Study finds people like Wash. Sq. the way it is
By Lincoln Anderson
A new study commissioned by the group that pushed for the Washington Square renovation project finds the park works amazingly well in its current configuration and that any changes to its layout should only be made with utmost care so as not to destroy the square’s “unique and very special ‘vibe.’ ”

Minicams roll with bicycles, and probably undercovers
By Jefferson Siegel
On the lookout even more than usual for police infiltrators, hundreds of bicyclists gathered last Friday for the last Critical Mass ride of the year. Within minutes of the start of the ride, 12 riders were arrested just blocks from Union Square.

Developer sues city for rejecting E. 9th dormitory
By Lincoln Anderson
Developer Gregg Singer has filed a lawsuit in hopes of overturning the Board of Standards and Appeals’ ruling against his plan for a 19-story university dormitory at the site of the old P.S. 64/former CHARAS/El Bohio cultural and community center on E. Ninth St.

Two housing officials charged in Soutbridge scam
By Albert Amateau
Two officials of the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal were named in December in separate but related federal conspiracy and mail fraud cases charging them with defrauding Southbridge Towers, the 1,651-unit Mitchell-Lama co-op in Lower Manhattan where they live.

Judge overturns liquor authority on Soho restaurant
By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke
In response to a lawsuit filed by the Soho Alliance, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled against the State Liquor Authority’s decision to issue a liquor license to Lola, a restaurant and jazz lounge planned at Watts and Thompson Sts.

After 60 years, a laundry is left hung out to dry on Waverly Pl.
After six decades in the Village, Harry Chong closed the door to his corner laundry at Waverly Pl. and Charles St. for the last time on New Year’s Eve. The business, opened by his father in 1945, is another victim of rising rents. His rent recently was doubled.

New Flatiron 23rd St. business district is formed
By Albert Amateau
Mayor Mike Bloomberg last week signed his approval of the Flatiron 23rd St. Partnership, the city’s newest business improvement district, covering roughly 34 blocks between Lexington and Sixth Aves. from 21st to 28th Sts.

Accidental CD’s happens upon a space on St. Mark’s
It wasn’t such an accident that Accidental CD’s, Records and Tapes recently moved from its home of 10 years on Avenue A around the corner into a St. Mark’s Pl. storefront formerly occupied by an artists’ commune.

Aquarium project fishing for spot at Chambers St.
By Ronda Kaysen
New York Harbor fish might soon make an appearance on the bank of the Hudson River if a Tribeca marine science field station gets its way.

Arts

HERE to stay: Soho theater now owns its home
By Rachel Fershleiser
For eleven years, HERE Arts Center has provided the rarest of commodities in the downtown arts scene: a longstanding rehearsal and performance space for writers, dancers, actors, designers, and puppeteers. The interdisciplinary, often unusual work presented at HERE has included everything from Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” to Basil Twist’s “Symphonie Fantastique,” and has garnered ten OBIE awards, an OBIE grant for artistic achievement, and even a Pulitzer nomination. Still, in a rapidly gentrifying city, no art space, however well established, is a sure thing.

Koch on Film
Says Koch of one film: This piffle is an example of how talented actors can take a shallow script and turn it into an enjoyable experience for the viewing audience.

Theater
From the political stage to Off-Broadway
Four years at City Hall gave birth to Michael Smith’s play, ‘Trouble’
By JERRY TALLMER
The road to City Hall leads through a harpsichord factory in northern Connecticut — and ends up 20 years later as “a compassionate comedy” at Crystal Fields’s off-everything Theater for the New City, First Avenue and 10th Street.

Film
Allen breaks his losing streak with ‘Match Point’
By Leonard Quart
Except for his sardonic black comedy, “Deconstructing Harry,” Woody Allen’s films in the past decade have generally been stale, pallid, and unfunny. He seemed to be timeserving — making moribund films devoid of creative imagination and urgency just to keep working and producing his habitual one film a year.

Food
Which side are you on?
Milon and Panna II play for keeps on Curry Row
By Annie Karni
Aside from their names, little separates Milon and Panna II, the two boxcar-shaped dining rooms on First Avenue between Fifth and Sixth Streets. Their ceilings and walls are buried under thousands of porny red Christmas lights and chili pepper lanterns, which glow from their front and only windows.