Seven LED signs have been installed so far

By Liz Berger

No more guessing games or neck-craning.

Riders of the Downtown Connection—the Downtown Alliance’s free bus service in Lower Manhattan—will now know exactly when the next bus will arrive. We’ve installed seven NextBus LED signs, which list the next two arrivals, along our 37-stop route.

What exactly is NextBus?

Well, the NextBus system uses GPS technology to track Downtown Connection buses and calculate their arrival times at specific stops. It posts that information on countdown clocks like the one you see above, taking the uncertainty out of waiting, and making daily life better for Lower Manhattan’s shoppers, business people, residents and visitors.

So, with NextBus, you no longer have to stand at a bus stop in the blistering wind or pouring rain for a wait of unknown duration.

We’ve installed the seven signs with the assistance of NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and thanks to a $24,000 grant from the office of State Senator Daniel Squadron.  Goldman Sachs has agreed to fund two additional signs to be installed in Battery Park City in the coming months.

We started the Downtown Connection service seven years ago because we understand that convenient transportation connections are a must in a neighborhood like ours—a global, 21^st-century, business, residential and tourist destination. And what a success it has been! The Downtown Connection now serves more than 830,000 riders a year on a recently expanded route from the South Street Seaport to Battery Park City to the Murray-Warren Street shopping corridor and back.

The NextBus system will make the Downtown Connection even more indispensable for Lower Manhattan’s residents, shoppers and visitors. And it will make our neighborhood even more robust.

Liz Berger is President of the Alliance for Downtown New York.

Public safety officers ready to roll

The Alliance for Downtown New York is going where no Business Improvement District has gone before: We’re rolling out electric bikes.

The Downtown Alliance has introduced the four e-bikes as part of a pilot program to provide a greener, more convenient way for the organization’s public safety officers to patrol the district.

E-bikes are increasingly common among New York City deliverymen, and they’re used internationally by German postal workers, and commuters in Western Europe and Japan. But the Downtown Alliance is the first security force—at least in New York City—to use them.

The Alliance routinely re-evaluates how to provide the best possible public safety coverage throughout the district, so the e-bike idea was hatched when we decided to move more officers to our busiest corridors, like Broadway and Broad Street. To do that, we needed to move some officers away from the outer reaches of the district. The bikes were the perfect solution to providing the same quality of coverage with fewer bodies.

“We applaud the Downtown Alliance for upgrading to a more city-friendly form of getting around,” said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “They’re proving that you can do business and provide essential services in New York City on two wheels.”

The difference between an electric bike and other electric-powered, two-wheeled vehicles is that an e-bike can be pedaled without motor power. Additionally, most e-bikes have a longer wheelbase than standard bicycles and only eight gears, with the motor providing extra assistance. The riders’ shifts are six hours, so regular bikes would have been somewhat tiring and slowed response times.

One Downtown Alliance patrol car will remain on the streets and another will be available for emergencies. Prior to the electric bikes, the Alliance used two cars on the streets and one for emergencies. Two cars will remain on the streets on overnight duty.

The all-weather bikes are made by Kysmo, in Chinatown. Each weighs 56 pounds and provides an electric boost for riders when going uphill. They take between six and eight hours to charge and can run for up to five hours, no matter how far a rider travels. Four of the 57 officers will be authorized to ride the bikes.

The Downtown Alliance’s security staff is recognizable by the distinctive red coats its members wear. On their daily patrols, they check in with neighborhood business people, provide visitors and others with friendly directions and aid and assist the NYPD. Lower Manhattan’s crime rates have dropped sharply since the Downtown Alliance and NYPD began working together in 1995.

Crimes against persons—murder, rape, robbery and felony assault—averaged 0.20 per day in 2009, less than half of the rate in 1999. Property crimes—burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto—dropped from 4.49 a day in 1999 to 1.58 in 2009.

Photo by A. Frieden

By Liz Berger

I often think that Lower Manhattan has everything in one square mile, so it should come as no surprise that there is a little bit of heaven 800 yards off shore. An antidote to the craziness and action I love about New York City, Governors Island has all the elements of a perfect weekend escape—a place to relax, art, music, history, recreation, views, ice cream and minigolf—and it’s only a seven-minute ferry ride away. Sign me up!

For many years, Governors Island was the best-kept secret in New York Harbor. First Dutch, then British, it has hosted a cross-dressing colonial governor, Lord Cornbury, in the early 18th century,  Army Lt. Ulysses S. Grant in 1852, and Confederate POWs during the Civil War. President Reagan met with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev there in 1988 to discuss nuclear arms reductions.

Originally called Nut Island, thanks to an abundance of walnut, hickory and chestnut trees, Governors Island was expanded in the early 20th century with landfill from the Lexington Avenue subway. For years it served as home base to generations of Army and Coast Guard families—with a school, church, synagogue, golf course, parade grounds, movie theater, bowling alley and the only Burger King in the United States ever to serve beer.

A chance helicopter ride in the 1990s changed all that, when President Clinton informally told Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan that he would help turn over the island to the City. In 2002, the federal government announced that it would sell the island to the people of New York for a nominal cost and that the island would be used for public benefit.

The happy result is that Governors Island is no longer a secret. Stabilization of the architecturally significant historic district and simple-but-dramatic improvements to the public spaces have made Governors Island the city’s go-to summer destination, for picnics, bike rides, theater and strolls. The Lincoln Center Festival presented two major theater events on Governors Island in July, Rosanne Cash played guitar there, and Prince Harry played polo.

The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council has established a year-round artists-in-residence program on the island, there’s an urban farm run by the nonprofit Added Value, fantastic camps organized by the Children’s Museum of the Arts, a circus workshop run by Big Apple Circus, and a couple of ball fields for league soccer and baseball. In early September, the New York City Harbor School—a public high school with a maritime focus—will open. And there’s more to come, starting with a breathtaking plan for 87 acres of parkland and public space designed by the internationally renowned landscape architect firm West 8

Every weekend from June to October, there’s something fun, different and memorable happening on Governors Island, but you don’t have to do anything. Here’s some end-of-summer advice: The Trust for Governors Island, the successor to the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, led by Leslie Koch, has put nearly 20 red hammocks at Picnic Point on the island’s southern end. Check the ferry schedule, grab a book or just your thoughts and head down to the Battery Maritime Building. A breezy and liberating seven-minute ferry ride later, you’ll be on your way to one of the most exciting and special places in New York City, just a stone’s throw from Lower Manhattan.

Liz Berger is President of the Alliance for Downtown New York and a Director of the Trust for Governors Island

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.

Mayor Bloomberg and architect David Rockwell joined local officials and a crowd of more than 50 summer campers from around New York City to open Imagination Playground at Burling Slip in Lower Manhattan today.

It’s a far cry from the run-of-the-mill jungle gym and swing set. There are large foam “loose parts” building blocks, water spouts that can be channeled and dammed in myriad ways and a set of lifts and pulleys.

“For the 55,000 people who live in Lower Manhattan, it doesn’t get better than this: a new kind of playground in a new kind of residential district,” said 28-year Lower Manhattan resident Elizabeth H. Berger, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York. “Our research shows more families are moving Downtown—and staying. So thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway, LMDC Chairman Avi Schick and President David Emil and, of course, David Rockwell for this much-needed, kid-friendly amenity.”

The playground is also uniquely located in the shadow of historic South Street Seaport, and features a wooden bow-like east end, sloped boardwalks, and ship masts. An iron sea serpent guards the entrance.

Imagination Playground was made possible by a $4.5 million grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, along with $3 million from the City’s Department of Environmental Protection. You can view the city’s full release on the project here, and more pictures from the event on the Downtown Alliance’s Flickr page.

Members of the Museum staff play Mah Jongg.

This blog is by Melissa Martens, Senior Curator for Exhibitions at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. We invite you, our downtown neighbors, to stop by the Museum to see Project Mah Jongg and to play the game with us or to learn how to play.

When the Museum of Jewish Heritage first decided to create an exhibition on the topic of mah jongg, we realized we would need to actually learn the game that has so long been a part in Jewish-American life. How hard could it be, right?

A couple of months into the project’s development, about 20 Museum staff members started convening regularly over lunch to decipher the “game of a thousand wonders.” For us, the game posed at least a thousand wonders—the naming of the tiles (is that tile called “red” or “dragon” or “red dragon”?) , the Charleston exchange (“are we on the second left yet?”), and the reading of the score card (“how does one possibly acquire five of the same tile?”).

Despite our intimidation and frustration, we persevered. Under the tutelage of Deputy Director, Ivy Barsky, we learned to make our way through a full round of a mah jongg in under an hour (and sometimes we didn’t even play the consecutive hand). Along the way we asked a lot of questions, we called the National Mah Jongg League hotline when we were stumped, we made fun of each other, and we laughed. A lot. New sides of our personalities came out for the first time: shyness, cleverness, shrewdness, down-right competitiveness! Some of our less “lucky” players threatened to abandon the game altogether; to their credit, they stuck with it.

By the fourth month something strange began to take hold: the game that had been so elusive was now starting to occupy our minds at frequent intervals. We whispered to each other in the hallways about the timing of the next game, we dreamt of getting our own mah jongg sets of various vintages, we talked about our favorite hands at the water cooler. Some of us even painted our nails. This was getting serious.

It was at this point we knew we were ready for the next level: playing on evenings, on Sundays, in our own neighborhoods! We couldn’t get enough. Where did everybody live? How many boroughs did we need to cover? Babysitters were obtained, husbands and boyfriends placated, and favorite cafes (with square tables) identified. The Museum’s next generation of mah jongg enthusiasts was going public.

So around Brooklyn, we convene every few weeks to play. And all of the old traditions get recreated through the social alchemy of the game: the gossip, the clacking, the victories, the defeats, and the snacks (our own favorites like sparkling rose, tartines, and low-cal soft serve). Our circle keeps expanding to include friends, neighbors, colleagues and those who are just excited to learn. Maybe someday we’ll have a seaside venue for our game, as in this recent New York Times story.

Personally, I imagine I’ll be playing mah jongg for many years to come—ok, forever. When I see a staff member walk into our Project Mah Jongg exhibition gallery to spontaneously play a game with visitors, I know that we are living a tradition we once only read about as “Jewish history.”

Lower Manhattan has $30 billion of construction under way—but the effects of the temporary inconveniances that come with it can be mitigated. What if, say, construction fences were adorned with thoughtful, whimsical, art instead of dated movie posters? That was the Downtown Alliance’s idea when it began its Re:Construction project three years ago, thanks to funding from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

“Think of Re:Construction as an intervention to create a cheerful and welcoming environment in the midst of an urban renewal,” said our President, Elizabeth H. Berger.

There have now been 15 works installed below Canal Street, seven of which are up for viewing. And the latest went up just last week. It’s called Water Movements, and it runs along Titanic Park, which will re-open in September following a $1 million renovation.

A vibrant flurry of blues, reds and lime green, the piece creates an imaginary terrain using cartography patterns. Artist Lordy Rodriguez, who has an affinity for re-arranging maps, uses this piece to explore a body of water’s ever-changing relationship to its environment. Because there are no familiar map symbols, it’s up to viewers to interpret the abstract arrangement of rivers, mountains and valleys.

“Sometimes water is still and quiet like a frozen pond, and other times it’s so ferocious whole towns can be swept away,” Rodriguez said. “Water is as influential to its environment as it is influenced by it.”

Installing a Re:Construction piece involves a groundbreaking collaboration between private building and property owners, artists, art consultants and, in the case of the Titanic park site, public entities (the Parks Department). First, the Downtown Alliance works with a handful of art consultants to pick several options for a new piece. Then, we present our picks to property owners. Once a project is chosen, the consultant arranges for installation. In this case, our consultant is independent curator Abby Messitte.

When fall arrives, a state-of-the-art park will open at Pearl and Fulton streets at the entrance to South Street Seaport. But for now, rather than a familiar drab construction fence, Water Movements will brighten the pedestrian experience.

Check out our Re:Construction page for more information on all the projects.