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The 5,000-plus condo owners in Battery Park City pay the highest taxes per square foot in New York City. And an unelected government agency wants to raise their payments further still. All this when an apparently homeless man can die on a park bench and sit unnoticed for 16 hours.

When the city assesses property to set the amount of real estate taxes, they look at the beautiful public spaces in Battery Park City, the Hudson River promenade and the parks, and set a high assessment.

The mayor and City Council rarely change the tax rate, so they can claim they did not raise taxes. But the city raises the assessed value of a property, so homeowners almost always pay more. In Battery Park City, “more” can mean annual taxes of $20,000 or more for a two-bedroom apartment.

On top of that, Battery Park City homeowners pay ground rent to the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), up to $20,000 for that two-bedroom apartment, on top of the $20,000 in taxes.

In Battery Park City, the state owns the land. Homeowners in the 18 residential condos, plus landlords in rental buildings and owners of commercial properties, pay ground rent to the BPCA, ground rent set by long-term leases between the BPCA and the building owners.

That ground rent pays BPCA operating costs, debt service on long-term bonds and generates a surplus which goes to New York City to pay for affordable housing.

Those parks and waterfront promenade, perhaps the most beautiful public spaces in the city, are paid for by the ground rents of Battery Park City property owners, not New York City taxpayers. Homeowners here obviously enjoy this public space. But there are no gates or curfews. Everyone can and does enjoy this space. It is our gift to the city.

You’re welcome.

And because we pay to create and maintain this beautiful space, the city increases the assessment, and thus the taxes, on our homes.

Ground rents, not city taxes, also are paying $700 million to $1 billion for flood protection along the Battery Park City waterfront, walls designed to keep the Hudson River from flooding our community. This project will protect our homes, and also protect Tribeca and the Financial District, on our dime.

Homeowners know they have a commitment to pay these ground rents, $5,000 to $20,000 per year on top of city property taxes, and are willing to pay more. We agree to pay for the surplus which goes to New York City, as much as $50 million a year.

But the BPCA wants to push this surplus payment even higher, by holding the homeowners to onerous leases which were forced upon us years ago. If the BPCA has its way, this community will become increasingly unaffordable for middle class families.

And as buyers and mortgage lenders look at the uncertainty of soaring ground rents, they will be reluctant to step in. Already, the owner of a parking garage here, losing money because of high taxes and ground rents and unable to find a buyer willing to take on this burden, just shut down and walked away.

The threat of widespread property abandonment is real.

The BPCA, the agency which can fix these problems, is a seven-member board with one seat vacant for two years and six seats held by people appointed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, six people whose terms expired years ago but who haven’t been replaced by Gov. Hochul.

This board collects taxes and ground rents and provides services. One example of these services is the $1 million plus security contract with Allied Universal, whose security guards are supposed to patrol this community.

Yet an apparently homeless man was seen sitting on a bench at the western edge of Rector Park at 3:20 p.m. on Jan. 3. This same man, in the exact same position, was found dead at 7 a.m. on Jan. 4. Sixteen hours in a public park, an area dark and secluded, but publicly accessible.

There are several such areas in the 32 acres of open space in Battery Park City. The homeowners, who pay the Allied Security contract through their ground rents, expect that security guards are patrolling those areas on a reasonable rotation.

Out of compassion and out of concern for their families’ safety, they do not expect someone to sit dead or dying for 16 hours.

Gov. Hochul must assign staff to look into this and to recommend new appointments — Hochul appointments — to the Battery Park City Authority Board. It’s been two years. This is no longer a Cuomo problem.

It’s a Hochul problem.

Smith is a Battery Park City homeowner.

A special celebration of Ireland is set to take place in one of New York City's most iconic parks. Battery Park, located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, will play host to the special celebration ahead of St Patrick's Day.

Keepsakes: Ireland takes place in Battery Park on Saturday, March 9 between 10.30am and 12pm. The event will be a workshop for families which will highlight Ireland.

Both adults and children will have the chance to create a keepsake to take home on the day. Additionally, there will be a live performance and dance with violinist Liz Hanley and friends.

Read more: How to watch the New York City St Patrick's Day Parade live on NBC from around the world

The art project that will be completed on the day is designed for children aged four and above. The event is co-presented by the Irish Arts Centre in New York.

It will be free to attend and those wishing to go along to celebrate Ireland can RSVP here. It is one of many events taking place in New York City to mark St Patrick's Day.

The New York City St Patrick's Day parade, the oldest of its kind in the world, takes place on Saturday, March 16. It will once again see participants marching down Fifth Avenue past the iconic St Patrick's Cathedral.

St Patrick's Day will also be celebrated with multiple organized bar crawls in various areas of New York as well as separate parades in Brooklyn and Queens.

Meanwhile, the Irish Arts Centre in New York will host a St Patrick's Day open day on March 16. It promises to be a free, family-friendly event for audiences of all ages.

For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here.

The state entity tasked with maintaining a 92-acre swath of Lower Manhattan will get new leadership beginning in December.

The Battery Park City Authority unanimously appointed Raju Mann as its next president and chief executive during a Wednesday board meeting.

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Mann, an urban planner with nearly 20 years of experience who grew up in Morningside Heights, was selected after a five-month search to replace B.J. Jones, who left the authority in July after more than five years at the helm to join Mayor Eric Adams' administration.

Mann’s experience in urban planning dovetails with the resilience work the authority is currently focused on, which includes a one-billion-dollar effort to reinvent Battery Park City’s waterfront with a network of flood walls and deployable gates in anticipation of a changing climate.

“I think the Battery Park City Authority is really leading the way in helping to describe an optimistic future for dealing with climate change,” Mann told Crain’s in an interview, “which I think can continue to celebrate the world-class open spaces that are there but also upgrade them to grapple with the threat that we know is real and is here.”

In his new role at the authority, which begins on Dec. 11, Mann will preside over a mixed-use community where roughly 16,000 residents mix with some 30,000 workers, along with nearly a half-million visitors annually.

Much of Mann’s focus will be on realizing the goals laid out in the authority’s strategic plan, of which responding to climate change and affordability are pillars.

“It’s getting people together on the same page and moving forward with a shared vision, understanding that it’s hard work but it’s essential in getting difficult things done in this city,” said Mann. “I’m excited about that and think that I have the relevant experience to bring to the table.”

Mann joins the authority from Arup, a multinational design and engineering firm, where he served as associate principal and city planning leader for the East Coast. While there he oversaw a variety of transportation, housing and climate adaptation projects.

Prior to Arup, Mann worked as director of land use and deputy chief of staff for the New York City Council. He led a team of planners and lawyers who worked with elected officials, city agencies and communities to redevelop commercial cores, upgrade transportation networks and develop climate-friendly policies, among other efforts.

“As I get settled in it's really understanding where are there opportunities to continue to innovate and celebrate the ambition of the history of Battery Park City,” said Mann, "and seeing what else we can do to really address New York city and state’s pressing challenges.”

Cruise vendors are at odds over their rights to sell cruises inside Battery Park.

Photo by Dean Moses

Battery Park has become a battleground, according to those who operate ferry tours there, with licensed and unlicensed vendors competing for business, looking to tap into a lucrative market.

The mayor’s office reports that Statue City Cruises and NY Water Taxi are the only licensed vendors permitted to sell boat ride tickets in Battery Park. However, that hasn’t stopped other hawkers from popping up at the Manhattan greenspace in an effort to make a profit.

Mike Burke, COO of Statue City Cruises, told amNewYork Metro that illicit sellers are flogging tickets to cruises at exuberant prices and are misleading customers as to what rides they are paying for.

According to Burke, these vendors not only overcharge tourists, but they also lie about where exactly they are being taken, telling consumers, for instance, the boats will take them to Ellis Island when in fact they do not disembark on the iconic island.

“They interrupt visitors that would have been going to Statue Cruises looking to buy a ticket by essentially, let’s just call it lying, misrepresenting what their harbor tour is. They made it sound like they are going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, which they can’t do,” Burke charged.

Burke levied accusations that these other vendors not only sell their own boat rides, but he also says he has received complaints from customers that the sellers market fake or previously used tickets from Statue Cruises under the guise that they are affiliated with his company. He likewise reports that the vendors often attempt to intimidate his staff and even tourists, occasionally erupting into violence.

“There are about 30 to 40 [vendors] all along Battery Park and State Street and you will see a number of uniforms, colors, outfits, and they are pretending to be what we are,” Burke said. “But there is virtually no NYPD enforcement.”

While Burke went as far as to call the vendors “thugs” and “ex-felons,” those on the other side say things are not so black and white.

Brock Brock, the president of Big City Tourism — one of the vendors in the area — pushed back against the scamming charges, stating that he operates a Black-owned business who hires formerly incarcerated and at-risk individuals who are simply attempting to offer cruises to customers. Brock believes Statue City Cruises are only making these accusations since his company is becoming a large competitor and taking business from Burke.

“It’s a lie. I think that’s coming from bigger companies that actually look at us as competition, a David and Goliath type story,” Brock told amNewYork Metro. “It’s very frustrating. It’s nothing I am not used to. I have been doing this my whole life, fighting and struggling.”

Brock combated claims that he misrepresents his cruises by showing a receipt that read, “We do not disembark on Liberty Island or Ellis Island. This is a cruise only.” He also claimed that the mayor’s office is aware and supports his business. City Hall did not respond for comment on the matter.

“As sad as it is to say, about a good 40% of [employees] are ex-felons and they will not be able to get a good paying job no matter where they go,” Brock said. “We help them with financial literacy, we help them with their credit. We help them form businesses. Most of the guys now do have LLC and smaller businesses and smaller tourism companies and through that they’re able to hire other friends and family members to sell their product.”

Burke rebuked these claims, stating he is not angry over a loss of income and instead frustrated that the city won’t enforce the regulations.

“If people have a legitimate business, and they’re operating with the rules and regulations, that’s called competition and that’s fine. We have no beef with that,” Burke said. “There is no vending within that park. Not on the sidewalk, not in the park under the trees, not near Castle Clinton, which is a federal park within the city park. So, it’s more than disingenuous for them to tell you that we’re just angry that we’re losing business.”

The NYPD and New York City Parks Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The state budget approved last month gave the Battery Park City Authority the ability to raise an additional $1 billion in funding for resiliency projects that will protect the southern tip of Manhattan from the worsening effects of the climate crisis.

The Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) is a state entity originally created in 1968 to develop and improve the neighborhoods on the west side of Lower Manhattan. It is responsible for maintaining and upgrading the physical landscape of the 92 acres under its purview, home to nearly 17,000 residents, which also involves major infrastructure plans that will be beneficial to adjacent areas while advancing city and state resiliency and sustainability goals.

As a state authority, the BPCA can issue bonds to raise funds for infrastructure projects, and this year’s state budget increased its bonding capacity to $1.5 billion, a sizable increase from the prior $500 million. The ability to raise additional funds will help the BPCA carry out the second phase of major resiliency projects planned for Battery Park City. Though the neighborhood was spared the worst effects of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, there was nonetheless extensive damage worth tens of millions of dollars to the historic Pier A Harbor House in the south, the BPC Ball Fields, and Asphalt Green Community Center in the north.

“This bonding authority is a critical next step in advancing our resiliency efforts to help protect Battery Park City as well as do our part to help protect Lower Manhattan,” said B.J. Jones, president and CEO of BPCA. “Given the climate crisis and the unfortunate fact that coastal storms are getting more severe and more frequent, we have to do more, given our duty to maintain the neighborhood.”

The Authority has already begun construction on the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project (SBPCR), which will build an “integrated coastal flood risk management system from the Museum of Jewish Heritage, through Wagner Park, across Pier A Plaza, and along the northern border of the Historic Battery.” The project is meant to limit the risk of coastal flooding, protect open spaces and aboveground and belowground infrastructure. The $221 million undertaking is meant to be completed in early 2025.

Like other significant coastal resiliency projects, aspects of that project have seen some controversy. The project will demolish and rebuild Wagner Park, a waterfront space built three decades ago, in order to raise it by ten feet and install flood protections. Local residents have opposed that plan and even unsuccessfully sued to prevent it, while proposing an alternate design that would keep the park open with minimal disruption and build a flood protection wall behind the park.

The BPCA’s next big venture is the North/West Battery Park City Resiliency Project (NWBPCR), which is still in the initial design phase and will extend similar resiliency protections to the remaining parts of Battery Park City. The project can now be adequately funded with the BPCA’s ability to issue more bonds, and is intended to be completed by 2027. As the design process continues, the authority will have a clearer projection of its costs, Jones said, but “make no mistake, an incredibly significant investment will be necessary to the tune of at least about a billion dollars.”

"This funding is absolutely critical in New York's efforts to build a resilient and sustainable city for generations to come, as it will ensure that Lower Manhattan is protected and fortified against a changing climate and more-frequently occurring extreme weather events," said Gary LaBarbera, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, in a statement. The Trades Council was instrumental in lobbying for state approval of the additional bonding authority, a contribution that Jones also acknowledged.

"The Building Trades remains committed to supporting this project and other green infrastructure initiatives throughout the city, as they not only improve the lives of all New Yorkers, but create thousands of good paying, family sustaining careers in the unionized construction industry,” LaBarbera said.

BPCA’s plans are part of the larger multibillion-dollar Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Project, which involves various initiatives by the city, state, and federal governments to protect Lower Manhattan from rising sea levels and devastating storm surges like the ones the city experienced during Hurricane Sandy.

While BPCA coordinates closely with the city, its ability to finance its own projects also eases pressure on the city budget. “We obviously have to work with them to make sure that what we're doing aligns with what they're doing elsewhere around Lower Manhattan because we're a link in that much larger chain of coastal protection,” Jones said, “but yeah, because of our ability to issue bonds, we can finance this capital work and that does help us as well as the city in getting these projects underway.”

Once these major projects are completed over the next several years, Jones said the BPCA can look to future climate initiatives such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the neighborhood, reducing waste and conserving water. “I kind of describe our climate adaptation efforts as like playing offense and defense,” he said. “And so with these coastal flood protection measures, we're playing defense, but we also have to think long term in terms of sustainability, which is playing offense.”