••• “A Navy parachutist performing an aerial demonstration for Fleet Week died on Sunday after his chute did not open properly and he plunged into the Hudson River as hundreds of people watched from Liberty State Park.” —New York Times

••• If you haven’t been paying much attention to the problem of aggressive (to the point of violence) ferry ticket sellers at the Battery, the New York Times has a nice recap.

••• “A brawl between two food cart vendors over territory in the Financial District, left one fighting for his life, officials said Sunday.” —New York Post

••• “By 1807 Trinity Church had transformed the boggy, snake and mosquito infested tract bordered by Beach, Hudson, Varick and Laight Streets into the elegant St. John’s Park. Fine brick mansions faced the square, its focal point being the magnificent Georgian-style St. John’s Chapel. Although the neighborhood remained exclusive in 1850, wealthy homeowners were already moving northward. That year Dr. Russell Thacher Trall converted the handsome, double-wide mansion at No 15 Laight Street to his ‘Water-Cure Institute.’ […] Trall quickly added a Medical School to his institute [and] within five years Trall took over the abutting house at No. 13 Laight Street. The combined buildings now served as his Hydropathic and Hygienic Institute–a combination hospital, medical school and ‘water-cure’ establishment.” Dr. Trall was nearly killed by a “rowdy” with a “slung-shot,” and the buildings were turned into Manhattan’s first Turkish bath—before being torn down to make way for the Holland Tunnel. —Daytonian in Manhattan