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The UFT moves into new Lower Manhattan offices
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After the events of 9/11, one of the first large employers to pledge that it would move downtown was the United Federation of Teachers. This past spring, the UFT followed through on that commitment, relocating its staff of almost 750 to new offices in adjoining buildings at 50 and 52 Broadway. So even though school is out for the summer, UFT employees are keeping plenty busy learning everything their new neighborhood has to offer.
Downtown 101
"There are a lot of treasures down here," says Oscar Rivera, who oversees the union's mailroom, print shop, and office-supply-department staff. He quickly rattles off Battery Park and Liberty Park and also notes "the tall ships at the South Street Seaport that you can venture into.
"There are quaint bars and restaurants too," he adds, "but you have to find them."
For Rivera, nosing out the gems tucked along side streets near the new office has been easy because UFT's move downtown was a homecoming of sorts. He began his career 25 years ago in a building at 61 Broadway, just doors from the new offices, and the job he held just prior to starting work at UFT last December was also downtown.
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| Rivera shares knowledge of the neighborhood |
"When they told me we were moving, I thought, 'Wow. I just came from there,'" he says, but he has found that returning has been "actually really nice."
For one thing, it makes him the resident expert. To his staff members, many of whom worried that the downtown area would offer little to do for lunch or after work, he had one response: "What, are you kidding me?"
Soon after people started settling in, he began offering up advice. One place he sends people is Sophie's on New Street. It's a "phenomenal" Cuban restaurant where $7 will buy more than most people can finish at lunch, he says. But his knowledge doesn't stop there -- from the closest bank to the liveliest club, Rivera generally has an answer.
Vibrant Streets
Those on the mailroom staff weren't the only ones concerned that downtown might not have as much to offer as Gramercy Park, where UFT's old offices were located. "I was worried before we moved that everything would close at five, that the streets would all be empty," says Michelle Bodden, UFT's vice president of elementary schools. "In fact," she says, "there are so many people the streets are filled all the time, and it's not just the tourists."
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| Bodden, pleasantly surprised by downtown's vibrancy |
Impressed with the vibrancy of the streets, Bodden also likes the new offices themselves. "We have more space -- and more modern space -- than we had before." And she says the shopping is great, too -- perhaps too much so -- because, she continues, every time her teenage daughter comes to meet her after work, she arrives with a long list of things she wants from neighboring shops.
"The architecture is gorgeous ... I didn't realize there was a farmer's market … I love sitting in Battery Park," Bodden continues. In fact, only one of her fears on moving downtown has been realized. "I thought I'd get lost," she says, and chuckles. "And I do. Every day. But it's fine -- I end up discovering new things. It's actually pretty cool."
Easy Access
Because she brings homemade rice and beans to work most days, Pierre Michele Kalim wasn't worried about a place to buy lunch. But transportation was key.
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| Dial-A-Teacher directors Kalim and Dobren |
Kalim heads UFT's Dial-A-Teacher program. Now in its 22nd year, Dial-A-Teacher provides free help with homework to students and parents through a hotline staffed by 45 teachers, who field questions every day after school -- in nine languages. To help spread the word about the program and all that it offers, Kalim provides parent workshops throughout the city almost every day.
"My job is to travel," says Kalim, "and it is far better for me to be here than where I was in Gramercy Park." Before, when she needed to travel to Staten Island she had to grab a cab, go to Brooklyn, and from there go across the Verrazano Bridge. "Now I just walk over to the ferry. In terms of transportation, the new location is a blessing."
Charged with overseeing teachers in each of the city's elementary schools, Bodden also travels a lot as part of her job, and she echoes Kalim's sentiments. Though she drives to work each day from her home in Rockaway, she often relies on public transportation to visit schools during the day. "It's so much better," she says. "Every train comes here."
Good Art, Unpredictable Views, Free Performance
A graphic designer who works on UFT's many brochures and publications, Margot Spindleman approached the new downtown neighborhood with an artist's eye. "I came down to check it out a few months before the move, and there was so much good art," she remembers. "I was overcome by the architecture and the unpredictability of the streets."
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| Graphic designer Spindleman at work at her desk |
Comparing it to San Francisco, where she lived for five years, Spindleman praised Lower Manhattan's street corners: "The thing I loved [in California] was that from every street corner you got a different view in each direction. It's much the same here."
Being able to travel to Pearl Paint, the mammoth art-supply store on Canal Street, during lunch is also a big plus, says Spindleman, as is having the nearby Strand Bookstore Annex on Fulton Street and the newly opened Borders Books and Music on Broadway.
"Hardware stores are a lot more expensive down here," she notes disapprovingly, but making up for that is the wide array of performances and exhibits she's found downtown.
"There's more going on here than I ever expected. The Mighty Clouds of Joy are coming after work!" she said, referring to a July 15th concert scheduled at the World Financial Center.
From lectures and exhibits presented by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council to free lunchtime concerts at Trinity Church, Spindleman attends as many events as she can. She gestures to a calendar hanging beside her computer monitor: "I have already been to a bunch, and I have others marked."
Rich History
Lower Manhattan's rich history made UFT's downtown move interesting to Ira Dobren, deputy director of the Dial-a-Teacher program -- interesting enough, in fact, to put off retirement. "I stayed an extra year because I wanted to be around after the move," he said.
"Tomorrow's my last day," announced Dobren, which means that his several-decade-long UFT career will only have included a few weeks downtown. But that's been time enough, he says, to celebrate the area's past. "It's such a historic place. Every single day I've just taken another street and walked around. And yesterday we took the staff to Delmonico's [New York City's oldest restaurant, established in 1827]. I think it's exciting to be around here."
A Bright Future
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| A view up Broadway from the new conference rooms |
When it moved into its Gramercy Park offices on South Park more than 30 years ago, the UFT had 40,000 members. Today, membership has grown to 140,000 teachers, librarians, guidance counselors, and other educators employed in the New York City public school system. The new Broadway location will provide the union with 740,000 square feet of space, including a cafeteria, a 1000-person auditorium, meeting rooms to hold groups of 10 to 80 people, and a community center with capacity of 250. And as UFT employees have already discovered, it provides a neighborhood with more to offer than they might ever have imagined.
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