Tag Archives: bpc

Newt Gingrich Weighs In On Ground Zero Mosque

Newt Gingrich Opposes Ground Zero

The latest politician to take an opposing stance regarding the Park51 Mosque at Ground Zero is Newt Gingrich. Which in itself isn’t very surprising. What is the most surprising revelation from his statement is that he’s bidding for the White House in 2012.

Gingrich’s statement on the mosque released last night reads as follows:

“There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.

The proposed “Cordoba House” overlooking the World Trade Center site – where a group of jihadists killed over 3000 Americans and destroyed one of our most famous landmarks – is a test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites.  For example, most of them don’t understand that “Cordoba House” is a deliberately insulting term.  It refers to Cordoba, Spain – the capital of Muslim conquerors who symbolized their victory over the Christian Spaniards by transforming a church there into the world’s third-largest mosque complex.

Today, some of the Mosque’s backers insist this term is being used to “symbolize interfaith cooperation” when, in fact, every Islamist in the world recognizes Cordoba as a symbol of Islamic conquest.  It is a sign of their contempt for Americans and their confidence in our historic ignorance that they would deliberately insult us this way.

Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for “religious toleration” are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City. Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enterMecca.

And they lecture us about tolerance.

If the people behind the Cordoba House were serious about religious toleration, they would be imploring the Saudis, as fellow Muslims, to immediately open up Mecca to all and immediately announce their intention to allow non-Muslim houses of worship in the Kingdom.   They should be asked by the news media if they would be willing to lead such a campaign.

We have not been able to rebuild the World Trade Center in nine years.  Now we are being told a 13 story, $100 million megamosque will be built within a year overlooking the site of the most devastating surprise attack in American history.

Finally where is the money coming from?  The people behind the Cordoba House refuse to reveal all their funding sources.

America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization. Sadly, too many of our elites are the willing apologists for those who would destroy them if they could.

No mosque.

No self deception.

No surrender.

The time to take a stand is now – at this site on this issue.”

How do you feel about his statement?

Battery Park city Tire Swing Park

Op Ed: Tire Swing Saga: Media Outlets Call BPC Residents “Wimps”

Battery Park city Tire Swing Park
The "Tire Swing Saga" has media outlets calling residents "wimps."

For the past few months, the arrival of the new West Thames playground on Memorial Day weekend has been warmly received. An elaborate ribbon cutting was witnessed by dozens of parents and their children to open the long awaited new tire swing park. On that very same day, a couple of children swinging on the now vilified tire swing “conked” their heads, a term used by Curbed to describe the incident. Curbed went on to mock parents who continue to bring their children to the park by describing them as leading their “children to slaughter.”

As a former kid who enjoyed the original tire swing park, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the old wooden structure and a little bit of sadness that the park is now gone. There are times where I’ve believed that  maybe all of this hullabaloo is a bit of karma from the tire swing gods in the sky — or is it?

Curbed writer Joey reported the story the way it should have been covered — with a bit of jest and humor. While other local news outlets have been reporting this situation with disconcerting seriousness, the candor and ribbing from Curbed is appreciated. Joey proceeds to call Battery Park City residents “wimps” for complaining about a tire swing that has been installed in the same manner in parks — including a dozen in Central Park — all across the city. To placate the controversy, new signs are being installed to warn parents with height-blessed children (of over 4 feet) to avoid using the tire swing.

Yet, there is another thread running through the “Tire Swing Saga.”

When the original tire swing park was slated for demolition (to make way for the extension of the pedestrian path last year), a coalition in support of keeping the original park surfaced. The “Coalition to Save Tire Swing Park” was lead by Matthew Fenton. Ironically, the same man whose own child was one of the very first to be injured by the new tire swing — on the exact day the park opened to the public.

I’m seriously not making this up. Here is an article in 2009 from the Village Voice quoting Matthew Fenton — a staunch and vocal opponent to the new park — in support of saving the original tire swing.

Nearly a year later, here is another article quoting Matthew Fenton regarding the injury of his child, calling for the removal of the tire swing.

(Matthew Fenton is a writer for the local paper, The Broadsheet — which has been following the tribulations of the on-going tire swing saga very closely. Mr. Fenton didn’t attribute himself as “one of those parents” within the article, but the connection was indicated by a small editors note at the end of the article).

In a recent hearing, Jeff Galloway, CB1 member and BPC resident asked, “Is there something peculiar about Battery Park City where we’re not prepared to take a risk everyone else is willing to take? Kids will get hurt in this playground. Kids get injured all the time. Is this risk greater than other risks?”

Truer words were never said, Jeff. Can we now put the Tire Swing Saga to rest and let what happens in the playground stay in the playground?

Battery Park City Ball Field Schedule

You Asked For It: Battery Park City Ball Field Schedule (Play Ball!)

Battery Park City Ball Field Schedule
Battery Park City Ball Field Schedule

We are constantly going through your comments and suggestions, and we were very excited when we received our first official site suggestion from Sabrina:

She asked: “It would be great if you could have a quick link or a box somewhere on your site that would let us know if the BPC Ballfields are open. thanks!”

A special thanks goes out to James Miner, the Ball Field Coordinator for the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, who worked hard to get us some basic information on how to get the best out of the ball fields. We’re also working with James to get a complete schedule for the summer season, which will be posted shortly.

Here is what James had to share:

Adult Use of BPC Ball Fields
The months of July and August are the best times for adults to take advantage of the ball fields in Battery Park City.

Each year (between Jan. 1st and March 1st) I collect about 40+ permits that I then schedule on weeknights — Tuesday – Friday from either 4-6pm or 6-8pm.  For those interested in potentially permitting out the BPC Ball Fields they can get more information here: http://bpcparks.org/bpcp/news/rules.php#permits.

For anyone looking to enjoy just a game of catch or  to kick a soccer ball around, they can use the fields as well, but should consider the following times for “drop-in” play.

  • Weeknights (Tuesday – Thursday, 4-6pm, and Fridays, 2:30pm-8pm)
    Weeknights are tough for “drop-in” play because they are permitted constantly by local businesses/companies.
  • Weekends (Saturday and Sunday, 9am-8pm)
    For those living nearby, weekends are a great time to come by for a pick-up game of soccer/frisbee/touch football etc.

There is almost always a BPC Staffer located at the ball fields who can loan out sporting equipment (soccer balls, gloves and softballs/baseballs, etc).

*During the Fall (September – November) and Spring (May – June) the fields are used heavily and on a daily basis by our Downtown Soccer League and Downtown Little League.  So, unless you can get out early, getting use of the fields is very tough.

** The new West Thames Park (by Rector Bridge) is great for games of frisbee or for light soccer use and not nearly as crowded as Rockefeller Park.

So thanks again to Sabrina and James — now, “Let’s Play Ball!”