Greenmarket goes
The World Trade Center Greenmarket will soon be without a place to market. The twice a week produce market will be displaced on June 15 to make way for construction of the new Calatrava PATH station. The market has yet to find a new home, but is hard at work looking for a place to sell its wares. “Anywhere in the vicinity would be great,” said Cathy Chambers, head operations manager for the Greenmarket at a Community Board 1 meeting this week. One site the market has in mind is a return to Liberty Plaza Park on Broadway and Liberty St.
But the park’s owner, Brookfield Properties, is focused on finishing a complete renovation of the park by June 1, when it’s scheduled to reopen to the public. “We’re just so completely focused on getting the park opened and renovated and done and that’s been our sole focus,” said Brookfield spokesperson Melissa Coley. “We haven’t had a dialogue with the Greenmarket people yet.”
What will the new park be like? “It’s really cool!” she said of the design that will feature Mark di Suvero’s first permanent installation in Lower Manhattan, “Joie de Vivre,” and the return of “Double Check,” the iconic man with the briefcase sculpture by Seward Johnson.
Best Bellman
The Ritz Carlton in Battery Park City is known for many things, and now it can add another to the list. Ritz doorman Emmanuel Georgaroudis was named Bellperson/ Houseperson of the year by the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association. The staff was so thrilled by the success that they even created a new holiday to celebrate.
“We had Manny Day at the hotel on Friday,” said Ritz spokesperson Lauren Cason, adding that Manny Day was catered with Greek food, a nod to Georgaroudis’s Aegean roots.
Being the Bellperson of the Year comes with its rewards: Georgaroudis, who has been with the hotel since it opened in 2002, won a $300 prize, a plaque and a trip to Albany to collect his winnings.
Marty challenge
Ken Diamondstone, a housing developer who lives in Brooklyn Heights, is challenging State Senator Martin Connor, the former State Senate Minority leader, in the Democratic primary in the 25th District. Village politico William Stricklin is Diamondstone’s field coordinator. The district is 60 percent in Manhattan and 40 percent in Brooklyn and includes Soho, the Lower East Side, Tribeca, Chinatown, Little Italy, Battery Park City, Brooklyn Heights and parts of Park Slope and Williamsburg. “We’re running a full-court press, we’re not conceding anything,” said Stricklin, who is gay.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. has something to celebrate. Michael Haberman, the agency’s Community Development V.P., has a new baby boy to tout around the office. Jared Cole Haberman was born on May 2 at 4:29 p.m. Weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz., the little tyke is “calm, eating well —h e’s not a hard baby so far,” said the cool and collected dad. Haberman, 35, and his wife, Allison, 34, are old hands at parenthood—their first son, Max, is three. “So far, it seems a lot easier, much less of a shock. The first one was, ‘Oh my God, we’re parents!’ This one you know what to expect.”
Downtown influence
Larry Silverstein is one of the most influential people in the city, New York Magazine declared in its “The Influentials” issue. “He may be handing off reconstruction of the Freedom Tower, but he’s still got a lock on Downtown with three towers he’ll build from scratch,” the magazine touted. Silverstein wasn’t the only Downtowner to make the cut, the magazine also tapped Santiago Calatrava, designer of the new World Trade Center PATH station, and Jane Rosenthal, co-creator of the Tribeca Film. Rosenthal’s film festival partner, Robert De Niro, didn’t make the cut, however. It seems like the producer behind “Analyze This,” “Meet the Parents” and “Wag the Dog” may have outshined her leading man.
BBy Ronda Kaysen
WWW Downtown Express
