Housing, but no bling bling, at Still We Rise march
By David H. Ellis
Despite lacking the star power of singer Alicia Keys and hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, protestors in Monday’s “Still We Rise” march still delivered a rousing plea to visiting G.O.P. leaders on incendiary issues such as affordable housing, AIDS and welfare reform.
Where the flavor of Asia is served up ice cold
By Deborah Lynn Blumberg
Banned from being eaten in public places in many Asian countries because of its stinky smell, the sweet, custard-like durian fruit may soon be the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory’s next star flavor, adding to the family-run business’ mix of 40 homemade traditional and Chinese ice creams such as taro, coffee Brandy, pumpkin pie and lychee.
Program looks for breath of fresh air
By Deborah Lynn Blumberg
After a successful pilot program in three East Village elementary schools, a new program designed to improve the air quality around public schools will soon expand across New York to include several locations in Harlem and the Bronx.
ARTS
Bringing Guantánamo to the stage
By JERRY TALLMER
In October 2001, a young man named Jamal al-Harith—an Internet Web site designer in Manchester, England—went on vacation to Pakistan. “I went from Manchester to Pakistan and ended up in Guantánamo, can you believe it?” he says, through the lips of an actor named Andrew Stewart Jones. “Yes, I went to Pakistan. Well, if that’s my crime then you’ll have to arrest plane-loads of people.”
Koch On Film
Theater talk with Estelle Parsons
By Wickham Boyle
When I encountered playwright Horton Foote in the lobby of the spiffy, new theater on East 59 St. where Primary Stages are celebrating their double decade with one of Foote’s plays called “The Day Emily Married,” he was most congenial. I introduced myself and told him I was there to interview Estelle Parsons; I said how much I had enjoyed the play and most especially his daughter’s portrayal of Emily.
The struggle of women trying to move up/out
By Davida Singer
In classic Downtown style, Aedin Moloney runs her fledging theater company, “Fallen Angel,” from the home/office she shares with jazz musician boyfriend Nick Drakides in the East Village. With founder Moloney serving as atistic director/producer, best friend John Keating directing and Drakidis taking care of music, the home-spun company is ready to roll. Their inaugural production, “Talent,” goes up at The Producer’s Club on Sept. 9.
BACK TO SCHOOL
A Downtown Express special supplement
Overcrowding problem growing at P.S. 234
By Ronda Kaysen
Sandy Bridges, principal of P.S. 234, has about 10 more students in her small Tribeca neighborhood school than she did last year and nowhere to put them. Desperate for classrooms, the computer lab suddenly looks like a viable option.
A look at parent coordinators one year later
By Elizabeth O’Brien
One of the first things Tracey Arrington did last year when she started working as one of the 1,200 new parent coordinators in New York City public schools was toss her official job description aside.
Two Downtown parent coordinators prepare and reflect
By Angela Benfield
When parent Marty Lipowitz needed assistance, he was glad she was there. Lipowitz, who volunteers at the P.S. 89 school cafeteria, was charged with maintaining the peace during lunchtime. But with few other volunteers to help, things were getting out of hand. The lunchroom was beginning to resemble the food fight scene in “Animal House.”
City submits state plan to equalize school funds
By Albert Amateau
The Bloomberg administration last week filed a plan for New York State to add $5.3 billion annually to operating funds for the city’s public school system and to contribute an additional $6.5 billion annually for the city’s five-year capital program to build new schools and improve existing schools.
Business college expands near Wall Street
By Deborah Lynn Blumberg
Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island students interested in studying business now have another option closer to home — Berkeley College, a 73-year-old New York and New Jersey-based institution specializing in business, will soon open a new location in Lower Manhattan.
A few years to enjoy Downtown’s elementary schools
By David Stanke
Each new school year comes like the ticking of a clock. The rhythmic passing of years is distinctly measured with the grades of our children. Summer is recess, a few short months for children to leave the structure of the school year.
Downtown schools receive history grant
Some area students may sigh at the thought of poring over the long-reaching effects of the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration or the daily life of Americans in urban centers during the Industrial Era, but a recently awarded federal grant to New York city schools looks to intensify the focus on American history in some Lower Manhattan schools.
Chinatown school’s program translates into success
By Melanie Wallis
St. Joseph’s School, predominantly serving New York’s immigrant population of Chinese and Hispanic decent, has been awarded a $50,000 scholarship fund for their eighth grade students.
Learning to read at home with Stuart Little
By Jane Flanagan
Thank God for E.B. White.
The man’s dead nearly 20 years now, but I will go on being grateful that he lived. White, who was born in 1899, was a writer for the New Yorker and co-author of “The Elements of Style,” a working bible for writers. I’ve long been inspired and delighted by his work.
The New Year really begins in September
By Wickham Boyle
The real New Year is September. Just ask anyone who has attended school for the first 20 odd years of their life. January is a weak sister. There is nothing but that damn ball and a hang over as you get older. Especially here in New York, where even non-Jewish citizens celebrate a school holiday on Rosh Hashana, the real deal for the New Year is September.
Catholic school principal moves Downtown
By Melanie Wallis
Since 1926, Our Lady of Pompei Church has been an integral part of the Downtown community, which the new principal of its attached Catholic school is recently finding out.
