Category Archives: News

Battery Park City has become the Sugar Mama of New York City

Battery Park City: New York State’s Sugar Mama

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Battery Park City has become the Sugar Mama of New York City
Battery Park City has become the Sugar Mama of New York City

Any condo owner in Battery Park City knows that the cost of living in our neighborhood can be astronomical. Our land lease subsidies were originally meant to fulfill a need for affordable housing that had been usurped with the building of the Twin Towers back in the early 60’s. The fund has largely gone towards it’s original intent and maintenance of Battery Park City itself.

As the city and state face their own budget crises, Battery Park City’s surplus’ are now being allocated at a city and state level to fill their budget gaps. This controversial move has the blessing of the Governor, Mayor, Comptroller and the BPC Authority board.

The terms of the deal include allocating $400 Million to fill budget deficits on both city and state levels. The city will also borrow another $200 Million for affordable housing initiatives and another $200 Million for general capital projects. The deal involves borrowing nearly $900 Million dollars that will take two decades to restore from land lease charges from owners.

The city promises that the money borrowed will be matched and be dedicated to providing additional affordable housing between now and 2017.

This deal may have some unrealized ramifications to our neighborhood, including decreased property value. How do you feel about the allocation of Battery Park City funds throughout the city and state?

William Thompson newly appointed Battery Park City Authority Chairman

Bill Thompson: From Mayoral Candidate to Chairman of BPCA

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William Thompson newly appointed Battery Park City Authority Chairman
William Thompson newly appointed Battery Park City Authority Chairman

Governor Paterson announced his confirmation of former NYC mayoral candidate and Comptroller William C. Thompson to the Board of Directors of Battery Park City Authority.

According to a press release from the governor, “I am pleased to announce the confirmation of my colleauge and friend, Bill Thompson, to the Battery Park City Authority. Bill is a proven leader with significant experience in government. As the City’s former Comptroller, he worked tirelessly on behalf of all New York City residents. I look forward to working with him in making New York City and Battery Park City a better place to live, work and raise a family. ”

Mr. Thompson was most recently elected to serve two consecutive four-year terms as Comptroller of New York City, leading a team of 720 employees and managing a $66 million annual operating budget. Mr. Thompson’s early career roles included serving as Chief of Staff to a United States Congressman, and Deputy Borough President for the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President. Later, in the private sector, Mr. Thompson was a Senior Vice President in Public Finance at an investment banking firm. He returned to public service and was appointed to the New York City Board of Education where he served five terms as President of the nation’s largest school system with more than 130,000 employees and an annual budget of nearly $12 billion. As President, Mr. Thompson led policy development and implementation in a city of over 8 million residents with 1.1 million public school children.

Mr. Thompson received a B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University, where he currently serves as a Trustee Emeritus. He has received honorary degrees from Metropolitan College, Pace University, Mercy College and Long Island University.

MTA Cuts greatly affect Lower Manhattan

MTA Cuts Ream Lower Manhattan: What This Means

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MTA Cuts greatly affect Lower Manhattan
Do you know how the MTA cuts affect your daily commute?

During this widespread recession, New Yorkers everywhere have tried to save on their daily commutes by relying heavily on public transportation. For us residents of Lower Manhattan, specifically Battery Park City, our commute just got crappier. On June 27, the transit changes go into effect which include the loss of key subway and bus lines in the downtown area. The W train, which directly served the Battery Park City community will stop it’s regular service on Friday, June 25th. It’s all a wee bit ironic, considering the state could be considered biting the hand that fed them some much needed financial infusion for their large budget gap.

The most contested transit change, the elination of the M22 was saved at the 11th hour. Saving an important route that served both the BPC and LES communities.

So what other changes will effect our area? We seek to list out some of the major changes and how many people will be affected by these changes:

Trains by Station:

1/9 – The 1 line will continue to have interrupted service on the weekends to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.

W– Completely eliminated.

R-  The R will replace the stops serviced by the defunct W line.

4/5/6– Unaffected. Service as usual to Fulton St., Wall St., Whitehall and Bowling Green stops.

A/C/E-  The A/E will continue to have interrupted service on Sundays to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.

J/M/Z– Reduced train frequencies on the weekends to accommodate the construction of the South Ferry/Fulton Street transit hubs.

Bus Routes:

M22- Weekend and Overnight service will be shortened.

M20- Service will be restructured and is TBD. Weekday and Weekend service will be shortened.

M9 – Service will be restructured and is TBD

Express Bus Routes:

X25 – Total Elimination (Route served Grand Central to Lower Manhattan)

X20-  Total Elimination (Lower Manhattan to Staten Island)

X18– Total Elimination (Lower Manhattan to Staten Island)

X16– Total Elimination (Lower Manhattan to Staten Island)

X90– Total Elimination (Lower Manhattan to Yorkville)

A Library Dreams Are Made Of… Right Here in BPC

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NYPL's first LEED certified library in BPC
Battery Park City welcomes it's first NYPL

It used to be that a person who was both Battery Park City resident and a New York Library Patron meant to be an person without a country — or a home library. For years, NYPL card holders who lived in BPC would have to travel between the New Amsterdam location, Hudson Park Branch or even the Midtown Branch location on 42nd street. (We kind of get used to that living down here don’t we?)

All of that craziness officially ended today with the opening of Battery Park’s very own New York Public Library. The opening of the NYPL’s 88th location also marked it’s greenest endeavor yet, living up to the neighborhoods mantra of being the “greenest neighborhood in the country” the library is the first green LEED certified branch in all of Manhattan.

The library boasts 10,000 square feet of 24,000 items, including public use computers, reading areas and of course stacks of books. The library cost $6.7 million dollars and was partially subsidized by Goldman Sachs, our new rich benevolent corporate neighbor. The money went into ensuring that the library could provide low-energy heating, air conditioning and lighting — even using recyclable materials for furnishings and carpeting.

As budget cuts have been affecting the use of most public resources — our brand new library is also at the mercy of cuts. Although the library is currently open for use 6 days a week — it will soon reducing services to 3-4 days a week, cutting back on purchases to increase the collection as well as staff layoffs.

Either way for NYPL fans, 3-4 days of use of this beautiful facility is still better than not seeing this day come at all.

Share your sentiments or kudos for our new library in our comments! 🙂