••• “The long-awaited first section of the East River Waterfront opened Monday morning, earning rave reviews from downtown office workers and dog owners. The new two-block park runs along the East River from Maiden Lane to Wall Street and features a dog run, seating surrounded by lush plantings and steps leading down to the water, all connected by a stone path open to the sky.” (DNAinfo; photo by Julie Shapiro, courtesy DNAinfo)

••• Retired Mets catcher Mike Piazza “finally found a buyer for his Tribeca triplex after three years. […] The 3,012-square-foot two-bedroom at 161 Hudson came on the market July 7, 2008, [for] $6.8 million, though it was reduced that November to $6.5 million. The home came off the market the following February and was never relisted.” It sold for $4.58 million. “That is only $360,000 more than Mr. Piazza paid in 2004.” (New York Observer)

••• “The World Financial Center’s Courtyard restaurants will vamoose as part of Brookfield Office Properties’ $250 million project to burnish the WFC’s retail profile. In place of the eateries that filled the 4 WFC atrium for 25 years, ‘we’re going to create a full second floor with double-loaded corridors for stores,’ Brookfield President Dennis Friedrich said. The total transformation of the Courtyard wasn’t mentioned in Brookfield’s recent announcement that it plans to create and reconfigure 177,000 square feet of shopping and dining space at the WFC. In fact, it left lots of unanswered questions. For example, where exactly will 90,000 square feet of ‘high-end’ fashion stores go? Friedrich said some would be in the Courtyard, some adjoining a new glass pavilion between West Street and the Winter Garden, and some in the Garden itself. Even as the Courtyard eateries are dumped for stores, so will stores on the Winter Garden’s second level—including Gap and Hallmark—be ousted to make room for the new dining terrace overlooking the Hudson. The terrace’s 30,000 square feet will have 15 counters similar to the ones in the Plaza Hotel’s Food Hall as well as 600 seats where counter customers can eat as well.” (New York Post)

••• “A year after one new school building opened and another is about to open, newly arriving Downtown residents will find themselves facing waitlists and out-of-neighborhood school assignments. ” (Tribeca Trib)

••• “A pair of distinguished Battery Park City residents spent Monday morning trying to help victims of Japan’s earthquake and nuclear disaster. Artist Naoto Nakagawa and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly met for an hour so that Mr. Nakagawa could sketch a portrait of Mr. Kelly, part of a series of famous faces he is drawing, with the intent of auctioning them off to raise money for disaster relief.” (Broadsheet Daily)