More Battery Park City Traffic Lights? Crossing the street may become safer in Battery Park City. Responding to concerns from Community Board 1, the city's Department of Transportation (DOT) is considering new traffic lights for several intersections in Battery Park City. A couple of months ago the board's Battery Park City Committee, made up mostly of neighborhood residents, had given the agency a list of intersections it considered dangerous. At a committee meeting on Jan. 6, DOT representatives said that the agency was conducting studies of vehicle and pedestrian traffic at the corner of West Thames Street and Battery Place in the south neighborhood, and the intersection of Chambers Street and River Terrace in the north, to see if traffic lights are needed. Results are expected next month. DOT officials and community board members also plan a joint visit to the block of South End Avenue between Albany and Liberty Streets, in front of the Gateway Plaza residential complex, to observe traffic conditions. Many pedestrians cross there, midblock, and residents have long complained that a light is needed. "Nobody walks to the corner just to cross," said Jeff Galloway, a Gateway resident and member of the committee. "It really needs some kind of traffic control," said committee chair Anthony Notaro. DOT officials said they will consider putting in a crosswalk with a stop sign for cars, or a traffic light, in the middle of the block. The agency also intends to make it easier to cross the street at the corner of Liberty Street and South End Avenue, where there is already a traffic light, by creating what it calls a "Leading Pedestrian Interval"-pedestrians will get seven seconds to start crossing before vehicles get a green light to turn through the intersection. Tribeca Kayaker Rescued by Ferry Avid kayaker Scott Geyer was so close to a safe landing at Tribeca's Pier 26. Instead, he turned over in his kayak and had to be rescued from the frigid Hudson waters by a NY Waterway ferry. On Dec. 21, Geyer, who lives in Independence Plaza in Tribeca, and two friends paddled from the Downtown Boathouse on Pier 26 to Swinburne Island, east of Staten Island. On the way back, the wind picked up and the three got separated. After six hours on the water, Geyer, 50, was paddling alone in the river next to Battery Park City's Rockefeller Park, just a couple hundred feet from the boathouse. "The water was just ripping," Geyer recalled the next day. "I was four lampposts away from the Stuyvesant inlet," between Battery Park City and Pier 25. "I was tired but I figured, I've paddled this route 100 times, I'll be able to make it. But I made a bad paddle stroke and I dumped." Wearing a dry suit, he wasn't worried about hypothermia, he said, but "I was a little concerned about the waves bashing me into the wall." A woman on the esplanade saw Geyer clinging to his kayak and alerted NY Waterway staff at the World Financial Center ferry terminal. Ten minutes later, Capt. Vincent Lucante steered the ferry Yogi Berra to Geyer, and crew members lowered a ladder to him. Geyer and his kayak were brought to the ferry terminal "It was a total embarrassment," he said. "I saw a fire truck and the cops were there, and I thought, 'Oh, man.'" The Harbor Patrol located Geyer's two buddies at North Cove, where they had found refuge. A NY Waterway spokesman said that about 50 people had been rescued from area waters since the company began service in December 1986. Residential Grants Reminder to Downtown residents receiving rent grants from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.: The grants last for two years, but you must recertify eligibility every six months. Forms can be obtained at the Asian Americans For Equality office, 111 Division St., on Jan. 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., from www.lmdcresidentialgrantprogram.com or by calling 866-736-3969. Kids' Touch Football Manhattan Youth, which runs after-school programs and other youth activities Downtown, is starting a touch football clinic on Jan. 11 on the outdoor field at Pier 40 (at Houston and West streets). The clinic, for players in sixth through tenth grades, takes place Sunday mornings through March. For information go to www.manhattanyouth.org or call 212-766-1104. Safe Boating Course The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is offering its safe boating course, for novice powerboaters and sailors, beginning on Jan. 20 and continuing on four consecutive Tuesdays. Classes are from 7- 9 p.m. at the Coast Guard building next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The fee is $40. To register, call 718-728-7889. Calling Tribeca Artists It's time for artists to sign up for T.O.A.S.T. (Tribeca Open Artists' Studio Tour), the annual tour of artists' studios. Last year, more than 100 artists and thousands of visitors participated in the April event. Materials and a $75 application fee are due by Jan. 31. Download an application at www.toastartwalk.com or e-mail toastapplication@yahoo.com. Blood Donation Center The blood supply for city hospitals is often in short supply. Downtowners now have a new place where they can give. The New York Blood Center has opened a center on the concourse level of One New York Plaza, opposite the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. Hours are Monday and Friday, 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and Tuesday, 12:30- 7:30 p.m. Call 800-933-BLOOD. 90 West Street Renovation The scaffolding on the north side of 90 West Street, the 1907 Cass Gilbert landmark, just south of the World Trade Center site, is scheduled to be removed this month, revealing a facade badly damaged by debris on Sept. 11. "The building will look pretty beat up," said Peter Levenson, who bought 90 West Street with partners last January. They are converting the building, which Levenson said is structurally stable, into 410 apartments. The $140 million renovation is expected to be completed in June 2005.