In our neighborhood, going to the “movies” was often a code word to go shoe shopping. However, Battery Park City shoe lovers will need a dose of retail therapy when their beloved DSW is slated to close September 3rd. Proving another store bites the dust to make way for the new Conrad Hotel in Battery Park City.
While this is terrible news for some, this is fantastic news for others. As Battery Park City husbands who have married shoe addicts are secretly rejoicing. No more requests to go to the shoe store before a movie.
Store employees confirmed with us that the store’s lease was not renewed and that another location was not planned for Downtown Manhattan. They also wanted to mention that customers could visit their Union Square and Downtown Brooklyn locations, but admitted visiting those locations is tantamount to a full contact sport and a “zoo.”
A formal sign had been placed in the lobby of the Union Square Theater on Sunday to further confirm the stores closing.
As a shoe lover, this one really takes a hit on my heels. How does DSW closing affect you?
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.
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”
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
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.”
Mussels on the menu at Petite Abeille West Broadway
Petite Abeille is a quaint Belgian restaurant most known for its Mussels and Belgian Waffles. With four Manhattan locations, no one can deny that this restaurant has outlived New York’s Belgian food buzz, and their Tribeca location certainly does them justice.
If you choose to dine here, do yourself a favor and try a new beer- your waiter will definitely be able to find something you’ll enjoy out of their 50 different Belgian beers. All four of the beers our waiter recommended- from the strong and heavy Scaldis ($8.50) to the sweet and fruity Lindemans Framboise ($9.50)- were delightful and a great way to start the meal. They also had the added benefit of enhancing our appetite which we were extremely grateful for later on in the evening!
The appetizer portion of the Moules Marinieres ($9.50) were more than enough for two people to share. I could definitely see why their Wednesday night all you can eat specials are so popular; the mussels were fresh and not the least bit grainy, and the white wine broth was divine. Petite Abeille also provides diners with deliciously crusty, chewy, and sour bread that’s perfect for dipping into the broth.
Belgian Waffles from Petite Abeille
For my main course, I got the Vol Au Vent, Frites ($18.50), which was basically a deconstructed pot pie with pommes frites on the side, definitely not a meal for the calorie cautious! The pommes frites were kind of overkill, especially since they were soggy and undercooked. The chicken, on the other hand, was slightly dry and overcooked, but the sinfully creamy gravy provided a great textural balance. The deconstructed nature of the Vol Au Vent insured that the puff pastry stay puffy, and the bacon and mushrooms were a perfect addition to this indulgent meal. If the chicken weren’t so dry, this would definitely rank in my top 5 chicken pot pies.
Vol Au Vent from Petite Abeille
After that heavy dish, I definitely felt the need to unbutton my pants and call it a night, but I couldn’t leave without trying the Belgian Waffles. This was an instance in which the masses were correct: The Gaufre Chantilly ($7.00), or the waffle with whipped cream and strawberry sauce, was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, and I don’t even like waffles! Actually, I don’t particularly like waffles, whipped cream, or strawberry sauce, but together these three elements create perfection!
Even if you’re not into mussels, please, take my advice and drop in for dessert, or try one of their tamer options like a burger or steak frites. You won’t be disappointed!
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. Â Â 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 is your cell phone reception in Battery Park City?
Caller: Hello?
Me: Yes.. Can you..
Caller: You’re really breaking up.
Me: Yes I know… can you..
Caller: I can’t — You’re really breaking up.
No, this is not a scene from a bad romantic comedy, this is a seemingly every call occurrence made from my cellphone in Battery Park City.
Added to the litany of issues I have with my iPhone 4 and my ever super human “death grip,” I’ve had quite enough with the cellular service, or lack thereof in this neighborhood.
In an effort to find some answers — or at the very least attempt to find some maps letting me know where in Battery Park City one would have the best shot at making an important call, an interesting website surfaced.
Cellreception.com is a cell review site which does product and service reviews throughout the United States. Although it’s pretty rudimentary in collecting data (you have to sift through piles of comments), sometimes leaving you to wonder if the phone issues are actually more user error than cell reception dead zones.
Some Battery Park City related complaints I found on the Internet include:
A Verizon Customer:
“Verizon’s signal fades in and out, and there is no consistency. Very high probability of call being dropped.” – Person in Rector Place
A Cingular/AT&T Customer:
“My roommate has Cingular and can only get reception in 1 corner of our apartment” – Person in Battery Park Area
A T-Mobile Customer:
“I live in NYC, Battery park city and I have had little or no service the last year I have been living here, The customer service is Horrible, THEY REALLY DO NOT CARE AND CANNOT FIX THE PROBLEM! tried to switch to a new phon(which they made me pay for, LOL) PLEASE DO NOT GO WITH T-MOBILE IN NYC, THIS IS HORRENDOUS SERVICE AND RECEPTION.” -Christine from Battery Park City
In another cell reeption data study, the Wall Street Journal had published an article stating that the worst cell reception areas are located in and around the West Side Highway. In an included reception map, the area near Battery Park City suggests that no one in our neighborhood ever experiences dropped calls. Which I find incredibly hard to believe.
According to the recent Nielsen study, only 92% of all cell phone calls go through in New York City. Those figures are not enough, what I really want to know is how many phone calls actually go through in Battery Park City.
So now we ask you the question: How is your cell service?
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.
(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?
Conrad Hotel in Chicago is a peek into what's to come in BPC
In a new interview published by Hotelworldnetwork.com, details are coming forth about the new Conrad luxury hotel slated to open in Q4 2011.
The interview with head of luxury brands John T.A. Vanderslice discusses the Hilton’s luxury brands strategy in opening up its 5th United States location in Battery Park City.
According to Vanderslice, “Conrad’s forthcoming entry in the New York City market is indicative of the brand’s formidable development pipeline which also includes future properties in other important global cities such as Dubai and Beijing With regard to the timing of the Conrad New York announcement, our development decisions are made for the long-term and there are many indications that the luxury segment is rebounding with demand on the rise. Additionally, there is currently a relatively low luxury supply in New York’s Financial District so we hope to satisfy an important and growing market need.”
Considering there is a Ritz Carlton and a W hotel within a two block radius of Ground Zero, we’re not certain we agree with that sentiment.
Vanderslice also goes on to point out features of this new luxury hotel,
“A distinguishing feature of the Conrad New York will be the hotel’s typical room size. Typical rooms will average between 500 and 550 square feet, which is extremely generous by any standard, let alone by the space-conscious standard of New York hotels. Additionally, like all Conrad properties, the Conrad New York will feature the smart luxury, flawless service, and technological sophistication that enable guests to enjoy the rare luxury of being themselves.”
Keeping true to the hotel brand’s philosophy, “The luxury of being yourself.”
In a press release for the hotel, the proximity of the hotel to the Freedom Tower is being heavily touted. As well as a noted commitment to providing high end amenities and dining establishments within the hotel,
“The soaring, sunlit 15-story atrium lobby features a dramatic Sol LeWitt art piece rising 13 floors above the check-in desk.  Each luxuriously appointed guestroom will feature an average of more than 550 square feet, a minimum of two flat panel televisions and a full complement of contemporary electronic features.  Conrad New York will also feature upscale dining and beverage outlets that are consistent with Conrad’s global definition of luxury.  Interior design is being styled by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Office dA and Remedios Studios.
In addition, more than 17,000 square feet of flexible meeting space will ensure that guests can stay connected and meet in comfort, supported by state-of-the-art technology and meeting facilities. Â A 6,000 square foot Grand Ballroom is designed to accommodate conferences and social gatherings for more than 600 participants.
Existing Conrad properties in the United States include Conrad Miami, Conrad Chicago, Conrad Indianapolis and Conrad San Juan.”
Remarkably silent on her Twitter account after news of her daughter Bristol Palin’s engagement to ex-boyfriend and family nemesis Levi Johnston — America’s favorite soccer mom, Sarah Palin seems to have broken her silence on behalf of 9/11 families and opponents of the Ground Zero mosque at the World Trade Center site.
“Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real”
“Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate”
“Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing”
Upon the news of her tweets, Palin was instantly mocked for using a word not in the English vocabulary, “refudiate.” Palin has since deleted that post and made light of her grasp of the English language.
“Refudiate,” “misunderestimate,” “wee-wee’d up.” English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!”
It is clear that not all politicians are celebrating the momentum that the Cordoba Initiative’s Park 51 mosque is receiving. Sarah Palin joins Rick Lazio as the most vocal political opponents of the mosque, where as other politicians including current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a strong advocate for the building of the mosque. Another strong advocate is our Community Board who oversees development in Battery Park City and at the World Trade Center site.
The current developer of Park 51 Sharif El-Gamal sees the mosque not only as a community center near Ground Zero, but as a future tourist attraction as well. El-Gamal was quoted in a recent Wall Street Journal article that he hopes that when tour buses come through the area, the mosque will become a monument as significant as the Empire State Building.
We’ve been humbled by the response we’ve received on the site through comments and suggestions, and so we’ve decided to create a weekly feature called “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 Vendors
In ‘Battery Park to Have Fewer Art Vendors,’
John wrote: “what about the counterfeit luxury bags dealers? between the art vendors and the counterfeit luxury bags dealers, i’d rather see the art vendors stay, and the counterfeit bag dealers go. one group is selling legal merchandise, the other is clearly trading in illegal merchandise. and they make neither commitments NOR investments in our neighborhood. their shady way of operating is the real blight on our streets.”
9/11 Debris
In ‘Mosque Hearing Update and Religious Turf War,’
Dr. John A. Pagnani wrote: “It seems to me that the part of the reconstruction site that is not dedicated to commerce should be a nondenominational space to promote healing and rememberence, not division. I would vote to keep all organized religions from seizing this ground so everyone is able to feel comfortable there. I do not think it should be used to promote any specific religious perspective other than what people bring to the site in their hearts.”
Tire Swing Woes
In ‘Liberty Court Residents New Tire Swing Victims,’
M Wood Wrote: “…Of course for the last year or so we have been living through another reconstruction of West Street. In addition, those of us facing West Thames Park just experienced many months of construction, starting early in the morning, sometimes 7 days a week. I think a little context might help make others a little more understanding and actually appreciative of those residents who have stayed here despite these challenges. By the way, my own pet peeve is the ugliness of the new “arborâ€, but that is nothing after what we have been through here.”
BPC MTA Changes
In ‘MTA Cuts Ream Lower Manhattan: What This Means,’
Kate S. wrote: “Battery Park City is a wonderful place to live–except when they take away key services like the W train and the M9 bus. The M9 was a link to being able to go out by myself at night and feel completely safe coming home late. What a shame that we, who do not have all the amenities of the rest of NYC, are cut off from the few things that made life here a bit easier.”
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. Â 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. Â 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!”
