on the Hudson River. Sept. 3, 2017.
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THE SHORT, COURAGEOUS LIFE OF HANNAH SENESH IS EVOKED IN A ONE-WOMAN PLAY WITH MUSIC AT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE
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Lexi Rabadi in the title role of "Hannah Senesh," a play with music.
(Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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Here are the questions: If you were faced daily with humiliating prejudice and brutal, repressive laws, what would you do? What would you do if you managed to escape to a place where you could be free and safe but you knew that the family you left behind was suffering and even in mortal danger? What would you do if you thought that there was a chance that you could save them?
Those were the questions that confronted Hannah Senesh, who was born on July 17, 1921 in Budapest, Hungary. These questions propelled her at the age of 18 from her comfortable, upper-middle-class life to a kibbutz in British Mandate Palestine where she traded her upbringing as a Jewish intellectual for hard agricultural work. Then, after a few years, fully aware of the genocide taking place in Europe, she volunteered to return to Nazi-occupied territory in an effort to save as many Jews as possible, including her widowed mother. After parachuting into Yugoslavia, she crossed the border into Hungary and almost immediately was captured, imprisoned and tortured. A few months later, she was tied to a stake in the prison yard and shot by a firing squad. She refused a blindfold. She looked her captors in the eyes as they killed her.
Who was this girl? This woman? This poet? This Zionist pioneer? This solider? This romantic fool? This heroine? "Hannah Senesh," a play with music currently running at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City, answers these questions with a script based on Hannah's own diaries and poems.
Lexi Rabadi, making her off-Broadway debut, embodies Hannah from her first appearance as a 13-year-old toying with vegetarianism to her last moments in a Hungarian prison, shortly before she was executed at the age of 23. Rabadi also plays Hannah's mother,
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Lexi Rabadi as Catherine Senesh
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Catherine, whose recollections of Hannah's capture, imprisonment and death bookend the play. Transitions between time and place are enabled through Rabadi's nuanced acting as well as through costume changes (some of them, onstage) and an imaginative use of props, scenery and lighting.
Alone on the stage for the 85-minute-long play, Rabadi's performance requires prodigious feats of memory plus great energy and physical stamina. These she has in abundance along with a remarkably beautiful singing voice. David Schechter, who wrote and directed "Hannah Senesh," said that around 300 people auditioned for the part. He
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Lexi Rabadi as Hannah Senesh
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chose Rabadi, he said, because "she's radiant. She's extremely smart, on and off stage. She's incredibly creative and imaginative and could handle the accent needed for Catherine. She's strong and emotional. She looked right."
Schechter has been living with this play since 1984 when it received its first official and public performances with Schechter's co-creator, Lori Wilner, in the title role. He said that he felt a deep connection with Hannah which he described as "the desire to have a personal, artistic life and, at the same time, wanting to have a social impact."
Hannah was a poet as well as an idealistic Zionist and a soldier.
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David Schechter holding a photo of Hannah Senesh
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Schechter said that one of his reasons for making this a one-woman show was that he believed "that the audience would feel the courage and strength of one person being on the stage for that long, and would have a visceral experience of courage."
"Hannah Senesh" is playing in a theater at the Museum of Jewish Heritage where the exhibition "Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away" is on view. "Hannah Senesh" is the first in a series of plays that the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene will be producing at the museum in 2019 and 2020 on the theme of "Spiritual Resistance."
Schechter sees a connection between the play, the exhibition and the current political scene. "This play encourages people to take action and to resist in ways that they feel, like Hannah did, that there should be resistance and not to be cowed by people who I would consider to be bullies," he said. "My hope is that this play will encourage people to take action in their lives and to be courageous despite obstacles that may be daunting."
After Hannah Senesh was murdered, someone - her mother didn't know who - came for her body and had it buried in the Jewish cemetery of Budapest. In 1950, her body was reinterred in Israel in the cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
In Israel, she is considered a heroine because of her unflinching courage.
At the end of the play, Hannah's mother, Catherine, reflects on her daughter's life. She realizes that some people would consider what Hannah did to be foolish. She could have avoided danger and death but she chose not to. Her actions and those of her comrades dropping down from the sky with parachutes, showed the desperate Jews of Hungary that they had not been forgotten. That was what Hannah wanted - to bring hope to people who had none.
Candles are a presence throughout the play. At the end, Catherine lights a candle and prays. Then she says words that Hannah wrote: "There are stars whose radiance is visible on earth, though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world, though they are no longer among the living. And when the night is especially dark, these lights burn the brightest. They help to light the way."
- Terese Loeb Kreuzer
"Hannah Senesh" is playing through Aug. 18, 2019. For more information and tickets, click here.
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Bits & Bytes
iPIC ENTERTAINMENT FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY; GANSEVOORT PENINSULA PARK PLANS; 1 WORLD TRADE CENTER'S AROMA
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iPic Entertainment, which opened a luxury movie theater complex in the South Street Seaport in October 2016, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
"The politics of lower Manhattan's privately owned public spaces," Curbed.com, 7/25/19. "...everyday, thousands of people-mostly office workers in Midtown and the Financial District, along with neighborhood residents and tourists-eat salads and stare at their phones in an archipelago of diminutive spaces open to the public but owned and managed by private entities," says Curbed.com. "If these spaces were knit together, they would be larger than the floor area in One World Trade Center, a 104-story building. But unlike tenants or tourists in that structure, visitors do not have to pay to be in a privately-owned public space, or POPS. They arose from an arrangement brokered between the city and property owners in the 1960s that let owners build taller than zoning allowed, in exchange for a public space outside the building, or on a lower floor. With investors fleeing the city in the 1960s and '70s, POPS seemed like a win-win: Developers beefed up their bottom line with more leasable floor area, and New Yorkers got a nice place to sit." For the complete article, click here.
"iPic Entertainment Files for Chapter 11, Will Pursue Sale," Variety.com,8/5/19. "iPic Entertainment, the luxury theater chain that helped popularize the concept of dine-in moviegoing, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy," says Variety.com. "It hopes to restructure its debt and has engaged investment banker PJ Solomon to pursue a possible sale. Last month, the company warned investors that it might be file for bankruptcy after it missed a $10.1 million interest payment to the Employees Retirement System of Alabama (ERSA) and the Teachers Retirement System of Alabama. At the time, the theater circuit said it had cash-on-hand of $2.2 million. In an interview, iPic CEO and founder Hamid Hashemi told Variety the company had secured $16 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from the Teachers Retirement System of Alabama. The loan carries an interest rate of 10.5%. That funding will be used to pay staff and keep iPic's 16 locations open and operational." For the complete article, click here.
"Future of East Side flood protection plan debated at heated hearing," Curbed.com, 8/1/19. "The de Blasio administration's plan to build flood protections along Manhattan's east side ignited a firestorm of criticism when it was overhauled last fall. Locals saw the move as effectively tossing aside years of community engagement in favor of a plan that requires a complete closure of the East River Park during construction, leaving neighborhoods starved for open space in the lurch for three and a half years," says Curbed.com. "City officials stress that the 11th-hour change is to ensure that longterm storm resiliency infrastructure is in place as quickly as possible. But a number of questions linger as the plan reaches a key point in the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP): a vote by the City Planning Commission (CPC). On Wednesday, dozens raised concerns during testimony at a CPC hearing where neighbors and elected officials expressed their skepticism of the current proposal.....The East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Project stretches from Montgomery Street to East 25th Street (and includes a significant portion of East River Park), with the goal of providing flood protection for 2.4 miles of Manhattan's coastline." For the complete article, click here.
"After Faltering the First Time, Developer Launches New Residency at 3 World Trade Center," Hyperallergic, 7/22/19. "The billionaire real estate mogul Larry Silverstein has always had a passion for the arts, especially when it anchors his downtown property developments. The businessman has adorned his skyscraper lobbies at the World Trade Center complex with bluechip names like Jenny Holzer while commissioning street artists like Stickymonger and BoogieRez to paint murals onto the metal structure of a support facility for one of his nearby buildings," says Hyperallergic. "Framed as a corporate social responsibility project, the residency at 3 World Trade Center plans to provide 30 artists with 8-month stays inside the 44,000-square-foot office space on the skyscraper's 50th floor. With $500,000 in funding from Silverstein Properties, the newly-formed Silver Art Projects plans to launch the residency with the help of some notable art worlders." For the complete article, click here.
"Celebrity-packed Tribeca building has an $8.5M opening," New York Post, 7/24/19. "Toy moguls Laura and Judd Zebersky have listed their 3,022-square-foot, three-bedroom home at star-studded 443 Greenwich St. for $8.5 million," says the New York Post. "As the founders of toy company Jazwares, the Zeberskys are lawyers turned toy-licensing moguls. They bought the Tribeca unit from developer Cantor Pecorella for $8.4 million in 2017. Neighbors include Meg Ryan, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, and Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds." For the complete article, click here.
"Essex Crossing organic farm launches in Lower East Side," Curbed.com, 8/1/19. "A new farm, now among the largest in the borough, launched Wednesday at the Essex Crossing megaproject in the Lower East Side," says Curbed.com. "Located on the sixth floor of The Essex at 125 Essex Street, the quarter-acre farm will be run by Project EATS - a nonprofit that operates farms across the city - and will grow organic carrots, radishes, beets, turnips, and baby greens, such as kale, mustards, and arugula....Produce from the urban grange will be sold at the Farmacy, a stand at the megadevelopment's upcoming Market Line, which will run below Essex Street Market. Until then, the Farmacy will temporarily sell the fresh veggies at a recently opened public park that was similarly developed by Essex Crossing's development team, Delancey Street Associates." For the complete article, click here.
"That Smell at the Top of One World Trade? It's on Purpose,"
New York Times, 8/7/19. "Something was in the air at One World Observatory, the glass-walled perch atop One World Trade Center that has become one of New York City's top tourist destinations in the five years since it opened," says The New York Times. "David Laven did not like it. 'It's sickly,' said Dr. Laven, a history professor from Britain who was in Manhattan on an eight-day vacation. 'I dislike it intensely.' But the something, a perfume smell, wasn't accidental. The place is supposed to smell that way. Dr. Laven had picked up a custom-made scent being pumped out - 'diffused,' in the lingo of the perfumers who created it - through the air-conditioning vents. The observatory commissioned it. In a place where the view makes the Empire State Building look short and the Colgate clock in Jersey City look almost microscopic, the executives in charge decided that visitors should take in more than the sights." For the complete article, with photographs,
click here.
"First look at Gansevoort Peninsula Park along the Hudson River," Curbed.com, 7/25/19. "After decades of planning, a 5.65-acre park with a beach is coming to Hudson River Park's Gansevoort Peninsula-a site that until recently was a Department of Sanitation facility," says Curbed.com. "Back in January, Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) announced that James Corner Field Operations (JCFO)-known for their work at the High Line and Domino Park-would be in charge of the design, and since March, the neighboring community has provided input throughout the process. On Wednesday, the preliminary concept was unveiled at a public meeting in the Meatpacking District. The park, located from Gansevoort Street to Little West 12th Street-along what used to be 13th Avenue-will have a sandy beach area with kayak access and a seating area; a salt marsh, habitat enhancements; a large sports field; and on its western side, picnic tables and lounge chairs." For the complete article, click here.
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Downtown bulletin board
SQUIRREL BITES IN BATTERY PARK CITY; EQUIFAX SETTLEMENT; FRESH PRODUCE FOR SENIORS; ESSEX CROSSING HOUSING LOTTERY
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The Battery Park City Authority has received reports about squirrel bites in the Rockefeller Park playground area. Do not feed or interact with wildlife in parks. According to the New York City Department of Health, squirrels exhibiting aggressive behavior have usually been fed by humans before and are looking to eat again, or feel threatened. (The City of New York receives about 70 reports of squirrel bites each year, usually from people who have been feeding them.) To report an animal bite with the Health Department for tracking and follow up, call 311 or file online. For more information, click here. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer) |
Equifax settlement: New York State is holding Equifax Inc. accountable for the 2017 data breach that exposed the sensitive financial and personal information of millions of Americans, including 8.5 million New Yorkers. Under a settlement, Equifax has committed up to $425 million to a consumer restitution fund. Equifax will provide New York consumers with credit monitoring services and free annual credit reports and will pay restitution to consumers affected by the breach. To find out if your financial and personal information was compromised and to file a claim,
click here.
Fresh food for seniors: Seniors can order mixed bags of locally grown fruit and vegetables for $8. Produce is ordered at wholesale prices through GrowNYC from farmers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Each bag has a retail value of $12 to $15. Order one week ahead of each Tuesday 2019 delivery date. The next food deliveries will be on Tuesdays: Aug. 27, Sept. 10, Sept. 24, Oct. 8, Oct. 22 and Nov. 5. Bring $8 in cash to the Battery Park City Authority Community Room, 200 Rector Place, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. the Tuesday before the food will be delivered. Pick it up on the designated delivery date between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. at the same location.
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.
Emergency Food Service from Trinity Church: Every day, Trinity Church Wall Street serves free food to people in need. The food is distributed at St. Paul's Chapel, Broadway and Fulton Streets, Mondays to Saturdays at 12:45 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Volunteers pack the brown bag lunches and help in connecting guests with resources and benefits. For more information about this program and/or to volunteer to pack and distribute food,
click here.
Summer Restaurant Week: New York City Summer Restaurant Week returns
starting on Monday, July 22 and running through Friday, August 16. Two-course lunches are $26 and three-course dinners are $42 plus beverages, tax and tip. In Lower Manhattan, there are 34 restaurants participating in the program, located in the Financial District, the South Street Seaport, Battery Park City and Tribeca. For a iist of participating restaurants and more information,
click here.
Free bicycle helmets rescheduled: Because of the heat wave, the Bike Helmet Giveaway that had been scheduled for July 21 has been
rescheduled for August 25 when it will be held in conjunction with City Councilmember Margaret Chin's Annual District 1 Community Day on Governors Island. On Aug. 25, meet at the Battery Maritime Building, 10 South St., at 9:45 a.m. for the free, 10 a.m. ferry to Governors Island. To participate in the helmet fitting and giveaway, 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.
For questions, email polan@council.nyc.gov.
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.
Free kayaking: The kayaking season at the Downtown Boathouse on Pier 26 in Hudson River Park is 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 has been offering free kayaking on Saturdays on Governors Island but that facility is currently closed for dock repairs. 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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CALENDAR: August 2019
Spotlight: Battery Dance Festival
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Douglas Dunn + Dancers performed "Aidos" at the Battery Dance Festival. Aug. 13, 2018 (Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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The Battery Dance Festival, now in its 38th year, is one of the highlights of the New York City summer cultural calendar. This year, the Battery Dance Festival runs from Sunday, Aug. 11 through Saturday, Aug. 17. Every night for a week, the festival presents dancers and dance companies from all over the world. From Sunday to Friday, the dances take place on an outdoor stage in Battery Park City's Wagner Park, with the Statue of Liberty in the background. All of those performances are free and start at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the performance is ticketed and is staged at Pace University's Schimmel Center for the Performing Arts at 3 Spruce St. starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the closing performance are $10 or $65 including a reception after the performance. For more information, click here.
The Battery Dance Festival is New York City's longest-running free public dance festival as well as one of its most wide-ranging with established and emerging dance companies presenting original works of high artistic merit. American choreographers such as Robert Battle, Michelle Dorrance and Jacqulyn Buglisi have all presented their works alongside pre-eminent companies from Asia, Europe, South America, Africa and the Caribbean. This year's featured artists include local dance companies as well as dancers from Argentina, Austria, Curaçao, France, India, Iraq, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
For this year's schedule, click here.
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The Ariel Rivka Dance Company performing "Ori" at the Battery Dance Festival.
Aug. 12, 2018 (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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For more calendar listings, go to the Downtown Post NYC website.
Click here.
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Bollylicious, a dance company from Belgium that presents dances from India, performed "Yatra" at the Battery Dance Festival. Aug. 19, 2017 (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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