Volume 77 / Number 36
February, 6 -12, 2008
Editorial/Op-Ed
Drive traffic pricing across finish line
New York has a chance in the next two months to begin reversing a disturbing trend that has continued for the better part of a century. One of the worst aspects of powerbroker Robert Moses’ record was his dogged pursuit of making the metropolitan area a better place for cars, and his scorn and neglect of mass transportation.
SCOOPY'S NOTEBOOK
MIXED USE
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
POLICE BLOTTER
Talking Point
A modest proposal: Presidential Super Bowl MMVIII
By Jerry Tallmer
The too-good-to-be-true confluence of Super Bowl XLII and “Super Tuesday” MMVIII has sprung a gasket in my mind. Call it an epiphany. There is light at the end of the insufferable campaign tunnel. A whole new political game plan. Signals on! And a merciful end to the Clown Car Syndrome.
Ira Blutreich
News Briefs
Student assaults officer
Obituaries
Adrienne Goldberg, artist and teacher, dies at 63
By Ed Gold
Adrienne Goldberg, 63, longtime Villager, accomplished and distinctive artist, community activist and high school teacher, died on Jan. 31 of breast cancer.
Sidney Landau, 90, textiles, birds and all that jazz
By Albert Amateau
Sidney Landau, a Village resident for nearly 50 years, a jazz lover and amateur musician, an avid bird watcher and a supporter and volunteer with The Fortune Society, died Jan. 22 in St. Vincent’s Hospital of pneumonia after a short illness at the age of 90.
SPORTS
Blue wrecking crew rides through Canyon of Heroes
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Serving West and East Village, Chelsea, SoHo, NoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown and the Lower East Side"
Photo by William Alatriste, New York City Council
One more for Hillary
On Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton, who could become the country’s first female president, got some help from New York City’s first female City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, above. Most Downtown elected officials voted for Clinton, New York State’s junior senator, in the Democratic primary. Clinton won New York comfortably over Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
 Trust can’t swing pier vote; Cirque du Soleil still afloat
By Lincoln Anderson
With tension over Pier 40 reaching an all-time high, about 200 people packed The Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Safra Hall in Battery Park City last Thursday afternoon.
Schools group gives Trust an ‘incomplete’ on Pier 40
By Albert Amateau
A public school advocacy group based in the school district that includes the Village, Chelsea and Tribeca has called for school space to be included in the redevelopment of Pier 40 at W. Houston St.
 Erin go braugh, till N.Y.U. takeover for a dorm
By Lincoln Anderson
In an interview with The Villager last week, New York University community affairs officials hinted N.Y.U. is near to signing a deal for a new dormitory — then abruptly withheld further details.
Reverend Billy’s heeling for East Village shoemaker
By Bonnie Rosenstock
At a little past noon on a brisk Saturday, Feb. 2, Reverend Billy and his Stop Shopping Gospel Choir gathered at Abe Lebewohl Park in front of St. Mark’s Church in the Bouwerie to offer beleaguered shoemaker Angelo Fontana healing words and a hang-tough song.
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NEWS
N.Y.U. goes gonzo on its superblocks in new ideas
By Lincoln Anderson
In a startling vision of its potential growth, New York University last week unveiled concept plans for its two South Village superblocks sporting superimposed, golden-hued images of new towers, courtyard-infill buildings and plinths.
University makes pact to reduce its impact
By Albert Amateau
It could be the end of years of bitterness between New York University and its Village neighbors.
Fired employees say Players Club doesn’t play fair
By Jefferson Siegel
On Wednesday night Jan. 30, 18 former employees of the Players Club on Gramercy Park S. protested outside the club. Next to their protest line was one of the large, inflatable rats that are ubiquitous at other labor protests around the city.
 Egg creams and a ‘Creamy’ dance for Avenue A’s Ray
By Christopher J. Ryan
Seventy-five years old…50 more to go! So said Ray Alvarez, proprietor of Ray’s Candy Shop on Avenue A as he watched “Creamy Stevens” strip off her clothes in honor of his 75th birthday. Her high heels clicked away on Ray’s well-worn counter as her white-gloved hands touched the ornate tin ceiling for balance.
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ARTS AND LIFESTYLE
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Sheba comes back, a little too late
By Scott Harrah
S. Epatha Merkerson, best known for playing Lieutenant Anita Van Buren for 14 seasons on “Law & Order,” is an actress of many talents, but her outstanding performance is not enough to save this tepid revival of William Inge’s 1950 drama from collapsing through its numerous flaws and unfortunate casting.
Koch On Film
By Ed Koch
“Lost in Beijing” (-) Because the rape scene this film, directed by Li Yu, was deemed too provocative, the movie was banned in China. Remember, it was only after Chairman Mao’s death that men and women in that country, who wore indistinguishable clothing, were allowed to walk hand-in-hand in public. The rape scene, during which very little skin is exposed, will not visually shock American audiences. We are fed a steady diet of much more graphic scenes.
 Macabre playwright takes a stab at film
By Steven Snyder
Only in a world created by Martin McDonagh could we segue so seamlessly between a sequence involving suicide and that of a drug binge which culminates in one man using karate against a “midget.”
Sidney Lumet’s 50 years in film
By Kathi Berke
Sidney Lumet, the man Roger Ebert calls, “one of the most consistently intelligent directors of his time,” is the subject of a three-week, 23-film retrospective at the Film Forum, beginning this Friday.
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 Detours on the path to enlightenment
By Jerry Tallmer
Munishree is a guru with a difference. As he spreads flowers and incense around the religious ruin over which he presides, his cell phone rings. When three exhausted travelers arrive at this holy spot in India having journeyed 10,000 miles around the world in search of spiritual solace, he hands them a numbered ticket, as in a deli. “Come up when I call your number,” he says.
 Los Santos are marching in (dude)
By Lee Ann Westover
On a recent weekday night at The Jazz Standard in Gramercy, Grupo Los Santos gathered to celebrate the release of their new disc, “Lo Que Somos Lo Que Sea.” Amidst the pungent smell of barbeque from Blue Smoke above, the Latin-influenced quintet took the stage in front of assembled friends, fans and family to celebrate their first release in seven years.
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Editor’s Note:New Listings
We’ve revamped our listings section and are now offering The A-List, a discriminate selection of five events that we feel are worthy of special attention. If you have questions, would like to submit information about an upcoming performance, or talk about how you can still get your events listed in The Villager, email sarah@thevillager.com with the subject “A-List.”
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