NEWS
Law school will lease ‘illegal’ 3rd St. half-dorm
By Sarah Ferguson
It’s official. After months of controversy, the so-called “half-dorm” at 81 E. Third St. has finally found an educational institution eager to sign a lease, and it’s none other than New York Law School.

Gansevoort garbage truck garage work grinds to halt
By Albert Amateau
In a deal brokered last week by State Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman, the Department of Sanitation has agreed to voluntarily cease construction of the temporary garage that it began in January on the Gansevoort Peninsula.

Inside
Protesters rail against fence; but some want it taller
By Lincoln Anderson
Though they were far outnumbered by the gathering of Dachshunds and their owners on the north side of the fountain, protesters against the Washington Sq. renovation plan still managed to make their point loud and clear at a rally in the park last Sunday.

May Day’s meaning not forgotten at Village marches
By Jefferson Siegel
The concept of May Day has existed for hundreds of years. Originally celebrated as the first day of crop planting, it wasn’t until 1886 that its association with unions and the workforce crystallized. On May 1 of that year, laborers staged actions throughout North America, demanding an end to long days and poor working conditions.

On political board, manager lives by political sword
By Lincoln Anderson
In the Handbook for Community Board Members, a publication of the Mayor’s Community Assistance Unit, community board district managers are described as “at once municipal managers, service coordinators, ombudspersons, complaint monitors, information sources, community organizers, mediators, advocates and much more.”

Mayor’s Office rejects HOWL! Avenue A street fair
By Amanda Kludt
From fights with the Boys’ Club Alumni Association to city moratoriums and restrictions, it seems the HOWL! festival just can’t get their way. For the third time since its inception in 2003, the Federation of East Village Artists’ HOWL! Festival will not be able to have their desired street fair on Avenue A.

Let’s go Dutch, says Lower Manhattan history maven
By Albert Amateau
To hear Joep de Koning tell it, it was the Dutch who founded not only what is now New York, but also Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware — and it all started on Governors Island.

Animal Care head thinks outside box to cut killings
By Albert Amateau
Edward Boks, executive director of Animal Care and Control of New York City since January 2004, speaks with a preacher’s intensity when talking about the “no-kill” goals of the city’s official animal control agency.

Homing in on zoning as antidote to laundry list of East Side’s ills
By Lincoln Anderson
Saying it could potentially solve many of the neighborhood’s problems, Councilmember Margarita Lopez and Community Board 3 are supporting a community-based rezoning plan for the East Village and Lower East Side.

Critical Mass tries new tactics, but not the police
By Lincoln Anderson
The monthly Critical Mass started out differently than usual last Friday night. There was a rally for cyclists’ civil rights, followed by a blessing of arrested cyclists. And instead of one big departure from Union Sq., the riders left from four different sites. But the city’s response didn’t change: Police showed no signs of backing down from their hard-line stance, making 34 arrests.

Benefits, not an apple, are issue at Garden of Eden
By Lincoln Anderson
To hear management tell it, Garden of Eden is a workers’ paradise. But a union trying to get the specialty food store to increase employee health benefits and improve working conditions claims there’s trouble in Eden.

Charles St. developer says he won’t go for the max
By Lincoln Anderson
West Village antidevelopment watchdogs are keeping anxious watch on two building sites — one of which is being dubbed a potential “neutron bomb” that if developed with a huge tower, could explode the neighborhood’s historic fabric.

Loisaida Guardsman guards Baghdad’s highway to hell
By Ramin Talaie
It is still winter in Iraq but the midday sun is strong enough that the outgoing soldiers from the First Infantry Division tan on top of concrete bomb shelters.

Young Puerto Rican’s painting is a stroke for justice
By Ronda Kaysen
“I want to scare people into doing something,” said Yasmin Hernandez, sipping a cup of peppermint tea at Colonial Café on E. Houston St. “With technology and the media, we’re socialized to be complacent people. We’re socialized not to react or to know how to react. I want my art to challenge complacency.”