“For a decade and a half James Gill led the Battery Park City Authority with wisdom, wit, and panache. It was his BPCA that created comprehensive environmental guidelines, and aggressively drove our master plan to completion with construction of sustainable residential, commercial, and school buildings. The Irish Hunger Memorial, Teardrop Park, the Skyscraper Museum, an expanded Museum of Jewish Heritage, and more – all a result of his vision for what Battery Park City could be.

“Beyond our 92 acres, across a longer tenure in public service, he advised governors, senators, and mayors, served as a Marine Corps lawyer and assistant district attorney, worked on education reform, led charitable organizations, among so much else.

“That James Gill stands like a colossus in the Irish-American community is without doubt; that his impact on our small corner of New York City is lasting and profound is equally so. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones – his was a life well-lived, and we are grateful for his many years of service.”

Churaman Persaud is not accustomed to being late. For a decade now he’s risen at 4:00am each morning to reach Battery Park City by 6:00am – for a shift that starts at 7:30. “You never know what might come up on the way in,” explains Churaman. Getting here early ensures he is always ready to go.

Churaman was born near the capital city of Georgetown, Guyana. He grew up and attended school there before immigrating to the United States in 1999. He later began work at the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services as an admin civil service administrator. He came to Battery Park City Parks in 2007 as a maintenance worker, cleaning, sweeping, and otherwise keeping beautiful Battery Park City’s 36 acres of parks and public spaces – from playgrounds to restrooms to dog runs, and everything in-between.

Churaman’ s most memorable moments at BPC Parks are meeting people – so many different residents and tourists over the years who stopped to admire all that our parks have to offer. He also will always remember working together with his team after Hurricane Sandy and countless snow storms to bring Battery Park City Parks back to their pristine condition.

Churaman currently lives in Canarsie with his wife and is planning on moving to Grayson, Georgia once she retires. They have purchased a house there and will pass the time with their two daughters, and doting on their six grandchildren.

While Churaman looks forward to retired life but will miss all of his co-workers, Supervisors and the wonderful people of Battery Park City. He won’t miss the 4:00am wakeups. Until then, you can find Churaman working across our wonderful parks from 7:30am-4:00pm every Tuesday through Saturday through year’s end. Like all his colleagues and friends at BPCA, please thank him for a job well done!

Calling all toddlers! Interactive play, art-making, and more. For walking toddlers through preschool-age children and accompanying adults. Adults participate throughout the program. No program 11/23.
Fee: $150 for 6 sessions
For more information click here.
Pre-registration required, call 212-267-9700 or email registration@bpcparks.org

FEE: $138 for 6 sessions
Enjoy yoga in a safe, supportive environment while learning postures and exercises specifically suited for new parents and babies — newborns through crawling. No class 11/13.
For more information click here.
Pre-registration required, call 212-267-9700 or email registration@bpcparks.org

Drop by for a few hours to meet friends and make new ones. Play table tennis, foosball life-size chess, giant Connect-4, and more. Create art, listen to music, watch a movie or just relax with friends. Grades 7-12. FREE
No program 11/10 & 11/24. For more information click here.

In celebration of Forbes’ 100th anniversary, Forbes Magazine unveiled a special centennial issue, for the next 100 years from the world’s 100 Greatest Living Business Minds.
For more information click here.

This free one-hour version of the beloved holiday ballet performed to Tchaikovsky’s cherished score is set Art Nouveau-style circa 1907 with innovative choreography by long-time New York Theatre Ballet choreographer, Keith Michael.
For more information click here.

An extraordinary annual design competition and the most unique food charity in the world, Canstruction challenges 26 teams of architects, engineers, and contractors to build sculptures made entirely out of unopened cans of food. The large scale structures are placed on display and later donated to City Harvest for distribution to those in need. For more information click here.
Donate to City Harvest: Admission is free! If you’d like to contribute to Canstructionyou can drop off non-perishable food items in the donation bin located at 230 Vesey, 2nd level.

Weekend workout with Project by Equinox in Pumphouse Park.
Click here to sign up and for more information on upcoming classes!

Create lasting photo memories with the jolly man in red! Santa’s winter wonderland features a special children’s activity center and is the place for everyone to capture the magic of the holidays while shopping and dining at Brookfield Place.

79th Anniversary of Kristallnacht Remembrance
(the Night of Broken Glass)
Thursday, November 9
8:00 AM – 8:00 PM
36 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10280
 
On November 9, the 79th anniversary of Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass), the Museum of Jewish Heritage —​ A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will be open free of charge from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Join us as we participate in the Remember and Be the Light campaign, placing candles in our windows to remember Kristallnacht and to protest hatred in our own time. Come to the Anne & Bernard Spitzer Grand Foyer to light a candle.

At 12:30, Ruth Zimbler, a Holocaust survivor and member of the Museum’s Speakers Bureau, will share her eyewitness account of Kristallnacht. Please reserve your seat.During Kristallnacht, she and her brother Walter watched the destruction of the largest synagogue in Vienna from their apartment. Ruth and Walter were on the first Kindertransport (Children’s Transport) out of Vienna in December 1938. Their father, who worked for the Jewish Community of Vienna, facilitated the journey to den Haag, Holland. Ruth and her family made it to New York in late 1939. #RememberandBetheLight​

Panel discussion regarding the relevance of bioethics and the Holocaust for modern medical practice, health law, public policy, and human rights efforts. This program is free and open to the general public. Click here.
Co-presented by the Maimonides Institute for Medicine, Ethics and the Holocaust (MIMEH) and the UNESCO Chair of Bioethics (Haifa) Department of Bioethics and the Holocaust. 

Free event. For parents and children ages 0 to 4. Join the musical group Yellow Sneakerand their puppet pals for entertaining programs that nurture family bonds and bridge connections to Jewish life and traditions.

Free event. Join author Joanne Oppenheim for a reading of her new children’s book
The Knish War on Rivington Street. Benny and his family live on the Lower East Side and sell baked knishes.When the Tisches move in across the street with their fried knishes a knish competisch ensues.Come hear this joyful story of people who take pride in their own work, but eventually realize a fundamental truth: there’s no such thing as too many knishes.

Experience the bright, energetic sounds of young Jewish Australia with the musicians of Sydney’s premier Jewish day school on tour in the U.S.

Poets Jennifer Michael Hecht, Owen Lewis, Fran Quinn, Jason Schneiderman, Cecilia Woloch, and friends to honor the work of a beloved member of the Poets House community and long-time professor of English at Borough of Manhattan Community College. For more information click here.
Free event.

Poets Elizabeth Alexander, Tyehimba Jess, Yusef Komunyakaa, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Marilyn Nelson, Atsuro Riley, Sapphire, Solmaz Sharif , and Patricia Smith celebrate the centenary of Gwendolyn Brooks—part of a year-long, nationwide tribute to one of America’s most influential poets.
For more information click here.  Admission: $10

In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Poets House, 30 Years! A Narrative in 30 Objects mines the Poets House archives for objects of resonance.
For more information click here. Free and Open to the Public.

National Book Award finalist Monica Youn discusses the history of poetry through the lens of the sonnet. For more information click here.

American Book Award winner Camille Dungy considers five important poems that reveal what it means to be at home in America. For more information click here.
$10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House members

Beginning with the consolidation of “Gotham” after WW1, this long-awaited sequel surveys two decisive decades that saw the city’s physical and population growth into the world’s second-largest metropolis and a center of global finance. Join us as Mike Wallace discusses the remarkable book.

All guests MUST RSVP to programs@skyscraper.org to assure admittance to the event. For more information click here. Reservations are required, and priority is given to Members and Corporate Member firms and their employees.

South Street is a remarkable visual essay, collecting Barbara Mensch’s photographs of the lost world of Fulton Fish Market from 1979-1983. With lively commentary, Mensch documents the tight knit world of fishmongers and the market, which was, in the words of Phillip Lopate, a “last vestige of historic Gotham.”

All guests MUST RSVP to programs@skyscraper.org to assure admittance to the event.
For more information click here. Reservations are required, and priority is given to Members and Corporate Member firms and their employees.