Russell Simmon’s uses his windows on Ground Zero to promote a message of “Co-Exist.” The entire story and genesis can be found here.
In a creative way to voice his thoughts and weigh in on the controversy surrounding the Park51 Community Center.
Russell Simmons, as fellow neighbors — we applaud your classy show of unity!
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is calling for the relocation of the controversial Park51 mosque.
Silver, who agrees that the Constitution protects the rights of the developers who want to build the community center and mosque, also feels they should be as interested in compassion for 9/11 victim families
“They should find a suitable place that won’t cause the same controversy,” Silver stated at a press conference with Gov. Paterson.
The Governor also offered his help in relocating the Park51 development. Discussions between the developers and the Governor have not materialized.
Silver’s call for reconsideration came right before the Governor was set to speak with Archbishop Timothy Dolan to discuss Park51 and how to facilitate moving the controversial development.
Park51 and the Cordoba Initiative have stated clearly their resolve in staying at 45-51 Park Place, and show no signs of relocating their community center. Daisy Kahn, one of the founders and wife of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, had stated that the relocation matter was “a bigger fight.”
Two years ago, the Port Authority faced an empty World Trade Center site with companies showing little to no interest in locating downtown.
It seems 1 World Trade Center is the address to have these days.
After having settled on its new headquarters at 1 Bryant Park, Bank of America is entertaining the possibility of 1 million more square feet at the World Trade Center.
Bank of America’s interest comes on the heels of magazine giant Conde Nast locating their new headquarters at 1 World Trade Center.
According to the New York Post, “Sources said the bank prefers at least half of its relocation space to be at a newly minted address with features similar to those at 1 Bryant Park, which it co-owns with Douglas Durst — i.e., LEED-certified environmental design, advanced electronic technology and relatively colum-free floor plates.”
Douglas Durst, along with Larry Silverstein are the two main developers responsible for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. Silverstein also owns and operates the glass behemoth, 7 World Trade Center.
Bank of America is prospecting locations in both midtown and downtown.
“Downtown, only 1WTC (in which Durst now holds a minority stake) is in fullbore construction for completion in 2013. Larry Siverstein’s 4 WTC could offer comparable modern space, but construction above a six-story base awaits completion of a financing agreement between him and the PA,” according to the same article.
It has been extremely challenging to cover the deluge of news surrounding our neighborhood in the past few months.
When we started this site, we intended for it to be a community-building place online: a place where we could discuss with pride the rebuilding of the new World Trade Center and the metamorphosis it will surely bring to our area.
However, we could not have anticipated the national response towards the development of the Park51 mosque, a development connected — in ways other than geography — to the greater rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. Issues of ‘fundamental rights’ and ‘racism’ have sprung up, and our readers (and the nation as a whole) remain divided.
Ideological debates aside, some troubling events from this weekend leave us with another important question:Â How can we be protected and made safe from opponents targeting the mosque in our area?
In the video above (shared with us via Facebook), protesters lambast a person they wrongly believe is a Muslim.
Racial profiling and police profiling in our area has been recorded in negligible amounts. A recent New York Times article published a map of police stops in the city; stops in our area were nearly non-existent.
How will the environment and political tension surrounding the mosque change our neighborhood’s safety? Sure, we don’t live on Ground Zero, but this is an area where we walk for our groceries, for our subways and in September, this is the route some of us take to bring our children to school.
I’m not sure if all in the community share the same concerns as some. If the plans for Park51 go through — and they are as iconic as the developers plan — will this mean we as a community should start to get used to constant protests? If so, how long will they last? Who will help to protect residents of Lower Manhattan from the national scrutiny?
These are questions I feel are not being asked enough. I hope that someone out there is concerned not with the political, or the religious, but the safety ramifications this might cause our community.
Governor’s Island marked record attendance for its summer events this year.
275,000 people visited the former Coast Guard facility this year so far. The season has 8-weeks left and has surpassed 2009’s attendance so far, according to the New York Daily News.
Governor Bloomberg made a statement over the weekend promising the city’s commitment to extended free resources on the island, “We’re committed to building on the momentum we’ve generated on the island by continuing to expand the programming and creating one of the world’s great waterfront parks.”
The island which only 800 yards off The Battery, has seen its popularity increase with a series of summer concerts and free events on the island. Free ferry service is available from the South Street Seaport and Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Some other free events still available for the next eight weeks are free bike rides, kayaking, public art and concerts.
To find out more about how to visit Governor’s Island, visit the official website here.
Starting today, the Brooklyn Bridge will undergo a 4-year renovation to restore deteriorating and corroding surfaces and cables on the bridge.
According to the New York City’s Department of Transportation, the rehabilitation project will cause siginificant closures to traffic for several years.
Beginning tonight (August 23, 2010), Manhattan bound lanes of traffic will be closed after 11PM most nights. Traffic will be detoured towards the Manhattan Bridge or other city crossings.
Brooklyn-bound traffic lanes during this time will remain open, until notice is given otherwise.
The closure schedule is as follows:
Sundays to Fridays: Manhattan bound lanes will be closed from 11PM until 6AM.
Saturdays: Closures will begin at 12:01AM until 7AM
Sundays: Closures will begin at 12:01AM until 9AM
The controversy surrounding the development of a Muslim center near Ground Zero has only solidified focus towards its existence, according to the developers.
In an article published by the Washington Post, Daisy Kahn, one of the founders of the development and wife of Imam Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has vowed to not back down on the building and has blamed Republicans for the uproar caused by the development.
“We have too important a moment to back down. We have to take our opponents and transform them. What gives me strength [is] we are in a history-making moment. Our ideals must prevail.”
She also noted that the organizers will be reaching out to 9/11 families. Our own site, BatteryParkCity.com has been contacted by Park51 to organize community outreach in our area towards alleviating worries our community might have towards the building of the community center and mosque in our neighborhood.
Currently, Kahn’s husband, the Imam of the mosque is on a State funded goodwill trip visiting Middle East and Muslim nations.
Also according to the article, Kahn has claimed that there hasn’t been overwhelming interest in the development outside the country, but she’s hoping that will change with her husbands international tour.
He was 14 at the time of the September 11th attacks, probably unaware that merely 5 years later he would be responsible for finding one of the most controversial developments in the nation.
According to reports published in the New York Daily News today, Francisco Patino was working for developer Sharif El-Gamal to help research and find an appropriate location for the Park51 development.
“I told him to go out and find available buildings for the project, and he did. He’s a phenomenal kid,” Gamal is quoted in the same article, “We were looking at buildings all over the area. I liked a lot of them but this was the one we ended up on. It was just meant to be.”
Patino, 23, currently works at Chase Manhattan Bank and has gained notoriety as a contestant on “American Inventor” a popular TV show that aired in 2006.
The article also mentions, “Patino was barely a man in 2006 and had only come to this country when he was 12. No young newcomer could be expected to understand the sensitivities beneath the contradictions.”
Governor Paterson signed into a law a new bill that would enable the State Liquor Authority to crack down on noisy bars, clubs and nightlife operators who violate noise laws.
With the growth of bars and nightlife in the Financial District in the past few years caused an increase of noise complaints over crowds spilling out of bars in residential areas.
According to State Senator Daniel Squadron, “The new law, allows the SLA to revoke a liquor license from a nightlife operator for which police have referred six or more noise or disorder incidents to the SLA within a 60-day period, establishing a clear standard for determining when an establishment has become subject to repeated police attention.”
“For too long, our communities have been kept up at all hours of the night by operators who fail to control noise and unrly crowds.”
For residents of Battery Park City, there are very seldom occurrences where we would be disrupted by noise from unruly bar crowds — however, party boats on the water is another issue.
It is not clear if the bill stipulates and includes remedies for noise complaints stemming from party boats on the Hudson River.
Residents of Battery Park City are not strangers to noise complaints from waterways. Recently, Goldman Sachs announced an initiative to remedy the noise pollution emanating from commuter ferries at the NY Waterways Ferry terminal.
During the summer months, it is not uncommon for residents with apartments facing the Hudson River to hear the noise emanating from party boats. Which often sail on Friday-Sunday nights.
Bottom line: it is not enough to consider the needs of residents who live in close proximity of noisy bars on land — but should also expand to party spots on water.
Do you agree?
Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani made a public statement regarding the Park51 project on NBC’s Today show this morning.
Giuliani claims the project is “divisive,” but more interestingly claimed that the developers only have $180K for the project and need $100 million.
Watch the entire segment below: