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Recalling Damascus on the Hudson
Lower Manhattan’s Old Syrian Quarter Evoked by New Art in FiDi Park
| The new sculpture,“Al Qalam: Poets in the Park,” memorializes the writers of the Arab diaspora who were part of a now-vanished enclave in Lower Manhattan that formed in the 1880s and became known as Little Syria. | |
A multi-part public artwork was unveiled yesterday, April 30, in Elizabeth Berger Plaza, the pocket park bounded by Greenwich Street, Edgar Street, Trinity Place, and an exit ramp from the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. With sculpture, mosaics, and poetry, artist Sara Ouhaddou created “Al Qalam: Poets in the Park” to memorialize the writers of the Arab diaspora who were part of an enclave that came together in Lower Manhattan starting in the 1880s and became known as Little Syria.
The park’s central lawn now features large, sculptural calligraphy that represents the Arabic word “al Qalam” (“The Pen”), a nod to the Pen League, the first Arabic-language literary society in the United States. Formed in 1920 by a group of Lower Manhattan poets, the Pen League was led by the renowned Kahlil Gibran, who wrote: “The whole earth is my homeland, and the human family is my tribe.” Nearby, curving mosaic panels have been incorporated into the backrests of existing stone benches, featuring excerpts from works by the writers honored on the sculpture.
Today, the stretch of Greenwich and Washington Streets between Battery Place and Albany Street—bisected by the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel ramps—is known by the forgettable name, “Greenwich South.” By all appearances, it is an orphan of a neighborhood that never quite coalesced. But nothing could be further from the truth. A century ago, before the World Trade Center or the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (the two giant public works projects that decimated this once-thriving quarter), it was an ethnic enclave as vibrant as Little Italy or Chinatown.
| An 1899 map highlights the now-vanished enclave known as Little Syria. | |
The immigrants who flocked here were Arabs. The most southern stretch of Washington Street was to newcomers from Damascus, Beirut, and Jerusalem, what Mulberry Street was for Italian transplants and Canal Street was for the Chinese. Their life was centered beneath the Ninth Avenue Elevated Train, which ran up Greenwich Street. As difficult as it is to envision this perilously narrow lane accommodating a railroad viaduct, it did—and the station at Rector Street was the center of their small town. The social and spiritual focus of the community was St. Joseph’s Maronite Church, for most of the Arabic-speaking immigrants who lived here were Christian (of the Maronite and Melkite sects).
In the 1940s, construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel erased many square blocks of the neighborhood. During this period, the construction of the West Side Elevated Highway also cut off Little Syria from the surrounding area. St. Joseph’s Church, which stood where the Battery Parking Garage is now located, was demolished. (Its cornerstone was found amid excavation of debris from the World Trade Center site in 2002.) By 1946, the New York Times would observe with grim prescience, “Washington Street, at the lower end of Manhattan Island, is today a condemned street. From Rector Street to Battery Place, all the people who live there and run restaurants and spice shops and Oriental bakeries and newspapers have received notice to vacate.”
In the 1950s, the Ninth Avenue El was taken out of service and its tracks torn down, further isolating the neighborhood. As New York’s status as a port declined and nearby docks were abandoned, the constant stream of imports that was the economic lifeblood for the community withered. Little Syria’s death knell was the construction of the World Trade Center, beginning in the late 1960s, which seized several more blocks of the community and effectively sealed its northern border. The small remnant of the 100,000-plus Arab population that had once lived there decamped for Brooklyn, where Atlantic Avenue is now the thoroughfare that Washington and Greenwich Streets were.
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At Thursday’s ceremony, Linda Jacobs (here at the art opening between artist Sarah Ouhaddou and first deputy mayor Dean Fuleihan), president of the Washington Street Historical Society, whose grandparents were members of the Little Syria community, spoke of the neighborhood that once thrived here: restaurants, grocery stores, boarding houses, small businesses, schools, and chapels. Arabic presses founded here published newspapers and books. “Out of this cultural hotbed emerged the group of writers and poets who gave us works of art that were boundary-breaking in their theme and language, changing the face of both Arabic and American literature” Ms. Jacobs said.
City Council member Christopher Marte said, “for me, this is a reminder of the displacement crisis that our city has long gone through, sometimes in the name of capitalism, sometimes in the name of quality of life, sometimes in the name of urban renewal. This is a reminder that a community was here thriving, inviting new members to come, sharing our language, our culture, and reminding us of who we are.”
“This is our reminder for Lower Manhattan,” he continued. “Central Park has Seneca village and the former African-American community there. Right outside of Lincoln Center, you have the old San Juan Hill, the former Puerto Rican and African-American community. This is an important monument because these fights and these crises are still around today.”
Todd Fine, founder of the Washington Street Historical Society, who began advocating in 2013 for the monument unveiled Thursday, said afterward, “the Arabic-language literary scene that emerged in Lower Manhattan, including figures such as Kahlil Gibran and Ameen Rihani, produced arguably the most significant foreign-language literary movement in American history. Its influence extended far beyond immigrant New York, helping to reshape modern Arabic literature itself.”
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“The permanent commemoration of that legacy at Elizabeth Berger Plaza is an important cultural development whose long-term significance may only become clear with time,” he continued. “At a dangerous moment marked by war and growing authoritarianism, the messages of these writers still resonate and deserve renewed study and contemplation.”
Matthew Fenton
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Pier Pressure
New Management Coming to East River Dock Promises Public Access, Restrooms, and “Benefit Fund”
Community Board 1 has given a qualified endorsement to a plan for new management at Pier 15, on the East River waterfront at South Street Seaport. The dock has been the focus of controversy for years, because promises made more than a decade ago about community use of the facility (which is publicly owned) are widely perceived to have been ignored. Critics allege that early assurances about public access and amenities have been eclipsed as much of Pier 15 has been privatized and monetized. Read more...
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Kids Ahoy!
Nautical Non-Profit Launches Sailing Camp, Restores Historic Vessel
Buoyant USA, a Lower Manhattan-based non-profit organization building on 25 years of seasonal sailing and education, is re-launching Harbor Camp, a sailing access and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) program, this August. In partnership with Manhattan By Sail, Buoyant (skippered by Tribeca resident Ewa Berton) is also embarking on a restoration of the historic schooner Shearwater. Read more...
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Friday, May 1
9:45am-11:30am
Labor of Love
Governors Island Arts Center
Celebrate art and aquatic ecosystems with performance and interactive art-making. Take part in a puppet procession featuring giant, larger-than-life aquatic creations. Join in workshops to create your own personal regalia, drawing inspiration from May 1st’s significance as International Workers’ Day. Be in community with artists and creatives, including the latest cohort of Arts Center Residents, for a morning of action, art-making, food, and live music. Free.
12pm-1pm
BPC Resiliency Drop-In
6 River Terrace
Meet the Community Construction Liaison and members of the North/West Battery Park City Resiliency project team, get your questions answered, and give your feedback on the work underway.
5pm
Annie
Winter Garden
Sing-along movie screening. Free.
6pm
Fulton Fish Market: A Walk Through the Past
Meet at the Fulton Stall Market, 91 South Street
Guided walking tour, led by Naima Rauam. The fish are gone, the smell is gone, but the legend lives on. This walk in the South Street Seaport visits sites of the old Fulton Fish Market where artist Naima Rauam spent decades painting scenes of market life. A printed handout will have reproductions of the artwork. Free.
6pm
Haile Supreme
Perelman Performing Arts Center
Musical performance. Free.
7pm
Exposed Season Preview
Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, 412 Broadway
This preview of of the dance piece Exposed explores the relentlessness human drive to climb, and the vulnerability, vision, and courage required to transcend and rise. Dancers will transform the stage into a dynamic playground of moving obstacles that conceal, distort, confound, beckon, and demand resilience. $30, $40.
7pm-8:30pm
Sunset Singing Circle
Irish Hunger Memorial Plaza
Singer/songwriter Terre Roche leads this weekly singing program of classic and contemporary tunes for beginners and seasoned crooners alike. Free.
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Saturday, May 2
9am-12pm
Spring Block Party
Bogardus Plaza
Hosted by the Tribeca Merchants Association, and featuring live music, food, performances, and activities. Free.
10am-12pm
Drawing in the Park
Wagner Park
Paint in watercolor or use pastels and other drawing materials. An artist/educator will help participants of all levels with instruction and critique. Free.
10:30am-12pm
The Bindlestiff Family Circus
Wagner Park
Step right up for the Flatbed Follies with The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus! This vintage-inspired circus features an eclectic mix of clowns, jugglers, wire walkers, acrobats, aerialists, and more—delivering high-flying fun for the whole family. Repeated from 1:30pm-3pm. Free.
10:30am
Mapping The City
Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place
Hands-on family program that introduces young cartographers to key elements of maps, including symbols, compass roses, landmarks, and scale. Using what they’ve learned, children will create their own personal maps. Free.
12pm-4pm
Community Block Party
Gotham Park, Rose Street
Featuring live music from Fogo Azul, Church Street School for Music & Art, Spotlight Kids, and Opera by Teatro Grattacielo, alongside educational activities with Pace, New York Public Library, and others. Local food, community mural painting, arts & crafts, free seedlings and other giveaways. Yoga, skateboarding lessons, a skate jam, activations with local elected officials, schools and community organizations, and much more. Free.
1pm
The Wizard of Oz
Winter Garden
Sing-along movie screening. Free.
7pm
Anna Siciliano
Perelman Performing Arts Center
Musical performance. Free.
Sunday, May 3
7:30am
Five Borough Bike Tour
The Five Borough Bike Tour begins in Lower Manhattan, and there will be many temporary street closures and parking restrictions. Click on the title for details.
9am
New York Harbor Oyster Classic 5K
Governors Island
This race around Governors Island benefits the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School and its programs working to restore the waters of New York Harbor, and training the next generation of pilots, divers, engineers, marine technicians, climate change specialists and marine biologists.
12pm
Print Your Own Mother's Day Card
South Street Seaport Museum, 211 Water Street
Create a festive Mother’s Day card using the museum’s 19th century historical printing equipment. Anyone ages 12 and up is welcome. Free.
2pm
Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music
Wavertree tall ship
Sea-song sing along! Each session is hosted by a local artist who leads the group through a variety of traditional maritime work songs and ballads. Attendees are encouraged to sing along with the chorus but you can feel free to just sit back and enjoy the music. Free.
3pm-4:30pm
Downtown Dog Show
Bogardus Plaza
Parade your pooch for potential trophies and the ultimate bragging rights. The ten categories include Tribeca Trendsetter, Expressive Eyes, and Mini Marvel.
4pm
Jazz Icons: Renee Rosnes and Bill Charlap
Trinity Church
Esteemed pianists Renee Rosnes and Bill Charlap bring their dazzling musicianship and husband-and-wife chemistry to Trinity for an afternoon of inspired jazz artistry.
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