In the News: More local shutdown losses

To reiterate, businesses here are feeling the pinch of lost customers and lost revenue thanks to the 33 days of the government shutdown. Henry Tibensky from Hank’s Juicy Beef on Chambers estimates he’s losing $200 to $400 a DAY. And, he adds, “The friendly banker at Chase on Chambers and Broadway said they are staffing fewer people because it’s so quiet; their customers aren’t cashing checks and making transactions.” More on the full total of lost wages here at Crain’s New York.

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JAIL TOWERS TOO BIG, SAYS COMMISH
The head of the commission to close Rikers said the buildings proposed for Worth Street as part of the plan are too big and out of scale with the neighborhood. Duh. –Tribeca Trib

RESCUE ON THE HUDSON
The tale of a dramatic rescue by ferry workers off the bulkhead in Battery Park City in the Broadsheet: “A few days before the Christmas holidays, a distraught woman climbed onto the seawall next to the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal (near Vesey Street and the Esplanade) shortly after 9:30 p.m. and began screaming. The woman (whose named has not been released) was spotted by the crew of the NY Waterway ferry, as it approached the dock.”

NO SHOCKER
Tribeca takes #1 in Property Shark’s list of top 50 most expensive neighborhoods, crushing the competition from Soho.

 

7 Comments

  1. “The head of the commission to close Rikers said the buildings proposed for Worth Street as part of the plan are too big and out of scale with the neighborhood.”

    The cynic in me speculates that this is all part of the long game by the powers that be. First: propose something truly outrageous, sure to set the community in a righteous uproar. Then gradually scale back, in phases, to somewhat less outrageous options, which at that point start to seem like reasonable “compromises” by the powers, and “victories” of people power. Gradually exhaust the community protesters at the same time. In the end, get exactly what you actually wanted. The community is stuck with the boondoggle, the jail/prison system doesn’t get any real reform, the taxpayer foots the $20 billion bill, and someone somewhere upgrades their McMansion.

    Or maybe not, and everyone is really just acting out of benevolent interest in the good of society.

    • Cynics unite.

    • @ Marcus
      I am an original Tribeca resident (40 years) who has held senior positions at two major NYC government agencies. What you describe is not the way government operates. It has neither the staff nor the resources to waste time putting out fake proposals nor would the oversight agencies allow it.

      The City has a problem at Rikers and is looking for solutions. Other than putting it somewhere – anywhere – else, how do you propose that they solve it? Hint: a real solution would be to reform NYS’s horrific bail laws that keep the poor incarcerated for years because they can’t pay. And to stop bad arrests. Things like that would reduce the size proposed replacements really quickly. Would you actively work to support them?

      I have read your comments, and those of other residents, for a long time. This community opposes any type of criminal justice project – were you around for the hysteria over the Summons Court? People of color arrested for nonsense crimes and the community worked about the women! The children!

      Please.

      • Warren Wilhelm, is that you?

      • Thank you for the reply, A.

        Not necessarily a “fake proposal”, but a fairly common negotiating tactic, to ask for far more than you know you can get, then negotiating down. Anyway, I hope you are right that the powers that be are operating properly.

        Regardless, the questions remain: Where is the evidence that moving from Rikers to these local sites will resolve the issues you mention, and others?

        I don’t claim to know what the answer is for justice reform, but it doesn’t sound like this is it. Similarly, reducing the inmate population can happen at Rikers as well as at new sites. Those reforms and the reduction of inmate population seem to be separate issues from closing Rikers and opening local sites.

        See here, for example:
        http://thechiefleader.com/news/news_of_the_week/doi-to-council-closing-rikers-won-t-fix-systemic-woes/article_727b3764-3368-11e8-9009-f7091176de26.html

      • A.
        White Street already has the Tombs, which considering its location, is of considerable size for the neighborhood. There is already constant traffic, both foot and vehicle, and the proposed increase would make Canal Street’s already terrible traffic impassible. I so concur with you that logical prison reform in addition to the inevitable decriminalization of marijuana would do a great deal to help reduce the City’s prison population and backlog.
        For the residents of Chinatown and Northern Tribeca DeBlasio’s “prison reform” plan is a cruel joke. It should be no surprise that his plans free up a huge swath of land to develop. Remember his whole “Save the Horses” in Central Park, whose stables coincidently happed to occupy a nice chunk of land developers were salivating over?
        Our dear Mayor is taking a real issue and twisting it to make more money for his develop backers and that is the sad truth. Maybe he does belong in Washington with the other sellouts, like he believes he does.

  2. so awful to think that this ridiculous government shut down is hurting businesses in our neighborhood. Thanks for reporting on this story and helping make us aware of what’s going on right around us.

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