THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN

THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN — Jan. 27 - Feb. 2, 2006

Editorial
Reform at S.L.A. might have to wait for a new governor
Governor Pataki’s recent appointment of an Upstate police chief to head the State Liquor Authority came as a huge letdown to residents of Downtown Manhattan, who were clamoring for the governor to appoint a commissioner who lives in New York City.

Under Cover

Letters to the editor

Talking Point
Remember when neighbors were secretaries and grad students?
By Daniel Meltzer
The government keeps telling us inflation is “in check,” that the economy is “stable,” “on the right track,” “growing at a steady pace,” etc. and so forth.

The Penny Post
Don’t close the book on Big Easy libraries
By Andrei Codrescu
Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans Public Library. All of its 13 buildings were damaged; eight of them are completely unusable: books, furniture, computers, all destroyed. Eighty percent of the employees were laid off. Recovery will be a long process. Libraries around the country are helping, but many of them are not in such great shape themselves, having had their budgets slashed over and over during decades of laissez-faire capitalism.

Police Blotter

News In Brief
Student died from a tiny heart tumor

Downtown in Pictures

Goodbye, Nixzmary

Venting in Soho

Youth
Discovering how you compare and contrast with classmates
By Jane Flanagan
Being a parent, I often feel I’m enrolled in a relentless crash course in human behavior. Only I’m one pupil who is always behind in the curriculum. It seems I just get a handle on where my son is development-wise, and he up and changes on me.

City eyes Battery landmark for gourmet market on the water

*Downtown Express photo by Elisabeth Robert* Students from Chinatown’s P.S. 124 had a pre-Lunar New Year celebration at Pace University. This year’s flower market will be Friday and Saturday. The Year of the Dog starts Sunday with fireworks and the big parade is next weekend on Feb. 5. Hopes for dogs and prosperity as Chinatown begins new year By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke Dancing dragons, blooming flowers and firecrackers intended to ward off evil spirits will be some of the sights as Chinatown ushers in the Year of the Dog.		News City grilled on Tribeca diesel permit By Ronda Kaysen Critics of a Tribeca telecommunications building that stores diesel fuel in a residential neighborhood had their day in court Wednesday, appealing a city ruling legalizing the fuel and voicing concerns for the health and safety of nearby residents. Rabbis vow to rebuild after collapse By Lincoln Anderson Following the collapse of the First-Roumanian American Congregation’s roof on Sunday afternoon, the three rabbi brothers who lead the historic Rivington St. synagogue are vowing that it will be rebuilt.

INSIDE

Day of confusion for Chinatown bus riders By Paul Cherashore Police officer Johnson Lu of the Fifth Precinct sat astride his bicycle late last Friday morning, balancing between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Van plan sent back to the drawing board By Tonya Garcia They line up on Chinatown’s Division St. loading and unloading passengers. A couple of them linger around the fruit and vegetable stands on Forsyth St., alongside the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. City says Arman project’s hardship claim may be creative By Chad Smith The city’s Board of Standards and Appeals expressed skepticism on Tuesday about the economic hardship claim submitted for the soon-to-be Arman building at 482 Greenwich St.		Condos will send high-priced renters packing By Ronda Kaysen The new owners of a tony Financial District residential tower sent tenants their walking papers this month, telling them leases would not be renewed as the 346-unit building prepares to go condo. City delays waterfront building plan after protests By Ronda Kaysen A developer is moving forward with plans to rezone the North Tribeca waterfront, to the chagrin of local residents who have a different idea of how the neighborhood should be developed. New W.T.C. buildings will be safer, expert says By Chad Smith An engineer who studied the collapse of the Twin Towers on endorsed the safety measures planned for the Freedom Tower and 7 World Trade Center, at a panel discussion last Wednesday.

Downtown Arts & Entertainment

Arts group finds a Downtown roommate By Rachel Breitman In the recent movie adaptation of “Rent,” the cast members dance atop a barroom table and triumphantly toast to “La Vie Boheme.” The actors — fresh from their success on Broadway, in movies, and on “Law and Order” — sing idealistic lyrics that somehow ring hollow in light of their six figure salaries. 100,000 years of evolution, live By Sara G. Levin Watching Troika Ranch’s new work, 16 [R]evolutions, is like tuning into a nature-show version of the Matrix. Projections of coded bars flash across the floor like grass; digital bits flow up like a river and cave across the background. The piece, which was co-produced by 3-Legged Dog (3LD) and premiered Jan. 18 at the Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, effectively blurs the line between digital and corporeal movement, though not always toward a meaningful end.		Jeff Daniels, playwright, takes a shot at love By JERRY TALLMER Anyone who ever saw “Ragtime” or “The Fifth of July” or “Terms of Endearment” or Woody Allen’s great “The Purple Rose of Cairo” or “Gettysburg” or “Johnny Got His Gun” or “Yellow Sky” or “Something Wild” or “Fly Away Home” or “Good Night, and Good Luck” or “The Squid and the Whale” or any of 60 or so other movies and plays in which he’s been realer than real, will know that Jeff Daniels can act — is a marvelous actor — but who knew he could write plays? From the ashes of the Fulton Fish Market comes art By Steven Snyder The street signs may still be the same, but in almost every other sense, the blocks and neighborhoods surrounding South Street are undergoing a remarkable transition.

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