92nd Y moves out
The days of a Downtown Y are drawing closer. On May 13, the Y’s Makor and Daytime programs officially moved out of their old Upper West Side digs. On May 15, Community Board 1 gave the Y a thumbs up for two liquor licenses at its new location at 200 Hudson St. — one for the space’s café and one for its music club.
Then, on May 20, the Y held a yard sale to dispose of its old Uptown furniture. Current fans of the Makor and Daytime programs need not worry, though. The programs will continue at locations around the city until the 200 Hudson St. location opens this fall.
For a list of programs and locations — and a nifty virtual tour of the new Downtown Y — visit the Y’s Web site at www.92y.org.
Skyscraper Award
Just last year, squabbles between Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority were causing delays at the World Trade Center site — sparking wide-spread frustration in the public and the press. Silverstein’s 7 World Trade Center was mostly vacant and Downtown office buildings were considered better sites for condo conversions.
Oh, how times have changed. The Downtown office market is flying, 7 W.T.C. is almost fully leased, and Silverstein’s big bucks investment in the W.T.C. and other Lower Manhattan office spaces — once considered foolish — is starting to look prescient.
Now, Silverstein is being rewarded, and awarded, for his work. The Skyscraper Museum on May 15 gave Larry Silverstein its ninth annual “Making New York History” award. According to the museum, the award recognizes “outstanding individuals who have shaped the city’s skyline in three dimensions or in public perceptions.”
In introducing the developer, museum director Carol Willis cited Silverstein’s prominence in Google searches as a testament to his status as a newsmaker and celebrity within the skyscraper world. Silverstein, for his part, thanked architect David Childs and Tishman Construction for their work in making the W.T.C. projects happen.
Sign of the times
In yet another sign that Lower Manhattan is becoming increasingly affluent (and increasingly attractive to young families), the Dance New Amsterdam studio on Chambers St. is currently offering “Nanny and Me” yoga classes on Friday mornings. The studio’s Web site (www.dnadance.org) touts the classes as an opportunity for caregivers to bond with the babies in their charge.
For the traditionalists out there, Dance New Amsterdam also offers “Mommy and Me” and “Daddy and Me” sessions during the week.
9/11 Opera
Downtown Express contributor Wickham Boyle, whose columns on 9/11 were turned into a book, “A Mother’s Essays from Ground Zero,” is turning her book into an opera with the help of composer Doug Geers and installation artist Christine Sciulli. A 15-minute excerpt of “Calling; An Opera of Forgiveness” will be performed at Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia St., June 11 at 8 p.m. Church Street School for Music and Art and Composers Collaborative are producing the opera, which will premier at La MaMa in September. Visit www.composerscollab.org for more info.
