Inside
Editorial
Learning security lessons for Downtown and the rest of the U.S.
Former Mayor Giuliani in his testimony before the 9/11 Commission Wednesday, mentioned three places where he tightened security around 1998 in reaction to specific federal warnings about terrorist activity. They were all in Lower Manhattan: the New York Stock Exchange, the Metropolitan Correction Facility where Al Qaeda suspects were detained, and City Hall. There are of course too many other sensitive security areas in the city and across the nation, but Downtown has more than its share. We also have the Statue of Liberty, offices from all levels of government, some of the world’s largest investment houses and the World Trade Center site.
Letters to the editor
Penny Post
Sorrow & shame
By Andrei Codrescu
Has Internet porn turned the United States into an S&M chamber of horrors? Have we finally been media-tized to a point where we can’t tell real torture from playacting? The images from prisoner-torture in Iraq look like sado-masochistic porn, but they are not. Real people are suffering in them. The torturers are not some rogue sadists who slipped somehow past psychological profiling to get into the Army, they are American kids who’ve seen their required share of violent movies and porn, the same kids who like to binge-drink at frat parties, the same kids who occasionally kill somebody during hazing at their school. These kids are my students – not literally—but they could be. Since the beginning of these new wars, I’ve been looking at my students with new eyes, and new respect.
Notebook
Remembering Tony Randall, ‘gentleman of the old school’
By Jerry Tallmer
There are 178 entries for Tony Randall, if I’ve added it all up correctly, in the Internet Movie Data Base — motion pictures and television series starting 1949, “Notable TV Guest Appearances” starting 1947 — and I expect when all the numbers are in, his appearances on the living stage, all across America, will more than double that.
Downtown Local
Youth/Children's
Moody? Hormones or clinical depression, how can you tell?
By Dr. Amy Glaser
Parents fear the adolescent monster: sulky, withdrawn, hostile, and defiant. He or she may not be like that all the time. But let’s face it, hormonal change in adolescence often introduces a moodiness that we may not have seen in our comparably upbeat pre-teens. Okay, so when is adolescent moodiness normal and when is it something more? Reality testing with other parents is difficult.
Youth Activities
Sport
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| Baktash Zaher Khadem, center, who lives on Tribeca’s Reade St., seen here in Jalalabad, Afghanistan this month with his mother, Zeba Khadem, and an Afghan boy who got a close look at a new cow. Baktash raised money to donate cows and other farm animals to residents. Each cow can provide enough income to support a family of six, according to the mayor of a nearby town. |
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Downtown Express photo by Michael T. Luongo
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Tribecan helps Afghan city
By Michael T. Luongo
JALALABAD — Unlike Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the city of Jalalabad near the Pakistani border is green and full of gardens, birds chirping among the trees, its outskirts surrounded by rich fields of wheat. Most of the buildings remain unscathed by the war, and the shops are full of products brought in on caravans of trucks driven through treacherous mountain passes. Yet just like Kabul, the city has its needs and is home to scores of women widowed and children orphaned by decades of war.
Anger & tears for 9/11 panel
By Josh Rogers
The federal commission studying the 9/11 attacks came to New York this week and the reactions to the hearings ranged from anger to tears to the feeling from at least a few that the panel asked some good questions.
A festival runs through it
By Jess Wisloski
“It has been unbelievable,” said one of the organizers of the River to River Festival, sounding more like she was talking about a sleepover party than the mecca of music, art and dance that has drawn over a million people a year to Lower Manhattan since May 2002.
RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL PRESENTS
Goldman pledges $1 million and rec center plan may expand
By Elizabeth O’Brien
Plans for the proposed residential tower on Site 5C at Chambers and West Sts. took further shape this week, as the recreation center slated for the development got a $1 million infusion from Goldman Sachs, and the community discussed the possibility of a separate educational annex on the site.
Building owners move closer to plan to evict artists
By Elizabeth O’Brien
On April 29, the city Department of Buildings approved construction plans filed by the owners of 131 Duane St., the landmark building that is home to City Hall restaurant, to demolish parts of the interior.
Trust approves contracts for Pier 40 fields
By Lincoln Anderson
The Hudson River Park Trust’s board of directors at their May 20 meeting approved $5.5 million in contracts to build a three-and-a-half-acre, interim sports field at Pier 40. The Trust also awarded a contract of just under $900,000 to build three permanent tennis courts at Spring St.
Wils to face challenge at C.B. 1
By Elizabeth O’Brien
Community Board 1 member Marc Ameruso has decided to run against Madelyn Wils for board chairperson in the only contested race in the upcoming Community Board 1 elections.
Bar owner take on art appraiser in C.B. 3 election
By Lincoln Anderson
A bar owner and leading nightlife advocate is squaring off against an art appraiser in the race for chairperson of the East Side’s Community Board 3.
Revival soars with Tony nominees
By Christopher Byrne
Roundabout’s long-delayed production of “Assassins” has finally arrived on Broadway at Studio 54, and the wait has been worth every second.
Reporting the Iraq War
By Steve Erickson
A first rate film, “Control Room” arrives in theaters in the wake of revelations about American torture of Iraqi detainees. Director Jehane Noujaim films the workings of Al Jazeera, the Arabic TV station, from the onset of America’s invasion of Iraq until the fall of Baghdad.
In with the old
By Aileen Torres
Photogravure is now a rare art form, but Michael Myers, who makes his living as a fashion and beauty photographer, is working to revivify it with his first show, “Space Between.” The exhibit will debut on May 27 and run through June 26 at Kristen Frederickson Contemporary Art on Reade St.
Koch on Film
By, Ed Koch
“The Agronomist” (+) This documentary depicts the life of journalist Jean Dominique who was born in 1931 and assassinated in Haiti in 2000. He became a political activist in the 60’s and bought Radio Haiti Internaationale during the reign of Francois Duvalier, known as Papa Doc.
“The Punisher” (-) This film is based on a Marvel Comic figure. Even though it received poor reviews by other critics, I went to see it because some of the material sounded interesting, and I usually enjoy watching John Travolta on screen. The interesting material conveyed that this movie of human strength and courage was similar to “The Terminator” without the robot. I say, bring back “The Terminator” and Arnold Schwarzenegger. “The Punisher” as a movie and Travolta as its star are both awful.
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