An aerial view of Battery Park City showing the Museum of Jewish Heritage, via Wikimedia Commons

“To address the disturbing number of anti-Semitic and other discriminatory attacks in New York, the Governor is proposing a first-in-the-nation domestic terrorism law,” reads a bullet point from Cuomo’s 2020 agenda. As part of this larger hate crime anti-terrorism act, the Governor has directed the Battery Park City Authority to develop an expansion plan for the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust so that it will become a “learning destination for school children across the state.”

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The site in December 2018, Photo by Tdorante10 via Wikimedia Commons

It’s been more than two years since reconstruction work on the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at the World Trade Center stopped due to lack of funding, but the project is finally set to resume. On Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans to form a new non-profit organization with an independent 13-member board—the Friends of St. Nicholas—who will oversee the remaining construction. The expected opening is slated for 2022.

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Image via Wiki Commons

The search is on for the architect or artist who will design the Hurricane Maria Memorial in Battery Park City. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans for the project last September, on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s landfall. The tragic event claimed more than 3,000 lives and brought more than 11,000 displaced victims to New York. The memorial will be a way for the city to honor the victims and survivors, as well as the city’s strong connection to Puerto Rico.

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Rendering by WXY architecture + urban design

A new pedestrian bridge in Lower Manhattan will open this fall, more than ten years after it was proposed, the city announced Wednesday. The 230-foot West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge replaces the Rector Street Bridge, a temporary structure built after two bridges in the area were destroyed during the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Designed by engineer Thornton Tomassetti and WXY architecture + urban design, the $45 million bridge crosses West Street and connects Battery Park City with the Financial District.

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Via Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office

Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled on Thursday a $10 billion plan to extend the coastline of Lower Manhattan as much as 500 feet to protect from future floods. The Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency project is the result of a study that looked at ways to build resilience in low-lying neighborhoods like the Financial District and South Street Seaport. The study found the only feasible measure for these areas would be extending the shoreline about two city blocks into the East River by adding a new piece of land at or above 20 feet from current sea level.

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Newlywed star tenor (and private pilot) Michael Fabiano and husband Bryan M. Fabiano, associate director of the Metropolitan Opera’s board of directors, just put their pristine Battery Park City condo at 70 Little West Street on the market for $1,195,000. Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space in light while custom built-in storage solutions make the 930-square-foot one bedroom as efficient as possible.

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Photo courtesy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Last December, construction on the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at the World Trade Center stopped due to lack of funding. The Archdiocese has remained committed to finishing the construction of the church, which was destroyed during the 9/11 attacks. Recently, the Port Authority — who owns the land on which the church is sited at Liberty Street — said that it wants to help the church with its rebuilding efforts, as the New York Post first reported.

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Via Wikimedia

Despite recently ranking as the most expensive zip code for renters in the United States, Battery Park City experienced the greatest influx of millennial residents in New York City over a period of five years. The Lower Manhattan neighborhood, with the zip code 10282, saw a population increase of over 54 percent, according to report released this month by RentCafe. Out of the top 20 zip codes with the highest increase in millennials, Battery Park City, with 2,300 Generation Y residents, ranks third in the country, falling slightly behind two downtown Los Angeles neighborhoods (h/t amNY).

Where are millennials moving?

Actor Ben McKenzie has come a long way since his teen-drama days on “The O.C.” After adding producer to his resume, starring in the hit television series “Gotham,” and moving from southern Cali to NYC, McKenzie is now looking to make another change and find a larger home for his growing family. The Post reports that he and his wife, fellow “Gotham” star Morena Baccarin, have put their Battery Park City condo on the market for $2,675,000. Clearly, the couple has good taste, as the sunny, stylish pad at 2 River Terrace is decorated with Scandi-chic furniture, boho accents, and contemporary light wood finishes.

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Battery Park City via Flickr cc

To mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria last week–along with new reports that confirm 3,000 Puerto Ricans lost their lives in the third-most-powerful storm to ever hit the U.S.–Governor Cuomo signed an executive order establishing a new Hurricane Maria Memorial Commission to provide recommendations pertaining to the site, design, and installation of a permanent memorial in Battery Park City. New York City has the largest number of Puerto Rican residents in the U.S. mainland and, to date, Cuomo has set aside $13 million to aide the more than 11,000 displaced Hurricane Maria victims living in New York state.

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