Downtown Post NYC
Urban Naturalist, Gabriel Willow, aboard Manhattan II, for the Seals, Seabirds and Winter Wildlife Tour to Swinburne and Hoffman Islands. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Mara Tamkovich, the writer and director of "Under The Grey Sky," which was her first feature film. She was born in Belarus but lived in Poland for 17 years. The Polish Film Institute helped to finance "Under the Grey Sky." (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Battery Park City Authority
Events and Classes Online
Every year, the Battery Park City Authority calendar includes hundreds of programs and classes. Usually these take place in Battery Park City and are open both to residents and people from other parts of the city. Most of the events and classes are free. The BPCA has a YouTube channel where it shares dozens of videos produced by the BPCA's Parks Programming team. Topics include music, art, athletics, nature, cooking, culture, and more. To view the selection, click here.
An abandoned, 10-story-tall grain elevator looms over the Atlantic Basin. It was constructed in 1922 to enable grain from the midwest to be loaded into ships in New York Harbor. It was never commercially successful and was last used in 1965. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
This year Battery Dance celebrated its 43rd anniversary of free dance performances in Lower Manhattan. On August 11, 2024, the opening night of this year's festival, the McKoy Dance Project of Brooklyn presented the premiere of a dance called "Love, Nina" danced by Aanyse Pettiford-Chandler, choreographed by Derick McKoy Jr. and set to music by Nina Simone. Also on Aug. 11, Battery Dance premiered "Frontiers" by Dutch/Turkish choreographer Rutkay Özpinar. (Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
FOR THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE DOWNTOWN POST NYC NEWSLETTER, CLICK HERE
Much of the Brooklyn waterfront has a rusted and tarnished look that differs markedly from the bustle of the Staten Island waterfront where huge cargo ships arrive daily from many parts of the world. For instance, there's a ship named the Loujaine docked in Brooklyn's Erie Basin whose maritime career started almost 60 years ago when she worked for a Saudi Arabian company called Arabian Bulk Trade. Later converted into a cement carrier, she was acquired by GBX whose main business was once cement. She is now permanently anchored at their long dock and used as floating storage. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Staten Island ferry timetable
The Staten Island Ferry is free and offers service 24 hours a day. The trip between Lower Manhattan and Staten Island takes approximately 25 minutes. For more information, click here.
Checkpoint Zoo, playing at the Tribeca Film Festival, is an important movie that makes the insanity of the Russian invasion of Ukraine vivid and even more horrifying and destructive than stories in print can convey. In 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion, around 5,000 animals were trapped at the Feldman Ecopark, a zoo just outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine, near the Russian border. With the animals running out of food and water and stressed and imperiled by Russian bombs, a heroic team of zookeepers and volunteers undertook to rescue as many of the animals as possible. The animals needing to be evacuated included lions and tigers who were capable of maiming or killing their rescuers as well as smaller, more docile animals.
The bewildered suffering of the animals in the film is poignant. They make the species “homo sapiens” seem despicable in its capacity to harm gratuitously only balanced by the capacity of humans to care and to try to behave in ways that are compassionate and noble.
— Terese Loeb Kreuzer
For more information, click here.
Fictional journalist Lena Antonova is played by Aliaksandra Vaitsekhovich in a film at this year's Tribeca Festival called "Under the Grey Sky." The film is based on a true story and concerns the persecution and imprisonment of a journalist who was broadcasting footage of massive protests in November 2020 against the rigged election of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. The journalist on whom the film is based is named Katsiaryna Andreyeva. She has been in prison for four years of an eight year sentence with no prospect for early release.
The Greek, formerly called "Greca," has been a neighborhood amenity in northwestern Tribeca since it opened at 452 Washington St. in 2017. A family-owned and operated restaurant, from the beginning it offered well-made food at less than stratospheric prices. When Covid-19 hit in 2020 and indoor gatherings were deemed risky or prohibited, "Greca" as it was then called enlarged its grocery offerings so that people could stop in briefly and buy vegetables, dairy products and other things they needed to cook at home. A bakery on the premises made bread. For those who wanted to stay and eat, tables were set up outside under the shelter of a roof that was part of the construction then going on in the building in which Greca was located. Although many restaurants went under during the Covid-19 pandemic, Greca wasn't one of them. It survived because it reinvented itself to serve the needs of its community.
Recently Greca has officially changed its name to "The Greek" and has renovated its premises. It has also augmented its menu, retaining many of the dishes that customers have grown to love and offering some new ones based on the cooking of Thessaloniki in northern Greece where the family comes from and where Anastasia, the matriarch of the family, still lives. Among the new items on the menu are lamb sausage served with feta yogurt and harissa, a stew comprised of seared steak and forest mushrooms topped with mizithra cheese, baked feta served with tomato, pepper and herbs, and stewed string beans accompanied by potatoes, made with flat beans called "Roma."
The Greek is open from Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner. The hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, click here. The Greek will be open on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) but will be closed on Christmas Day.
Links to recent issues
Downtown Post NYC is emailed to subscribers, however, if you missed a recent emailed issue, here are some links:
May 14, 2024, Volume 6, No. 81
* Spring and Summer Fridays are for Singing
* Greek Easter at The Greek in Tribeca
* Bulletin Board: Summer Plans for Little Island
March 24, 2024, Volume 6, No. 80
* Letter From the Editor: The polls are open
* Spring Equinox Festival at the Museum of Jewish Heritage
* Bulletin Board: Price Gouging Warning From New York Attorney General James
Dec. 28, 2023, Volume 6, No. 79
* Letter From the Editor: Ten Years Later
* Shelley Niro retrospective exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian
* Bulletin Board: Price Gouging Warning From New York Attorney General James
* Calendar: Holiday Events in Lower Manhattan
Dec. 25, 2023, Volume 6, No. 78
* Letter From the Editor: This is an Emergency
* Shopping at the National Museum of the American Indian
* Bulletin Board: Price Gouging Warning From New York Attorney General James
* Calendar: Holiday Events in Lower Manhattan
Oct. 21, 2023, Volume 6, No. 77
* 'Courage to Act' at the Museum of Jewish Heritage
* Bulletin Board: Release of the fishes; 'Boatlift' screening and discussion
* Calendar: Open House New York sites in Lower Manhattan
Sept. 11, 2023, Volume 6, No. 76
* Letter From the Editor: That Day
* September 11, 2023
* Our Man in Washington
July 12, 2023, Volume 6, No. 75
* Letter from the Editor: The General and the Sexton
* "B.J." Jones is leaving the Battery Park City Authority to work for New York City
* Bits & Bytes: Gateway Tunnel project gets funded
* Bulletin Board: Free movies at the Oculus; CB1 seeks new District Manager
* Calendar: City of Water Day -- July 15
July 4, 2023, Volume 6, No. 74
Letter From the Editor: July 4, 1804
Lower Manhattan Theater: 'The Democracy Project' at Federal Hall
Bulletin Board: Digital guide to Hudson River Park; Seaport Museum collection online
Calendar: July 4 fireworks
July 2, 2023, Volume 6, No. 73
July 2: The Last Day to Watch Tribeca Festival films
Bits & Bytes: Employers with businesses near Ground Zero on 9/11 must soon alert former workers to 9/11 toxin dangers
Bulletin Board: South Street Seaport Collection online; Battery Dance Festival news
June 26, 2023, Volume 6, No. 72
Primary election: What's at stake in tomorrow's primary election
Bits & Bytes: Plan to dump radioactive waste in the Hudson River
Bulletin Board: Free summer meals; Summer farm shares at the Fulton Stall Market
Swedish Midsummer Festival in Battery Park City
June 16, 2023, Volume 6, No. 71
Tribeca Festival is back in town with films and more
Bits & Bytes: Library leaders decry Mayor Adams' budget cuts; Historic diners
Downtown Post NYC Food: Oculus Greenmarket opens for the season
Bulletin Board: Lower Manhattan gets 'smart' composting bins
Juneteenth in Battery Park City
Calendar: Gay Pride at the Whitney; Gay Pride at the South Street Seaport Museum
June 10, 2023, Volume 6, No. 70
Appellate Court greenlights 325-foot-tall tower at 250 Water St.
Bits & Bytes: Cuomo weighs in on housing for migrants; Tribeca Festival returns
Dine Around Downtown 2023
Juneteenth in Battery Park City
Calendar: Gay Pride at the Whitney Museum of American Art
May 20, 2023, Volume 6, No. 69
Fleet Week New York returns on May 24 with a parade of ships
Dine Around Downtown will be back on June 6
Harmony' on tap for a Broadway run this fall
Century 21 reopens to an elated crowd of shoppers
Calendar: Landmarks Conservancy 2023 Sacred Sites Open House
April 20, 2023, Volume 6, No. 68
Titanic Memorial Lighthouse restoration underway
Bits & Bytes: Garage collapses on Ann Street; New Jersey to withdraw from Waterfront Commission
Downtown Post Food: Greek Easter at The Greek in Tribeca
Bulletin Board: Tickets on sale for the Seaport Museum's summer sailing season
Calendar: Earth Week in Lower Manhattan
April 1, 2023, Volume 6, No. 67
Proposed changes to Floor Area Ratio laws — panacea for NYC housing crisis?
Bits & Bytes: Office space conversions to residential housing; Smorgasburg returns
Summer and permanent jobs in Hudson River Park
Bulletin Board: Pay what you wish at the Seaport Museum; Little League season
Memorial for Robert Simko, photographer
Calendar: The Battery
March 12, 2023, Volume 6, No. 66
Demonstration at 250 Broadway protests Landmarks Preservation Commission
Bits & Bytes: CB1 votes 'no' on 'Robert De Niro Way'; Update on bike path terrorist
Bulletin Board: LMCC accepting workspace applications; Resources for immigrants
Estuarium design meeting invites public input
Calendar: Book Talk: Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City
Feb. 6, 2023, Volume 6, No. 65
Outdated Hudson River Rail Tunnels Get Some Federal Funding
Downtown Post Food: Par Ici at the Hotel Barrière Fouquet in Tribeca
Bulletin Board: Register for Five Boro Bike Tour; Donate Bikes for Migrants
Calendar: Black History Month in Lower Manhattan
Jan. 26, 2023, Volume 6, No. 64
Letter from the Editor: Follow the Drinking Gourd
Downtown Post Food: Delmonico's Dispute; Restaurant Week Winter 2023
Bits & Bytes: South Street Seaport Hotel Sold; Goldman Sachs Profit Plunges
Bulletin Board: 9/11 Memorial and Museum 5K Run/Walk; Aid for Migrants
Calendar: Winter Saturdays at the National Museum of the American Indian
Jan. 14, 2023, Volume 6, No. 63
Letter from the Editor: Artemus Ward
Seaport Coalition Wins Legal Ruling Against Howard Hughes Corp.
Bits & Bytes: Restaurant Week 2023; Ice Skating in Lower Manhattan
Bulletin Board: Chinese Calligraphy in the Seaport; Native Winter Games
Calendar: Chinese Lunar New Year in Lower Manhattan
Jan. 10, 2023, Volume 6, No. 62
Letter from the Editor: Local Journalism
New York Congressional District 10's Man in Washington
Bits & Bytes: Grace Lee Goes to Albany; Titanic Memorial Lighthouse Update
Bulletin Board: Fulton Fish Market Book Talk; Recycle Your Tree
Calendar: Silent Films with Live Music at Brookfield Place
Dec. 2, 2022, Volume 6, No. 61
Letter from the Editor: Affordable Housing; In Memoriam: Robert Simko
CB1 concerned about the future of free Hudson River kayaking
Stockings With Care brings holiday happiness to kids in need
Downtown Post NYC Food: Empanadas on 14th St.; Dine Around Downtown videos
Bits & Bytes: 9/11 Fund low on money; A million new trees for New York City
Bulletin Board: Native Art Market at the National Museum of the American Indian
Calendar: December music at Trinity Wall Street
Aug. 13, 2022, Volume 6, No. 60
Letter from the Editor: Primary Election, Round Two
Bits & Bytes: Howard Hughes Corp. buys stake in Jean-Georges restaurant empire
Bulletin Board: Free Covid-19 test kits; Discounted sailing on the Pioneer
Calendar: Blues Barbecue in Hudson River Park
July 3, 2022, Volume 6, No. 59
Letter from the Editor: Who Won
Tribeca Film Festival documentaries add perspective to today's headlines
Bits & Bytes: St. Nicholas Orthodox Church construction update
Bulletin Board: Prehistoric dinosaurs in the Seaport
Calendar: July 4 Fireworks
June 26, 2022, Volume 6, No. 58
Letter from the Editor: Voting Chaos
Downtown Alliance ministers to Lower Manhattan businesses
Bulletin Board: Composting pilot program extended; Free Summer Meals Program
June 24, 2022, Volume 6, No. 57
River to River Festival: 'Lenticular Histories' in the South Street Seaport
Bulletin Board: Bowne & Co. reopens: Schooner Apollonia in the Seaport
Calendar: Swedish Midsummer Festival in Battery Park City
May 30, 2022, Volume 6, No. 56
Letter from the Editor: Happy Memorial Day!
Downtown Post NYC Museums: Hans Holbein the Younger at the Morgan Library
Bits & Bytes: Summer sailing with the South Street Seaport Museum
Bulletin Board: In-person sea chantey singing resumes at the South St. Seaport
Calendar: Fleet Week 2022
May 16, 2022, Volume 6, No. 55
Letter from the Editor: Guns and Babies
Downtown Post NYC Museums: Hans Holbein the Younger at the Morgan Library
Downtown Post NYC Theater: 'Harmony' gets standing ovations
Bits & Bytes: 111 Wall St. getting a makeover; Chef Daniel Boulud opens Le Gratin
Bulletin Board: Fireboat John J Harvey kicks off summer season; Go, Fish! in BPC
Calendar: Adult art programs in Battery Park City
March 2, 2022, Volume 6, No. 54
Letter from the Editor: Soviet occupation
Rapid-delivery grocery services in Manhattan
Bits & Bytes: Seaport's Tin Building nears completion; 1 WTC gets new tenants
Bulletin Board: Jane's Walk; Bach's St. Matthew Passion at Trinity Wall St.
In memoriam: Gus Ouranitsas
Calendar: New York Harbor Seals
Jan. 27, 2022, Volume 6, No. 53
Letter from the Editor: Scandal and Disgrace
Speaker Adrienne Adams appoints City Council committee leadership and members
Bits & Bytes: Sheldon Silver dead at 77; Insurers must pay for at-home Covid tests
Bulletin Board: Ice Sculpture on Governors Island; Covid-19 test scams
Calendar: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis at the Museum of Jewish Heritage
Don't miss another issue of Downtown Post NYC!Click here to subscribe. Subscriptions are free.
Classic Harbor Line Seals, Seabirds and Winter Wildlife Tour
Some people might be surprised at the diversity of the animals and birds that show up in New York City to spend part or all of the winter. Aboard Classic Harbor Line’s yacht, Manhattan II, you can see for yourself.
"There are more birds in New York City in the winter than there are in the summer," says Gabriel Willow, the urban naturalist who will lead most of the cruises that, between January 5 and March 2, 2025, will depart from Pier 62 in Chelsea Piers and head down the Hudson River for Hoffman and Swinburne Islands in Lower New York Bay. Swinburne Island, in particular, is a favorite haunt for the seals that swim to the city from their summer breeding grounds above the Arctic Circle. Swinburne Island suits them because it is devoid of predators and also affords easy access to the 10 to 18 pounds of fish that each seal consumes daily, depending on its body weight. A male Harbor Seal can be more than six feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds. The females are slightly smaller. Most of the seals that visit New York City are Harbor Seals with a few Gray Seals in the mix.
In small numbers seals began to return to New York Harbor in the winter of 2001 when the harbor water had become cleaner. As the years went by more and more seals spent the months between late October and early March in the Big Apple. Today, New York Harbor's water is cleaner than it has been in many years according to Gabriel Willow.
Among the birds that frequent Swinburne and Hoffman Islands are great black-backed gulls, which are the largest gulls in the world, and double-crested cormorants — both species common in New York Harbor — and great cormorants, which are less common.
Tickets for this 2.75-hour cruise are $124 for adults and $86 for children. The ticket price includes either a light lunch or a light breakfast service, depending on departure time, and one beverage. Assigned seating is available in a heated, climate-controlled indoor area with access to the outdoor front deck.
For more information about this tour and to book tickets, click here or call (212) 627-1825. (Because of the length and nature of the cruise, it is only recommended for children who are 10 years old and older.)
On September 8, 2024 Amos Machanic, a former performer with the Alvin Ailey Company and now a "teaching artist" with the company, led people of varying ages in dance steps from "Revelations," one of Ailey's signature works. The lesson took place outside the Whitney Museum of American Art where an inclusive retrospective exhibition called "Edges of Ailey" opened on Sept. 25.
(Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
"Under the Grey Sky" is an important film about what it's like to live under a dictatorship. With several European nations veering in that direction and with the United States also at risk of having democracy subverted by a would-be dictator, this film about what has happened and is happening in Belarus takes on great urgency. It depicts the courageous role that journalists can play in informing the public and holding the government to account and the price that they may pay for their courage.
This film, which was written and directed by Mara Tamkovich, is flawless in its acting, camerawork, editing and pacing. It received its world premiere at this year's Tribeca Festival. Katsiaryna Andreyeva, whose story inspired Tamkovich to make the film, was the first journalist attempting to cover the protests to be detained and not just fined or given a short sentence. "The fact that she did not get out was a teaching moment for the rest of the free press," Tamkovich said in a recent interview. "Since the time that she was arrested and convicted, more and more journalists have been arrested and convicted for very long prison terms. She was symptomatic of what's happening to the whole country. But Belarus is not Lukashenko."
According to press notes accompanying the film, "since 2020, over 136,000 Belarusians have experienced various types of political persecution...Almost 1,400 political prisoners are currently imprisoned. The actual number is much higher and is growing every day."
Asked if there might be consequences for her because of making this film, Tamkovich replied that there are consequences but "they are not as severe as for people in Belarus."
"I can't go to Belarus anymore," she said.
(The Tribeca Festival is over for this year but if "Under the Grey Sky" is booked elsewhere, that will be reported here.)
Links
The National Museum of the American Indian at 1 Bowling Green is open daily between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The museum is free and tickets are not required. A café serves sandwiches, pastries, coffee, tea and other beverages. For more information, click here.
Governors Island is a 172-acre park around 800 yards from Manhattan and also close to Brooklyn. It was once a military base, first for the U.S. Army and then for the Coast Guard. Governors Island is open to the public daily year-round from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addition to previously existing ferry routes to Governors Island, NYC Ferry serves Governors Island daily, year-round, on the South Brooklyn route. On existing ferry routes, ticket reservations are required to manage capacity and ensure social distancing and can be made online at govisland.org/ferry. For more information on the ferry, click here.
The Community Center at Stuyvesant High School is open daily when school is not in session.The facilities include a half-Olympic sized pool, basketball courts, gym and fitness equipment. Annual memberships range in price from $199 for adults to $79 for youth, seniors (62+) and military. There are discounts on those prices for Battery Park City residents. Day passes cost $15 for adults and $10 for youth, seniors, military and Battery Park City residents. Fall/winter hours are 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday to Friday and from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, call (212) 267-9700 or email communitycenter@bpca.ny.gov
The Fraunces Tavern Museum at 54 Pearl St. is open. For more information, click here.
LMHQ, a project of the Downtown Alliance, sponsors panels, films and other events. For more information, click here.
Battery Park City Library: The New York Public Library system offers unlimited browsing, desktop computer use, laptop loan and general library use, including open seating. Check nypl.org for the most up-to-date hours and activities. For more information about the Battery Park City branch, click here.
The Morgan Library & Museum at 225 Madison Ave. is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays. Admission is free on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with reservations required. The Morgan closes at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve and at 5 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Virtual tours and exhibition photos are online at The Morgan Connected. For more information, click here.
The 9/11 Memorial is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is free. The Museum is open from Wednesday to Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is free on Mondays starting at 3:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online. For more information, click here.
After the Tribeca Festival premiere of "The Thinking Game," Greg Kohs, director, chinematographer and co-producer of the film, applauded Demis Hassabis, the co-founder of DeepMind, a groundbreaking artificial intelligence company. Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky interviewed Kohs and Hassabis about the film and about the possibilities and implications of artificial intelligence. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
On Aug. 13, Sibiu Ballet Theater & Gigi Caciuleanu Romanian Dance Company presented "Heart2hearT," based on a myth symbolizing absolute devotion and the serene acceptance of death, Julie Crothers, a disabled choreographer and dancer, presented "Secondhand" and the SPAN Dance Company from Nigeria presented the US premiere of a dance called "Universal Harmony." (Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Hotline for Air Quality Information
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation air quality hotline phone number is 1-800-535-1345
South Street Seaport Museum
Book Club
Meeting on the last Monday of almost every month (but not in December), the South Street Seaport Museum hosts a maritime-themed book club in partnership with McNally Jackson Books. Seaport Museum staff and special guests lead the discussions. The last meeting for 2024 took place onNov. 25 to discuss "Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquin People of New York" by Evan T. Pritchard. The book can be purchased at most bookstores. South Street Seaport Museum Book Club meetings take place at 207 Water St. starting at 6:30 p.m. and are free. Check on Downtown Post NYC for information about 2025 meetings when that information becomes available.
Tribeca Film Festival 2024 Reviews
'Under the Grey Sky'
Poets House
Poets House at 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City was closed for around two-and-a-half years because of flooding but has since reopened. Regular open hours for the Poets House library are from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Tuesdays through Saturdays). Free. For more information about Poets House, click here.
Howard Hughes Corporation Wins the Legal Right to Build a 27-story-tall tower in the South Street Seaport Historic District
On June 6, 2023 the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division: First Department handed down a unanimous decision overturning a ruling by a lower court that had denied a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) that had been granted by the Landmarks Preservation Commision of the City of New York (LPC) to the Howard Hughes Corporation. The COA would have allowed Howard Hughes to build a 325-foot-tall tower at 250 Water St. within the South Street Seaport Historic District. The Appellate Court's decision to allow construction to continue might have been the end of the matter. It wasn't. On July 5 the South Street Seaport Coalition filed a motion with the Supreme Court of the State of New York for re-argument or alternatively leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals. The Seaport Coalition motion begins: "There is a long-standing public interest in upholding the integrity of the LPC and the efficacy of the Landmarks Law. After a lower court found actions of the LPC and the de Blasio administration demonstrated a blatant disregard for such integrity, the NYS Appellate Court reversed this decision....The case of the South Street Seaport Coalition, Inc. v LPC ended on May 21, 2024 when the New York State Court of Appeals denied a motion for the "leave to appeal" its previous decision granting Howard Hughes Holding the right to erect a massive tower that will dominate the low-scale South Street Seaport Historic District.
Tribeca Film Festival 2024 Reviews
'Checkpoint Zoo'
Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music at the South Street Seaport Museum
The South Street Seaport Museum's monthly program of "Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music" welcomes singers of all levels as well as listeners. In a round-robin format, anyone can sing and share a chantey, join in the choruses throughout the event or just listen. This free event is offered on the first Sunday of every month. For more information, click here.
After Renovations, The Greek Reopened with an Augmented Menu
Make a Wish and Watch It Glow at Downtown’s New Art Installation,
“Star Light Star Bright”
Aboard the John J. Harvey with parts of the industrial Brooklyn waterfront in the foreground and the skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan in the near distance. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
COVID-19 Vaccination Information
In New York State, there is no charge to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. For up-to-date information about where and when to get vaccinated, go to www.ny.gov/vaccine.
'Edges of Ailey' at the
Whitney Museum
Proposed structure for the site at 250 Water St.
Lest we forget:
NEW YORK GOV. ANDREW CUOMO'S
RESPONSE TO COVID-19
FROM MARCH TO JUNE 2020
June 13: Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation suspending the forfeiture of unemployment benefits during the Covid-19 state of emergency. More than 44 million people in the United States have applied for unemployment insurance during the pandemic and this number is expected to grow. People who have had forfeit penalties levied against them from past claims have been unable to collect their unemployment benefits. This new law allows them to collect these benefits in their time of greatest need.
June 12: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an Executive Order — the 'New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative' — requiring local police agencies, including the NYPD, to develop a plan that reinvents and modernizes police strategies and programs in their community based on community input. Each police agency's reform plan must address policies, procedures, practices and deployment, including, but not limited to use of force. Police forces must adopt a plan by April 1, 2021 to be eligible for future state funding.
June 8: Gov. Cuomo said that he would sign a set of bills on criminal justice reform introduced by the New York State Legislature. They allow for transparency of prior disciplinary records of law enforcement officers by reforming 50-a of the civil rights law; banning chokeholds by law enforcement officers; prohibiting false race-based 911 reports and making them a crime and designating the Attorney General as an independent prosecutor for matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians caused by law enforcement.
June 7: Gov. Cuomo announced that outdoor, socially distanced graduations of up to 150 people will be allowed beginning June 26th, subject to any outbreaks or significant changes in the metrics that are measuring infection, hospitalization and death rates in each of the 10 regions of New York State.
June 6: Gov. Cuomo said that he was signing a bill to ban price gouging on masks and other supplies needed to help prevent Covid-19 transmission. This legislation will be effective for the remainder of the pandemic crisis.
May 29: Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York City is on track to embark on Phase 1 of reopening on June 8. Around 400,000 people who work in construction, wholesale, manufacturing and curbside retail industries will be able to return to their jobs.
May 22: Gov. Cuomo announced that New York State is launching a $100+ million loan program for small businesses. The loan program will focus on supporting small businesses that were less likely to receive federal loans, especially women and minority-owned businesses, and very small businesses with 20 or fewer employees. For more information, go to https://esd.ny.gov/economic-recovery-covid-19-loans-small-businesses
May 21: Gov. Cuomo announced that summer school will only take place via distance learning, not by inclass teaching. He also said that meal programs and child care services for essential employees will continue.
May 17: Gov. Cuomo announced a new website that will help New Yorkers to find sites where they can be tested for COVID-19. The URL is https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-testing
May 10: Gov. Cuomo announced that New York State was investigating 85 cases of a COVID-related illness in children that presented as an inflammation of the blood vessels and sometimes of the heart. He said that three New York children had died of this previously undiagnosed disease.
May 7: Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that no commercial or residential tenant can be evicted for non-payment of rent through Aug. 20, 2020 and that renters may use their security deposits to pay their rent and may repay their security deposits over time. He also said that fees for late rent payments would be banned during the eviction moratorium.
May 4: Gov. Cuomo announced that New York State will monitor four core factors to determine if a region of the state can safely re-open: Number of new infections, health care capacity, diagnostic testing capacity and contact tracing capacity.
April 29: Gov. Cuomo announced that elective outpatient treatments and surgeries could resume in 35 New York counties that have no significant risk of a COVID-19 surge in the near term.
April 15: Gov. Cuomo directed schools and nonessential businesses to stay closed through May 15th. On May 1, Cuomo announced that New York State schools and colleges will remain closed for the rest of this academic year.
March 27: 1. The first 1,000-bed temporary hospital was completed at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. The facility opened on Monday, March 30.
New Yorkers without health insurance can apply for a health plan through NY State of Health. Those who recently lost employer coverage, must apply within 60 days of losing that coverage. Because of loss of income, New Yorkers may also be eligible for Medicaid, the Essential Plan or Child Health Plus.
For a 90-day period, New Yorkers experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 may defer paying life insurance premiums. Late payments will be payable over a one-year period. Additionally, consumers and small businesses experiencing Coronavirus-related financial hardship may defer paying premiums for property and casualty insurance for a 60-day period. This includes auto, homeowners, renters and other kinds of insurance. (No late fees will be assessed and there will be no negative impact to your credit.)
The USNS Comfort, a U.S. Navy hospital ship, arrived in New York Harbor on Monday, March 30. It is a massive facility with 1,000 beds, 12 operating rooms, a pharmacy and a laboratory. It left New York City on April 30.
March 20: On March 20 at 8:40 a.m., the governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania released a statement that said that beginning March 21 at 8 p.m., all barbershops, hair salons, tattoo or piercing parlors, nail salons, hair removal services and related personal care services in their respective states would be closed to the public "as these services cannot be provided while maintaining social distance."
New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, said "We know how the novel coronavirus spreads, and we are making data-driven decisions as the situation evolves to continue to reduce density and slow the spread of the virus. We remain in constant communication with our neighboring states to ensure we are establishing a set of uniform rules and regulations for the entire region. These temporary closures are not going to be easy, but they are necessary to protecting the health and safety of New Yorkers and all Americans."
March 19: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order mandating that businesses that rely on in-office personnel decrease their in-office workforce by 75 percent. Essential service industries are exempted. These include shipping, media, warehousing, grocery and food production, pharmacies, health care providers, utilities, banks and related financial institutions and other industries critical to the supply chain.
March 17: Gov. Cuomo announced a three-way agreement with the New York State legislature on a bill guaranteeing job protection and pay for New Yorkers who have been quarantined as a result of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. The program bill also includes the permanent comprehensive paid sick leave policy first advanced in the Governor's FY 2021 Executive Budget proposal.
This follows the Governor's announcement last week that the state will guarantee two full weeks of paid leave for all state workers who are subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine as a result of the novel coronavirus.
The Governor also announced that the state is reaching out to qualified former doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to supplement the personnel at hospitals. The State Department of Health and the State Education Department have sent letters to retired health care professionals and all schools of nursing, public health and medicine encouraging qualified health care personnel to sign up for on-call work during the COVID-19 crisis. Healthcare professionals who wish to sign up can contact the State Department of Health at health.ny.gov/assistance.
Gov. Cuomo also directed the Greater New York Hospital Association and the Healthcare Association of New York State to work with 1199 SEIU to develop a plan to create drop-in child care opportunities and to expand child care facilities at their hospitals to ensure child care for hospital workforce. They will submit a joint plan to the state by Friday.
Gov. Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James announced that effective immediately the state will temporarily halt the collection of medical and student debt owed to the State of New York and referred to the Office of the Attorney General for collection. The reprieve will be for at least 30 days.
March 16: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo issued an Executive Order allowing the state to increase hospital capacity to prepare the state's healthcare system to handle the potential influx of patients suffering from COVID-19. The State organized the National Guard and worked with building unions and private developers to find existing facilities -- such as dormitories and former nursing homes -- that could most easily be converted to medical facilities, with the goal of creating an additional 9,000 beds. The Governor also asked local governments, especially those in the most impacted areas, to help identify available facilities for this purpose. The State Department of Health suspended regulations to allow existing hospitals to increase space and capacity.
The Governor directed nonessential state employees statewide to work from home starting March 17. The Governor also directed local governments to reduce their overall workforce by 50 percent and allow nonessential employees to work from home.
Following the Governor's directive to close schools in Westchester, New York City, Nassau and Suffolk yesterday, Governor Cuomo said that the counties are required to submit their childcare and meal plans to the state for approval by midnight tonight.
The Governor also announced New York State will waive all fees for state, local and county parks.
To escape Russian bombs, a camel was among the large animals that had to be evacuated from the Feldman Ecopark just outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine. The rescuers had to deal with animals of all sizes and temperaments and also to find places willing and able to care for them.
"Edges of Ailey," the first large-scale museum exhibition to celebrate the life, dances, influences and enduring legacy of visionary artist and choreographer, Alvin Ailey is at the Whitney Museum through Feb. 9, 2025. Under a frieze of documentary videos that spans the enormous 5th floor gallery of the museum, photographs, paintings, sculptures, notebooks, letters and television sets with headphones reflect on Ailey's life and continuing influence. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
"Motorcycle Mary," a short documentary that had its world premiere at this year's Tribeca Festival, revolves around an 87-year-old woman with electric blue eyes and a ready smile. Mary McGee, a professional race car driver and subsequently a motorcycle racer, brims with courage and determination, and as she looks back on her life, with pride.
Encouraged by her older brother, Jim Connors, Mary started racing cars in 1957. Three years later, she became the first woman to road race motorcycles. She loved what she was doing despite the obvious risks and despite the fact that as a woman, she wasn't recognized for her achievements as a man would have been. But the actor Steve McQueen did notice her and became her friend. He encouraged her to leave road racing and race in the desert. Trained by his stunts crew, she became the first woman to engage in cross-country racing on a motorcycle as well as the first woman to undertake an off-road course through the Baja California peninsula, a distance of around 500 miles that she was the first person — man or woman — to traverse alone.
"Probably the thing that I'm proudest about [is] that I had something to do with showing women that they could come out and race motorcycles," Mary says in the film. Women who have tried to enter a field previously reserved for or dominated by men would undoubtedly relate to that.
"Motorcycle Mary" was produced by two women — Rachel Greenwald and Haley Watson, who was also the director and cinematographer. Watson's previous work included the 2021 Academy Award-winning "The Queen of Basketball."
After the Tribeca Festival, "Motorcycle Mary" is slated to appear on ESPN with a release date to be determined. The film was also screened at the Nevada Women's Film Festival which took place in Las Vegas in June 2024. — Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Tribeca Film Festival 2024 Reviews
'The Thinking Game'
Against a dramatic red background that suggests passion and blood, visitors to the Ailey exhibition at the Whitney Museum solemnly look at the paintings, sculptures, artifacts, diaries and videos that touch on Alvin Ailey's extraordinary career as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. In the foreground is a striking painting by Barkley Hendricks of a dancer dressed in white against a white background. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
The dining room at The Greek. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
September 19, 2024: In beautiful weather, the historic retired fireboat John J. Harvey took several dozen passengers on a tour of part of the Brooklyn waterfront, which is also historic.
It soon became clear that the industries of the Brooklyn waterfront were and to some extent still are the muscular powerhouses that enabled the glittering and glamorous skyscrapers of Manhattan to exist and flourish. In some places, the Manhattan skyscrapers form a backdrop to the industrial foreground.
Vestiges of 19th century and early 20th century industry remain including the abandoned Red Hook Grain Terminal which was built in 1922 in Brooklyn to encourage the shipment of grain via the Erie Canal from midwestern United States to New York City. Grain was mechanically hoisted from the holds of ships into the grain elevator's 54 cement silos that served as storage bins until a grain purchase was made. The grain elevator was never commercially successful. Ownership was transferred to the Port Authority of New York in 1944 but the financial picture did not improve. The grain elevator was last used in 1965. Now it is a haunting sight, not to be forgotten.
At one time there were numerous red brick warehouses with handsome arched windows in Red Hook and along other parts of the Brooklyn waterfront. Tragically some of these irreplaceable warehouses have been demolished to make room for nondescript warehouses that serve the distribution needs of Internet commerce. But some of the old warehouses remain. People who care about them, and some people do, have done and are doing their best to preserve them. (Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Weather and Public Safety
Weather Information: For the latest weather information, go to www.weather.gov/nyc.
Allied Universal patrols Battery Park City. To reach Allied Universal, call (212) 945-SAFE (7233). The Battery Park City Command Center is located at 200 Rector Place (aka 201 West Thames St. Enter on the west side of the building.) In case of emergencies, call 911.
To see the events and activities on the Battery Park City Authority's winter calendar, click here. Most events are free.
For some, reservations are required.
Mary McGee was the first woman to race motorcycles in the United States. She was also the first person to ride the grueling Baja 500 race solo.
Connection Bus Service
In an effort to make the route more efficient, Downtown Connection buses no longer make a U-turn on West Street. Instead they turn left directly onto Murray Street. This only impacts Battery Park City-bound service. As a result, the bus no longer stops at Vesey Street / North End Avenue and now only stops at Murray Street / North End Avenue.
Check www.downtownny.com for updates.
The bus makes 34 stops on its route between the South Street Seaport and Broadway near City Hall. Daily service starts at 10 a.m. with a last run at 7:30 p.m.
Pay What You Wish
at the South Street Seaport Museum
Pay what you wish at the South Street Seaport Museum: General Admission tickets to the South Street Seaport Museum are Pay What You Wish during all regular open hours, Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tours aboard the 1885 cargo ship Wavertree are available hourly and include access to the main deck and quarter deck. Also, at the museum's 12 Fulton St. gallery take in exhibitions that explore the seaport’s contribution to the rise of New York and early twentieth-century ocean liner travel, To learn more about the Museum’s Pay What You Wish tickets, click here.
In addition, free guided tours of the 1908 lightship Ambrose, a floating lighthouse, are available. Timed-entry tickets are required. For more information about guided tours of the lightship Ambrose, click here.
Demis Hassabis in "The Thinking Game,"which received its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival. In October, 2024 Demis Hassabis along with two colleagues won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for decoding the structure of some proteins and creating new ones, yielding, among other things, advances in drug development.
Alvin Ailey was inspired and influenced by Black history in the American South, the Caribbean, Brazil and West Africa, by the practices of Black spirituality, by the Black migration from the South to the North, by the history of Black music, and more. Black women, including Ailey's mother, Lula, who brought him up by herself, played a prominent role in his life and inspired his work.
Like Ailey himself whose creative work was multi-faceted, "Edges of Ailey" incorporates many art forms. A live performance program accompanies the gallery component. The Ailey dance organization will be in residence at the Whitney for one week during each of five months. When the Ailey organization is not in residence dance commissions by leading choreographers and their collaborators will be presented. Program tickets went on sale on September 10. Tickets are limited and must be booked in advance. Visitors with program tickets that include Museum admission can visit the exhibition on the same day within regular museum hours.
The Alvin Ailey exhibition will be at the Whitney Museum through Feb. 9, 2025.
For more information about the exhibition and to purchase tickets, click here.
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Photos from the 43rd Annual
Battery Dance Festival
August 11-17, 2024
For more information about the festival, click here.
Classic Harbor Line's yacht, Manhattan II, in New York Harbor.
Seabirds and seals on Swinburne Island in Lower New York Bay, east of
Staten Island. (Photos © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
Touring the Brooklyn Waterfront Aboard the John J. Harvey
The South Street Seaport Museum's lightship Ambrose is open for tours with timed-entry tickets required.
Thanksgiving at The Greek
Knowing that many people don't have a nice, welcoming place to eat on Thanksgiving Day, The Greek served a full Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. Since The Greek is a family owned and operated restaurant, Mom cooked the turkey with a much-loved chestnut-rice stuffing. There were also spreads, spanakopita, salads, appetizers and desserts. The price of $75 per ticket included food.
Place: 452 Washington St.
STAMINA AND THE MEANING OF COURAGE
On May 23, 2020 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered his daily COVID-19 report from the Governor's Mansion in Albany where three men had formerly lived who went on to become U.S. presidents. Among them was Teddy Roosevelt, born a sickly kid who fought in the Spanish-American War as a Rough Rider — a nickname that was given to a volunteer cavalry that was on the front lines of the combat.
Cuomo mentioned that when he was New York State governor, Teddy Roosevelt had a boxing ring built on the third floor of the Governor's Mansion and that he would invite Albany legislators to visit and go a few rounds with him. "I think that's how they got the budget done at the end of the budget session," Cuomo said wryly.
He also quoted something that Teddy Roosevelt had once said: “Courage is not having the strength to go on. It is going on when you don’t have the strength.” Then Cuomo continued, “Day 84. “‘I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do this anymore.’ We have to do it more. We have to continue to do it. There’s no normal. We’re going to have to do it for a long time.”
Tribeca Film Festival 2024 Reviews
'Motorcycle Mary'
The Long Spear Dance, performed by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at the Battery Dance Festival combines the beauty and grace of Chinese opera technique with the excitement of Kung Fu.
The Battery Dance Festival takes place in Rockefeller Park, where the sunsets are often spectacular. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
"Star Light Star Bright" can be seen on the plaza in front of 140 Broadway (between Cedar and Liberty Streets) starting on Wednesday, Nov. 20. "Star Light Star Bright" will be up until Jan. 9, 2025. Visitors are invited to participate in a community-driven, interactive art experience by attaching their "wishes" to a glowing, star-shaped structure. On Wednesday, Dec. 18, there will be live music from New York Collective featuring Svetlana Shmulyion and free refreshments from Blue Spoon.
In the Whitney Museum's 5th floor gallery, a 1952 drawing by Charles White entitled "Preacher" is displayed under a frieze of documentary videos depicting dancers. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
The Greek presented a Thanksgiving buffet featuring highlights from the regular menu as well as some Thanksgiving specials including turkey and stuffing.
(Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)
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Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Editor, Downtown Post NY