MORE DISSING ON DOWNTOWN
The Times once again tries to get a grip on the vibe downtown, though in this case, I don’t disagree with some of ways the World Trade Center is managed (and more on that later): “But the whole trade center site still feels like an alien zone, cordoned off by security, with office buildings around a park whose design and policing tend to thwart joy, or even the eating of a sandwich at lunchtime. The 9/11 Memorial & Museum, with its vocabulary of voids and negative spaces, attracts hordes of tourists, but seems more suited to the Washington Mall than to downtown Manhattan.”

15 BEEKMAN RENDERING REVEALED
YIMBY found a rendering for 15 Beekman, the 27-story academic center and dormitory for Pace University being developed by SL Green Realty. The building will be 338 feet and will also have the address 126-132 Nassau. It is intended to hold classrooms, dorms, a dining facility, a library and a learning center.

SOHO REP SEASON RETURNS
The Times gives a shout-out to Soho Rep on Walker and its new initiative to pay artists like staff: “When performances return to the Lower Manhattan space for the company’s 46th season in September, it will be alongside the second year of a new initiative: Soho Rep Project Number One, a job creation program developed in response to the pandemic that brings artists into the organization as salaried staff members with benefits.”