"How are you?" Anthony Notaro asked. When he asked that question, it was not just to be polite. He really wanted to know. I had shown up for a Community Board 1 meeting that he was chairing and he hadn't seen me in a while. He wanted to be sure that everything was all right.

Anthony Francis Notaro, Jr. died on Dec. 30, 2020 of the cancer that had afflicted him for years. He was 69 years old. A flood of obituaries commended him for his community service which included membership on Community Board 1, vice-chairmanship of CB1 and eventually chairmanship from 2016 to June 2020.

He also helped to found Battery Park City's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) when it became obvious on Sept. 11, 2001 that in the face of an acute and extreme emergency, the usual government entities would be overwhelmed and that neighbors would have to be trained to help their neighbors. But he also saw that the community had other needs. People were shattered by what had happened. With Rosalie Joseph, Anthony Notaro founded the Battery Park City block party to bring the neighborhood together and to restore its spirit. The first block party was held in September 2002 and continued annually for 15 years.

Anthony's concern for the well-being of others did not just stop at Battery Park City's borders. He also helped to found a charity called Battery Park City Cares that collected funds for stricken communities around the world just as people from around the world had helped Battery Park City in its time of dire need. And if that weren't enough, he gave energy and time to cementing communication between the Lower Manhattan community and the NYPD. Every month he chaired the First Precinct Community Council where the precinct's commanding officers discussed issues and shared information with local residents and business leaders . And — yes, there's more — he was a leader of the Battery Park City Homeowner's Coalition, which negotiated a rollback in future ground rents thereby enabling many owners to be able to remain in Battery Park City.

He also had a successful 40-year career in sales and marketing.

But what many people said about Anthony when they sat down to write notes of condolence to his wife, Susan Nitahara, his stepchildren, Lauren and Christopher, and his other relatives had little do with Anthony's role in the community and more to do with how they remembered him as a person — his kindness, his genuine concern for others, his enthusiasm, his calmness, his selflessness, his ability to inspire. His death left a hole in the Lower Manhattan community and in our hearts.

A funeral mass was celebrated for him on Jan. 8, 2021 at Queen of All Saints Church in Brooklyn. He was buried privately the next day.

Memorial donations in his honor can be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Head and Neck Research Department at http://bit.ly/anthonynotaro.

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Sometime during the night of January 7, someone or perhaps several people approached the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City carrying a Confederate flag that they tied to the museum's front door.

"The Confederate flag is a potent symbol of white supremacy, as evidenced by the events at the U.S. Capitol this week," said Jack Kliger, President and CEO of the museum after the flag was discovered on the morning of January 8. "Such hate has now arrived at our doorstep, just steps away from a train car which once transported Jews to the Auschwitz death camp. These horrific acts of emboldened anti-Semitism must end now.”

Kliger was horrified but probably not surprised."There is no question that anti-Semitism is on the rise in the United States," he said in a recent interview.

In an article that he wrote for the New York Daily News ("Holocaust denial is a plague: Social media is finally trying to inoculate itself," Daily News, 10/24/2020)

he cited a study "that found that 63% of all Millennials and Gen Zs did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and at least one out of every 10 thought that the Jews were responsible."

New York City, which has the second largest Jewish population in the world, is not immune to that ignorance. "In New York alone, 19% of respondents in New York thought the Jews were responsible and 28% of respondents in New York found it acceptable to hold neo-Nazi views," Kliger said in his article. "Astonishingly, New York ranked near the bottom of all states — placing 41st — in knowledge of the Holocaust."

Kliger and others have noted that during periods of social crisis and economic distress, people look for scapegoats. Jews have been a favorite target.

"As Adolf Hitler rose to power, the Nazis utilized all types of anti-Semitic propaganda, physical intimidation and violence to strengthen their position in the government," Kliger wrote in his Daily News article. "They focused on the Jews as the source for Germany’s ills, using racism and bigotry to unify an insecure people. The Nazi rhetoric led to boycotts, book burnings, desecrations of graves and synagogues, segregation, destruction of property, and ultimately to the unimaginable murder of millions of individuals, including 6 million Jews."

Educating people of all backgrounds and all ages about what really did happen in the Holocaust is an essential part of the Museum of Jewish Heritage's mission. "Hate is a pernicious disease that feeds on fear and ignorance and easy answers," Kliger said in an interview, "and the Nazis were masters of that."

Although he believes that the Holocaust was "its own, singular, unique event" he also believes that there are lessons to be learned from it. The Auschwitz exhibition at the museum through May 2, 2021 delivers a gut punch even to those who know a lot about the Holocaust. It is the most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz and its role in the Holocaust ever presented in North America.

One of the opening galleries plunges visitors into the enormity of what happened. A photograph depicts a mountain of shoes from murdered prisoners while in a case in front of them is an elegant red shoe that must have belonged to a woman who treasured it and wore it or brought it with her when she was deported. A neighboring wall-sized photograph shows wheel sets produced at the Krupp factories, destined for the trains that would transport more than one million people to Auschwitz where they would be immediately killed or worked to death. On another wall are some of the concrete posts and barbed wire that were once part of the fence of the Auschwitz camp.

Other artifacts and photographs on the first floor of the three-floor exhibition describe Jewish life in Auschwitz before the Holocaust and the rise and appeal of Nazism. Film clips show adoring crowds saluting Hitler. Brightly colored posters trumpet Nazi propaganda. The second floor is devoted to the tragic arrival of the deportees and their squalid, terror-filled, disease-ridden life at Auschwitz. The third floor shows how people were efficiently murdered and cremated. The brutal artifacts and images are accompanied by testimony from those who were there and lived.

Among the most incomprehensible photographs in the exhibition are those of guards and SS officers at Auschwitz laughing, smoking, smiling and apparently having a good time. In some cases the pictures were taken close enough to the crematoria that the men could have smelled the burning bodies.

How is this possible? And what might this have to do, if anything, with the thugs who invaded the U.S. Capitol building, some of them intent on kidnapping and murder? They, too, seemed to be having a good time.

Whoever tied a Confederate flag on the front door of the Museum of Jewish Heritage might also have thought it was a lot of fun to taunt people and try to intimidate them. Perhaps they will get away with it. The NYPD is looking into it. So far no one has been caught.

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, which shares the building at 36 Battery Place with the Museum of Jewish Heritage, responded to what it called "the defacement of our home" by saying "Too often in our history have people stood by while symbols of hate preceded violence against us. To that, we say that we will not sit idly by while hatred simmers around us."

Then, they cited a song written by Mordkhe Gebirtig in 1936.

Shteyt nit brider to azoy zikh mit farleygte hent!

Shteyt nit brider, lesht dos fayer

Under shtetl brent!

Don't stand there brothers with empty hands

Don't stand there brothers, put out the fire

Our town is burning!

As throngs of people stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, they brandished anti-Semitic and racist symbols, including Confederate flags, nooses, and attire promoting the Auschwitz death camp.

“We have a responsibility to stand up and condemn the blatant bigotry displayed at the Capitol on Wednesday,” said Jack Kliger, President and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. “We cannot be silent bystanders. We must speak up and take action wherever and whenever we witness hatred and threats of violence."

On Thursday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m., the Museum, ADL, and The New York Board of Rabbis will present “Extremism: What You Need To Know In 2021,” a virtual event that will discuss both the challenge of extremism today and the opportunities to push back via civil society, government regulation, and reforms by social media companies.

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of The New York Board of Rabbis and Jack Kliger will moderate a discussion with panelists Talia Lavin, journalist and author of Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy; Oren Segal, Vice President of the Anti Defamation League’s Center on Extremism; and Eric Ward, Executive Director of the Western States Center and Senior Fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center and Race Forward. Admission is "pay what you wish." For more information and to reserve tickets, click here.

Although Trinity Church's cemetery at Broadway and Rector Street is closed now because of the pandemic, Alexander Hamilton's grave is clearly visible from Rector Street. Many people still pause in front of it out of respect for the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury and the architect of our banking system.

Today on January 11, Hamilton's birthday, he may have even had more visitors than usual. Some of them will undoubtedly have looked at his grave and wondered what he would do about the country's current economic crisis if he were with us now. They might also have wondered how America's path might have been different had he not died prematurely in that duel with Aaron Burr.

A new book entitled "Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons from a Misunderstood Founder," addresses those questions. The author, Christian Parenti, a professor at John Jay College, states that Hamilton was no laissez-faire capitalist. Nor was he a fan of free markets. “For Hamilton, a secure future depended on a strong and activist government,” Parenti says.

With fervor, Hamilton dove into his role as the steward of the nation's economy. Although he served as Secretary of the Treasury for only five years (Sept. 11, 1789 to January 31, 1795), during that time he created the U.S. mint and set the dollar as our national currency. And with the economy in turmoil when the Revolutionary War ended, he came up with a plan for the federal government to assume the states’ debt, pay creditors, and then sell that debt to investors with interest, thereby turning it into a source of credit for the new nation.

That debt plan was approved by Jefferson and Madison in a meeting at 57 Maiden Lane, one of the many sites in Lower Manhattan associated with Hamilton. In return, Hamilton agreed to move the nation’s capital to the South (which is how we got Washington, D.C.).

But when it came to the overall economy, Hamilton was at odds with Jefferson, Madison and other Southerners whose wealth derived from free slave labor and land. They wanted to maintain an agrarian society. Hamilton wanted to jump-start industrialization with government subsidies for manufacturing, protective tariffs to reduce competition from imported goods, bans on exports of certain raw materials, investment in roads and canals to improve the transportation of goods, and more immigration to recruit skilled labor.

In contrast, writes Parenti, “slaveholding Southern elites feared that the more populous, prosperous, commercial, and increasingly manufacturing oriented states of the Northeast might use federal power to encroach upon slavery.” They wanted, for example, to export raw cotton and import finished goods. "Let our workshops remain in Europe,” Jefferson said, whereas Hamilton wanted those goods manufactured here.

Hamilton also championed national defense as vital to economic growth. Demand for weapons, uniforms, ships and forts would help stimulate manufacturing, technology and infrastructure. Without a strong military and a strong economy, Hamilton believed the new nation was vulnerable to European imperialism—and it was. After Jefferson and during Madison’s tenure as president, Washington, D.C., was so poorly defended that British troops marched in and set fire to the Capitol and the White House in the War of 1812.

Parenti’s insights into Hamilton’s views come largely from the founding father’s 1791 "Report on the Subject of Manufacture." Parenti calls the document Hamilton’s “magnum opus,” but says it’s been ignored by Wall Street, academics and politicians because it’s “fundamentally at odds” with economic theories like privatization and deregulation.

If Hamilton were in charge of the economy now, Parenti thinks he would “euthanize the fossil-fuel industry and build out a vast clean-energy sector” with a “green reindustrialization” and a “new energy economy.”

We can also extrapolate how he might repair our pandemic-damaged economy from assertions like this: “The state creates economic conditions; it does not merely react to them.” That approach could sit well with incoming Treasury secretary Janet Yellen: She’s a Keynesian economist who supports government intervention in markets when necessary, government aid to workers, businesses and state and local governments, and a carbon tax.

Although Hamilton died 217 years ago, he still has plenty to say to those who care to listen. As you contemplate his legacy or toast his birthday, remember that he believed that an activist government was key to economic growth.

The Battery Park City Authority is again collecting trees for its annual recycling program. Leave undecorated trees on the curb for pickup by BPCA's parks operations team. Please remove tinsel, ornaments and lights! Collections will continue through Saturday, Jan. 26.

Recycled trees are used locally throughout BPC's parks for various purposes, including composting, plant protection, and soil insulation and enrichment. Last year more than 1,600 trees were chipped for use as mulch across BPC's parks. For more information, click here.

Battery Park City Library reopens: The Battery Park City Library at 175 North End Ave. reopened today, Jan. 11, for limited grab-and-go service. Patrons are able to access a small area of the branch to pick up, check out and drop off library materials requested online or over the phone. Additionally, patrons who had reserved materials before the branch temporarily closed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 will be notified when their items are ready for pick-up. For more information about hours and accessing the branch, click here.

New State-wide paid sick leave benefits: As of Jan. 1, 2021 New Yorkers can begin using sick leave benefits under New York State's newly enacted paid sick leave law. This legislation, which was advanced in the Governor's 2020 State of the State address and enacted as part of the FY 2021 Budget, secures paid sick leave for workers at medium and large businesses and paid or unpaid leave for those at small businesses, depending on the employer's net income. Under this groundbreaking law, New Yorkers can use guaranteed sick leave to recover from an illness themselves, care for a sick family member, or address safety needs if they or a family member are the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking. More information is available on the state's Paid Sick Leave website. Click here.

Covid-19 quarantine rules changed: On Dec. 29, 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced updated quarantine guidelines for New York State, making these guidelines consistent with the latest Centers for Disease Control guidance. Under the new guidelines, people exposed to COVID-19 can end their quarantine after 10 days without a testing requirement as long as no symptoms have been reported during the quarantine period. After day 10 is reached, they must continue monitoring for symptoms through day 14 and if any develop, they should immediately self-isolate and contact the local health department or their healthcare provider to report this change and determine if they should seek testing. Regardless, everyone should continue strict adherence to all recommended safe behaviors to stop the spread - wearing masks, socially distancing and avoiding gatherings.

Apply for Community Board membership: Community Boards are New York City's most grassroots form of government. Manhattan has 12 Community Boards, each of which is composed of 50 volunteer members plus a small paid staff. The Boards are pivotal in shaping their communities, weighing in on such issues as land use, quality of life problems, landmarking, schools and education, transportation, restaurant and liquor applications, and much more. The Community Boards work to enhance and preserve the character of the city’s many unique neighborhoods.

In order to be considered for appointment, a complete application must be submitted online or postmarked no later than 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, 2021.

After you have successfully submitted your application, you will receive an automated email receipt from "Office of Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer," no-reply@wufoo.com. This will be your application confirmation. Following the submission deadline and an internal review process, a member of Gale Brewer's staff will contact you regarding next steps, which may include an interview. Appointments will be announced in late spring.

For more information and application forms, click here.

Coastal storm evacuation information: The Office of Emergency Management wants New Yorkers to know that coastal storms, which include hurricanes, nor'easters, and tropical storms, can cause severe flooding, strong winds and heavy rain. Strong winds and high waters can create hazards such as falling trees, downed power lines, flying debris, and loss of heat, water and power. Be prepared and keep yourself and your family safe by using these tips.

   ◦   Know Your Zone: Areas of the city subject to storm surge flooding are divided into six evacuation zones (1 through 6) based on the risk of storm surge flooding. The City may order residents to evacuate depending on the hurricane's track and projected storm surge. Use the Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder or call 311 (212-639-9675 for Video Relay Service, or TTY: 212-504-4115) to find out if your address is located in an evacuation zone. If you live in an evacuation zone, have a plan for where you will go if an evacuation order is issued for your area. For the Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder, click here.

Eviction moratorium extended: On Dec. 28, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Covid-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020. The Act places a moratorium on residential evictions through May 1, 2021 for tenants who have experienced Covid-related hardship. Tenants must submit a hardship declaration, or a document explaining the source of the hardship, to prevent evictions. The declaration can be sent to the tenant's landlord, the court, a sheriff, marshal or city constable.

Upon receipt of a declaration, landlords are prohibited from starting a new eviction case or continuing with an existing eviction case until at least May 1 2021.

For more information about the Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act and about how to file a hardship declaration, click here.

Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets: There are Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets in Tribeca (at Chambers and Greenwich Streets) and at Bowling Green, City Hall, the Oculus and the Staten Island ferry. GrowNYC asks that shoppers wear a face covering inside the market space and maintain a six-foot distance between themselves, Greenmarket staff, farm stand employees and other customers. Dogs and bicycles should be left at home.

Click here for a list of the fruits and vegetables now in season.