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Working as a messenger for an engraver on Nassau Street in the 1950s, Joe Svehlak experienced a vastly different Downtown streetscape. For the next three decades, the dawn of the computer age, Joe worked for various Wall Street financial institutions. He witnessed post World War ll Lower Manhattan's redevelopment as streets were changed and plazas were created, and many fine old buildings were demolished. Joe believes that about a third of Lower Manhattan as he knew it, has been lost in his lifetime. He remembers old Newspaper Row before the approaches to the Brooklyn Bridge changed that area. He remembers Water Street before it was widened and the South Street Seaport before it became a historic district. Downtown used to have a Diamond District, a Stamp and Coin District, and an Insurance District among other distinct areas. Hear about buildings and neighborhoods that are now gone, as Joe reminisces about ever changing Lower Manhattan. We'll discuss planning and preservation issues, and view some of Downtown's spectacular architecture from the Civic Center down to Wall Street and Bowling Green that made an impression on Joe when he first started to work Downtown over sixty years ago. Cost: $30 /$20 Members