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BPC Ballfields Scheduled to Open April 1
After playing one baseball season and two soccer seasons
on other fields in the city, local children will have their fields back—new
and improved—just in time for next year's Little League Season, BPC
Authority officials reported. (Posted July 27)
What a Sensation! First-Time Flying at New
Trapeze School
Learning to "fly" is fun, and addictive.
At the new trapeze school in Tribeca's stretch of the Hudson River Park,
students tame their fears, climb the ladder and fling their bodies through
the air. Our intrepid reporter signed up and tells what it's like. (Posted
July 27)
"10-10" Firehouse to get $1.45 Million
for Post-9/11 Restoration
After 10 months of petitioning by firefighters, Battery
Park City residents and local politicians, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency announced July 16 that it will spend $1.45 million to help reopen
the "10 House," the Liberty Street firehouse closed since Sept.
11 when it was badly damaged by the collapse of the World Trade Center.
(Posted July 19)
Mediation Is Tried in Post-9/11 Disputes
On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, the financially
wounded of the World Trade Center attack come to the 11th floor of the
Civil Court building hoping to rescue their small businesses from ruin.
As part of a new mediation program to save Downtown businesses, commercial
tenants and landlords meet behind closed courtroom doors to try to resolve
their disputes and avoid evictions. (Posted
July 3)
Students Now Say the Pledge at P.S. 89
Sitting or standing, hands at sides or over hearts,
with flags or without, children now recite the Pledge of Allegiance at
P.S. 89. This might not be news in most communities, but in the progressive
milieu of Downtown schools, it’s radical and controversial. (Posted
July 3)
Palm Trees Prep for Winter Garden Debut
In a custom-built shadehouse at a Florida nursery, 16
towering palm trees are being painstakingly prepared for their role in the
rebirth of the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden. The new trees,
which will replace palms that died after Sept. 11, have been acclimating
in Florida since January, to prevent the arboreal version of culture shock.
Moving to New York City, after all, requires some lifestyle adjustments.
(Posted July 3)
City to Shut Downtown’s Only Indoor Tennis
Unless its owners can extract a last-minute reprieve
from the city, Downtown’s only indoor tennis facility, a staple of
the Lower Manhattan waterfront for 30 years, will close on July 31. The
city, citing safety concerns, wants to evict the Wall Street Racquet Club
from Piers 13 and 14 on the East River, but the club’s owners, with
Community Board 1’s support, say they’re beeing booted unnecessarily.
Downtown tennis players, meanwhile, say they’re devastated. (Posted
July 3)
Residents Regroup to Derail Tower Proposed
for Site 5B
Some 70 Tribeca residents gathered
on June 20 to organize opposition to yet another proposal for a large
office building on Site 5B, across the street from P.S. 234. Community
Board 1 chair Madelyn Wils warned that developer Edward Minskoff was aggressively
pursuing his plan to erect a 600-foot-high tower, but reminded the group
that previous large development proposals for the site had failed. (Posted
July 3)
She Lives to Help Small Businesses Survive
Nothing makes Rosalie Tanaka happier than giving away
money. If only she could find more takers. (Posted
July 3)
With Cleanups Due This Month, EPA Tests Methods
Nine months after the collapse of the Twin Towers,
the federal Environmental Protection Agency began a pilot program in an
unoccupied building at 110 Liberty St. to test eight techniques for removing
indoor dust and debris. Air and dust will be tested for a wide range of
pollutants before and after the cleaning.
The EPA last month also prepared to clean Downtown apartments, but said
it did not expect to begin scheduling appointments until mid-July. As
of June 30, the agency had received 2,150 requests for free cleaning and
air testing and 575 calls for testing only, said Mary Mears, an EPA spokeswoman.
She added that the EPA was meeting with community groups and scientists
to formulate testing and cleaning protocols. To request an air test or
cleanup, call 877-796-5471.
River Park Plan to Be Revised After Community
Scrutiny
After a preliminary critique by Community Board 1,
the design for the Tribeca portion of Hudson River Park is being revised,
and CB1 will further review the plan at a public meeting on July 17. (Posted
July 3)
Worries Again Stir the Waters of North Cove
Just two months after chants of "No ferries! No
ferries!" subsided, and fears of NY Waterway boats dominating North
Cove faded, residents near the scenic marina are again concerned that
it will become a hub for large passenger boats. (Posted July 3)
Much Fingerpointing over Guardless Bridge
The empty guardhouse at the center of the Rector Street
Bridge, still shrink-wrapped and suspended between the bridge’s two
passageways, might as well be some funky art installation for all its
usefulness in providing the 24-hour security that public officials promised.
The absence of a guard on the two-month-old bridge has some Battery Park
City residents concerned about safety, but no government agency is taking
responsibility for the bridge’s security. (Posted
July 3)
Fly high along the Hudson at Trapeze School
If
Pier 25’s miniature golf and volleyball don’t appeal, how about
a flying trapeze? Or a park for stunt skating? Both are coming to the
Tribeca waterfront just north of Piers 25 and 26.
(Posted July 8)
IN BRIEF (Updated July
22)
El Teddy’s Is Staying Put
Mayor Comments on Proposed
Tweed Courthouse School
Soccer Registration
New Hotline for Residents’
Financial Incentives
CB1 Honors Firehouses and Police
Precinct
Major Redevelopment Forum
on July 20
Youth Sailing at Pier 26
Yankee Ferry Tours
Coast Guard Sailing
Seaport Greenmarket
More Tax-Free
Days Downtown
Museum
of Jewish Heritage Seeks Volunteers
Classes of 2002
This
year's graduates of local schools spent just a few final months in the
buildings where they belonged. It was a year they'll never forget. But
even as their principals hailed them for their bravery, it was clear that
these kids were just like kids anywhere. They were ready to move on.
(Posted July 8)
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