Tag Archives: batteryparkcity.com

Battery Park City South Skyline

BatteryParkCity.com version 2.0: Commitment to Community

Battery Park City South Skyline
Battery Park City South Skyline

When we first opened our digital doors to the community as Battery-Park.com, we knew that we wanted to help give a platform to our community by the time of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. With very little money, but a lot of passion, we’ve worked hard to build the site and bring information to our neighborhood.

The core reason we launched BatteryParkCity.com was to create a digital community to connect the neighborhood that we love. In the past year, we’ve gotten to know our neighbors better through this site, Facebook, and Twitter.

Behind the scenes, we’ve been hard at work to make sure we offer better access to the growing online community at BatteryParkCity.com. Interestingly, we’ve watched a few things happen both inside and out:

  • A growing percentage of our readers are viewing the site through iPads and iPhones.
  • We’ve watched engagement grow from our Twitter (http://twitter.com/batterypark) and Facebook page (http://facebook.com/batterypark)
  • Our contributors and writers have experienced some speed bumps in terms of publishing posts.
  • Some of our favorite areas of the sites were virtual crickets — despite the personal attachment, love, and attention we gave those areas

So we went back to the lab and tried to accommodate for the growing pains and learnings. Today, as our way of honoring the community on the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, we mark the official relaunch of BatteryParkCity.com.

Some new features launched today:

  • BatteryParkCity.com is optimized for mobile viewing and commenting: Our site is now optimized for the growing lot of you that are viewing from tablets and mobile phones. (It’s a lot of you.)
  • Facebook Connect: We love all the Facebook comments we receive, and its become a huge part of what makes our site great. So we’ve enabled a way to offer seamless commenting for our FB friends.
  • Redesign of our Newsletter: We’ve redesigned and updated our newsletter to offer more news/alerts/events/promotions for those who want the information as fast as we get it. Please sign up if you aren’t already receiving it.

Last but not least — as our way of honoring the community at large and as our way of paying tribute to the last 10 years we have lived through together — we would like to make an announcement:

BatteryParkCity.com will be offering free advertising support for selected businesses who have served our community since September 11th, 2001.

As a community we rely on you to help serve our neighborhood. Several great and beloved businesses within our community have lost their fight to stay here. This year alone we’ve watched more than a handful of our favorite businesses shut their doors for good. We always envisioned BatteryParkCity.com as a means to help our community — residents and businesses alike — to stay committed to the resurgence of the neighborhood.

We hope to be able to lend a hand and provide support for those small business owners who share our unending commitment to Battery Park City. Interested businesses should contact us.

We were never here to make money: We’re here to make a difference. We hope that together we can do that.

–Elizabeth
Publisher of BatteryParkCity.com

Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House Mosque

Park51 Mosque To Seek LMDC Funding

Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House Mosque
Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House Mosque

We had a few questions for Park51 today, so we reached out as any modern person does. Through Twitter.

UPDATE: Park51 had just tweeted to BatteryParkCity.com that they are seeking funding from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
To read the entire transcript go to our
Twitter Feed (http://www.twitter.com/batterypark)

A partial transcript from the conversation reads below:

What do you think about our chat?

battery park city community response

Week In Review: You Said it (Community Comments)

battery park city community response
You said it! This week's comments from the site.

As we hope everyone has stayed cool this weekend, welcome to BatteryParkCity.com’s “Week in Review.’ Every week, we’ll highlight  selected comments from the site. We urge you to find and add more comments to all our articles as we hope that this keeps the conversation going! As always, feel free to leave suggestions/comments for the rest of us on the site and in our posts.

Battery Park City Bad Cell Service
Bad Service

In ‘Battery Park City Can You Hear Me Now? … Nope!
Diane wrote: “wow – does this resonate! I moved from 50 Murray Street west four blocks to the Solaire last year and it’s almost comical (when it’s not) that my AT&T blackberry NEVER EVER works in my apartment. I’ve considered getting the microcell but what’s the point? as soon as I walk outside – or up to my roof – I have the SAME PROBLEM. I did discover a 5 bar hot spot the other day while having a coffee at the new Pain Quotidien but generally speaking, this is a MAJOR problem which I’ve been told is related to our lovely green environment which doesn’t permit the installation of antennas in parks… something’s gotta give! and articles like these are key to getting the situation addressed as for respondents who claim their calls never drop, they’re lying! thanks for the forum. – Diane”

Tire Swing Saga in Battery Park City
Swing Saga

In ‘Op Ed: Tire Swing Saga: Media Outlets Call BPC Residents “Wimps”‘
Steve Getchell wrote: “When I was a kid, we swung on a steel barbell weight attached to a steel cable wrapped in barbed wire, hung over a dirt patch filled with shards of glass. But I must admit we never hit our heads on anything but the ground. Those were the days.”

Sarah Palin on Ground Zero
Sarah Palin

In ‘Sarah Palin “Refudiates” Ground Zero Mosque on Twitter’
john on west street wrote: “Americans & New Yorkers should welcome this mosque, masquerading as a community center, when Muslims invite America to build a community center or Dinosaur BBQ in Mecca/Makkah.
The America-hating, self-loathing political correctness that allows such an offense to materialize, is duplicitous, and to our own detriment.”

Bernard Kerik Ground Zero Comments
Bernard Kerik

In ‘Bernard Kerik Tweets About Ground Zero Mosque…In Jail?!
AB wrote: “Kerik is a criminal who violated the public trust. His opinion on matters of public concern is worthless.”

battery park city news

Welcome to BatteryParkCity.com! :)

We're putting out the welcome mat for the community on BatteryParkCity.com
Welcome to BatteryParkCity.com

Dear Reader,

It’s with open arms that I welcome you into BatteryParkCity.com! It had been years in the dreaming, and months in the making but the site is finally here! We encourage you to visit the site where we promise to bring you Battery Park City “made fresh daily.” To get to know the site, is to get to know a little bit about me and the rest of us who contribute to BatteryParkCity.com.

I have lived and grown up in Battery Park City since since 1985. For the little girl in me, the World Financial Center was my playground. The system of bridges and tall skyscrapers to a young girl in the 80’s felt like a fortress of strength. Indestructable and protective. Battery Park City’s esplanade was where I sold my first cup of lemonade, I had my first kiss, the path on which I rollerbladed to Stuyvesant High School, where I had my first job at Foxhounds. It’s the backdrop of both my prom picture, my wedding photo, and when my heart broke forever on that fateful September day.

Battery Park City has slowly but steadily rebuilt itself. I’ve seen families stay, I’ve seen families leave. I’ve watched businesses succeed and great businesses die because people in our neighborhood had no idea what was beyond the subway stop.  There is something about this neighborhood unlike any other in the city. For the great spirit we have here, I wanted to create a gift for the community. A place where we could all connect, learn, and keep in touch with the things that are going on in Battery Park City — online. For us who own homes, we’ve grown increasingly concerned with the real estate market as it affects our investments here. At times we feel like outsiders wondering what is happening at Ground Zero. Sometimes we just want to reach out to our neighbors and let them know we’ve got an extraordinary dining room table that needs a good home. Whatever the reason is, the focus of this site is to connect with one another… and it’s our goal to help achieve that! 🙂

The site is maintained and written by a handful of residents who both live and work in the area. I encourage others to drop us a note if you’d like to join as a contributor! Send us an email at [email protected].

So I welcome you again to BatteryParkCity.com. As much as it’s our site, it’s your site too. We openly welcome suggestions, comments and criticisms. (Just punch with kid gloves on the latter!)

Sincerely,
Elizabeth