Volume 18 • Issue 41 | February 24 – March 2, 2006
Under Cover
Garden Gala
Despite a “soggy autumn,” construction work on the British Memorial Garden is proceeding well and will open later this year in Hanover Square, Camilla G. Hellman, president of the garden’s trust, told the distinguished, black tie crowd at a gala fundraiser recently at Cipriani 42nd St. The $6.5 million garden to remember the 67 British citizens who died on 9/11 will be in full bloom by next year. Gala guests included Sir Philip Thomas, British Consul-General, Charles Wolf, a leading 9/11 family spokesperson whose wife will be memorialized in the garden, Daily News gossip columnist Lloyd Grove, Robert Douglass, chairperson of the Downtown Alliance, and Eric Deutsch, president of the Alliance. The crowd toasted both the U.S. president and the Queen of England, whom organizers hope will attend the opening. Her boy Charlie, a.k.a. the Prince of Wales, popped over the pond for a garden visit last November.
Liquid Liberty
A new wine shop uncorked at 55 Liberty St. on Feb. 10. The neighborhood winery, the Greene Grape Downtown, boasts wines from 140 small production wineries around the world. Owner Jason Richelson is toasting the growing residential community with daily tastings, late night hours, delivery service and, in a nod to the end of New York’s blue laws – seven days a week of service. “The business people are great, but I’m really targeting my store to the people who live down here,” said Richelson. His fiancée, Amy Bennett, opened the original Greene Grape in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where the two live. But Richelson says he spends so much time toiling at his new shop, that he feels like a Financial District resident already. He’s even considering launching a neighborhood blog on the company’s Web site, www.greenegrape.com, to keep his neighbors up on all the local happenings. “There’s so many people who actually live down here,” he said, “and there’s no way for them to communicate.” With more wine around to loosen the tongue, all that may soon change.
Downtown living
Naomi Campbell and Mickey Rourke snatched up condos at 55 Wall St., Giuseppe Cipriani’s pet project. In exchange for gracing the pages of the condo’s marketing brochure, Campbell and Rourke are getting their units at a discount, the New York Times reported. Cipriani is so confident his luxury project will make the Financial District feel like home that he is buying a two-bedroom for himself and apartments for his two teenage kids. Maybe the Cipriani kids will spend their time browsing the building’s 7,000-volume library… or maybe not.
Tribeca prodigy
Tribeca’s newest literary wonder, Isabella Hatkoff has found her children’s book, “Owen and Mzee” crawling up the New York Times’ Children’s Best Seller List. This best selling author not only writes about kiddies – she is one. Hatkoff just so happens to be the seven-year-old daughter of Tribeca Film Center co-founder Jane Rosenthal, New York Post reported.
Subway delay
The Cortlandt St. subway station won’t be opening anytime soon. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced last week that it plans to keep the R and W station closed for another year. The station, which has been shut since August for a $750 million Fulton Transit Hub renovation, was scheduled to reopen this month. But the platform is too narrow, M.T.A. officials say, and the station will likely remain closed until sometime next year.
WWW Downtown Express
