1. education
2. school

the broadsheet
Volume 19 Number 5
Referendum
Rumpus
SOuTHBRIDGE PRIvATIzATION FOES FILE SuIT TO
HALT PROCESS
A
MuNICIPAL ART SOCIETY
OPPOSES DEvELOPER’S PLAN
FOR TOwER ON EAST RIvER
Urban Planners Want a Different Plan
for South Street Seaport
By Matthew Fenton
By Matthew Fenton
group of Southbridge Towers
residents who are opposed to the
plan that would withdraw the giant
complex from Mitchell-Lama and
convert it to market prices, have
begun a lawsuit that seeks to halt the
process.
Southbridge Towers is a cooperative apartment development with
more than 1,600 units, located adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge, that was
built in the late 1960s under the
State’s Mitchell-Lama affordability
program. As it relates to cooperatives, Mitchell-Lama offered residents the opportunity to purchase an
apartment at very low prices (often
less than $10,000), but also capped
the sum they could collect when that
unit was eventually sold. (The limit
would usually be the original price,
plus bank interest for the number of
years the owner had occupied the
unit.) If enacted, the privatization
plan at Southbridge will mean that
residents who bought their units for
prices in the low five figures will, in
some cases, be able to cash out for
more than $1 million.
The anti-privatization suit, which
was filed in New York State Supreme
Court on Monday, asks the court to
nullify a November finding by the
State’s Division of Housing and
Community Renewal (DHCR) that
approved a vote by Southbridge residents in September, allowing the pricontinued on page 2
T
Foul Ball
M
“One swallow does not make a summer, but
one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of
March thaw, is the Spring.”
—Aldo Leopold
Fire & Ice
NEWS &
COMMENT
By Matthew Fenton
director Margaret Newman wrote,
“we share the preservation concerns
expressed by community advocates
and stakeholders including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer,
Council Member Margaret Chin, and
Manhattan Community Board 1 that
the location, scale, and density of the
current project are inappropriate.”
A spokesman for HHC responded, “our vision for the South
Street Seaport revitalizes the City’s
original commercial hub and birthplace of innovation, preserving the
area’s rich history, reestablishing connectivity to the waterfront and ensuring New York’s oldest new
neighborhood is a community that
remains sustainable for generations
to come. Our plan repairs the rapidly
decaying piers, restores the historic
Tin Building and offers a more resilient Pier 17 for all New Yorkers.”
Ms. Newman also raised the
issue of resiliency, noting, “we are
concerned that the project is in conflict with the City’s commitment to
increase the resiliency of Lower
Manhattan in the wake of Superstorm Sandy,” adding that, “the already-unusual step of designating
land east of the FDR Drive for residential development is particularly illadvised in light of our new resilience
continued on page 2
continued on page 3
Under STRESS? In PAIN?
Get Zumbafied
Robert Simko
Fuchsia and Frigidity: Take Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, but substitute floating ice for petals,
reeds, and willow leaves, and you have this recent Hudson River scene outside a Battery
Park City window—one of those poignant moments when all the other evidence of our eyes
is contradicted (and nearly confuted) by an almost palpable warmth of color.
ACUPUNCTURE
Dr. Jonathan L. Harwayne
In Battery Park City
Board Certified Acupuncturist
212-786-9292
Robert Simko
A Vanished World: Living across West Street from the World Trade Center complex in the
1980s and early 1990s was many things: an opportunity to watch Lower Manhattan (and especially Battery Park City) grow up in front of our eyes, a unique venue in which to raise a
family, and a place where the outside world seemed both close at hand and far away. At the
time, the only gym in Lower Manhattan was located on the top floor of the only hotel to
open south of Chambers Street since 1836: the Vista (center). The world’s perception of
Lower Manhattan as a curious amalgam of sleepy backwater and bustling center of the universe ended on September 11, 2001. But for those of us who lived here, that illusion evaporated almost a decade earlier, on February 26, 1993. (See story, page 3.)
The equivalent of one out of every
26 Americans visited Lower Manhattan in 2014. These 12.4 million
tourists, a 30 percent surge from
2013 levels, are just one indication of
the ongoing real estate renaissance
documented by a new report from
the Downtown Alliance. Lower Manhattan Real Estate Year in Review: 2014
illustrates that the area south of
Chambers Street, as gauged by a variety of metrics, is becoming one of
New York’s (and the nation’s) premier places to live, work, dine, or
visit. More than 75 new stores and
dining establishments opened in
2014, and Lower Manhattan’s median
residential rent held steady at $3,669,
nearly unchanged since the end of
2013. But the median sale price for
Lower Manhattan apartments has
jumped 34 percent since the start of
2011, from $850,000 to $1.14 million,
according to the Alliance report.
But Is There a Cookie Counter?
Behind in the Count: As they prepared for the 2015 season, Downtown Little League officials
discovered that funds were missing from their reserve account, apparently as a result of misappropriation by a former league officer. This incident appears to be a first in the organization’s two decade-plus history (although it is a relatively common problem for Little Leagues
across the nation), and will not affect play in the upcoming season. Opening Day festivities
are scheduled for mid-April, with the traditional gala parade. (See story at left.)
Accepting BlueCross BlueShield
ACUPUNCTURE-DOC.COM
ENROLL NOW
NOW FOR
FOR
DOWNTOWN DAY CAMPS:
The Battery Parks City Parks Conservancy is offering a package of ten
weekly zumba fitness classes (from
March 8 through May 10) in the
Community Center at Stuyvesant
High School, on Sunday afternoons
(from 3:00 to 4:00 pm). The cost is
$140 for members of the Community Center, and $150 for non-members. (Participants aged 17 or
younger pay only $50, and the dropin rate is $20 for adults and $10 for
kids.) For more information, browse
BPCParks.org, or call 212-267-9700.
This Joint Is Jumpin’
Robert Simko
can enhance your well-being
Robert Simko
All Rights Reserved © 2015 The Broadsheet Inc. ebroadsheet.com
DOwNTOwN
LITTLE LEAGuE STuNG
BY MISAPPROPRIATION
OF FuNDS
ore than $60,0000 is missing
from the cash reserve fund maintained by Downtown Little League
(DLL), apparently as a result of
unauthorized disbursements by a former league official. “we recently discovered a deficit in the DLL cash
reserve,” a statement, which was circulated by the league to parents of
players, acknowledged in early February. “The deficit in this reserve occurred due to unauthorized activity
within the DLL bank account. This
activity occurred without the knowledge or the consent of the DLL
board. The person responsible has
been identified, has admitted to acting alone, and has been removed
from any position of authority related to DLL.”
The name of the DLL official
who is believed to have misappropriated the funds is contained in documents reviewed by the Broadsheet, but
it is not being published to avoid stigmatizing his two school-age children,
who continue as members of DLL.
The statement circulated to parents said that “DLL is cooperating
fully with law enforcement, ...is exploring all options to recover funds
and has filed a claim under our
Crimes Insurance Coverage, [and]
...is working with our external accountant to enhance internal practices.”
The misappropriation of DLL
money appears to have taken place
after the close of the 2014 season,
according to two sources familiar
with the situation. But it was not discovered for several months, until
DLL began collecting registration
fees for the 2015 season.
Once the discrepancy was detected, DLL officials appear to have
moved swiftly and diligently to remedy the situation, contacting law enforcement, outside financial advisors,
and insurers. The DLL’s board also
quickly empaneled Internal Finance
and Audit committees to oversee the
An architect’s rendering for the redevelopment of the South Street Seaport planned by
the Howard Hughes Corporation, which includes a tall residential tower (center)
he Municipal Art Society
(MAS), a highly regarded nonprofit
urban planning group that advocates
for a more livable city, has announced its opposition to a central
component of the proposal by
Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC)
to redevelop the South Street Seaport. Along with a package of promised amenities (such as dozens of
units of affordable housing and a
new school), HHC proposes to erect
a 494-foot tall residential tower on
the East River , describing this component as the economic engine that
will make the others possible.
In a February 18 letter to Alicia
Glen, the de Blasio administration’s
deputy mayor for Housing and Economic Development, MAS executive
March 5 - 20, 2015
SUMMER DAY CAMP!
AGES 4-13
June 29
29–August
–August 21, 2015
Memories That Last a Lifetime
A
AGES:
GES: 4
4½
½ – 13 YEARS
The ongoing migration to Lower
Manhattan by groups that want to
make the world a better place continues, with the Girl Scouts of Greater
New York moving to 40 wall Street
(from the Flatiron District) at the
start of February. The 17,500-square
foot Girl Scouts of Greater New
York Leadership Center includes
program and training space for volunteers, a computer lab, a resource library (where Girl Scouts can develop
their signature “Take Action” public
service projects), and a new amenity
for the scouts themselves: “GSGNY
girlspace,” a gathering place for
young ladies aged five to 17.
Rollover, J.P. Morgan...
A former tabernacle of capitalism
may soon house a comedy club,
bowling alley, and video arcade. Latitude 360, a company that is building
a nationwide chain of venues that
house dining, movies, live entertainment, and upscale recreation facilities
under a single roof, is hoping to open
a flagship location at 23 wall Street,
the landmarked former headquarters
of the legendary J.P. Morgan & Company investment bank.
OPEN HOUSE
MARCH 22
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the broadsheet
Page 2
March 5 - 20, 2015
CIvIC GROuP OPPOSES SEAPORT TOwER
continued from page 1
Educational Breakthrough
FIDI-BASED ORGANIzATION INTERvENES IN THE LIvES OF uNDERPRIvILEGED OvERACHIEvERS
reality,” and noted that, “just last year, into the water.”
the u.S. Department of Housing and
The “Big u” Ms. Newman reurban Development allocated $335 ferred to is a plan to create a ten-mile
million for the creation of The Big u long semicircle of flood barriers,
to protect Lower Manhattan areas stretching from the East 40s on the
that lie within our
East River, to the
floodplain, which
west 50s along
includes the Seathe
Hudson.
port. we ask the
Rather than traCity to clarify how
ditional walls deit intends to recsigned to hold
oncile the Hughes
back water, the
proposal—a projBig u would inect that calls for a
corporate multiresidential tower
ple kinds infraand school jutting
structure, such
out into East
as parks, all built
River—with reinto the landsiliency efforts to
scape and debuffer our watersigned to fight
front with floodflooding. Only
A rendering of the Big U plan in the the first phase of
protection zones.”
Seaport neighborhood
A
source
this
project,
close to Howard Hughes replied that stretching from Montgomery Street
the company’s “whole plan is de- to East 23rd Street, has been funded,
signed to be resilient and sustainable, and will consume the entire federal
and the alternative as of now is to allocation of $335 million mentioned
watch the piers continue to crumble in Ms. Newman’s letter.
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Julia Perkins, High School Director at Breakthrough New York, leads a workshop for students and parents
on maximizing the prospects for success in the college admissions process.
non-profit that recently planted its flag in the heart of the Financial
District is making a dramatic difference in the live of hundreds of New York
kids. Breakthrough New York (BTNY) is a college access and success program designed to help high-potential, low-income students get into four-year
colleges, and then to help them graduate.
“we began as a middle-school program that intervened in the lives of
kids during the summer after sixth grade,” recalls BTNY executive director
Rhea wong, “and we would continue to help those students during the seventh and eighth grades, and the summer between, plus guide them to a high
school that offered a path to college. So we were, at that time, making a twoyear commitment to these kids and asking them for the same. Then we expanded to helping those same kids succeed in high school and get admitted
to college, which meant a six-year relationship. Now, we are expanding into
helping them graduate college, which means we will have a decade-long affiliation with the sixth graders who apply to the program this year. In the
process, we have gone from being a college access program to success program.”
BTNY targets the best and the brightest among at-risk populations of
young New Yorkers: talented kids who come from families living below the
poverty line, and who live in impoverished communities. (The average income
for the household of a BTNY student is $42,000 for a family of four.) The
organization intervenes with after-school tutoring (twice a week) and summer
enrichment programs, along with guidance, mentoring, and much more. All
the services provided by BTNY are free of charge.
“what makes us different,” says Ms. wong, “is that we start making a difference in kids’ lives during middle school, while most college success programs don’t begin until high school. But that is often too late. Middle school
is where many kids make decisions that will put them, even if they don’t know
it, either on a track that leads to college education, or else on a path that is
unlikely to include higher education. And the public high school choice program here in New York means that seventh grade is crucial in determining
whether a kid goes to a secondary school that puts them on the college track.”
Steering middle-schoolers toward the best high schools is a centerpiece
of the BTNY program. “One advantage that kids with more support have
going for them is being better prepared academically, because they went to
better high schools,” observes Ms. wong. “we consider only 31 of New York
City’s 452 public high schools to be true college preparatory programs. And
100 percent of our kids go to those 31 schools, or else to private and parochial
high schools.”
“Our mantra is ‘relationships matter,’” says Ms. wong. “we’re invested,
connected, and committed for ten years. we effectively become surrogate parents, by engaging in what we call a ‘conspiracy of care.’ This means we’re very
involved in all aspects of the lives of our students: academics and social life,
even diet and exercise.”
She points out that, “students from middle class and more affluent families have a robust safety net around them. The children we serve don’t have
the same kind of support system. All kids make mistakes,” she reflects. “That’s
part of growing up. But for affluent kids, it’s possible to rebound, while poor
kids often don’t get a second chance. So we create social capital and social
support to make that possible.”
“Look at kids whose parents and grandparents have gone to college,” Ms.
wong says. “They have a different level of understanding and opportunities.
Our job is to replicate this web of support for kids who otherwise wouldn’t
have it. we build networks, because access changes everything.”
while BTNY provides services to middle school students at three satellite
locations (in Brooklyn and the Bronx, as well as on the upper East Side), all
of its services for high school and college students are located at the organization’s new Financial District headquarters, at 123 william Street. Before
moving there last fall, Ms. wong recalls, “we were based in the offices of the
Edwin Gould Foundation on Exchange Place.” The Gould Foundation’s “accelerator” (a kind of incubator for non-profits that seek to improve outcomes
for low-income students) was a fine as an administrative base, Ms. wong says,
“but for facilities where we could host students, we had to depend on the
kindness of strangers.”
That changed with the move to 123 william Street. “Now that we have
our own offices,” Ms. wong says, “we can host high school students for academic tutoring, standardized test prep classes, and workshops in time management and study skills. High school seniors also come here to get help in
making a list of college to apply to,
coaching for applications and interviews, and career-readiness workshops.” BTNY additionally organizes
(and pays for) trips to visit colleges,
and helps newly admitted college
freshman complete financial aid applications. Both high school and college students also attend career
readiness workshops and get help
obtaining internships at 123 william
Street.
BTNY is now accepting applications from New York City sixth
Breakthrough New York executive
graders (currently enrolled in a pubdirector Rhea Wong
lic, charter, or parochial school) for
its “Class of 2025.” Ms. wong explains, “that’s when kids who finish sixth
grade this year will graduate college. And that’s how long we intended to be
working with them.”
To apply, or to request more information, e-mail [email protected]. The
are 100 spaces available for the upcoming year, but five times that many applications are expected. The deadline for filing is March 18. Criteria include
academic performance and demonstrated financial need.
BTNY operates under the umbrella of Breakthrough Collaborative, a network of similar programs with 26 sites around the united States, plus one international outpost based in Hong Kong. Founded in 1978 (and originally
called Summer Bridge National), the organization has since intervened in the
lives of more than 40,000 children nationwide.
SOuTHBRIDGE PRIvATIzATION OPPONENTS FILE SuIT OvER SEPTEMBER vOTE
continued from page 1
vatization process to move forward.
agreeing to exclude 44 apartments for reasons ber referendum. Rather, they are contending that
A hearing was held yesterday, at which South- ranging from vacancy to absentee owners to legal the number of votes required to approve privatibridge’s board of directors agreed not to file a cer- succession following the death of an owner. State zation should have been two-thirds of the total
tificate of reincorporation with the New York law requires that any cooperative withdrawing number of apartments at Southbridge (1649 units),
State Secretary of
from the Mitchell-Lama program get regardless of the individual status of any of those
State before another
a vote of two-thirds of the apart- apartments, and not two-thirds of any number less
hearing can be held,
ments to agree. But the DHCR’s will- than 1649.
next week. (This filing
ingness to disallow 44 of
“The purpose of this legal action is to assure
is a crucial milestone
Southbridge’s 1649 apartments had Southbridge shareholders that a fair and just result
on the road to privatithe effect, the suit alleges, of lowering was reached by the vote that took place in Septemzation.) At next week’s
the threshold from two-thirds of 1649 ber,” says Paul Hovitz, a Southbridge resident who
hearing, the privatizato two-thirds of 1607. (The
is one of the leaders
tion opponents plan to
reduced total was 1607,
of the anti-privatiask the court for a prerather than 1605, as a result
zation
group.
liminary injunction,
of dual-ownership of two
“There are quesbarring Southbridge’s
units.)
tions that have been
board from filing the
In the September ballot,
raised that make this
certificate of reincorthe owners of 1082 Southunclear, and that’s
poration at a future
bridge apartments vote to
the reason for this
Southbridge Tower’s board chair
date, which would efsupport privatization, which
suit: to clarify
Wally Dimson, who supports the plan
fectively bar the privawas ten more than would be
whether the shareto privatize the complex
tization plan from
needed if the total number
holders were truly
being enacted.
apartments eligible to vote was 1607, but
and justly repre“This doesn’t change anything,” says wally 18 fewer than would have been needed
sented.” Mr. Hovitz
Dimson, the chairman of Southbridge’s board and if the total of eligible apartments was
added that the quessupporter of privatization. “we wouldn’t have 1649. As a result, the suit alleges,
tion of whether
been able to file the certificate of reincorporation “DHCR’s arbitrary disqualification of
Southbridge resident and privatization Southbridge should
next week even if this lawsuit have never been certain classes of voters changed the reremain
in
the
opponent Paul Hovitz
filed. we still have several steps to complete first, sult of the vote.” The suit goes on to
Mitchell-Lama prosuch as additional filings with DHCR and the State argue that DHCR had no legal authority to disal- gram, “is a separate issue.”
Attorney General’s office.”
low the votes of those 44 apartments.
Spokesmen for DHCR (the primary defendant
At its heart, the suit alleges that DHCR arbiThe opponents of privatization are not argu- in the lawsuit) and the Attorney General’s office
trarily lowered the number of votes required to ap- ing, for example, that a deceased apartment owner did not respond to requests for comment for this
prove the Southbridge privatization plan, by should have been expected to vote in the Septem- story.
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Or contact Prof.Sharon Moran
[email protected]
or 929-244-027
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HOUSEKEEPING
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THE BROADSHEET INC
Editor in chief ~ Matthew Fenton
BroadsheetDAILY Editor ~ Jack Pickering
Contributors ~ Marti Ann Cohen-wolf,
uriah Frederick, Caroline Press, Brian Rogers,
Sarah Smedley
Advertising manager ~ Kris Frederick
Publisher ~ Robert Simko
[email protected]
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Next Issue: March 20
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March 5 - 20, 2015
Page 3
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Remembering the Boom Times
N
REMEMBERING THE 1993 BOMBING
OF THE wORLD TRADE CENTER
A Pentimento by Robert Simko
BC News anchor Brian williams, veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald,
and Senator Richard Blumenthal, have some good company: me. No, I don’t claim to
have been shot down in Iraq, to have served in vietnam, or been a member of Special
Forces. Instead, here’s the verifiable history about me: I have lived in Lower Manhattan
since the late 1970s and in Battery Park City from the early 1980s. I worked as a commercial photographer and my wife Alison was a writer when we married in 1987. Our first
child was born in 1989.
when the facts start to get fuzzy is the morning of February 26, 1993, which I remember as a cold day. I had a portrait assignment that took me to Camden, New Jersey
to photograph some executives of the Campbell Soup Company. I left early in the morning and drove through the Holland Tunnel, making my way the 90 miles to Camden, New
Jersey for a late morning appointment.
I remember that the photo shoot ended a little bit past noon. After packing up my
photo equipment, I received a call from Alison to let know that there had been an explosion at the world Trade Center, across the street from our home in Gateway Plaza. She
told me that she had heard the blast and felt the windows rattle.
Alison was unharmed, but worried, and she had our three year old daughter Lucy in
her arms. She was concerned, too, that I wouldn’t be able to get back to Lower Manhattan
as sirens and all kinds of law enforcement encircled the world Trade Center, evacuating
the complex and investigating the incident.
I remember the Holland Tunnel was closed and Lower Manhattan sealed off. It
quickly became clear that there was no way I was getting back home that day, and instead
I spent the night with family in New Jersey, making my way back home the next day by
public transportation.
Interestingly, the explosion left little external damage on the towers, with the exception
of the huge lobby windows that fire fighters smashed to vent the smoke from the base-
On February 26, 1993 a rented Ryder panel truck carrying 1,336 pounds of explosives parked
in the underground garage beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center. After setting a
12-minute fuse, the bombers hurried away and were reported to have lingered at nearby J&R
Music to hear the explosion and watch the anticipated collapse of the North Tower into the
South Tower. They savored the first, but were deprived of the second. Six people died from the
explosion and smoke inhalation, while thousands were injured during the evacuation. The
perpetrators were apprehended a few days later, when they demanded back their deposit on
the truck, from an automotive rental clerk who turned out to be an FBI agent in disguise.
ment. As weeks turned to months, downtowners grew accustomed to gazing at the mayhem and it was probably a year before everything returned to normal.
In January, a few weeks before the bombing, I was given an assignment to photograph
the new wine steward at windows on the world. I assumed afterward that the job would
be cancelled. But to my surprise, I was summoned once more only a month later.
Taking pictures in the wine cellar of the renowned restaurant (which still had not reopened) was an eerie experience. As I looked around, all the tables in the dining room
were as they had been left the day of the blast, but covered in a noxious diesel soot that
wafted its way up the elevator shafts.
weeks later, with the investigation finished and reconstruction started, piles of debris
were deposited along west Street, before being carted away. Once, when crossing, I picked
up a fist sized chunk of concrete from the basement rubble. I still have it today, next to
my jar of dust from September 11, 2001.
Fast forward to another time, after the terrorist attacks that would eclipse the memory
of the 1993 bombing: I was asked about the earlier incident and caught myself saying, “I
felt the blast of the explosion against the windows of the apartment.” what I was actually
remembering was Alison telling me her experience.
This forced me to rethink and reimagine my memory of that day. Thumbing through
Now enrolling Kindergarten, 1st Grade & 2nd Grade for 2015-2016
This pre-1993 view of Liberty Street (looking east) shows the Marriott World Trade Center
Hotel (left foreground), Four World Trade Center (left background), a seldom-used pedestrian
bridge (center) that connected the World Trade Center complex to the Deutsche Bank Building
(right background), and the Liberty Street pedestrian bridge (right foreground). Of all the
structures, the latter is the only one not completely destroyed on September 11, 2001.
OPEN HOUSE DATES
January 21 & January 28
9:30-10:30am & 5:30-6:30pm
25 Pine Street
between William & Nassau
Pine Street
School
BPCA EARNED $167
MILLION LAST YEAR
T
Excess Revenue Goes to City Treasury
and to Support Affordable Housing
By Matthew Fenton
he Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) earned $167 million in excess revenue for the
fiscal year that ended last October 31, 2014 according to financial results discussed at the
agency’s January 22 board meeting, as well as an annual financial report that was made public
shortly afterward. The BPCA collected $236 million in revenue during its 2014 fiscal year, an
increase of approximately $20 million, accord to the BPCA’s chief financial officer, Robert
Serpico. From the gross revenue it collects each year, the BPCA deducts operating expenses,
the largest of which is service on its debt-load of slightly more than $1 billion.
Once the BPCA’s expenses are covered, PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) funds are transferred directly to the City, as the equivalent of tax revenue. For the 12 months ending last
October 31, the BPCA is remitting some $124 million to the City in the form of PILOT payments. These funds go into the City’s budget for any use that the Mayor and the legislature
deem appropriate. After operating expenses, ground rents (along with other revenue sources)
are disbursed according to a series of agreements between government agencies. The most
recent of these, reached in 2010, requires the BPCA remit to the City a total of $461 million
in coming years, to be used for affordable housing. The first $200 million is committed to the
City’s 421a tax abatement program, which provides owners or developers of multi-family
apartment buildings with a subsidy in the form of lower taxes. with the most recent payment
of $42 million toward the BPCA’s housing commitment, the mandate of $200 million to support the 421a program has been fulfilled, and the Authority has begun paying into its second
housing obligation, of $261 million. This revenue stream is directed to the City’s Housing
Development Corporation, which uses low-interest loans to finance the creation and preservation of affordable housing for low-, moderate-, and middle-income residents.
continued from page 1
a dictionary, I was interested to learn that the Latin root for “remember” translates roughly
as, “to be mindful again.” And on this day, 22 years after the fact, it is appropriate to be
mindful once more of a shock that could rattle Lower Manhattan residents (psychologically, if not physically) almost 100 miles away.
Space is limited. Please RSVP
at [email protected].
Richard Marchitto, DMD
42 Broadway, Suite 1536
212.968.0631
[email protected]
wtcdentalgroup.com
DOwNTOwN LITTLE LEAGuE FuNDS MISSING
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Formerly in Tribeca, Chander Auto Repair has relocated to Mott Haven in
the Bronx and for your convenience is now offering
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handling of funds, as well as instituting new
controls.
Staffed entirely by parent volunteers, the
organization has long operated on the basis
of mutual trust. Such an atmosphere, combined with a favorable history (there is no
record of DLL, in nearly a quarter of a century of operation, ever having experienced a
similar instance of wrongdoing) may have
made it difficult for the group’s leaders to anticipate the predicament they are now faced
with. “After this experience,” one source acknowledged, “the league will definitely be
more careful and formal about handling
money in the future, but this was due to the
misconduct of one person, not any collective
lapse on the part of the parents who make
Little League possible.”
DLL leaders also appear to have strived
for maximum transparency through this
painful episode. The first statement circulated
by the League acknowledged that money was
missing, but omitted some key details, such
as the amount and the name of the official
believed to have absconded with the funds.
These specifics were temporarily withheld at
the urging of law enforcement, who warned
that circulating this information prematurely
could compromise their investigation. A few
days later, once investigators approved the release of the information, the name of the alleged perpetrator and the amount he is
believed to have taken were circulated to
DLL parents in a second e-mail.
The good news appears to be that the
missing funds will in no way affect DLL’s operations. The statement sent to parents emphasized that, “none of the money collected
since DLL opened registration on December
1, 2014 for the upcoming season has been
compromised,” and that the organization, “is
completely solvent and will be able to administer organized softball and baseball activities
for the spring season as planned.” A second
statement, issued a few days later, added, “the
League is solvent, and our 2015 season will
progress as planned.” (There is also a strong
possibility of recovering a significant portion
of the missing funds through DLL’s insurance coverage.)
In the days after news of the problem
was circulated, DLL fielded more than a
dozen calls and e-mails from Lower Manhattan parents offering to make contributions to
cover the missing funds. (The league gratefully declined these offers, according to a
source familiar with the situation.) The reserve fund from which money is missing is
not used for day-to-day operations, but instead is allocated for dealing with emergencies (such as Hurricane Sandy) and long-term
reinvestment in baseball and softball.
The DLL’s second message to parents
concluded with these words: “Finally, we ask
that you consider [name omitted by Broadsheet]’s family, who remain members of DLL.
we support their continued participation in
our program and trust that you will show the
same respect and understanding that are hallmarks of our community.”
SUNDAYS
SUNDA
SUND
AYS AT
AT ST.
ST. PAUL’S
PA
P
AUL
UL’S
’S
NEW
45-minute
45-min
ute service
service Sundays
Sunda
undayys at 9:15am.
Relaxed. Participatory. Joyful.
St. Paul’s Chapel | Broadwa
wayy and Fulton Street
trinit
initywal
ywallstreet.org/stpauls
the broadsheet
LETTERS
Page 4
March 5 - 20, 2015
Volume 19 Number 5
RIVERWATCH
Arrivals &
Departures
Southbridge
Conversion
Cruise Ships in the Harbor
To the Editor,
Democracy wins.
Regarding the voting process for the
privatization of Southbridge Towers
Co-op, we have just been officially
informed that in the last stage of
voting, over two-thirds necessary
have opted to participate with few
dissenters so far in the privatization
thus enabling the plan to be put into
effect.
I want to congratulate everyone
involved in agreeing to a once-in-a
lifetime opportunity to own your
own home (for many the American
dream) for almost no cost by simply
casting your positive vote.
I respect the right of the opposition to pursue their opinion but
what I believe is truly shameful are
the extremes the opposition went to
prevent their neighbors from exercising their democratic, legal and
personal right to vote about it for
more than six years. This was done by their unending legal challenges and exceptions
to the terms of the Black Book with
the NYS Attorney General which
necessarily established the terms, information, valuation and potential
costs for co-operators resulting in an
extended process for more than six
years which produced extensive
costly, time-consuming revisions far
beyond any other conversion (with
which I am familiar).
This strategy created a Black
Book the size of a telephone directory going far beyond solely protecting the rights and interests of the
co-op tenants and ignoring the fact
that the sponsors of the conversion
involved fourteen of fifteen SBT
elected board members and a majority of the tenants who voted for the
process who have equally the same
to gain and lose in fulfilling the original intent of keeping the middle
class in NYC with the sense of control and ownership of a co-op, not
city low-cost housing. Realizing this
contradiction, lawmakers later allowed the co-operators the right to
vote to be a true co-op like all the
rest.
what we see is a relatively
small, determined, group of anti-privatizationists with the leadership of
one current board member, two exboard members (one now opted in)
and a current board member now
opted in with an attorney deliberately doing everything possible up to
the final vote and after (with appeals)
to deny the large majority from having their entitled personal voting say.
You may rest assured this abuse
of the democratic rights and interests of fellow co-operators will be
remembered, especially in the elections to come to see if they are defeated again. It will be interesting to
see whether those who opposed privatization choose to become owners
or remain tenants in the current ongoing option process. Actions do
speak louder than words.
The light at the end of the endlessly delayed tunnel we are now seeing will be an additional sense of the
blessed worth in living at Southbridge Towers.
—Sy Schleimer
Many ships pass Battery Park City on their way to and
from the midtown passenger ship terminal. Others may
be seen on their way to or from docks in Brooklyn and
Bayonne. Stated times, when appropriate, are for
passing the Colgate Clock and are based on sighting
histories, published schedules and intuition.
they are also subject to tides, fog, winds, freak waves,
hurricanes and the whims of upper management.
INBOUND OUTBOUND
Sunday, March 8 Norwegian Breakaway Monday, March 9 Norwegian Gem
Friday, March 13 Quantum of the Seas
Sunday, March 15 Norwegian Breakaway
wednesday, March 18 Norwegian Gem
Saturday, March 21 Quantum of the Seas
Sunday, March 22 Norwegian Breakaway
Friday, March 27 Norwegian Gem
Saturday, March 29 Quantum of the Seas
Norwegian Breakaway
Robert Simko
Ice, Ice Everywhere, and Not a Drink to Drop It In: In the days before steam and diesel,
seagoing vessels maneuvered by dint of wind and tide and muscle, none of which were
worth a damn against ice. A docked ship caught by floating frost could be stranded until
the floe ebbed in spring, and rime was the reason. The earliest European settlers in New
York learned quickly that the North River (later called the Hudson) turned into hard white
crystals nearly every winter. So the East River emerged as the mooring location of choice,
which is why the South Street Seaport became the berthplace (and thus the birthplace) of
modern New York. Once steam power debuted, small tugs would assist larger ships, or
those with hardened hulls could simply crack through the ice. Today, U.S. Coast Guard cutters like the Willow chop and crunch their way through the frozen river, keeping lanes
open. (This is nearly a matter of life and death on the northern reaches of the Hudson,
where communities would quickly run out of heating oil if barges could not get through to
replenish local supplies.) Closer to home, tugs assist ferries in their appointed rounds.
CALENDAR
SAT 7
Iggy Peck, Architect
Young learners will be introduced to basics
architecture through a reading of Andrea
Beaty’s picture book “Iggy Peck, Architect.”
After the story, the young architects will use
different materials to design their own skyscraper. Ages 2+. RSVP required. $5.
10:30am-11:45am. Skyscraper Museum,
39 Battery Pl. www.skyscraper.org
Letters from Anne and
Martin
Mark the 50th anniversary of the Selma to
Montgomery march, which led to the passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, with a
performance of the Anne Frank Center’s
signature theater piece, Letters from Anne
and Martin. Followed by a Q&A with the
performers, and an interactive workshop.
Family program for ages 10 and up. Reservations recommended. $8, $5. 2pm3:30pm. Anne Frank Center, 44 Park Pl.
212-431-7993. www.annefrank.com
The Charles Oxman, (originally the H.S. Falk) is seen
motoring about opening up lanes for ferries, providing
safe passage from the terminal to open water. The 90foot Charles Oxman was built in the 1940s and is probably one of the last steam tugs ever launched. In later
years, she was refitted with a 16-cylinder diesel engine, giving her 3,600 horsepower turning a single
propeller. That, plus her steel hull, keeps the ice at
bay.
SUN 8
Voce: Rising Opera Stars
in Recital
Praised by the New York Times as “nimble
of voice, body and spirit,” soprano Anna
Christy continues to impress and delight audiences with an extraordinary blend of
sparkling voice, powerful stage presence,
and innate musicality. $39. 3pm. Pace University Schimmel Center for the Arts, 3
Spruce Street. www.pace.edu/schimmel
TUE 10
Genealogy of American
Finance
Join the Museum and Columbia Business
School Publishing for a talk and reception
to celebrate the launch of the Museum's
new book, Genealogy of American Finance,
by Robert E. Wright and Richard Sylla. Free.
5:30pm. Museum of American Finance, 48
Wall Street. www.moaf.org
If You Find This Letter
Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters
to Strangers. Free. 6pm. Barnes & Noble,
97 Warren St. www.barnesandnoble.com
Making a Living, Making
a Life
Book talk by Daniel Rose. Among New
York’s famed “families” of real estate, the
Roses of Rose Associates are most closely
identified with the residential sector. Making A Living, Making A Life brings together
many of his best essays and speeches.
Free. 6:30pm. Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place. www.skyscraper.org
of women who have been involved in the
rebuilding and revitalization of the World
Trade Center will talk about their roles in a
complex project. Free. 6:30pm. Tribute WTC
120 Liberty Street. www.tributewtc.org
Pen Parentis
Authors Cara Hoffman, Nic Esposito and
Chris Tarry. The night begins at 7pm with
MUSIC LO
LLOVERS
OVERS
VERS
REJOICE!
Free concerts weekly at Trinity Church
Broadway at Wall Street
March 5 - 19, 2015
SEASONAL CHANGE ALOFT
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
Please confirm information as details may have changed since we compiled this calendar
The Covenant Kitchen: Women Who Plan the
Food and Wine for the New World Trade Center
New Jewish Table
In recognition of Women’s Month, a panel
Authors Jeff and Jodie Morgan in conversation with Mark Russ Federman, Russ and
Daughters. This new volume from Napa Valley's Covenant Winery offers kosher wine
pairings for the sophisticated palate. Enjoy
a tasting of Covenant's acclaimed wines.
$10, $7, $5. 2:30pm. Museum of Jewish
Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, 36 Battery Place. www.mjhnyc.org
EYES TO THE SKY
from “Leisure” by William Henry Davies
networking over wine. Readings and signings will be followed by Q&A. Pen Parentis
Literary Salons were founded to celebrate
the creative work of writers that are also
parents. At the Hotel Andaz, 75 Wall St.
Free. 7pm. www.penparentis.org
Nguyen Phan Que Mai
Reading and discussion with Bruce Weigl.
Nguyen Phan Que Mai is an award-winning
Vietnamese writer, journalist and translator. The most recent of her four books of
poetry, The Secret of Hoa Sen, offers intimate glimpses into daily life in the streets,
houses, and fields of post-war Vietnam.
Bruce Weigl, renowned translator and Que
Mai's collaborator on this latest book, is the
author of 13 poetry collections. $10, $7.
7pm. Poets House, 10 River Terrace.
www.poetshouse.org
WED 11
THU 12
Fighting
Over
the
Founders: How We Remember the American
Revolution
The American Revolution serves as a source
of powerful founding myths and remains
the most accessible and most contested
event in US history. $10. 6:30pm. Fraunces
Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl Street.
www.frauncestavernmuseum.org
SAT 14
The Gruffalo’s Child
One wild and windy night the Gruffalo’s
child ignores her father’s warning and tiptoes out into the snow. Adapted from the
picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel
Scheffler. Ages 4 & Up. $25. 1:30pm.
Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street. www.tribecapac.org
Artifacts and Memories:
The Drawings of Nancy
Hannah Brencher, the founder of The World
Framing Memories
Woman I Am... Radmilla Needs More Love Letters, discusses her new Patz
Collage workshop for young people, honbook If You Find This Letter: My Journey to Part of the Helpers, Heroes and Liberators oring a special object or treasure which
Cody
Radmilla Cody is an award winning recording artist of traditional Diné songs and
music, often performed in the Diné language. Ms. Cody, a survivor of domestic
abuse, uses her personal experience to advocate strongly against the epidemic of violence against women. Free. 2pm-3:30pm.
Smithsonian's National Museum of the
American Indian, One Bowling Green.
www.americanindian.si.edu
7:15a 3:30p Bahamas & Florida
7:15a 4:30p Eastern Caribbean
6:15a (Bayonne) 4:30p Bahamas
7:15a 3:30p Bahamas and Florida
9:15a 4:30p Eastern Caribbean
6:15a(Bayonne)4:30p Caribbean 7:15a 3:30p Bahamas and Florida
9:15a 4:30p Eastern Caribbean
6:15a (Bayonne)4:30p Bahamas
7:15a 3:30p Bahamas and Florida
season commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
Also March 12-14. Opening reception March
11 at 6pm. $8, $5. 10am-5pm. Anne Frank
Center, 44 Park Place. www.annefrank.com
Bach at One
The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity
Baroque Orchestra perform the cantatas of
Johann Sebastian Bach each week as part
of “Bach at One.” At St. Paul’s Chapel. Free.
1pm. www.trinitywallstreet.org
First Move
Dance performance. A reflection on the mature dancing body: its history, its knowledge, its possibilities, and its limitations.
This work makes visible the internal archive
of the dancer’s body through the kaleidoscopic interweaving of individuals and materials—people meet, divide, and weave
into and out of each other’s worlds. $20,
$15. 7:30pm-9pm. Also March 12-14. Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway, Entrance at 53
Chambers St. www.gibneydance.org
they will bring with them that day. Participants will create a framed and matted collage with the use of mixed media and craft
material. Family program for ages 8 and
up. Space limited. Reservations recommended. $8, $5. 2pm-3:30pm. Anne Frank
Center, 44 Park Place. www.annefrank.com
SUN 15
Amanda Selwyn Dance
Theatre
Presenting Renewal, a work that unpacks
the state of being made new, fresh, or
strong again – dramatizing how we re-invent ourselves again and again over time.
With Selwyn’s fresh and vibrant movement
language of extended limbs, physical risk,
athleticism, energy, release, touch, and balance, she will activate emotional expression and offer many in-roads for audiences
to make meaning for themselves. $25.
3pm. Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199
Chambers Street. www.tribecapac.org
Seasonal change is aloft, visible in the nighttime skyscape and, though elusive on the ground, can be sensed when we linger among the trees in
broad daylight, looking up into their crowns. The Full Sap Moon, March
5th, celebrates the awakening of our maple trees.
I am bemused to see winter's all-night stars -- that were rising in the east
at nightfall in December -- are now high in the south in the early evening.
They lean westward by 10 o’clock, poised to slip under the cover of the
horizon around midnight. Mighty Orion the Hunter is the leader; his foot
star Rigel first to set, around 11pm. Orion’s shoulder star, Betelgeuse, is
above three stars in a row, his belt. Orion’s 2 dog stars, Procyon above and
left of Betelgeuse, Sirius below Procyon, form the Winter Triangle.
With the beginning of Daylight Savings Time (DST) on Sunday the 8th, our
skygazing rhythm is disrupted. For many, prime time is around 6:30–
7:30pm Eastern Standard Time, which is 7:30–8:30pm DST. Be sure to
continue to enjoy planets Venus and Mars during this timeframe. While adjusting to the later sunset hour, look to the wonder of an artificially later
sunrise hour; morning stargazing and planet watching until 6:30am DST.
Judy Isacoff
NaturesTurn.org
Concerts
Concer
oncerts
oncer
ts at
at One • Thursdays
hursdays • 1p
1pm
Take a musical lunch break. This concert series features acclaimed
vocal and instrumental performances ranging from jazz to classical.
For a complete schedule, visit
trinitywallstreet.org/concertsatone