Results tagged “municipalartsociety”

It's arguably one of the most beloved ways the city remembers the September 11, 2001 attacks—the Tribute in Light, which has beacons of light shimmer from lower Manhattan into the sky starting at dusk on September 11 and fading away at dawn on September 12. But the funding for the installation has run out!

    

The Municipal Art Society (MAS) had their intense redesign Coney Island workshop at the end of last week, and as promised they've released their ideas to the public today. The concept and design is portrayed in the renderings above (so many robots and clowns!), and MAS says "The concept, which would include a variety of indoor and outdoor facilities, can be implemented immediately (Summer 2009) and would take advantage of the parcels of undeveloped land in Coney Island, much of which is now vacant or operating as street-level parking."

Governor Paterson has reignited plans on the construction of Moynihan Station, the long-delayed new home of Penn Station in the post office across the street from the current one. Paterson really threw his hat into the ring attempting to stir up excitement and confidence for the new chapter in the saga of the station saying, "We're going to respond to this challenge - and do you know why we're going to respond? There's a new sheriff in town."

Rallies aren’t just for grassroots activists – moneyed developers can hold them too, as Bruce Ratner proved yesterday by financing an afternoon rally in downtown Brooklyn to support his beleaguered Atlantic Yards project. Organizers of the so-called “Brooklyn Day” event handed out free hot dogs and T-shirts to passersby in an attempt to drum up enthusiasm for the $4.2 billion project, though there were no free turkeys to fully evoke the Tammany Hall spirit.

As a counterpoint to the new renderings of Frank Gehry's redesign for the Atlantic Yards flagship tower, here's a different perspective on the project's future look. The Municipal Art Society [MAS] has assembled a compelling slideshow that serves as a sort of dystopian crystal ball, depicting what could come come if Bruce Ratner moves forward with his development on 22-acres of land in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Michael Lappin, CEO of the managing company for what is being called the "New Domino", responded yesterday to our questions about the proposed project via email.

The iconic Domino Sugar sign is not included in these renderings. [We photoshopped it back in, above.] Is there any plan to preserve that somewhere at the site? We are making every effort to save the sign. We are looking at different engineering solutions regarding the “where and how.” It’s a complex problem.

Have some extra cash to spend around the holiday season? Even the littlest bit can go a long way in the over 80 year old Operation Santa program. Every year letters pile up at the James A. Farley Post Office from (mostly needy) kids writing to Santa Claus (read one of them here). Their wish lists don't make it to the North Pole, but with New Yorkers pitching in every year, it's as if they did. There's still time to pick up a letter so you can help make someone's Christmas a little more merry this year. Head to the Farley Post Office (bring an ID) located at 421 Eighth Ave today through 4pm or Monday (from 9 to 4:30pm). Note: they are currently in desperate need of people who can read Spanish.

This week, reports the Downtown Express, the Landmarks Preservation Commission recommended that architects incorporate elements of the Battery Maritime Building's original architecture into a proposed plan to renovate and expand the ferry terminal. The Dermot Company seeks to develop a glass boutique hotel (complete with roof lounge) and specialty foods marketplace above the Beaux Arts ferry terminal.

The engines fueling Jane Jacobs' legacy are at full throttle, with the Municipal Art Society's new exhibition, titled "Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York." The show, opening this week at the Urban Center Galleries, delves into how today's (and tomorrow's) city fits into Jacobs' ideas and also examines how the public can draw on her values, given the major developments and rezoning now in progress.

From yesterday evening to dawn this morning, the ethereal September 11-light installation Tribute in Light beamed into the skies from its downtown perch. Designed by artists Julian LaVerdiere and Paul Myoda, architects John Bennett and Gustavo Bonevardi of PROUN Space Studio, architect Richard Nash Gould, and lighting designer Paul Marantz and produced by the Municipal Art Society and Creative Time, the lights were first seen in March 2002 for a month and then became part of the September 11 anniversary fabric, shining from dusk till dawn.

MUSIC: There's not a whole lot going on musically tonight, but the show at Cake Shop seems pretty...sweet. By The End of Tonight and Multitudes will be taking the stage -- the former is described as "the perfect marriage between the math-rockiness of Hella with the glistening, soaring guitars of Explosions in the Sky."

Plans for a new Penn Station and Madison Square Garden at the historic Farley Post Office building remain as murky as ever. But a recent poll undertaken by the Municipal Art Society (MAS) suggests that Penn Station commuters overwhelmingly favor the prospect of a grand new train station--but they need more information. If and when the project proceeds, who will keep watch over the three mega-developers (the state-run ESDC, along with private companies Related Group and Vornado Realty Trust) to make sure the new-generation Station and Garden turn out better than the last one?

The much vaunted non-profit that seriously opposed the Atlantic Yards has a new enemy. Today the Municipal Art Society announced that, tired of decrepit and ugly news racks, it is launching a new campaign to eliminate the city of every last stinkin' one of them.

In 2005, hip-hop pioneers DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Caz, Melle Mel and more, lent their names and likenesses to a vintage hip-hop clothing company called Sedgwick & Cedar. The press release for the company told this story: "on August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc's sister Cindy Campbell decided to throw a back to school party in her building's small rec room at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. Kool Herc introduced extended break beats, which mesmerized the jam packed crowd. Soon, he had to take the party outside and down the street to Cedar Park, drawing thousands throughout the night to see the birth of the art form." From the one building, that art form saturated the world.

Bruce Ratner’s mega-project isn’t only a catalyst for lawsuits. It’s also behind a push to create a historic district in Prospect Heights. “I think with the Atlantic Yards happening, there’s a real urgency to get it designated,” Municipal Art Society fellow Lisa Kersavage told Gothamist. “The development pressures are increasing dramatically.”

While umbrellas are most convenient when they are small enough to stow into a bag, this 43" umbrella is very tempting. It's the MTA Transit Museum Store's Grand Central Ceiling Umbrella, which was created with the Municipal Art Society.

Arching over the 80,000 square-foot Main Concourse, this extraordinary ceiling was painted from a design by French artist Paul Helleu. The blue-green and gold mural portrays the October to March zodiac and contains more than 2,500 starts, with 60 lighted to illustrate major constellations.

It's difficult to know quite what to say about the huge transformations on the horizon for the Far West Side. That's partly because major negotiations and plans regarding the future of Madison Square Garden, the Farley Post Office, the Javits Center, the 7-train extension, and rezoning are taking place behind closed doors. Another reason is the uneven pace at which the planning proceeds-- years of plodding speculation followed by the sudden unveiling of a proposal, and merely a few months for public review before the deal is sealed.

The Rockefeller Foundation, which played a role in funding Jane Jacobs's pioneering research and writing 50 years ago, will now support her legacy by issuing two annual award grants in her honor. According to the NY Sun, one recipient will have made a lifetime contribution to urban design or theory, specifically in New York City, and the other will be on the cusp of a promising career. Each award is worth $200,000.

Drivers who take the George Washington Bridge, you'll soon have a little green gecko in your sights every day! The Port Authority has agreed to allow Geico advertise on the George Washington Bridge for $3.2 million over two years. While that doesn't mean affixing geckos to the bridge itself, it does mean Geico billboards on the toll plaza, Geico signs on tollbooths, and having Geico's name appear on various Port Authority collateral and the PA website. And the NY Times adds "...costumed gecko mascots will appear at Port Authority bus stations."

Although we haven't heard the old "urban jungle" metaphor applied to New York lately, preservationists continue to churn out new lists of "endangered" architectural species. The newest, Ten to Save: Endangered NYC comes from an editor at amNewYork, Rolando Pujol. It is derived in part from the New York Landmark Conservancy's Endangered Buildings Online, which was unveiled last summer July.

NY State Assembly Speaker Sheldon has done it again: NY1 reports that Silver has delayed ruling on the Atlantic Yards project because "he still has financial questions." The NY Sun had a story today about growing pressure for Silver to delay the vote, given outcry from not just civic groups like the Municipal Art Society, Regional Plan Association, Citizen's Union, and National Resources Defense Council, but other politicians as well. Brooklyn Papers also adds that the AY is a "$4-billion project would require hundreds of millions in direct and indirect public subsidies, but the actual size of the taxpayer contribution to the project has never been released." So there are big questions, and it's not just Silver showing off his power.

It’s another defining week for the Atlantic Yards. On Wednesday, the 8 million square-foot project faces one of its last hurdles: approval by the Public Authorities Control Board, the state oversight body that monitors Albany’s fiscal commitments to projects like the Yards. PACB votes have derailed large-scale projects before, most notably last year when Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and Joseph Bruno, the Senate majority leader, killed the West Side Stadium plan. Of course, it’s no secret how Pataki, who also has a vote, will go.

Augh! The NY Sun reports:

Speculation is heating up that the Municipal Building, the soaring limestone landmark that overlooks City Hall, could be among the government real estate assets to be sold off and converted to residential buildings as municipal employees prepare to move into a new, privately managed office building planned for ground zero.

+ Following the release of the Atlantic Yards' Final Environmental Impact Statement, Empire State Development Corporation head Charles Gargano says Madison Square Garden owners Jim and Charles Dolan may end up killing the Gehry-designed project. More FEIS digesting from Curbed.

The divergent fates of two historic stable buildings on the Upper West Side crystallized yesterday, following votes by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The former New York Cab Company Stable on Amsterdam and West 75th Street (pictured, right) will survive as a designated historic landmark, while the former Dakota Stable, just up the street at West 77th and Amsterdam (pictured left), will be demolished to make way for a new condominium building to be designed by the architect Robert A.M. Stern.

+ And check out the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum this week. Because of National Design Week, it's free!

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is probably turning in his grave right now. Plans for the Moynihan Station have been "derailed" as plans to discuss it have been postponed. Officials had been hoping that the Public Authorities Control Board would approve the project this year, so it would happen under Governor Pataki's term. But with opposition to and many questions surrounding the project, the NY Times reports "the Pataki administration took the proposal off the table again yesterday rather than risk a vote against it." Hello, brinksmanship!

Both the Observer and the NY Sun look at the slow development process for the Moynihan Station, a project long discussed but stuck in development hell. We think the Observer's sub-headline says it all: "Silver Stops Projects, And There’s Not Much Putzy Governor Can Do; Gargano in Full Gear; Snarled by Property Shuffle With Vornado and Related." To translate: Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver is delaying the project, and since Governor Pataki is a lame duck, he's pretty much toothless in this fight. Enter Charles Gargano, head of the Empire State Development Corporation, who has been trying to get organizations to lobby Silver to stop his delays.

The Atlantic Yards Project's public meeting last night was packed with Brooklyn residents wanting to have their say. WNBC reported that hundreds of people were waiting outside the New York City College of Technology, since the auditorium was full, and inside, "the crowd became unruly, cheering wildly for their cause until security was called in to remove a few of the audience members." That sounds about right - and they had lots of signs for and against the project! About 300 people had signed up to speak, and since 3 minutes is allowed for each person, that would mean a public meeting that would go on for more than half a day.

The folks at Curbed must be really excited - the Department of Buildings has announced a new program requiring outdoor advertising to be registered first. Here's what the DoB's press release says:

The new rules enhance the Department's regulatory authority over billboards and are aimed at combating the proliferation of illegal signs near the City's major arterial highways and parks.

Continue reading "Outdoor Signs Must Be Registered"