Wednesday Evening in Tribeca: One World Trade Center seen from the Corner of Chambers Street and Greenwich Street

Around 6 p.m. this evening, we were waiting for the light to cross Greenwich Street at Chambers Street when we looked south (left) and saw One World Trade Center, still not quite finished. But with its pleasing lines and the multicolored lighting compositions of its LED arrays, it definitely is an architectural improvement over the badly-missed but ugly twin towers.

Tuesday Afternoon in Tribeca: Looking Out at One World Trade Center from the Ninth Floor of Fiterman Hall

This semester the new Fiterman Hall at Borough of Manhattan Community College opened -- the old Fiterman Hall building was so heavily damaged from the collapse of 7 World Trade Center on 9/11 that it had to be demolished -- and we've been teaching our wonderful creative writing workshop there on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. On the Barclay Street side of the building on the ninth floor, they have some comfortable swivel chairs placed at the floor-to-ceiling windows, and on this very chilly, rainy/snowy afternoon before class, we watched the still-not-complete One World Trade Center and all the construction by the PATH terminal (just opened again after the hurricane) below.

Tuesday Morning in Jersey City: Breakfast at J. Owen Grundy Park

On this cool and cloudy, starting-to-drizzle morning, we took our breakfast with us on the PATH train to Exchange Place in Jersey City and were almost alone as we sat by the pier at J. Owen Grundy Park overlooking the Hudson. Just across the river was One World Trade Center, now almost at its full height. According to the official Jersey City website,

Originally constructed in 1985, J. Owen Grundy Park (at the foot of Exchange Place) has been visited by literally millions of people, as it offers one of the most dramatic views of the NYC skyline. It has been featured in numerous television shows and feature movies. Twenty five years of use, combined with the adverse effects of the climate, have prematurely aged the facility. The new J. Owen Grundy Park features a redesigned seawall and promenade extending from the Exchange Place down to York Street, with historic-styled lighting, as well as a new railing system that will frame views of the skyline on both sides of the river. The pier itself has been completely redesigned, providing shade structures, a variety of seating for lunch and relaxation, café and game tables, and a new performance & entertainment pavilion at the end of the pier.

Actually, this Saturday, June 16, from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., 4th Street Arts is presenting Shangri-La on the Pier Saturday, June 16th, 2012 at 3pm on the panoramic J. Owen Grundy Pier in Jersey City, NJ. The inaugural
 year of this event promises amazing vistas and even more amazing music. Brooklyn’s Monogold will headline the event. The avant-indie trio has garnered national attention as of late for their complex, astonishing soundscapes. Asbury Park’s driving electronic power duo Brick and Mortar and pop synth Jersey native TEEEL will power the event’s lineup. Jersey City native sons The One and Nines and Thomas Francis Takes His Chances bring a fresh take on funk/soul and eclectic indie mayhem. Brooklyn’s Brums and Drass and I am the Heat will bring feet to the floor with both driving dance electronics and 60’s garage rock dance grooves. Central Jersey newcomer Hot Family round out the bill with their confounding, intense soundscapes. WPBR’s Motorfunker will be spinning throughout the day to keep the crowd moving. We probably won't be able to make it but we hope to come back to this pier in Jersey City again.

Sunday Afternoon in Tribeca: Parents and Kids in Washington Market Park

Winter returned soon after the springlike lull of Thursday and Friday, but despite the frigid weather on Sunday afternoon, little kids and their parents were out having fun at Washington Market Park, at the corner of Greenwich and Chambers Streets in Tribeca. It's especially popular with kids.

This semester our weekend teaching for the wonderful Borough of Manhattan Community College is on Sundays at the Chambers Street main building, which is between the park and Stuyvesant High School. Between our 12 noon-3 p.m. and 5 p.m.-8 p.m. classes, we have an office hour and then a free hour at 4 p.m. when we usually go out to have an early dinner, and this afternoon We walked down the steps into the park. That's One World Trade Center going up in the background.

One boy was playing kickball with his mom, off camera view to the left.

This little girl seemed to be new to a two-wheeler but she was getting good. In a few seconds she was on the ground and needed her mom to right her, but she seemed sanguine and in another half-minute was telling us to get out of her way as she biked past.

There's a little train, like the one in East River State Park, and this mom was putting her kids on it.

And this dad was having a lot of fun on the playground equipment, delighting his kids by acting like a scary monster or something.

Snow is expected tonight. Spring is still one month -- four weeks -- away.