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The more than $200 billion New York State budget was supposed to be released on April 1. That didn't happen. The numerous issues dividing Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State legislature include bail reform, whether to increase taxes on wealthy New Yorkers and limit rent increases for tenants, how to rescue the MTA and whether to change a law that dates to 1961 limiting New York City's power to make zoning changes.

Under current regulations that power resides with the State, which gets to decide whether to keep or modify a constraint on New York City real estate developers that limits the total floor area of most new residential buildings to no more than 12 times the size of the lot on which they're situated. However, that hasn't stopped developers from building and even in some cases circumventing the law by buying air rights.

Gov. Hochul has proposed lifting the residential density cap for New York City to allow more floor area in residential high rises relative to the size of the lots on which they're built. And she wants to allow development in parts of the city where it's now restricted. She believes these changes will help alleviate New York City's desperate housing shortage for low- and middle-income residents.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams agrees with her as does City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (no relation to the mayor). In a Daily News Op-Ed on March 23, 2023 co-authored with Dan Garodnick, Chair of the City Planning Commission, they pointed out that "There are already more than 200 residential buildings in our city, with 32,000 apartments and tens of thousands of New Yorkers living in them today, that exceed the cap. They were built before the cap was put in place in 1961 — and when there were 3.4 million fewer people in this state, and more than a million fewer people in New York City."

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is also in favor of giving the city and not the state the power to make zoning changes. "Because we're in the middle of a housing shortage, which really needs to be considered an emergency, and an affordability crisis, we need to at least have the option in existing high-density neighborhoods of creating more housing," Levine told the New York Daily News. "We really don't have that option right now because the state blocks it."

Grace Lee was among the Assembly members who signed on to Deborah Glick's letter. She represents the Financial District, Two Bridges, Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

Both Glick and Lee were present at a rally on March 24 at 250 Broadway near City Hall to oppose Gov. Hochul's proposed changes in the FAR cap ratio. New York State Senator Liz Krueger (NY Senate District 28 and Chair of the Senate Finance Committee) was also there. She said that the proposal would amount to a giveaway to developers. "All these empty luxury units just reinforces how much money is being made in real estate...They can actually leave them empty and still be making money," she said. The New York State Senate has already rejected Gov. Hochul's proposal.

And what of the New York State budget for Fiscal Year 2024? That's still on the drawing boards. The repercussions include this: if the budget isn't signed by Monday, April 3, paychecks won't go out to State workers.— Terese Loeb Kreuzer

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"Participatory budgeting" allows community members to vote on how to allocate part of the funds that New York City designates for capital projects. These might include improvements to schools, parks, libraries and other public spaces. Twenty-nine of New York City Council’s 51 members have chosen to participate in this process. Chris Marte, who represents Manhattan District 1, is among them. Each of the participating City Council members has approximately $1 million to distribute. Voting started on March 25 and will continue through Sunday, April 2. Any community member who is 11 years old or older, who lives, plays and/or works in District 1 is eligible to vote.

The projects on the District 1 ballot include renovating Rutgers Playground, modernizing PS 276’s auditorium, planting new street trees, improving PS 110’s playground, buying new laptops for Richard R. Green High School and installing padding at PS 234’s gym.

On Sunday, April 2, Marte will be at the Manhattan Youth Center, 120 Warren St., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. where constituents can vote. For more information, click here.

"Keeping 9/11 info in dark," New York Daily News, 3/31/2023. "Mayor Adams says a fear of lawsuits against the city has persuaded him against revealing records showing what officials knew about how the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks endangered New Yorkers’ health and safety," the New York Daily News reports. "In a letter to Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Dan Goldman, New York Democrats, who asked the city to release its trove of 9/11 records last month, Adams said the city would not comply unless the lawmakers can come up with a way to cover costs and shield the city from getting sued. Adams wrote that people still occasionally file suits against the city related to 9/11, and the city 'cannot produce documents without expensive and expansive legal review to identify privileged material and consider litigation risks. New York City must weigh the costs of such a review against the potential benefits, which are likely limited," Adams wrote. The article goes on to point out that "None of those studies, however, had access to any of the information about then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s response to the crisis, and what the city actually knew about the dangers around Ground Zero, which federal officials falsely claimed to be safe at the time. Nadler and Goldman suggested that concerns about lawsuits and costs are not as important as the need to better inform health officials about the exposures that sickened tens of thousands and writing the full history of 9/11." For the complete article, click here.

"NYC Mayor Adams renews push to convert office space to housing," New York Daily News, 3/13/2023. "Mayor Adams on Monday renewed his push to convert office space to apartments by pressing Gov. Hochul and state lawmakers to loosen restrictions around such conversions," the New York Daily News reports. "He also called for them to adopt a revamped tax break that until recently was used as an incentive to build market-rate and affordable housing. Adams made his thoughts on the issue known during a tour of 160 Water St., a Financial District office building now in the process of being converted to market-rate apartments....The push for more residential space comes as the city struggles to address a scarcity of housing stock, a high demand for affordable housing and office space that’s been left vacant as more and more people are working from home." For the complete article, click here.

"Office tenant sues to stop 55 Broad resi conversion," The Real Deal, 3/20/2023. "One would think a residential real estate firm would support two of New York City’s biggest developers teaming up to convert a Financial District office building. But it appears the pitch for a new multifamily property lands differently when it comes at the expense of your own office," The Real Deal observes. "Allen London’s Solstice Residential Group filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop Silverstein Properties and Metro Loft Management’s office-to-residential conversion of 55 Broad Street, claiming it would be a violation of the firm’s lease and 'extremely disruptive and dangerous' to the company. The complaint also names Rudin Management Company, who Solstice claims knew about Silverstein and Metro Loft’s plans when Bill Rudin’s firm agreed to sell the Lower Manhattan office building to the developers last May. Silverstein and Metro Loft unveiled plans last summer to convert the office building into a 571-unit residential property, with work expected to begin soon and continue for at least two years. The company said it 'never imagined, and would never have countenanced, moving into a residential apartment building for the conduct of its business.'" For the complete article, click here.

"Roaming rooster captured by cops in lower Manhattan," New York Post, 3/22/2023. "He ran a-fowl of the law," said the New York Post. "A feisty all-white rooster ruffled feathers Wednesday when he was spotted strutting his stuff on the streets of lower Manhattan — prompting cops to cart him away to a police station.

Neighbors began squawking about the bird as it ran free near the busy waterfront intersection of South Street and Catherine Slip at around 11:15 a.m. An onlooker named Cano caught the cocky little clucker and placed him in a cardboard box as another neighbor called 911." For the complete article with photographs, click here.

"Smorgasburg Returns With 80 Vendors," eater.com, 3/22/2023. "Smorgasburg, the city’s longstanding outdoor food festival, returns at its locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn," says eater.com. "The market will be open for the season on Fridays at the Oculus Plaza at the World Trade Center beginning March 31....More than 20 new food stalls are listed among the 80 total this year, including fried pasta from Union Square’s popular Unregular Pizza, oxtail in various preparations from the owner of Trinidadian restaurant Ariapita, Filipino sliders from Kalye on the Lower East Side, and Iranian desserts from online business Bibi Bakery....The full lineup includes 30 vendors at the World Trade Center market." For the complete article, click here.

"Venice is Saved! Woe is Venice," New York Times, 4/1/2023. This article with numerous superb photographs is subtitled, "Fifty years in the making, an inflatable seawall project is keeping water at bay. But what that means for the city and its lagoon, no one can say." The article begins,"After centuries of flooding, Venice has at long last raised seawalls to save itself from high water. They have already protected the city from catastrophic floods. But climate change and rising seas pose a gnawing question." The article is behind a paywall, but it is very much worth reading. For the complete article, click here.

For more information and to reserve tickets, click here.

Pay what you wish at the South Street Seaport Museum: General Admission tickets to the South Street Seaport Museum are now Pay What You Wish during all regular open hours, Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tours aboard the 1885 cargo ship Wavertree are available hourly and include access to the main deck and quarter deck. Also, at the museum's 12 Fulton St. gallery take in three exhibitions that explore the seaport’s contribution to the rise of New York, early twentieth-century ocean liner travel, and the beloved illustrations of Eric Carle. To learn more about the Museum’s Pay What You Wish tickets, click here.

In addition, free guided tours of the 1908 lightship Ambrose, a floating lighthouse, are available. Timed-entry tickets are required. For more information about guided tours of the lightship Ambrose, click here.

Services for aging New Yorkers: New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has published a questionnaire seeking input from aging New Yorkers on their experience with City services. The intent is to find unaddressed needs in order to fill in the gaps. As the City’s Chief Accountability Officer, the Comptroller's Office is responsible for ensuring that all New Yorkers have equal access to City services. To see and fill out the questionnaire, click here.

9/11 Memorial & Museum's Annual Run/Walk: Run or walk in commemoration of the nearly 3,000 lives lost on September 11 with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, which is hosting its 11th annual 5K run/walk on April 30. You can sign up now by clicking here. If you are a 9/11 family member, local first responder, active U.S. military or veteran, you are qualified for discounted pricing. Email runwalk@911memorial.org for more details.

LMCC again accepting Workspace applications: The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) recently announced that for the first time in three years it is accepting applications for its Workspace program. Workspace is a nine-month studio-based program that provides emerging artists with round-the-clock access to semi-private studios in donated office space. Throughout the Workspace residency, dialogues with peers and arts professionals nurture experimentation, creative risk taking, collaboration, learning and skill sharing. Workspace 2023-2024 applications and program guidelines are now available. The application deadline in Tuesday, April 18 at 5 p.m. LMCC seeks to create a welcoming, diverse and dynamic cohort of individuals working across disciplines, including but not limited to visual arts, film, performance art, social practice, design, digital media, and the literary arts. Applicants should review program guidelines and offerings to determine applicability to their practice. For more information, click here.

Downtown Little League season opening: The Downtown Little League's 30th season opens on April 1 on the Battery Park City ballfields. The DLL offers baseball (coed) and softball (girls only) for Lower Manhattan children ranging in age from 5 to 18. DLL also has a "Challengers Division" for special needs participants. The DLL program is the largest single chapter Little League program in the United States with more than 1,200 participants annually. It works actively with parents, players and coaches to “Honor the Game” – a philosophy designed to reinforce life lessons such as teamwork, sportsmanship, discipline and respect for all participants. For more information about the Downtown Little League, click here.

Softball and baseball games played on the BPC ballfields are available for live stream with the same high-quality automated game video production used by professional sports leagues. Archived games are available on demand as are clip highlights to share with family or friends or to use for coaching purposes. For more information about the live-streamed games, click here.

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

MEMORIAL FOR ROBERT SIMKO, PHOTOGRAPHER

Some of Robert Simko's photographs of Battery Park City hung on the walls of 6 River Terrace for a memorial gathering on March 26. Simko, the co-founder of the The Broadsheet with his wife, Alison, died at age 68 on Nov. 10, 2022 of cancer linked to the toxins released by the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Hundreds of people gathered in his memory, reflecting the 40 years that he lived in Battery Park City and the community that he helped to build.

To see the events and activities on the Battery Park City Authority's winter calendar, click here. Most events are free. For some, reservations are required.

The Battery is a 25-acre park at the southern end of Manhattan. It has a remarkable history, dating back many hundreds of years when this land was used by the Leni Lenape Indians for hunting and fishing. The Dutch were not the first Europeans to arrive in this area, but they were the first to settle here. They built Fort Amsterdam in 1626 where the U.S. Custom House is today — across the street from the Battery. By 1683 when the English were in control of the former Dutch colony, Gov. Thomas Dongan began building batteries along the shore, which is how the Battery got its name. In 1788, the Americans, having vanquished the English during the American Revolution, demolished the old Dutch fort and the rubble was used as landfill to expand the Battery. And that's only a small part of the story.

A master plan for Battery Park (later returned to its historic name, "The Battery,") by landscape architect Philip Winslow, was accepted by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and approved by the New York City Arts Commission in 1986. Seven years later, Warrie Price founded a conservancy to implement the master plan. By then the park and Castle Clinton itself had become dilapidated. It took years of work on the part of the Battery Conservancy to restore and reinvigorate Battery Park and to transform it even further into a community amenity and a tourist destination through imaginative projects such as the SeaGlass Carousel, the Playscape, the Bosque and the Urban Garden. To learn more about The Battery, click here.

Bird Walks, on Wednesdays at 8 a.m. beginning April 26. Many migrating birds find food and habitat in The Battery. The walks will be led by Gabriel Willow, an educator from NYC Audubon. Gabriel is an experienced birder and naturalist, and is well-versed in the ecology and history of New York City. He has been leading walks for NYC Audubon for more than 10 years, guiding new and experienced birders in all five boroughs and beyond. To protect visitors from the spread of COVID-19, the number of participants will be strictly limited. An RSVP is required for participation. For more information and to register, click here.

Family Day at The Battery Urban Farm: On April 8 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

come to The Battery Urban Farm for planting, weeding, and harvesting vegetables. Farm staff will lead participants in the tasks needed to keep the farm growing. No experience is necessary. Recommended for ages 5 and up with adult supervision and participation; younger siblings are welcome. Please note that those bringing children are expected to help out and work alongside them. RSVP is required for this event, though you are welcome to arrive and leave at any time during the morning.

What to bring: The Battery Conservancy will provide gloves for all participants. Please bring a water bottle and wear closed-toe shoes and any layers and sun protection you will need to be comfortable outside for the morning. This program will occur light rain or shine; in the event of inclement weather, participants will be e-mailed in advance with notice of any changes. Location: The entrance to The Battery Urban Farm. Directions: Enter the park on State Street and Broadway near the 4/5 head house or the Netherlands Memorial flag pole: Walk around the left side of the Battery Oval lawn towards the harbor. The entrance to the farm is located on the lefthand side just after the Bikeway.) For more information and to register, click here.

Free tours of The Battery: The Battery has a rich history that includes landmarks and monuments plus the SeaGlass Carousel and the large perennial gardens that were designed by Dutch landscape architect, Piet Oudolf, who brought his knowledge of the plants that will flourish in a marine environment to The Battery. Tours are approximately 45 minutes. Arrive 10 minutes early as the tour will begin on time. Tours will not happen in the rain. The Battery staff will do its best to alert you in advance, but sometimes the forecast changes suddenly! Please reach out if you have questions about the weather forecast and its impact on your reservation. When: Tuesdays at 12:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 1:00 p.m.

RSVP by clicking here. Where: Meet at the Netherland Memorial Flagpole located at the entrance to the park near the intersection of Broadway, Battery Place, and State Street. It is across State Street from Bowling Green.