About this time last year, the Whitney Museum announced their plans to open a downtown space in the Meatpacking District, and earlier this week, they held a high-flying groundbreaking ceremony for the new building, located at the foot of the High Line. And if you missed it, that's okay, it's really just a pile of dirt right now and you can go to the real museum tomorrow for free. more ›

Yesterday the Parks Department broke ground on a long-awaited $12 million redevelopment of WNYC Transmitter Park along the East River in Brooklyn. The project, which is expected to take 18 months or so, includes the construction of a pier at the foot of Kent Street, an esplanade for "passive recreation," and 1.6-acres of open space on the waterfront. There will also be a wetland accessible to visitors; and a separate children’s play area featuring a nautical theme. more ›

Here are Andrew Hinderaker's photos from yesterday's demonstration against the groundbreaking ceremony for developer Bruce Ratner's Nets arena in Brooklyn (which should really be called Mikhail D. Prokhorov's Nyets arena, since the Russian oligarch now owns an 80 percent share of the team and a 45 percent stake in the arena). We also threw in a photo of Beyonce and Jay-Z, a champion of the project who's already committed to leasing a $540,000 luxury suite for a year in the arena, the Post reports). more ›

It's really happening: After dogged protest and a series of seemingly intractable lawsuits, developer Bruce Ratner is breaking ground right now on a new arena for the Nets, to be called Barclays Center. And the irate protests are continuing even as the ceremony—attended by Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg—takes place right now. In his speech, Borough President Marty Markowitz acknowledged the raucous demonstrators outside the press conference, but played it for laughs, saying, "Sorry about the noise outside. Obviously disgruntled Knicks fans." Ha ha, or people who are being forced out of their homes! We've heard over the police scanner that the NYPD is now calling for a "Level 3 Mobilization" (sounds serious!) to deal with the protesters. more ›

This morning Mayor Bloomberg and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz held court at McCarren Park Pool for a groundbreaking ceremony. Over the past few years the pool has come back to life with JellyNYC's concerts (now still in search of a new home with help from Senator Schumer) — but soon it will return to being a community pool, thanks to Bloomberg's $50 million PlaNYC renovation. Today he promised he'd be the first to take a dip when the project is done, but so did Marty. Who will make the first splash?! We'll have to wait til 2011 to find out... more ›

Yesterday, Parks Department officials, school children and many others helped break ground on the Imagination Playground at Burling Slip in the South Street Seaport area. The new space "is the product of over five years of David Rockwell’s extensive research on play and playgrounds. It is a progressive concept in children’s play that offers a rich environment of diverse materials that encourage unstructured, child-directed free play, where children determine their own activities, alone and with their peers." In other words, there's no massive Tom Otterness sliding statue. more ›