All posts by Lizbeth

About Lizbeth

Elizabeth has been a resident of Battery Park City since 1985, where she and her sister were beneficiaries of the neighborhood's first school bus stop. She loves to travel, but loves even more to come home. The Battery Park Esplanade is her favorite neighborhood fixture, where you'll often find her soaking up the sun, rollerblading, or simply enjoying the view.

Plans for the Cordoba House Mosque

Rick Lazio Demands WTC Mosque Investigation

News, Politics, , , , ,
Rick Lazio, Ground Zero, Andrew Cuomo
Rick Lazio's Open Letter to Andrew Cuomo suggests "questionable" motives for WTC Mosque (Credit: Flickr)

As we suggested, politicians should heed last week’s Quinnipiac Poll.

We just didn’t know the first politician would be Rick Lazio.

Riding on the heels of a report that more than half of all New York voters oppose the building of the Cordoba Initiative mosque, the Republican gubernatorial candidate has openly challenged his Democratic opponent and current Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate.

According to Lazio, “New Yorkers have a right to feel safe and be safe. There are serious security questions about the appropriateness of this mosque.”

In his formal request, Lazio asserts that an investigation must be made into the backgrounds of both the Imam in charge of construction as well as its questionable funding.

Here is the complete letter to Attorney General Cuomo which was posted on Lazio’s official website:

July 7, 2010

The Honorable Andrew Cuomo

Office of the Attorney General

The Capitol

Albany, NY 12224-0341

Dear Attorney General Cuomo,

I am writing on behalf of the people of New York who share my concerns for their personal security and safety with respect to the construction of the Cordoba Mosque in lower Manhattan. Recent press reports have highlighted the following troublesome issues:

• The Imam in charge of the construction refused to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization. (New York Post, 6/19/10)

• The Imam of the project is a “key figure” of Perdana Global, the single largest funder of the flotilla that tried to break the blockade of Gaza by Israeli defense forces. (New York Post, 6/5/10)

• The questionable background of the funding sources for the construction of the Mosque. (New York Post, 5/25/10)

Given that the Cordoba Initiative is a legally registered charitable organization with the New York Attorney General’s Office, my fellow New Yorkers and I are asking you to immediately conduct a thorough investigation of the previous items highlighted by the media with respect to the construction of this Mosque in lower Manhattan. The people have the right to know if this “charity” is using its resources in a legitimate, legal, and charitable way.

New Yorkers were shocked and appalled at the silence of our state law enforcement officials when the Obama Administration decided to stage a civilian trial of admitted terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in lower Manhattan. We hope that we can depend on our state officials for more competent leadership with respect to this extremely sensitive matter.

I and the people of New York await your rapid and full response.

Sincerely,

Rick Lazio

The cornerstone has not be laid out and it seems we’ve got a long road of controversy before any prayers begin. How do you feel about the allegations and the building of the Cordoba Initiative?

Building Vacancies Drop in Battery Park City and Tribeca

Condo Sales Up in Manhattan — Except In Our Neighborhood

Real Estate, , , ,
Condo sales rise citywide except in Financial District.
Condo sales rise citywide except in Financial District.

Condominium sales have climbed throughout all of Manhattan except in the Financial District, according to Radar Logic, the company that runs the RPX index which calculates condo sales. The RPX index measures 8 separate neighborhoods in Manhattan and reported that prices declined in five out of eight Manhattan neighborhoods, with our neighborhood accounting for the steepest drop in both sales and price per square foot.

In April, Manhattan condo sales had seen a stark rise to 383 units — 246 units over last years figures. However, compared with March numbers, April condo sales were up 20%.

An increase in condo sales is usually good news –except the overal price per square foot was down 6.9% year over year. Our neighborhood which is included with condominiums located in the financial district had reported an average price per square foot drop of nearly 16.% percent  — at approximately $869.21 per square foot. Whereas Murray Hill/Gramercy Park reported the biggest gain, with a 6.4% to $1,014.04 per square foot.

The decrease in square foot value is due to the amount of inventory in and around our area — with developers pricing units to sell. According to the report, “The principal problem facing the housing markets is one of oversupply — at the current levels of demand it will take years to absorb unsold inventory.”

102 North End Avenue Battery Park City

Hello Goldman Sachs — Goodbye NYSC and others

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102 North End Avenue Battery Park City
Hello Goldman! Goodbye New York Sports Club and others

We have Goldman Sachs to thank for using the Independence Day weekend to free us from the conveniences of our local gym and other stores some Battery Park City residents have grown to love.

Our newest corporate neighbor and owner of 102 North End Avenue has not offered renewal leases for some local restaurants and businesses including Applebees, New York Sports Club, Pizzabola, and Chevy’s among others. The landlord is cleaning house and also shuttering the Embassy Suites hotel to make way for The Conrad, a luxury Hilton Hotel brand.

The introduction of this new hotel will also lead the way for new restaurants and retail stores. While some are glad to see a change for more upscale dining options in our neighborhood, others — including committee members of Community Board #1 — decry it, saying it doesn’t serve the mixed income interests of the community. Whether we love these places are not is still yet to be seen. One thing is for certain — the sudden lack of services and possible construction impediments will affect our neighborhood almost immediately.

Although there isn’t much that residents can do to about the end of Chevy’s and Applebees beyond renting a car and heading to the ‘burbs, one of the most immediate pitfalls in this “landscape transition” is losing the New York Sports Club. Although several of our buildings have our own gyms — the NYSC was still the neighborhood’s largest and most robust fitness center. Leaving newly orphaned NYSC members with the question: “Where do we go now?!”

Some official answers have been left for local residents on the Town Sports, Inc. website:

“All Battery Park City members now have Passport privileges allowing unlimited access to all clubs across the Sports Clubs Networks.” Whether or not you have subscribed as a passport member before.

Other New York Sports Clubs within walking distance of Battery Park City are:

NYSC Tribeca at Reade Street
151 Reade Street

NYSC City Hall
217 Broadway

NYSC Wall Street
30 Wall Street

For anyone who has specific questions towards their membership, New York Sports Club is requesting you call BPC’s NYSC management team at (212) 945-3535.

Although this is a short term solution for patrons of the BPC’s NYSC, one cannot help but feel a bit helpless. Goldman Sachs has always had powerful control over our local restaurants and services, which affect the overall landscape of our neighborhood. As long as they are mindful of residential needs — it will be nice to see some fresh retail and restaurant blood in the neighborhood. Especially if it remotely involves a Shake Shack.

liberty court 200 rector place

Liberty Court Residents New Tire Swing Victims

News, , , ,
liberty court 200 rector place
Liberty Court residents complain of sand in their face.

First an injury on the new and quickly beloved Tire Swing Park had the neighborhood up in arms. Now it’s a wind tunnel of sand being thrown in the faces of Liberty Court terraces at 200 Rector Place, say residents of the building.

According to a report in the Under Cover section of the Downtown Express, the injuries of wind swept sand onto residential balconies have resulted in torn corneas and will inevitably lead to property damages for those apartments facing the newly constructed playground.

In an email sent to Community Board 1,

“About half a cup a day is flying onto the balconies — more comes in through windows, landing of course on everything inside. This includes into peoples’ eyes and into bedding and foodstuffs.”

Residents of this building have threatened to take action against the sand issue and have aired their grievances with both the New York State Department of Transportation and the Battery Park City Authority Conservancy, who had partnered together to build the new playground.

Liberty Court or 200 Rector Place has had a tough break with the playground area. The area had been previously used as evidence holding post 9/11 and was an area enduring the demolition and construction of the Rector Street bridge and Route 9W construction.

Are you a resident in this building that can speak more to this issue? Let us know if this issue has affected you.

Queen Elizabeth visits Lower Manhattan

Queen Elizabeth Visits Ground Zero

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Queen Elizabeth visits Lower Manhattan
Queen Elizabeth visits Lower Manhattan

As mentioned previously, Queen Elizabeth II will be in our neighborhood today. Although poignantly not visiting the United States during our Independance Day holiday from the British — Queen Elizabeth II will be in New York City today, which includes an address to the United Nations General Assembly and a visit to Ground Zero. This would be the first visit of the site by the Queen since the September 11 attacks.

The Queen is scheduled to lay a wreath at the site of the World Trade Center construction today with her husband, Prince Philip — also in town.

Families and relatives of victims of the attack as well as first responders will also have a chance to meet her highness, who is in town to formerly open the British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square here in Lower Manhattan. The Garden is dedicated to 67 British citizens who had lost their lives during the World Trade Center Attacks.

Queen Elizabeth has a history of visiting Lower Manhattan. Her first trip to our area was in 1957 where she made her first visits to the Statue of Liberty, rode on the Staten Island Ferry and was even greeted with her very own ticker tape parade on the Canyon of Heroes. Her last trip to our area was in 1976, where she marked the Bicentennial of America’s Declaration of Independence from Britain — part of an six day tour of the East Coast.

Her slated visit to Ground Zero is scheduled for “late afternoon” so be wary of closings and extra security in and around the World Trade Center during that time.

Opponents of the Park51 mosque are found nationwide.

Ground Zero Watch: New Yorkers Oppose Mosque Plans

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Mosque Protest
A Quinnipiac University poll finds most New Yorkers are opposed to Cordoba House.Â

Protests were inevitable, once plans for The Cordoba House Initiative were made public. The building of a mosque near the World Trade Center site was bound to cause public outcry and controversy.

That being said, who could have predicted that more than 73% of all Staten Islanders would be opposed?! Better yet, more than half of all New York voters polled in a recent Quinnipiac University poll were found to be opposed to the building of the Cordoba House in Lower Manhattan.

Plans for the Cordoba House Mosque
Plans for the Cordoba House Mosque

The Cordoba House Initiative includes plans to build a 13-floor Muslim institute which will include a mosque and community center only 600 feet from Ground Zero.

Politicians better listen up to these findings considering that the anniversary of September 11th will always precede Election Day. It would be smart to heed the concerns of over half of New York City voters.

Currently, the only thing standing in the way of the greenlight for the Cordoba house is passing approval from The Landmarks Preservation Commission who are scheduled to vote on the project later this month.

According to other information gleaned from this poll:

-55% of New Yorkers polled said “mainstream Islam” is a “peaceful religion” compared to 22% who found that Islamic beliefs “encourage violence against non-muslims.”

-73% of Staten Islanders polled opposed the building, versus 14% in support of the Mosque.

-46% of Manhattan voters were in support of the bulding, versus the 36% opposed.

-1,183 registered voters were polled between June 21 to June 28

-The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

How do you feel about the Cordoba House initiative?

Battery Park City Greenmarket Thursdays at 225 Liberty Street

Battery Park City’s Greenmarket is Here! (Well.. Until November)

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Battery Park City Greenmarket Thursdays at 225 Liberty Street
Our Greenmarket is Here! Hooray!

Our neighborhood has just been served… with a side of swiss chard, organically pasteurized eggs with pies for dessert!

Battery Park City now has a Greenmarket to call its own.

After being Greenmarket connoisseurs without a country — Battery Park City’s Greenmarket is here to stay until November 24th.

Starting today and every Thursday from 8AM until 6PM, greenmarket vendors will be set up in the ring road right outside 225 Liberty Street at South End Avenue.

If this morning is any indication — a key piece of advice is to get to the stands before you head out to work. The fresh veggies, fruits and baked goods will certainly be snatched up by our business neighbors by lunchtime. Case in point: while perusing the stalls at 9:30am, some of the best looking produce had already been procured leaving many visibly empty spaces within the lush terrain of fresh produce. Also, while heading to the greenmarket — there were several people heading back to their apartments with bags of produce leaving in the opposite direction all before 9am.

We can’t blame them. The Greenmarket is very exciting for the southern portion of our neighborhood. Before today, the best excuse the South End part of the neighborhood had for fresh produce has been the fruit cart flanked at Albany Street and South End Avenue. The North End of the neighborhood has been blessed with easy access to the Tribeca Greenmarket as well as the Whole Foods. The location of Battery Park City’s greenmarket is smartly placed in the center of the neighborhood — easy enough for everyone to get to. Not to mention it’s also an excellent use of a ring road that seems hardly used post 9/11.

While speaking with the Greenmarket representatives, we asked if there was a possibility for the vendors to stay throughout the winter and brave blistery winds for fresh winter produce. They had informed us that as long as the Greenmarket is proven successful, an extension for the Greenmarket to stay year round is definitely a possibility. As far as the wind was concerned, the Greenmarket people claimed that this location is apparently not the windiest in the city. (Obviously the Greenmarket grasshopper has much to learn!)

The vendors who will be in our neighborhood every Thursday are:

Migliorelli Farm – Vegetables and fruit
Meredith’s Bakery -Bread and baked goods
Red Jacket Orchard – Fruit, juices and assorted bottled goods such as apple butter.
Binder Farm – Plants and flowers
MK Orchards – Orchids and hydrangeas
Valley Shepherd – Sheep, cow and goat cheese, pasta, butter, yogurt and gelato
Lavender by the Bay – Fresh lavender and assorted lavender products.
Beth’s Family Farm – Jams and preserves
NY Wine & Grape Association – NY state local wines
Holten Farms – Vegetables, fruit, maple syrup, honey, eggs, baked goods, and meat including, beef, turkey, pork, chicken and lamb.

Yum! Welcome Greenmarket! May you help all of us eat healthier meals.
Check out some of the photos we took from our first visit to the Battery Park City Greenmarket!

What happens with the Deutsche Bank building?

What Does LMDC’s Demise Mean for Battery Park City?

News, Op-Ed, , , , , , ,
What happens with the Deutsche Bank building?
What happens with the Deutsche Bank building? (Flickr/tacker)

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. After siphoning Battery Park City surplus revenue in an effort to close the State’s budget deficit, Governor Paterson has decided to dissolve the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) citing years of ineptitude in running the disbursement of funds allocated to the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after the September 11th terrorist attacks.

One could easily agree that little has been seen from the LMDC– but might also argue that the dissolution of the organization might be a heavy handed option for a community still reeling from the after effects of 9/11 nearly a decade later. Although the LMDC will not be completely shut down, the Governor is proposing cutting the organization by 85% from 35 fulltime staffers to 5.

This is cause for some concern for residents of Lower Manhattan but especially Battery Park City being that the LMDC is the owner and responsible agent for the dismantling of the former Deutsche Bank building, a behemoth skeleton of a visual reminder of how much work is left.

From its inception in 2001 from government and by then Governor George Pataki and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the intent of the LMDC was to “work closely with the private sector to determine a proper market-driven response to the economic and infrastructure needs of Lower Manhattan, as well as with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to identify the appropriate redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.”

According to the LMDC’s website, some of its core responsibilities include city operations, communications, community relations, construction mitigation, environmental compliance, fraud prevention, small business development and marketing. Dissolution of the LMDC could affect our community in the following ways:

1. Safety and infrastructural hazards
As if it’s not dangerous or confusing enough to cross the West Side Highway to reach the subway, how will a 5-person team be optimized to make sure that our safety is maintained during the construction at Ground Zero? The implementation of crossing guards in our area, although fiscally insufficient, was still a step in the right direction. With all the confusing bridge detours being built and constantly changed — who will notify us of these changes? High winds during the winter also pose a serious safety risk during construction, if the falling glass panes from Goldman Sachs’ construction site can be used as an example.

2. Dismantling of the Deutsche Bank Building
The history of the former Deutsche Bank building post 9/11 has been riddled with corruption and safety concerns. From the issues surrounding the decontamination of the building to the safety of the workers dismantling the building, who will be accountable if something goes wrong? According to the LMDC, concerned residents can call a hotline to report incidents at the site as to avoid what happened on August 18, 2007 when a fire spread through the site killing 2 firefighters.

3. Environmental Compliance
The progress reports that are issued by the LMDC are important for our community as the demolition affects the health of the air we breathe during its decontamination. Although most of us probably haven’t even seen one of these reports — it’s important that they be maintained in order for us to be aware of the hazards that might exist during the demolition.

4. Small Business Development
The lack of business real estate means the lack of foot traffic of businessmen and women, which translates into the decimation of small businesses in our area. As we roll into our 9th year of waiting for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site — who will help the small businesses that residents rely on in this underserved area? Although disbursements of small business grants have been slow from the LMDC — there is still almost $800 Million dollars of yet to be disbursed funds. These funds were meant for the development of Lower Manhattan distributed through the LMDC. When the governor dissolves the LMDC, what will happen to that funding?

These are four compelling reasons as to reconsider dissolving the LMDC. If the organization needs less ineptitude and better people to run it — why restructure and re-organize the LMDC instead? There must be a better option for the betterment of a still embattled Lower Manhattan.

Battery Park City's own Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts for Battery Park City

Food, , , , ,
Battery Park City's own Dunkin' Donuts
Battery Park City's own Dunkin' Donuts

As of this past Saturday, Battery Park City residents now have a chance to “run on Dunkin'” on their way to catching their subway on Rector Street.

Although there has been a smaller express version of Dunkin’ Donuts on Cortlandt Street — this shop is a full service store well positioned right off the Rector Street bridge located within the 88 Greenwich Street building.

A visiting California resident, touring through the area — was so enamored by the store he himself took a picture of the new shop. He exclaimed that there did not exist any Dunkin’ Donuts in California. (Well, we’ll trade you an In and Out burger any day buddy.)

Our inaugural donut purchase at this location was the “Stars and Stripes” donut — a sugar glazed, chocolate frosted and patriotic sprinkle colored donut — just in time for July 4th weekend.

Do you think this was a good addition to the neighborhood?

California tourist enamored with our Dunkin' Donuts
California tourist enamored with our Dunkin' Donuts
Batteryparkcity.com's Inaugural Dunkin Donut
Batteryparkcity.com's Inaugural Dunkin Donut: Stars and Stripes Donut
Dunkin Donuts at 88 Greenwich
Don't forget to turn in for Dunkin' Donuts!
Anna Chapman or Anya Chapman

Anna Chapman: Our Friendly Neighbor and Russian Spy

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Accused Russian Spy Anna Chapman
Accused Russian Spy Anna Chapman (Credit: Facebook)

Sitting amongst the rest of the patrons at the Tribeca Barnes and Noble, Anna Chapman would type away at her laptop just like many others in the cafe area. Except that Anna Chapman was not just like any one of us — she was a Russian spy. According to newly released reports on the arrest of 11 Russian operatives today, it was at our local Barnes and Noble in which Anna had sent messages back to her Russian spy handlers.

Although by now, the reports are internationally widespread — the 11 alleged Russian spies are not being charged with espionage.

According to the federal documents, Anna Chapman had been tailed and conducting spy communication at the book store:

“On March 17, 2010, law-enforcement agents, acting pursuant to judicial orders, performed video surveillance on a book store located in the vicinity of Greenwich and Warren Streets in Manhattan (the “Book Store”). CHAPMAN was inside the Book Store. At the same time, Russian Government Official #1 was across the street from the Book Store, carrying a briefcase. I observed CHAPMAN pull a laptop out of the Tote Bag. CHAPMAN stayed in the Book Store for approximately thirty minutes; Russian Government Official #1 was in the vicinity of the Book Store (but outside) for approximately twenty of those thirty minutes. As part of the surveillance operation, law-enforcement agents utilized a commercially available tool that can detect the presence of wireless networks. Law-enforcement agents were able to detect a particular MAC address – MAC ADDRESS A – at the time that CHAPMAN was observed powering on her laptop computer; law-enforcement agents were also able to determine that the electronic device associated with MAC ADDRESS A created the AD HOC NETWORK. Approximately three minutes after the creation of the AD HOC NETWORK, another electronic device with MAC ADDRESS B was detected joining the AD HOC NETWORK. ”

Now granted, the “Book Store” in question has not been identified as the “Tribeca Barnes and Noble,” but considering that there aren’t many other book stores on that corner — unless you want to count the cookbook section of the Whole Foods a book store, we are pretty confident it happened in our neighborhood. So while you’re cruising on Facebook in the Barnes and Noble cafe, Anna Chapman was conducting espionage communication. Pretty cool in my spy novel book.

The page could not have been written better except if Ms. Anna Chapman didn’t conduct her spy work at the Mysterious Bookshop on Chambers Street.

Although being fingered as a Russian Spy might be seen as a lesser character trait — Ms. Chapman is being portrayed in media as the “bombshell” or “sexy” spy with the fantastic Financial District apartment. If anything, we owe Ms. Chapman for lending our neighborhood with a little bit of that mysterious sexy cache. It will be interesting to see what other details of her spy work happened in and around our neighborhood.

To have another astounding glimpse at Anna Chapman not focused on in the news, check out her Linked In profile page.

If any of your friends ever have any kind of credentials that resemble hers — you should think twice about whether or not you know your said friend. 😉