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September 19 - October 3, 2012
53,000 Students Hit the Books In City’s Fastest-Growing School Zone I just went to my 30th college reunion, yet I still organize my year by the school c alendar! Just as I ’m set tling into Lower Manhat tan’s great summer routines—eating al fresco with an afterdinner stroll along the Battery Park City esplanade, snagging a lounger on the fantastic Pier 15, taking a ferr y ride to Governors Island, enjoying a River To River concert—fall is fast approaching. Summer vacation is over with a sigh, and student s of all ages are bac k to the books in Lower Manhattan. As the fall semester begins, more than 53,000 students— from toddlers just starting out to adults resuming their studies—have returned to classes in schools all over the district. T h e u n d e r -1 8 c r o w d i s g r o w i n g in Lower Manhattan. In a 2010 Downtown Alliance sur vey, 76 percent of households with children said t h e q u a l i t y of n e i g h b o r h o o d s c h o o l s w a s a key f ac to r i n t h e i r d e c i s i o n t o l i ve h e r e. S o u t h o f C h a m b e r s S t r e et alone, there are 8, 20 0 pupils in nine preschools, eight elementary and middle schools, and six high schools. For kindergar teners through f if th graders, not only are there the well-regarded PS 8 9, PS 276, PS 3 97 and PS 23 4 — my children’s alma mater—but other options as well, including the Blue School and Léman Manhattan Preparatory School. There’s more on the horizon. Nex t y e a r, t h e L o w e r M a n h a t t a n b r a n c h of the Mandell School will open on Broad Street. And, it ’s back to future for the long - awaited Peck Slip public elementar y school, scheduled to open i n 2 0 15 o n l y a f e w b l o c k s f r o m t h e city’s first public school: New York Free School No. 1 opened in 1806, with 42 pupils packed into a tiny apar tment on Bancker Street (now Madison Street) near Pearl. We’ve come a long way. A significant stor y is that Lower Manhattan has become a college town. P a c e U n i v e r s i t y, N Y U ’ s S c h o o l o f Continuing and Professional Studies and the Borough of Manhattan Community College alone enroll more than 40,000 students here. Pace has three dorms— housing 1, 20 0 student s — and is building t wo more, on Broadway and on Beekman Street, to house another
Photo courtesy of the Trust for Governors Island
This seven-story building is the first of four Governors Island high-rises to be demolished over the next several months.
Demolition begins on Governors Island high-rises
The new Fiterman Hall at BMCC
1,200. The university also has plans for an undergraduate performing arts center with a f ir st-f loor theater, open to the community for special performances, on William Street. All told, there are 10 colleges and universities represented below Chambers Street. This academic year marks an especially big milestone for BMCC, which launched the current semester with the reopening of Fiterman Hall, 11 years after the destruction of the original building in the at tacks on the World Trade Center. With 80 classrooms, st ate - of- t he - ar t c onferenc e spac e, a cafe and street-level art gallery, the new 15-story Fiterman Hall, designed by Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, is a symbol of our community’s dramatic resurgence. I g r e w u p i n N e w Yo r k C i t y, a n d at tended PS 40 in the 19 6 0s; famous graduates inc lude David A xelrod and Tr ibec a’s own Drew Nieporent. Back in t he day, k inder gar ten was all play and learning to sit still. Reading wasn’t t aught unt il f ir st gr ade, st ar t ing w it h Dick and Jane —yes! really! — and, at our school, quickly progressing to Bank Street readers. To this day, I remember the first sentence I mastered: “People l i ve i n c o m m u n i t i e s .” A s I t h i n k yo u know, it is a phrase that has stuck with me for all of my life. Liz Berger is President of the Downtown Alliance
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B Y HELAINA HOVITZ On Thurs., Sept. 13, four decrepit highrise buildings on Governors Island were demolished as part of a $250 million plan to improve the island’s topography and infrastructure. In their place will be nothing but wide, open space. The buildings, nicknamed “dogbone” buildings because of their shape, housed military families up until 1996, and have been out of use since. They have also been off-limits to the public, deemed unsafe to enter and are classified as non-historic buildings. The island’s northern historic district, which visitors use today, will remain intact. In the absence of these buildings, a clear, 360-degree view of New York Harbor and Lower Manhattan will be opened up, just one step in the endeavor to overhaul a good part of the island and turn it into “green” space. Back in May, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other elected officials broke ground on Phase One of the project, a 30-acre renovation that will change the entire topography of the island. The first phase includes the addition of Hammock Grove; ten acres of park that will feature shaded areas and hammocks; Liggett Terrace, a six-acre plaza with water features and public art; and the Play Lawn, 14 acres of park equipped with two ball fields. Also in the works are plans for bird habitats and an open plaza called Liberty Terrace, which will provide views of the Statue of Liberty. The Bloomberg administration has invested a total of $250 million in the island’s revitalization, according to Elizabeth Rapuano, a spokesperson for the Trust for Governors Island, the organization tasked with redevelopment, operations and planning. All of this work is part of the island’s Park and Public Space Master Plan, devised by urban design and landscape architecture firm West 8, winners of the Trust for Governors Island’s 2006 design competition. The Trust’s plan to create a dramatic vertical landscape for 87 of the island’s 150 acres will also include a new 40-acre park on the southern end and a new 2.2-mile Great Promenade around its perimeter. The re-shaping of the
landscape will also integrate the abandoned southern part of the island. West 8 did a considerable amount of public outreach in the process — soliciting opinions from community meetings, recreational, cultural and civic groups, conducting surveys and collecting nearly 2,000 Post-it suggestions as part of a 2008 exhibit on the island. Beautification aside, there are also practical reasons for the topographical rearrangement. “Because the island is a low-lying area near sea level, we wouldn’t want it to be flooded in a ‘hundred-year flood’ scenario, killing the 1,500 trees that will be there,” said Rapuano. As part of its Sustainable Initiative, the concrete and brick from the demolished buildings will be used as filler for current and future phases of park construction. Additionally, 19 acres of paved parking lot and roadways will be laid down, and storm water will be collected for reuse in irrigation. “Visitors from Lower Manhattan tell us that coming here is like going on vacation via free ferry ride,” said Trust president Leslie Koch. “We encourage people to come see the changes taking place for themselves and watch [the island’s] progress.” Those who visit the park before the end of the month, when it closes, can still access 2.2 miles of road along Picnic Point and the historic district. Still on display is the Mark di Suvero art show, the Fifth Annual Sculptors Guild Exhibition, and the International Center for Photography’s Occupy! exhibition on the firstyear anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. The Children’s Museum of the Arts, the Earth Matter Compost Learning Center, the mini-golf course and Castle Williams are still operational, and all remaining scheduled events will take place as planned. Throughout the year, the island stays open for the 400 students of its Urban Assembly New York Harbor High School and for artists who work in the island’s studios. Koch said that she hopes the island will eventually open up year-round to the public. “We expect to see a rich array of year-round activities and new buildings over time,” said Koch. “It’s like Lower Manhattan is gaining 150 acres!”