Every day at 4:00 AM, Carl Homward begins his hour-long commute from Canarsie, Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan, where he serves as Sanitation Supervisor for the Downtown Alliance.

“It’s actually very relaxing,” he said. “I sit back and meditate about what I need to get done for the day.”

It’s this methodical serenity that has helped Homward rise from street cleaner to maintenance worker to supervisor since starting at the Alliance in 1995.

“Without him,” said Downtown Alliance Director of Sanitation Joe Lanaro, “we wouldn’t get anything done.”

“The best part of the job is being able to help clean up Lower Manhattan,” Homward said. “We have a zero tolerance policy with graffiti by removing it as soon as possible and keeping the streets clean.”

Homward loves the district and often brings his wife of 16 years and four children Downtown to show them all of the changes he has witnessed, such as “buildings that have been taken down, rebuilt and are now beautiful high rises.”

And, he has positive reflections on the impact the last 15 years with the Downtown Alliance have had on him.

“Hard work, improvement, determination, accomplishment and teamwork is the meaning that my job at the Alliance has had in my life,” he said. “That is what I passed on to my kids.”

Have you heard?

The Muppets are once again taking Manhattan—and the Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street!

Thursday night marks the conclusion of the 2010 season of the Downtown Alliance’s popular Movie Nights on the Elevated Acre with a free screening of Frank Oz’s classic ode to Broadway, The Muppets Take Manhattan. Featuring Jim Henson’s timeless magical creatures, this much-loved 1984 film follows the Muppets as they travel to New York intent on finding a producer for their musical, Manhattan Melodies. This evening’s movie is preceded by cinematographer Jay Hufford’s short film, Henry the Otter, who, when discovered on the beach at Coney Island, becomes the toast of the town in this homage to ragtime era New York City.

Since its inception in 2006 as a part of the River To River Festival, Movie Nights on the Elevated Acre has attracted thousands of Downtown residents, workers and visitors from around the city and beyond who gather weekly during August to enjoy classic New York films paired with independent shorts at the uniquely beautiful location known as the Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street. Ideally situated next to the East River and under the stars—and at times some pesky rain drops (!) (such as at last week’s screening of the Grace Kelly/William Holden/Bing Crosby classic The Country Girl), this spectacular site is the perfect spot to spread out a blanket on the lawn for a pre-show picnic while listening to the relaxing sounds of jazz guitarist Darren Wallis and his trio before the movies. Fortunately, Thursday night’s weather forecast looks perfect for a picnic and a flick.

When we launched this summer’s series last month with Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose, I stopped by Zigolini’s on my way to work the check-in table at the Elevated Acre to pick up my own picnic fare. I ordered their Mediterranean salad with grilled chicken, which I can honestly say was one of the best salads I’ve ever had: fresh, crisp and delicious. Over the following weeks, I tried the Wall Street Burger Shoppe’s amazing char-grilled porterhouse burger and the Swedish espresso bar Fika’s exotic sounding Överkalix—mouth-watering ’’gravlax’’ salmon marinated with juniper berries, honey mustard sauce, arugula and cucumber rolled up in a soft flatbread.

I haven’t decided what I’ll get to eat Thursday, but with so many choices throughout the neighborhood I’m certain to find whatever I might crave as I head over to the Elevated Acre from my office in the Equitable Building a few blocks away. One thing is certain though: everything tastes better sitting in the open air on the river watching a great film while the hum of the city fades gently away in the distance.

FREE TICKETS ARE REQUIRED and will be distributed two per person at the street-level Water Street entrance to the Elevated Acre on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 6pm on the day of each screening. The Elevated Acre is located at 55 Water Street, between Broad and William Streets.

The River To River Festival also depends, in part, on donations. If you’ve enjoyed a free River To River Festival concert or movie night over the years at one of our distinctive Lower Manhattan venues, please consider donating. With your help, the Festival will grow and flourish for another nine years and beyond. Click here to donate.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, owners of Bombay's and Fika, and Nicole LaRusso of the Downtown Alliance officially opened the pop-up cafe Thursday.

Midtown may have Pop-Tarts, but Downtown has a pop-up.

Just in time for refreshing fall weather, the New York City Department of Transportation has created an innovative, pleasant place to sit outside in Lower Manhattan on Pearl Street, called a “pop-up café.” It’s a temporary curbside seating platform and the first of its kind in New York City.

While anyone can enjoy the space, the platform was installed by adjacent restaurants Fika and Bombay’s, which will maintain and remove the platform later this year at their own expense. The program’s effectiveness will be evaluated to help determine if similar spaces should be created elsewhere in the city.

“As we know from the success of Stone Street, the addition of outdoor seating creates an exciting new destination for Downtown’s 300,000 workers, 55,000 residents and six million annual visitors,” said Downtown Alliance President Elizabeth H. Berger. “The Department of Transportation’s new pop-up café platform is an especially creative way to add seating along a street with narrow sidewalks. We hope everyone will come enjoy this great new addition to the neighborhood.”

Today, Downtown Alliance Senior Vice President for Planning and Economic Development Nicole LaRusso joined DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz and Community Board 1 Financial District Chairman Ro Sheffe at a news conference to officially unveil the space. Also making an appearance was cycling enthusiast and former Talking Heads band member David Bryne, who recently worked with DOT to design and select whimsical new bike racks.

Many of the nearby tables were filled as the restaurants handed out mango lassi, samosas and a selection of Swedish hors d’oeuvres to celebrate the unveiling.

Click here to view photos from the event. And here’s a YouTube clip of the space.

Both restaurants had approached the Downtown Alliance and DOT earlier this year about ways they could possibly expand onto the sidewalk, which was too narrow for a café according to Consumer Affairs rules. DOT and DCA discussed this innovative solution and DOT proposed the pop-up café platform concept to be installed in the roadbed in the businesses’ loading zones. The 84-foot-long, 6-foot-wide wooden platform is landscaped with planters, wire railing and furnished with 14 café tables and 45 chairs.

One week into the project, Fika and Bombay’s have already reported huge increases in business. Perhaps samosas and gravlax are best taken in the shadow of Downtown skyscrapers.

With temperatures again rising into the 90s and New York City coming off the second-hottest month in its history, the Alliance for Downtown New York has come up with 10 ways for you to stay cool amid sizzling August temperatures.

“Summer in the city doesn’t mean you have to sweat it out,” said Downtown Alliance President Elizabeth H. Berger, who in 28 years as a Lower Manhattan resident has discovered many secrets to cooling off Downtown. “It’s easy to enjoy all that Downtown has to offer when you know all the best places to cool off.”

New York City hit 90 degrees or more on 16 days in July, and the temperature exceeded 100 degrees twice as well this summer—the first time the city has seen triple digit temps since August of 2001. Last year, the temperature didn’t hit 90 degrees at all in July.

“This was the second-hottest month on record in New York City,” said New York 1 News Meteorologist John Davitt. “The average temperature for July was 76.5 degrees, so we ran about 5 degrees above normal in July, and Downtown Manhattan is traditionally cooler than the rest of the city. On most summer afternoons and evenings, Downtown gets a river sea breeze that can make it 5 to 10 degrees cooler than the rest of Manhattan.”

So the Downtown Alliance has come up with 10 ideas to help beat the heat Downtown this summer:

1. Go sailing. Hop a ferry or a yacht. For instance, take the Shearwater—a double-masted schooner—from the North Cove Marina at the World Financial Center. Or reserve your spot on the Monster boat at the South Street Seaport or get a ticket for a Statue Cruises Harbor Tour. And there’s always New York Water Taxi, which can take you to destinations all around the harbor.

2. Catch the right breeze. Downtown is the ideal spot to catch a breeze, especially on the Elevated Acre at 55 Water St., or as you walk along the Hudson River promenade in Battery Park City or along the pier at the South Street Seaport.

3. Stay indoors. Take a stroll through the World Financial Center—a great air-conditioned comfort zone—and check out the photo exhibit and the shops, or visit the mall at the South Street Seaport. You could also eat your lunch inside The Atrium at 60 Wall St. Or, take a load off your feet and enjoy both the AC and a movie Downtown at the Embassy Theatres in Battery Park City.

4. Take a cool free ride. If you’ve got to move around, you also could hop onto the Downtown Connection—the Downtown Alliance’s free, air-conditioned bus service—to make your way from Battery Park City to the South Street Seaport.

5. Find a fountain. Take a stroll through the Spiral Fountain in Battery Park or catch the mist while sitting near the fountains at Wall Street Park, Old Slip or Bowling Green. Or, sit in Bowling Green and wait for the sprinkler system to kick in to water the flowers. There are also water play areas for kids at West Thames Park and Teardrop Park in Battery Park City. And visit the newly opened Imagination Playground on Burling Slip where buckets, sandbags and wooden dams have been integrated into the water play.

6. Toy store. Pick up a squirt gun for some innocent fun. Drop by Boomerang Toys at the World Financial Center Winter Garden (they have two kinds of Super Soakers).

7. Become a fan. It’s easier to think cool when you’re surrounded by so many fans. Drop by J & R at 23 Park Row to check out the vast selection of fans for your home, and you could also visit the new second-floor J & R Café for an iced coffee.

8. Think drinks. Enjoy summery drinks at any of a slew of establishments, such as Battery Gardens at 27 State St., where you can watch the ferries go by amid a light breeze while sitting under an umbrella on the patio. Nearby, there’s also Picnick in Battery Park or Gigino’s at 20 Battery Pl. If you prefer to imbibe indoors, well, Cowgirl Sea-Horse at 259 Front St. makes a wicked frozen margarita (check out the Happy Hour), the Andaz’s Bar Seven Five at 75 Wall St. mixes up some sophisticated and colorful summer drinks, and Trinity Place offers the delicious and refreshing Donal’s Watermelon Delight: Pureed watermelon with Three Olives Watermelon Vodka.

9. Read about cooler weather. Visit your local library. Read Jack London’s “Call of the Wild” from one of Lower Manhattan’s two public library branches, the New Amsterdam Library at 9 Murray St. or the Battery Park City Library at 175 North End Ave. Or head up to the always-air conditioned Barnes and Noble at 97 Warren St. or Mysterious Bookshop at 58 Warren St.

10. Scream for ice cream. Get a cup or a cone of tasty ice cream at one of the dessert spots downtown. For example, step inside for a rich, chocolaty scoop—or even a frozen hot chocolate—at La Maison Du Chocolat at 63 Wall St., or visit Ciao Bella at 2 World Financial Center or Haagen-Dazs at the Seaport. There’s also homemade gelato and ice cream at the new Takahachi Bakery at 25 Murray St. and gelato at Financier at 62 Stone St. If you want a snow cone, Southwest NY has a nice view of the North Cove, a fun bar, and provides guests with free snow cones on weekends.