Tag Archives: reader comments

Battery Park City Agnes Denes Fields of Wheat 1982

Battery Park City in 1982: Better Than Whole Wheat!

Battery Park City Agnes Denes Fields of Wheat 1982
Agnes Denes Fields of Wheat Installation in 1982 (Credit: TwitPic-TruthSeerum via Claudia

BatteryParkCity.com receives many contributions/tips on our site for ideas and current events — and we love it!

Recently we got a true gem of nostalgia. Our Twitter pal TruthSeerum, sent us this picture of Agnes Denes harvesting fields of wheat in 1982.

As we’re preparing for the commemoration of the World Trade Center terror attacks, we’ve made a call out for great memories of our neighborhood before 9/11 and our hopes for the neighborhood in the future. We thought we’d give you the first taste of contributions we’ve received.

If you have a great memory like this, or a personal story about 9/11 please feel free to send it to us at [email protected].

Now back to the history of his photo:

According to Agnes Dene’s website:

Wheatfield — A Confrontation
2 Acres of wheat planted & harvested, Battery Park landfill, downtown Manhattan summer 1982 (with Statue of Liberty across the Hudson)

After months of preparations, in May 1982, a 2-acre wheat field was planted on a landfill in lower Manhattan, two blocks from Wall Street and the World Trade Center, facing the Statue of Liberty. Two hundred truckloads of dirt were brought in and 285 furrows were dug by hand cleared of rocks and garbage. The seeds were down by hand and the furrows covered with soil. The field was maintained for four months, cleared of wheat smut, weeded, fertilized and sprayed against mildew fungus, and an irrigation system set up. The crop was harvested on August 16 and yielded over 1000 pounds of healthy, golden wheat.

Planting and harvesting a field of wheat on land worth $4.5 billion created a powerful paradox. Wheatfield was a symbol, a universal concept, it represented food, energy, commerce, world trade, economics. It referred to mismanagement, waste, world hunger and ecological concerns. It called attention to our misplaced priorities. The harvested grain traveled to twenty-eight cities around the world in an exhibition called “The International Art Show for the End of World Hunger”, organized by the Minnesota Museum of Art (1987-90). The seeds were eventually carried away by people who planted them in many parts of the globe.

Pretty cool huh?

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.”

UPDATE! Reader Questions: What’s going on with the old JJ’s Deli?

The former location of JJ's Deli is under construction.
"What's going on with JJ's Deli?"

-=Update=-

A representative from the management company sent Batteryparkcity.com an email:

“As you may have seen, the former JJ Deli is once again going to be a deli of higher quality. They should be open in the next few months.”

Further questions about the name, types of food and whether or not it will be 24 hours are unconfirmed, but information will be forthcoming!

Thankfully it’s not a Duane Reade!

———————————————————————–

Whenever I think of JJ’s deli, I’m brought back to 1989-1990 when in an undiagnosed ADD stupor, I left my clarinet at the candy section while waiting for the school bus — sadly, the clarinet was never found again.  A traumatic experience for me and a costly mistake for my parents who wanted to make sure I had no excuse to drop out of the school’s band. I digress.

On Monday, around 5pm — I received 3 emails within a 10 minute period from readers asking the same question:

“What’s going on with the old JJ’s Deli?”

As this site can only find its true potential through contribution — suggestions and questions included — I embarked on my first investigative report on behalf of our neighborhood and readers.

After taking some quick pictures of the permits on the door, I made my transformation into gumshoe.

First stop on the beat — Gatehouse. (I was hungry and it was dinner time). Friend and manager Joe had told me that he thought that JJ’s was turning into another 24 Hour deli or a 7-Eleven. He too hoped I would reveal the identity of Gatehouse’s impending neighbor. After dinner, I decided to dream of Slurpees on the esplanade, determined to try and find answers the next morning.

Yesterday, emails and calls were made immediately to the most logical source — the RY Management office.

A quick search through the NYC Department of Buildings site did not yield any information on what is to replace JJ’s. Information I did discern from the search was that the use of the location would not be changed and new refrigeration units would be installed. The construction company on the permit gave two names: Happy Garden Construction Corp. and Peter Plumbing Associates Inc.

Undergoing a search of the Happy Garden Construction Corp, I yielded an address of their last construction site on 7th avenue in Chelsea which included an area in which a Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts combo was located. Since franchises almost always come in multiples (and a new location had opened at 88 Greenwich street), I felt this was a good direction.

Calls to Dunkin Donuts Corporate confirmed there were new locations scheduled for lower Manhattan, just not for 300 Albany Street. Additional calls to 7-Eleven Corporate Offices and Happy Garden Construction Corporation were not returned.

I did finally receive an email back from the property manager at RY Management. In his cordial email he said, “At this time, I can not release any information on this site, but once I am able to, I will let you know.”

At first I asked my computer screen, “Why not?” — then I realized that contracts might not be finalized, or any number of other reasons could be behind the secrecy.

I reached out to the readers who emailed me with the information so far, and will continue to update everyone as I learn more. One of those readers, Stephen, came up with a brilliant idea of what should happen with the now vacant location:

“Turn it into a 24 shop/cafe. During the day — have it setup for strollers and families of all sorts, serve ice cream, fro yo, etc — it will be an afterschool paradise… post 9PM — serve alcohol and light fare — believe me as one of them — the parents of BPC have nowhere close to go for a quick drink or meet-up AND buy milk… would do gangbusters… now i just need a million to get started! :)”

An all and all excellent idea in my book. Or an IHOP might be nice too!

If you should have any information — please share with the rest of us!