[media-credit name="Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer " align="aligncenter" width="600"][/media-credit] At P.S./I.S. 276’s second annual winter carnival on Jan. 21, third-grader Darshan Singh, 8, thought of telling jokes to raise money for the school — an idea that netted $103. His father, Harry, held a sign that said “$1 for a joke” as Darshan’s [...]

[media-credit name="Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer " align="alignleft" width="300"][/media-credit] Barbecued ribs and grilled oysters at Battery Park City’s Blue Smoke, which opened on Jan. 2, 2012 with a limited menu. The full dinner menu will be available beginning Jan. 9. Battery Park City’s restaurant row: Battery Park City may soon be known as [...]

C.B. 1’s Housing Committee: Community Board 1’s Housing Committee is only four months old, but they have been a busy four months. The group that is now officially recognized as a C.B. 1 committee actually started its work four years ago with the preparation of a guide to rent stabilized housing in Lower Manhattan. That [...]

New B.P.C.A. severance policy: Five of the 19 people who were laid off by the Battery Park City Authority on Nov. 9 came to the B.P.C.A. Board of Directors meeting on Dec. 20 with a written request for “a fair and equitable severance package” and more. They also wanted their medical coverage to be extended [...]

[media-credit name="Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer " align="aligncenter" width="600"][/media-credit] The Battery Park City Parks Conservancy’s annual holiday celebration took place on Dec. 8 with carol singing, hot cider and cocoa and cookies. As the crowd counted down, the lights on a tree facing South Cove were turned on. Food trucks coming to B.P.C.: [...]

The habit of giving: Vince Smith, who has had a hairdressing salon in Battery Park City for more than 20 years, makes a habit of using his skills and resources for charity. Most recently, on Dec. 4, he donned a Santa Claus suit and opened his salon at 300 Rector Place to anyone who wanted [...]

Asphalt Green opening delayed: Asphalt Green Battery Park City, the community center at 212 North End Ave., was supposed to open in November, but will not open until Feb. 1 because of permitting delays. The Battery Park City Authority owns the facility and has entered into a five-year contract with Asphalt Green to run it. [...]

Boldface eyewear: Artsee, as its name implies, is more than just a place to buy a new pair of specs. The optical shop, which opened on Nov. 16 at 220 Murray St. in the Goldman Sachs building, sells eyeglass frames that were designed to be noticed. It also sells art, with exhibits of photographs, sculpture [...]

Canstruction at the World Financial Center: Every year, on the night of the Canstruction build, teams from some of the city’s top architectural and engineering firms plus some students under their direction apply their skills to erecting improbable sculptures out of canned food. This year, among other phantasmagoria, a giant seahorse reared its head, balancing [...]

[media-credit name="Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer " align="aligncenter" width="600"][/media-credit] A bridge spans West Street at Rector Place in Battery Park City. Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee would like to have monitored security cameras on the bridge but thus far the committee has not found a way to have them installed. B.P.C.A. [...]