THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN


Downtown Express photo by Jefferson Siegel Our palm tree cars do 185 A solar Fisker Karma luxury hybrid sports car was taken up to the Winter Garden’s second floor Saturday to set up for the free Motorexpo show. The event workers had to open the building’s glass in order to fit the cars in the World Financial Center for the show’s American debut. “Everything is possible in America,” said the show’s British creator, Graeme Carver. Ric Clarke, C.E.O. of Brookfield Properties, said it is the “most ambitious” public event his firm has ever brought to the W.F.C. in 20 years of programming. A $2 million Bugatti, an Ashton Martin and yes, a Maserati are among over 70 cars that are still on display until 6 p.m. Fri., Sept. 19. Some neighbors say tower is stacked against Tribeca The teetering stack of condo cubes that will soon rise at 56 Leonard St. almost looks poised for a giant hand to descend from the sky and, carefully, slide one of the cubes out of place. Gay, gray and green color hearing on plan for Pier 40 By Lincoln Anderson Wind turbines and solar panels, a round-the-clock, drop-in center for gay and lesbian youth, a middle school, a “new Caffe Cino,” a spot for community-based boating, more stuff for seniors and assurance that vintage cars won’t be dinged by parking lifts were among the many requests — in some cases, more like demands — by community members at the first full public hearing on the new Pier 40 redevelopment proposal on Monday evening. Governor places Calatrava station ahead of W.T.C. towers By Julie Shapiro Gov. David Paterson laid out his priorities for ground zero the day after the seventh anniversary of the attacks, and he broke with the city and some community leaders in the order of his list. Port: W.T.C. towers will weather shaky financial storm By Julie Shapiro Wall St.’s financial tailspin will not jeopardize the World Trade Center rebuilding, Port Authority leaders promised Tuesday. 12-step clients on a mission to find work By James S. Woodman Visitors entering the New York City Rescue Mission at 90 Lafayette St. will often first encounter a man named Mark, peering up from behind the shelter’s heavy, wooden front desk. He is soft-spoken yet direct, and his full cheeks furnish a natural smile that puts those around him at ease. Cyclist speaks, countering officer’s spin on slam By Jefferson Siegel A firestorm of protest erupted after a disturbing incident during the July Critical Mass bike ride, when a police officer, seemingly unprovoked, tackled a cyclist right off of his bike. Seaport firm gets the lead out on Tin Building move	NEWS Even with A’s, 2 principals scoff at report cards By Julie Shapiro I.S. 89 Principal Ellen Foote said when she found out that her school received an A this year from the Department of Education, she and her staff nearly rolled on the floor laughing. Reflecting with Downtown on 9/11/08 By Julie Shapiro As a recent transplant to New York City, I’ve often heard stories about what the city was like just after 9/11 — that the pace slowed, strangers helped each other and people didn’t push and elbow on the streets and subways. As Wall St. shakes, it recalls the last business fallout By Josh Rogers With this week’s news at Lehman, Merrill and A.I.G. shaking up The Street, some people who think of “Wall Street” not as a symbol but as blocks in a neighborhood, came together Wednesday to mark the opening of a new exhibit celebrating the recovery of Downtown businesses after 9/11. Old hand takes P.S. 234’s P.T.A. reins By Julie Shapiro P.S. 234’s new P.T.A. president is a familiar face: Kevin Doherty, who previously served as president from 2005 to 2007. Bus crash on Varick Free kites and bikes Seaport tug pulls out win Upstate By Sarah Trefethen South Street Seaport Museum’s scrappy W.O. Decker is the Tug of the Year. C.B. 3 supports cutting off liquor at problem spots By Albert Amateau Neighborhood complaints about the frenzied pace of nightlife and liquor license applications on the Lower East Side and in the East Village attracted a packed house at the Monday meeting of Community Board 3’s S.L.A. Committee. Candidates silent on 9/11 health bill Senators John McCain and Barack Obama made two New York City appearances on the seventh anniversary of 9/11. L.M.D.C. announces school grant plan Downtown schools could see up to $100,000 each from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation as soon as January.
ARTS DOWNTOWN How’s he doing? By LORI ORTIZ Performance Space 122’s freewheeling spirit has only been fast-forwarded by its newish artistic director Vallejo Gantner. Martha Wainwright finds new confidence By ADRIENNE URBANSKI As the daughter of musicians Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, Martha Wainwright spent her childhood in the shadow of the spotlight. Under the cover lovers The fashion queens of Christopher St. By Laurie Mittelmann On Staten Island, 20 wigs crowd the public housing unit of transgender model and prostitute Shawn Rachel, 28. Under the spiegeltents, all the Seaport’s a stage By Lee Ann Westover Through the early part of the 20th century, itinerant theaters crisscrossed Europe—not unlike the Broadway road shows of today. Velvet-draped, teak-trimmed “spiegeltents” brought vaudeville-style entertainment to the public in portable opulence.	Seven-minute stories on the silver screen By David Callicott “It’s like the Olympics of short films,” says John Polson, the founder and director of Australia’s Tropfest. “It’s the biggest audience that any short film can get anywhere in the world—50,000 people on a single night.” And he’s not exaggerating. The celebration of shorts that Polson, now 43, started 15 years ago in Sydney is the largest of its kind. The lady doth protest, and so may others By WILL McKINLEy If you’re perturbed by the plague of political correctness that threatens to paralyze this country, you’ll enjoy Brian Parks’ new play, “The Invitation.” The dark comedy about a dinner party gone wrong has some of the most gloriously un-P.C. dialogue I’ve heard since “All in the Family.”

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