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From a distance, the Hurricane Maria Memorial, erected by New York State and dedicated in March 2021, rises like a vibrantly colored island above the green shrubbery, the tree branches and leafy canopy of the surrounding landscape. It’s at the western end of Chambers Street, on an elevated site overlooking Battery Park City’s Rockefeller Park. The memorial glows with jewel-like colors when the sun shines through its glass panels, which are arranged in a spiral like a large, tropical shell. Words in English and Spanish whip across the panels as though tossed there by water and wind.

No one could fail to notice the memorial, although they might well wonder what it is. Signage embedded in the pavement explains. It says:

“On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in nearly a century, made landfall causing catastrophic damage and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. New York stood in solidarity with Puerto Rico, providing immediate relief and helping to rebuild the island. This memorial honors those lost and stands as an enduring tribute to the resilience of the Puerto Rican community. The spiral evokes a hurricane and a shell, symbols both of destruction and protection. Rising from the center with hope is the star of the Puerto Rican flag. Throughout are words from Julia de Burgos’ poem, ‘Farewell from Welfare Island:’ ‘It has to come from here, right this instance, my cry into the world.’”

Hurricane Maria, the second hurricane to strike Puerto Rico within a two-week period, delivered a knock-out blow. Homes, roads and bridges were destroyed, weather stations and cell towers were smashed. Hospitals and schools were so badly damaged that they could provide neither care nor shelter. Generators ran out of fuel. Streets were flooded. The entire island lost electricity. Most of Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents had no access to food or clean water. Thousands of people died, whether from being pummeled by the hurricane or by the diseases and other hardships that followed it.

The federal response to the disaster was inadequate and slow. Two weeks after Hurricane Maria struck, former U.S. President Donald Trump visited the island, where he was photographed at a church, throwing rolls of paper towels into a desperate crowd. A year after Maria, Trump called the federal government’s response “an incredible, unsung success,” which, in fact, it was not.

Taking the lead, New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo attempted to come to the rescue of the beleaguered island. Two days after Maria, he and a delegation from New York State were on an airplane packed with water and other supplies, headed for Puerto Rico. Their plane was the first to land in the San Juan airport after the disaster. In succeeding weeks, New York State sent more than 1,000 people to the island, including hundreds of utility workers and power experts to help restore electrical power and to stabilize the electrical grid. In addition, the state arranged for 156 volunteer physicians, physicians’ assistants, nurses and nurse practitioners to go to Puerto Rico accompanied by more than $1 million in critical medications and supplies.

Nor were the 11,000 or so people who left Puerto Rico for New York City after the hurricane forgotten. Gov. Cuomo allocated around $13 million for their support and resettlement. Much of the money went for employment, housing and benefits counseling and for health care.

In fact, assistance of various kinds went on for the next two years and was re-upped when a series of devastating earthquakes struck the island early in 2020.

New York State’s dedication to helping Puerto Rico is not just accidental. New York State is home to more than 1 million Puerto Ricans — the largest number in the Puerto Rican diaspora.

Exactly a year after Hurricane Maria had devastated Puerto Rico, Gov. Cuomo assembled a commission to recommend a site, design and installation for a memorial. A year-and-a-half later, plans for the memorial were announced. A Puerto Rican architect, Segundo Cardona, had been appointed to design the structure. Puerto Rican artist Antonio Martorell was tapped to design and paint the panels. The poem by Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos (1914-1953) was selected as the keystone of the memorial's message. However, these plans evoked controversy, including from some members of the Commission.

“Community and even committee members pushed back against Cuomo’s site selection, citing the multiple monuments already located in Battery City Park,” The Architect’s Newspaper reported (March 18, 2020). “Critics have also voiced concerns that the memorial should be built in a neighborhood with stronger Puerto Rican ties.” These objections were not heeded. One year later, the memorial was finished and was dedicated by Gov. Cuomo.

"New York continues to stand with Puerto Rico, and this monument will serve as testament to that enduring partnership today, tomorrow, and always," he said.

Now that the memorial is a fait accompli, it can safely be said that it’s not hogging a lot of space and that its site attracts a variety of people, including Puerto Ricans who intentionally come to see it and neighborhood residents and visitors who happen to walk by. Their curiosity aroused, they pause to learn about Hurricane Maria and to hear poet Julia de Burgos’ anguished “cry into the world.”

452 Washington St. in Tribeca

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Many of the Downtown Post NYC bulletin board listings are now on the Downtown Post NYC website. To see the bulletin board listings, click here.

It's never too late to give someone (or yourself?) a gift. Té Company's tearoom at 163 West 10th St. is open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for tea and snacks to go. In addition, you can order tea and cookies (plus other gifts) online, For more information on Té Company, click here.

Crowded City Council Race in Lower Manhattan District Devastated by Covid, Gotham Gazette, 6/4/2021. 'Nine Democratic candidates are running in the City Council District 1 primary for a seat based in Lower Manhattan," says the Gotham Gazette. "The district includes parts or all of Battery Park, the Civic Center, Chinatown, the Financial District, Little Italy, the Lower East Side, NoHo, SoHo, South Street Seaport, South Village, TriBeCa, and Washington Square. Governors Island, Ellis Island, and Liberty Island are also a part of the district....Given how heavily Democratic the district is, the winner of the crowded primary — which includes the use of ranked-choice voting for the first time — is all but sure to become the next Council member come January. With a concentration of public housing on the Lower East Side along with some of the most expensive real estate in the city in the Financial District and Tribeca, the district is extremely diverse economically as well as racially. ... The district’s diversity along with the implementation of ranked-choice voting makes it necessary for candidates to garner wide-reaching appeal to win the seat." For the complete article, click here.

House Judiciary Committee hears testimony from McGahn: On June 4, 2021, after a two-year delay, the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) finally heard testimony from former White House Counsel Don McGahn. Nadler, whose 10th Congressional District includes Lower Manhattan, released the following statement about the testimony:

"Under the terms of our agreement with the Department of Justice, we cannot yet comment on the specific details of Mr. McGahn’s testimony. We will release the full transcript as soon as we can.

"But I can say that Mr. McGahn testified at length to an extremely dangerous period in our nation’s history—in which President Trump, increasingly unhinged and fearful of his own liability, attempted to obstruct the Mueller investigation at every turn. Mr. McGahn was clearly distressed by President Trump’s refusal to follow his legal advice, again and again, and he shed new light on several troubling events today.

"In one sense, today is a great victory for congressional oversight. By securing Mr. McGahn’s testimony, we have made clear that the executive branch must respect our subpoenas. There is no such thing as so-called ‘absolute immunity’ from congressional testimony, and good congressional investigators will eventually secure their witness.

"On the other hand, two years is clearly too long to wait to enforce a valid subpoena, and the Trump era has taught us that Congress can no longer depend on good faith cooperation with our committees. Although I am grateful to the Biden Administration for helping us to hear this testimony, I also look forward to advancing legislation that would allow us to enforce our own subpoenas in a far more timely manner, no matter who holds power in Washington."

A transcript of the interview will be made available at a later date.

67 Vestry Street’s Residential Conversion And Expansion Progresses In Tribeca, Manhattan, New York YIMBY, 5/9/2021. "Residential conversion and expansion work is progressing on 67 Vestry Street, a 13-unit condominium building along Hudson River Park in Tribeca," says New York YIMBY. "Designed by BP Architects with Gachot Studios handling the interiors, the project involves a roof-level addition that will raise the structure from nine stories and 115 feet tall to 13 stories and 153 feet tall. Iliad Realty Group is developing the property, which it purchased for $55.5 million in 2017. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group was last reported to be the exclusive marketing and sales agent for the the 88,712-square-foot Romanesque revival edifice. For the complete article, click here.

The Battery Park City Authority is one of the most impressive impresarios in Manhattan. Every year, the BPCA produces a cornucopia of free public programs and events, which are especially abundant in summer and fall. This year, the summer schedule (June through August) includes art, music, dance, comedy, walking tours, virtual screenings and more.

Among the highlights are the annual River to River Festival, which this year will bring a series of three outdoor processionals to Battery Park City. The first, on June 13, choreographed by Miguel Guitierrez, will be in Teardrop Park followed on June 20 by a processional choreographed by Okwui Okpokwasili in Rockefeller Park. The third, on June 25, choreographed by The Illustrious Blacks, will be at Belvedere Plaza.

July brings the River & Blues Concert Series to Battery Park City's Wagner Park. The Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty provide a backdrop for the stage where concerts begin at 7 p.m. and end just as the sun is setting. This year, look for Nicole Atkins on July 8, Devon Gilfillian on July 15, Ranky Tanky on July 22 and Rev. Sekou & The Freedom Fighters on July 29.

All events will be held in accordance with New York State reopening guidance. For the complete schedule, click here.