Downtown Post NYC

Battery Dance Festival photos,  © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

More than a thousand people attended the annual Blues Barbecue Festival in Hudson River Park where they listened to music, danced and ate. Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Exhibitions

At the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, an exhibition entitled "Boris Lurie: Nothing to Do But Try" ran through Nov. 6, 2022. The museum at 36 Battery Place is open three days a week: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 25 percent capacity in order to allow for social distancing. The hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission, timed-entry tickets allow access to all galleries including the special exhibition, "Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away." Ticket prices: $16; $12 (seniors and ADA); $10 (students and veterans); free (members, based on membership level; Holocaust survivors; active members of the military and first responders; students and teachers through grade 12 in schools located in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with valid school-issued ID). To purchase tickets, click here.

Museum admission includes a free audio guide in English, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Mandarin, German, Polish, or Russian. Bring your own headphones (standard 2.5mm non-lightening plug).

"New Dimensions in Testimony" is an interactive installation at the Museum of Jewish Heritage that allows visitors to ask questions of Holocaust survivors and hear their answers.  Place: 36 Battery Place. Free with Museum admission. Advance registration recommended. For additional information, click here.

Tide Deck Tours on Pier 26 in

Hudson River  Park

In the fall of 2022, the Hudson River Park Trust conducted tours of the Pier 26 Tide Deck in Hudson River Park. Inspired by the natural shoreline that would have existed prior to Henry Hudson’s 1609 expedition, Pier 26 is designed to showcase key ecological communities representative of this native landscape, including a woodland forest, coastal grassland, maritime scrub, rocky tidal marsh and the Hudson River itself. The Tide Deck is an engineered rocky tidal marsh designed to ebb and flood with the River’s daily tidal cycle. It features many interesting marsh plants and habitat enhancements including tide pools. The River Project's staff led the free guided tours of this special environment.

Blues Barbecue in Hudson River Park

This year's Blues Barbecue, a free, daylong music and food festival held in Hudson River Park, took place at Pier 76 on August 10, 2024. It offered live music from renowned blues artists along with barbecue, desserts and drinks.  For more information, click here.

A mockingbird on Pier 26 in Hudson River Park.

(Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

The National Museum of the American Indian is partially open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free admission. The Museum café is closed. The NMAI is housed in the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, which was designed by Cass Gilbert. The building, was completed in 1907 and is a National Historic Landmark. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On-line programming continues. Place: One Bowling Green. Phone: (212) 514-3700. For the museum's calendar, click here.

South Street Seaport Museum

Book Club

"Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Remade America," the South Street Seaport Museum's maritime-themed Book Club's selection for April, took an engaging look at the fascinating role that beavers had in the history of Manahatta and their enduring contributions to the past, present and future of New York Harbor. Beavers had a profound influence on the nation’s early economy, western expansion and the development of early transatlantic trade. In addition beavers continue to impact river and harbor ecology.A book selection for June has not been announced. The book club usually meets at 4 Fulton St. in partnership with McNally Jackson Books on the last Monday of each month.  Time: 6:30 p.m.

Tevye, the dairyman (Steven Skybell) has just agreed to betroth his oldest daughter to the butcher, Leyzer-Wolf (Bruce Sabath). Accompanied by other men from Anatevke, they drink a toast, To Life, Lekhayim! (Photo: © Jeremy Daniel)

"Stretching the Canvas" at the National Museum of the American Indian, 1 Bowling Green, featured paintings by 30 Native American artists working from 1940 to the present. Above: "Spatial Whorl" by Dick West (Southern Cheyenne). The museum is usually open daily and is free. For more information, click here.

REVIEW

'Illusions of the Photographer:

Duane Michals at the Morgan'

At the entrance of an exhibition now at the Morgan Library & Museum is a parabolic mirror that turns everything that it reflects upside down. This tells you right away that the exhibition, "Illusions of the Photographer: Duane Michals at the Morgan," will not simply be a factual record of appearances. "Contradicting reality is a great gift or weapon that photographers have," Michals has said.

Michals' photographs portray his dreams, thoughts, meditations, wishes and sometimes his wry sense of humor. The photos often come in sets of several related pictures that tell stories.

You will see, for instance, six photographs that start with a man standing on a subway platform and follow him as his corporeal body is transformed into light and then into a galaxy of stars. Michals calls this assemblage "The Human Condition."

Another group of six photos describes Michals' last day in Cairo when he walked into the desert and against a background of the pyramids, built his own small pyramid of stones, which he left behind when he walked away.

He wrote, "To be alive is to be skating/On thin ice with the possibility/Of falling falling falling./Taking photographs and writing/Is my way of saying I was here,/I saw this, I heard this./It happened."

In addition to Michals' printed photographs, the museum is showing a few of his films and a series of photographs that he shot in 1964-1965, published in book form as "Empty New York" and here displayed as a film. These evocative black-and-white images depict a New York that has disappeared — a soda shop, a newspaper stand trumpeting the headlines of the day, an empty subway car with wicker seats, and so on. They continue Michals' conversation with the viewer about time and the passage of time. He is interested in time and death and transformations.

The exhibition also includes the work of other photographers and artists, plus some artifacts, all culled from the Morgan's collection. Michals has annotated them with his reveries.

Michals, now 87 years old, has said that when he was young, he couldn't imagine being old, but now that he's old, he can't imagine ever having been young. He has said that he doesn't mind being old. He said of himself, "I'm a survivor."

This remarkable exhibition closed on Feb. 2. For information about visiting the Morgan Library & Museum at 225 Madison Ave., go to www.themorgan.org

Battery Park City Summer Calendar 2024
To see the events and activities on the Battery Park City Authority's summer calendar, click here. Most events are free.
For some, reservations are required.

Lunch Box Was a Hit on Fosun Plaza

Hosted by the Downtown Alliance, the second annual Lunch Box pop-up food fair took place on Oct. 10, 2023 at Fosun Plaza, 28 Liberty St. This year's lineup featured 10 restaurants that highlight the culinary diversity of Lower Manhattan. Each restaurant offered a $10 boxed lunch that included one main dish and two sides.

The architectural firm of Heins & LaFarge designed the control house at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan for New York City’s first subway. The control house opened on Oct. 27, 1904. It is a New York City landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

(Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer 2018)

Skyscraper Museum Book Talk:

'The Great American Transit Disaster'

May 16: Nicholas Dagen Bloom, a professor of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College and the auther of "The Great American Transit Disaster: A Century of Austerity, Auto-Centric Planning, and White Flight" was at the Skyscraper Museum in Battery Park City on May 16 to talk about his book. He contends that the United States has a history of public disinvestment in mass transit and that our transit networks are bad for a simple reason: we wanted it this way.

Focusing on Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Boston and San Francisco, Bloom provides overwhelming evidence that transit disinvestment was a choice rather than destiny. He cites three major factors that led to the decline of public transit: municipal austerity policies that denied most transit agencies the funding to sustain high-quality service; the encouragement of auto-centric planning; and white flight from dense city centers to far-flung suburbs. As Bloom makes clear, voters widely supported policies that effectively shut out options for transit-friendly futures. With this book, Bloom seeks to bring perspective to today’s conversations about public transportation funding, perhaps helping to move them in a different direction. He will be having this discussion with Robert Fishman, an internationally recognized expert in urban history and in urban policy and planning.

Place: Skyscraper Museum at 39 Battery Place. Time: 6 p.m. Free. The webinar was limited to 100 attendees, but was livestreamed to the Skyscraper Museum's YouTube channel. For more information, click here.
 

Greek Easter at The Greek

On May 5th, 2024 for the 11th year, The Greek at 452 Washington St. celebrated Greek Easter with food, music and dancing accompanied by a live band playing favorite Greek dance songs. Despite some rain, the day-long celebration was attended by hundreds of people who sat inside a tent erected on the street or inside the restaurant. The menu featured rotisserie lamb, Greek salads and such Greek side dishes as baked lemon potatoes and tzatziki. The meal ended with a tempting assortment of Greek pastries. Seating began at noon and continued throughout the day.

The woodland forest, defined by large, canopy trees is one of four ecological areas showcased on Pier 26 through representative plantings. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Swedish Midsummer Festival in Battery Park City.

(Photo and video © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Swedish Midsummer Festival in Rockefeller Park

June 23: The Swedish Midsummer Festival has become a beloved tradition in Battery Park City. It celebrates the summer solstice and St. John's Eve, preceding the birthday of St. John the Baptist on June 24. This year, it took place in Rockefeller Park with dancing around the Midsummer pole, wreath making from flowers representing those in bloom on the solstice in Sweden, a parade, children’s games and Swedish food. Traditional music was supplied by Paul Dahlin from the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. Dances were led by Ross Sutter, a Scandinavian folklorist.

Oyster Nightmarket on Little Island

A joyful dance celebrates the wedding of Motl Kamzoyl and Tevye and Golde's eldest daughter, Tsaytl, in "Fiddler on the Roof." The dances were choreographed by Jerome Robbins when "Fiddler" was first produced on Broadway, where it opened in 1964 and ran for more than 3,000 performances.

A wharf in the Fulton Fish Market, 1946. The photograph, by Todd Webb, was in the exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York of Webb's photographs from 1945 to 1960.

Community Board 1's Environmental Protection Committee Meeting

took place on Nov. 21, 2022

The agenda was as follows:

1.    Timeline for Comments for the United States Army Corps of Engineers Harbor & Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study (USACE HATS), Kate Boicourt, Director, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds, NY-NJ, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) - Discussion & Resolution
    2.    Review of Interim Flood Protection Measures for the West Side of Community District 1 - Presentation by Susan Rozen, Mitigations Operations Program Manager, Office of Emergency Management
    3.    Wagner Park as a Lens for Future Resilience Projects in Waterfront Parks in Lower Manhattan - Presentation by OLIN Machado Silvetti*
    4.    DEP Cloudburst Program - Discussion (Postponed until 2023)

May 31, 2018: This was the actual anniversary of Battery Park City's Golden Jubilee. Bang on a Can's Asphalt Orchestra entertained at Battery Park City's 50th anniversary celebration on May 31, 2018 in Rockefeller Park. On May 31, exactly 50  years ago, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed the legislation that established Battery Park City.  For more photos of Battery Park City's Jubilee celebration, click here. (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Fireworks on the Hudson River, July 4, 2024

(Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer 2024)

Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City

(Photo © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Shucking oysters at the New Amsterdam Night Market on Little Island  in Hudson River Park near West 13th Street and 10th Avenue.

(Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer )

Native flowers blooming on Pier 26 in Hudson River Park.

(Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Alexis P. Suter, the Brooklyn-born blues, soul blues singer and songwriter, performed with her band at the 2024 Blues Barbecue Festival in Hudson River Park. (Photo: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

A five-day-long Oyster Nightmarket took place from July 31 to Aug. 4 on Little Island in Hudson River Park. The market was produced by Robert LaValva of the New Amsterdam Market, formerly located in the South Street Seaport. It featured oysters, foods from the sea, desserts, cocktails, and other light fare prepared by chefs, cooks, and purveyors who support regional, seasonal and sustainable food systems and who work to strengthen public space. The market coincided with The Oyster Radio Hour, a performance designed and produced by Little Island’s creative team. Despite two evenings when the market had to end early because of rain, on Aug. 4, the last day of the market, Robert LaValva reported "Thankfully the weather turned very nice and we had a very good crowd. The vendors did great and they are all happy. Hopefully we'll be doing other events on Little Island in the future." — Terese Loeb Kreuzer

'FIDDLER ON THE ROOF' IN YIDDISH WAS BACK

"Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish — "Fidler afn Dakh" — a production of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, once again played off-Broadway in the fall of 2022. It debuted in 2018 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — a Living Memorial to the Holocaust" in Battery Park City. It went on from there to a highly acclaimed Off-Broadway run. The new production was as poignant, as gripping, as spirited, as funny and as heartbreaking as all of its predecessors. The fictional Anatevke conjures up the poor Jewish villages of Eastern Europe (shtetls) in which "tradition" prevailed and the ways in which that world was harshly and even brutally shattered.

Those who had seen 'Fiddler on the Roof" with Zero Mostel (Topol, Theodore Bikel, Herschel Bernardi, Alfred Molina....you fill in the blanks) may have thought that they didn't need to see it again. But they were wrong. This "Fiddler" with English and Russian supertitles was more touching, more authentic, more passionate, more intimate, funnier and sadder than the Fiddler's that played to huge crowds on Broadway. As in past National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene productions of "Fiddler," Steven Skybell gave a brilliant performance as Tevye, the dairyman. He was supported by a talented cast that brought the audience to its feet for a prolonged standing ovation on the day I saw the show. It only played for seven weeks, through Jan. 1, 2023.

— Terese Loeb Kreuzer

(Above) A classic Bánh Mi with a summer roll and fried spring roll from Henry's Sandwich, 88 Fulton St. was one of the offerings at the Lunch Box pop-up food fair on Oct. 10, 2023.

(Left) Many people lined up to sample the food from Mughlai Indian Cuisine, which offered chicken kebab and chicken tikka masala with rice and naan or a lunch box of chana masala, vegetable samosa with rice and naan. The restaurant is located at 120 Cedar St. (Photos: © Terese Loeb Kreuzer)

Battery Dance Festival Photos