Water outage in BPC Parks Conservancy

May 4, 2013- The reason the water for the community gardens on Albany Street is not activated is that the pipes have a break under the grass field Since that is Hudson River Park Trust property, they are hiring an outside plumber. The BPC Parks staff had little insight into (more…)
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Photos 5-4-2013

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Asphalt Green to open June 15th

Asphalt Green wood floor 4-13-2013

Update May 3rd, 2013- Asphalt Green sent emails telling people that they will be opening June 15th. As of yesterday, significant work with “movable furniture” is still required.

Update April 13, 2013

The wood floor for the gym has been completed

Update: March 25, 2013

The BPCA board meeting on March 26th will likely Continue reading

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Tour buses invade North End Ave thanks to Conrad Hotel

BusesMay 2, 2013– By Steven E. Greer

At 5:00 PM on Thursday, March 2nd, on a beautiful day, the entire micro-community of North End Avenue was thrown into disarray by a fleet of three huge tour buses. They were hired by a group that was holding a two-day conference at the Conrad Hotel. they were doubled parked in the no-standing zone, turning lane, of North End by Murray Street.

The park’s PEP office was called, but no officers showed up. Continue reading

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World Trade Center Tower 1 time lapse

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The other casualty from Boston: Old-school TV news

April 27, 2013 By Steven E. Greer, MD

On April 15, 2013, at 2:49 PM, two terrorist bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three, and blowing off the legs of many others. The other casualty of the event was TV news. Already hanging on to life by a thread as ratings decline double-digits, year after year, and as few people under the age of 30 pay for cable TV, the broadcast TV news suffered mortal wounds in the aftermath of the Boston bombings.

In vain attempts to be relevant in the world of Continue reading

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Photos 4-26-2013

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Dozens of nice bikes remain unclaimed in PEP office

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April 26, 2013– By Steven E Greer

In May of 2011, the Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) began confiscating bikes that had been abandoned chained to trees and posts throughout BPC. The best working theory as to why the bikes were left is that people moved away and either forgot about them, or did not want to transport them to new locations.

After approximately two years of this process, the PEP have collected more than 24 bikes in the basement of their facility on West Thames Street. There are no finalized plans as to what to do with them. Various legal issues have prevented charitable donations.

For anyone interested in a nice bike, they are encouraged to visit the PEP office and make a claim.

Update April 21, 2013

This is the latest in this epidemic of abandoned nice bikes. read below for the story. If anyone knows why this happens, please post a comment.

May 2, 2011

Rudy Giuliani is often credited with cleaning up New York City and reducing crime by following a “No broken windows” policy, meaning that allowing small levels of vandalism and petty crime leads to more serious crime. The equivalent of “broken windows” have popped up in Battery Park City: abandoned bikes.

Near the newly built West Thames Continue reading

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Letter: Parent outraged over kindergarten waitlist

Kid on waitlistApril 25, 2013- Letter from Reader

In our most recent CB1 meeting, Tricia Joyce started her speech saying “We built it and they came…”. Continue reading

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Pit bulls are dangerous

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April 25, 2013- In the news is a story about a pit bull that attacked an 12-yo girl in Harlem and is scheduled to be euthanized.

March 7, 2013- Surgeons who treat dog attack victims are well aware that certain breeds of dogs are more dangerous than others. The most common breeds involved in human attacks are pit bulls, chows, and rottweilers, according to numerous medical publications. In the news today is the death of a baby after two pit bulls mauled him.

Gateway Plaza has a growing problem of owners who have been allowed to sneak in pit bulls and rottweilers. Several Gateway residents have posted comments that they are in fear when they encounter these dogs and their owners in tight quarters such as elevators. The Gateway management proposed last year to ban these breeds, but dog group leaders, such as Jeff Galloway and Glenn Plaskin, opposed the measures. They ended up losing and pit bulls are now banned. (Warning graphic images) Continue reading

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BPCA turns off the cash spigot to non-profits, bus shuttles in question

April 18, 2013- By Steven E. Greer

In response to BatteryPark.TV oversight stories (see below) questioning the legality of awarding six-figure grants to non-profits unrelated to Battery Park City, the BPCA board debated on April 16th whether to continue those practices. The two largest block grants go to the Downtown Alliance bus shuttle (at $632,000 per year) and to Bob Townley’s Manhattan Youth community center in Tribeca (at $224,563 per year). However, only the free bus service was discussed as a concern.

BPCA President Demitri Boutris announced, Continue reading

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Did the Tribeca Film Festival benefit Downtown after 9/11?

April 18, 2013  By Steven Greer, MD

Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro were interviewed on the CBS Morning show today, and Ms. Rosenthal listed examples of the recovery of Downtown New York after September 11th, 2001. For example, she mentioned that 7 new schools have opened and that “more people live Downtown than ever.”, clearly implying that her film festival helped contribute to those accomplishments. In fact, the Tribeca Film Festival is the beneficiary of larger forces put in place to help the recovery.

The most powerful force that caused the complete recovery of Downtown after 9/11 was the creation of the LMDC, funded by billions of dollars, which handed out grants and tax breaks to new businesses. The Tribeca Film Festival received initial seed funding from LMDC grants. LMDC disclosures indicate that approximately $4 million in grants have been issued to the film festival entities..

Mr. De Niro is the first person to acknowledge Continue reading

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Agenda for CB1 meeting tonight

April 23rd, 2013- The Manhattan Community Board 1 is consistently not posting the agendas for the monthly meetings. We had to email them to receive this. The controversial Hudson River Park NID will be front and center. Chairwoman Katherine McVay Hughes seems to be continuing her strategy of passing resolutions with minimal public input.

 MONTHLY MEETING

 DATE:    Tuesday, April 23, 2013

TIME:   6:00 PM

PLACE:     Murry Bergtraum High School,  411 Pearl Street, Auditorium

 A G E N D A

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Gateway makes good on promise to hook up hoses for power washing South End Ave

SpigotApril 19, 2013- Gateway Plaza, owned by the LeFrak organization, has made good on their promise to hook up water connections to faucets on South End Avenue, thereby allowing the store owners to power wash the filthy sidewalk. An additional spigot will be activated farther north by the ice cream cafe at the driveway entrance to Gateway, according to building manager Greg Tumminia.

Recall, the few bad dog owners in the area have used the sidewalk as a dog urinal since the creation of BPC.

This is a major development for the area. Continue reading

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Stroll on the esplanade 4-21-2013

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WFC and marina 4-21-2013 Continue reading

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Port authority and City Spar Over Escalating World Trade Center Expenses

If you thought the construction progress at the new World Trade Centers and 9/11 memorial was stalling, you were correct. After duct taping together the 9/11 Memorial to meet the deadline of the tenth anniversary opening, the whole site has ground to a halt. There simply is no money left and the overruns are now being passed between the city and the states of New Jersey and New York.

November 21, 2011 The Wall Street Journal

By JENNIFER MALONEY AND ELIOT BROWN

The planned 2012 opening of the Sept. 11 museum at Continue reading

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Fog over New York Harbor

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City wants BPCA to pay for West Thames bridge cost overruns

Update April 18, 2013- The BPCA board met on the 16th and voted to fund for a $2 Million design of the West Thames bridge. Currently, the bridge is a very speculative idea with no real architectural plans. Therefore, estimated costs are absurd guesses. Moreover, the city is still wanting the BPCA to be on the hook for cost overruns.

March 6, 2013 By Steven E. Greer

The BPCA meeting held on February 27th featured a team from the city presenting for the first time the very preliminary plans for the West Thames pedestrian bridge. The previous plans of four years ago are no longer in play. Continue reading

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Buying with a mortgage, Downtown

Barbara IrelandApril 18, 2013, By Barbara Ireland of DJK Residential

Buying an apartment today can be a challenge and leave you disappointed if you are not properly prepared. Here are a few tips to get started on the right path.

  1. Speak to your bank loan officer to see if they will loan in Battery Park City. Tell them the building addresses that you are interested in possibly buying.  Some buildings are more easy to buy on mortgage than others, particularly with flood zones in play.
  2. Lenders in the area have expanded to include Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, HSBC and now PNC Bank.  Smaller lenders are entering the market also.  Not all of these leaders have approved every building.
  3. Ask for a preapproved home loan if you are ready to buy an apartment.  With the preapproved loan you will know your mortgage limit and monthly rate, so that you can set your budget.  A preapproved loan means that you are qualified to negotiate an offer for the apartment.
  4. Do your research to find the right apartment in the right building for you and your family with the assistance of your real estate salesperson. Continue reading
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The US Post Office trash dump in BPC

April 17, 2013- The US Post Office is storing their trash on South End and Albany again. (more…)
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