“From coastal resiliency and sustainable green practices to the preservation of affordable housing, world-class public art, and vibrant, year-round programming in award-winning public spaces, Battery Park City leads the way in many of the measures that makes cities livable."

Raju Mann

President & CEO
  • 10/12
  • Art & Culture
  • BPC People
  • Community

NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2017

Empire State Relief Recovery Effort for Puerto Rico
Residents are encouraged to drop off goods for donation at select locations in Battery Park City.
Rockefeller Park House
Rockefeller Park New York, NY 10281
11AM-6PM
Community Center at Stuyvesant High School
345 Chambers St New York, NY 10282
7PM-9:30PM
 

The following items are currently being accepted for donation: batteries, flashlights, portable lanterns, diapers, babywipes, cases of water and feminine hygiene products.
All items must be unopened and in their original packaging.
A full list of charitable organizations for financial contributions is available on ny.gov/PuertoRico

BPC PEOPLE
Isaac Owens:Bounce Fit Cardio Fitness Trainer at Stuyvesant Community Center

Favorite BPC spot: Wagner Park

 

Well-traveled, well-rounded, and with talent to burn, Isaac Owens was born in Landstuhl, Germany, where his mother was stationed while serving in the United States Air Force. His family then moved to Ghana, Africa, his father’s birthplace. At six years old his parents separated, and with his mom it was then to off the U.S. – South Carolina specifically – where Isaac was raised.

Isaac may have been born to dance, but he didn’t know it right away. He first felt the spark after seeing the PBS Documentary Free to Dance, chronicling the integral role that African-American choreographers and dancers have served in the development of modern dance as an American art form. While there weren’t many outlets for dance in the Deep South, there was the Fine Arts Center of Greenville, South Carolina, where he got his admittedly late start under the tutelage of Jan Woodward. He was the only male in the program (and, at 17, a full decade behind some of the other students). But a calling is a calling, and after two years of twice-daily dance sessions he earned admission to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, where he studied Contemporary Arts.

After two years dancing started taking its toll and Isaac decided to remove himself from the program and travel the country. That journey, in time, brought him back to his love of the arts. “I found that I needed to dance, I wanted to dance,” he says. Using the friendships he made in college, Isaac made his way to the Dallas Black Dance Theatre and started dancing anew. Not long after, a good friend convinced him to take the plunge and move to New York City to pursue his passion. Once here, he joined the Mari Meade Dance Collective (MMDC), where he has been for the past four years.

Ever humble, Isaac explains: “I feel really blessed and fortunate to have been able to get back into the dance community after taking so much time off.” It was with MMDC that Isaac has had the honor of performing at the Battery Dance Festival in 2015 and 2017, something he counts as one of his career highlights to date. “How often do you get to dance with the Statue of Liberty as backdrop?”

Dancing isn’t Isaac’s only passion. In college he discovered Pilates training and fell in love with Joseph Pilates’ physical fitness philosophies, so he became certified physical trainer through a work study program in Pilates Mat and Pilates Apparatus instruction. Isaac believes deeply in the power of strength and endurance training to change and challenge the body, mind, and soul, and loves helping others experience similar transformations for themselves.

Building on his wide range of experiences, Isaac now has his own company, Mojo Fitness, and leads Bounce Fit Cardio at BPC’s Community Center at Stuyvesant High School on Saturdays from 1:15PM -2:15 PM. He describes the session as a “fun class with great music.” Bounce Fit Cardio, a full body workout using a trampoline, lets participants burn a lot of calories with low impact, and without wearing themselves out.

In his spare time, Isaac loves gardening and cooking his own vegan food, reading, making collages, and break dancing. Through social media Isaac has also re-connected with his father after 22 years, and shared with him all the wonderful opportunities he’s enjoyed – including teaching and sharing his talent which such a wonderful community.

 

 

 
BPC Movie Night: Ghostbusters (1984)
Friday, October 13
7PM, Rockefeller Park 

Enjoy this spooky classic on Friday the 13th and get ready to be slimed! Join your favorite, quirky band of parapsychologists as they rid the Big Apple of ghosts, ghouls, and other paranormal phenomena. When there’s something strange, you know who to call
To learn more, click here.

GO FISH!
Saturday October 14
10AM-2PM, Wagner Park
FISHING AND MORE AT GO FISH!
BATTERY PARK CITY’S CELEBRATION OF LIFE IN THE HUDSON ESTUARY
12PM, FAMILY MUSICAL PERFORMANCE THE CRUSTY GENTLEMEN 

Born under the Brooklyn Bridge in 2010 and embodying the “crustiness” that comes from years of experience, this local bluegrass favorite plays tunes to keep your feet tapping and bait wiggling. With long experience within many facets of the music industry, the crust, and their pure hillbilly chaos, is a must!

10AM-11AM, VOLUNTEER GARDENING

Get your hand’s dirty in the planting beds of Wagner Park. Work with BPC Parks’ renowned horticulture staff and experience organic, sustainable gardening by spreading your own house-made compost.

11AM, BIRD WATCHING & GARDEN TOUR

NYC is known as a fantastic place to observe birds, especially during the fall migration season. The beautiful gardens of Wagner Park create a unique niche for these fascinating creatures. Join a naturalist/ horticulturist team as we look for birds and learn about the plantings and flowers. Binoculars and field guides are available to borrow.11AM-2PM,

ART PROJECTS

River and nature themed art projects led by an artist educator.

11AM-2PM, ART PROJECTS

River and nature themed art projects led by an artist educator.

Sunrise, Sunset (Revolution) for Pier A Plaza
Site-specific art by Autumn Ewalt and Dharmesh Patel, 2017
In partnership with Battery Park City Authority
Opening reception at Pier A Plaza
Friday, October 13, 5:30PM

Meet the Artists
Saturday, October 14, 2PM  

Art talk and drawing on Pier A Plaza
Sundays, October 29 and November 5, 2PM
Exploring the spectrum with light and color led by Dorothea Basile and Marla Lipkin

“Our aim is to transform the space at Pier A in Battery Park City with a piece that is dynamic and stunningly beautiful. It is for everyone.  We believe in the power of beauty and the capacity of public art to leave an extraordinary impressionon something that might otherwise only be ordinary.  We invite the viewer to see and relate to the city and community in a new way.”  
– Autumn Ewalt and Dharmesh Patel
Pier A Plaza is at the southern tip of Manhattan where 22 Battery Place and the Hudson River meet.
Orchestrating Dreams with the American Youth Orchestra
Sunday, October 15 
2PM, Belvedere Plaza

Enjoy the American Youth Orchestra, conducted by Andrea Profili, as they perform Mozart and celebrate the diversity of the Americas through the study of classical music.

To learn more, click here.

Public Art Tour: Irish Hunger Memorial
Saturday, October 28 

2PM, Irish Hunger Memorial 

Join Brian Tolle, designer of the Irish Hunger Memorial, on a special tour of this Battery Park City landmark. Brian will discuss the history of the Memorial, as well as the recent year-long renovation of the work. A staff horticulturalist will be on hand to discuss the Memorial’s native Irish plantings.

To learn more, click here.

Stories for All Ages
Sunday, October 29
11AM, Rockefeller Park 

Get ready for some spooky stories to tickle your spine. Celebrate Halloween by listening to some “not-too-scary” tales, vividly told by the delightful and engaging storyteller Luann Adams. Halloween costumes greatly encouraged!
www.bpcparks.org

BROOKFIELD PLACE
New Sounds Live
Installation: Friday, 10/06 – Wednesday, 10/11 (Hours Vary)
Performances: Wednesday, 10/11- Friday, 10/13 

This New Sounds Live series, curated by WNYC’s John Schaefer, offers a captivating installation, the world premiere of The Phonemophonic Alphabet Brass Band by sculptor and multimedia artist, Carol Szymanski, in addition to an eclectic range of musical performances from artists, composers, and traditional musicians.

For more info click here.

Halloween Bash
Saturday, October 28
12PM – 3PM 

Celebrate All Hallows’ Eve in style as our family-friendly Halloween party returns to Brookfield Place! Bring your costume-clad kids to a FANGtastic afternoon full of fun!

For more info click here.

Canstruction
Thursday, November 2 – Tuesday, November 14
10AM – 8PM
Wednesday, November 15
10AM – 6PM
 

An extraordinary annual design competition and the most unique food charity in the world, Canstruction challenges 25 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 info click here.

MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE
Just following orders: Shaping Minds & Morals in Battle
Sunday, October 15
2PM 

Adolf Eichmann claimed he was “just following orders.” In 1957 the Israeli legal system established the concept of a “blatantly illegal order” to explain when a military or security-related order should—or must not—be followed. Professor Moshe Halbertal (Gruss Professor of Law at NYU and co-author of the Israeli Army Code of Ethics) will discuss command responsibility and the ethics of war with Brigadier General Cindy Jebb (Dean of the Academic Board, U.S. Military Academy, West Point), moderated by Michael Walzer (Professor Emeritus of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton).
$12 general, $10 Museum members, $5 students.

For more info click here.

SKYSCRAPER MUSEUM 
Kevin D. Murphy Book Talk
Thursday, October 12
6:30 – 8:00PM

 

Skyscrapers, emblems of the modernity in American cities in late 19th and 20th century, commonly drew upon styles reminiscent of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe. Skyscraper Gothic brings together a group of renowned scholars to explore what the appearance of Gothic forms on radically new buildings meant urbanistically, architecturally, and socially. Please join us as Kevin D. Murphy, co-editor and contributor to the volume, discusses the under-examined interplay between skyscraper design and the Gothic vocabulary.

Kevin D. Murphy is the Andrew W. Mellon Chair in the Humanities and Professor and Chair of History of Art at Vanderbilt University. His publications include the book Memory and Modernity: Viollet-le-Duc at Vézelay (2000), Jonathan Fisher of Blue Hill, Maine: Commerce, Culture and Community on the Eastern Frontier (2010), several co-edited volumes, and numerous journal articles.

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

For more info click here.

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