The NYC Wallace's

Sleepers

2008-08-30T11:06:20-04:00

Wallace

Owen & Dad's weekend bike ride

2008-08-21T21:50:55-04:00

Wallace

Andrew Wallace's Pix

2008-06-20T22:29:49-04:00

Wallace

Andrew Sila Wallace

2008-06-16T16:26:00-04:00

Born 6/16/2008 @ 4:26pm, 8lbs 4ozs.

Day Five

2008-02-13T23:06:55-05:00

Wishes Really Do Come True

The sun was back today. Apparently, it was either 18 pennies worth of wishes in a fountain or the sun dance I did with Mom. Whatever the case, we were back on the beach for another sun filled afternoon.

The only good part about the heavy winds and rain was it churned out a new crop of shells. I've got a whole new collection of these souvenirs to bring home as a reminder of our first family vacation. And I'm pretty sure I've had more than my fill of sand at this point too!

Here I am waving bye bye to the sun and sea, and hoping my dance and wishes are good for another day of nice weather.

Day Four

2008-02-12T23:15:00-05:00

Wishing for Better Weather

Rainy days on vacation always get me down. So we packed up the car and drove down to Naples, Florida. What's in Naples you ask? A great place to watch the boats, have lunch, and watch ceiling fans - pure heaven and distraction!

After lunch we explored town, and Dad wisely avoided the part where all the fancy stores were. I greeted many tourists on our walk, but the highlight of the day was when Mom and Dad taught me how to make a wish in the fountain. I wished for the sun to shine again tomorrow and for more of that yummy fudge I had for the first time!

Day Three

2008-02-11T23:01:37-05:00

A Whole Lot More Relaxin'

About the only thing going on today was the sun! Owen napped comfortably on Dad down on the beach, and he awoke to the smell of a BBQ at the Mucky Duck - a local restaurant down the beach from our condo. On the way home picking up sea shells, we saw a heron blending in among the locals on the beach.

This was also the second day in a row riding on the back of Dad's bike, and he's so cute back there. See for yourself.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to turn, so after taking in all the sun we could today, we're exhausted and ready for some different adventures tomorrow!

Day Two

2008-02-10T20:55:38-05:00

Another Day of Firsts

Today we had strong Gulf winds, but the weather was otherwise perfect. Owen walked on the beach in the morning and had a relaxing nap by the pool. Today we also rented bicycles for the week, and Owen rode with Dad for the very first time. He loved the view from his perch, and he chatted furiously with the world passing by, occasionally pulling on Dad's shirt to remind him to go slowly!

The sunset tonight was beautiful, and while we were down on the beach, Owen met a "wa wa" Golden Retriever, named Rolly. He was a nice reminder of home, but it's still a few more days before Owen goes home to the real wa wa.

Owen's Excellent Adventure

2008-02-09T19:57:02-05:00

Florida sun... and Owen's First Flight

Owen is doing fine on his first adventure outside the Tri-State area and handled his very first flight like a pro! "The Mayor" kept Mom and Dad on their toes running up the aisle to say "hi" to all his neighbors!

From here on the sunny west coast of Florida, we're getting settled into our nice home away from home for the week. Owen's first adventure was to the beach to reconnect with the waves. He really seems to have missed the salt water this winter. The bath isn't quite the same! He was so excited once we were on beach, we had to hold him back from walking into the Gulf after getting full stride on his own in the sand!

The highlight of day one for Owen though, was the blue slide that he could go down all on his own. The bonus was a pile of fresh white sand at the bottom he could touch, throw and eat. Yes eat. He tried a few hand-fulls, and after after Mom and Dad shook sand away from his mouth, he signed for "more", which he was very upset to be denied. Oh well, it was just the first day!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T08:00:00-05:00

Wishing you the best in '08!

Merry Xmas 2007!

2007-12-25T08:00:00-05:00

Wallace

Happy Birthday Owen!

2007-12-16T21:46:00-05:00

Wallace

Owen's First Year

2007-12-09T22:39:50-05:00

We have been remiss in posting recently to our blog, but this video of Owen's first year should more than make up for our absence!

Construction Progress - December 2007

2007-12-08T20:00:00-05:00

Pictured is the WTC construction site as of 12/08/2007

New School in BPC!

2007-12-07T20:00:00-05:00

Ready in 2010... just in time for Owen to enter Kindergarten.

A New ‘Green’ School for Lower Manhattan

NY Times

The city will build a 950-seat elementary and middle school in Battery Park City, a recognition of the unanticipated surge in population in Lower Manhattan since 9/11, officials announced this morning.

At the morning news conference, community leaders applauded the announcement. Julie Menin, the chairwoman of Community Board 1, called it the “the best possible thing for the area, adding that she had lobbied city and state officials for a new school since last year. “We desperately need this,” she said. “The schools are literally bursting at the seams.”

The school, with about 125,000 square feet, is to be the “first entirely ‘green’ public school in New York City,” according to officials. Among other features, it will use occupancy sensors to turn off lights when rooms are not in use and photovoltaic panels to convert light into electricity. The construction materials are designed to improve indoor air quality, reduce the the emission of volatile organic compounds and conserve water. The Battery Park City Authority will contribute $3 million toward such “green” features.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that even the addition of 950 seats would not be enough. “We estimate 3,000 seats will be needed to cover this community,” he said. “The resurgence that Lower Manhattan has had right now has really been remarkable.”

“Lower Manhattan has become a premier residential destination, and that trend has also placed a toll on its public schools,” Governor Spitzer said in a statement. He said the new school would ease crowding and provide a “healthy sustainable environment where they learn and thrive.”

The school, to be built at 55 Battery Place, will be fully air-conditioned and have 40 classrooms, including 10 for special education students; a kitchen and cafeteria; a medical suite; an auditorium; a library; wireless Internet access; art, science, and music rooms; a 5,400-square-foot gymnasium, and a 1,500-square-foot exercise room with rooftop educational and recreational spaces. Construction is expected to begin in June and to be completed by September 2010. The new school is being designed by Dattner Architects.

Owen & Martha Stewart?

2007-10-04T11:02:30-04:00

Breaking News from In-Touch Weekly!

See if you can spot our boy in the picture below, which was taken at a recent taping of the Martha Stewart Show. Clearly, what Owen thinks is a 'good thing' is sleep!

Hint: see left-hand side of the page.

Owen. Zero to 6...months.

2007-09-13T09:17:06-04:00

An Uncle Ken Production.

Construction Progress - Sept. 2007

2007-09-11T09:42:00-04:00

We've dedicated this blog to Owen as he grows up surrounded by the rebirth and historic transformation of the WTC site. With lower Manhattan growing up as fast as Owen, we hope you'll enjoy the ongoing story unfold here on these pages.

Pictured is the WTC construction site as of 9/11/2007

Standing Up

2007-09-08T12:15:00-04:00

Owen enjoying the bench as a ladder to help him stand-up.

Final Renderings of the New WTC Site

2007-09-08T12:04:36-04:00

Wallace

Future Site of Deutsche Bank

2007-07-16T09:00:00-04:00

JPMorgan Chase's "Beer Gut"

Construction currently ongoing at the site:

Architect A. Eugene Kohn’s rendering of the JPMorgan Chase tower planned near a park at the World Trade Center site.

By Skye H. McFarlane, Downtown Express

Liberty Park will be a paradise after all, architect A. Eugene Kohn has decided.

Kohn’s optimism — and some reassuring shadow studies — have assuaged some of the community’s fears about a proposed cantilever that would jut out over the park from World Trade Center Tower 5. However, on Monday night, community members and another area developer continued to express worries about pedestrian access and retail along the dense strip of Cedar St. that will house Tower 5, Liberty Park, a vehicle screening and parking facility, and a new home for the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

“It has attracted a lot of interesting and rather explicit names,” Kohn joked while describing his design for Tower 5 to Community Board 1’s World Trade Center Committee. JPMorgan Chase made a deal with the Port Authority last month to lease the building for 92 years, but the deal was contingent upon Chase being able to build floors large enough for trading operations — a function that Kohn called “part of the D.N.A. of banking.”

Kohn’s firm, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, was hired by the Port to produce a preliminary design for what a slender tower with large trading floors would look like. The resulting seven-floor cantilever led to community worries that the park and the church, which will sit just north of the Chase tower, would be plunged into permanent shadow. The building has been called the “Tower of Darkness” by the real estate blog Curbed.com. Other online pundits have used less-printable monikers, comparing the cantilever to a certain part of the male anatomy. Kohn said Monday he hopes that the community will grow to appreciate the unique design and see it, as he does, as “handsome.”

Shadow studies done by Kohn’s firm show that while the park will be in shadow much of the day, the shadows come mostly from other buildings in the area. Because the cantilevered tower will be shorter than the straight tower originally planned for the site, the cantilever would actually reduce the shadows cast on the World Trade Center memorial at certain times of the day and year.

While addressing the shadow question in an interview with the Downtown Express two weeks ago, Kohn said he doubted whether anyone would use Liberty Park anyways, since it will be situated 20 feet above street level, atop the entrance to the vehicle screening center. After those comments stirred some anger in the community, Kohn said he took some time to reassess the park and its possibilities. He even created a design mock-up for the park and the church, which he showed to the community Monday night.

“The more we looked at this, the more excited we got about the design,” Kohn said, pointing out how the park could take advantage of its great views of the memorial and its direct connection to the Liberty St. pedestrian bridge and the World Financial Center. For the church, Kohn imagined sweeping staircases leading down to street level and inviting pedestrians in, like the Spanish Steps or the grand duomos of Italy. In Kohn’s design, the church and the pedestrian corridor would stay bright and cheery thanks to lights shining down from the underside of the cantilever.

“I probably spoke too soon in the paper and I was probably misquoted somewhat,” Kohn said, stressing that he never used the word “paradise.” Downtown Express used the word in the headline, but did not report that Kohn or anyone else said it. “In any case, I take it all back. The park will be a paradise.”

However, Port Authority representatives at the meeting stressed that Kohn’s designs are only proposals. The Greek church has yet to produce any design plans and Chase has yet to hire a final architect for Tower 5, although Kohn is widely thought to be a front-runner. The Port Authority will design Liberty Park and the surrounding streetscapes sometime in the future. None of the new Cedar St. amenities can be built until the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St. is dismantled — a process that has been fraught with delays and safety problems.

Andy Jurinko, a long-time resident of 125 Cedar St., applauded Kohn for designing a Tower 5 building that would be markedly less bulky and ugly than the Deutsche Bank tower that it will replace. Residents were also pleased to hear that Chase may seek a platinum rating from the U.S. Green Buildings Council.

“I think the design looks kind of fun…it will give you a sense of security and shelter,” said Jurinko, who makes his living as an artist. Jurinko said he would love to view the new World Trade Center site from atop the cantilever, where Kohn has designed a landscaped plaza. He said that Chase could even charge a fee for such an experience, like the viewing areas at the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Plaza do.

Kohn was also enthusiastic about opening the plaza over the trading floors to the public, but he acknowledged it will be a decision for Chase to make.

Some community members remained unconvinced, fearing that even if the cantilever did not cast extra shadows on the park, it would stick out like a sore thumb amongst the more streamlined World Trade towers.

“It still doesn’t work for me,” said board member Allan Tannenbaum, shaking his head as he glanced at the rendering.

Board members also expressed concerns that the Chase tower would house just a single retail space — a Chase bank branch.

“I think it’s a great achievement for the economy that you’ve gotten Chase down here,” said board member Tom Goodkind. “On the other hand, you’re sitting here in front of a group of residents who need public amenities like retail stores and grocery stores and public parks.”

Marc Ameruso said that the board needed to bring Chase and the Greek church to a board meeting to discuss their more specific plans, since items like lighting under the cantilever and stairs along the church site would be crucial to the pedestrian experience.

“Street life is important. We don’t want to go back to something that didn’t work before,” Ameruso said, referring to the sometimes-labyrinthine nature of the old W.T.C. complex.

The developers of 130 Cedar St., which sits due south of the future Liberty Park site, echoed the residents’ worries about pedestrian flow and street life on Cedar St. After it is decontaminated and stripped of its façade, which was heavily damaged on 9/11, 130 Cedar St. will be rebuilt as a Club Quarters hotel with three public retail spaces.

Chris Colbourne, the project’s spokesperson, said that he thinks two of the retail spaces will be restaurants. He said that he would seriously consider the community’s request that the final retail space contain some sort of local amenity, such as a supermarket. Colbourne added that he hopes the Port Authority will take care to make Cedar St. appealing and accessible to pedestrians at street level, not just atop Liberty Park. He showed board members a sketch of what the street might look like if the park dropped straight off into a wall to the vehicle security center, without any steps, ramps or street plantings.

“We hope it doesn’t look like that,” Colbourne said, drawing appreciative laughter from the crowd. “We really want to make this a vibrant pedestrian corridor and we have a major concern about this vehicle entrance.”

First Solids

2007-06-12T19:55:34-04:00

Banana for Monkey!
The pediatrician gave the all clear for solid food today, but we were pretty confident a while ago that Owen would embrace the idea. See for yourself, here with his first bite and plotting for his next of many, many more...

Six Month Doctor's Appointment

2007-06-12T19:39:18-04:00

17 lbs 6 ozs, 28.1 inches!

Owen's First Mets Game

2007-05-12T08:31:15-04:00

Mets Win... And I meet Mr. Met!

My first ever visit to Shea... the home team wins 5-4 AND we get a picture with the famous Mr. Met! Does it get any better than that?

Due to my tender young age, we stayed for the first 5 innings, but it was enough to meet Mr. Met and watch David Wright and Carlos Delgado belt home runs! It was so loud that I cried a little, but they were tears of joy.

I can't wait for my next game!

BPC History - Part 2

2007-03-21T10:27:00-04:00

"Futuristic" Plans

The original master plan for Battery Park City was developed between 1962-1975 under Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The vision was to expand the area of lower Manhattan; to get people living downtown again; and to provide lower Manhattan with more trees and open spaces.

The original "futuristic design" incorporated pedestrian traffic with park-like spaces on one level and transportation uses on another subterranean level.

The Rockefeller vision, however, was tabled when New York City's economy faltered in the late 1970's.

Owen's First St. Patty's Day

2007-03-17T20:31:00-04:00

Wallace

Three Month Doctor's Visit

2007-03-16T18:46:00-04:00

12 pds 10 oz and 24 inches!

Battery Maritime Building

2007-03-05T07:00:00-05:00

The NYC Economic Development Corp is waiting for a new tenant to occupy the Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan (next to the Staten Island ferry terminal).

We heard a rumor that the site was going to be used as a 140,000 square foot gourmet market, modeled on the Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Bring it on!

Tracking the construction - March 2007

2007-03-01T11:25:00-05:00

Another month of progress

Last month we posted a photo of continuing WTC construction from Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's web site. This month we're switching to Project Rebirth's "Weather Bug." Seems the LMDC is no longer keeping a watchful eye. Oh well, luckily we still have a source to keep tabs on the progress!

Uncle Ken - Stand-up Comedian!

2007-02-26T08:30:00-05:00

Our Uncle Ken will be a special guest performer in the Improv troupe called, "The Monkeys in the Atrium". Anything that has monkey in the name, of course, has to be a winner!! Back to the point - Ken's "BIG show" is on March 25th at Comedy Cellar. One day, when Uncle Ken is famous, Owen will say: I knew him when he lived in a basement apartment in Queens, and he brought the $2 blue plush toy to me in the hospital. Those were the days!

Good luck Ken, have a good show!

Doctor's visit

2007-02-23T17:54:00-05:00

How big will Owen be?

The measurements are in! At Owen's two month doctors visit yesterday, he weighed in at 11 pounds 13 ounces - that is a 2 pound weight gain in the past month! Thanks again for voting in our poll.

Owen also grew two inches and is now just shy of two feet tall. According to growth charts, Owen is well on his way to topping off at a whopping 6' 1" tall.

Next visit will be March 16th.

Downtown Skyline

2007-02-21T07:00:00-05:00

Gehry's Beekman Tower Will Redefine the Skyline

Architect Frank Gehry, who designed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, is designing a glass and titanium skinned tower at 8 Spruce Street, one block south of the Brooklyn Bridge entrance and half block east of City Hall.

Beekman Tower will be 75-stories, 876-foot-high and primarily be residential. It also will house a K-through-8 public school and a medical facility for NYU Hospital.

Work kicked off in fall 2006, and the top floor will be up in winter 2008, completed by mid-2009.

First Subway Ride

2007-02-20T11:00:00-05:00

Owen went underground to ride the rails for the first time this weekend, which officially solidifies his place as a "New Yorker".

His first subway ride started on the R train from Rector to Prince St, and then back along the #6 line from Astor Place to Wall St. via the #4.

The boy slept through almost the entire thing, though he occasionally peaked his eyes open when the muffled announcements were made over the train's PA system. Overall though, he seemed perfectly at ease - like a professional commuter!

Project Rebirth

2007-02-12T07:00:00-05:00

Ten 35mm time-lapse cameras situated around the World Trade Center Site have been shooting one frame of film every five minutes, seven days a week since May 2002. This not-for-profit documentary project, called Project Rebirth, will continue until reconstruction is complete.

The final film will become a feature-length documentary and is intended for a future memorial installation.

Happy Birthday Uncle Ken

2007-02-11T16:00:00-05:00

Wallace

Deutsche Bank

2007-02-11T07:00:00-05:00

Owen and Dad took a lap around the WTC site yesterday, to inspect the 41-story former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St. Steel removal will begin this month at the rate of one floor per week.

Here is an animation showing the planned demolition work.

Continue reading to see more pictures from our walk, including a view of 130 Liberty St. from our apartment window.

Eight Weeks Today

2007-02-10T10:55:30-05:00

Wallace

Waterfront Project

2007-02-08T07:00:00-05:00

East River Park

Redevelopment plans of the East River waterfront, stretching from Battery Park to East River Park.

Another project we're excited about downtown is the new park space and riverwalk along the East side. As this project progresses, Owen will share his thoughts.

Storybook

2007-02-06T07:00:00-05:00

Click to Read "Owen Buys a Swing"

We hope you enjoy the first edition of Owen's Storybook!

Smiles

2007-02-05T09:01:26-05:00

Owen started to smile this week. He'd been smiling a bit already, but only while he was sleeping. Now he's giving us big smiles during play-time, and once in a while a little laughter too.

To everyone checking Owen's Flickr site, we wanted to let you know that we started a new photo album, because of the 200 photo limit on the Flickr free site.

The "Owen Pix" link in the left-hand column will take you to the new album.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lazy Saturday

2007-02-03T18:27:32-05:00

Wallace

Plans for Governors Island

2007-01-29T07:00:00-05:00

Competing design teams selected

Right here in Owen's backyard, across the river, will soon be another exciting "new" place to visit. Though not itself new, Governors Island was one of the first settlements of the Dutch West India Company in 1624. Now the Island is getting a brand new look. The Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation selected competing teams this month, to design plans for an open public space, which includes new parkland, a waterfront promenade, and historic district.

Poll

2007-01-27T17:10:44-05:00

Guess my foot size?

2007-01-26T07:00:00-05:00

Paws up!

Construction milestone

2007-01-24T16:00:00-05:00

One steel cage up, many more to go

NYT: A 70-foot-long steel cage was lifted by cranes yesterday and then lowered into a trench at the World Trade Center site. 63 cages will reinforce a concrete foundation wall at the site.

Though not everyone is a fan of the Freedom Tower.

NY Times: January 24, 2007

It was hard to believe that the 70-foot-long steel cage lying rigidly on the ground yesterday at the World Trade Center site was about to become a “50-ton Slinky,” in the words of Steven Plate, the director of priority capital programs at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

But as cranes lifted the imposing structure, drawing neighbors to windows along Liberty Street, sure enough: it bent into a gentle S shape and then a shallow U shape, straightening out again when it was hoisted to its full height.

This remarkable three-hour display was a textbook illustration of the slurry wall construction technique that was used 40 years ago to build the original trade center foundations (known as the west bathtub) and is being used again for the new east bathtub.

To build the wall, workers for the joint venture of Kiewit and TreviIcos, the corporate descendant of the original slurry wall contractor, first excavate a four-foot-wide trench more than 70 feet down to bedrock. They fill the trench with a substance called slurry, a mixture of water and bentonite clay.

The slurry prevents the trench walls from closing in while the cage of steel reinforcing bars, or rebar, is lowered into the trench.

The vertical bars of the cage are 1 3/8 inches in diameter, about as wide as the “The” in “The Metro Section” on Page B1.

The cage, which will reinforce the concrete foundation wall, was assembled on its side nearby. In yesterday’s operation, it was lifted, shifted to a position over the slurry-filled trench and lowered into the soupy substance. The last step is to pump concrete into the trench. That displaces the slurry, which will be reused.

Each cage represents one panel in the wall that wraps around the foundation.

With the lifting successfully completed yesterday, Mr. Plate could say, “Only 62 to go.”

Monkey!

2007-01-24T07:00:00-05:00

Wallace

Owen an extra?

2007-01-23T07:00:00-05:00

Hey, Will Smith do you need any extras?

First he filmed Hitch in Battery Park City. Now Will Smith is back downtown filming a $32M two minute scene for his new movie - I am Legend.

We have some great head-shots of Owen if you need any extras for the shoot, Will?

A photoblogger was on the scene.

NY1: Evacuation Scene To Be Filmed Near Brooklyn Bridge

January 23, 2007

The mayor's office of film, theatre and broadcasting is warning residents that live around the Brooklyn Bridge not to be alarmed when military vehicles, army helicopters and a flood of people swarm the area for a film shoot.

Officials say a scene from the movie "I am Legend" will be filmed near the span.

The office says Army and Coast Guard helicopters, mock police and military vehicles, and more than a thousand extras will be used for the film's evacuation scene.

The action is set to get underway at around 4 p.m. and continue on weekdays through the rest of the month.

Long weekend

2007-01-22T13:08:44-05:00

Owen rests up from his busy weekend.

New concept for playgrounds

2007-01-22T11:07:05-05:00

Kids being kids?

A designer’s rendering of a proposed supervised playground in Lower Manhattan.

The New York Times and now Tribeca Tribune have spilled quite a bit of ink these past few weeks about a new playground concept slated for the Seaport area. We'll let you know what Owen thinks of it, assuming the thing ever gets built. Given how most of these projects work in NY though, I suspect we'll be submitting college applications by the time Mayor Andrew Giuliani (hey, don't be surprised!) presides over the opening ceremony.

City officials unveiled plans last week for a new kind of playground, outfitted with ponds, pulleys and bulky foam blocks intended to engage the imagination, and “play workers” to help guide fantasy play. In an artist’s rendering of a playground proposed for Lower Manhattan, the guides, dressed in matching bright yellow shirts and baseball caps, oversee the action with an air of calm authority.

The experiment, if it inspires other cities, would mark the first significant change in playground design in decades, since municipalities began replacing steel monkey bars and slides with the boxy, plastic equipment common in many urban areas today.

It already raises fundamental questions about childhood.

How much help do children need to do what should come naturally? And to what extent does expert guidance — embodied by the so-called play workers — represent adults’ expectations of children, rather than what the youngsters themselves want or need?

On the surface, a managed playground is a natural extension of a culture that increasingly parcels childhood into schedules. Many children in urban areas from Boston to Houston no longer run out the front door to find their friends; their parents make play dates instead. And youngsters who once might have played on a sandlot or a backyard ice rink now enter organized leagues by first grade.

Tracking the construction

2007-01-21T12:35:39-05:00

Steel Columns at WTC Site

We walk by it often, and slowly but surely the signs of progress at the WTC site are becoming visible. Here a live webcam of the site shows the steel columns that recently went in the ground for Freedom Tower. By the time Owen is in school, the construction will be in full swing.

On December 19, 2006, Freedom Tower's first steel beam was installed