| |
New Grant Programs Offer Aid to
Businesses
More help is on the way for businesses affected by the
attack on the World Trade Center. New state and city programs offer grants
to existing downtown businesses and to companies that relocate to the area,
using $700 million from the federal government.
(Posted Feb 20)
City Council to Hold Hearing on Debris Barges
The City Council’s Environmental Protection Committee
and Select Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment will hold a joint
public hearing on the debris barges at Pier 25 and the government’s
handling of WTC environmental issues on Friday, March 8. The barges have
been a source of many complaints from local residents and parents of children
who go to nearby schools. (Posted Feb 28)
Museum Seeks Support for Move to Tweed Courthouse
Officials of the Museum of the City of New York are
on the offensive against Mayor Bloomberg's recent threat to stop the museum
from moving to majestic quarters in the Tweed Courthouse on Chambers Street.
(Posted Feb 23)
WTC Unemployment Assistance Deadline Extended
The deadline to apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance,
for people who lost jobs because of the World Trade Center attack, has
been extended until March 16, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
announced today. (Posted Feb
21)
Fury Over Sudden Banishment of Parking
IPN residents are outraged over the sudden loss of parking
in front of 80 North Moore Street. (Posted Mar
6), and in her letter, an angry 80 North Moore
Street resident sums up the feelings of many. (Posted Feb 25)
Tenants Refute City's Cleanup Claims
Jeers rang out from Lower Manhattan residents
in an otherwise quiet and attentive audience as the commissoner of the
city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told a Senate
hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 11, that his agency was diligent in overseeing
the cleanup of buildings in the wake of the World Trade Center disaster.
(Posted Feb 12)
$15.6 Million Relief Package in BPC;
Rent-Striking Condo Owners Told to Pay Up
The Battery Park City Authority announced a
$15.6 milllion disaster relief package for BPC residents, and at the same
time said it will go after $13 million in payments being withheld by owners
in 10 of Battery Park City’s 11 condominiums. (Posted
Feb 15)
Experts Speak Out on Environmental Safety at
P.S. 89
P.S. 89's PTA and the Board of Education held a forum
on Tuesday, Feb. 5 in hopes of resolving the lingering environmental concerns
that have deeply divided P.S. 89 parents over their children's return
to the school, now scheduled for Feb. 28. (Posted
Feb 8)
It’s Back to Back-to-School Downtown
Amid the hubbub of camera crews and the humming of
air monitors, local elementary and middle schoolers returned to the buildings
they fled almost six months ago, with "a lot to be celebrated, a lot to
be remembered." (Posted Feb 4)
School Board Two Votes to Eliminate Itself
and All Boards
In an unusual step, Community School Board 2 voted
7-0 on Feb. 12 to do away
with itself and the city's 31 other community school boards and the central
Board of Education. (Posted Feb 17)
Community Has Its Say on World Trade Site's Future
Thoughtful, passionately held, calmly stated and radically
diverse were the views expressed by local residents on Jan. 29 concerning
one of the biggest questions ever to face New Yorkers: How should Lower
Manhattan be rebuilt? (Posted Feb 4)
Wanted: Your Opinions on Rebuilding Downtown
Rebuild Downtown Our Town (R.Dot) and Pace University
want to know your opinions on the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. If you
live or work in Lower Manhattan (below Canal Street), they ask that you
take a minute to fill out a simple survey. Click on the downtown survey
from the main page of http://www.architect.org.
(Posted Feb 8)
Battle Is Over, but West Street Development
Isn’t Rising Yet
After battling community residents for 13 years, the developer of a West
Street building project finally has the permits it needs. But while the
regulatory seas have parted, the project appears no closer to construction.
(Posted Feb 4)
IPN Tenants Seek a Deal with Owners Over Rent
Protections
It was only last year that the date of Jan. 25, 2002 struck fear into
the hearts of Independence Plaza tenants, who worried that their landlord
would pull out of a housing subsidy program that kept rents affordable.
That date has come and gone with no sign of such a withdrawal, and now
the tenants association hopes to come up with a plan that would protect
them but make the landlord happy. (Posted Feb 4)
IN BRIEF (Updated Feb 18)
Film Buffs Wanted
for Festival...
CB1 Members Join Gerson Team...
CB1 Positions Open...
A High School on Laight Street...
Park Board Elections...
Small Business Forum...
Book Drive for Children...
Book on Post-9/11 Life by Tribeca Writer...
Coast Guard Boating Course Starts
Feb. 20...
Washington Market Park's News and Events...
AROUND DOWNTOWN (Posted Feb 5)
BPC Shops and Eateries: What’s Opening When
To the delight of residents and workers, many
Battery Park City restaurants and stores have reopened, but others remain
shuttered. The Embassy Suites hotel complex, once the retail anchor of the
north neighborhood with a 16-screen movie theater and six restaurants, remains
almost empty. Here’s the lowdown on the shops in that complex and a
few other notable downtown stores.
Ground Zero Ticket Booth Aids Seaport
The Ground Zero viewing system, instituted last month,
requires visitors to get tickets at the South Street Seaport for a half-hour
slot on the platform. It was designed to reduce crowds on lower Broadway
and surrounding streets, and to help businesses in the Seaport area. The
ticket giveaway—more than 4,000 a day—quickly brought order to
the crowds and, to some extent, opened visitors’ wallets.
P.S. 89 Takes Painful Journey to Feb. 28
P.S. 89 and its beleaguered and badly fractured parent
body are heading—ready or not—back to their Battery Park City
building on Feb. 28. While their children are readied for the move, parents
hope to heal the deep rifts that emerged during the struggle over the
return. (Posted Feb 4)
Little League Prepares to Take Kids Out to
the Ball Games
The Battery Park City ballfields won’t be available
this spring, but the Downtown Little League is gearing up for its 2002
season, to be played on alternative fields in Manhattan. Now is the time
for young sluggers and hurlers to sign up.... (Updated
Feb 5)
|
